Lifting the Veil – Dallas Decoder

‘Dallas’ on DVD: The Ewings Have a Few More Surprises For Us

January 12, 2015 by Chris Baker 17 Comments

Ann Ewing, Bobby Ewing, Brenda Strong, Dallas, Dallas: The Complete Third Season, Patrick Duffy, TNT

Cheers

“Dallas: The Complete Third Season” arrives on DVD tomorrow, and for many fans, the highlight will be the three-disc set’s 31 deleted scenes. This previously unseen material comprises an impressive 48 minutes of screen time; if you watch it all in one sitting, it’s almost like having a brand-new episode to enjoy.

Whether you binge or savor the fresh footage, you’ll likely love it every bit as much as the stuff that aired last year. In one deleted scene, when Bobby wonders if he should use his new position as a railroad commissioner to stop Nicolas, he receives unexpected advice from Ann, who urges her husband to get in touch with his inner J.R. In another scene, which I’ll post to Dallas Decoder tonight and share during our #DallasChat on Twitter, Sue Ellen presses John Ross to tell her the truth about J.R.’s death — and John Ross’s response might surprise you.

You’ll also get to see Sue Ellen compare Emma to Kristin, a scene cut from last year’s wedding episode but included in a TNT promo. Hearing Emma’s snappy comeback makes seeing the complete conversation worth the wait. There’s also a lovely moment where Bobby comforts Pamela after she discovers John Ross is cheating on her, along with several nice exchanges between Sue Ellen and Ann, whose I’ve-got-your-back bond gave them “Dallas’s” most stable relationship.

Not everything you’re hoping to see is here. The most notable omission: John Ross’s serenading of Pamela at their wedding, which Julie Gonzalo discussed during our interview last year. I would have much preferred seeing that moment instead of the one that explains why Judith was absent from a few episodes during the second half of the season. It turns out Dallas’s unlikeliest madam had to fly to Paris to remind some misbehaving French prostitutes who’s boss. Who knew the Rylands operated a chain of international whorehouses?

Besides the deleted scenes, the DVD will give fans an opportunity to revisit — and in some cases, to reassess — the 15 episodes that aired during “Dallas’s” third year. “Dead Reckoning,” the darkly absorbing hour that chronicles the fallout from Drew’s death, is even better than I remembered (Emma Bell is particularly good), while “Lifting the Veil” is still weighed down by the silliness at Judith’s brothel. Overall, I find the third-season episodes as entertaining as I did last year, which makes the DVD’s release bittersweet. Traditionally, the show’s DVDs come out a few weeks before each new season starts, and I wish that were the case here too. This should be a prelude, not a punctuation mark.

“Dallas: The Complete Third Season” is available from Amazon and other retailers. Buy it, watch it, share your comments below and read more opinions from Dallas Decoder.

Filed Under: Opinion, Opinion Tagged With: Brenda Strong, Dead Reckoning, Emma Bell, Julie Gonzalo, Lifting the Veil, Patrick Duffy, TNT

‘Dallas’ Takes a Ratings Hit Against Tough Competition

August 26, 2014 by Chris Baker 23 Comments

Ann Ewing, Brenda Strong, Carmen Ramos, Dallas, Dead Reckoning, Emma Bell, Emma Ryland, Marlene Forte, TNT

See for yourself, honey

To the surprise of no one, “Dallas” took a hit in the ratings this week.

The TNT drama’s latest episode, “Dead Reckoning,” debuted August 25, opposite NBC’s Primetime Emmys coverage. The result: The Emmys drew 15.59 million viewers — the annual broadcast’s second biggest haul in eight years — while “Dead Reckoning” drew 1.84 million, according to Nielsen data.

The “Dead Reckoning” audience was down roughly 7 percent from one week earlier, when 1.97 million viewers watched “Dallas’s midseason premiere. Among the advertiser-prized demographic of adults between ages 18 and 49, “Dead Reckoning” drew an estimated 557,000 viewers.

Speaking of the midseason premiere: DVR users who recorded that episode, “Denial, Anger, Acceptance,” and watched it within three days boosted the audience to 2.8 million viewers, slightly ahead of “Dallas’s” DVR-boosted average during the first half of the third season. When DVR users are counted, “Denial, Anger, Acceptance” drew 1 million viewers between ages 18 and 49.

How does “Dallas’s” Monday ratings compare to other TNT shows? The network’s most-watched drama last week was “Rizzoli & Isles,” which scored 5.21 million viewers on August 19. At the other end of the spectrum: “Franklin & Bash,” which drew 1.2 million viewers on August 20.

