Watching Season 11 (DVD) for the First Time

Presea

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I loved Nicholas' mafia storyline! But Casey and Plant Lady and Friends are seriously trying my patience now. And Cliff's pill-popping just makes him look even more pathetic right now. God, I miss the early seasons Cliff! I agree that even I was already more interested in just that one scene Ray has right now with Connie than everything so far with him and Jenna and Charlie! Lol.
 

JROG

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EPISODE 25: NEVER SAY NEVER

A witty installment, full of great J.R. stuff, for the show’s 10th anniversary.

The episode opens with a gritty-looking scene immediately following Clayton's release on bail. It’s this tiny corridor that Duffy and Keel can barely walk in and there’s a bunch of reporters coming at them. New director Cliff Fenneman did well here.

Bobby and Miss Ellie may have shown up for Clayton, but J.R. is notably absent. That doesn’t stop him from making his feelings about Clayton returning to Southfork known. Hilariously, Miss Ellie is not in the mood for J.R.’s usual insults. She calls him a disgrace, throws losing Ewing Oil at his face, brings up that Sue Ellen has put up with J.R.’s cheating multiple times, and says that Clayton is a saint compared to her firstborn. That’s a lot of sass in a short scene. "I’m just telling the truth!" J.R. complains later. Sue Ellen joins in on the fun: "That would be a first, wouldn’t it?"

Annoying British Lad shows up again, purposefully pointing out he was in London when David died. I don’t believe you, asshole. Things get interesting when Plant Lady shows up at Southfork to assure Miss Ellie that she and Clayton were never intimate. God, her delivery is so bad. You can practically see her thinking, Oh, wait, that’s a new beat/thought, gotta change my tone. I have to admit though, she looks very pretty in this episode, which I hope was on purpose to contrast her beauty with her claims of virginal innocence. In any case, Miss Ellie doesn’t believe her.

J.R. practically gets a boner on the spot when he sees Laurel leaving the house. "I wouldn’t be lurid enough to turn you on!" she spits on her way out of the soundstage. What is J.R. to do? He contacts Harry McSween (does that man ever leave that chair/stop reading a magazine?) and has him pick up Laurel and bring her to his office. "I want to properly and frequently bed you" J.R. says, having lost all ability to smooth-talk a woman without being utterly creepy and disgusting. "Ew!" Laurel says, to her credit. "When it comes to J.R., never say never!" says J.R. humbly, which is a pretty good moment and ends up being the episode title.

Even with Jenna and Charlie, his figurative ball and chain dragging him down, away in Europe, Ray still can’t seem to show up and actually be with his family. I did like that little scene where he comes home and looks at the pictures. Having the leather chaps and gloves on from work is also a nice detail. The show has been missing on atmosphere-building details like that. At least later he calls Clayton, assuring him he’ll be there for him if needed. Connie begins to call and show up unexpectedly, and suddenly I’m getting a FATAL ATTRACTION vibe. Didn’t that movie get released in 1987? After Jenna calls and disappoints Ray yet again (but gives her best performance ever!), Ray turns sexy with Connie really quick. I thought they’d fυck right there on the stairs. Funny – he never had heat like this with Jenna. They go out to drinks.

Sue Ellen turns to April for help in understanding what’s going on with Nicholas. I suppose April needed a reason to show up. Sue Ellen gleefully says she’ll take J.R. down and April tells her to go right ahead. Later, Nicholas makes his one appearance to tell Sue Ellen that he can’t tell her anything. "Have you been using too much hairspray, you nitwit?" Sue Ellen asks.

Kay introduces Bobby to Gregory Sumner's father. Bobby acts all self-righteous and indignant when O'Dell asks for a mere 2-million-dollar castle in Ireland in exchange for his support. Bobby, you used to grease palms for a living!

Casey offers Cliff a partnership against J.R., wisely equating what Jock did to Digger to what J.R. did to his father. Cliff sensibly points out he doesn’t even know who Casey is and continues to take pills.

Later, Kimberly stops by Cliff’s office to offer him her partnership. Out of curiosity, Cliff takes a meeting with that weirdo Dr. Styles but quickly rejects working together. Not wanting her father to die (why not?), Kimberly goes to J.R. and basically tells him she’ll be his whore if he drops the war. In a deliciously cruel moment, J.R. asks why she thinks he’d be interested in that, and promises to win the war.

DDD
 

JROG

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I wish I knew how to multiquote but I don´t. I just want to nominate (if I may) this post and its very witty author JROG for the Best Post of the Year Award. Thank God I wasn´t eating or drinking when I read it...

Thank you! Very kind of you.

I loved Nicholas' mafia storyline!

