New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="James from London" data-source="post: 157383" data-attributes="member: 22">09 Nov 89: KNOTS LANDING: Mixed Messages v. 10 Nov 89: DALLAS: Black Tide v. 10 Nov 89: FALCON CREST: God of the GrapeSome significant players make their Soap Land debuts this week. The first appears entirely out of the blue. While Paige is saying goodbye to a client outside the Sumner Group, a young couple are noisily breaking up nearby. After the woman takes off in a cab, the man walks angrily away, passing Paige as he does so. “Here, you take these,” he says, handing her a small gift bag evidently intended for his ex. “I can’t use them.” As he disappears, Paige reaches inside and pulls out a brand new pair of stockings. As meet-cutes go, this one takes some beating.The new arrivals on FALCON CREST are introduced with a lot more fanfare. As a small plane touches down at a private airstrip, Charley St James performs a ridiculous improvisatory dance of welcome on the runway. A subdued Emma looks on. His performance is for the benefit of his brother Ian and wife Sydney who, in contrast to the hyperactive Charley, are sombre to point of funereal, and pretty much monosyllabic. Ian affects a kind of burnt-out rock star cool — all dark glasses, leather jacket and dangly earring, as if Tommy McKay had lived to spend the next fifteen years touring the world with Motley Crue — while the eighteen-year-old Sydney is even more of a child bride than Cally. Charley takes them on a tour of the valley, starting with a visit to his comatose mother-in-law. Ian is quite taken with Angela’s life support system. “Incredible how much money can be made pumping oxygen into a lifeless set of lungs,” he muses — a remark which turns out to be his longest speech of the episode. If Emma finds this observation in poor taste, it pales in comparison to the moment when she and Charley are busy having sex and she suddenly becomes aware of Ian sitting on the edge of the bed watching them.Perhaps it’s the absence of DYNASTY or just the new directions the remaining shows have taken this season, but the contrasts in tone and atmosphere between KNOTS, DALLAS and FALCON CREST seem greater than ever. This is neatly illustrated by the parties thrown in each of this week’s episodes. When DALLAS opens, the Ewing gathering at the Oil Barons Club — an Oil Baron’s Ball in all but name — is still ongoing. The family are reeling from James’s revelation at the end of last week’s ep that he is JR’s son when Carter McKay, flanked by an army of reporters and cameramen, descends on their table. “My supertanker, completely filled with heavy crude, was rammed dead on by a Ewing Oil tanker,” he bellows. “Oil is leaking out all over the Gulf!” It’s not just oil tankers but storylines that collide in this scene and the fall out from these two bombshells — James’s paternity and the tanker collision — fuels the rest of the episode, creating a domino effect where one plot development sparks off another, then another — with betrayals and new alliances forged along the way. This is classic '80s soap.Meanwhile, the office party Greg throws for his staff on KNOTS, “to thank them for making me so rich”, is a much lighter affair. The vibe is more romantic comedy than melodrama, with the emphasis on comedy. Surprisingly, the funniest character of all turns out to be Michael Fairgate. Having played “earnest teenage son” for the past decade, he smoothly transitions into the role of “socially awkward office new boy” whose attempts to get a date for the party come to nought. His air of deadpan bemusement is reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman's in The Graduate. Eventually, his newly blonde sister-in-law Linda takes pity on him and offers to pose as his date, and they end up enjoying each other’s company more than they were expecting to. In fact, almost everyone at the party pairs off, from Harvey the messenger guy and Polly the new receptionist to Bob and his third cousin Carol. The exception is Mort, whose date, a runner-up Miss Malibu, is a no-show.If DALLAS’s party is excitingly soapy and KNOTS is playful and fun, FC’s is utterly and uniquely insane. Now that Emma has “inherited” Falcon Crest, Charley is drunk on power. “I’m Emma’s husband. I’m running this circus. Deal with it!” he declares, even though the winery is falling apart and he has no clue what he’s doing. Instead, he comes up with the brilliantly terrible idea of throwing “the biggest kick-in-the-butt bash this valley has ever seen” in honour of Bacchus, aka Dionysus, the God of wine. As Pilar points out, “This party is a disaster waiting to happen. With all the problems Falcon Crest is having, especially financial, it doesn’t look good to the people we do business with to be celebrating abundance.” (The Ewings have a similar perception problem at the start of this week’s DALLAS. “Oil is leaking out all over the Gulf and you’re sitting here having dinner?!” McKay asks them incredulously as cameras click and flashbulbs pop.)Falconcrest.org describes this week’s instalment as “an extremely bad and disgusting episode.” If you apply those adjectives specifically to Charley’s party, most of the guests in attendance would surely