Dallas Couples JR & Sue Ellen - Swoonalicious Appreciation Thread

[Ukdallasfan]

I’m a mega fan of this couple! The actors had such great chemistry that they brought the love/hate, can’t live with but can’t live without elements to the characters’ relationship to life with such great effect. The love scenes were super sexy and I really liked the fact that if JR was troubled he would always go running to her first for support and comfort

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

I agree. I love the chemistry between the characters (and actors) and the complexity of their emotions and behaviours is fascinating and captivating to watch. I also love the character development, especially that of Sue Ellen. If you look at early Sue Ellen and compare her to late Sue Ellen she's so different and that's really something you can dissect and have a lot of interesting discussions about. JR too, he is always "the same" in bigger picture behaviours but his vulnerable moments are where you realise he is changing and he does have a complicated psyche.

 

[Mrs Bobby James Ewing]

Happy Birthday Linda Gray. I love this thread dedicated to JR and Sue Ellen. They are one of my favorite couples from original Dallas because their amazing chemistry on screen and also Larry and Linda’s real life friendship helps to endear them to me even though Bobby&Pam are my favorite couple since they are star crossed lovers aka Romeo and Juliet of Dallas due to the Barnes-Ewing feud.

 

[Sarah]

I don’t believe there is another couple in history with the magic and chemistry that these two possess together. No one comes close to them. They are dynamite!

I’ve loved them my whole life and get goosebumps just looking at them. When Sue Ellen left, JR was never the same - Dallas was over for me as it was - but I was so happy to see them again on JR Returns, WOTE and TNT. Larry always said he wanted things ‘put right’ between JR and Sue Ellen and I guess that’s what they did. There isn’t anyone who can ever convince me that they didn’t love each other.

There is something bothering me though after watching a few post BD Calhoun episodes.

In the scene where JR tells Sue Ellen that it’s ‘always been you’, Sue Ellen has asked him about what Mandy said as she left. Sue Ellen reiterates a different line however to what JR actually told Winger.

Sue Ellen says, “Mandy said that you told her, if it had of been anyone, it would have been her’.

What JR actually said, but which Winger ni doubt manipulated was ‘if it had happened with anyone, it would have happened with you’.

So either Mandy misleads Sue Ellen (not surprisingly, bitch that she is), or Sue Ellen picked it up as she tells it to JR.

Either way, why did he say that? Does it mean out of all the women he could have left for..?

See I believe he truly means it when he says ‘it’s always been you’ to Sue Ellen.

I’d love to talk it out.

 

[Ukdallasfan]

I think you’re right, Sarah. Mandy was the one he came closest to ending his marriage for but, when it came down to it, he couldn’t. Whatever happened to JR and Sue Ellen from their first meeting he was hooked and so was she. That was what made the whole Kimberly Cryder storyline so ridiculous. Yes he might have had an affair with her to take control of West Star but he would never have divorced Sue Ellen to do so. I hated that storyline with a passion because it represented a diversion in the story that just wasn’t credible for me

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

I think you’re right, Sarah. Mandy was the one he came closest to ending his marriage for but, when it came down to it, he couldn’t. Whatever happened to JR and Sue Ellen from their first meeting he was hooked and so was she. That was what made the whole Kimberly Cryder storyline so ridiculous. Yes he might have had an affair with her to take control of West Star but he would never have divorced Sue Ellen to do so. I hated that storyline with a passion because it represented a diversion in the story that just wasn’t credible for me

I agree. I think pretty much everything following Sue Ellen manipulating the Mandy/Valentine Girl situation was an opportunity for JR to stop hiding his wicked plans from Sue Ellen and start pulling her into them with him. She always found out about things eventually and then got hurt, it would have been better if he'd explained to her what his goal was and how he planned to get there and they'd teamed up to scheme together. That would have been character development. Sue Ellen proved to him when she showed him the video tape of her on the talkshow that she'd been paying attention to his tactics and could play a sly game like he did.

JR going for Mandy sort of made sense in a JR likes women angle, but JR leaving Sue Ellen and actually marrying Mandy would have meant he'd lose a hell of a lot and likely gain very little. Bringing her to Southfork to live as his wife wouldn't have really been what either of them wanted and I think it would have ended had it even gotten that far.

 

[Sarah]

JR going for Mandy sort of made sense in a JR likes women angle, but JR leaving Sue Ellen and actually marrying Mandy would have meant he'd lose a hell of a lot and likely gain very little. Bringing her to Southfork to live as his wife wouldn't have really been what either of them wanted and I think it would have ended had it even gotten that far.

Do you mean he'd lose a hell of a lot including Sue Ellen? Why do you think Mandy wouldn't have wanted to live at Southfork and JR not wanting her there also?