I've enjoyed it too! It's not DALLAS at its best, but it's also not complete dreck.

I did like Nicholas and Sue Ellen together. Yet another late-series misstep to kill him off and replace him with the lacklustre Lockwood.

:eck:

In this case, I know about this, but please let's not give everything (or, anything) away!
 

Ray&Donna

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EPISODE 25: NEVER SAY NEVER

A witty installment, full of great J.R. stuff, for the show’s 10th anniversary.

The episode opens with a gritty-looking scene immediately following Clayton's release on bail. It’s this tiny corridor that Duffy and Keel can barely walk in and there’s a bunch of reporters coming at them. New director Cliff Fenneman did well here.

Yes, DALLAS usually did those gritty jail scenes appropriately, perhaps with Sue Ellen in the drunk tank a notable exception.

Bobby and Miss Ellie may have shown up for Clayton, but J.R. is notably absent. That doesn’t stop him from making his feelings about Clayton returning to Southfork known. Hilariously, Miss Ellie is not in the mood for J.R.’s usual insults. She calls him a disgrace, throws losing Ewing Oil at his face, brings up that Sue Ellen has put up with J.R.’s cheating multiple times, and says that Clayton is a saint compared to her firstborn. That’s a lot of sass in a short scene. "I’m just telling the truth!" J.R. complains later. Sue Ellen joins in on the fun: "That would be a first, wouldn’t it?"

This sounds like, perhaps, the second-best scene of the season. The best one is still yet to come ;)

Annoying British Lad shows up again, purposefully pointing out he was in London when David died. I don’t believe you, asshole. Things get interesting when Plant Lady shows up at Southfork to assure Miss Ellie that she and Clayton were never intimate. God, her delivery is so bad. You can practically see her thinking, Oh, wait, that’s a new beat/thought, gotta change my tone. I have to admit though, she looks very pretty in this episode, which I hope was on purpose to contrast her beauty with her claims of virginal innocence. In any case, Miss Ellie doesn’t believe her.

J.R. practically gets a boner on the spot when he sees Laurel leaving the house. "I wouldn’t be lurid enough to turn you on!" she spits on her way out of the soundstage. What is J.R. to do? He contacts Harry McSween (does that man ever leave that chair/stop reading a magazine?) and has him pick up Laurel and bring her to his office. "I want to properly and frequently bed you" J.R. says, having lost all ability to smooth-talk a woman without being utterly creepy and disgusting. "Ew!" Laurel says, to her credit. "When it comes to J.R., never say never!" says J.R. humbly, which is a pretty good moment and ends up being the episode title.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:Perhaps Laurel would have been more tempted had J.R. likened himself to a bonsai:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Even with Jenna and Charlie, his figurative ball and chain dragging him down, away in Europe, Ray still can’t seem to show up and actually be with his family. I did like that little scene where he comes home and looks at the pictures. Having the leather chaps and gloves on from work is also a nice detail. The show has been missing on atmosphere-building details like that. At least later he calls Clayton, assuring him he’ll be there for him if needed. Connie begins to call and show up unexpectedly, and suddenly I’m getting a FATAL ATTRACTION vibe. Didn’t that movie get released in 1987? After Jenna calls and disappoints Ray yet again (but gives her best performance ever!), Ray turns sexy with Connie really quick. I thought they’d fυck right there on the stairs. Funny – he never had heat like this with Jenna. They go out to drinks.

Yes, this is the first movie ripoff. At least three more happen, one in each of the final three seasons.

Sue Ellen turns to April for help in understanding what’s going on with Nicholas. I suppose April needed a reason to show up. Sue Ellen gleefully says she’ll take J.R. down and April tells her to go right ahead. Later, Nicholas makes his one appearance to tell Sue Ellen that he can’t tell her anything. "Have you been using too much hairspray, you nitwit?" Sue Ellen asks.

More laughs. :bah:

Kay introduces Bobby to Gregory Sumner's father. Bobby acts all self-righteous and indignant when O'Dell asks for a mere 2-million-dollar castle in Ireland in exchange for his support. Bobby, you used to grease palms for a living!

I do enjoy a KNOTS LANDING reference now and again. Not that I've ever actually seen Howard Duff in anything but a screen capture. :(
 

Presea

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The Plant Lady storyline really turns Miss Ellie into a whiny schoolgirl with her irrational and OOC jealousy. I expected her to not jump to conclusions and trust and/or talk to Clayton first, not this! Annoying British Lad, indeed. I don't care that he was even kind of hot, I just want all of this to end! And now we add a perverted JR to the mix. Just great. They had a good thing when it was just about Laurel being a supportive friend for Clayton with his midlife crisis, but the writers just had to screw it all up!