agree. Charley makes his entrance carried on a throne by burly men in centurion drag. He himself is dressed as Caligula in a Roman toga and blond wig (plastic ray-bans optional). As handmaidens scatter rose petals in his path and musicians play lyres and whatnot, he waves regally to the crowd. It’s a logical extension of those DYNASTY parties where Alexis would make a grand entrance and then bask in the appreciation of a bunch of extras — except that here, everyone just looks confused. He then delivers a speech about “Bacchus, Bacchus, God of the grape, God of fruitfulness and vegetation, wine and ecstasy, promoter of civilisation and lover of peace” that Richard describes as “very eloquent … but I don’t have any idea what it was about.” Richard then advises Emma that “this whole thing, I’m afraid, is getting out of control.” And how — a crew of vineyard workers, angry at not being paid, gatecrash the party, and then a bunch of Charley’s friends, apparently played by the biker gang from “Land of the Free," show up and proceed to trash the place. Pretty soon the bikers, the workers, the caterers in togas and the guests in bowties are having the most almighty brawl. The regular cast look on in dismay. They’re all dressed in black, as if in mourning for their series.Next to Ewing Oil’s current crisis and the madness at Falcon Crest, KNOTS’ current business storyline — Oakman Industries scamming old ladies out of their pensions — might seem a bit dry, but it’s peppered with satisfying little details. It’s kind of surprising to realise that, even though Mack Mackenzie is Soap Land’s most well-known attorney, we’ve yet to see him strut his stuff in a courtroom. But now that he is defending Aunt Ginny (following her arrest for Jeri Maddux’ murder) we get a glimpse of his cross-examining style as he questions Mark Baylor during a deposition. (“Mr Baylor, was it a good thing for your career that Jeri Maddux died? … Look, Mr Baylor, you did benefit from Jeri Maddux death!” “My client is not in trial!” “Not yet!”) When law student Frank asks why he pushed Baylor so hard, Mack offers the following explanation: “The practice of law is theatre. Every trial is a play, every threat is a bluff, every speech is a performance. I just wanted to strike the fear of God into that son of a bitch.”The fact that the Oakman story is such an atypical one for Soap Land means that it’s also unpredictable, and this ep contains a few surprise twists along the way. The first comes when the charges against Ginny are suddenly dropped and Baylor is arrested for the murder instead after the $17,000 Jeri stole is found in his home. Twist #2 swiftly follows — Baylor asks Mack to defend him. “I need an attorney who’s stubborn and tenacious and self-righteous and competent,” he tells him. Mack is reluctant, but Baylor makes him an offer he can’t refuse: “You could use me to get at Oakman Industries … I know where a lot of skeletons are buried and I’ll take you to them.” So Mack agrees to take the case even though he thinks Baylor is guilty. Twist #3 comes at the end of the episode as Ginny is taking a nostalgic look through the box of jewellery she took from Jeri’s apartment. Right at the bottom, she finds what looks remarkably like $17,000 in cash. It would appear that Baylor has been set up to take a fall for the bad guys. Back on DALLAS, JR is hoping to pull a similar trick following the tanker collision in the Gulf. “You’re taking the fall on this,” he orders Al ‘The Pal’ Halliday, the amusingly shifty tanker guy “who sold me that substandard piece of tin … Don’t worry, I’ll cover your losses.” Al plays along but ends up switching sides. “If West Star will just take a few inexpensive tankers off my hands,” he tells Carter McKay, “Al ‘Your Pal’ Halliday will give you, as a special bonus, some real interesting facts on Ewing Oil’s sad little ship.” This leads to McKay calling a press conference where he provides evidence that the Ewing tanker was unseaworthy and its captain a drunk. He also denounces JR and Bobby as “the greedy profit-mongers of Ewing Oil, which now must bear full responsibility for the black tide that is headed towards our beautiful Texas coast.”Pretty soon, the Ewings are being attacked on all fronts. “The dollar loss is pretty staggering,” Bobby tells April. “The cleanup is expensive and impossible, the press is trying to lynch me, and the federal, state and local authorities are fighting to see who can put a noose around my neck.” While the Ewings’ associates seek to distance themselves from the family (“The public just doesn’t want Ewing Oil’s head — they want the heads of everyone doing business with Ewing Oil”), Cliff quits the company (“I am deeply ashamed of ever having any association with Ewing Oil,” he announces publicly), taking his money with him and joining forces with West Star. “We were cash poor to begin with,” admits Bobby, “now we are deep in the lurch.” Over on FALCON CREST, Lance can relate: “We just don’t have enough money to pay the workers, the truckers or the pickers.”In contrast to the business woes at Ewing Oil and Falcon Crest, the Sumner Group is in rude health. This week, Paige brings in a deal worth $500,000. Greg’s initial response (“How did you close the Christopher