Opinion – Dallas Decoder

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 88 – ‘Waterloo at Southfork’

November 14, 2012 by Chris Baker 28 Comments

Woman of the hour

Miss Ellie is the woman of the hour in “Waterloo at Southfork.” She wheels and deals with Clayton, takes the cartel to the woodshed and keeps J.R. from dragging Sue Ellen’s name through the mud in court. Ellie’s only defeat occurs when she tries and fails to oust her eldest son as Ewing Oil’s president, but no matter. By the end of the episode, J.R.’s respect for his mama has deepened. So has ours.

To no one’s surprise, Barbara Bel Geddes is wonderful every time she appears in “Waterloo at Southfork,” which is a lot: This episode has 29 scenes, and Bel Geddes is in more than a third of them. Choosing my favorite is tough because they’re all so good.

In the scene with Clayton, Ellie sits on a patio at the Southern Cross and offers to sell him the oil J.R. diverted from the Farlow refineries. Clayton agrees, telling her he’ll buy it for $33 a barrel. “That’s very fair,” Ellie says, shaking his hand. Taking a beat, she adds: “I would have taken 32.”

The scene with the cartel is just as terrific. With J.R. in the background, Ellie stands in front of his desk and chastises Vaughn, Jordan and the others for taking advantage of Ewing Oil during J.R.’s reckless war against Clayton. “I don’t apologize for what my son did,” Ellie declares. “It’s a family matter. We may be wrong and we may be right, but we’re Ewings. We stick together – and that’s what makes us unbeatable.”

This most revealing moment in “Waterloo at Southfork” comes near the end of the episode, when J.R. promises Ellie he’ll behave when he and Sue Ellen go to court for their divorce hearing. He’s lying, of course, but it seems like Ellie is going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Wrong. When the hearing begins, she enters the courtroom and takes a seat in plain sight of her son. The moment J.R. sees his mama, he abandons his strategy to embarrass Sue Ellen.

I don’t know if J.R. has learned his lesson, but Ellie has learned not to trust her son. Better late than never.

Grade: A

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Mama’s watching

‘WATERLOO AT SOUTHFORK’

Season 5, Episode 11

Airdate: December 18, 1981

Audience: 22.3 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Linda Elstad

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Miss Ellie sells J.R.’s stockpile to Clayton, persuades Bobby to return to Ewing Oil and chastises the cartel for taking advantage of the company’s misfortune. Pam embraces motherhood. Ray takes a loss on his real estate deal. Sue Ellen leaves the Southern Cross and wins custody of John Ross during her final divorce hearing.

Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Paul Comi (Dr. McWright), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Don Hamilton (Eric), Wiley Harker (Judge James Berwin), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Dr. Mitch Cooper), Patricia McCormack (Evelyn Michaelson), Barry Nelson (Arthur Elrod), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Herbert Rudley (Howard Barker), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), David Tress (Walter Sher), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Waterloo at Southfork” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Waterloo at Southfork

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 87 – ‘Starting Over’

November 9, 2012 by Chris Baker 29 Comments

Mine!

At the end of “Starting Over,” Bobby enters the Southfork foyer holding Christopher, the infant he believes J.R. fathered with Kristin. Bobby plans to confront his brother with the boy, but when Pam spots the newborn, she assumes her husband has finally found a child for them to adopt. “It happened!” Pam says after she snatches Christopher from Bobby’s arms. “Oh, we’ve got a baby to adopt!”

Freeze frame. Flash credits. Roll eyes.

Since the baby at the center of this scene will grow up to be Jesse Metcalfe’s character on TNT’s “Dallas,” this is one of the most consequential moments in the history of the franchise. It’s also one of the silliest. Do the writers really expect us to believe Pam would see Bobby with a baby and automatically assume it’s for her? For a woman who just checked out of a mental hospital, Pam has never seemed loonier.

Despite this, “Starting Over” is one of the fifth season’s strongest entries. The scene where Sue Ellen finally acknowledges she and Dusty have grown apart is nicely written, even if the dialogue isn’t quite as poetic as the couple’s previous farewell in the fourth-season entry “Lover, Come Back.” I also like “Starting Over’s” shot of J.R., lying alone in his shadowy New York City hotel room. It brings to mind the “Gone But Not Forgotten” scene where J.R. stands silently in the Southfork nursery, missing John Ross. This has been a dark season for our hero, hasn’t it?

