Dallas Decoder

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Now That I Just Won’t Take!’

September 24, 2012 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

Hear her roar

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “The Gathering Storm,” Lucy and Mitch (Charlene Tilton, Leigh McCloskey) argue in their living room.

MITCH: Lucy, do you realize what’s happening to us?

LUCY: No, but apparently you do.

MITCH: We’re like roommates. We pass each other either coming or going. We don’t have a marriage. We have a quick-change routine.

LUCY: And naturally, it’s my fault.

MITCH: Well, it certainly isn’t mine. I don’t have limousines calling for me at dawn every day and I don’t come dragging in at 10:30 at night.

LUCY: Oh, no. Oh, no. Now that I just won’t take! You said it, mister. You said it loud and clear. We’ll live on “our income.” [Does air quotes] Remember that?

MITCH: I didn’t say, “our income.” I said we’d live on mine.

LUCY: Oh, great. So you’re going to park cars and work at the lab for nickels and dimes. And we’re going to live happily ever after. Is that it?

MITCH: Yes, if we have to!

LUCY: I don’t believe this. What rulebook did you drag that out of? Something that was written in the Dark Ages?

MITCH: [Sighs] I don’t need a rulebook to tell me how I feel.

LUCY: Feel about what?

MITCH: Well, that damn gold chain for one thing. Don’t you know I wanna be able to give you things like that, but I can’t?

LUCY: Oh Mitch, stop it.

MITCH: Yeah, what, at nickels and dimes you’d have to wait 10 years.

LUCY: OK, I’m sorry I said that. But it’s not my money. And it’s not your money. It’s ours. What difference does it make who earns it?

MITCH: It makes all the difference in the world. Now, if you don’t see that, and if you can’t understand what’s wrong, then we’re in real trouble.

LUCY: You said it. Not me. Just remember that. [She turns and begins walking away.]

MITCH: Lucy, look.

LUCY: [Facing him, screaming] No, you look. I have had it up to here with this stupid macho act of yours. I work my butt off to bring money home so we can live decently and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna apologize for that!

MITCH: You really don’t see anything wrong then, do you?

LUCY: Not a thing!

MITCH: Well, then I guess there’s nothing left to be said. [Grabs his coat, leaves]

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Charlene Tilton, Gathering Storm, Leigh McCloskey

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 73 – ‘The Gathering Storm’

September 24, 2012 by Chris Baker 20 Comments

Scene from a marriage

I’ve always considered Charlene Tilton one of “Dallas’s” charismatic actresses, although I haven’t always been a fan of her character. In “The Gathering Storm,” Lucy stands up for herself in the face of husband Mitch’s sexism, which makes me want to stand up and cheer her on. This episode makes me love Lucy.

The character’s big moment comes in the second act, when Lucy comes home late after a lengthy photo shoot. Mitch is angry, not so much because his wife missed dinner, but because she now brings home a bigger paycheck than him.

“It’s not my money, and it’s not your money. It’s ours,” Lucy says. “What difference does it make who earns it?”

“It makes all the difference in the world,” Mitch snaps.

This is “The Gathering Storm’s” best scene, thanks to Tilton and Leigh McCloskey’s convincing performances and scriptwriter Robert J. Shaw’s realistic dialogue. Lucy and Mitch’s argument sounds like the kind of fight a real-life couple might have had in the early 1980s, when more women were moving into the work force and men like Mitch were learning to adjust.

I’m pretty sure “Dallas” wants us to “side” with Lucy during the argument, although the show goes out of its way to not vilify Mitch’s sexist attitude. In one scene, he says the reason he and Lucy are fighting is because they have “totally different values.” That’s true, but casting the character’s chauvinism as a “value” makes it seem nobler than it deserves.

Still, the dissolution of Mitch and Lucy’s marriage feels credible, based on what we know about these characters. This is true for Jock and Miss Ellie too. It’s difficult to watch them argue in “The Gathering Storm,” but I believe Ellie when she says she’s tired of Jock’s lack of sensitivity, just like I believe him when he expresses his frustration with her stubborn idealism.

