How Would You Have Explained Parmalee

[Frank Underwood]

This is my little piece of fan fiction:

Instead of Wendell being ousted by Carter McKay, I think it would have been interesting if Parmalee returned and took his place instead. He could still insist that he's Jock, but he let the family believe he was Wyatt Haynes because he knew they'd never accept him. However, once JR got involved with a terrorist and lost the company to Wendell, he plots his return. He comes back just as Wendell starts the range war and makes a play for Southfork after being forced to sell the Ewing assets back to JR. Parmalee discovers the plot and sets him up for going after his family. He gets Wendell ousted from the company, and with Kimberly Cryder's backing, Parmalee becomes the new head of West Star. Wes is now ready to do battle with his sons. Although he keeps the name Wes Parmalee for pragmatic reasons, he continues to insist he's Jock and becomes a thorn in Bobby and JR's side. As he told them before, he's the one who taught them how to fight. He's back to teach them a lesson again whether they accept him or not.

Clayton is unhappy that Wes is back, especially since he used a third party to buy the Krebbs Ranch on his behalf. Clayton threatens to make good on his promise to kill him, but Wes reminds Clayton of the trouble he got in with Laurel and how his temper led a murder charge. Clayton huffs that he was exonerated, but Wes says the point is that his temper will get him into trouble if he's not careful. Clayton warns him that he'll be keeping his eye on him. Wes and Clayton remain in conflict for the rest of the series.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Yes, JR’s comments are another symptom of his arrested development. However, I don’t think any rational person could reasonably call Clayton an ‘interloper’ because he was the second husband of Ellie Southworth.

yeah, that’s like “JR talking”, pretty much. Clayton probably could have bailed out ol’ Aaron Southworth himself in the day had he been the one vying for Elllie’s affection..

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I'd have Pam's hallucination of Bobby in the shower a holdover from seeing Bobby on the sidewalk across the street as she's leaving her wedding to Mark. She relives it, as a defense mechanism as Mark lay dead on the floor of that shower.

Stupid? Sure, but not as stupid as The Dream, nor as damaging.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

She relives it, as a defense mechanism as Mark lay dead on the floor of that shower.

dream or no dream, Mark should have ended up dead on the shower floor,.. at least temporarily dead, anyway

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Well my understanding was everyone wasn't exactly adult regarding Donna Reed and the recast of Miss Ellie. Maybe they just didn't want to try it again.

They should never have recast Ellie- create a Southworth cousin as her stand in until BBG was to return or never.... I read that Hagman was pissed at BBG for not informing him of her firing as he would have told them, give her want she wants or we both walk.

 

[Pandora]

They should never have recast Ellie- create a Southworth cousin as her stand in until BBG was to return or never.... I read that Hagman was pissed at BBG for not informing him of her firing as he would have told them, give her want she wants or we both walk.

Was BBG fired? I thought she quit due to health reasons.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

One way I would've fixed the Wes Parmalee story on DALLAS:

Forget the dream. Forget the shower scene.

Bobby's death remains part of the story, but it's revealed later that dangerous criminals targeted the Ewing family after Bobby witnessed a murder. To protect Miss Ellie, Christopher, J.R., and everyone else, the FBI helps Bobby disappear. A car explosion, funeral, and grief are all real to the family.

Then Wes Parmalee arrives claiming to be Jock Ewing.

But here's the twist:

He doesn't come back for Southfork.

He doesn't come back for money.

He comes back because he hears Bobby Ewing is dead.

Think about that.

If Wes really is Jock, Bobby was the son who searched South America after the helicopter crash. The son who never stopped looking for his father. The son who inherited Jock's stubbornness and sense of family.

Hearing that Bobby died is what finally brings him home.

Miss Ellie slowly begins to believe him—not because of legal documents or blood tests, but because he remembers things nobody should know. Family stories. Private moments. Tiny details from decades earlier.

J.R. fights him every step of the way. Not because the evidence is weak—but because it's strong enough to make him uncomfortable.

Then Bobby returns alive.

The family is reunited.

And later, alone, Bobby finally asks Wes the question everyone has been asking:

"Are you my father?"

Wes looks at him for a long moment and simply says:

"I think I am."

That's it.

No courtroom verdict.

No DNA test.

No final answer.

Just a man who might be Jock Ewing finding his way home, and a family deciding that maybe the answer doesn't matter as much as they thought it did.

Some mysteries are stronger when they're never completely solved.

THE ENDING​

Wes dies several months later.

Peacefully.

At Southfork.

Before his death he leaves a letter.

Not to Miss Ellie.

Not to J.R.

To Bobby.

The son who searched for him.

The letter ends:

"If I'm Jock Ewing, then I've been blessed beyond measure.
And if I'm not...
Thank you for treating an old man like family anyway."

Nobody ever learns the truth.

Not completely.

Miss Ellie believes.

Ray believes.

Bobby believes.

J.R. never admits what he thinks.

And that's exactly how it should be.

Because some mysteries are stronger unanswered.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Was BBG fired? I thought she quit due to health reasons.

YES. Well, she had a heart attack, but had recovered long before that. She wanted a slight raise and time off, less episodes is all, nothing major. Remember in those days they did, 25 episodes; Season 6-8 they were up to 31 episodes! She wanted at least half that. She asked, she was shown the door instead. Hagman became angry with her and the producers, Phil Capice and another one, for firing her. He told BBG, "you should have come to me and we could have kept it from happening." Thisi s when the battle between Capice (who was wrong for firing BBG, but right in the storyline directions and the hack fucker Leonard Katzman) Hagman and Duffy were team Katzman. Hagman became "bored" as he said with Duffy gone and still pissed that BBG was fired, he clamored for Duffy's return, but they had a Donna Reed problem by then. She was fired too through some shady dealings. She sued and won a big settlement.
Ironically, had Reed been a hit and stayed on, she would have been gone by mid-season 9 as she died in January 1986 of pancreatic cancer. It strangely worked out for the best, if only that hadn't brought Bobby back in such an insipid way, but that's for another thread.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Well my understanding was everyone wasn't exactly adult regarding Donna Reed and the recast of Miss Ellie. Maybe they just didn't want to try it again.

I mean recast Jock right after the helicopter crash. Reed was a few seasons down the road.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

I'd have Pam's hallucination of Bobby in the shower a holdover from seeing Bobby on the sidewalk across the street as she's leaving her wedding to Mark. She relives it, as a defense mechanism as Mark lay dead on the floor of that shower.

Stupid? Sure, but not as stupid as The Dream, nor as damaging.

Bobby should never have been killed off permanently. A staged death/coma/mysterious disappearance- anything that would have brought about two seasons worth of stories- even Knots Landing could have partook.... and when it was time for Principal to leave, RECAST her, keep moving, don't lose momentum!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Bobby should never have been killed off permanently. A staged death/coma/mysterious disappearance- anything that would have brought about two seasons worth of stories- even Knots Landing could have partook..

Yes!

and when it was time for Principal to leave, RECAST her, keep moving, don't lose momentum!

No!