Skipping the Dream Season

[Miss Texas 1967]

I've heard the suggestion thrown around a few times but couldn't find a specific thread discussing the idea.

I'm in the middle of a rewatch and skipped from Swan Song to Return to Camelot (and through the season) just to see how it flows as in previous rewatches I've found the transition from dream to reality quite jarring and difficult to remember where everyone was at in their lives after an entire season of development (off the top of my head Jamie and Cliff's relationship status as well as JR and Sue Ellen's dislike after being happy at the end of the dream). I was pleasantly surprised by how it did flow with the writers having to scrap a whole season and carry on with year old plots, but watching on DVD the transition was still a bit jarring, mostly visually but also in story development.

Firstly, season 8 is reasonable picture quality on the DVD, it's not amazingly noticeable when you're watching it but it is when you flip to season 10 immediately afterwards and the picture has that fuzzy tape quality rather than film it takes some time to adjust your eyes.

Secondly, the fashion seems to have moved a bit further forward into the strange over the missing year, which skipping that year is also noticeable. Thirdly, where there had rarely been any mention of foreign oil issues in season 8, season 10 opens up talking as if it's not a brand new thing they're discussing which is interesting.

Honourable mention goes to the fact that when someone talks to Miss Ellie, they're talking to BBG, not DR.

On the down side, the plots they decided to ignore are still on your mind, namely the Mark Graison story and the Bobby/Pam/Jenna/Katherine(?) story. In season 8 the search for Mark Graison is left on a cliffhanger with the man in the Hong Kong clinic on the phone to someone (not JR? Mark?). The cliffhanger is resolved in the dream but as it is a dream and they don't return to that story in season 10, we never get any resolution about what happened to Mark.

The Jenna framed for murder and woman throwing her drink at the TV thing which is revealed to be Katherine's doing at the end of season 8, but since the dream starts with Bobby and Pam waking up the morning Katherine hits Bobby with her car and is never returned to in season 10, the plot is left unresolved. We are to assume it was Katherine seeing as Katherine shot Bobby, Katherine was plotting against Jenna with Naldo, Katherine drunkenly confessed her feelings to Bobby and was rejected by him etc. but there is no definitive end to that plot. I know Katherine returns briefly in season 11 but even that isn't a resolution for the tangled web of season 8 storylines.

Dusty reappears at the Ewing Oil party at the end of season 8 and Sue Ellen asks Clayton to arrange a meeting for her, which he does and this occurs on the morning Bobby dies, which is all a dream. Pam wakes up in season 10 and Dusty is nowhere to be found again despite the fact that the foundation for a short return was laid. Sue Ellen also stops drinking much faster in season 10 than she does in the dream, so it feels much less significant but it's also sort of nice because I'm really not fond of the drunk storyline in the dream.

Finally, some of the set changes from the dream remain, which isn't awful but does remind you there isn't a seamless transition from season 8 to season 10.

Oh, and the Mandy/JR affair feels less eventful when you skip the dream season even though they're together before and after the dream. That could just be how I perceived things this time though.

I intend to go back and rewatch the dream season at some point in this rewatch but I might keep it for the end, after the really lacklustre seasons come to a close.

 

[Swami]

On balance, no. However, I tend to fast-forward through the whole Angelica Nero & her Eurovision Song Contest troupe in the same way you fast-forward through some of the poor stuff in the last few seasons (the McKays, Granny Beaumont etc).

Swami

 

[Grangehill1]

I’ve said this in a similar thread before.

The things that make Season 10 particularly jarring are the terrible picture quality, the sudden mention of problems in the oil business and foreign affairs and the fashions. The stylists should have been sacked! Even at the time in the mid eighties I remember thinking how terrible everybody was dressed and looked.

If these had of been addressed I even think the dream resolution would have been easier to swallow

 

[Sarah]

Great question. No I wouldn't, I wouldn't miss JR and Sue Ellen's reconciliation for anything, although I get what you're saying. It would soften the blow of what followed immediately after Pam woke up - and I don't mean Bobby.