Of course, the sadness I feel seeing Jock and Ellie separate is nothing compared to the pain that comes from watching Jim Davis’s performance in “The Gathering Storm.” The cancer-stricken actor’s health was deteriorating when this episode was filmed – and it shows. Like this episode’s title suggests, dark clouds are moving over “Dallas,” and not just in front of the camera.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Runaway husband

‘THE GATHERING STORM’

Season 4, Episode 19

Airdate: March 27, 1981

Audience: 25 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Robert J. Shaw

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: The Takapa fight continues: Jock moves out of Southfork and J.R. offers to sell the company to rival oil baron Jeremy Wendell to prevent it from being dragged into his parents’ looming divorce. Cliff begins snooping into the counter-revolution in Asia and receives a visit from Rebecca, who doesn’t reveal she’s his mother.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Cherie Beasley (Tootie Smith), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Ellen Bry (Jean Hallinan), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Susan Flannery (Leslie Stewart), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Morgan Hart (Jenny Smith), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Monte Markham (Clint Ogden), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Hortense Petra (Maggie) Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), William Smithers (Jeremy Wendell), Christopher Stone (Dave Stratton), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)

“The Gathering Storm” 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: Charlene Tilton, Gathering Storm, Jim Davis, Leigh McCloskey, Robert J. Shaw

Dallas Parallels: Counterfeit Correspondence

September 21, 2012 by Chris Baker 14 Comments

In the most intense scene in “Changing of the Guard,” TNT’s first “Dallas” episode, Christopher angrily accuses Elena of exposing flaws in his methane hydrate project. She fires back by calling him out for dumping her – via e-mail! – on the day they were supposed to be married.

“I never sent you an e-mail!” Christopher exclaims. “I waited for you. For six hours! I thought you were dead, Elena. I was calling hospitals. I called Southfork. And when I finally got together with my father, he said you were in Mexico. And the next time I saw you, you had hooked up with John Ross!”

So begins one of the biggest mysteries of the new “Dallas’s” first season: Who sent the e-mail that broke up Christopher and Elena? The storyline produces more than a few twists, and as the Dallas Redone blog noted in June, it also evokes memories of another pair of star-crossed Southfork lovers who were kept apart by counterfeit correspondence.

During the classic “Dallas’s” seventh season, baby Christopher’s newly separated parents, Bobby and Pam, were on the verge of reconciling when they encountered interference from another relative: Pam’s conniving half-sister Katherine, who forged a letter in which Pam told her lawyer she no longer wanted to be married to Bobby but would return to Southfork to avoid hurting him.

Katherine, hoping to snare her sister’s husband for herself, showed Bobby the letter, knowing it would prompt him to give Pam the divorce he believe she wanted. The ploy worked and Bobby and Pam were kept apart.

In “Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie,” the penultimate episode of “Dallas’s” seventh season, the truth finally came out. In a quiet, moving performance from Victoria Principal, Pam pours out her heart and tells her ex-husband she never wanted to end their marriage. The revelation confuses Bobby, who reminds Pam what she had written in the letter to her lawyer.

“What letter?” Pam asks.

The conversation is interrupted by a ringing telephone – symbolic, perhaps, of the bells going off in Pam’s mind. At the end of the episode, she confronts Katherine (played to wicked perfection by Morgan Brittany), who brazenly confesses to her forgery – prompting Pam to smack her so hard, Katherine falls onto a nearby bed.

Flash forward three decades: In “Truth and Consequences,” TNT’s fifth “Dallas” episode, after Christopher pulls Rebecca aside at the Ewing barbecue, she tells him Tommy sent the e-mail that broke up him and Elena – which leads to Christopher striking Tommy in front of the other guests.

Like Pam’s smackdown, Christopher’s punch offered a satisfying flash of catharsis for viewers who knew Tommy was secretly plotting against the Ewings. It also reminded us: The Ewing men may have a lot in common with their daddies, but sometimes they take after their mamas.

‘What Letter?’

What letter?

In “Hush, Hush, Sweet Jessie,” a seventh-season “Dallas” episode, Pam (Victoria Principal) stands at a window in her living room while Bobby (Patrick Duffy) rests on the arm of a sofa.

PAM: I laid awake most of the night, just thinking. Thinking about how sad everything is. There have been so many tragedies in the past couple of years. Mama’s dying. Now Mark’s dying. Our marriage breaking up. Sometimes I just can’t believe that we’re divorced. I don’t know, Bobby. We should have found some way to have made it work.

BOBBY: I don’t disagree with that.

PAM: I thought a lot about our splitting up. It wasn’t just your fault or the Ewings’ fault. A lot of it was my fault too. You don’t know this, but I came to Thanksgiving Square that day to tell you that I was ready to try again.

BOBBY: Try? Try what, getting back together?

PAM: Yes.