LMAO at this Connie stuff! Ray just needs some real spice and excitement, because god knows that Jenna isn't providing it! I have often wondered if it was not really a coincidence that Fatal Attraction came out not long after Katherine's antics ended.

I don't know how Nicholas hasn't lot his sanity between both Sue Ellen and April. If I were him, I'd want to disappear and get a new identity again.
 

JROG

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EPISODE 26: LAST OF THE GOOD GUYS

Really good. It starts with a great opening scene and pretty much never stops going. We find Ray in bed with Connie, waking up unsure of what’s just happened. He offers to give her money. "I am not a whore!" Connie protests, but certainly doesn’t give up. She shows up at Ray’s and asks him if he’d rather sit around waiting for his corpse of a wife, or would like to take a dip in her ladypond. The actress is so good. Before long, Ray gives in.

Bobby tries to get O'Dell’s support once again but fails. Amusingly, it looks like O'Dell may have his Knots Landing portrait as Paul Galveston hanging in his office. Who said there never were any more DALLAS/KL crossovers after Bobby's return?! Bobby decides to do something interesting: He orders Phyllis to find him anything he can use to blackmail O'Dell. Phyllis, however, guilts Bobby into being a decent person (roll eyes). OK, I’m kidding. Kinda. But it was a cute Bobby/Phyllis moment. Bobby goes back to O'Dell and gives him what he wanted, provided he gets the Ewing name back.

I like the way they are handling Cliff’s pill addiction at the moment. It’s much subtler. He receives two visits, one by Casey and one by April. In each case, he makes sure to hide the pill bottle before they see. High as he is, Cliff agrees to take a look at Casey's land. During April's visit later, they have a laugh over Bobby's search for a virgin wife, which is fun. There’s also a hilarious moment as April settles down on the couch when she notices a half-eaten egg roll on the table next to a book titled, "Oil, Sex and Power".

Last time, Nicholas was pissed Sue Ellen wanted to get personal. This time, he’s pissed she doesn’t want to get personal. Boy, being with that man would give you high blood pressure, and it wouldn’t be just because of the height of his bouffant. Later, Kimberly comes bitching to Sue Ellen about J.R. (is it customary to go to your lover’s wife to tell her how mean your lover is?). It’s all good, though, because Sue Ellen has just bought $30 million worth of Weststar stock and wants Kimberly to become her ally against J.R. "Yas, girl, yas!" says Kimberly. "Girl power!" cries out Sue Ellen. It’s really neat stuff.

Clayton demands he speak to Miss Ellie. For a while, it’s a really good scene, as Clayton decries putting on a front for the sake of the public, but it takes a sudden turn when Miss Ellie announces she no longer wants to be separated from Clayton. It’s all too sudden. They didn’t build up to it at all. But the rest of the Laurel Ellis/David's murder plot is really good. Once again, J.R. is in top form. Of course, the interest does take a dip when the Plant Lady is involved. Her acting hasn’t improved with the story. But J.R.’s still interested: "I wouldn’t mind spending time with that myself!" he says charmingly. "I wonder what’s troubling Clayton!" he remarks during a quiet Ewing dinner.

Things take a very interesting turn from here: J.R. visits Plant Lady and convinces her to move into one of his apartments. Laurel’s exactly the kind of dumb that would go along with this. As he’s leaving, J.R. runs into the Annoying British Lad, and becomes suspicious. Suddenly, you realize this is how it’s all going to be unveiled. With Harry McSween's help, he tracks Brett down and has someone take pictures of him. It’s a nicely directed scene by Preece. Something about the way it was done managed to give Brett a little more dimension; you can almost picture him as a sociopath at this point, where before he just came off dead.

J.R. moves Laurel into her new apartment. Interestingly, from behind, with her long, wavy hair, I thought it was Kristin Shephard for a moment. Didn’t she also get moved into an apartment before being betrayed? The apartment is honestly just an explosion of 80s hideousness. I mean, it’s truly, truly vile. "I hope this is not some set up for seduction!" Plant Lady whines. GOD she’s annoying. But, I have to admit, that little bit of turning down champagne because it gives her a headache and then refusing caviar because it gives her heartburn, and J.R.’s reaction to it, was really very funny. "Why do you treat me like a whore and then treat me like a princess?" she asks J.R., pointing out his inconsistencies. "You’ll find out by the end of the episode," he says.

Indeed, J.R. finds witnesses that can point to Brett going into David's apartment after Clayton left and we get to see David suffocated to death. In perhaps one of his cruelest, vilest moments, J.R. tells Laurel he has everything he needs to exonerate Clayton – if she sleeps with him. J.R.’s motivation ("Clayton deserves a break") isn’t very strong, nor can this be completely excused by saying he just wanted Laurel that badly. I mean, why would he? It would have been better if he was doing it to get rid of the negative publicity or whatever, but there we have it.