Also, in case you’re wondering: “Dead Reckoning’s” August 25 audience is “Dallas’s” fourth-smallest opening night audience this year. The lowest: John Ross and Pamela’s wedding episode, “Lifting the Veil,” which drew 1.78 million viewers on March 17.

Overall, “Dallas” is averaging about 1.97 million viewers on Mondays this year, down from approximately 2.66 million viewers during its second season and more than 4 million viewers during Season 1.

TNT hasn’t announced if “Dallas” will return next year. The network is expected to wait to see how the show performs during its summer run before deciding whether to renew it.

What do you think of “Dallas’s” latest ratings? Share your comments below and read more news from Dallas Decoder.

Filed Under: News, News Tagged With: Brenda Strong, Dead Reckoning, Denial Anger Acceptance, Emma Bell, Lifting the Veil, Marlene Forte, TNT

Drill Bits: ‘Dallas’ Picked Up More Viewers This Week

March 25, 2014 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

AnnaLynne McCord, Christopher Ewing, Dallas, D.T.R., Heather McCabe, Jesse Metcalfe, TNT

Reason to smile

“Dallas’s” audience grew a little this week: “D.T.R.,” the latest episode, debuted to 1.79 million viewers on March 24, or about 8,000 more viewers than the previous entry, “Lifting the Veil,” drew one week earlier.

The show lost viewers in one important category, however. “D.T.R.” grabbed 577,000 adults between 18 and 49, a demographic many advertisers pay top dollar to reach. On March 17, “Lifting the Veil” drew 595,000 viewers in the demo.

“Dallas” is averaging a little more than 2 million viewers on Mondays at 9 p.m. this year, down from 2.7 million viewers on Mondays last season.

“The numbers could be better, but they could also be a lot worse,” said Marc Berman, editor in chief of TV Media Insights, a top industry news site.

“Dallas” is one of three original dramas on TNT’s winter schedule. The other two are “Rizzoli & Isles,” which averages 3.85 million viewers on Tuesdays at 9 p.m., and “Perception,” which averages 1.96 million viewers on Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

“Dallas” gets a nice lift from DVR users who record each episode and watch it a few days later. For example, by the end of last week, DVR users had boosted “Lifting the Veil’s” audience to 2.6 million viewers — an increase of almost 1 million people. This audience included 1.5 million adults between ages 18 and 49 and 1.7 million adults between 25 and 54, a demographic TNT targets.

There’s also this: Since March 10, TNT has been running each new “Dallas” episode twice in prime time on Mondays — once at 9 p.m. and again at 10 p.m. The 10 p.m. replays have averaged 751,000 viewers.

If you combine the audiences for the two telecasts, “Dallas” has averaged roughly 2.6 million viewers during the past three Monday nights. Berman said there probably isn’t a lot of overlap between the two showings, although he hung around after this week’s 9 p.m. telecast of “D.T.R.” to catch the first few minutes of the 10 p.m. replay.

“It was such a fantastic opening with Sue Ellen. I had to see it again,” he said.

Look Who’s Talking

Fresh off her dynamo performance in this week’s episode, Linda Gray is scheduled to drop by “The Talk” on Thursday, March 27. CBS airs the show weekdays at 2 p.m.

“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.

Filed Under: Drill Bits, News Tagged With: AnnaLynne McCord, D.T.R., Jesse Metcalfe, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Playing Chicken, TNT

TNT’s Dallas Recap: ‘D.T.R.’

March 25, 2014 by Chris Baker 13 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, D.T.R., Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Sue Ellen Ewing, TNT

Ewings united

Here’s what happened in “D.T.R.,” TNT’s latest “Dallas” episode:

• Sue Ellen struck back (part 1): Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) visited Governor McConaughey (Steven Weber) and gave him a bottle of J.R. Ewing Bourbon, hoping it would persuade him to replace Stanley Babcock, the corrupt railroad commissioner, with an appointee who would agree to revoke John Ross’s Southfork drilling permit. Of course, the wily McConaughey was in no mood to grant Sue Ellen a favor and rejected her suggestion. Dumb move, governor: It turned out Sue Ellen had bugged the bottle, which allowed her and Bobby (Patrick Duffy) to eavesdrop on McConaughey’s conversations — including one with Babcock (Currie Graham), who promised to illegally funnel money to the governor’s 2016 presidential campaign. “The bug in the bourbon cork. I think J.R. would see the humor in that,” Bobby said.