My favorite scene of all comes at the beginning of “Starting Over’s” third act, when Miss Ellie summons Ray to the Southfork living room and gently gets him to admit: a) he’s bitten off more than he can chew with his latest real estate deal; and b) he should accept help from her. Ellie isn’t necessarily closer to Ray than she is to her biological sons, but their relationship feels more mature. This makes sense. Ellie and Ray did become “mother” and “son” as adults, and as she once pointed out, neither was born with the Ewing name.

More than anything, I love watching Barbara Bel Geddes and Steve Kanaly perform together. Both are terrific actors who make their characters feel like relatable people. They keep “Dallas” grounded, which is important – especially when Pam is running around Southfork, snatching babies.

Grade: A

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Dark times

‘STARTING OVER’

Season 5, Episode 10

Airdate: December 11, 1981

Audience: 23.2 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Bobby determines J.R. is Christopher’s father and brings him to Southfork, where Pam assumes the boy is a child for her and Bobby to adopt. Miss Ellie agrees to loan Ray $3 million from Ewing Oil to salvage his development deal, then discovers J.R. has depleted the company’s cash reserves. Sue Ellen breaks up with Dusty after he returns to the rodeo circuit.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Edmund Gilbert (Paul Winslow), Bruce Gray (Dr. Alan Cosby), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Laurence Haddon (Franklin Horner), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Barry Nelson (Arthur Elrod), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Starting Over” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Gone But Not Forgotten, Jesse Metcalfe, Starting Over, Steve Kanaly, TNT

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 86 – ‘Five Dollars a Barrel’

November 7, 2012 by Chris Baker 12 Comments

Keep your grin up

In “Five Dollars a Barrel,” Cliff takes over J.R.’s bank note and offers him an extension on his loan – in exchange for ownership of the oilfield that split up Jock and Digger’s partnership decades earlier. J.R. all but laughs Cliff out of his office when he hears these terms. But by the end of the episode, with J.R.’s confidence fading, he goes to Cliff, hat in hand, and signs over the field to get the extension. “I can’t believe it,” Cliff says as he reclines in his chair. “After all these years, I finally whipped J.R. Ewing.”

It’s a measure of the power of the J.R. character that we don’t feel happy for Cliff at this moment. Quite the opposite. We feel sorry for him because we know he hasn’t whipped J.R. at all. This is a temporary defeat. J.R. is going to come roaring back – and when he does, he’s going to make Cliff pay for trying to humiliate him.

Watching Larry Hagman in this scene makes me appreciate how good he is, not that I need the reminder. When Ken Kercheval delivers Cliff’s line about “finally” whipping J.R., Hagman responds with a single, slight smile. It’s more unnerving – and oddly more satisfying – than any dialogue the writers might have come up with.

There’s also a lot of humor in “Five Dollars a Barrel,” and almost all of it flows from Hagman’s deadpan delivery. In the second act, J.R. is working at his desk when Sly buzzes him. “There’s a Mr. Cliff Barnes here to see you,” she announces. “Who?” J.R. responds.

In another scene, Ray arrives home after dropping off Donna at the airport and finds J.R. waiting for him in the yard, his boots propped up on the Krebbs’ patio table. “You getting good mileage on Donna’s car?” J.R. asks through a big grin.

It’s pretty remarkable that the same smile that seems so sinister at the end of the episode is so hilarious here – but that’s Larry Hagman’s genius.

Grade: A

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Splendor in the grass

‘FIVE DOLLARS A BARREL’

Season 5, Episode 9

Airdate: December 4, 1981

Audience: 22 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Leonard Katzman

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Gary visits and gives his voting shares to Lucy, while Ray rejects J.R.’s offer to bail him out of his foundering deal. With the cartel’s help, Cliff takes over J.R.’s bank note and extends the deadline on his loan in exchange for ownership of one of the original Barnes-Ewing oilfields. Farraday agrees to sell Christopher to Bobby.

Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Peter Brandon (Greer), Lee de Broux (McCoy), J.R. Clark (Earl Holiday), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Sally Kemp (Mrs. Rogers), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Dr. Mitch Cooper), Pamela Murphy (Marie), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Robert Symonds (Martin Porter), Aggie Terry (Lori Rogers), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), David Tress (Walter Sher), Edward Winter (Dr. Frank Waring), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Five Dollars a Barrel” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Five Dollars a Barrel, Ken Kercheval, Larry Hagman

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 85 – ‘The Split’

November 2, 2012 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

Mind games

Sending J.R. and Dusty to the Cotton Bowl for their big showdown at the end of “The Split” doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but who cares? The sequence is a logistical feat, and Larry Hagman and Jared Martin deliver terrific performances. This is one of those moments from the classic “Dallas” series that fans still talk about.

Leonard Katzman, who wrote and directed “The Split,” opens the scene with J.R. arriving at the stadium in his Mercedes. He drives through the gate, down the ramp and parks at the edge of the AstroTurf. This is the sort of thing Ewings can get away with. As J.R. gets out of his car and walks onto the field, we hear whirring, and then Katzman switches to a wide shot as Dusty’s helicopter floats in from the Dallas skyline and touches down on the 50-yard line.

The arrival is another example of how the Farlows are constantly one-upping the Ewings. Southfork is grand, but the Southern Cross is grander. Jock’s relationship with his sons is full of angst, while Clayton and Dusty get along just fine. One family spends years obsessing over the birth of their first grandson, and after he finally arrives, the other family ends up raising him.

Interestingly, J.R. doesn’t summon Dusty to the stadium because he wants him to turn over John Ross. No, this is about Sue Ellen. J.R. wants his wife back, and he knows to get her, he must first drive a wedge between her and Dusty. Why else does J.R. go to the trouble of insulting Dusty’s manhood and insinuating Sue Ellen and Clayton are sleeping together? This whole sequence is confirmation that J.R. still loves Sue Ellen.

As for the setting of the scene, the only reason to have it take place at the Cotton Bowl is for metaphorical value. J.R. and Dusty are a couple of gladiators, after all. And while I’m generally not a fan of excess – please note this site isn’t called “Dynasty Decoder” – there are times when big moments are called for. J.R.’s confrontation with the man who stole his woman is one such instance.

You also have to admire “Dallas” for going to all this trouble, as Martin recalls in Barbara A. Curran’s “Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap:”

“[T]he chopper had to arrive on time and touch down at the right spot, the light had to be constant, with no wind, Larry and I would be standing on the right spot, with the cameras rolling and in focus and if either actor came up dry all the elaborate step-by-step mechanics would need to be repeated – at great cost.”

TNT’s “Dallas” memorably paid tribute to Hagman and Martin’s scene at the end of its first episode, “Changing of the Guard,” when John Ross went to Cowboys Stadium to meet with Marta del Sol. Having those characters meet in that setting made no more sense than having J.R. meet Dusty at the Cotton Bowl.

But I loved it all the same.

Grade: A

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He’ll take his wife, please

‘THE SPLIT’

Season 5, Episode 8

Airdate: November 27, 1981

Audience: 23.5 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Jock divides control of Ewing Oil among the family. Bobby decides against running for re-election. Donna’s book about Sam Culver is published, while Ray’s development deal hits a snag. Afton stops moonlighting for J.R. and spills his secrets to Cliff. J.R. tells Dusty he’ll never make Sue Ellen happy.

Cast: Bernard Behrens (Haskell), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Andy Jarrel (Neal Hart), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Barbara Stock (Heather Wilson), Robert Symonds (Martin Porter), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), David Tress (Walter Sher), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing), H.M. Wynant (Edward Chapman), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“The Split” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barbara A. Curran, Changing of the Guard (2012), Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap, Jared Martin, Larry Hagman, Leonard Katzman, Split, TNT

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 84 – ‘Blocked’

October 31, 2012 by Chris Baker 10 Comments

The gentleman from San Angelo

Howard Keel makes his ninth “Dallas” appearance in “Blocked,” but this is the first time we get a sense of who his character, Clayton Farlow, is. By the time the episode ends, two things are clear: Clayton has become a formidable foe for J.R. – and Keel has become the show’s best addition since Susan Howard arrived during the second season.