Kimberly runs to her creepy father to tell him the good news about Sue Ellen. He’s so excited that he dies.

J.R. tells the family that Clayton's off the hook. "You have no idea how much this has meant to me!" he smiles. What a bastard!

I’m a little said the murder plot was wrapped up so quickly, but the fallout of what J.R. has done to Laurel should be great!

DDD
 
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Ray&Donna

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EPISODE 26: LAST OF THE GOOD GUYS

Really good. It starts with a great opening scene and pretty much never stops going. We find Ray in bed with Connie, waking up unsure of what’s just happened. He offers to give her money. "I am not a whore!" Connie protests, but certainly doesn’t give up. She shows up at Ray’s and asks him if he’d rather sit around waiting for his corpse of a wife, or would like to take a dip in her ladypond. The actress is so good. Before long, Ray gives in.

He and Michelle Scarabelli would work together again later, but not as romantic interests. But clearly he has more chemistry with live women than corpses :lol:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106089/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_39

Bobby tries to get O'Dell’s support once again but fails. Amusingly, it looks like O'Dell may have his Knots Landing portrait as Paul Galveston hanging in his office. Who said there never were any more DALLAS/KL crossovers after Bobby's return?! Bobby decides to do something interesting: He orders Phyllis to find him anything he can use to blackmail O'Dell. Phyllis, however, guilts Bobby into being a decent person (roll eyes). OK, I’m kidding. Kinda. But it was a cute Bobby/Phyllis moment. Bobby goes back to O'Dell and gives him what he wanted, provided he gets the Ewing name back.

I remain forever grateful that they kept Phyllis's feelings for Bobby remained platonic. It was nice to see him have a female confidante who didn't want to get into his pants...

I like the way they are handling Cliff’s pill addiction at the moment. It’s much subtler. He receives two visits, one by Casey and one by April. In each case, he makes sure to hide the pill bottle before they see. High as he is, Cliff agrees to take a look at Casey's land. During April's visit later, they have a laugh over Bobby's search for a virgin wife, which is fun. There’s also a hilarious moment as April settles down on the couch when she notices a half-eaten egg roll on the table next to a book titled, "Oil, Sex and Power".

"Oil, Sex, and Power" sounds like the original title for CAPRICORN CRUDE ;)

Kimberly runs to her creepy father to tell him the good news about Sue Ellen. He’s so excited that he dies.

Or the resolution to Laurel's storyline killed him :lmao:
 

JROG

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Perhaps Laurel would have been more tempted had J.R. likened himself to a bonsai

HA! lol

Annoying British Lad, indeed. I don't care that he was even kind of hot, I just want all of this to end!

Funny, this was exactly what I kept thinking every time he popped up. He's kinda hot but... begone!

He and Michelle Scarabelli would work together again later, but not as romantic interests. But clearly he has more chemistry with live women than corpses :lol:

I'd never heard of this show before. Interesting. But I suppose something with a pulse would help in terms of chemistry!

I remain forever grateful that they kept Phyllis's feelings for Bobby remained platonic. It was nice to see him have a female confidante who didn't want to get into his pants...

That is, indeed, wonderful. Talk about overkill if that happened.

"Oil, Sex, and Power" sounds like the original title for CAPRICORN CRUDE ;)

That's exactly what I thought when I saw that!
 

Barbara Fan

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J.R. tells Laurel he has everything he needs to exonerate Clayton – if she sleeps with him

i hated that scene / resolution to the story and it made JR seem a perv, and ? did he rape her agaisnt her wishes
Then next year they make him a child snatcher / pervy old man with the dreadful Cally, whose acting is on a par with wooden plant lady

Did Not like this at all!
 

Toni

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Sorry to say it but J.R. always was a perv. It was the networks who paid more attention...In the miniseries J.R. takes a look at Lucy getting tanned in the pool, his own niece. And what about Kristin? She was around 17 or 18 when he betrayed his wife with this girl...his sister-in-law!!

upload_2017-7-20_22-21-14.jpeg


"You ain´t got a driving license, or a shooting license, right?"​
 

JROG

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EPISODE 27: TOP GUN

In a high-octane opening scene, Kimberly barges into Southfork and confronts J.R. over her creepy father’s death. It’s a great performance by Leigh Taylor-Young. J.R. somehow manages to blame Dr. Styles’ death on Sue Ellen for not giving him a divorce. Sue Ellen tracks Kimberly down in a church (is this the first time we’ve been inside a church on the show?) to convince her not to give up on their revenge plan. "I don’t know if I still care," Kimberly replies, and it’s such a great line. With so little, Paulsen humanizes her and gives her a painful, human reaction to her father’s death.