• Sue Ellen struck back (part 2). After John Ross and Pamela (Josh Henderson, Julie Gonzalo) returned from their honeymoon, Sue Ellen told her son to stop cheating on his wife, but he paid Sue Ellen no heed. “This is all about you wanting to punish J.R. for the way he treated you. Well, guess what, Mama? I’m not J.R.,” John Ross said. Dumb move, junior: Once Sue Ellen played McConaughey her recording of his conversation, he agreed to replace Babcock with a new railroad commissioner — Bobby. (Said the governor upon discovering Sue Ellen’s scheme: “This is why politicians should never accept gifts — especially gifts with J.R.’s name on them.”) Sue Ellen let her son know she was behind the appointment when she sent him a text message that read, “I couldn’t look the other way.” He responded in kind, leaving her a nasty voice mail message in which he shouted, “Now I know I’ve got another enemy I’ve got to look out for. I ain’t going to forget this.”

• Emma gained the upper hand against Judith. John Ross returned from his honeymoon with a gift for his mistress: a necklace, which he gave to Emma (Emma Bell) during one of their clandestine meetings in her bedroom. When Ann (Brenda Strong) saw the jewelry, she and Emma got into a fight and Ann kicked her off the ranch. But Emma wasn’t down for long: She told Judith (Judith Light) she knows all about her prostitution business and used the information to blackmail Grandma into agreeing to give John Ross control of Ryland’s ships for his Arctic drilling venture. After Judith gave her granddaughter some advice (“Never let a man screw you for nothing”), Emma told John Ross she wants a piece of the “Arctic play,” but that’s probably the least of his worries: Judith, fuming over being blackmailed, let Harris know she was frustrated with the slow pace of his scheme to frame John Ross for a sex crime. “How hard is it to get that Ewing boy to drop his pants?” Judith asked.

• Harris gained the upper hand against the CIA. After Ann told Harris that Emma left the ranch, he worried for his daughter’s safety and told CIA agent George Tatangelo (Gino Anthony Pesi) that he wanted out of the agency’s sting operation against the Mendez-Ochoa drug cartel. Tatangelo told Harris it was too late to walk away (“You bought the ticket. You take the ride.”), so Harris threatened to expose expose the illegal “black ops” operations Tantangelo has been conducting on the side. “If you won’t stop the ride, the least you can do is re-route some of those resources and get my family a little extra protection,” Harris said. Meanwhile, Harris and Ann continued to soften toward each other during their search for Emma, who eventually came home to Southfork and told Ann she would stop seeing John Ross — a promise Emma had no intention of keeping.

• Elena and Nicolas got a clue. Pamela was unsettled to see Candace (Jude Demorest) flirting with John Ross, but that was nothing compared to the distressing phone call she received from Cliff (Ken Kercheval), who tried unsuccessfully to mend fences with her. Cliff realized his daughter believes he really did kill J.R., and so he huddled with Elena and Nicolas (Jordana Brewster, Juan Pablo Di Pace) and urged them to tell Pamela the truth. “Turn her against John Ross and she will help you get your justice … and mine,” Cliff said. He also warned Elena to keep an eye on Nicolas. Meanwhile, Nicolas persuaded Peter Bedford (Todd Terry), the state’s attorney whom J.R. once blackmailed, into showing him and Elena the files from the Mexican police’s investigation into J.R.’s murder. While examining the autopsy photos, Nicolas noticed an unusual incision on J.R.’s body.

• Christopher grew closer to Heather — and clashed with John Ross. Christopher and Heather (Jesse Metcalfe, AnnaLynne McCord) grew closer, and he learned her secret: She was once married to Bo (Donny Boaz) and the two of them have a young son, Michael. Christopher and the boy bonded over Transformers when they met, but Bo made it clear he doesn’t think much of Christopher. Or maybe Bo was just stressed because John Ross, his boss at the Southfork drilling site, has been riding the crew so hard. Buckle up, Bo, because things aren’t going to get any easier: After John Ross found out about Bobby’s new position on the railroad commission, he vowed to keep fighting until he taps the oil under the ranch. As John Ross told Bobby and Christopher, “You want to build a roadblock between me and drilling Southfork? Go ahead. If I’m as bad as my father ever was, then I’ll blow right past it.”

What did you think of “D.T.R.”? Share your comments below and look for Dallas Decoder’s critique later this week.