deal — a little set of strip croquet?”) might sound shockingly sexist in a present-day context, but he then demonstrates his confidence in Paige by assigning her the account of Mrs Richfield. An elegant older woman of considerable wealth, Mrs R is the KNOTS equivalent of Mrs Evander, DALLAS’s patron of the arts who has recently bought some of Cally’s paintings. Both dowagers are equally impressed by the talented blonde twenty-something in their midst.Ladies’ legs are a recurring visual motif in this week’s Ewing-verse, and it all starts with those new stockings of Paige’s. When she wears them during her lunch break the following day, the camera does a slow pan up her legs. And who should happen to stop by but “the man who bought your underwear”, whom we’ve yet to learn is called Tom Ryan? “I can’t believe you’re wearing them … They look great on you,” he tells her. Later, he sidles up to her at the Sumner Group party. “I just can’t get the image out of my mind … what’s holding up those stockings,” he murmurs. This is immediately followed by a shot of another woman’s legs: Paula Vertosick’s, as she perches on the edge of a desk in Greg’s office. Despite her sexy new image (a short Michelle Stevens-style hairdo and a tight little black dress which is a long way from the frumpy ranger’s outfit she was so attached to last season), Paula nonetheless suspects that Greg only invited her to the party to make Paige jealous. “So did I play my part all right?” she asks him. “Why do you assume you’re here to play a part?” he replies. “I’m not blonde and twenty-two,” she points out. “Those are your good points,” he grins. “We have nothing in common … I hate everything you stand for,” she says. “You have incredibly long legs,” he tells her. This short scene ends as it begins, with another shot of those incredibly long legs. Then it’s back to Paige’s legs. By now, they and Tom are in the elevator and he is silently satisfying his curiosity by hitching up her skirt to reveal a tantalising glimpse of the garter underneath. (Who needs strip croquet?) They end up back at her place where they kiss, he lowers her onto the sofa and there’s a final shot of, yes, you guessed it, her legs in those stockings.Over at Ewing Oil, Jackie is kneeling on the floor packing up Cliff’s files when a woman approaches her. We’re on the same level as Jackie and so only see the woman’s legs. “Cliff’s moved out — but I’m sure you know that already,” Jackie tells her. “I’m not looking for Cliff. It’s JR I want,” the woman replies, the camera following her legs as she strides purposefully towards JR’s office and enters without knocking. Only then do we see that the pins belong to Michelle Stevens. She cheerfully informs JR that she’s there to collect on their deal: “You promised me the big payoff — getting rid of Cliff, remember?” But JR’s angry with her for pushing Cliff into West Star’s arms. “I didn’t think you were that stupid,” he snaps. “I want my money,” she insists, her good mood evaporating. “We had a deal!” “And you screwed it up!” he replies. The scene concludes with Michelle issuing JR one of those dramatic office threats in the grand DALLAS tradition of Vaughn Leland and Katherine Wentworth: “Think of Cliff as a missile pointed at your head, only it’s my finger on the button. You made a bad mistake, JR!”When Michelle subsequently pays a visit to Carter McKay’s office, she is once again introduced legs first. “I figure you owe me for shoving Cliff your way,” she tells him, still angling for a payout. Whereas JR was dismissive, McKay’s attitude is oddly paternal. It’s as if this new cold-as-ice McKay requires an equally soulless progeny to replace the children he genuinely loved. “I like you, Michelle,” he says. “You’re sharp and you’re hungry. I won’t insult you by offering you money … I’m gonna give you something that money can’t buy. You can call on me for one favour — anytime, anything.” “And what if I ask for that favour in cash?” she asks. “Then it’ll prove to me you’re a nickel and dime player and you don’t belong in the game,” he replies.Everywhere Gary turns on this week’s KNOTS, he finds Danny the computer guy. He’s in the cul-de-sac when he stops by to see the twins and at Amanda’s place when he arrives to pick her up for a date. “Are you still seeing him?” Gary asks her.  Over on DALLAS, Cally is similarly troubled by the presence of JR’s ex. “You planned this whole thing all along, didn’t you?” she accuses Vanessa, referring to James’s paternity revelation. “You are still in love with JR and this is your way of stealing him away from me!” But while it’s Danny pursuing Amanda rather than the other way around — he keeps trying to kiss her even after she tells him their going to bed together was a mistake — it’s JR who won’t let go of Vanessa. “Don’t leave,” he pleads as she makes plans to return to Vienna. “Dammit, Vanessa, you owe it to me to stick around … You stole the life we could have had together … I should have married you and not Sue Ellen. I should have been allowed to raise James as my son.” James also tries to persuade his mother to stay: “It’s our chance to become the family we always should have been.” But, like Paula on KNOTS, Vanessa is acutely aware that she is not blonde and