Cliff continues to spend day after day stoned. Jackie appears to know all about his excessive pill-taking but doesn’t seem to be too concerned. Cliff is stunned when he visits J.R. to try to convince him to make a move with Weststar and learns it’s actually happening! In the meantime, Casey meets April and there’s goo-goo eyes instantly. April is less than impressed. She invites Casey to her ugly restaurant to tell him she’s top banana gun. Maybe this is foreplay for her? I’m not sure I could handle a relationship between those two, but Casey sure seemed to forget Sly (who was sitting right next to him) the moment he sees April again. It’s fun to watch J.R., Casey, and April interact, though. They all hate each other but they are all acting nice and polite.

With a truly ridiculous hairdo, Sue Ellen goes to Nicholas after her return from Austin (that means Kimberly took a whole flight and drove to Southfork to yell at J.R. for a minute before leaving), and he finally tells her the truth about his past. "You poof-haired mongrel!" Sue Ellen snarls.

The Bobby material is especially painful in this episode. After some random, cartoon villain senator tells Bobby he will never, ever, ever get the Ewing name back, Bobby flies to Washington to bitch at poor Dave and Kay about it. What follows is truly baffling: Bobby throws a tantrum because, instead of sexually servicing him, Kay has to go back to work. Without a word, he returns to Dallas. When Kay calls him, the script implies this has been a major rift. "I guess I’m just not the enlightened person I thought I was," he says as an excuse. My God, this is so 1979. I can understand Bobby always having the chauvinistic attitude that it’s OK for him to abandon his wife to deal with business but not for her to do the same, but does he really have to act this childishly? It feels like forced drama. Is this really the best they can come up with?

Plant Lady meets with Clayton: She’s leaving! How nice. But not before they subject us to a scene in which poor Annabelle struggles to act through the confession that J.R. blackmailed her into having sex. It’s a huge revelation for Clayton and you expect fireworks when Clayton confronts J.R., but they have a quiet conversation about it. Clayton tells J.R. he’s filth, and walks away. How underwhelming. The next day, Miss Ellie makes her one appearance to be told by Clayton that, from now on, he needs to be top banana gun and what he says goes. Shockingly, Miss Ellie doesn’t go apeshit on him. What’s truly frustrating is that this is a development that has been years in the making. At some point, Clayton would demand that he has a say in the household. But it’s all so lazily, sloppily done. The climax lets you down.

The Ray/Connie stuff is fun, however. After he rejects her once more, Connie decides it’s a good idea to break into Ray’s house and… pillow fight him??? Ray, understandably freaked out, tells Connie to take her craziness and oddly cat-like features and get the fυck out. What is Connie to do? She paints "R.K. + C.H." on Ray’s door. OK???

The final scene is great: J.R. arrives at Weststar (which has truly opulent, beautiful offices unlike the Ewing tacky ones!) and is all set to take over, when Kimberly barges in melodramatically to tell him that he can’t. Long story short, Kimberly brings in Sue Ellen, who reveals what she’s been doing, and then… Jeremy Wendell! Plot twist! Jeremy ends up becoming top banana gun, and a furious J.R. stares down a grinning Sue Ellen… who gets the freezeframe! Wow, someone in the driver’s seat is not totally asleep.

DDD
 

Presea

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OMG, that pillow scene with Connie and Ray made me laugh so hard! It is just so FUN to pretend to smother someone with a pillow! Lol!

Kimberly and Sue Ellen working together was a nice touch here. I mean, JR pretty much killed Kimberly's dad, so why not?

Major ick on JR and Plant Lady. This blackmail sex was even more disturbing to me than what JR did with Katherine simply because of Plant Lady's cringe-worthy acting here. Just give me those photos of Annoying British Lad and end this!

The best moment for me was Jeremy Wendell's surprise entrance, because I was so worried that they had just written him out completely at first.
 

Ray&Donna

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EPISODE 27: TOP GUN

In a high-octane opening scene, Kimberly barges into Southfork and confronts J.R. over her creepy father’s death. It’s a great performance by Leigh Taylor-Young. J.R. somehow manages to blame Dr. Styles’ death on Sue Ellen for not giving him a divorce. Sue Ellen tracks Kimberly down in a church (is this the first time we’ve been inside a church on the show?) to convince her not to give up on their revenge plan. "I don’t know if I still care," Kimberly replies, and it’s such a great line. With so little, Paulsen humanizes her and gives her a painful, human reaction to her father’s death.

At this point, Paulsen is probably the only one left who could humanize a character. Unfortunately I don't think it lasts.

