Valene (Joan Van Ark) discuss her cancer surgery with Bobby (Patrick Duffy) in this 1981 publicity shot from “The Loudest Word,” a second-season “Knots Landing” episode.
Knots Landing Scene of the Day: ‘You Don’t Have Any Courage’
September 13, 2012 by 9 Comments
No guts, no Gary
In “Knots Landing’s” second-season episode “The Loudest Word,” Bobby and Gary (Patrick Duffy, Ted Shackelford) sit next to each other in the hospital waiting room while Val undergoes surgery.
BOBBY: That was some phone call you made to Mama.
GARY: Yeah, I know. Sorry about that.
BOBBY: Are you better now?
GARY: Well, I’m not crazy, if that’s what you mean.
BOBBY: No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, are you better? Have you pulled yourself together? Do you know what you’re up against? Are you ready for that?
GARY: Don’t preach at me, Bobby!
BOBBY: Well, are you better or aren’t you?
GARY: I don’t know!
BOBBY: Well, you don’t have much time to find out. [Rises] If you’re gonna sit and wait that thing out, you’d better damn well be able to handle the outcome, no matter what the outcome is.
GARY: I don’t know. How can I? Would you know?
BOBBY: You’re damn right I would. I’d grit my teeth, I’d clinch my fist and rail at the injustice. But I’d be able to handle whatever came through that door. Because I couldn’t stand to live with myself if I broke down when the woman I love needed me to stand up.
GARY: Fine. You tell me how not to break, and I won’t break.
BOBBY: I’ll tell you how not to break. The same way I told Valene how not to die. Don’t. You just don’t.
GARY: I can’t handle the worst.
BOBBY: The worst is she dies, Gary. You understand that, don’t you? [Gary is silent.] Dying is the worst thing that can happen to Val. [Walks to Gary, grabs his shirt collar, forces him to his feet] Now, tell me that you know that death is the worst possibility. [Gary is still silent.] You’d rather that girl in there die than survive with a colostomy? [Releases Gary, steps away] You know, I can remember Daddy and Mama sparring with words. I was just a kid when you left, but I can still remember them talking about you. And Daddy would say that you didn’t have the Ewing guts. And Mama would say, “Well, thank goodness for that.” Because she thought you had Southworth gallantry – and that was a much better thing to have. Mama thought guts were low-grade courage, and gallantry was courage with grace. [Walks toward Gary] But she sent me here because she couldn’t stand to come herself. She probably heard it in your voice on the phone. You don’t have any kind of courage at all. And she just couldn’t bear to come here and see that for herself.
Gary walks away.
Critique: ‘Knots Landing’ Episode 26 – ‘The Loudest Word’
September 13, 2012 by 10 Comments
Enter the hero
Toward the end of “The Loudest Word,” Valene Ewing lies in a hospital bed, waiting to have surgery to determine if she’ll need a colostomy. The room is dark, and so is Val’s mood. Suddenly, the door opens and in walks Bobby Ewing. In that instant, we know everything is going to be OK.
Such is Bobby’s power. He’s our hero, and when this “Knots Landing” episode debuted in February 1981, it showcased his innate goodness in a way “Dallas” hadn’t done in awhile. At the time, Bobby had gone off the rails a bit over on the parent show. His rocky tenure running Ewing Oil had just ended and he was about to embark on a political career, unaware his neglected wife Pam was contemplating having an affair.
These developments added some interesting wrinkles to Bobby’s persona, but let’s face it: The character is at his best when he’s the white knight, which is the role he fills in “The Loudest Word.”
When Bobby enters Val’s hospital room and she confesses how frightened she is, he tenderly comforts her. Later, he delivers Gary a proverbial kick in the rear, helping his older brother find the courage he needs to stand by Val when she needs him most. As an added bonus, Bobby has an exchange with Gary and Val’s neighbor Sid Fairgate – a kind of summit of prime-time soapdom’s all-around good guys. Patrick Duffy is terrific in each of these scenes. His trademark is delivering his dialogue with breathless intensity, and he does it beautifully when Bobby gives his tough-love pep talk to Gary.
Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford are also really good in “The Loudest Word.” Shackelford’s physical performance, in particular, is something to behold. In the scene where Gary goes berserk, the actor (it doesn’t appear to be a stunt double) destroys Gary and Val’s bedroom with frightening efficiency.
But the real star of “The Loudest Word” is scriptwriter Joseph B. Wallenstein, whose dialogue is poetic. When Karen Fairgate notices daughter Diana’s troubled response to Val’s crisis, she tells husband Sid, “I work so hard at remembering that she’s a young woman, sometimes I forget how much little girl is still left.” Another nice line: Gary recalls hearing Val’s doctor deliver her diagnosis and says, “I heard that word, ‘malignant.’ And it was the loudest word I ever heard.”
Great writing is one of “Knots Landing’s” hallmarks, and one area where it often outshines its parent show. No wonder the Ewings made so many trips west during “Dallas’s” fourth season.
Grade: B
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Last of the good guys
‘THE LOUDEST WORD’
“Knots Landing” Season 2, Episode 13
Airdate: February 19, 1981
Audience: 17.8 million homes, ranking 13th in the weekly ratings
Writer: Joseph B. Wallenstein
Director: Kim Friedman
Synopsis: When Val is diagnosed with colon cancer and faces the possibility of having a colostomy, Gary falls apart. Bobby arrives and is at Gary’s side when he learns Val’s surgery was a success and a colostomy wasn’t needed.
Cast: Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), James Houghton (Kenny Ward), Kim Lankford (Ginger Ward), Michele Lee (Karen Fairgate), Claudia Lonow (Diana Fairgate), Constance McCashin (Laura Avery), Donna Mills (Abby Cunningham), Don Murray (Sid Fairgate), Patricia Murray (Sandy), John Pleshette (Richard Avery), Arthur Rosenberg (Dr. Harper), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Steve Shaw (Eric Fairgate), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing)
“The Loudest Word” is available on DVD. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
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