Joel Fabiani – Dallas Decoder

Dallas Parallels: The Good Husband

The original “Dallas’s” pilot, “Digger’s Daughter,” opens with Bobby and Pam racing home to Southfork after their spur-of-the-moment elopement in New Orleans. Later, J.R. hints his younger brother doesn’t know his new wife as well as he should – a suggestion Bobby flatly rejects. As he declares in the episode’s final scene, “Pamela’s past is none of my business. She was not my wife in the past – but she is now.”

Looking back, I can’t help but think maybe J.R. had a point. Don’t get me wrong: Bobby and Pam’s love story was written in the stars, but throughout their marriage – er, marriages – Bobby seems to be constantly finding out things about Pam he didn’t know.

Examples: In Season 2, Bobby is surprised to learn she was married to another man before him. In Season 4, he’s shocked to find out she came this close to having an affair. In Season 11, Bobby is stunned when Pam, after being badly burned in a car crash, runs away to spare him the indignity of having a wife who isn’t pretty.

You have to wonder: Would these two have benefitted from a longer engagement?

History seems to be repeating itself on TNT’s “Dallas.” Bobby and third wife Ann have been married for several years when the new series opens, but it’s clear he doesn’t know her as well as he thought.

It begins in “The Enemy of My Enemy,” when Bobby finds Ann sobbing on the Southfork patio after receiving a mysterious locket from her ex-husband Harris Ryland. Bobby, ever the hothead, goes charging into Ryland’s office, grabs him by the lapels and backhands him.

This recalls the scene in the classic show’s second-season episode “Double Wedding,” when Bobby angrily confronts Pam’s first husband Ed Haynes, whose sudden return rattles her as much as the locket upsets Ann. Bobby is just as angry with Haynes as he is with Ryland, and both scenes end with Bobby jabbing a finger in the other man’s face and delivering an ultimatum (To Haynes: “I want you out of Dallas!” To Ryland: “You stay away from Ann!”).

In “Collateral Damage,” TNT’s next episode, after Ryland has Bobby arrested for assault, Bobby follows his lawyer’s advice and begrudgingly apologizes. But Ryland has a trick up his sleeve: He tells Bobby that Ann is “holding something back” and hands him an envelope. “Take a look inside,” Ryland says. “Come to your own conclusions. There’s a lot about Annie you don’t know.”

Here, we see parallels to the older show’s fourth-season episode “The New Mrs. Ewing,” when Bobby confronts Alex Ward, the magazine publisher who has been wooing Pam. Both scenes take place in the other man’s office, both suggest the other man has a sexist attitude toward his secretary (Ward calls his “hon,” Ryland refers to his as “dear”) and during both confrontations, Bobby threatens to pulverize the other man. (To Ward: “I’ll beat the hell out of you.” To Ryland: “I will beat you into next Sunday.”)

Most importantly, both scenes end with the other man turning the tables on Bobby. Just as Bobby is unsettled by Ryland’s envelope, he’s unnerved when Ward suggests Pam wanted to sleep with him because she felt neglected.

Bobby and Pam’s relationship survived her flirtation with Ward, and my guess is Bobby and Ann are going to be fine too. In the closing moments of “Collateral Damage,” Bobby shows Ann the envelope from Ryland. “I don’t need to open this,” Bobby says as he sets it aside and touches his wife’s face. “Everything I need to know about you is right here.”

The line evokes memories of Bobby’s “Digger’s Daughter” declaration that Pam’s past is “none of my business.” It also reminds us: On “Dallas,” some things never change.

Thank goodness.

‘She Needed Me’

Smug

In “The New Mrs. Ewing,” a fourth-season “Dallas” episode, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) bursts into the office of Alex Ward (Joel Fabiani) as Ward’s secretary is leaving.

WARD: [To the secretary] It’s all right, hon. Go out and close the door please. [To Bobby] What are you doing here?

BOBBY: I just came to tell you to stay away from my wife. You’ve been chasing her. I want you to stop it right now.

WARD: I don’t deny that I find your wife attractive. And I also admit that I tried my very best to charm her [stands up, faces Bobby]. But only because I felt she needed me. If I hadn’t felt that way, I never would have raised an eyebrow. I don’t play games I don’t feel I can win.

BOBBY: Listen you phony, my wife is not first prize in some game. Now I’m warning you: Stay away from her. This time I’m talking. Next time, I’ll beat the hell out of you.

WARD: If you’re really concerned about your wife, let me make a suggestion: Talk to her. I made my move only because I knew there was something wrong with your marriage [walks to the door, holds it open for Bobby]. After all, she’d never have even looked at me if there hadn’t been.

‘She’s Holding Something Back’

Smarmy

In “Collateral Damage,” TNT’s seventh “Dallas” episode, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) is seated across from Harris Ryland (Mitch Pileggi) at the desk in Ryland’s office.

RYLAND: Getting the police involved, I hate stooping to that. It’s an ugly gesture. I apologize.

BOBBY: If by “ugly” you mean “cowardly,” then yes, it was very ugly.

RYLAND: Then if you’re not here to apologize, I’m afraid it’s going to have to be a necessary gesture.

BOBBY: It’s not necessary, Harris. I apologize.

RYLAND: [Picks up the phone] Linda, call my lawyer. Tell him I want to drop all charges against Mr. Ewing. Yeah, thank you dear [hangs up the phone]. See? It was painless.

BOBBY: I want to be very clear, Harris. My apology doesn’t mean I take back what I did. You mess with my wife in any way, and I will beat you into next Sunday.

