After several downright dreary episodes opened the season, the last couple shows bring us closer to the DALLAS of old. Not that this was a cheery episode by any stretch--that shock ending, for example.
But seeing the familiar faces of Punk Anderson and Holly Harwood for the first time this season provided some grounding while also stirring up good memories (like of that time Holly pulled a gun on J. R., which always brings a smile). The show was beginning to feel rootless with Clayton and Miss Ellie MIA and a flurry of new characters coming on stage such as Peter Richards and Paul Morgan, plus an elevated role for Sly.
Seeing Sly playing corporate spy took me back to the first couple seasons when J. R.'s ill-fated secretary Julie Grey (Tina Louise) also took to sleuthing on the job (remember the Red File and that fateful rooftop?). No surprise Cliff would slink into Sly's apartment complex to offer her a quid pro quo. He's a snake and always has been. What surprised me was Sly's so readily entertaining the exchange of privileged information for nothing more than Cliff's good word to the parole board (actually, "Cliff's good word" is an oxymoron). Sly's casual willingness to sleep with Cliff revealed her moral bankruptcy. I knew she would betray J. R. after that indecent proposal (which even virtue-challenged Cliff rebuffed). But if Sly's brother has only a breaking-and-entering charge against him, he'd likely get parole anyway, so why would she risk so much on Cliff's wholly unverifiable word that he can ensure a parole?
Sadly, Sly isn't the only one who is hopelessly naive. Bobby was as blind to Katherine's intentions as Holly was immediately wise to them. I loved how Holly relished letting Katherine fume with fear and envy as she flirtatiously bantered with Bobby, who was oblivious to his being the prize mouse in that clawless catfight, waged entirely with icy glances and glares.
JR failed to fool Bobby with the call girls ruse, so I have hope there's enough of Jock's savvy in Bobby to doubt the authenticity of J. R.'s sudden onset brotherly love. The JR-Bobby War storyline is coming in for a landing and I pray Bobby wises up before he's again left holding the bag. This sadistic contest concocted by Jock has already cost Bobby his marriage.
Bobby and Pam's divorce after six years was an unexpected turn. I winced when the gavel came down. I really thought some eleventh-hour reconciliation would foil those best-laid plans of J. R. and Katherine's. But nope. I also thought Mark would have the decency to wait a few episodes before proposing to Pam, but nope again.
Was it a ratings slip that compelled the producers to fill the screen with so much bared flesh? Peter provides the beefcake and Sly the cheesecake. This was the first time I've seen a man wearing a midriff-baring shirt. I disagree with J. R.'s assessment that Peter is hunting cougar. With Peter brushing off the girl counselor's invitation and also Sue Ellen's question about dating, I fear more for John Ross.
No, I'm not a fan of Peter and even less of the aggressive attorney Paul Morgan. His pursuit of Donna is prima facie revenge-fueled. He has open contempt for the spoiled rich girl who was married to a powerful man, a woman so aloof she failed to remember the name of a low-level functionary with an outsized ego and inflated sense of importance. I liked Glenn Corbett as Linc on ROUTE 66 but am already soured on his character here. Alas, Corbett and Christopher "Speedo" Atkins will be sticking around the show awhile...
A recurring character I hoped to see again when that obnoxious entourage from The Store pulled up to Pam's palatial mansion was Barbara Babcock as Liz Craig. My hopes were dashed, and thoroughly so when I tabbed over to her IMDb page and learned Babcock will never be back, having bowed out for good after the fifth season. Nonetheless, nice to be reminded of Pam's old gig at The Store, even if she immediately set to work poaching a plum employee for Barnes-Wentworth. Yeah, she's Cliff's sister all right.
Oh, on the subject of Pam being offered a public relations gig by Cliff. Wouldja believe the exact same scenario played out on DYNASTY a couple weeks later? In "Tender Comrades," Blake offered Krystle the PR director's job at Denver-Carrington. Just a coincidence? Makes ya wonder if CBS or ABC had a Sly of their own planted in the rival show's writer's room. Interestingly, neither Pam nor Krystle had any qualifications, which skills deficit both Cliff and Blake blithely dismissed. Wow, what a slap to trained and experienced public relations professionals.
Okay, I can't close without mentioning the shock ending mercy killing of Mickey. Maybe I'm as obtuse as Bobby, because I did not see that coming and the scene of Ray holding the door closed through the doctor's last words transfixed and stunned me. Yes, I know Mickey wanted Ray to promise he wouldn't be kept alive as a vegetable, and I know Dr. Blakely said Mickey would persist indefinitely in this vegetative state, kept alive only by machines. And then came Ray's insistent shooing away of Donna while he brooded outside the hospital. Considering all that, I should have seen it comin'... but I didn't. Wow, what a powerful and profound ending.
These last couple episodes proved pivotal as old characters exited and long-lingering storylines drew to a close while new faces appeared and burgeoning plots began to unfold. Seven seasons in and DALLAS is still going full steam ahead and packing an emotional punch.