I always remembered Clayton as being the quintessential southern gentleman, so it’s been surprising to re-watch Keel’s first few episodes and be reminded that’s not how the character started out. Clayton is pretty gruff in the beginning. The best example is probably the Farlow family dinner scene in “Showdown at San Angelo,” when Clayton brusquely shoots down Sue Ellen’s suggestion that she and Dusty could go into town after their meal to see a movie.

“Blocked” marks the moment the Clayton I love emerges. In this episode, he learns someone has shut off the flow of oil to his refineries, yet he never loses his cool over it. The situation also reveals Clayton’s compassionate side: He dips into his company’s cash reserves to keep his employees from being pink-slipped, and once the Farlows realize J.R. is behind the shutdown, Clayton refuses Sue Ellen’s offer to leave the Southern Cross to spare the family further trouble.

Of course, Clayton may be kind, but he’s no pushover. In the final scene, J.R. tells Clayton he’ll release his crude – if Clayton kicks Sue Ellen and John Ross off the Southern Cross. Mr. Farlow is resolute: “No deal, J.R.” What a fantastic moment. Often when J.R. is backed into a corner, I sympathize with him, but in this instance, I root for Clayton – which is about as good an indication as any that he’s become a bona fide “Dallas” hero.

“Blocked” has other several good scenes: Senator Dickson chastises Bobby for missing several committee votes (nice of the show to remind viewers Bobby is a public official), Cliff and Afton trade barbs when he drops by the Stardust and Sue Ellen storms into J.R.’s office to confront him over his plot against the Farlows.

“Blocked” also includes the memorable moment where Donna pushes J.R. into the Southfork swimming pool. It’s a fun sequence, but after this episode, it’s pretty clear that if anyone is going to sink J.R., it’s going to be the gentleman from San Angelo.

Grade: B

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The skunk, sunk

‘BLOCKED’

Season 5, Episode 7

Airdate: November 20, 1981

Audience: 24 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Clayton refuses J.R. offer to release the Farlows’ oil in exchange for John Ross. Bobby determines Jordan didn’t father Christopher and fears Pam won’t recover from her depression. Mitch accepts Dr. Waring’s job offer.

Cast: Gary Bayer (Don Martin), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Deborah Benson (secretary), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Robert Ginnaven (Chuck Williamson), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Andy Jarrell (Neal Hart), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), David Tress (Walter Sher), Joseph Warren (Senator Dickson), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“Blocked” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Blocked, Howard Keel, Showdown at San Angelo, Susan Howard

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 83 – ‘The Big Shut Down’

October 26, 2012 by Chris Baker 12 Comments

Here he goes again

“The Big Shut Down” is the first “Dallas” episode John Parker has scored since the third season, and it features many of the compositions he created during that era of the show, including Ray and Lucy’s musical signatures and Bobby and Pam’s love theme. It’s always nice to hear these classic numbers, but does the show have to recycle so many old plotlines to go with them?

J.R. spends “The Big Shut Down” conspiring to buy up the oil supply to Clayton Farlow’s refineries so he can hold the crude “hostage” in exchange for John Ross, who now lives with Sue Ellen and the Farlows at their Southern Cross ranch. To finance this scheme, J.R. turns to smarmy banker Vaughn Leland – just like he did two seasons ago, when Vaughn arranged J.R.’s outlandish ploy to secretly mortgage Southfork.

“The Big Shut Down’s” climax – when J.R. signs the paperwork for his loan – even echoes “The Kristin Affair” scene where J.R. approves the deal that puts ownership of Southfork at risk. Both sequences take place in J.R.’s office and both end with him dismissing Vaughn’s ominous warnings. It’s less homage than outright retread.

“The Big Shut Down’s” other subplots feel just as familiar. In “Dallas’s” previous episode, “The Sweet Smell of Revenge,” the show seemed to go out of its way to suggest Pam’s depression wasn’t linked to her fertility problems. But in this installment, Pam is once again bemoaning her inability to have children. In the third act, she even recalls for Dr. Conrad the whole third-season storyline about her obsession with John Ross, reminding us how we’ve seen all this before.

