Gary & Sue Ellen

[Justine]

So, I recently re-watched the second season and I find Gary's presence on the show nice overall, but...

Was anyone else confused by his romantic interest in Sue Ellen? They hadn't interacted on Dallas since season 3 after J.R. was shot (as far as I remember) and, even then, they weren't the best of friends. Yet, somehow, Gary arrives in Dallas and Sue Ellen shows him the slightest bit of attention, and he's all ready to date his former sister-in-law

I completely understand a platonic friendship, especially since they had addiction in common, and I realise Sue Ellen's interest in him was manipulative but Gary's seemed genuine.

Also, I recently came across a dumb quote from Cynthia Cidre about the episode "J.R.'s Masterpiece":

"... the episode features plenty of drama, with recovering alcoholics and former-in-laws Sue Ellen and Gary Ewing finding themselves tempted by the bottle - and each other."
​

To which, I can only say:

​

Also, this picture:

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It left me with so unanswered questions, so I became a little detective and realised that they cut a section from the Gary and Sue Ellen scene. When Sue Ellen approaches Gary, there's only the flower in the vase on the table. However, when Cliff crashes the wake and the camera cuts to Gary and Sue Ellen, you can see two drinks have suddenly appeared on the table. :eck:

Since Sue Ellen told Gary that she wanted to be "honest" with him, I'm all the more curious about whether the writers actually intended to have them sleep with one another.

What does everyone think?

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

To me it felt just all wrong. They used Gary, Val, Afton, Lucy and Ray in all the wrong ways and lacked any kind of imagination. They wanted to throw them in as a fanservice but had absolutely NO idea what to do with them. They probably read two or three lines of character description and of course it had to be the alcohol again for Gary.
It was just bad and boring writing to me. Of course i was happy to see the actors again, but the rest was just a huge letdown and disappointment from people who have absolutely no idea of how to create interesting content.

 

[Canon]

It worked for me. I liked the idea of the two Ewings who survived the bottle and JR having this kind of interaction after all these years. I'm not sure about them as ongoing thing but I found it really satisfying in that moment of time. And I thought Gray and Shackelford brought a great sense of the weight of all the years to it.

 

[Karin]

I was originally annoyed by this plot since I don't like the idea of Gary & Sue Ellen together. The two of them as a romantic couple would be wrong on so many levels. Mostly because it cheapens/ruins the wonderful story that Gary and Valene have and that we have followed for years on Knots Landing. Gary & Valene belong together. It is as simple as that.

So CC's quotes about how Gary and Sue Ellen have this romantic temptation going on made me interpret the storyarc in a negative way.

But looking at the finished product again, I have interpreted it differently. There is nothing that is seen on screen that indicates that Gary and Sue Ellen have a romantic interestin each other. Sue Ellen is spending time with Gary since she wants the mineral rights. Gary is spending time with Sue Ellen since as an alcoholic he understands her and wants to sponsor her as he would have any other AA member.

Sue Ellen's comment about being "honest with Gary" doesn't mean that she wants to sleep with him. It means she wants to drink with him. They want to get drunk. It is both their weakness.

Also Sue Ellen called Val to get her to bring Gary home when she thought he got too annoying. She also told Gary to go after Val before it was too late, like it was for her and JR. It was a poignant and sad moment. So I think we are supposed to interpret the conclusion of the plot like Gary went after Val and reunited with her.

So when viewed in that context I actually like the storyline.

What I miss however is the deleted scene between Gary and Val. It sucks that they didn't even let us see their scene together. It should have been included among the deleted scenes on the DVD at the very least.

 

[Justine]

Sue Ellen's comment about being "honest with Gary" doesn't mean that she wants to sleep with him. It means she wants to drink with him. They want to get drunk. It is both their weakness.

Yeah, I didn't misinterpret what Sue Ellen meant by "honest" but I wondered whether one drink, two drinks, three drinks... was supposed to lead on to the bedroom. Given the quote from Cynthia Cidre, I'm led to believe so, but I was curious about everyone else's opinion.

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

I didn't like how Gary was presented. He had evolved over the course of KL so much, that his portrayal here seemed to have no knowledge of that. The Gary from the middle to end of KL would have steered clear of codependent Sue Ellen, not out of lack of compassion, but more for self-protection.
I agree that there should have been a scene between Val and Gary, even if it was ot included in the DVD. I also would have liked a scene with Gary and Lucy. U would have settled for a shot of them in the background sitting next to each other.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

Being tempted doesn't necessarily mean they give in. I'm glad it didn't happen, regardless of what the original intention might have been.