Filed Under: Dallas Recaps, Features Tagged With: AnnaLynne McCord, Brenda Strong, Currie Graham, D.T.R., Donny Boaz, Emma Bell, Jesse Metcalfe, Jordana Brewster, Josh Henderson, Juan Pablo di Pace, Jude Demorest, Judith Light, Julie Gonzalo, Ken Kercheval, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Mitch Pileggi, Patrick Duffy, Steven Weber, TNT, Todd Terry

Dallas Burning Questions: Season 3, Week 5

March 24, 2014 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

AnnaLynne McCord, Bo McCabe, Christopher Ewing, Dallas, Donny Boaz, D.T.R., Heather, Jesse Metcalfe, TNT

Mystery girl

Here are the questions we’re pondering as we await tonight’s telecast of “D.T.R.,” TNT’s latest “Dallas” episode:

• What will Sue Ellen do about John Ross? “Lifting the Veil,” last week’s episode, ended with John Ross riding high: He secured a permit to drill on Southfork and then exchanged vows with Pamela (Julie Gonzalo) during a lavish wedding ceremony. Not even his meddling mama could get in his way, although she tried: Moments before the nuptials, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) confronted John Ross over his infidelity and threatened to tell Pamela that he’s a cheater, but he brushed aside Sue Ellen’s concerns and cruelly pointed out the smell of alcohol on her breath. Maybe John Ross should have been nicer: During the reception, when Bobby (Patrick Duffy) told Sue Ellen he doesn’t “have a move left” to stop her son from drilling the ranch, Sue Ellen responded, “But I do.” What’s she planning?

• What will Harris do about John Ross? To obtain his drilling permit, John Ross was forced to strike a deal with Harris (Mitch Pileggi). It began when Harris summoned John Ross to an upscale brothel, where John Ross found railroad commissioner Stanley Babcock (Currie Graham) engaging in some kinky sexual fetishes. Once John Ross had the dirt he needed to blackmail Babcock and secure his permit, he agreed to give Harris a flash drive from the files Emma stole from Harris’s safe. But Harris wants all his files back, so he revealed to Judith (Judith Light) — who turned out to be the madam in charge of the brothel, by the way — his latest scheme: Harris plans to frame John Ross for a sex crime with help from Candace (Jude Demorest), John Ross’s flirtatious secretary, who is secretly working for the Rylands. Will the plot work?

• What will Emma do about John Ross? Before the wedding, John Ross attacked Emma (Emma Bell) for spoiling Pamela’s plan to surprise him with sexy lingerie, calling his mistress “an attention-starved little brat.” He was forced to apologize when he needed Emma to retrieve the flash drive for his blackmail scheme, but she still seemed upset, especially during the wedding ceremony. Later, Emma cried in bed alone while John Ross and Pamela were in a hotel room, beginning their honeymoon. Emma is unlikely to get any sympathy from Sue Ellen, who urged Ann (Brenda Strong) to kick her daughter off Southfork, a suggestion Ann rejected because of the lingering threats against Emma from Harris’s drug-dealing business partners. Will Emma continue to pursue John Ross, or will she find a new way to cause trouble?

• What will happen to Elena and Nicolas? In Mexico, Drew (Kuno Becker) overheard Christopher’s conversation with Lucia (Angélica Celaya), who confirmed that Nicolas isn’t her husband’s real name but said he has nothing else to hide. Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) returned to Southfork and told Elena (Jordana Brewster) that Nicolas was married, but Elena insisted he was divorced. Later, Nicolas admitted to Elena his divorce isn’t exactly final yet, but he assured her it will eventually be settled. Of course, it turned out Nicolas spoke too soon: Lucia arrived in Dallas and blackmailed her husband into reconciling with her. “The Ewings are determined to know who you really are. If you don’t do as I say, I’ll tell them what you owe and who you owe it to,” Lucia said. What does that mean?

• What will happen to Christopher and Heather? After John Ross and Pamela’s wedding reception, Christopher ran into Heather (AnnaLynne McCord) in the barn, where they made love. The audience still doesn’t know a lot about Heather, except that she works as a Southfork ranch hand and has four brothers; we also know from recent press reports that she’s a divorcee and single mom. Meanwhile, the “D.T.R.” publicity photo above shows Christopher and Heather speaking to ranch-hand-turned-roughneck Bo (Donny Boaz), with whom she briefly tangled in the third-season premiere, “The Return.” What’s her connection to Bo, and what else might we find out about her?

What “Dallas Burning Questions” are on your mind? Share your comments below and watch TNT’s “Dallas” tonight.

Filed Under: Dallas Burning Questions, Features Tagged With: AnnaLynne McCord, Brenda Strong, Currie Graham, D.T.R., Donny Boaz, Emma Bell, Jesse Metcalfe, Jordana Brewster, Josh Henderson, Juan Pablo di Pace, Julie Gonzalo, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Mitch Pileggi, Patrick Duffy, Return, TNT

Say What?! This Week’s Best Dallas Sound Bites

March 20, 2014 by Chris Baker 6 Comments

“Dallas” delivers the most delicious dialogue on television. Here are the best sound bites from “Lifting the Veil,” this week’s episode. Included: Sue Ellen’s delicious quip about Kristin, which wasn’t included in show but has been running in TNT’s promos for weeks.

