Dallas Character Wes Parmalee story with hindsight

[TJames03]

One should just skip the dream season. Just watch 01-07, 09. 08 never happened (DVD count).

 

[JR Ewing Fan]

That's about it. I have old TV Guides from back then. I should look at them. I know NBC moved Miami Vice opposite Dallas that fall and Dallas won hands down. Ratings didn't really start to drop that much until the following season.

 

[JR Ewing Fan]

Letters to TV guide and letters to cast and crew of Dallas!

That's about it. I have old TV Guides from back then. I should look at them. I know NBC moved Miami Vice opposite Dallas that fall and Dallas won hands down. Ratings didn't really start to drop that much until the following season.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

Since we never saw what was said between him and Ellie.....you never know. I just think it is odd that Jock's body was never found. I would have written it that it was found due to renewed searching because of Parmalee's claims. Simple as that....

Yes, I imagine Wes whispered to Ellie knowing about all that Nazi treasure buried out in Section 40 -- the real reason she never wanted anyone to drill for oil there.

Miss Ellie is thrown from her horse and dies at the end of S14 (per DVD count) while she's taking the family out to Section 40 to reveal their ugly WW2 secret once and for all; a few episodes into the next season, just after her funeral, Ray and Clayton in a Braddock bar discuss the fact that one of them had just found a little blurb in a small town Canadian newspaper stating that cowpoke Wes Parmalee, "the old faker" the two men huff, had just died.

And nothing again is ever said about it. Nor any mention of the chronological parallel between Wes' death and Ellie's.

(Did I already mention all that earlier in this thread? Ha -- I've gotta go re-read.)

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

One should just skip the dream season. Just watch 01-07, 09. 08 never happened (DVD count).

No don't skip the dream season, there's some great episodes in there even if it did turn out to all be a dream it's all very watchable.

Bobby's will, heartbreaking to watch.

 

[TJames03]

No don't skip the dream season, there's some great episodes in there even if it did turn out to all be a dream it's all very watchable.

I disagree. You'd never see Stivers, never see any of the odds things that bled from the dream season into the season when Pam awoke, etc. Go from "Swan Song," to "Return to Camelot," and never look back.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

the odds things that bled from the dream season into the season when Pam awoke

But there are also things from the pre-dream season that will make no sense skipping the dream.

 

[TJames03]

But there are also things from the pre-dream season that will make no sense skipping the dream.

Like what? We see Bobby die, then we see Pam wake up and tell Bobby about his death and everything else she dreamed and Bobby say none of that ever happened.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

Like what? We see Bobby die, then we see Pam wake up and tell Bobby about his death and everything else she dreamed and Bobby say none of that ever happened.

What about the blonde sitting in the car outside the house?

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

What about the blonde sitting in the car outside the house?

I've answered this before, it's Donna Reed's Miss Ellie in the car! She's after revenge after Barbara Bel Geddes came back and was intending to knock her down but she's confused & goes to Pam's house by mistake! She then get's cold feet & just drives off!! Simples!!

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

I've answered this before, it's Donna Reed's Miss Ellie in the car! She's after revenge after Barbara Bel Geddes came back and was intending to knock her down but she's confused & goes to Pam's house by mistake! She then get's cold feet & just drives off!! Simples!!

Undoubtedly it was that Dreary woman! She had done it before...

 

[TJames03]

What about the blonde sitting in the car outside the house?

Simply unknown. Just like the woman throwing tomato juice at the TV.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Simply unknown. Just like the woman throwing tomato juice at the TV.

That's Barbara Bel Geddes in that scene! When she hears that Bobby & Jenna are getting married, she loses it & throws the tomato juice at the telly screen knowing that she won't be there, Donna Reed will! Simples!

 

[Kenny Coyote]

On this point we'll have to agree to disagree. As Via The Void rightfully points out:

Via is correct with regards to the viewers not warming to the idea, I was one of them. My reaction to Wes being Jock (or not) is more to do with my relationship with Dallas at this point. After the Donna Reed scandal and the resulting Dream Season my attitude to the Wes Parmalee story was, "No, not again." It would appear I wasn't alone in my thinking. Jim Davis had such a standing with Dallas fans the mere mention of a recast created a reaction the producers/writers did not anticipate. Or should they have? As the season bible was created did not one person in the chain of command stop and ask, "Should we really be following through with this story after what Dallas fans have had to tolerate the last few seasons?"

Perhaps it's me. But after the tumultuous last few seasons I had hoped with Bobby's return and Leonard Katzman what Dallas needed more than anything was a calming effect.

I was also one of the viewers who felt that way. At the time I thought the idea that Wes Parmalee might be Jock was so impossible to believe that I really didn't like the storyline. Wes Parmalee didn't look anything like Jock. A helicopter crash could have changed a lot of things but one thing a helicopter crash wouldn't do is change a man's entire build. I'm surprised that the casting agent didn't even hire an actor who had a similar build to that of Jim Davis. It's very hard to become emotionally invested in a storyline of the premise it's based on ( this man could be Jock), is impossible to believe. Were some of you wondering how if this man had really been in such a horrific helicopter accident that burned him as badly as they said that he wouldn't have any scars on his face? That he wasn't crippled or didn't even walk with a limp? He'd been through all of that and was able bodied enough in his late mid to late seventies to be the new foreman of Southfork?

After what Dallas fans had had to put up with over the last few seasons, you almost wonder if the writers were intentionally trying to kill any remaining credibility the series had.

 

[Rove]

you almost wonder if the writers were intentionally trying to kill any remaining credibility the series had.

It must have been like Lord of the Flies in that writing room.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

It's very hard to become emotionally invested in a storyline of the premise it's based on ( this man could be Jock), is impossible to believe.

