Dallas Review: Winds of Vengeance

With only three episodes left until the season finale, what else can we expect from Dallas? Right now we have the murder of a key character, and deed still in question, machinations behind the scenes to save one Ewing’s business future (And his life) and a father who will not lift one figure to help his son. Yes indeed, JR is really “that human oil slick.”

After Bobby and Christopher stopped John Ross from drilling the week before, John Ross is on the phone trying to get the 100 year old trust giving mineral rights to the three sons broken up. Christopher (Jesse Metcalf) walks into his room and gives John Ross (Josh Henderson) the disc containing he and Marta/Veronica (Leonor Varela) doing a scene from the movie Kink in her bedroom. John Ross, of course, gets on his arrogant high horse and tells Christopher how he would get cocky and let his guard down just like he had when they were kids. It was an ok scene, but now I’m feeling that their scenes are becoming somewhat of a retread. It is great that they go over their childhoods together, but do we have to have the difference between the two cousins mentioned every single week? I don’t think so and this is one thing I hope is remembered while the production crew works on season two.

The scene then shifts to John Ross having lunch with Lucy (Charlene Tilton). He tells the story of his first drink and she tells him how she found him there…right before he ask her to cut Bobby’s (Patrick Duffy) throat. She got that devilish smile on her face, but for me it was not tension filled at all. I knew what would happen just as many others did. She went and told Bobby everything. Why? Because she has always loved Bobby so very much, and for a time he was the only father she had. Her loyalty is to family first, which John Ross doesn’t understand. Well he does now, having been told by Bobby that once he gets proof of JR’s part in the fraud of selling Southfork and gets his deed back, neither father nor son will be welcomed back on Southfork. If anyone else believed that I have some beachfront property right under the Gateway Arch to sell you. That was the second time in this episode that there was really no movement in the overall storyline. Bobby is just that gullible that he’ll never kick JR or John Ross off of Southfork. He’ll do it for his mother and father. Once again, his greatest strength and his greatest weakness.

While that goes on, John Ross goes to Vicente (Carlos Bernard) and gives Marta/Veronica up, telling all of her deeds while being a part of the sale. In exchange Vicente tells John Ross that he will scare her out of Dallas for good, thus giving John Ross one more week to start drilling and get him his oil…or else. This was the first time this episode that the show felt like Dallas to me. John Ross whether he wants to say it or not acted just like his daddy did on so many occasions in the past. Give some information to get to the end deal. This is how you push story along. Now because of this one conversation John Ross has set in motion a chain of events that will blow up in the family’s faces. And now he is powerless to stop it. Something else that I’m glad that has been paid attention to. John Ross does not consider the ramifications of his actions. He just jumps forward, screws up everything and then hopes to get bailed out by the people he just got through screwing over. What a tool.

Meanwhile Christopher finds out from Elena (Jordana Brewster) that Rebecca (Julie Gonzalo) is pregnant. He rushes off to her doctor’s office where she confirms she is carrying his child. Christopher finds out later that she’s having twins. What would have been a cherished moment is for not because Christopher can’t forgive her for lying to him for the past two years, which I don’t blame him for. But maybe I would have liked their scenes more if Jesse hadn’t made me laugh out loud with his performance during those scenes. I’m sorry his emotional content really came off over the top. He’s gone back to trying too hard to make his scenes work. That’s a mistake. And who didn’t see this part of the story coming? One of the oldest plot twist in the book, which also happened to Bobby years earlier with his son Lucas (Jenna, played by Pricilla Presley found out she was pregnant with Bobby’s son at that same time he got back together with Pamela). Could this have happened another way? Yes. This could have happened in the pilot episode. That could have been the reason for Christopher and Rebecca to get married, which is also a very old plot point, but I feel it would have been better than having to find out that she was pregnant after he threw her off the ranch. I guess I’ll live with it, even though I shook my head when it happened.

That brings up Ann, who has secrets of her own. Bobby was forced to apologize to Harlan (Mitch Pileggi) after Harlan had Bobby arrested for assault from last week’s episode. Bobby did just that knowing he was caught with his tail between his legs. Once again his temper got him into trouble where calm sense should rule. But as Jock and JR had always said, Bobby had that bad temper from birth. Harlan then gives Bobby a folder containing the secret Ann does not want Bobby to know. Instead of Bobby flipping out and reading the contents of the package, he throws it into the fireplace at Southfork and tells her that the only thing that matters to him is her. They hug, and the honorable side of Bobby shows through again. It doesn’t matter to him what she may or may not have done. I truly liked this scene. It could have gone in another direction, with Bobby reading the package and going nuts on Ann because she never told him what happened in her past. But this scene finally showed a Bobby Ewing who has grown up and has stopped judging people based on his own moral compass. It also gives depth to Bobby, which has been in short supply. But we all know that isn’t the end of this story.

At the end of the episode, the police come to Southfork looking for John Ross. He was seen leaving Marta/Veronica’s apartment building right before two men went into her room and threw her out the balcony door to her death on a car below. Instead of walking out like he didn’t know anything, the idiot stood at the car staring at her while others saw what he was doing and how he left the scene. He looked guilty as hell, but I don’t see why. There is absolutely no way John Ross could have thrown that girl out her window and got downstairs before she landed on the car. He is innocent free and clear but that won’t stop him from paying for it because of how he is. This is what happens when you spend your time acting high and mighty. The episode ended with John Ross being taken in for questioning.

One of the things that really bothered me about this episode is that JR (Larry Hagman) and Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) was only on-screen for a little bit. Hagman had one scene, while Gray had only two. Even though Sue Ellen’s scene with Elena pushed the story along, JR’s scene was useless. That is one thing I really hope I don’t see next season. I know that the big three are supposed to be supporting characters and that the younger set is supposed to be the main attractions, but many, many fans of the original show want to see these characters more. Maybe it’s become a concerned because the younger set stories are not being fleshed out like I feel they should. But we still have three more episodes to go before the season is over, so I’m sure this will be dealt with soon. Overall an ok episode with not much happens until the last ten minutes.

This Week On DALLAS:

John Ross pays the piper in more ways than one. JR must look at what he’s done to his son when Sue Ellen blames him for what happened, and the entire Ewing family must pull together to save themselves and the ranch from a very dangerous outside threat. It’s all new on DALLAS, 9/8 central only on TNT.

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