twenty-two: “JR is married … she’s young and she’s very pretty.” “… We belong together — you and me and JR,” James insists. “It’s too late for a happy childhood, James,” she tells him sadly. This is only Vanessa and James’s second conversation on screen, but there’s something very likeable and poignant about their mother/son relationship. Just as Vanessa cannot be dissuaded from returning to Europe, Gary also thinks that distance might be the best solution to his situation. “Come away with me for a week, a weekend, a night — let’s just get out of here,” he suggests to Amanda.Two pairs of newlyweds — JR and Cally on DALLAS, Emma and Charley on FALCON CREST — have their first row this week. Both take place in the marital bedroom and both stem from the bride’s concerns about a male relative of the groom getting too close for comfort. “Why don’t you just say goodbye to James and exchange Christmas cards?” says Cally to JR. “Your brother and his underage bride can visit any time they want, but they are not moving in,” Emma tells Charley. “Now that you know Vanessa’s the mother of your child, are you gonna let her walk away or are you gonna try and keep her here, too?” Cally continues. “I love you, darlin’,” JR replies wearily. “I’ve told you that a thousand times … James is my son. There’s nothing I can do about that  … Now I am tired, darling. My business world is falling apart and instead of the love and support I need at a time like this, I come home to a load of CRAP!” “Now listen to me, little girl,” Charley tells Emma. “your mother left some very big shoes to fill … and that’s why brother Ian is here, to make us strong again … He’s gonna help us run the business.” “What do you mean he’s gonna help run the business? You don’t make a decision like that without consulting with me!” Emma argues.Both Emma's and Cally’s objections ultimately fall on deaf ears. JR invites James to move onto Southfork without informing Cally while the arrival of Charley’s family at Falcon Crest proves too much not only for Emma but also for Lance. “Emma, there are more strangers in this house than family,” he mutters during another of FC’s buttock-clenchingly awkward dinners. “I can’t believe you’re letting this happen to us.” “Sit down, cowboy!” Charley orders him, deploying the same condescending, faux-friendly nickname Danny uses on Gary on KNOTS. “Save your energy for your perky wife.” This last crack sends Lance over the edge and the two men get into a terrifically messy, grunty, edgy, real fight.The irony behind James’s wisecrack at the very end of DALLAS — “Cally, there’s one more thing: do I call you Mom?” — is the first acknowledgement that JR’s son and wife are more or less the same age. Meanwhile, the one time Sydney, FALCON CREST’s new “underage bride”, comes close to smiling is when she is introduced to Frank Agretti’s nephew Chris, the only other FC character who is anywhere near her own age — a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by her husband. (After all the recent changes on FALCON CREST, it’s nice to know there’s still an inexhaustible supply of long-lost Agretti relatives.)While Charley’s guests are trashing Falcon Crest, Southfork is also vandalised. “A bunch of bleeding heart idiots dumped crude oil and dead birds in our pool” in protest at the mess the Ewings created in the Gulf. “I longer deserve to be at Ewing Oil," JR concludes. "I’m getting out, Bob … It’s all yours.” Bobby, however, refuses to let him go: “You really think I’m gonna let you quit now, let me be the fall guy so you can dodge the heat? … We’re in this together till death do us part.” This is an interesting shift in the brothers' dynamic.Back on FALCON CREST, Lance is also on the verge of giving up, but then things get so bad at Charley’s “extremely bad and disgusting” party that he realises he has to take a stand: “This is our family, this is our land. I have to fight for it.” Emma likewise begins to despair at the mess she’s gotten them all into and goes to visit Angela in the hospital. “Oh God, Mother,” she weeps at her bedside, “everything is spinning out of control … I’ve failed you miserably. What am I gonna do?” To her amazement, Angela replies! “Emma, you’re in danger. He’s the one who put me here, Charley. Stop him,” she murmurs. Emma rushes to get help, but by the time the medics return, Angela is comatose again and there is no evidence that she ever regained consciousness. This is a familiar scenario for Emma: no-one believed her when she said that Jason “died twice” or that Julia had come back from the dead — but the medical fact that “there is no register here of any recent brain activity” suggests a supernatural element at play — has Emma just received a visitation from some Soap Land netherworld? Either way, she has learned from previous experience that it is best to play along with the authorities. “I guess I just wished so hard for it that I actually saw it,” she tells the doctor — but when she and Angela are alone again, she leans towards her and whispers in her ear, “I won’t let you down, Mama.”And this week’s Top 3 are … very, very close. They could almost be in any order.1 (2) KNOTS LANDING2 (3) FALCON CREST3 (1) DALLAS</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?