‘Dallas’ Recap: Trial & Error

Ye-HAW Y’all! It’s time for another week in one of the only series with more plot twist and revenge then Revenge and that’s of course none other than TNT’s Dallas.

When we last Dallas, after Annie shot her ex-husband Harris Ryland, Bobby had decided to initially take the fall, only after discussing it with Annie, changing his mind and deciding to tell the truth, meanwhile Ryland decided to use this opportunity to make Annie pay for leaving him, and told the interviewing officer that it was Bobby whom shot him…

Our episode picks up with Ann rushing into Ryland’s hospital room, shaking his bed demanding answers as to why he would do such a thing, why would he blame Bobby when he so clearly knew it was her.  He just wants to make her suffer for not loving him. Ann simply replies “I wish you had died” and of course her daughter Emma would overhear that portion of the conversation. After leaving the hospital room and making it out to her car, Ann realizes that she still has a tiny bit of blood splatter on her shoes. If Ryland wanted to pin this on Bobby he was going to have to do so with the evidence clearly pointing them in another direction, thus getting Ryland in trouble for perverting justice.

Cliff meanwhile found Pamela and the two discussed her future, and how she is using John Ross to get at Ewing Energies. Cliff doesn’t think this is a good idea, he feels allowing a Ewing to get involved will only dirty up their chances to once and for-all take the Ewings down a peg or two. But Pamela says she will carry out her plan, and that she will do so without allowing emotions to interfere, to which Cliff merely says “I’ve heard that before.” Afterwards, Cliff decided it was time to manipulate good-ole JR again, and called up his old rival to let him know that John Ross was the one who betrayed him. JR simply stares off into the distance and tells Barns to go to hell, but the hurt in his eyes said it all, and it was at that moment the JR realized he really was out for himself.

The show then jumps one month later. It is the day of Anne’s trial and first up on the witness stand is Judith. She basically loses it, dragging Anne through the mud completely, but in doing so she planted a seed of doubt within the minds of the jury, which would remain despite the Judge requesting them to disregard all of the testimony that Judith had given.

Meanwhile Bobby and Christopher bump into Vicente Cano in the hallway. They find out that he is being tried on lesser charges in the United States, and it appears that he may get out of jail free. Christopher is furious at this prospect, but Bobby holds his son back, and explains that they have other things to worry about right now.

The trial rages on with the various factions raging war. During recess, Christopher finds Emma and the two briefly discuss what she should do. Chris tries to reason with her to do the ‘right’ thing and to form her own opinions not that of her family. Emma then takes the stand, where she begins to breakdown as she remains supportive of her father, to which Ann simply smiles and tells her “It’s all right.”

Once the jury goes out to deliberate, Christopher finds Pamela, he tells her he doesn’t want his children being raised in an environment in which their parents are constantly trying to poison their minds about the other, so he is agreeing to mediation. Pamela thanks him for coming to his sense. This is when the babies decide to kick and Pamela allows Chris to feel his children move.

The jury quickly came back with a verdict- and to the Ewing’s dismay, Ann was found guilty, and immediately taken into police custody.  Bobby vowed to help set Ann free, but the damage was already being done. As Ann was being escorted to a car for transportation to prison, she passes by Vincent, who appears to be being set free as the episode fades to black.

Final Review: I am a huge fan of Dallas and I am really thankful for TNT for rebooting the series. The news of the reboot really gave me the push I needed to finish watching the original series, and for that I will be always thankful. With that said. I find it a bit aggravating that this new series seems so set on being nothing but endless plot points. The original Dallas, when it was in its hay-day, was filled to the brim with character driven stories using the oil industry as a backdrop for backstabbing, lies and manipulations, not as a crutch.

This is opposed to the new Dallas in which I feel like I have no real connection to the characters, with a prime example being that of Ann. Yes I get that she is Bobby’s wife, and she had some awful stuff go on, but enough for me to really care that she gets sent down to prison? Nope. In my opinion this just opens the door for either Pam or Jenna to come back and reclaim their man!  I know that’s nothing more than wishful thinking at this point but hey it would make complete sense! I mean after seeing Bobby’s name splashed across all of the tabloids and news sites as he struggles to deal with his wife being sent down they make their way back to town and hope to help Bobby through this trying time, which ultimately leads to a reconnecting and before you know it we would be saying “Ann who?”

Then there is Vincent, I completely understand the purpose that he served as a plot device in season 1 to eventually bring the Ewings together, but that awful story wasn’t why I liked the first season of Dallas it was the relationships between Christopher/Elena/Rebecca (Pamela) / John Ross that kept me tuning in, with JR/Sue Ellen/Bobby making it worth my time. So to see that this convoluted mess has once again returned all I could do was sigh.

I want to like this show, I want to be glued to my seat and care about every single character and their motivations for making the choices that they make, but unless the show seriously slows itself down and takes the time it needs to really flesh these characters out, I don’t know how much longer Dallas will remain appointment television and move over to being just another show on Monday night.

With that said, next week is the last episode of Dallas to feature Larry Hagman in his iconic role as JR Ewing. While I am sure I will continue to watch this show even after he is gone, the series will never be the same without the twinkle in his eye that always let us know JR would come out on top, always leaving us to wonder how he’d pull it off.

What did you think of this week’s episode?  How about the season/ series as a whole? Do you agree with my issues or am I over exaggerating? Let me know your take in the comments below.