Cliff continues to spend day after day stoned. Jackie appears to know all about his excessive pill-taking but doesn’t seem to be too concerned. Cliff is stunned when he visits J.R. to try to convince him to make a move with Weststar and learns it’s actually happening!

You'd think Cliff seeking out J.R. would be the first sign something is wrong with him...

In the meantime, Casey meets April and there’s goo-goo eyes instantly. April is less than impressed. She invites Casey to her ugly restaurant to tell him she’s top banana gun. Maybe this is foreplay for her? I’m not sure I could handle a relationship between those two, but Casey sure seemed to forget Sly (who was sitting right next to him) the moment he sees April again. It’s fun to watch J.R., Casey, and April interact, though. They all hate each other but they are all acting nice and polite.

Mercifully Casey never got busy with anyone else before he finally departed the show.

With a truly ridiculous hairdo, Sue Ellen goes to Nicholas after her return from Austin (that means Kimberly took a whole flight and drove to Southfork to yell at J.R. for a minute before leaving), and he finally tells her the truth about his past. "You poof-haired mongrel!" Sue Ellen snarls.

I guess Sue Ellen isn't a Mario Puzo fan. :lol:

The Bobby material is especially painful in this episode. After some random, cartoon villain senator tells Bobby he will never, ever, ever get the Ewing name back, Bobby flies to Washington to bitch at poor Dave and Kay about it. What follows is truly baffling: Bobby throws a tantrum because, instead of sexually servicing him, Kay has to go back to work. Without a word, he returns to Dallas. When Kay calls him, the script implies this has been a major rift. "I guess I’m just not the enlightened person I thought I was," he says as an excuse. My God, this is so 1979. I can understand Bobby always having the chauvinistic attitude that it’s OK for him to abandon his wife to deal with business but not for her to do the same, but does he really have to act this childishly? It feels like forced drama. Is this really the best they can come up with?

Sadly, it is.

Plant Lady meets with Clayton: She’s leaving! How nice. But not before they subject us to a scene in which poor Annabelle struggles to act through the confession that J.R. blackmailed her into having sex. It’s a huge revelation for Clayton and you expect fireworks when Clayton confronts J.R., but they have a quiet conversation about it. Clayton tells J.R. he’s filth, and walks away. How underwhelming. The next day, Miss Ellie makes her one appearance to be told by Clayton that, from now on, he needs to be top banana gun and what he says goes. Shockingly, Miss Ellie doesn’t go apeshit on him. What’s truly frustrating is that this is a development that has been years in the making. At some point, Clayton would demand that he has a say in the household. But it’s all so lazily, sloppily done. The climax lets you down.

It's so you won't get your hopes up and assume that the Farlows are still main characters.

The Ray/Connie stuff is fun, however. After he rejects her once more, Connie decides it’s a good idea to break into Ray’s house and… pillow fight him??? Ray, understandably freaked out, tells Connie to take her craziness and oddly cat-like features and get the fυck out. What is Connie to do? She paints "R.K. + C.H." on Ray’s door. OK???

LOL. Ray, this is your punishment for marrying Jenna.

The final scene is great: J.R. arrives at Weststar (which has truly opulent, beautiful offices unlike the Ewing tacky ones!) and is all set to take over, when Kimberly barges in melodramatically to tell him that he can’t. Long story short, Kimberly brings in Sue Ellen, who reveals what she’s been doing, and then… Jeremy Wendell! Plot twist! Jeremy ends up becoming top banana gun, and a furious J.R. stares down a grinning Sue Ellen… who gets the freezeframe! Wow, someone in the driver’s seat is not totally asleep.

DDD

The absolute highlight of this season.
 

JROG

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At this point, Paulsen is probably the only one left who could humanize a character. Unfortunately I don't think it lasts.

I think this may even be his last ever DALLAS episode -- unless he writes any of the remaining 3 in the season... :(

It's so you won't get your hopes up and assume that the Farlows are still main characters.

Oh, I see! :eek:

LOL. Ray, this is your punishment for marrying Jenna.

LMAO! I'm fine with that.

The absolute highlight of this season.

Absolutely!
 

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EPISODE 28: PILLOW TALK

Don’t ask me what the title of the episode is. The UltimateDALLAS website lists it as "Things Ain’t Going So Good At Southfork Again" but the DVD release disagrees.

