anybody watching the new Dallas series?

[Scooter]

Keep in mind, JR was searching for Christopher's mother. Not necessarily Pam. I can't remember if his biological mom was supposed to have died in the original series?

Was this the first time in series history Cliff may have gotten the best of JR?? Cliff was always kind of a bumbling stupid guy back then, which is missing from the current series.

[TJinPgh]

Kristen, Sue Ellen's sister, was Christopher's biological mother. The same Kristen who shot JR in the original "Who Shot JR" storyline. She's dead. They found her dead in the pool at Southfork.

A guy named Jeff Faraday was Christopher's biological father. He was originally going to blackmail JR with Christopher, claiming that he was JR's son. He ended up contacting Bobby by mistake.

The child that JR fathered with Kristen was supposedly lost to miscarriage.

In any event, Sue Ellen is Chistopher's real aunt by blood. I can't remember if Faraday is alive or not, but, I seem to recall him dying in the original series.

As for the question of Cliff, no, he did get the better of JR a couple of times. He actually ended up as the head of Ewing Oil by the end of the original series. He sold it to Bobby and Sue Ellen in the first TV movie "JR Returns" that followed a few years later, but Cidre has seemingly chosen to ignore that movie and just went with the end of the original series, instead.

Although, we did first learn of Cliff having a daughter named Pamela with Afton Cooper in that movie, which, she obviously kept.

At any rate, they made reference during one the early episodes last season about Barnes still owning what was once Ewing Oil. So, it's assumed that he just absorbed it into whatever else he has. Doing away with the company entirely. John Ross leased the vacant building that used to house Ewing Oil at the end of last season.

Not sure if that answers your question or not, lol.

[eaglesdare]

Wow, I have always liked Cliff Barnes. I always hoped that he could pull one over on ole JR. But, after last week and last nights eppy, I hate him (and the writers! LOL)
Loved seeing the 6million dollar man back on screen.

[TJinPgh]

I haven't seen this week's yet.

Last week's ep was definitely a new low for Cliff. He may well have reached a point where he is worse than JR ever was.

[TJinPgh]

I'm curious where they intend to go with ths Pam storyline.

I saw in a tabloid yesterday (which means you should take it with a giant heaping helping of salt), that Victoria Principal had declined to return to the new series. If true, it really leaves them just three options for this story line.

1) They never find her.
2) They find out that she is, indeed, dead.
3) They have somebody else play her if they do find her.

All three have negative potential, IMHO. JR being killed in the same place was last seen doesn't seem like it would be a coincidence. I'd hate to have him die a pointless death in a story line with zero payoff, which is the potential with 1 & 2.

Having somebody else play her, though, is a dangerous prospect at best. Disastrous at worst. They had somebody else play her in the single short scene they had during the original series where she told Bobby not to follow her any more and we learned that she had terminal cancer. The room was dark... the actress who played her was Margaret Michaels. She came back to the show for a few episodes a couple of seasons later as a brief love interest for Bobby because of her resemblance to Victoria Principal and was then written out.

It would be simple enough have either Michaels or somebody else who looks like Principal to come back and claim that the character she played was, indeed, Pam. Still, the Dallas faithful have never cared for the notion of somebody else playing their main cast characters. Her brief appearance as Pam didn't go over well, IIRC. And Donna Reed and Steve Forest as Miss Ellie and Jock had mixed success as well.

While the payoff is potentially better, I'm not sure it's a good idea to honk off the original fans who may well be carrying the show's ratings.

Hopefully, Principal decides to do the show for at least a few episodes and solves the whole problem.

The other dynamic I find interesting is with Ryland, his mother, and Emma. Talk about disfunctional. I'm not sure any of the three is worth rooting for.

[eaglesdare]

I try not to put too much thought into a tv show (especially after investing in LOST).
But: I can't remember what the letter said about finding Christopher's mother. Did it actually say Pamela, or was that just Bobby that said the name. Scooter could be onto something there. I mean seriously if a show can make an entire season into a "dream" they could make Christopher's mother someone else, (well they could LOL), maybe a switched at birth thing. Maybe Kristen really did not drown, lots of ways they could go.
I am another old timer that does believe in keeping the original cast playing the original rolls, so I would not like to see some other actress playing Pamela. With all this Pamela talk thought, they better bring her back in some form, otherwise I do think its wrong to tease the old time fans with this story line.

