Could we also fold in the idea that Lucy had kept her distance from Gary & Val from 1982-1991 because she was mad and hurt that once again, they couldn't go the distance?

3 minutes ago, Franko said:

Could we also fold in the idea that Lucy had kept her distance from Gary & Val from 1982-1991 because she was mad and hurt that once again, they couldn't go the distance?

We could, but IIRC, Gary and Val were on the outs again in the DALLAS revival series, and Lucy appeared to be close to the two again (or at least to Val). (Or maybe, in DALLAS' universe, Gary and Val never got back together after he slept with Abby? I dunno, it's all so damn confusing, lol!)

Edited December 30, 2025Dec 30 by Khan

4 minutes ago, Khan said:

We could, but IIRC, Gary and Val were on the outs again in the DALLAS revival series, and Lucy appeared to be close to the two again (or at least to Val). (Or maybe, in DALLAS' universe, Gary and Val never got back together after he slept with Abby? I dunno, it's all so damn confusing, lol!)

Ah, that's right. I forgot about Gary and Val's umpteeth estrangement.

7 hours ago, Khan said:

(Although, in hindsight, there are parts of KNOTS S7 that I'd love to dismiss as a dream, lol).

Cathy and Ben? 😂😂

6 hours ago, Franko said:

Ah, that's right. I forgot about Gary and Val's umpteeth estrangement.

I thought they seemed to be reunited or on the road to it yet again by the end of all that. But I may be wrong.

2 hours ago, Vee said:

I thought they seemed to be reunited or on the road to it yet again by the end of all that. But I may be wrong.

I think you're right, and it was Sue Ellen of all people who reunited them?

Knowing Gary and Val, though, it wouldn't have lasted. Those two kept trying to recapture something that wasn't meant to last in the first place. Plus, Gary was more like his father and brothers than even he cared to admit. He never wanted Val to grow as a person, just stay the same cute, 15-year-old hash-house waitress he first met in Fort Worth.

7 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Cathy and Ben? 😂😂

Actually, @AbcNbc247 , I think Ben and Cathy's affair held a lot of dramatic potential.

For one thing, it helped that Douglas Sheehan and Lisa Hartman shared nice chemistry. (Of course, Sheehan was the type to share romantic chemistry with just about every woman, lol). Moreover, I liked how their affair grew organically out of their friendship and circumstances, with Cathy putting her life and career back together after Joshua, and Ben feeling left out with Gary, Val and the twins. Unlike when Abby first pursued Gary, neither Ben nor Cathy had designs on each other; which, in turn, made it difficult to brand either of them as the heavy or villain in the story, even though their affair hurt people that they both loved and cared about.

If not for the fact that Lisa Hartman was on her way out, I would have liked to see where, if anywhere, Ben and Cathy's affair would've gone, because, IMO, it's probably the kind of story David Jacobs always wanted to tell on KL, and probably the last character-driven storyline we'd get for a LONG while, lol.

16 minutes ago, Khan said:

Knowing Gary and Val, though, it wouldn't have lasted. Those two kept trying to recapture something that wasn't meant to last in the first place. Plus, Gary was more like his father and brothers than even he cared to admit. He never wanted Val to grow as a person, just stay the same cute, 15-year-old hash-house waitress he first met in Fort Worth.

In the first season of Knots Gary was very protective, supportive, and loving to Val. In season 2 he pretty much couldn't stand the sight of her and even when she tried to support him in his screw ups, he resented her even more. He also started the cheating after only being remarried for about a year. When Val had cancer, Gary preferred she die than to have to deal with her having to get a colostomy. He also trashed their house throwing a hissy fit like a 5-year-old.

In season 14 when he thought she was dead he immediately hit the sheets with Kate. Gary obviously never used condoms so I'm surprised Val didn't get STD's

17 minutes ago, SoapDope78 said:

In season 14 when he thought she was dead he immediately hit the sheets with Kate.

That's the trouble when you have a season with only 19 episodes: you have literally no time to set up things like that (Gary/Kate) properly.

On 12/30/2025 at 9:31 AM, Khan said:

Knowing Gary and Val, though, it wouldn't have lasted. Those two kept trying to recapture something that wasn't meant to last in the first place. Plus, Gary was more like his father and brothers than even he cared to admit. He never wanted Val to grow as a person, just stay the same cute, 15-year-old hash-house waitress he first met in Fort Worth.

This is a great take on Gary/Val.

Gary's arc on nuDallas was one of the few things I enjoyed. I hated that Val only appeared for one episode. It made no sense and felt so rushed. They could've gotten an entire season out of Gary and Val. I don't understand why they didn't play it more. Honestly, Gary should've never left, especially with JR gone. He always loved the ranch and as others have mentioned, it made perfect sense that Gary and Val would've broken up again.

Gary and Val breaking up at the start of season 4 was always supposed to be permanent because the two were incompatible as a couple as adults. That was basically the point of their remarriage and original arc on Knots Landing was to show them trying to start again as adults... except they had the same baggage/issues that had befallen them as teens.

By season 8, Val had finally managed to achieve a healthy interaction with Gary, but he was still caught in that toxic mindset. And unpopular opinion, I think Val was right to keep the twins away from Gary since he had proven himself to not be up to challenges of being a husband nor father. He was a better step father to Olivia and Brian than he ever was as a parent to Lucy.. and Val seemed do a good job parenting the twins once she got them back at the start of season 7 until at least season 11.

Constance McCashin Returns! Knots Landing’s Laura Avery Talks Seaview Circle.

Recent Locher Room interview, via the seminar Alan Locher did last year.

Locher kept trying to get all 'role of women in the 80s' and other basic modern day questions while she kept basically saying that as an actress, you have to become the character and not try to interject your own personal thoughts and feelings.. or else you're not playing the character.

I wish more modern day performers would understand that in order to be good performers, you can't play yourself.