Of course, not everything here is old news. “The Big Shut Down” marks one of the first appearances of Katherine Wentworth, who’ll go on to become one of the great “Dallas” vixens. Morgan Brittany is sublime in the role, right from the start. In this episode, I especially love Katherine’s deliciously bitchy reaction when she discovers Cliff has redecorated her daddy’s old office at Wentworth Tool and Die.

It’s the first time we encounter what becomes one of “Dallas’s” most enduring truisms: Never upset Katherine Wentworth!

Grade: B

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Her too

‘THE BIG SHUT DOWN’

Season 5, Episode 6

Airdate: November 13, 1981

Audience: 23.7 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Vaughn agrees to finance J.R.’s plot to cut off the Farlows’ oil supply. Jeff Farraday, the mysterious caller who contacted Bobby, sells him more information about Christopher. Pam meets Katherine. Donna steps in as Ray’s partner when Punk drops out of their latest venture.

Cast: Phillip Allen (Lloyd Bettinger), Tami Barber (Bev), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Deborah Benson (secretary), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Robert Ginnaven (Chuck Williamson), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Laurence Haddon (Franklin Horner), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), David Tress (Walter Sher), Edward Winter (Dr. Frank Waring), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“The Big Shut Down” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Big Shut Down, John Parker, Kristin Affair, Morgan Brittany, Sweet Smell of Revenge

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 82 – ‘The Sweet Smell of Revenge’

October 24, 2012 by Chris Baker 17 Comments

Saved, for now

I’ve always considered Pam’s mental breakdown in “The Sweet Smell of Revenge” to be out of character for her. The woman who tries to jump off a high-rise rooftop in this episode isn’t the strong, spirited heroine I fell for when “Dallas” began. On the other hand, the show deserves credit for taking a creative risk with this storyline – and Victoria Principal deserves praise for delivering a gutsy performance.

Mental illness wasn’t depicted a lot on television during this era – and when the subject was addressed, it was often played for laughs (see the patients on “The Bob Newhart Show”). “Dallas” breaks a little ground with Pam’s storyline, even if some of the language in Linda Elstad’s “Sweet Smell of Revenge” script – psychiatrist Dr. Conrad suggests depressed people are consumed with “self-hatred” – doesn’t quite jive with how we think of the disorder today.

For the most part, though, this episode feels progressive, especially when it comes to the reaction of Pam’s family members to her diagnosis. None of them judge or mock her (not even J.R.!), nor do they pity her; they just want her to get better. Above all, I appreciate how “The Sweet Smell of Revenge” stops trying to link Pam’s depression to her fertility problems, even if the show later reverses course and once again presents motherhood as the cure-all for Pam’s crisis.

Regardless, the best thing about “The Sweet Smell of Revenge” is Principal, who does some of her finest work on “Dallas” in this episode – particularly in the scene where Dr. Conrad meets Pam after her suicide attempt. Principal goes through an emotional gamut here – from numbness to anger to despair – yet she never goes overboard. It’s a really good performance.

Watching this scene, I thought about how Pam was one of television’s most popular heroines when this episode aired in 1981. I don’t know if Principal had qualms about the writers sending her character into such dark territory; maybe she welcomed the challenge. Whatever the case, the actress gives it her all. It’s hard not to admire that, no matter how I feel about the storyline itself.

Grade: B

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Mothers

‘THE SWEET SMELL OF REVENGE’

Season 5, Episode 5

Airdate: November 6, 1981

Audience: 22.3 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Linda Elstad

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Bobby has Pam committed to a sanitarium after she tries to jump off a building. Later, he receives a call from a man who wants $2,000 for information about Kristin and her infant son, Christopher. J.R. schemes to cut off the oil supply to the Farlow refineries. Ray and Punk consider a new real estate deal. Dr. Waring offers Mitch an internship.

Cast: Barbara Babcock (Liz Craig), Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Deborah Benson (secretary), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), J.R. Clark (Earl Holiday), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Laurence Haddon (Franklin Horner), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (caller), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), David Tress (Walter Sher), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“The Sweet Smell of Revenge” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Linda Elstad, Sweet Smell of Revenge, Victoria Principal

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 81 – ‘Little Boy Lost’

October 19, 2012 by Chris Baker 19 Comments

The victor

The Ewings are obsessed with parenthood in “Little Boy Lost.” J.R. and Sue Ellen spend the hour girding for their custody fight over John Ross, while Bobby and Pam remain preoccupied with their adoption struggles. By the time the closing credits roll, I’m convinced none of these people should be raising children.