RYLAND: Not if you’re smart, you won’t.

BOBBY: I was more than ready to go to court. But I didn’t want to drag it out and cause my wife more pain – pain you are responsible for.

RYLAND: You know, I thought you might come asking. So, here you go. [He retrieves an envelope from a nearby cabinet and tries to hand it to Bobby. When Bobby doesn’t take it, Ryland drops it on the desk.] That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To find out what kind of person your wife really is.

BOBBY: [Stands] I know what kind of person my wife really is.

RYLAND: She’s holding something back – and you wanna know what. [Slides the envelope across the desk] Here’s your what. Why don’t you go ahead and take a look inside. Come to your own conclusions. There’s a lot about Annie you don’t know.

What do you think of Bobby’s confrontations with the other men in his wives’ lives? Share your comments below and read more “Dallas Parallels.”

The Best & Worst of Dallas: Season 4

“Dallas’s” fourth season was the show’s most-watched. Is it also the best?

Performances

Lows and highs

In Season 4, J.R. recovers from an assassination attempt, learns to walk again and suffers a humiliating exile from Ewing Oil. Through it all, Larry Hagman never misses a beat. The actor takes us deeper into J.R.’s psyche, revealing vulnerabilities we never dreamed the character was capable of. If you love Hagman’s complex performance on TNT’s “Dallas,” re-watch the classic show’s fourth season. This is where those seeds are planted.

Storylines

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Leslie Stewart, Susan Flannery

Blonde ambition

“Who Shot J.R.?” turned “Dallas” into a global phenomenon, so you might expect the show to spend Season 4 playing it safe. Instead, it takes a creative risk by tackling sexism. This theme is best personified by pioneering PR whiz Leslie Stewart, but the gender wars are also seen when Miss Ellie calls out chauvinistic Jock, Lucy gets a career and Donna emerges as the top choice for a state senate seat. Who says “Dallas” isn’t progressive?

Season 4’s weakest subplot: Mr. Ewing goes to Austin. I love the idea of “Dallas” delving into politics, but Bobby’s conduct as a member of the state senate strains credibility. Shouldn’t Senator Ewing have recused himself from the legislature’s hearings into his parents’ fight over the Takapa Lake development – or its inquiry into J.R.’s foreign affairs? Where’s an ethics committee when you need one?

Episodes

Dallas, Jim Davis, Jock Ewing, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly

Here comes the son

“The Fourth Son” is one of the finest hours of “Dallas” ever made. The episode, beautifully written by Howard Lakin (his first script for the show) and directed by Irving J. Moore, officially brings Ray into the Ewing fold and reminds us why Jock is such a revered figure in the “Dallas” mythos. Father-son relationships are integral to “Dallas” – especially on the TNT series – and no episode explores that theme better than this one.

To demonstrate how uneven episodic television can be, one week after “The Fourth Son” debuted, “Dallas” gave us “Trouble at Ewing 23,” which is easily my least-favorite Season 4 entry. I never know what’s worst: the cringe-inducing special effects when the oil field goes up in flames – or the fact Luther Gillis sheds not a single drop of blood after J.R.’s hired guns pump him full of lead.

Scenes

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

Scene from a marriage

How do you know when a “Dallas” scene is classic? When you only need one or two lines of dialogue to describe it. By that standard, the show’s fourth year probably offers more great moments than any other season: “It was you, Kristin, who shot J.R.” “He’s not your daddy. I am.” “You are my mother.” “Real power is something you take.” “Don’t make me see myself in your eyes.” “Mama, you didn’t take any licorice.”

Any one of these scenes qualifies for “best of” honors, but my sentimental favorite remains the “New Beginnings” moment when J.R. and Sue Ellen reminisce about their courtship. Next to J.R. and Bobby’s sibling rivalry, J.R. and Sue Ellen’s love affair is “Dallas’s” most enduring relationship. If you want to understand why these two can’t stay away from each other, watch this scene.

Supporting Players

Pioneer woman

No surprise here: I love Leslie. The oh-so-cool Susan Flannery was the ideal choice to play the character, whose business savvy, scheming ways and unapologetic sexuality make her J.R.’s equal and the template for prime-time divas like Abby Cunningham and Alexis Carrington. “Dallas’s” writers seemed to lose interest in Leslie after awhile, but before her storyline peters out, no character in Season 4 is more fascinating.

At the other end of the spectrum lie Alex Ward and Clint Ogden, the utterly forgettable characters who romance Pam and Sue Ellen during the second half of the season. Don’t blame Joel Fabiani and Monte Markham, who are both fine actors; blame the writers, who colored Alex and Clint in shades of plain vanilla.

Costumes

As much as I love the iconic dresses Sue Ellen wears in “Who Done It?,” nothing compares to Jock’s lion’s head medallion, the perfect accessory to symbolize Jim Davis’s role as father of the Ewing pride.

Some might consider Pam’s perm to be Season 4’s worst fashion choice – but those people are wrong because that ’do is awesome.

Quips

Best: “If you were on the side of the angels, you wouldn’t need Leslie Stewart.” – Leslie’s droll observation during the well-written scene where she persuades J.R. to hire her.

Worst: “My own son, letting some little no-account alley cat swing you by your big toe.” – The most memorable line during the tongue-lashing Jock gives J.R. after Leslie costs Ewing Oil a big deal. Watch it, Jock! That’s our Leslie you’re talking about.

What do you love and loathe about “Dallas’s” fourth season? Share your comments below and read more “Best & Worst” reviews.