What are your favorite lines from “Lifting the Veil”? Share them below and read more “Say What?!”

Filed Under: Dallas Sound Bites, Features Tagged With: Jesse Metcalfe, Josh Henderson, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, TNT

TNT’s Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Just Like Your Daddy’

March 19, 2014 by Chris Baker 10 Comments

Dallas, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing, TNT

Once more

In “Lifting the Veil,” a third-season “Dallas” episode, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) enters her son’s bedroom, where John Ross (Josh Henderson) stands in front of the mirror, getting ready for his wedding.

SUE ELLEN: We’ve got to talk, John Ross.

JOHN ROSS: [Turns toward her, fastens his cuff links] Sorry I’m late, Mama. I was tending to some business.

SUE ELLEN: Is that right?

JOHN ROSS: In fact, congratulations are in order. It turns out the railroad commissioner has a few strange sexual fetishes he wants to keep under wraps — and I have him in my pocket. The shale play’s back on.

SUE ELLEN: I know you’re sleeping with Emma. [He snaps shut the box containing Pamela’s ring] All this time I was hoping that you wouldn’t make the same mistakes that your father did. Apparently the blood of J.R. runs too pure in your veins.

JOHN ROSS: [Walks toward her] I don’t know what you think is going on, but I guarantee you do not understand what I am doing. Or why.

SUE ELLEN: I understand the pain you are causing Pamela.

JOHN ROSS: She doesn’t know anything about this. And she doesn’t need to. Look, this does not change how I feel about her. I love her. This is just business.

SUE ELLEN: Just like your daddy, finding a way to explain infidelity. [Voice cracking] I will not stand by and watch you destroy Pamela like J.R. destroyed me.

JOHN ROSS: Is that alcohol I smell on your breath? Perhaps your drinking is making you forget your loyalties, Mama. [Grabs his jacket, puts it on]

SUE ELLEN: If you don’t stop doing what you’re doing, I’m going to tell Pamela myself.

JOHN ROSS: You have looked the other way you’re whole life, Mama. One more time’s not going to hurt. [Walks past her]

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (TNT), Features Tagged With: Josh Henderson, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, TNT

Critique: TNT’s ‘Dallas’ Episode 29 — ‘Lifting the Veil’

March 19, 2014 by Chris Baker 23 Comments

Dallas, John Ross Ewing, Josh Henderson, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing, TNT

Long time coming

“Lifting the Veil” reveals new truths about several “Dallas” characters, beginning with John Ross. We’ve always known he was as ambitious and as charming as J.R., but in the scene where Sue Ellen confronts him about his infidelity and he treats her cruelly, we discover the son can also be as mean as the father. This episode offers fresh insight into Sue Ellen’s psyche as well. It’s clear now that she’s having trouble letting go of the past, although to be fair, every time she takes a nip from her flask, we’re reminded that the past has a pretty firm grip on her too.

The confrontation between mother and son is the hands-down highlight of “Lifting the Veil,” an hour that brims with history and heartache. The scene begins when Sue Ellen enters John Ross’s bedroom while he’s getting ready for his wedding and tells him she knows he’s been cheating with Emma. John Ross dismisses the relationship as “just business,” which only disgusts Sue Ellen further. “Just like your daddy, finding a way to explain infidelity,” she says. John Ross responds by pointing out the smell of alcohol on his mother’s breath, but she doesn’t back down and threatens to tell Pamela about his affair. John Ross is nonplussed. He brushes past Sue Ellen and delivers his lowest blow yet: “You have looked the other way you’re whole life, Mama. One more time’s not going to hurt.”

Josh Henderson does a nice job bringing John Ross’s dark side into the light, just like Larry Hagman used to do with J.R. For Henderson, though, this amounts to a creative risk: Until now, he’s played John Ross as a (mostly) likable rapscallion, but in this scene, the actor shows us he’s equally adept at making his character seem like an unapologetic jerk. Henderson makes John Ross’s ever-growing hubris feel believable throughout this episode (including during his pre-wedding visit to the brothel), but especially in this scene. Linda Gray, in the meantime, is as magnificent as ever. You can feel Sue Ellen’s pain when Gray delivers that “just like your daddy” line; it’s the character’s saddest moment since her graveside eulogy for her ex-husband in “J.R.’s Masterpiece.” In some ways, “Lifting the Veil” serves as a kind of companion piece to the funeral episode. The first one shows Sue Ellen grieving the loss of J.R.; in the second, she mourns his “return” through the sinful nature of their son.