BOBBY: Well, that’s very strange. I was sure you didn’t want to.

PAM: Oh, Bobby, I wanted to. I always wanted to. I just didn’t know if I could. [Walks toward him, they sit together on the sofa] Anyway, before I could say anything, you told me that you were letting me go.

BOBBY: But that’s because of your letter.

PAM: What letter?

BOBBY: The letter that you wrote to your lawyer. Maybe it was a first draft or something. Maybe you didn’t even send it. But Katherine found it and read it to me. It wasn’t the easiest thing I ever listened to.

PAM: Do you remember what was in it?

BOBBY: You said you wanted out of the marriage. You didn’t want to divorce me. You were afraid it would hurt me. You were hoping that I’d let you go.

In the background, a telephone rings.

PAM: Katherine read you this letter?

BOBBY: Yes. And despite how I felt at the time, it made me realize you wanted a different life.

‘I Never Sent You an E-mail!’

What e-mail?

In “Changing of the Guard,” the first episode of TNT’s “Dallas,” Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) angrily leads Elena (Jordana Brewster) into a room at Southfork and slams the door behind them.

CHRISTOPHER: You couldn’t wait to tell him.

ELENA: What?

CHRISTOPHER: About the methane. The earthquake. Everything I told you in confidence, you told John Ross!

ELENA: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

CHRISTOPHER: [Grips her arms] Don’t lie to me!

ELENA: [Pushes him away] Let go.

CHRISTOPHER: Don’t lie to me!

ELENA: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

CHRISTOPHER: John Ross tried to blackmail me. He said he was going to tell my father everything.

ELENA: I didn’t tell him anything.

CHRISTOPHER: And what you did? What you did was for nothing. Because he doesn’t love you. He uses people. And you want to know what’s really sick? I trusted you again.

ELENA: [Slaps him] John Ross doesn’t love anyone but himself? You look in the mirror, Christopher. You listen to your own words. I will always love you. [Crying] But we are two different people, from two different circumstances. I hope you understand. Was I really so wrong for you?

CHRISTOPHER: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

ELENA: The e-mail you sent me. The day we were supposed to get married.

CHRISTOPHER: I never sent you an e-mail! I waited for you. For six hours! I thought you were dead, Elena. [Crying] I was calling hospitals. I called Southfork. And when I finally got together with my father, he said you were in Mexico. And the next time I saw you, you had hooked up with John Ross! So what was I supposed to think?

ELENA: You sent me an e-mail saying that we were a mistake.

CHRISTOPHER: What?

ELENA: I only went to Mexico because I couldn’t stand to be here. John

Ross found me. I thought I wasn’t good enough.

CHRISTOPHER: No. [Touches her face] No. Don’t ever say that.

What do you think of Pam and Christopher’s moments of truth? Share your comments below and read more “Dallas Parallels.”

Filed Under: Dallas Parallels, Features Tagged With: Changing of the Guard (2012), Dallas Redone, Hush Hush Sweet Jessie, Jesse Metcalfe, Jordana Brewster, Morgan Brittany, Patrick Duffy, TNT, Victoria Principal

Knots Landing Scene of the Day: ‘You Won’t Cheat Old J.R.’

September 20, 2012 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

Fine lady, fine print

In “Knots Landing’s” second-season episode “Designs,” Abby (Donna Mills) meets with J.R. (Larry Hagman) in his hotel room.

J.R.: Now, you see? You didn’t need Gary after all, did you?

ABBY: No, but I wanted him.

J.R.: Disappointed?

ABBY: I’ll live. [Rises from her seat, shows J.R. a legal document]

J.R.: What’s this?

ABBY: A contract. A girl has to protect herself.

J.R.: In Texas, a man’s word is worth a whole lot more than a little piece of paper.

ABBY: We’re in California.

J.R.: [Chuckles, sits, signs it] OK.

ABBY: Aren’t you going to read it?

J.R.: No. You’re not going to cheat old J.R. [Hands her the paper] There you are. Now that’s finished, partner.

ABBY: For the time being.

J.R.: You know, now that we’ve consummated that, I’m getting a little restless.

ABBY: Well, maybe that you ought to learn how to relax.

J.R.: Oh, Abby, I know how to relax. [Pulls her onto the sofa, kisses her]

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Designs, Donna Mills, Knots Landing, Larry Hagman

Critique: ‘Knots Landing’ Episode 30 – ‘Designs’

September 20, 2012 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

Stick it to him

In “Designs,” J.R. once again visits “Knots Landing” and once again, the results are disappointing. These crossover episodes are almost never as good as they should be.