J.R. and Sue Ellen each love John Ross, but as their courtroom showdown looms, the couple’s priorities seem pretty mixed up. J.R. wants to win custody of John Ross because he knows Jock will be furious if the child leaves Southfork for good. Sue Ellen fears John Ross will grow up to be like his father if J.R. is allowed to raise him, but it’s also clear she wants custody because she knows how much it will hurt J.R. to lose the boy. From this perspective, Sue Ellen is treating her son the way J.R. has always treated her: like another Ewing possession. Witness the self-satisfied smirk she offers J.R. in the final scene, when the judge rules in her favor.

The custody battle might not bring out the best in J.R. and Sue Ellen, but it produces “Little Boy Lost’s” strongest moments, including Miss Ellie’s dramatic confrontation with her eldest son at the beginning of the episode. I’m also a fan of Barry Nelson, who does a nice turn as Sue Ellen’s compassionate lawyer, Arthur Elrod. (Trivia: Nelson was Barbara Bel Geddes’ leading man in the 1950s Broadway production of “The Moon is Blue.”)

Bobby and Pam’s scenes in “Little Boy Lost” are much less satisfying. Pam, who began life on “Dallas” as a confident, pioneering heroine, is suddenly obsessed again with having children, a storyline that played out two seasons earlier. In the meantime, the only reason Bobby seems to want to adopt a baby is because he believes it will help his wife snap out of her odd mood. Even as Pam’s behavior grows alarming – in this episode, she spaces out at work and slips into a bizarre trance at home – Bobby clings to the belief that a child will be the cure-all to Pam’s problems.

Toward the end of “Little Boy Lost,” before Pam goes missing, Dr. Danvers finally diagnoses her as being depressed. After seeing what the “Dallas” writers have done to her character, I feel the same.

Grade: B

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Earth to Pam

‘LITTLE BOY LOST’

Season 5, Episode 4

Airdate: October 30, 1981

Audience: 20.3 million homes, ranking 5th in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Sue Ellen is awarded preliminary custody of John Ross. Mitch impresses a wealthy doctor when he saves the man’s wife from choking. Rebecca’s daughter Katherine visits. Pam goes missing.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Niki Flack (Beverly Waring), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Jerry Haynes (Pat Powers), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Arthur Malet (Forest), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Pamela Murphy (Marie), Barry Nelson (Arthur Elrod), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Herbert Rudley (Howard Barker), Donegan Smith (Jackson), Liam Sullivan (Judge William Packer), Edward Winter (Dr. Frank Waring), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson), John Zaremba (Dr. Harlan Danvers)

“Little Boy Lost” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Barry Nelson, Little Boy Lost

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 80 – ‘Showdown at San Angelo’

October 17, 2012 by Chris Baker 16 Comments

Still searching

At the beginning of “Dallas’s” fifth season, Sue Ellen flees Southfork with John Ross and seeks sanctuary at the Southern Cross, the ranch where her onetime lover Dusty Farlow lives with his father Clayton. In “Showdown at San Angelo,” we get a glimpse of what our heroine’s new life is like – and how different it is from the one she left behind.

Make no mistake: The Farlows are like a Bizarro World version of the Ewings. Both families are rich and powerful – and both have big ranches and cool choppers – but the similarities pretty much end there.

Consider the “Showdown at San Angelo” scene where Bobby and Ray each threaten to pulverize J.R. after he makes a series of mean-spirited wisecracks during breakfast on the Southfork patio. It’s a far cry from the staid dinner scene at the Southern Cross, where the table talk is about refineries and livestock.

Yet just because Sue Ellen’s new home is different doesn’t mean it’s better. Dusty, crippled after a plane crash, is unable to make love to her. When one of their warm embraces turns passionate, Sue Ellen apologizes, recalling those early “Dallas” scenes where she was embarrassed to let J.R. know she felt unfulfilled sexually. No wonder she sneaks into John Ross’s nursery for a good cry in this episode.