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

I would not skip it. Apart from the Angelica Nero crap that season has some great plots and very nice family scenes resulting of Bobbys death. Overall it's a good season, it's still pure "Dallas".

 

[Clubsoda]

Nope it's a pretty solid season overall.

1987 - 91 on the other hand I'd skip.

 

[Toni]

The season that looks and feels like a nightmare in every sense is the one following the Dream Season, so I´d never (and I haven´t) skip OR Season 8 and go straight to Season 9. I agree with all the opinions above, though I´m the biggest Angelica fan on this side of the Ocean (maybe because I´m from Yurropp?).

Maybe you´d rather have Mélina Mercouri as Angelica...?
Come on, Barbara Carrera was fantabulous!!​

The big problem with the "Return to Camelot" double-parter is not what doesn´t feature (no word about Mark, Dusty or Katherine) but what does feature instead: hyper-long scenes with no real content, on-location scenes just to show off the budget, contrived ways to remind the viewers of what TPTB want them to remember (mainly, what happened in the last half of the pre-Dream season, including a few nods to subplots that want to give depth, but come across as that, contrived and almost fan-ficcy dialogues: Sue Ellen calling Mandy "the Winger tramp", Marilee and Jamie reminiscing about their BBQ fight, Ray and Donna repeating the scene by the Southfork pool of "Swan Song", now in front of Ray´s new house...). Well, this is one of my least favorite episodes, enough said.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I don't know what to tell people. I didn't buy the DVDs for dream season, nor 1987 onward. But I'm sometimes curious to re-watch those seasons just so I can refresh my complaints about them -- and possibly even be entertained since, 30+ years later, the sense of disappointment has passed or at least lessened in a sad, resigned kind of way.

 

[tommie]

I never re-watch the dream season, so I guess I'm pro-active? What's the point, it doesn't exist.

 

[Willie Oleson]

50% of the Dallas discussions is about that dream. All you can do is pretend to ignore it.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Or that you dreamt it.

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

Great question. No I wouldn't, I wouldn't miss JR and Sue Ellen's reconciliation for anything, although I get what you're saying. It would soften the blow of what followed immediately after Pam woke up - and I don't mean Bobby.

On the other hand, if you skip it at the point where it occurs and come back to it after completing the rest of the seasons, you have all of the JR + SE stuff to look forward to.

I would not skip it. Apart from the Angelica Nero crap that season has some great plots and very nice family scenes resulting of Bobbys death. Overall it's a good season, it's still pure "Dallas".

I only say skip it at the time in rewatch where it supposedly happens because of the awkward transition, not skip it altogether.

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

What's the point, it doesn't exist.

Oh, but it DOES! I have it on DVD, you know?
Only because they needed the lamest excuse of the universe just to reunite Hagman and Duffy the prank-bros only to run the show completly to the ground from then on doesn't make the last decent season for me non-existent.
I prefer to see all that comes after the dream as non-existent, like that Dallas is a decent show from start to finish.

 

[TJames03]

Oh yes, totally skip it.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

The big problem with the "Return to Camelot" double-parter is not what doesn´t feature (no word about Mark, Dusty or Katherine) but what does feature instead: hyper-long scenes with no real content, on-location scenes just to show off the budget, contrived ways to remind the viewers of what TPTB want them to remember (mainly, what happened in the last half of the pre-Dream season, including a few nods to subplots that want to give depth, but come across as that, contrived and almost fan-ficcy dialogues: Sue Ellen calling Mandy "the Winger tramp"

It's so contrived that Sue Ellen would be jealous of Mandy. That's behavior I'd expect from Sue Ellen in the early years of the show. By season 10 there's no marriage left to wreck. There hasn't been for quite some time. Don't you think by season 10 that the character of Sue Ellen should have grown enough to learn that the best thing she could do for herself is to leave JR? If Mandy will speed up the process of JR and Sue Ellen getting divorced, that's not a bad thing for Sue Ellen; it's a good thing!