On paper, occasionally sending “Dallas” characters to Seaview Circle makes perfect sense. “Dallas” was television’s most-watched series in the early 1980s, when “Knots Landing” was still struggling to find an audience. CBS, the network that aired both shows, probably encouraged the “Knots Landing” producers to make room for “Dallas” characters a few times each season to goose the spinoff’s ratings.

Since Bobby and Lucy are on friendly terms with “Knots Landing’s” Gary and Valene, it was plausible to have them show up in the cul-de-sac from time to time. But J.R. despises his Southern California relatives, which meant the “Knots Landing” writers had to keep coming up with excuses to bring him to town.

In “Designs,” J.R. offers to patent the cleaner car engine Sid Fairgate has been developing in his spare time. Yes, J.R. does business with part-time garage inventors. This surprises you?

To be fair, Diana Gould and Robert W. Gilmer’s script has J.R. tell Sid’s wife Karen he’s interested in the engine because “money is money. I don’t care whether it comes from burning oil or saving it.” It seems more likely J.R. wants to seize Sid’s project so he can kill it, but this is never made clear. I don’t mind a little ambiguity now and then, but since car engines are so far outside J.R.’s realm, it would be nice to have a better idea of what he’s up to.

The script also requires J.R. to spend almost all his time with the Fairgates, whom he barely knows and who aren’t exactly his kind of people to begin with. “Designs” also offers several scenes between J.R. and Sid’s scheming sister Abby, and like J.R. and Abby’s scenes in “A Family Matter,” their “Designs” alliance isn’t as much fun as you might expect. Donna Mills and Larry Hagman make a fine couple, but I’d still rather see J.R. fight with Val than fawn over Abby. Unfortunately, Hagman and Joan Van Ark share no scenes in this episode. Talk about your missed opportunities.

Given how much I love Hagman’s “Knots Landing” debut in the first-season episode “Community Spirit,” I’m as surprised as anyone to find his subsequent visits so lacking. For J.R., maybe one trip out west was enough.

Grade: C

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Backseat affair

‘DESIGNS’

“Knots Landing” Season 2, Episode 17

Airdate: March 26, 1981

Audience: 16.3 million homes, ranking 18th in the weekly ratings

Writers: Diana Gould and Robert W. Gilmer

Director: Nicholas Sgarro

Synopsis: Sid rejects J.R.’s offer to patent his design for a cleaner car engine. Abby sneaks a copy of the design to J.R., but she makes him sign a contract that protects her brother’s interest in the project. J.R. and Abby consummate their deal by having sex.

Cast: Tonya Crowe (Olivia Cunningham), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing) James Houghton (Kenny Ward), Bobby Jacoby (Brian Cunningham), Barry Jenner (Jeff Cunningham), Kim Lankford (Ginger Ward), Michele Lee (Karen Fairgate), Claudia Lonow (Diana Fairgate), Constance McCashin (Laura Avery), Donna Mills (Abby Cunningham), Don Murray (Sid Fairgate), John Pleshette (Richard Avery), Arthur Rosenberg (Dr. Harper), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Steve Shaw (Eric Fairgate), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing), John Volstad (bellhop)

Watch “Designs” on DVD and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Community Spirit, Designs, Donna Mills, Family Matter, Joan Van Ark, Knots Landing, Larry Hagman

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘That Has Nothing to Do With Me’

September 19, 2012 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

Conflicted

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “The Mark of Cain,” Bobby (Patrick Duffy) is participating in a senate committee meeting on the Takapa Lake legislation – along with Chairman Harbin (David Healy) and fellow senators Dickson (Joseph Warren), Carson (John Hart) and Varela (John Arvilla) – when Dickson asks to speak.

HARBIN: The chair recognizes Senator Dickson.

DICKSON: May we speak informally for a few minutes, please?

HARBIN: If you’d like to, senator. [Toward stenographer] Please don’t record this.

DICKSON: I’d like to address what I have to say to our new senator, Mr. Bobby Ewing. [Smiling] Senator, do you think you can address this problem in a disinterested fashion?

BOBBY: [Puzzled] Senator?

DICKSON: I think there’s a conflict of interest here.

BOBBY: I wish to address this committee on the record.

VARELA: [Leaning forward] There is certainly a conflict of interest, senator. That great organization, the Daughters of the Alamo, they are behind the present injunction of the court and Mrs. Ellie Ewing is chairing the Save Takapa Committee.

