Chris2
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
I’m finishing up a rewatch of this season. IMHO, it’s the strongest season of the series. Why? It looks beautiful, for one thing (and we‘ve discussed Bradford May’s photography in various threads). More importantly, pretty much all the stories works, the season is well paced, and everything seems to have been carefully thought out. That’s particularly impressive when a show is producing 30 episodes within a calendar year. Specifically:
- Bobby and Pam’s divorce is well handled, with both of them occasionally flirting with reconciliation and then reluctantly moving on due to external forces.
- Jenna is a much better character here than she is in subsequent seasons. She has a backbone, standing up to Bobby multiple times when she feels he’s treating her as a rebound or when he’s trying to control her life
- Mark’s illness and how it will prevent Pam from reconciling with Bobby is classic soap opera. And while Mark is not one of my favorite characters, he partially redeems himself with his selfless exit from the canvas.
- JR attempting to bankrupt Cliff by manipulating him into investing in Gold Canyon 340 is great. Cliff is such a buffoon. And that plot carefully builds throughout the season, starting with the Edgar Randolph subplot.
- Miss Ellie and Clayton have nice chemistry as a couple and I’m rooting for them. I also like how they handled the mastectomy issue - good continuity with earlier episodes.
- We finally get to learn more about Clayton’s background, and the mystery surrounding the Southern Cross fire is intriguing. Plus, Alexis Smith as Jessica is well cast. The show really missed the boat by not continuing to dive into Clayton’s background in future seasons.
- Katherine‘s two-faced act is a lot of fun. And she’s especially fun when she drops that act for people she doesn’t like, such as Cliff.
- Despite the miscasting of Chris Atkins, the Sue Ellen/Peter story works due to the show build and because it happens out of her loneliness. And there’s a great payoff at the end of the season with how JR toys with both of them after he finds out. I love it when Sue Ellen tries to push Peter out of his Southfork job ostensibly because of her concern for Lucy’s feelings, and JR replies, “Your concern for your niece is touching, if a little sudden.” This is the JR we want to see, not the one of the later years, who is beaten at every turn. He’s in command and he knows it, and needles his opponents with humor.
- The writers struggle to come up with anything interesting for Ray and Donna to do after Mickey dies. It’s the classic soap opera conundrum: we like to see our favorite couples together, but they’re more interesting when the relationship is troubled. No worries, Krebbses: you’ll get your turn next season.
- I’m not really buying Lucy being obsessed with Peter. He has even less chemistry with her than with Sue Ellen. Lucy’s interested in him because he’s the only other person in her age group on the show. But it works well for the plot.
- Pam could easily solve the issue with Mark pressuring her into marriage by saying, “Mark, I care about you but I just got a divorce and I don’t want to rush into marriage again.”
- Bobby proposing to Jenna while he’s still upset about Pam and Mark’s engagement should be a red flag to Jenna, who seems pretty conscious of the rebound issues with him.
- Katherine’s descent into madness is too fast.
- Jerry Kenderson should be reported to the AMA for a violation of his Hippocratic oath. Confiding to Pam about Mark’s terminal illness before Mark himself knows is bad enough. Keeping that secret for weeks on end is unforgivable.