I see Emma as another Lucy. Young and wild. But I am not going to trust that one anytime soon, I think I would trust Ryland before her any day. I do feel sorry for Ryland every so often, poor mommy's boy is so messed up. He may turn sides when he finds out what Cliff Barnes did to Rebecca. Those babies did not have to die, I hate that the writers did that, but in a way I am glad, because now I can finally hate Cliff.
Afton is a character coming back a changed person. I never got the feeling that she was one to contend with back in the day. Now she is putting up as if she is. Why would Sue Ellen be all down on her, when she was all lovey dovey with the others during the funeral, doesn't make sense.
I just hope they keep going with the Ewings sticking together though, that I really like, something the original really did not hold onto.

[TJinPgh]

Well, Harris was on the phone with Barnes at the hospital wanting to apologize for his guy setting off that bomb while Pamela was on the rig. Given his response, I have to assume that Cliff told him he told him to do it anyway. So, I don't see any switch coming out of that.

With respect to Pam and Kristen. Bobby and Ann mentioned her by name. I think it would be a bigger mistake to claim that Kristen either didn't die or wasn't his mother than it would to recast Pam at this point.

Ultimately, they should have confirmed with Victoria Principal that she was willing to do it before they even brought the story line up.

We're still not entirely sure that she won't. The comments I've seen are somewhat questionable. Ken Kercheval said last June that she had no interest in returning. Then, after Hagman died in November, there were comments (December) that she was considering coming back out of respect for him. There were reports of a multi-million dollar offer to do it.

I've seen a number of snippets this month saying that she said she won't return. However, at least part of the quotes I've seen attributed to her was from an interview done long before Hagman died. So, I'm not really sure.

I just think it's kind of cheap to string long time fans of the show along with a story line about her potential return if there's not going to be some sort of payoff.

The only way I can see out of that without her return is if they claim that somebody lured JR down there with that story to try and throw him off track. Ultimately, whomever killed JR would have to be responsible for the whole thing. There could be a payoff with that, depending on whatever happens to that individual.

I could see them killing Ryland or even his mother out of revenge. I can't see them killing off Barnes. Prison could be a possibility there, though.

I was trying to recall back to the episode when we find out Katherine is dead. Trying to remember if that was pretty definitive or not.

[TJinPgh]

As it turns out there's a reason why I can't remember how she died. Because, she didn't.

She died in the season finale that ultimately lead into the dream season as she died crashing the car when she ran over Bobby. Since that whole thing was a dream, that never happened.

I was on Ultimatedallas.com and was reminded that it was Katherine who helped Pam get out of the hospital after her accident (when Principal left the show). So, so far as the original show is concerned, Katherine is, indeed, alive. So, the line from Bobby about her being dead is either a writing flub or they just decided to do it that way.

They could easily bring her back and have her responsible for this whole mess.

[eaglesdare]

It looks to me like they are going to have Katherine under the hat. I would totally be shocked if it turned out to be Pamela.
Yes, Katherine died in the dream, and yes, she is the one that helped Pamela leave the hospital. Remember Pamela had some kind of illness that left her to have only 1 yr to live.

Loving John Ross and Rebecca. Can't wait til Cliff finds out about the couple.
Not liking Elenna any more, don't like hypocrites.
Loved the Bobby smirk at the end. That was done in a true JR way.

[TJinPgh]

I just watched last week's episode along with this week's double shot. Pretty good series of eps there.

I agree. It'll end up being Katherine. The terms they set up for Pam's shares in the story wouldn't make sense any other way.

For a reason we haven't seen yet, Katherine probably had to fake her own death. If she were actually dead, with no children to give her shares to, they would have been divided up among Cliff and Pam as a condition of the living trust they supposedly set up.

The fact that Cliff is still treating them as separate tells me that he knows she's really alive. Not sure about Pam. My guess is that she's still alive someplace but they're not going to find her. Giving Pamela 1/3 and Christopher 1/3 and the two of them having controlling interest of Barnes Global (until John Ross steals the shares from one of them, anyway).

I'm waiting for the shoe to drop with JR, though. Once this whole thing with Cliff and Harris is resolved, this whole "JR's a good guy after all" situation is likely to have a snake in it.

Cidre admitted that the original story line before Hagman died was to have JR end up with control of Ewing Energies at the season cliffhanger. While JR is gone, that story line is likely to still end up going someplace.

[TJinPgh]

2 hour season finale tomorrow. We find out who killed JR.

[TJinPgh]

Wow.

