Dallas: Discussion Thread

[GLATWT88]

I haven't watched the later seasons so I may have to take this back as I work my way through the series, but I am glad Season 9 is a dream. Although, not planned from the beginning, it just makes sense that it would be. There's just too many outlandish plots happening at once.

- Mark actually being alive. Let's say he did plot his own death to spare others, but then there's too many other things happening this season that just are too much. 

- A whole convoluted story with Marinos Shipping involving Jack and Dimitri and Angelica Nero tied in with J.R. that just has too many random twists and asks viewers to take too many leaps. 

- Everyone thinking Jenna's mourning of Bobby to be extreme, yet it's only been a short time since Bobby's passing and none of her actions besides wanting to go see Bobby (his gravesite) in the middle of the night (which was in a stressful moment for her and I don't feel was too irrational) are abnormal. This ties in well with this being Pamela's dream imo

- Pamela being kidnapped in a jungle- plausible. Pamela acting like nothing's happened and being okay with Mark's suggestion that they go visit the potential emerald site the very next day after being held hostage and in a very traumatic situation - insane. Again, ties in well with this being Pamela's dream.

[Soapsuds]

I'm almost done with season 7.  I'm on Jessica first appearance as Clayton sister.

The dream season had

Jenna having a complete breakdown

Sue Ellen hitting rock bottom

Ray and Donna losing their baby

Pam kidnapped

JR being duped by Angelica which was silly.

Jack only being appealing when wearing a blue Speedo

Mark returns zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[GLATWT88]

Why was it that Clayton didn't speak to her or want her at the wedding? 

[Vee]

Alexis Smith was so good in everything I've seen her in and her hysterical turn as psycho Jessica is no different.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Vee

[Soapsuds]

Jessica was unbalanced. She had a breakdown and had been in a sanitarium. It was discovered she was Dusty mother and not his aunt. Clayton was actually his uncle not Dusty dad. Later in the season everyone finds out that Jessica killed Clayton first wife Amy. Jessica didn't Amy to replace her as Dusty mother.

[Vee]

There's also pretty clearly an incestuous undercurrent with Jessica re: Clayton.

[Khan]

I feel like that, more than wanting to bring back Patrick Duffy as Bobby, is why Leonard Katzman and others wanted to write off the entire season as a dream.

[GLATWT88]

Yeh, I remember it turning out that she was Dusty's mother and had killed Amy. 

[Soapsuds]

Its a shame the Jessica story didn't continue the following season or after the dream season. Dusty parentage could've continued involving everyone in the canvas. His father could've been Jock. Imagine JR reaction. He could've been Digger Barnes son or Dusty could've been a Wentworth. So many possibilities.

[kalbir]

Angelica Nero was literally straight out of a James Bond movie

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. Granted one that's not part of the official series, but that's neither here nor there for this thread.

[Soapsuds]

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[Paul Raven]

In the Knots thread it was mentioned that unlike Dallas and Dynasty KL didn't start out with a business based theme, which allowed for greater story flexabilty.

Whereas Dallas had to revolve around Ewing Oil and the Texas oil industry.

That's why it was odd to me that Sue Ellen started the lingerie company as it took away from the central theme and gave her no interaction with the Ewings. Obviously she couldn't be part of the oil industry but some sort of business that might be able to tie in with Ewing Oil would have been a better bet.

Same with Lucy marrying a doctor. It would have been a no brainer to have Lucy hooked up with a junior oil exec so that they could be more involved in the lead  stories.

As it was things just stopped in their tracks when we detoured to Lucy/Mitch. Maybe that was the idea, to give us a brief respite from the Ewing Oil shenanigans,but there wasn't enough time available per episode and Lucy/Mitch seemed like an afterthought.

[I Am A Swede]

I think the best thing Mitch brought to the show was Afton!  

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[j swift]

In retrospect, Sue Ellen's exit was disappointing.

I recall thinking at the time that it was so fun that she got one over on JR and got to leave with an attractive man on her arm.  But, after some thought, her victory seems hollow.  She spent millions on a movie that will never be released.  Even if it were shown in theaters, it would not have shamed JR too much, considering the multiple public embarrassments that he had been through  (foreign oil deals gone wrong, locked in a mental institution, etc..).  I don't recall if John Ross stayed in Dallas (I think he lived on at Southfork), but that's another failure considering how hard she pushed for custody.  And, an aging Britsh director with his own issues is hardly a prize.

[I Am A Swede]

I felt already at the time that it was a rather odd story. Like you said, why would it matter that much (or at all) to J.R. if Sue Ellen released that movie? It's not like everyone didn't know already what a scumbag and sleaze he was... But by that time my interest in Dallas was waning anyway so I didn't give it more thought than that.