Sue Ellen is a character that could have benefited from having had some more substantial personal growth take place by then. Having her not repeat the same mistakes so many times, having her not take so incredibly long to realize that she had no future with JR would have made Sue Ellen seem brighter and more interesting. It wasn't good for the character of JR either. What man in his position, with the options he has, is going to put up with staying in that kind of marriage for that long?

 

[Toni]

It's so contrived that Sue Ellen would be jealous of Mandy. That's behavior I'd expect from Sue Ellen in the early years of the show. By season 10 there's no marriage left to wreck. There hasn't been for quite some time. Don't you think by season 10 that the character of Sue Ellen should have grown enough to learn that the best thing she could do for herself is to leave JR? If Mandy will speed up the process of JR and Sue Ellen getting divorced, that's not a bad thing for Sue Ellen; it's a good thing!

Sue Ellen is a character that could have benefited from having had some more substantial personal growth take place by then. Having her not repeat the same mistakes so many times, having her not take so incredibly long to realize that she had no future with JR would have made Sue Ellen seem brighter and more interesting. It wasn't good for the character of JR either. What man in his position, with the options he has, is going to put up with staying in that kind of marriage for that long?

Great points! Anyway, the problem with Sue Ellen kicking J.R.´s ass was that the Katzmen didn´t like to see him weak (which is so ironic considering the mess he became under the sweet claws of Cally, Michelle and LeeAnn). About Sue Ellen, yes, she was right to throw the Winger tramp away as a "disposable piece of facial tissue", but it should have been an anecdotal thing, as part of something bigger.

The Nicholas Pearce storyline was more personal romance and mob intrigue than anything else, though after rewatching it several times, I think David Paulsen did with it something more subtle than usual, a sort of "Guide for an abused wife to become a liberated woman" (within the context of the 80s supersoaps, of course), and very especially, showed us what a fantastic sense of humor Sue Ellen really had (which she didn´t have at the beginning!).

At least, she didn´t become a Texan Alexis overnight, and took things slowly, letting that Valentine man to run things at first, and then hiring an expert to give her advice. I can´t see the Spelling /Shapiros/ whoever doing the same thing...too bad they ruined it with her selling out the company and becoming a Hollywood producer...

IMHO I would have taken the good things of Sue Ellen´s sobering up and the Valentine plots, and make a truly meaty new resetting of Swellin. Imagine she was the one behind LeeAnn´s acquisition of Ewing Oil, and have the last tenth episodes focused on her rivalry with J.R. and even remarrying him under her conditions (you cheat on me and the company is only mine, in written!). I think I´ll stop here. I´m gonna cry for awhile...

 

[Kenny Coyote]

Great points! Anyway, the problem with Sue Ellen kicking J.R.´s ass was that the Katzmen didn´t like to see him weak (which is so ironic considering the mess he became under the sweet claws of Cally, Michelle and LeeAnn). About Sue Ellen, yes, she was right to throw the Winger tramp away as a "disposable piece of facial tissue", but it should have been an anecdotal thing, as part of something bigger.

The Nicholas Pearce storyline was more personal romance and mob intrigue than anything else, though after rewatching it several times, I think David Paulsen did with it something more subtle than usual, a sort of "Guide for an abused wife to become a liberated woman" (within the context of the 80s supersoaps, of course), and very especially, showed us what a fantastic sense of humor Sue Ellen really had (which she didn´t have at the beginning!).

At least, she didn´t become a Texan Alexis overnight, and took things slowly, letting that Valentine man to run things at first, and then hiring an expert to give her advice. I can´t see the Spelling /Shapiros/ whoever doing the same thing...too bad they ruined it with her selling out the company and becoming a Hollywood producer...

IMHO I would have taken the good things of Sue Ellen´s sobering up and the Valentine plots, and make a truly meaty new resetting of Swellin. Imagine she was the one behind LeeAnn´s acquisition of Ewing Oil, and have the last tenth episodes focused on her rivalry with J.R. and even remarrying him under her conditions (you cheat on me and the company is only mine, in written!). I think I´ll stop here. I´m gonna cry for awhile...