 

[Karin]

I didn't like how Gary was presented. He had evolved over the course of KL so much, that his portrayal here seemed to have no knowledge of that. The Gary from the middle to end of KL would have steered clear of codependent Sue Ellen, not out of lack of compassion, but more for self-protection.
I agree that there should have been a scene between Val and Gary, even if it was ot included in the DVD. I also would have liked a scene with Gary and Lucy. U would have settled for a shot of them in the background sitting next to each other.

I agree that a scene with Gary and Lucy would have been great.

Also I've heard that Ted and Joan actually filmed a Gary & Val scene for the episode "Ewings Unite!" but that it was cut from the episode and also not included as a deleted scene on the DVD's.

 

[Sarah]

Was anyone else confused by his romantic interest in Sue Ellen?

​

I have never been confused by anyone's romantic interest in Sue Ellen, since I have one myself. Love the Bea Arthur insert

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

I didn't like how Gary was presented. He had evolved over the course of KL so much, that his portrayal here seemed to have no knowledge of that. The Gary from the middle to end of KL would have steered clear of codependent Sue Ellen, not out of lack of compassion, but more for self-protection.

THAT! 100% agreed! That just wasn't Gary. And it wasn't Val either. And i'm not even sure about Sue Ellen as well. Afton ... Cliff ... oh, the majority was just all so wrong!

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

I think that Gary and Sue Ellen weren't´s supposed to have any romantic feelings to each other at all. It was a matter of "twin souls attract", quite organic at least for me. They did have a scene like that in the original series after JR was shot (the one at the baby room) and it didn't have any repercussions at all. Maybe it wasn't coherent with Gary´s evolution on "Knots" but that´s one of the biggest problems on TNT "Dallas". Those two had history, a lot of history with JR and the Ewing family, and living and suffering under the SF roof. I'd say they could understand each other much better than Gary and his other brothers.

Funnily enough, back in the 20th Century, I myself wrote a fanfic to wrap things up after the "Conundrum" disaster, and also put Gary and Sue Ellen together without having an affair, after JR´s "suicide". They become business partners, and John Ross is having a rough time at the time, and flirts with design drugs (it´s the early 90´s!). Gary feels empathy with Sue Ellen, also because he remembers what he went through when Olivia got addicted to cocaine. He tries to help her, but "someone" takes compromising pics of them (a la "Dynasty") which end up in hands of Val and Don Lockwood (each of them in Knots and England, resp.). Val does visit Dallas too, and gives Gary an ultimatum. But she doesn't call Sue Ellen names...

"Oh Swellin, you remind me of a certain Abster..."
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Back to topic, what I did find out-of-character was just that: Val´s reaction, especially for listening to someone she didn´t care for (but didn´t hate either) like Swellin. I wish they had cut the "once a beech..." scene and left in the deleted scenes you mention above. By the way, if I had been Sue Ellen, I´d have reminded Val that she used her and JR´s life to write "Capricorn Crude", which cemented her writing career, and would´ve demanded her royalties...

"Oh and, Val, that scene with the homeless people didn´t really happen.
It was a figment of Pam´s imagination..."​

 

[Justine]

They did have a scene like that in the original series after JR was shot (the one at the baby room) and it didn't have any repercussions at all.

I remember the scene, it's one of my favourites from season 4 actually because Gary's one of the first family members to really be upfront and call Sue Ellen out on her addiction. It didn't have any romantic tone to it, however, whereas the TNT scenes attempted to.

Your story sounds cool - is it available on SoapChat or Fanfiction?

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

I remember the scene, it's one of my favourites from season 4 actually because Gary's one of the first family members to really be upfront and call Sue Ellen out on her addiction. It didn't have any romantic tone to it, however, whereas the TNT scenes attempted to.

Your story sounds cool - is it available on SoapChat or Fanfiction?

Thanks for your interest @Justine. I only wrote summaries for it and tried to go further a couple of years ago, but it was a lot of work and couldn´t do it along with my current fanfic "Ewing Empire" (which started out in 2000). You can read the brief summary (in context) for Gary and Sue Ellen´s story here:
https://sites.google.com/site/imper...thfork/the-last-years-of-southfork---synopsis

My story began after JR´s suicide in "Conundrum" (I wrote it before "JR Returns" was filmed) and finished when Bobby and Pam remarried and left to Canada for awhile. Their comeback to Southfork was the starting point for my current fanfic "Ewing Empire", of which I wrote almost 30 episodes that you can access right here:
https://sites.google.com/site/imperioewing/home/ewing-empire/fanfic-index

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

Gary is spending time with Sue Ellen since as an alcoholic he understands her and wants to sponsor her as he would have any other AA member.

