Watching Season 13 (DVD) for the First Time

[JROG]

EPISODE 1: PHANTOM OF THE OIL RIG

DALLAS returns on JROG TV with Season 13! Not gonna lie, I missed the show and am excited to see what this year brings.

The new opening credits and arrangement are dreadful. Especially the arrangement. Why did they butcher the music like that? I hope I get used to it.

With Sue Ellen off the show, we have to settle for a letter of her teasing J.R. about where she’s hidden the film instead of watching her do it. J.R. orders Ratagan to search every film vault in the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last we hear of it.

The rest of the episode is surprisingly decent for this era of DALLAS, although the phone constantly ringing just for April to react each time as if someone shoved a cattle prod up her @ss (complete with ominous score) does grow tiresome quickly. Michelle's intro to the show is fun: Tackled and beaten into submission by Bobby, she’s sprawled on the floor smiling. Seems fun. I’ve heard nothing but vitriolic hate for Michelle over the years but keeping an open mind.

Cliff continues to be a bright spot for a show that often uses him as a joke. His search for Afton isn’t exactly masterful storytelling but it’s cohesive and there are emotional stakes. Which is more than I can say about the Jock mystery, which the show seems to think is a comedic storyline. If it’s all so funny, why should I care? Why should I invest?

Tommy's return is unexpected and very welcomed! I didn’t know J. Eddie Peck returned to the show. God, do I like looking at that man. Sad he’s no longer in that sexy jeans and leather jacket outfit, though. His reunion with Carter was very close to touching and I found myself kind of hoping he was honest just so he can stay on the show. So naturally, he’s planning to bomb someone.

Cally and Lucy are trapped in storyline hell: Talking about Cally's painting, stapling a canvas (??? Could you not buy a canvas in 1989 that didn’t need assembling?), cooing over paint brushes. They really can’t think of anything for Lucy to do, huh?

While the show goes straight to soundstage filming for Southfork (terrible), it does make up for it a little bit with a lot of gritty oil rig location shooting. I have to say – J.R. making a deal with a refinery and then trying to buy the company only to find out Carter's got it, thus leaving him in trouble, is fun. No usual freezeframe but this is part of a two-hour premiere so it makes sense.

Let’s go Season 13!

 

[Barbara Fan]

This episode wasnt too bad and is one of the betetr ones of this series , and at least BBG does appear in it - but its a sad reminder of the great cast who are no longer in the show and the 2nd rate newbies brought in to fill the show, its not a season i really ever watch now and only at a zip through half the scenes and cast

April to react each time as if someone shoved a cattle prod up her @ss (complete with ominous score) does grow tiresome quickly.

Indeed it does -

Tommy's return is unexpected and very welcomed! I didn’t know J. Eddie Peck returned to the show. God, do I like looking at that man. S

Nah! I will pass - bit neanderthal for me and needs a haircut lol acting lessons too would be a bonus

and what a waste of Lucy, they had a few years to think of a decent storyline for her and they couldnt!

 

[Sarah]

Ah Good luck. No Sue Ellen and JR together, no Dallas. Watched at the time, and although I'd do anything for Dallas, it would take a lot for me to watch that season again.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion of this season. Granted, it's not the "golden era" of Dallas but these last seasons do have some good stories.

I’ve heard nothing but vitriolic hate for Michelle over the years but keeping an open mind.

Please do. Her writing isn't always great but I don't think she deserves the hate that many have for her.

 

[Sarah]

I like Michelle - come back to me when you've met James and his mother.

 

[Chris2]

The whole thing about JR being so afraid of that movie is patently absurd. I don’t recall him being particularly alarmed by Valene’s book. In fact, he seemed pretty amused by it.

 

[tommie]

The whole thing about JR being so afraid of that movie is patently absurd. I don’t recall him being particularly alarmed by Valene’s book. In fact, he seemed pretty amused by it.

Plus, unlike a book, movies tend to have a short shelf life. Just a few years later Swellin's movie would be impossible to sell to a distributor due to looking incredibly dated.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Not a good season. I just feel like at this point they were getting progressively worse. The new cast additions just couldn’t cut it for me. I have to admit I fast forward through a lot of this season

 

[Willie Oleson]

Just a few years later Swellin's movie would be impossible to sell to a distributor due to looking incredibly dated

Good quality is timeless, tommie!

