On 12/14/2025 at 9:22 AM, Khan said:

I agree. Especially because it happened so damn quickly, with absolutely no breathing room for him, for Cathy, for all of us.

David Jacobs insisted that was the plan all along, but I doubt it. I think they had every intention of keeping Joshua around for years to come, but Michael Filerman and his ego ruined everything.

I'd still love for someone who was there to explain to us what the original intention was for Empire Valley; was it ALWAYS meant to be revealed as an underground spy network? Because, even if that wasn't how it started, it still feels as if they were leading up to something big. Otherwise, why invest so much time in another real estate development scheme? We'd already been there and done that with Lotus Point.

I honestly could see the seeds of what became of Joshua from the very beginning. Perhaps it happened a bit faster than it needed to, but Dunne did not waste time with things lmao

As for Empire Valley, I don't know about always, but the basics of it were definitely laid out by the last third of season 6 - seemingly a new, modern, environmentally progressive community that was hiding an international communications center. They did NOT repeat a Lotus Point story.

The real mystery is, where would it have gone in Season 7? I have no doubt Peter Dunne would've done a fantastic season-long arc with it, or something that led to the next arc. Sadly, Paulsen had no clue where to go with it (although I did like Gary blowing it all up).

Edited Monday at 04:02 PM4 days by YRBB

2 hours ago, YRBB said:

The real mystery is, where would it have gone in Season 7?

That's my question as well. Where COULD they have gone with it? Would everyone suddenly up and move to Empire Valley? Would there have been an EV spinoff, lol? I'm just struggling to figure out what, if anything, would have been the point.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

That's my question as well. Where COULD they have gone with it? Would everyone suddenly up and move to Empire Valley? Would there have been an EV spinoff, lol? I'm just struggling to figure out what, if anything, would have been the point.

It's definitely hard to guess what the climax would've been! Perhaps there was no other way to end it BUT to blow it up lol

That being said, I do think the point was the journey more than anything else.

Somebody needs to find Dunne and get him to tell us where he would have taken it lol

3 minutes ago, YRBB said:

Perhaps there was no other way to end it BUT to blow it up lol

LOL!!

In the past, I've speculated that Empire Valley was supposed to be a story about phony real estate developers bilking people, before it got changed into what made it on air.

I would LOVE for someone to interview Peter Dunne - not just about Empire Valley, but about his time on KL (and DALLAS) in general. I feel like he would have a ton of great writing advice to share.

The one thing I do remember when reading the blogs about each season written by Tommy was that Dunne had no intentions during his time there of reuniting Gary and Val. To him and the other producers there.. they were to remain divorced yet always connected through no only Lucy and the twins.. but because of their history.

Nothing shows this more than when after she was found in TN and came back to Knots Landing that Gary had to break it to her that they weren't sure married and that they had attempted things a second time as adults and it didn't work with the two crying on the beach over what once was. Having Val's memory totally return only became a thing once she was around Ben and it was played up in an end game sort of way.

Paulson, or whomever was the show runner, in season 7 totally switched gears and started to make Ben the antagonist instead of Gary.. even having him cheat on Val with Cathy.

"Jill, this is Gary Ewing. Gary Ewing, Jill Bennett."

Now I'm curious what Jill and Val's first interaction will be like.

ETA: Also, I like that Cathy's stage manager knows damn well what's happening between Cathy and Ben ... and she seems to be a-ok with it.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Franko

On 12/15/2025 at 1:34 PM, Soaplovers said:

The one thing I do remember when reading the blogs about e Having Val's memory totally return only became a thing once she was around Ben and it was played up in an end game sort of way.

Yes it was. It was done with huge fanfare for them and I was impressed.

I have pored over the blogs, fansites, interviews etc. for more details re: the original intent for Empire Valley but I think the reality is no one quite remembers. The surveillance state, paranoia and spying elements were there from the beginning in Season 6, and I do think are very relevant today. I think just how sci-fi it got the following season may not have been what was intended.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Vee