Except when Gary sponsored Earl Trent on Knots Landing, he started sleeping with Earl’s wife!

 

[stevew]

So, I recently re-watched the second season and I find Gary's presence on the show nice overall, but...

Was anyone else confused by his romantic interest in Sue Ellen? They hadn't interacted on Dallas since season 3 after J.R. was shot (as far as I remember) and, even then, they weren't the best of friends. Yet, somehow, Gary arrives in Dallas and Sue Ellen shows him the slightest bit of attention, and he's all ready to date his former sister-in-law

I completely understand a platonic friendship, especially since they had addiction in common, and I realise Sue Ellen's interest in him was manipulative but Gary's seemed genuine.

Also, I recently came across a dumb quote from Cynthia Cidre about the episode "J.R.'s Masterpiece":

"... the episode features plenty of drama, with recovering alcoholics and former-in-laws Sue Ellen and Gary Ewing finding themselves tempted by the bottle - and each other."
​

To which, I can only say:

​

Also, this picture:

​

It left me with so unanswered questions, so I became a little detective and realised that they cut a section from the Gary and Sue Ellen scene. When Sue Ellen approaches Gary, there's only the flower in the vase on the table. However, when Cliff crashes the wake and the camera cuts to Gary and Sue Ellen, you can see two drinks have suddenly appeared on the table. :eck:

Since Sue Ellen told Gary that she wanted to be "honest" with him, I'm all the more curious about whether the writers actually intended to have them sleep with one another.

What does everyone think?

1st I must say of course he’s taken by Sue Ellen’s flirting, he’s only human. I’m sure she’s always left him a bit dazed and confused just being in the same room.

2nd as it turns out CC didn’t even understand the word masterpiece in the title and it got worse from there.

3rd CC had no interest in letting a relationship mature and develop. Her people were lead by constantly changing love at first sight.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

So, I recently re-watched the second season and I find Gary's presence on the show nice overall, but...

Was anyone else confused by his romantic interest in Sue Ellen? They hadn't interacted on Dallas since season 3 after J.R. was shot (as far as I remember) and, even then, they weren't the best of friends. Yet, somehow, Gary arrives in Dallas and Sue Ellen shows him the slightest bit of attention, and he's all ready to date his former sister-in-law

​

​

When Kristin came to stay with Gary and Valene in Knots Landing, Gary said of Sue Ellen that he couldn’t stand her. He also said that Krostin was using a “Sue Ellen manipulation”. But that was 1980.

 

[stevew]

When Kristin came to stay with Gary and Valene in Knots Landing, Gary said of Sue Ellen that he couldn’t stand her. He also said that Krostin was using a “Sue Ellen manipulation”. But that was 1980.

I always figured that at first Sue Ellen married JR because he was a Ewing (the Ewing) and JR married Sue Ellen because she was Miss Text. Far from a marriage of love but a marriage of status for each. I could see that wouldn’t set well with Gary and that he found it manipulative - of course to be fair Abby’s manipulation of Gary was far more predatory than Sue Ellen could ever have been. I also think Sue Ellen did fall in love with JR and JR with Sue Ellen, they just never trusted that live from each other, and with good reason.

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

I always figured that at first Sue Ellen married JR because he was a Ewing (the Ewing) and JR married Sue Ellen because she was Miss Text. Far from a marriage of love but a marriage of status for each. I could see that wouldn’t set well with Gary and that he found it manipulative - of course to be fair Abby’s manipulation of Gary was far more predatory than Sue Ellen could ever have been. I also think Sue Ellen did fall in love with JR and JR with Sue Ellen, they just never trusted that live from each other, and with good reason.

I can´t see Swellin as "Miss Text", maybe as "Miss Subtext" or "Miss Sexting" (in the current times...). Gary also was quite a hypocrite many times: he was probably accusing Swellin of that while he was sacking his sponsored guy´s wife...and still ogling at next door´s blonde neighbor...They definitely should have tied the Knot on TNT Dallas, after Val´s face explodes by spontaneous combustion...

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

I can´t see Swellin as "Miss Text", maybe as "Miss Subtext" or "Miss Sexting" ..

I was going to say something but then I just noticed that the autocorrect in my previous post spelt Kristin as “Krostin”. So I’m keeping quiet.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

2nd as it turns out CC didn’t even understand the word masterpiece in the title and it got worse from there.

It was probably the best part of the whole series though. Seeing Cliff get put in prison as a result was fun.