We open at Southfork as J.R. arrives, furious at Sue Ellen for helping Jeremy Wendell return to power at Weststar. Sue Ellen isn’t wasting any time; she’s packing her things and will be back for the rest of her wardrobe and her son (in that order). J.R.’s response is deliciously evil: He turns John Ross against Sue Ellen with blatant lies. When Sue Ellen returns to Southfork, John Ross is nowhere to be found and somebody from the sheriff’s office is waiting to deal with her if she causes any problems. To make his point clear, J.R. goes on the second-floor balcony and throws Sue Ellen's clothes and makeup kit at her. Really fun, melodramatic stuff. Sue Ellen responds by turning to a lawyer (I love that she laughs at him for suggesting she file a report with the sheriff) and trying to get her son back legally. But, where is John Ross? The answer is great: J.R. has sent him to a private school under a false name. Nobody knows who and where he is. This is the J.R. I know and love. Sue Ellen and Black Guest Star of the week serve J.R. with papers to produce John Ross but one has to wonder – how the hell will she fix this?

Suddenly, April is very concerned about Cliff and his well-being. After telling him that J.R. didn’t get Weststar, she tries to convince him to sell his natural gas fields and rid himself of J.R. Cliff pops more pills in answer.

Casey is on the losing end once more. J.R. swiftly fires him. With his best puppy eyes, he thanks Sly for still believing in him. Too bad she still believes in J.R. too. Having done her good deed for the week, April cruelly rejects Casey's offer to partner. I’m honestly not sure why she seems to have such vitriolic hate for Casey (his association with J.R., perhaps?) but it sure makes me feel bad for him.

Oh my God! A Garrison Southworth mention! Miss Ellie takes Clayton to Garrison’s grave and tells him the story of his arrival at Southfork years after being thought dead. It’s really great, until Miss Ellie says that she was going to give Garrison Southfork because it felt right for a man to be in charge. And, as such, she wants her and Clayton to co-own Southfork. Oh, dear God. God help me not to break my screen. Why couldn’t she do it as a sign of devotion and commitment? Jesus. Anyway. They’re all happy and excited.

Bobby and Kay have reached the point in the relationship where they know some decisions will have to be made: Are they supposed to travel back and forth to see each other constantly? Trusty Dave Culver calls with news that O'Dell from Knots Landing backed off and they can have the Ewing Oil name back. Yay! Um, why?

Cliff, always the masochist, requests a meeting with Wendell. Wendell, who really would treat a piece of crap he accidentally stepped on better than Cliff, suddenly pays attention when Cliff tells him he wants to sell his natural gas fields. Um, why? Wasn’t he just saying that he can’t do that? Are the writers having people change their minds just to advance plot?

In what could be the best scene of the episode, Kimberly, clad in a long, fur coat, visits J.R. in his office to gloat. Opening the coat to reveal her naked body, she gives J.R. a final glimpse of what he could have had and lost before sashaying off. I hope this is her final scene because it is an amazing final scene.

The honeymoon’s over! Jenna's back. She calls from in front of a Paris backdrop to tell Ray that Charlie's improved offscreen and plans to remain offscreen. Unfortunately, Jenna is returning. Meanwhile, determined to find new ways to be crazier than ever, Connie has cut her hair to mimic Jenna's (it suits her) and throws herself at Ray. Ray manfully tells her to back off. At night, Connie breaks into Ray’s (old habits die hard) and it looks like she plans to pillow fight him once more. Instead, as Ray wakes up, Connie pulls out a knife and the frame freezes as Ray’s hands go up protectively! What a shocking ending, and the most audacious thing the show has done since that nightstand bomb B.D. Calhoun left behind!

DDD
 

Barbara Fan

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lovely review.

that episode is 279 Things Aint Going Too Good At SF Again. I loved the scene with Miss Ellie and Clayton out at Garrisons grave
and I didnt see that ending coming

I would still be fwd April scenes and rictus grin Casey!
 

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EPISODE 28: PILLOW TALK

Don’t ask me what the title of the episode is. The UltimateDALLAS website lists it as "Things Ain’t Going So Good At Southfork Again" but the DVD release disagrees.

I think the Curran book has it listed same as the online episode guide, but perhaps the title is a reference to the ending...

We open at Southfork as J.R. arrives, furious at Sue Ellen for helping Jeremy Wendell return to power at Weststar. Sue Ellen isn’t wasting any time; she’s packing her things and will be back for the rest of her wardrobe and her son (in that order). J.R.’s response is deliciously evil: He turns John Ross against Sue Ellen with blatant lies. When Sue Ellen returns to Southfork, John Ross is nowhere to be found and somebody from the sheriff’s office is waiting to deal with her if she causes any problems. To make his point clear, J.R. goes on the second-floor balcony and throws Sue Ellen's clothes and makeup kit at her. Really fun, melodramatic stuff. Sue Ellen responds by turning to a lawyer (I love that she laughs at him for suggesting she file a report with the sheriff) and trying to get her son back legally. But, where is John Ross? The answer is great: J.R. has sent him to a private school under a false name. Nobody knows who and where he is. This is the J.R. I know and love. Sue Ellen and Black Guest Star of the week serve J.R. with papers to produce John Ross but one has to wonder – how the hell will she fix this?