HARBIN: Gentleman –

DICKSON: On the other hand, one of the directors of Unified Development is Mr. Jock Ewing.

BOBBY: That has nothing to do with me.

CARSON: Mr. Ewing, with all due respect, this is the way I see it. Your daddy’s people have the perfect right to try and build a resort at Takapa, if that’s their choosing. But how’s it gonna look if there’s a Ewing on this panel?

BOBBY: Mr. Chairman, I have no interest in Unified.

DICKSON: [Smiling] But you have an interest in Ewing Oil.

CARSON: Now, don’t get us wrong, Mr. Ewing. We’re not concerned that the newly elected senator’s in the oil business. After all, there’s a whole lot of people in Texas in the oil business, including some of our most distinguished members. [Harbin and Carson smile.]

DICKSON: The problem, senator, is that the Ewing family has a present financial interest in Takapa.

VARELA: The way I see it, senator, it would be best for everyone, and for this senate body in particular, if you were to ask the lieutenant governor to remove you from this panel.

Bobby looks surprised.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: David Healy, John Arvilla, John Hart, Joseph Warren, Mark of Cain, Patrick Duffy

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 72 – ‘The Mark of Cain’

September 19, 2012 by Chris Baker 11 Comments

Mr. Clean

In the Bible, God physically marks Cain to warn the world of the man’s sinful nature. In “The Mark of Cain,” Bobby discovers he bears a similar – albeit metaphorical – stain when his new colleagues in the state senate wonder if his family ties will compromise his integrity.

Bobby is assigned to the senate committee that will decide the fate of the proposed development at Takapa Lake, a project that has divided the Ewings. Jock and Ray are investors in the development, while Miss Ellie and Donna are leading the fight to preserve the land.

At first blush, it might seem unfair for Bobby’s fellow senators to be suspicious of him, but let’s face it: Senator Ewing has a glaring conflict of interest. In real life, there’s no way he would be permitted to be involved with any Takapa-related dealings in the statehouse. But this is “Dallas,” so Bobby refuses to recuse himself, casting his decision as an example of his Capra-esque idealism. “I promised the people in my district that I’d represent them. I’m not going to back out of this committee just because it’s unpleasant,” Senator Ewing tells his colleagues.

Despite this credibility stretch, Bobby’s move into politics shows promise. His new role as a senator plops him in the middle of the Takapa storyline, one of the most sweeping narratives in “Dallas” history. Several major characters are now involved in the fight over the project (interestingly, J.R. isn’t one of them), which allows “Dallas” to return to one of its most resilient themes: the conflict between conservation and capitalism.

I’m also happy to see Lucy experience some professional success in “The Mark of Cain.” Her new modeling gig makes her seem more adult and adds strain to her marriage to Mitch, a storyline I appreciate more now than I did when I watched “Dallas” in my youth.

Of course, it’s worth noting Lucy gets the job mainly because she’s a Ewing. So like Uncle Bobby, she also bears the mark of Cain – but for her, it isn’t a curse.

Grade: B

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Model wife

‘THE MARK OF CAIN’

Season 4, Episode 18

Airdate: March 6, 1981

Audience: 25.1 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Leah Markus

Director: Larry Hagman

Synopsis: Bobby is assigned to the senate committee that will decide the fate of the Takapa project and resists pressure to quit the post. Jock and Ellie continue fighting. Leslie tells J.R. she wants him, but only after he divorces Sue Ellen. Rebecca, now widowed, moves to Dallas. Lucy’s newfound fame as a model rankles Mitch.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Joel Brooks (Larry), Ellen Bry (Jean), Jeff Cooper (Dr. Simon Elby), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Susan Flannery (Leslie Stewart), Meg Gallagher (Louella), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), John Hart (Senator Carson), David Healy (Senator Harbin), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Monte Markham (Clint Ogden), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Jay Varela (Senator Arvilla), Joseph Warren (Senator Dickson), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“The Mark of Cain” 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: Mark of Cain

The Art of Dallas: ‘The New Mrs. Ewing’

September 18, 2012 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

J.R. and Leslie (Larry Hagman, Susan Flannery) watch Bobby’s televised victory speech in this 1981 publicity shot from “The New Mrs. Ewing,” a fourth-season “Dallas” episode.

Filed Under: Art of Dallas, Art of Dallas (Classic), Features Tagged With: Larry Hagman, New Mrs. Ewing, Susan Flannery

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘You Both Sicken Me!’