Thanks to both of you for replying @Ukdallasfan and @Miss Texas 1967 - I started watching the 'always been you' scene and the questions started in my head. The never ending questions!!!! And how Mandy relayed that line to Sue Ellen wasn't even true!

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

Do you mean he'd lose a hell of a lot including Sue Ellen? Why do you think Mandy wouldn't have wanted to live at Southfork and JR not wanting her there also?

Thanks to both of you for replying @Ukdallasfan and @Miss Texas 1967 - I started watching the 'always been you' scene and the questions started in my head. The never ending questions!!!! And how Mandy relayed that line to Sue Ellen wasn't even true!

Including Sue Ellen but also his family would have been hostile, maybe not directly towards Mandy but towards JR definitely. John Ross wouldn't have liked Mandy any more than he liked Cally at first. On Mandy's end I think she liked the idea of being Mrs JR Ewing because JR treated her like a princess, he wooed her with flashy gifts and quality time, but bringing her back to live on the family ranch, sharing a wall with Bobby and Pam, breakfast with Miss Ellie and Clayton, and settling in to being JR's second, third, fourth etc. priority as his wives often became would have worn thin pretty quickly. I get the feeling Mandy liked big and wealthy, she was young and pretty, she could have had anyone but JR made her feel special. Once she settled into domestic life and JR didn't actively have to charm her constantly I think she would have gotten bored.

The same could have been said for a younger Sue Ellen, I imagine she was bored s***less in the early days when she had nothing to do, no husband to love her and no children. Sue Ellen loved JR and had Patricia's teachings drilled in to her, she couldn't leave and she didn't want to leave, but there wasn't much at Southfork that was really pulling her to stay either.

As for scenes from the show, there are things that can be ambiguous and perhaps were written that way, or written in a way they didn't expect us to analyse so deeply as repeat viewings weren't commonplace. That doesn't stop us from doing it though

 

[Sarah]

Yes that's a brilliant analysis of it @Miss Texas 1967 - and I do read and analyse just about everything that they say. I guess...what I'm trying to say, in a very awkward way...is.... JR loved Sue Ellen, didn't he? Aside from what he might have lost...he stayed because he wanted to? Because he loved her?

I do feel a little better with reading what you've said - it was like a fantasy with Winger, nothing more. She didn't see what it was like to be married to him, and I am pretty confident when I say I think he would have eventually made his way back to Sue Ellen. And he must of known deep down that Sue Ellen loved him like no other. She fought for him. And JR will have appreciated and been turned on by that.

Thank you both for responding, I hope we can talk a bit more. Sorry for being so unsettled.

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

@Sarah yes, I think he did. I don't think love is an excuse for the way JR treated Sue Ellen at times, but he was a flawed character and was intended to be written that way. I think the very fact that JR continued to be pulled back to Sue Ellen (and vice versa) was more than just lust because lust could be satisfied with anyone else in their lives, they were emotionally invested in each other and continued to be so. They have problems, it was not a perfect relationship when you take chemistry out of the equation, they did things to hurt each other which you could argue is in direct opposition to love however to continue to cycle through the highs and lows had to be because of something powerful.

JR could have had Mandy but I don't think it would have been a comfortable forever relationship. I think once the high stakes element of their relationship was removed they would have become unsettled.

 

[Ukdallasfan]

I completely agree re Mandy. She would have quickly grown tired of life at Southfork and she wouldn’t have been welcomed by the family either. She was a home wrecker, Cally wasn’t, and that would have been the difference. What Mandy wanted was what she ultimately got- world travel and being in the constant spotlight. JR wouldn’t have delivered on any of that. Sue Ellen was accepting of the life she had with him and committed. Now, that’s true love. Equally, I feel that JR would have grown tired of Mandy if they had married. She wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the box and, other than providing sex, she would have been next to no comfort to him when he was troubled. Sue Ellen understood him more than anyone and he knew that

 

[Sarah]

Thank you guys. I have an over active mind which analyses everything (it’s exhausting) and sometimes I am totally confident in their love and at other times when I watch certain scenes I think - oh God what is that about? What does it mean?

Like I believe with all my heart that JR loved Sue Ellen - even with the marriage to Cally - look how it was written in the end that Sue Ellen had his heart.

I do agree with what you say and I appreciate your patience in letting me talk about it.

I know had anything happened to Sue Ellen JR would have been destroyed. Look at what happened when she left him. Like who was that guy?

And obviously how Sue Ellen reacted when he died. Distraught. Inconsolable.

He didn’t even try to go to Mandy once she left. She was the one who manipulated and deceived. Not him. And I rarely defend JR.

They are just my lobsters in every sense of the word. I don’t admit it lightly but I don’t have much support in life so I turn to them.
My Mum died last year and it’s devasted me.

