I'm not a fan of disease storylines because there isn't much that you can do with it apart from showing the dread and misery of it all.
The character dies or survives but it isn't something that can be plotted. It's just..."there".
And that's why I wasn't particularly looking forward to these episodes.
Turns out it was much better than I had expected (or remembered, actually).
Jock tightens the thumbscrews on JR who still hasn't done anything about the trust fund for Amanda.
At this point JR can no longer weasel out of it, but then he kind of
does, using his "feelings of guilt" for doing something behind mama's back.
I always like a good improvisation.
Jock thinks JR has a point, and decides to tell Miss Ellie first. Ah, but at the most inconvenient time!
Miss Ellie's condition is still the main topic of the story, but it's soaped along by the Amanda-subject.
And then Sue Ellen bounces the problem back to JR when she gleefully suggests that a divorce would jeopardize his precious Ewing Empire.
Although, personally speaking, I don't really see what Southfork means to JR, except for Section 40.
Pam tries to improve the situation with advice about love and honesty but ironically it's Sue Ellen's cynical stance on beauty and womanhood that describes exactly what Miss Ellie is going through. It's an attack on her femininity.
Sue Ellen is seeing Dr. Elby again and clearly she doesn't know how to behave herself. She wants to talk but it's difficult for her to shake off that "everything's just fine" attitude.
"May I have a drink of water, please?"
But whereas Adam Carrington immediately obliged, Dr. Elby tells her to "help yourself".
Dusty is still very much in the picture. And it's a beautiful picture because the sunlight suggests the beginning of the sunset, in the late afternoon/early evening.
As a child I always thought there was something melancholic about it, knowing that playtime outside would soon come to an end, and I wanted more, much more.
It was like clinging on to that extra time, it was the worst but also the best part.
Another surprise was Digger, I hadn't even considered him for this storyline.
And it's another thing that's drenched in melancholy and effective melodrama. That is to say, until Digger starts to blame Jock for everything all over again.
There's an expression of horror and realization on Miss Ellie's face, but she doesn't argue with Digger. It's pointless anyway.
She's very angry with Jock, but it's another thing when someone else attacks him. And then she realizes that he shouldn't be the target of all her bitterness.
Thankfully there's nothing clunky about those scenes, what she says makes sense and it's all tastefully done.
Speaking of tastefully...
"Why me, granma? Why meeeee?"
I do get the first part: blaming a loved one for getting sick, the illness that makes that person almost unapproachable.
And to be fair, Lucy had been "very busy" trying different things with her hair.
I don't know how heritable breast cancer is, or how it was perceived at that time, so maybe it all makes sense anyway. And it probably would have looked weird if this situation with Lucy
hadn't climaxed. It just feels a bit like... a lot.
No more images, so I think that's it.