September 18, 2012 by Chris Baker 6 Comments

Ouch

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “The New Mrs. Ewing,” Jock (Jim Davis) slams closed the doors to the Southfork living room, where he stands alone with J.R. (Larry Hagman).

JOCK: I couldn’t believe it. My own son, letting some little no-account alley cat swing you by your big toe. Letting her screw up the deal with the cartel. I thought I brought you up better than that. A woman’s place is in the bedroom, sure as hell not in the boardroom.

Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) enters.

ELLIE: Very nice, Jock.

JOCK: Oh, didn’t hear you come in, Ellie.

ELLIE: Obviously.

JOCK: Now, look Miss Ellie, you know I didn’t mean to –

ELLIE: I know what you meant. You believe that the woman’s place is two steps behind the man – except when walking through a minefield.

JOCK: You don’t understand, Ellie. J.R. let that uppity Leslie Stewart spoil his deal with the cartel.

ELLIE: Well, you and J.R. should know all about spoilers, Jock.

JOCK: Now, what’s that supposed to mean, Miss Ellie?

ELLIE: Everything you touch you spoil. Relationships, people’s lives.

J.R.: Well, Mama, I think you’re exaggerating a little bit.

ELLIE: Am I? J.R., you and your daddy use people up and then throw them away. Even members of your own family. [She begins to leave, then turns to face them.] You both sicken me!

She leaves, slamming the door behind her.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis, Larry Hagman, New Mrs. Ewing

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 71 – ‘The New Mrs. Ewing’

September 18, 2012 by Chris Baker 16 Comments

Hitched

“The New Mrs. Ewing” is probably supposed to refer to Donna, who marries Ray in this episode’s fourth act, but it could easily apply to any of “Dallas’s” women. There’s something new about all of them in this installment.

Consider Sue Ellen, who is depressed at the top of the hour because Dusty has sent her away. She visits Dr. Elby, who declares her willingness to let Dusty go is a sign of personal growth. “By putting Dusty’s desires before your own, you’ve made a really mature decision,” Elby says.

With her spirits lifted, Sue Ellen turns again to Clint, only to discover he now has cold feet about having an affair with her. This time, Sue Ellen doesn’t take “no” for an answer. She aggressively seduces Clint, and while I suppose we should admire her for taking charge of her own sexuality, isn’t this just another example of Sue Ellen only being able to find fulfillment in the arms of a man?

Leslie also takes on a new role in “The New Mrs. Ewing” when she dares to offer an opinion during J.R.’s meeting with Jordan and Marilee, who want him to join the cartel’s new strip-mining venture. Leslie tells the group the unsavory project could ruin the image she has cultivated Ewing Oil – a comment that angers Jordan and Marilee and embarrasses J.R., who chastises Leslie for interfering with his business.

But the reprimand J.R. gives Leslie is nothing compared to the chewing-out he receives when Jock gets wind of her antics. “My own son, letting some little no-account alley cat swing you around by your big toe,” Jock says. The line is undeniably corny, but I suspect it’s only because scriptwriter Linda Elstad wants us to see how ridiculous Jock’s views are.

The other “Dallas” women also move into new roles in this episode, including Lucy, who gets a job as a spokesmodel (“Miss Young Dallas”) for Alex’s latest magazine, and Pam, who becomes a political wife when Bobby wins his state senate race. Meanwhile, Miss Ellie adopts a new, angrier persona: She gets into an argument with Jock and J.R., telling them, “You both sicken me.”

Wow, that’s harsh! As far as this new Mrs. Ewing is concerned, I think I’d like the old one back.

Grade: B

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Step by step

‘THE NEW MRS. EWING’

Season 4, Episode 17

Airdate: February 27, 1981

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

Writer: Linda Elstad

Director: Patrick Duffy

Synopsis: Bobby is elected state senator, hires Cliff as an aide and tells Alex to stay away from Pam. Leslie costs J.R. a deal, angering him. Sue Ellen sleeps with Clint. Lucy becomes Miss Young Dallas. Ray and Donna are married. Miss Ellie learns Jock is behind the Takapa development.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Jeff Cooper (Dr. Simon Elby), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Joel Fabiani (Alex Ward), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Susan Flannery (Leslie Stewart), Meg Gallagher (Louella), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Culver), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherrill Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Monte Markham (Clint Ogden), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Robert Sampson (Justin Carlisle), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

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