Well, last night before going to work I came up with my top 3 most likely culprits as to who killed JR. My second pick was the correct one. It dawned on me yesterday how the whole thing could play out.

[eaglesdare]

I liked just about everything last night. The one major thing I did not like was the woman under the hat turning out to be the nurse. I was hoping for Katherine. But oh well, that played out fine.
The scene at the grave I thought was more of a tear jerker than the funeral shows.
I kept saying it was not Cliff, it was not Cliff. He just had way too many years to have done this, not now. But I would not have been shocked if it had turned out to be Pam (the daughter). Loved that it was Bum.
Oh ok, I have something else that I did not like so much, and that is the fast pace this show took, it really did not show (and they could have and should have) shown a better reaction of Pam marrying JR's son.
I just knew also that John Ross was not going back to Pam, not sure who he was going to see til I ran thru in my mine who it could be, so I guessed it before Emma was revealed. I really was hopeing for a supper couple out of John Ross and Pamela, but this is not to be.
So they leave us with some stories to pick up on in season 3. (lets hope for a season 3).

[TJinPgh]

I liked just about everything last night. The one major thing I did not like was the woman under the hat turning out to be the nurse. I was hoping for Katherine. But oh well, that played out fine.

I would still not assume that she won't show up next season. If she comes back, then John Ross and Pamela lose their shares and she ends up in control of the company. Especially if she joins forces with Elena. So, the story line is ripe for her return.

The scene at the grave I thought was more of a tear jerker than the funeral shows.

Certainly no less of one. Definitely emotional when Bobby finally broke down.

I kept saying it was not Cliff, it was not Cliff. He just had way too many years to have done this, not now. But I would not have been shocked if it had turned out to be Pam (the daughter). Loved that it was Bum.

I said pretty much the same thing last night when assembling my list. Cliff had over 30 years to kill JR. Why would he do it now? I never bought that from the start.

Roy was at the top of my list... figuring he killed JR because he got too close to the truth about Ryland and the Cartel. He seemed the most obvious choice. Which, traditionally meant it would be somebody else but Cidre has kept things fairly neat and tidy through out the show so I figured he was still a good choice.

It occurred to me yesterday that this would be the ultimate JR swerve. Especially if the original story line was to have him gain control of Ewing Energies at the end of this season. Since he wasn't even really a part of the company it stood to reason that he would have needed to do something big to accomplish that.

That, along with the final scene in which we see JR talking to John Ross and him going out of his way to tell him he loved him and was proud sort of struck me as somebody who know his time was at an end.

It was a great way to end the story.

Oh ok, I have something else that I did not like so much, and that is the fast pace this show took, it really did not show (and they could have and should have) shown a better reaction of Pam marrying JR's son.

Well, the pace of the show has been a complaint of mine from the start. In this case, though, I think they felt they really needed to wrap this story up by season's end because they probably weren't certain that there was going to be a season 3 and it would have been really bad to not wrap this up if the show went off the air. So, they had a lot to tell and only 2 hours to tell it in.

That said, I think it was somewhat fitting that it worked out that way for Cliff. After all, he did the same exact same thing to the Ewings when he married Jamie Ewing just to get her shares of Ewing Oil back during the original series. So, it was just a case turn about being fair play. Taken in that contest, his reaction to that makes much more sense.

I just knew also that John Ross was not going back to Pam, not sure who he was going to see til I ran thru in my mine who it could be, so I guessed it before Emma was revealed. I really was hopeing for a supper couple out of John Ross and Pamela, but this is not to be.
So they leave us with some stories to pick up on in season 3. (lets hope for a season 3).

Well, I wasn't surprised either way with that. With the JR story line done, they needed to establish John Ross as the resident bad boy. That said, it's going to be a true test of their writing skills to keep us interested without JR being a part of it. Even with Hagman dead, he was still at the center of the last half of this season. They are really going to have to step up their games if they want to keep us interested.

I now think that the actors are up to the task. I just hope the writers are.

[Scooter]

I think it was excellent till the very end when John Ross paired up with Emma...what the heck was in the suitcase anyway??? Guess it might occur to me after sleeping a night on it, just think they could have written an old fashioned cliffhanger to build demand for a third season. But as they left it I'm indifferent because this aint X-Files, Dallas ain't supposed to be such an intellectual mind twist is it?? Make it clear enough for lifelong viewers to understand, for cryin' out loud!

Was it drugs in the suitcase? Is John Ross as big a druggie as Emma? Other than the obvious carnal passion, what's going on there?