Thanks!

Katzman didn't want to see JR as weak? How does he explain seasons 11-14?

There is a lot of responsibility that comes with having a character as successful as JR Ewing, because if you ruin the character, how do you build another one? You can put him in new situations and you can have him become more mature and more capable as the years go by, but I don't think you ever want to go against the things that the audience likes about the character or the reasons they want to watch every week to see what he'll do next. Being ineffectual isn't what made the character such a phenomenon. Having his wife "kick his ass" isn't what made people feel like they couldn't miss a week of Dallas.

I don't think those things had to happen to still have Sue Ellen come across as a wiser, more mature woman. They could have done that by, first off all, having her learn that trying to get even with him, trying to get revenge on JR is what created most of her problems in the first place. We can't make our lives better by making someone else's life worse. Tearing someone down doesn't build our lives up. As far as revenge, they already had the Cliff Barnes character obsessed with revenge, and look what it did to his life. They didn't need another character focused on revenge!

I'd like to have seen Sue Ellen become wise enough to realize that she needs to put her focus on making her life good - not on trying to make her son's dad's life bad. How will that affect her relationship with her son? Did she think John Ross looked at her the same way again after learning his mother tried to murder his dad? If you love your kids you don't do that! Sue Ellen had so many times in her life when she should have learned how foolish it was for her to make revenge her priority, how self-destructive it was for her to try get revenge on JR instead of making her own life good her priority. If Sue Ellen didn't learn that revenge against JR isn't the way to go after Nicholas Pearce took a dive off that balcony, and then seeing her son's reaction when he found out his mom tried to kill his dad, I guess she wasn't ever gonna learn. Some people just aren't teachable.

 

[Barbara Fan]

I would say dont skip it at all and the first 12 episodes are really good

Pamela / VP has never looked more stunning and the Oil barons ball is a great one.
Linda Gray did her best acting this season
Susan Howard and Steve kanaly gave wonderful performances and best of all BBG was back as momma and the woodentop was no more

I loved the early dream season, it did get a bit silly later on with Angelica Nero, GRace, Nicholas, Emerald mines etc but you can happily whizz thro those scenes and the final 3 episodes are great and it ends with a wedding, explosion and a shower!

You have to watch it even if some is at FWD

As much as i loved Pat D, I didnt miss him that much as Id rather have BBG back in Dallas and I liked Pam and Mark together.

Its got a great rodeo, Oil Barons ball, SF and Dallas look great and its the last season before it goes onto cheap film.

 

[Sarah]

My motto is and has remained for many years...

When watching, never be far from a remote, or a sick bucket for emergencies on screen.

 

[Sarah]

Great points! Anyway, the problem with Sue Ellen kicking J.R.´s ass was that the Katzmen didn´t like to see him weak (which is so ironic considering the mess he became under the sweet claws of Cally, Michelle and LeeAnn). About Sue Ellen, yes, she was right to throw the Winger tramp away as a "disposable piece of facial tissue", but it should have been an anecdotal thing, as part of something bigger.



IMHO I would have taken the good things of Sue Ellen´s sobering up and the Valentine plots, and make a truly meaty new resetting of Swellin. Imagine she was the one behind LeeAnn´s acquisition of Ewing Oil, and have the last tenth episodes focused on her rivalry with J.R. and even remarrying him under her conditions (you cheat on me and the company is only mine, in written!). I think I´ll stop here. I´m gonna cry for awhile...

Bravo Piggy!!! @Toni

Of course she was right. She usually is. I'd rather have changed the dialogue though to 'disposable piece of shit'. That would have been funnier And Sue Ellen could get away with it.

So so many mistakes in parting JR and Sue Ellen - the show was never the same PLUS as you say, JR became weak. I like what you suggest about Leanne de la Fek Off, but would have also liked to have seen the same happen with WestStar. Sue Ellen cons Kimberley Air Head while taking WestStar for herself - beg JR! BEG! (And he would have).