It would need to be the same boarding school as Nick Newman, because otherwise someone would recognize him--I mean, the Ewings are always on the front page of the daily newspaper :lol:

Suddenly, April is very concerned about Cliff and his well-being. After telling him that J.R. didn’t get Weststar, she tries to convince him to sell his natural gas fields and rid himself of J.R. Cliff pops more pills in answer.

Is April the receptionist/assistant now rather than Jackie?:oops:

Oh my God! A Garrison Southworth mention! Miss Ellie takes Clayton to Garrison’s grave and tells him the story of his arrival at Southfork years after being thought dead. It’s really great, until Miss Ellie says that she was going to give Garrison Southfork because it felt right for a man to be in charge. And, as such, she wants her and Clayton to co-own Southfork. Oh, dear God. God help me not to break my screen. Why couldn’t she do it as a sign of devotion and commitment? Jesus. Anyway. They’re all happy and excited.

At this point, the Farlows are lucky to be getting as much screen time. But you're right, Miss Ellie considered Garrison the rightful heir though since he was dying, it would have reverted back to her pretty quick...

Bobby and Kay have reached the point in the relationship where they know some decisions will have to be made: Are they supposed to travel back and forth to see each other constantly? Trusty Dave Culver calls with news that O'Dell from Knots Landing backed off and they can have the Ewing Oil name back. Yay! Um, why?

Because...Bobby and Kay need a reason to...celebrate? :21:

Cliff, always the masochist, requests a meeting with Wendell. Wendell, who really would treat a piece of crap he accidentally stepped on better than Cliff, suddenly pays attention when Cliff tells him he wants to sell his natural gas fields. Um, why? Wasn’t he just saying that he can’t do that? Are the writers having people change their minds just to advance plot?

It's possible Cliff needs April to remind him of the previous plot. Or the story editor messed up something in the final script...

In what could be the best scene of the episode, Kimberly, clad in a long, fur coat, visits J.R. in his office to gloat. Opening the coat to reveal her naked body, she gives J.R. a final glimpse of what he could have had and lost before sashaying off. I hope this is her final scene because it is an amazing final scene.

I found the scene tacky, especially when compared to Abby dropping her coat for Peter Hollister. But then I guess that was a different context; it was a prelude to something else whereas this is more like an elegy.

The honeymoon’s over! Jenna's back. She calls from in front of a Paris backdrop to tell Ray that Charlie's improved offscreen and plans to remain offscreen. Unfortunately, Jenna is returning. Meanwhile, determined to find new ways to be crazier than ever, Connie has cut her hair to mimic Jenna's (it suits her) and throws herself at Ray. Ray manfully tells her to back off. At night, Connie breaks into Ray’s (old habits die hard) and it looks like she plans to pillow fight him once more. Instead, as Ray wakes up, Connie pulls out a knife and the frame freezes as Ray’s hands go up protectively! What a shocking ending, and the most audacious thing the show has done since that nightstand bomb B.D. Calhoun left behind!

Would have been better if Connie had waited for the missus to return and stabbed her :D
 

JROG

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I think the Curran book has it listed same as the online episode guide, but perhaps the title is a reference to the ending...

Yes, it does, so I'll assume the DVD listing is wrong.


It would need to be the same boarding school as Nick Newman, because otherwise someone would recognize him--I mean, the Ewings are always on the front page of the daily newspaper :lol:

Shhhh... logic.

Is April the receptionist/assistant now rather than Jackie?:oops:

I guess they didn't have money in the budget for Jackie this episode lol


At this point, the Farlows are lucky to be getting as much screen time. But you're right, Miss Ellie considered Garrison the rightful heir though since he was dying, it would have reverted back to her pretty quick...

Absolutely. It's a miracle they're still featuring them in their own stories. It's just annoying in terms of continuity: I recall Miss Ellie would give him Southfork back because that's what originally was meant to happen before he 'died'. So, it would only be fair. What's all this "a man needs to be in charge" nonsense? But I guess the original reason didn't fit her Season 11 motivations....

I found the scene tacky, especially when compared to Abby dropping her coat for Peter Hollister. But then I guess that was a different context; it was a prelude to something else whereas this is more like an elegy.

I appreciated it as a rare sign of female empowerment on the show. Rarely has they ever given women the final word on anything and, in just two episodes, J.R. is defeated by Sue Ellen and then given a huge F U by Kimberly.

Would have been better if Connie had waited for the missus to return and stabbed her :D

LMAO!!!!
 
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