Very insightful comment, as usual, by Kenny Coyote.
And I really like the actor Steve Forrest, and they could have used him in a much better role. Imagine this:

Steve Forrest shows up as an oil man asking questions around Dallas, and the members of the cartel are noticeably concerned. We find out that Forrest was a rough-and-tumble wildcatter who came up the same time Jock did. Forrest was a shrewd, ruthless businessman who they thought had retired years ago.

Forrest sets his sights on Ewing oil, and he is strong enough that Bobby, J.R. and even Ray have to band together to fight him. While fighting him, they start to have a begrudging respect for him, because they realize he is rebuilding his empire the same way Jock originally did back in the day. In fact, one of the ways they outmaneuver him is with conversations like this:

Bobby: "J.R., why do you suppose Forrest is spending time in that small town?"
J.R. "If he's doing like Daddy did, then he's in all the bars and cafes, finding out who owns the land we're after."

and

J.R.: "Bobby, I just can't figure what Forrest wants with all that farmland he's buying. There's no oil under there."
Bobby: "I know what Daddy would have done. He would buy up the surrounding farmland so he could get the easements for the pipeline."
J.R.: "You're right, Bob. We better move fast if we're gonna beat him!"

Forward several episodes, and J.R, Bobby, and Forrest eventually come to respect the fight and respect each other. The even start working on a few deals together. Now, we have an older, strong, Jock type back in the series. But instead of the Wes Parmely storyline, the character is allowed to develop organically.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

Very insightful comment, as usual, by Kenny Coyote.
And I really like the actor Steve Forrest, and they could have used him in a much better role. Imagine this:

Steve Forrest shows up as an oil man asking questions around Dallas, and the members of the cartel are noticeably concerned. We find out that Forrest was a rough-and-tumble wildcatter who came up the same time Jock did. Forrest was a shrewd, ruthless businessman who they thought had retired years ago.

Forrest sets his sights on Ewing oil, and he is strong enough that Bobby, J.R. and even Ray have to band together to fight him. While fighting him, they start to have a begrudging respect for him, because they realize he is rebuilding his empire the same way Jock originally did back in the day. In fact, one of the ways they outmaneuver him is with conversations like this:

Bobby: "J.R., why do you suppose Forrest is spending time in that small town?"
J.R. "If he's doing like Daddy did, then he's in all the bars and cafes, finding out who owns the land we're after."

and

J.R.: "Bobby, I just can't figure what Forrest wants with all that farmland he's buying. There's no oil under there."
Bobby: "I know what Daddy would have done. He would buy up the surrounding farmland so he could get the easements for the pipeline."
J.R.: "You're right, Bob. We better move fast if we're gonna beat him!"

Forward several episodes, and J.R, Bobby, and Forrest eventually come to respect the fight and respect each other. The even start working on a few deals together. Now, we have an older, strong, Jock type back in the series. But instead of the Wes Parmely storyline, the character is allowed to develop organically.

That's a great idea! Very creative and much more believable.

 

[retrosonic]

Agreed ! That scenario would have been much more believable. I can think of others also..... heres one:
Wes Parmalee and Jock did wildcatting together in their early days, Parmalee did Jock a big favor that was never repaid. The two meet up again in South America, and Jock modifies his will to pay Parmalee back by giving him a certain lucrative Ewing oil field. This doesnt sit well with JR and Bobby, who dont know him from a hole in the wall, and try to block it. Ray comes down on Parmalees side, which causes friction between Ray and Bobby.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

If they'd done the right thing and brought back Bobby without resorting to the dream then either of those scenarios could have been a way of keeping Forrest without doubling up on the back-from-the-dead premise.

 

[Jon Ewing Jr.]

Very insightful comment, as usual, by Kenny Coyote.
And I really like the actor Steve Forrest, and they could have used him in a much better role. Imagine this:

Steve Forrest shows up as an oil man asking questions around Dallas, and the members of the cartel are noticeably concerned. We find out that Forrest was a rough-and-tumble wildcatter who came up the same time Jock did. Forrest was a shrewd, ruthless businessman who they thought had retired years ago.

Forrest sets his sights on Ewing oil, and he is strong enough that Bobby, J.R. and even Ray have to band together to fight him. While fighting him, they start to have a begrudging respect for him, because they realize he is rebuilding his empire the same way Jock originally did back in the day. In fact, one of the ways they outmaneuver him is with conversations like this:

Bobby: "J.R., why do you suppose Forrest is spending time in that small town?"
J.R. "If he's doing like Daddy did, then he's in all the bars and cafes, finding out who owns the land we're after."

and

J.R.: "Bobby, I just can't figure what Forrest wants with all that farmland he's buying. There's no oil under there."
Bobby: "I know what Daddy would have done. He would buy up the surrounding farmland so he could get the easements for the pipeline."
J.R.: "You're right, Bob. We better move fast if we're gonna beat him!"

Forward several episodes, and J.R, Bobby, and Forrest eventually come to respect the fight and respect each other. The even start working on a few deals together. Now, we have an older, strong, Jock type back in the series. But instead of the Wes Parmely storyline, the character is allowed to develop organically.

Agreed ! That scenario would have been much more believable. I can think of others also..... heres one:
Wes Parmalee and Jock did wildcatting together in their early days, Parmalee did Jock a big favor that was never repaid. The two meet up again in South America, and Jock modifies his will to pay Parmalee back by giving him a certain lucrative Ewing oil field. This doesnt sit well with JR and Bobby, who dont know him from a hole in the wall, and try to block it. Ray comes down on Parmalees side, which causes friction between Ray and Bobby.

Like both of these!