 

[JockWasTheBest]

HAve enjoyed Dallas since the show was on the air. I started watching in around the time just beofre Jock was killed. Over these years, have gone back and watched the other seasons pieces at a time. Recently, I have 'binged' watched the series. I am up to Season 13. Watching it this way, its interesting to see the different story lines and how they were written. I have to say that the story lines were much better in the first half of the series. I am glad that the last three or four seasons were there. But the characters, the stories and just the feel of the series seemed much more authentic. Toward, the end, I find myself feeling more and more sorry for JR. And that should never be the case.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

HAve enjoyed Dallas since the show was on the air. I started watching in around the time just beofre Jock was killed. Over these years, have gone back and watched the other seasons pieces at a time. Recently, I have 'binged' watched the series. I am up to Season 13. Watching it this way, its interesting to see the different story lines and how they were written. I have to say that the story lines were much better in the first half of the series. I am glad that the last three or four seasons were there. But the characters, the stories and just the feel of the series seemed much more authentic. Toward, the end, I find myself feeling more and more sorry for JR. And that should never be the case.

Welcome to Telly Talk! It's great to see more fans of Dallas on this board. I look forward to your opinions of Season 13.

Enjoy your stay.

 

[Frank Underwood]

Michelle wasn't necessarily a bad character, but it always felt like she was on the wrong show. She seemed better suited for a show like Melrose Place.

Season 13 has a few decent moments and even a particular storyline I found enjoyable, but most of the newbies really don't cut it for me.

Also, I hate the absurd way they end the season with JR. It's up there with the Halleyville nonsense. I'll never understand why they decided to put him in ridiculous situations.

 

[bmasters9]

Not a good season. I just feel like at this point they were getting progressively worse. The new cast additions just couldn’t cut it for me. I have to admit I fast forward through a lot of this season

One other thing-- this season's opening was markedly different from the sliding panels/3-way split we were used to (w/the flashes of the players mixed in w/the city and building footage, the Texas Stadium shot unbracketed by the panels, etc.); it wouldn't be until the third and final go of the TNT revival that we would get it back the way it was in a way.

 

[tommie]

Michelle wasn't necessarily a bad character, but it always felt like she was on the wrong show. She seemed better suited for a show like Melrose Place.

You're right - she definitively feels more "90s prime time soap" than she does Dallas, which might be why fans of Dallas take badly to her. I've never minded her to be honest and I thought the actress was competent enough. I guess she sort of looks like Josie Bissett when she was in Melrose too:

 

[JROG]

EPISODE 2: THE LEOPARD’S SPOTS

Or is that Leonard's Spots?

J.R. and Bobby find themselves in a familiar spot: Each pursuing their own, separate agenda for Ewing Oil, hiding it from each other, and threatening to destroy the company in the process. Just like the title suggests, a leopard can’t change its spots and it surely is something we’ve seen before.

Clayton and Miss Ellie spend their time meeting priests and locating strongboxes with mysterious contents. It’s passable but I'd enjoy it more if I had any faith in where it’s going. Hoping the show surprises me with this.

Lucy and Cally continue pursuing that art storyline of theirs. I just about gasped when we were shown Cally's "masterpiece" painting. The show has got to be trolling us… only, one doesn’t get that sense with the writing and tone. And as if it wasn’t all just too cutesy and weird, we are introduced to another creepy Alex on this show: An art dealer who instantly takes a liking to country bumpkin Cally. As if one Creepy Alex wasn’t enough.

Michelle and April have a really long scene to discuss their sibling dynamic. It was hard to tell whether their feuding was laid to rest or not, but it’s clearly an effort from the writers to create some complexity. More fun was Michelle's visit to Ewing Oil to ‘test’ Bobby and meet J.R. I caught the foreshadowing about Michelle and Cliff. I think she may be his next victim woman.

