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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James from London" data-source="post: 198763" data-attributes="member: 22">Act of Love (DALLAS, 19 Nov 78) v. Acts of Love (KNOTS, 22 Apr 82)It’s harder to say which is the bigger betrayal — Sue Ellen sleeping with JR’s worst enemy or Gary sleeping with one of Val’s best friends. Gary volunteering Val to babysit Abby's kid while they’re off doing the deed probably gives him the edge.DALLAS has been building up to Cliff and Sue Ellen’s affair for weeks; KNOTS to Gary and Abby’s for over a year. We join Sue Ellen and Cliff six weeks into their romance. Abby and Gary spend much of this ep standing on the will-they-won’t-they precipice. When they finally jump off, it feels hugely momentous. And it is. Indeed, on both shows Nothing Will Ever Be The Same Again.Sue Ellen and Cliff play their dalliance cool and sophisticated. “I’ve always known that however you felt about me, it would never come down to really changing your life,” says Cliff. In contrast, it’s Abby declaring how serious she is about Gary that tips the balance in their relationship from flirtation to something more: “I’ve got feelings invested in this, Gary. I’ve got feelings invested in you and I’m sick and tired of being the wicked woman and the home wrecker … It takes two people to feel like this and I’m real tired of being the only one who admits it.”Cliff and Sue Ellen seem like grown-ups here. They are self-aware, have a sense of perspective and can even laugh at themselves a little. It’s not like when they get back together later on and storylines dictate that if they have an impulse, they must immediately act on it.While the lovebirds play, the mice are away. JR is partying in Washington with a nameless blonde and Val is stranded in a roadhouse with a loveable ex-prize fighter. She gently declines his advances and ends up waiting tables. Val in full hash-slinging mode is truly impressive.Having just watched ‘Acceptance’ (DALLAS Season 4) where the Ewings reminisce about the good old days (“I remember Jock saying how much he loved to have his family together at dinnertime. He always insisted that we be right on time,” recalled Sue Ellen), it’s kind of ironic that four years earlier, a mere fifteen episodes after the series began, Jock was already doing the same thing. “You know, there was a time when we all sat down and enjoyed dinner as a family,” he sighs. “This family’s falling apart!”From a visual point of view, DALLAS has yet to settle on its house style, so the camera has greater freedom to roam around (I’m not sure how often we see the living room ceiling at Southfork after this ep) and there’s more space for the characters express themselves too. It’s hard to imagine Sue Ellen delivering a bitchy line like, “You Barneses are disgustingly poor,” as playfully as she does to Cliff here at any other point of the series.While Cliff and Sue Ellen quote Lewis Carroll (“Talk to me of other things” “Like cabbages and kings”), Abby goes more nursery-rhymey (“I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight”). And there’s something wistfully romantic about both relationships. With the benefit of hindsight, we know that, as much as they might want to, neither Sue Ellen nor Gary are equipped to deal with the consequences of their actions in these eps.Both episodes have a subplot. On DALLAS, there’s an endearingly dated work/marriage conflict for Pam to sort through. On KNOTS, Laura visits her estranged husband Richard for the first time since his breakdown — a consequence of her own work/marriage conflict.KNOTS ends with Lilimae letting Gary know she knows, while DALLAS concludes with a breathtaking confrontation between JR and Sue Ellen in the Southfork den. With the entire family gazing down at her from their portrait on the wall, Sue Ellen casually suggests to JR that he may not be the father of her unborn child. “I’ve been just as faithful to our marriage vows as you have, darlin’,” she assures him with mock-innocence before adding with a shrug, “Chances are it’s yours.” He strikes her hard across the face before realising just how powerless he is. Even after all these years, it’s still absolutely thrilling.And the winner is … Act of Love.BONUS BEATS:[MEDIA=youtube]ADAXxWzmKr4[/MEDIA]</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?