I also like how Bethany Rooney, a first-time “Dallas” director, stages John Ross and Sue Ellen’s confrontation. The conversation unfolds while he’s fastening his cuff links and putting on his jacket; the casualness of his actions makes his words seem even more devastating. This is one of those times I wish TNT’s Southfork sets more closely resembled those used on the original “Dallas.” J.R. and Sue Ellen’s old bedroom was such a battleground; how cool would it have been to see John Ross and Sue Ellen clash in that setting? On the other hand: the newer bedroom has become a consequential place in its own right. This is where Sue Ellen once slapped J.R. and where she got drunk on the night before his funeral. It’s where John Ross defended his relationship with Pamela to his father and now, it’s where he defends his unfaithfulness to her to his mother.

Speaking of Pamela: I also like the “Lifting the Veil” scene where John Ross pleads with her to go through with their wedding, despite the fact that he was missing for much of the day. Henderson is so heartfelt, it almost inoculates John Ross from the anger we feel toward him after he’s mean to his mama. (Emphasis on “almost.”) Julie Gonzalo makes Pamela’s disappointment palpable, and I like how Taylor Hamra’s script gives her a line where she notes how much John Ross’s apologies sound like the ones Cliff used to offer her. It’s a subtle reminder that Pamela is still haunted by her daddy, just like John Ross is haunted by his.

This brings me to a gripe: I wish “Lifting the Veil” played up the old Barnes/Ewing feud a little more. The wedding of J.R.’s son and Cliff’s daughter is a moment of consequence to students of “Dallas” mythology; I’m glad Rooney gave us a glimpse of the framed photograph of J.R., but I would’ve also loved a shot of Cliff, stewing in his Mexican jail cell, knowing his daughter was marrying a Ewing back home. Likewise, “Dallas” does such a nice job of incorporating Audrey Landers into the narrative whenever she guest stars — Sue Ellen and Afton’s bitchy exchange was a special treat for longtime fans — so I can’t help but wonder why the show seems to struggle to find meaningful things for Steve Kanaly and Charlene Tilton to do when Ray and Lucy visit.

Additionally, it’s worth noting this episode takes place in a single day — you’d have to dig deep into “Dallas’s” past, all the way back to 1978’s “Barbecue,” to find another — although I wish the focus remained on the doings at Southfork the way it does in the early episode. I could do without most of the “Lifting the Veil” scenes set at the brothel (the fanciest little whorehouse in Texas?), especially the silly bit with the railroad commissioner and his canine fetish. The revelation that Judith Ryland is the madam is also a bit much, especially when you consider the show has already established her as a drug smuggler. Does Mother Ryland rob banks too? On the other hand: I like the twist that Harris is secretly working with John Ross’s secretary, Candace, although I’m not wild about his scheme to use her to collect, uh, DNA evidence from John Ross in order to frame him for a sex crime.

My reservations about the Rylands aside, you’ve got to love Judith Light’s 1980s lion’s–mane hair in her brothel scene, as well each actor’s pitch-perfect look at the wedding. Since interviewing “Dallas” costume designer Rachel Sage Kunin and hairstylist Charles Yusko, I’ve developed a much greater appreciation for how crucial the wardrobe and hair teams are to establishing each character’s persona. To see what I mean, go watch the wedding scenes at the end of the new show’s first episode, “Changing of the Guard.” Notice how much more sophisticated and womanly Gonzalo’s character looks in “Lifting the Veil” when compared to the earlier wedding? The two sequences were filmed just two years apart, so the change in the actress’s appearance is achieved mostly through Yusko and Kunin’s magic.

In a show that has more than its share of big stars, it’s always worth remembering that some of the brightest work behind the scenes.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Like father, like husband

‘LIFTING THE VEIL’

Season 3, Episode 4

Telecast: March 17, 2014

Audience: 1.8 million viewers on March 17

Writer: Taylor Hamra

Director: Bethany Rooney

Synopsis: John Ross blackmails a Texas land-use commissioner into giving him a permit to drill on Southfork, while Harris tells Judith he’s secretly working with Ewing Energies secretary Candace, who’s going to help Harris frame John Ross so he can blackmail him and reclaim his files. Sue Ellen confronts John Ross about his affair with Emma, but John Ross dismisses his mother’s concerns and exchanges vows with Pamela. Christopher returns from Mexico and warns Elena that Nicolas is married, but Nicolas assures Elena he’s getting a divorce. Later, Lucia arrives in Dallas and threatens to expose secrets from Nicolas’s past if he doesn’t reconcile with her, while Christopher and Heather make love.