I don’t know what I would do if someone told me JR didn’t love her. I know to a lot of people that might sound sad, but I’m trusting you guys with it.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I think it’s unquestionable that JR loved Sue Ellen. Despite all the fighting and all the things he did to her, J.R. without Sue Ellen was not J.R. Go back and watch season 12 (13 dvd) if you can bare it. And count how many times Sue Ellen’s name is mentioned by JR in that season after she left. You think the writers knew what a mistake it was that Sue Ellen was gone? I’m sure they did. One of the major dynamics of the show was now lost, and things would never be the same. I had nothing against Cally, but she wasn’t Sue Ellen for J.R. She never could be. Despite all of his cheating and manipulating and treating her horribly, J.R. needed Sue Ellen. The actors played them beautifully, making them so much fun. Were they always likable as a couple? No. I’ll admit there were times I even hated them LOL. They were so polarizing. I would watch back then and beg Sue Ellen to leave him. I felt like she put up with way too much in those early years. They definitely had a unique marriage. But that uniqueness was such a huge part of the shows success. I never saw the chemistry between J.R. and Mandy. And I think he would’ve cheated on her just the same. A J.R.-Mandy marriage would’ve been very short. Sarah, I’m very sorry about your mother. Mine passed away 12 years ago and I’m still devastated, so I can relate. Just take it one day at a time and I promise you it does get easier. And I’m sure you know that everyone on this board is here for you!!

 

[Sarah]

I think it’s unquestionable that JR loved Sue Ellen. Despite all the fighting and all the things he did to her, J.R. without Sue Ellen was not J.R. Go back and watch season 12 (13 dvd) if you can bare it. And count how many times Sue Ellen’s name is mentioned by JR in that season after she left. You think the writers knew what a mistake it was that Sue Ellen was gone? I’m sure they did. One of the major dynamics of the show was now lost, and things would never be the same. I had nothing against Cally, but she wasn’t Sue Ellen for J.R. She never could be. Despite all of his cheating and manipulating and treating her horribly, J.R. needed Sue Ellen. The actors played them beautifully, making them so much fun. Were they always likable as a couple? No. I’ll admit there were times I even hated them LOL. They were so polarizing. I would watch back then and beg Sue Ellen to leave him. I felt like she put up with way too much in those early years. They definitely had a unique marriage. But that uniqueness was such a huge part of the shows success. I never saw the chemistry between J.R. and Mandy. And I think he would’ve cheated on her just the same. A J.R.-Mandy marriage would’ve been very short. Sarah, I’m very sorry about your mother. Mine passed away 12 years ago and I’m still devastated, so I can relate. Just take it one day at a time and I promise you it does get easier. And I’m sure you know that everyone on this board is here for you!!

Thank you so very much for this. THIS - what you've said. You are so right and I needed to read this. JR without Sue Ellen, was not JR. THIS. I don't think I could bare to watch season 12/13 again without her, but I know you're right. I don't even know what else to say except thank you. You get it. They were THE major dynamic.

And thank you so much for the kind words about my Mum. It's been 10 months now and I don't understand how. I'm still heartbroken by her loss.

 

[DallasFanForever]

You’re very welcome Sarah!

 

[Mrs Bobby James Ewing]

Happy Halloween everyone! I love this thread dedicated to JR&Sue Ellen and I love chatting with other fans about this wonderful and very dysfunctional couple. I love Original Dallas and it rocks.

 

[Mrs Bobby James Ewing]

Happy 40th Anniversary of Who Shot JR! Let’s get this thread going again and let's talk about JR, Sue Ellen, and the Who Shot JR storyline since it is one of the most famous TV cliffhangers of all time.

 

[Ukdallasfan]

For a start I would say that Larry and Linda both looked good in this season and the one that followed it. Larry had lost some weight and was very handsome in his three piece suits. Linda’s hair was a lovely length and her make up wasn’t as over done as it was in later seasons so they made a very attractive couple, if also hugely dysfunctional, which was like nothing I’d really noticed on tv before and totally kept my interest.
The fact that they were well suited as a couple followed the big reveal and that scene, the one after they dropped Kristin off at the airport and Sue Ellen goes mad and pushes him on the bed.... Damn that was hot

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

For a start I would say that Larry and Linda both looked good in this season and the one that followed it. Larry had lost some weight and was very handsome in his three piece suits. Linda’s hair was a lovely length and her make up wasn’t as over done as it was in later seasons so they made a very attractive couple, if also hugely dysfunctional, which was like nothing I’d really noticed on tv before and totally kept my interest.
The fact that they were well suited as a couple followed the big reveal and that scene, the one after they dropped Kristin off at the airport and Sue Ellen goes mad and pushes him on the bed.... Damn that was hot

Good looking couple indeed

 

[Sarah]

They are hotter than hot. No one can hold a candle to them!