But seeing the familiar faces of Punk Anderson and Holly Harwood for the first time this season provided some grounding while also stirring up good memories (like of that time Holly pulled a gun on J. R., which always brings a smile). The show was beginning to feel rootless with Clayton and Miss Ellie MIA and a flurry of new characters coming on stage such as Peter Richards and Paul Morgan, plus an elevated role for Sly.
Seeing Sly playing corporate spy took me back to the first couple seasons when J. R.'s ill-fated secretary Julie Grey (Tina Louise) also took to sleuthing on the job (remember the Red File and that fateful rooftop?). No surprise Cliff would slink into Sly's apartment complex to offer her a quid pro quo. He's a snake and always has been. What surprised me was Sly's so readily entertaining the exchange of privileged information for nothing more than Cliff's good word to the parole board (actually, "Cliff's good word" is an oxymoron). Sly's casual willingness to sleep with Cliff revealed her moral bankruptcy. I knew she would betray J. R. after that indecent proposal (which even virtue-challenged Cliff rebuffed). But if Sly's brother has only a breaking-and-entering charge against him, he'd likely get parole anyway, so why would she risk so much on Cliff's wholly unverifiable word that he can ensure a parole?
Sadly, Sly isn't the only one who is hopelessly naive. Bobby was as blind to Katherine's intentions as Holly was immediately wise to them. I loved how Holly relished letting Katherine fume with fear and envy as she flirtatiously bantered with Bobby, who was oblivious to his being the prize mouse in that clawless catfight, waged entirely with icy glances and glares.
JR failed to fool Bobby with the call girls ruse, so I have hope there's enough of Jock's savvy in Bobby to doubt the authenticity of J. R.'s sudden onset brotherly love. The JR-Bobby War storyline is coming in for a landing and I pray Bobby wises up before he's again left holding the bag. This sadistic contest concocted by Jock has already cost Bobby his marriage.
Bobby and Pam's divorce after six years was an unexpected turn. I winced when the gavel came down. I really thought some eleventh-hour reconciliation would foil those best-laid plans of J. R. and Katherine's. But nope. I also thought Mark would have the decency to wait a few episodes before proposing to Pam, but nope again.
Was it a ratings slip that compelled the producers to fill the screen with so much bared flesh? Peter provides the beefcake and Sly the cheesecake. This was the first time I've seen a man wearing a midriff-baring shirt. I disagree with J. R.'s assessment that Peter is hunting cougar. With Peter brushing off the girl counselor's invitation and also Sue Ellen's question about dating, I fear more for John Ross.
No, I'm not a fan of Peter and even less of the aggressive attorney Paul Morgan. His pursuit of Donna is prima facie revenge-fueled. He has open contempt for the spoiled rich girl who was married to a powerful man, a woman so aloof she failed to remember the name of a low-level functionary with an outsized ego and inflated sense of importance. I liked Glenn Corbett as Linc on ROUTE 66 but am already soured on his character here. Alas, Corbett and Christopher "Speedo" Atkins will be sticking around the show awhile...
A recurring character I hoped to see again when that obnoxious entourage from The Store pulled up to Pam's palatial mansion was Barbara Babcock as Liz Craig. My hopes were dashed, and thoroughly so when I tabbed over to her IMDb page and learned Babcock will never be back, having bowed out for good after the fifth season. Nonetheless, nice to be reminded of Pam's old gig at The Store, even if she immediately set to work poaching a plum employee for Barnes-Wentworth. Yeah, she's Cliff's sister all right.
Oh, on the subject of Pam being offered a public relations gig by Cliff. Wouldja believe the exact same scenario played out on DYNASTY a couple weeks later? In "Tender Comrades," Blake offered Krystle the PR director's job at Denver-Carrington. Just a coincidence? Makes ya wonder if CBS or ABC had a Sly of their own planted in the rival show's writer's room. Interestingly, neither Pam nor Krystle had any qualifications, which skills deficit both Cliff and Blake blithely dismissed. Wow, what a slap to trained and experienced public relations professionals.
Okay, I can't close without mentioning the shock ending mercy killing of Mickey. Maybe I'm as obtuse as Bobby, because I did not see that coming and the scene of Ray holding the door closed through the doctor's last words transfixed and stunned me. Yes, I know Mickey wanted Ray to promise he wouldn't be kept alive as a vegetable, and I know Dr. Blakely said Mickey would persist indefinitely in this vegetative state, kept alive only by machines. And then came Ray's insistent shooing away of Donna while he brooded outside the hospital. Considering all that, I should have seen it comin'... but I didn't. Wow, what a powerful and profound ending.
These last couple episodes proved pivotal as old characters exited and long-lingering storylines drew to a close while new faces appeared and burgeoning plots began to unfold. Seven seasons in and DALLAS is still going full steam ahead and packing an emotional punch.