Cast: Kuno Becker (Drew Ramos), Emma Bell (Emma Ryland), Jordana Brewster (Elena Ramos), Angélica Celaya (Lucia Treviño), Candace (Jude Demorest), Juan Pablo Di Pace (Nicolas Treviño), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Julie Gonzalo (Pamela Ewing), Currie Graham (Commissioner Stanley Babcock), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Josh Henderson (John Ross Ewing), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Judith Light (Judith Ryland), AnnaLynne McCord (Heather), Jesse Metcalfe (Christopher Ewing), Mitch Pileggi (Harris Ryland), Brenda Strong (Ann Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Denyse Tontz (Chastity), Erika Page White (Sapphire)

“Lifting the Veil” is available at DallasTNT.com, Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (TNT), Opinion Tagged With: Audrey Landers, Barbecue, Bethany Rooney, Changing of the Guard, Charlene Tilton, Charles Yusko, J.R.’s Masterpiece, Josh Henderson, Judith Light, Julie Gonzalo, Larry Hagman, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Rachel Sage Kunin, Steve Kanaly, Taylor Hamra, TNT

Drill Bits: ‘Dallas’ Takes a Ratings Dip

March 18, 2014 by Chris Baker 11 Comments

Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Lucy Ewing, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly, Sue Ellen Ewing, TNT

Gang’s all here

“Dallas” slipped in the ratings this week: “Lifting the Veil,” the latest episode, was seen by 1.78 million viewers on March 17. This is the TNT drama’s smallest audience yet. There’s a bright spot, however: The show drew 595,000 viewers in the advertiser-prized demographic of adults between ages 18 and 49, up from 512,000 viewers in this category one week earlier.

“Dallas” also continues to get a lift from DVR users who record the show and watch it a few days later. The previous episode, “Playing Chicken,” debuted to 1.99 million viewers on March 10, although when DVR users are counted, the audience increased to 2.7 million viewers. This haul includes 1.1 million adults between ages 25 and 54, a demographic that TNT targets, and 889,000 adults between ages 18 and 49.

“Dallas” is averaging about 2.1 million viewers on Monday nights this winter, down from 2.7 million last year. The show is essentially tied with the crime drama “Perception” as the second most-watched drama on TNT’s winter schedule. Only “Rizzoli & Isles,” which is averaging 3.9 million viewers on Tuesday nights, is more popular.

TNT will pull both “Rizzoli & Isles” and “Perception” from its schedule after tonight and bring them back in June, while “Dallas” will continue to show new episodes until mid-April and then take its long-planned midseason break. The second half of “Dallas’s” third season will begin Monday, August 18, TNT announced last week.

How About Some More Retail Therapy?

Buckle up

Since we told you about the Ewing Oil Company Store last month, the independent online retailer has added several new products, including its most exclusive offering yet: a J.R. belt buckle like the one John Ross inherited on “Dallas” a few episodes ago.

The bronze buckle, which measures 3 inches by 4 inches, features a rope twist border and a flowering field surrounding the “JR” initials. The price: $65.95. Stephen W. Phillips, who owns and operates the store, plans to sell 23 buckles in honor of Ewing 23, the oil field that famously blew up on the original series.

The buckles will ship in the summer, Phillips said. Each one will come with a Ewing Oil stock certificate, a J.R. Ewing business card and a replica of John Ross’s black credit card.

Other recent additions to the store’s inventory: new versions of the J.R. liquor decanters (each one named for one of his mistresses; we’re partial to the “Harwood” model), a Braddock County road sign and a Harris Ryland bake oven.

If the store adds green corsets to its lineup, we’ll let you know.

“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.

Filed Under: Drill Bits, News Tagged With: Charlene Tilton, Lifting the Veil, Linda Gray, Playing Chicken, Stephen W. Phillips, Steve Kanaly, TNT

TNT’s Dallas Recap: ‘Lifting the Veil’

March 18, 2014 by Chris Baker 15 Comments

Dallas, Julie Gonzalo, Lifting the Veil, Pamela Rebecca Barnes Ewing, TNT

If only she knew

Here’s what happened in “Lifting the Veil,” TNT’s latest “Dallas” episode:

• John Ross blasted Emma. On the morning of his wedding to Pamela, John Ross (Josh Henderson) received a call from his secretary Candace (Jude Demorest), who told him Stanley Babcock, the railroad commissioner who denied his drilling permit, was willing to see him. John Ross dashed off to the meeting, but not before blasting Emma (Emma Bell) for spoiling Pamela’s plan to surprise him with sexy lingerie. “You may screw like a woman, but you act like an attention-starved little brat,” he said, leaving Emma seething.