Speaking of Cliff, we are treated to the return of the funny Van Buren and, thankfully, Afton, who sets things up to make Cliff think that Pammy really is Van Buren's. This feels like the end of the story (and Afton's appearances), which is a shame.

Another unexpected but appreciated return is Marilee Stone's. Still in a swimsuit and high heels. Still the same fabulous ho we’ll always love. With Jordan Lee and the rest of the cartel gone, she’s the last holdout of the show’s golden years.

Meanwhile, Tommy gets his hands on his bomb and manipulates Carter into telling him he’d love it if he took care of Bobby for him. Because, that’s just what you need when you plan to bomb someone: Daddy’s approval!

 

[DallasFanForever]

Nice recap. I’m getting ready to watch this season soon. Definitely wasn’t one of my favorites but as a rule I watch them all. Ur last paragraph made me crack up! Very funny!!

 

[JROG]

EPISODE 3: CRY ME A RIVER OF OIL

It used to be that we got a lot of Southfork exterior scenes (at least in the first half of the season) and then a lot of the business of oil was taken care of in J.R.'s office. Things are different now: The show did not return for exterior shooting at Southfork this year but is trying to make up for it by filming at ports, refineries, and oil rigs. It’s surprisingly refreshing imagery 13 years into a show and allows us to see more of the gritty, everyday aspect of the oil business. But then, why does it feel less specific and more cartoonish than a one- way phone call by J.R. on a soundstage? They bring in a lot of characters (brokers, oil tanker owners, refinery villains, and what have you) but it doesn’t feel dimensional.

Creepy Alex all but licks his lips at the sight of Cally. Lucy is put in the awful position of wanting to bring a man in Cally's life to "cushion the fall" when J.R. lets her down but she is unable to see what a creep Alex is. And you mean to tell me Cally couldn’t find someone younger and more good looking?

Michelle puts her plan of snagging herself a rich man into motion by taking April's place at dinner with Cliff.

The mysterious Jock storyline continues in its oddly comical way. I’ve got to say, I chuckled at the sight of the Ewing secretaries parting to reveal a grinning Miss Ellie at the computer. And I'm so thrilled we get to see Jordan Lee again. Of course he’s retired and golfing, enjoying his rich life, dirty geezer that he is!

They really are confusing me with this whole Tommy thing. Although he showed absolutely no indication of this so far, suddenly Tommy's incredibly loving and supportive of Carter, even as he plans to blow Bobby up. He in fact tries to, with some stupid ploy of ‘forgetting’ his briefcase in Bobby's office, but of course that doesn’t work. Tommy then straight up murders Rolf Brundin by pushing him in front of a truck and then walks away; there are dozens of people around but no one seems to notice. It’s sad. It seems there’s just no intention to be able to keep the character around long term. Tommy decides to find a way to put the bomb in Bobby's case, I think. Because shooting him or something would be just too common.

Cally finds out that J.R. and April have slept together and it leads to some painful, teary confrontation between Cally and April. April decides to move out of Southfork as a result.

I enjoyed Bobby finding out about J.R.'s plans behind his back and the fact that, when he confronted him, it wasn’t some huge fight and certainly no threats of physical violence: He simply told J.R. he’ll have to pay the $1 million per day fine all on his own. What is J.R. to do? He goes to DYNASTY’s Ray Bonning and plans to get his own tanker, even though it’s kinda obvious both Ray Bonning and his tanker are crap. Not exactly a thrilling cliffhanger but promises some fun along the line.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

It was nice to see Miss Ellie at the Ewing Oil offices this late in the series. It's a shame she didn't go there more often as much as her family feuded over it.

I always felt April and Michelle were a lot alike when they both entered the Dallas, in '86 and '89, respectively. Both were gold-diggers but in ways changed over time.

I'm enjoying your recaps too @JROG. It's nice hearing people's impressions of this season after seeing it for the first time, the good and the bad.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I always liked when Miss Ellie showed up at the office too. It didn’t happen often but when it did, you knew it meant something. I like how when she showed up everyone’s mood became a little more tense.

 

[Ray&Donna]

The river of oil had clearly almost run dry by this point, though one has to wonder why the effort was made to cast Cliff as a pater familias if the story was going to be truncated in such a way