The show seems to be letting the audience know Sue Ellen still hasn’t found her place in the world. She was unhappy at Southfork; things aren’t much better at the Southern Cross. The new ranch might be a haven, but it isn’t Sue Ellen’s home.

We see this during “Showdown at San Angelo’s” memorable final scene, when J.R. and Miss Ellie visit the Southern Cross to see John Ross. (This also marks the first time Ellie meets Clayton, who will eventually become her second husband.) It turns out J.R. is only using Ellie as a Trojan horse to nab John Ross, and when she discovers this, she refuses to go along with his ploy.

As J.R. and Ellie board the Southfork helicopter and fly away, Sue Ellen holds John Ross tightly and the Farlows close ranks around her. It’s almost as if they are holding her tightly. Might they also be holding her back?

Grade: A

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Meet the Farlows

‘SHOWDOWN AT SAN ANGELO’

Season 5, Episode 3

Airdate: October 23, 1981

Audience: 21.3 million homes, ranking 5th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Leonard Katzman

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Miss Ellie returns to Dallas without Jock, whom the State Department has recruited for a mission to South America. Bobby and Pam consider adopting a child but are frustrated by the lengthy waiting list. Rebecca persuades Cliff to run Wentworth Tool and Die, one of her late husband’s companies. Mitch graduates medical school. J.R. tries to use Ellie to nab John Ross from the Southern Cross but she refuses to comply.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), James L. Brown (Harry McSween), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Bruce French (Jerry Macon), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Lynn Wood (Ms. Bruce), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Showdown at San Angelo” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Showdown at San Angelo

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 79 – ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’

October 12, 2012 by Chris Baker 10 Comments

Foiled again!

At the end of “Gone But Not Forgotten,” Sue Ellen and John Ross are gliding cheerfully through a Love Field airport terminal when they’re suddenly approached by two of J.R.’s goons. While one man distracts Sue Ellen, the other snatches the child. Is this the end of our heroine’s bid for happiness?

No, because seconds later, Dusty Farlow and a trio of white-hatted cowboys swarm the thug clutching John Ross. “Give us the boy,” Dusty says, and even though he’s using crutches to stand, there’s no doubt he means business. As Sue Ellen and John Ross are reunited, J.R., who’s been watching the whole thing from a mezzanine, fumes.

Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Jared Martin are terrific here, but the real star is Bruce Broughton, whose score lets us know exactly what we should be feeling as we watch Dusty come to Sue Ellen’s rescue. I especially love how the music swells when director Leonard Katzman zooms in on J.R. the moment his scheme is foiled.

But as much as I like this sequence, the highlight of “Gone But Not Forgotten” comes at the end of the first act, when Katzman pans his camera across John Ross’s darkened Southfork nursery and stops at the doorway. The character we expect to see standing there is Pam, who has been using the boy’s absence as the means to express her dashed dreams of having children, but instead we find J.R. looking around the room in silence.

It’s impossible to watch this scene and not be reminded of the third-season episode “Paternity Suit,” when J.R. walks into the nursery and picks up John Ross for the first time. As joyous as that moment was, this one is very sad. Once again, Broughton’s music is instructive: His piano score shifts to a few bars of the “Dallas” theme when the camera reaches J.R.

For the audience, the “Gone But Not Forgotten” nursery scene is also useful. Hagman’s sad eyes let us know John Ross isn’t just a pawn in J.R.’s war with Sue Ellen. J.R. genuinely loves the boy, and it’s hard to not feel bad for a dad who misses his son – even when that father is J.R. Ewing.

Grade: A

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Her hero

‘GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN’

Season 5, Episode 2

Airdate: October 16, 1981

Audience: 23.1 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: J.R. is cleared in Kristin’s death and hires a new secretary: Sly. Dusty foils J.R.’s scheme to snatch John Ross from Sue Ellen. Pam’s preoccupation with having children worries Bobby. Afton breaks up with Cliff.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Raleigh Bond (pathologist), James L. Brown (Harry McSween), Barry Corbin (Sherriff Fenton Washburn), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Bruce French (Jerry Macon), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Heather Lowe (Heather), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Bill Morey (judge), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Herbert Rudley (Howard Barker), Lane Smith (prosecutor), William Smithers (Jeremy Wendell), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Gone But Not Forgotten” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.