• Harris and John Ross cut a deal. When John Ross arrived for his meeting with Babcock, he was surprised to find Harris (Mitch Pileggi) waiting for him instead. Harris offered him a deal: If John Ross agreed to return the top-secret Ryland files, Harris said he would help John Ross get his permit from Babcock. After some haggling, John Ross agreed to return only one item from Harris’s files: a flash drive that Harris covets above all else. After John Ross met with Emma and sweet-talked her into agreeing to give up the flash drive, he was summoned by Harris to an upscale brothel, where Babcock (Currie Graham) was indulging in his kinky fetishes with a prostitute dressed like a dog. John Ross interrupted Babcock and persuaded the humiliated man to give him the drilling permit.

This left John Ross and Harris with nothing to do but wait around the brothel for Bum to retrieve the flash drive from Emma and bring it them. Harris killed the time by presenting John Ross with a wedding present: the “company” of two prostitutes who were all too eager to please John Ross. But before anything serious happened, Bum (Kevin Page) showed up with the flash drive and gave John Ross a stern look. “You’re flying mighty close to the sun with all this,” Bum said.

• Sue Ellen clashed with Afton — and John Ross. Back at the ranch, the wedding guests began arriving, including Lucy and Ray (Charlene Tilton, Steve Kanaly), who couldn’t help but notice John Ross was nowhere to be seen. Pamela (Julie Gonzalo) noticed too and grew increasingly anxious, while Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), upset over her son’s infidelity, took a nip from her flask. The tension finally erupted when Afton (Audrey Landers) turned to Sue Ellen and snapped, “All the despicable things J.R. did to you through the years. You’d think you’d have taught your son better than this.” Sue Ellen’s cutting response: “Just so you know, Afton, the most despicable thing J.R. ever did was you.” Poor Ann (Brenda Strong) had to referee.

But the drama was just beginning. Once John Ross arrived, Sue Ellen finally confronted him over his affair with Emma, but he told his mother the relationship was his business. Sue Ellen refused to back down and threatened to tell Pamela everything, but John Ross pointed out how his mother’s breath smelled of liquor and said, “You have looked the other way your whole life, Mama. One more time’s not going to hurt.”

• John Ross and Pamela exchanged vows. After Afton slapped John Ross on the back of his head for going AWOL, he urged Pamela to forgive him. “We are meant for each other. I know that with every cell of my being. OK? I’ll prove it to you. I just need you to give me the chance,” he said. She agreed and went through with the ceremony, but before the couple sped off in Ewing V for their honeymoon, John Ross let Bobby (Patrick Duffy) know that Babcock promised him the drilling permit. “I’ll give you credit, John Ross, you are more and more like your daddy every day. But he never drilled this ranch. And mark my words: neither will you,” Bobby said.

But Bobby wasn’t nearly as confident in private. After blasting Babcock over the phone, he turned to Sue Ellen and told her he doesn’t “have a move left” to stop John Ross from drilling. Sue Ellen’s response: “But I do.”

• Christopher and Elena continued to move on. In Mexico, Drew (Kuno Becker) overheard Christopher’s conversation with Lucia (Angélica Celaya), who confirmed that Nicolas isn’t her husband’s real name but said he has nothing to hide. Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) returned to Southfork and confronted Elena (Jordana Brewster), who said Nicolas is getting a divorce. “For someone who needed an annulment before marrying me, you seem pretty cavalier about playing around with a married man,” Christopher said. Elena’s response: “I’m not playing around. I’m playing him.”

Later, Christopher and Heather (AnnaLynne McCord) made love in the barn, while Nicolas (Juan Pablo Di Pace) assured a rattled Elena that his marriage is indeed over. But this turned out to be not so true: Lucia arrived in Dallas and blackmailed her estranged husband into reconciling with her. “The Ewings are determined to know who you really are. If you don’t do as I say, I’ll tell them what you owe and who you owe it to,” she said.

• Harris and Judith schemed. Harris’s precious flash drive turned out to contain encrypted CIA files; once the drive was back in his possession, he was summoned to the office of the madam who runs the brothel, who turned out to be … Judith (Judith Light). When she asked how Harris planned to get the rest of the files from John Ross, Harris showed her pictures of the prostitutes trying to seduce John Ross and told his mother one of the young women is only 16. Harris suggested he was going to frame John Ross by making it look he actually had sex with the girl, but Judith couldn’t fathom how her son would accomplish that. This is when Harris introduced his mother to his secret weapon: Candace, John Ross’s secretary, who has been secretly working for Harris all along.

What did you think of “Lifting the Veil”? Share your comments below and look for Dallas Decoder’s critique later this week.