I agree with a lot of the others that feel that season 9 started out promisingly enough. They were just too quick to put Pam right back into Mark's arms, and out of the Ewing Oil conflict. I don't think the quality of season 9 was all that different from 8..it might even be a little more interesting, but neither season is a favorite of mine. I just felt bringing Mark back that fast just seemed kinda tacky, when Pam supposedly just lost the love of her life.
Was it as offensively handled as Bobby's stubborn coolness towards Pam in season 11? Heck no, but she didn't need to have a man that fast.
For me, season 9 actually seems kind of like a season for a series that's coming to a close, at least in some respects. I know that was nowhere in the game plan at that point, but the way a lot of the main characters started being kinder to one another..I dunno. I could have seen this being the last season, but then had it been, that might make one just wish they had ended it with "Swan Song". So, if Swan Song wasn't going to be the ending, I'm glad season 9 didn't end up being the closing season. That said, the way the show proceeded forward, we had to do some major suspension of disbelief.
