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Nitpicks [85-86 Season]
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ewingspage@hotmail.comEpisode 192: Rock Bottom, Part One
- Let's see. First, there's the usual beginning-of-season nonsense. On the way home from the hospital, Pam, Sue Ellen, and Donna decided to get their hair done. Ellie mercifully decided to get her plastic surgery undone [and her old wardrobe back]. And Charlie took massive doses of human growth hormone - she's almost as tall as Jenna now, and she's got hair like Crystal Gayle!
- Everybody noticed that Southfork has undergone substantial remodeling while the troop was away at the hospital. Suddenly, the den has a small room connected to it with blue paint. The upstairs hallway looks different, and Anne noticed a door on the wall with the drinks' table.
- At the funeral, Miss Ellie says she'll take John Ross home while JR talks to the departed Bobby. Wait a minute: shouldn't this be something that Sue Ellen should do? After all, she is the boy's mother.
AHN Bill pointed out
that when Ellie is sitting at her desk writing her "to do" list for the next day, she tells Clayton that she "couldn't sleep".. doesn't that mean that she'd have to have been in bed for at least a little while? And most likely out of her clothes and into a nightgown or something? I think 'couldn't sleep' is just an excuse to make Clayton get her some cocoa and answer the phone.AHN Anne's corner:
- When Christopher runs over to Miss Ellie, he's so thrilled to see her, and then just walks away. It's like the second after he hugged her he said to himself, "Okay, that's enough of Grandma for now." It's not as if she's there everyday! When I see my grandparents, I'm ecstatic. Agreed. This was ridiculous.
- In her grief, Miss Ellie is just a tad demanding of everyone. "J.R., pour me a
brandy." "I guess I would like some cocoa." Sheesh! Get it yourself! Then
when the phone rang with Gary on the other end of the line, she just kind of looked at
Clayton as if to say, "Um, the phone's ringing. Pick up! Why else are you here?"
:) I only noticed because you brought it up, and it
is very silly. But I'll forgive BBG because she came back and there'll be no more Donna
Reed forever!
- Jenna was not so worked up that she needed a sedative, do you think? It's like Harlan
was just asking around if anyone wanted a quick fixer-upper. Maybe the Ewings get special
privileges on that front, too.
AHN Bill's corner:
- AHN Bill and I both wondered why Southfork cocoa gets cold so quickly. Ellie was only talking to Gary for a minute or two and suddenly she decides that her cocoa is cold. Maybe she feels that Clayton hasn't done enough and he should go downstairs and do it right this time!
- I wondered why Lucy "can't get a plane in time for Bobby's funeral"?
Bobby saved her life (in the first rerun episode I ever watched where she runs
away) and
other than Ellie, Bobby was the only one alive that ever really was behind her all the
time. she's not on a honeymoon, mind you (shouldn't she be?) .. the excuse is
"she couldn't get a flight on time".. give me a break.. a Ewing could have a
limo take her from Atlanta to Dallas in 6 hours and leave a damned good tip for the driver
as well.. and don't several days go by before the funeral anyway?
You are absolutely right. Good call.
- The scene where Dusty punches Sue Ellen bothered me a lot.. this bar was obviously not a frequent Ewing hangout.. it's not like the oil baron's club where they'd refer to her as "Mrs. Ewing" and understand that her tabs will be paid in full at one time or another. she's in a random crappy bar. she orders drinks.. a stranger walks in, argues with her, PUNCHES HER IN THE FACE and carries her out (without leaving her payment for the drinks on the bar that I can see).. and the look from the bartender didn't make it look like it was out of the ordinary.. wouldn't your average bartender be calling the police.. not only for the lack of payment for the shots that Sue Ellen was chugging, but for a disagreement between strangers (as far as the bartender knows.. after all, they didn't come in together) in which voices were raised and a male PUNCHES a female in the face and walks out with her?? You are absolutely right. I can't believe I missed this.
AHN Jason's corner:
- Christopher is now played by a new actor -Joshua Harris- and looks at least another
year older. Guess his daddy's death really shocked him. Quite a big 4 year old.
That's a great explanation for the change,
actually! Thanks!
- No one apparently called Gary after Bobby's death. He calls the house to say he
heard about it (through the news?) Bobby was run over in the morning, presumably died
mid-day and by night no one had gone around to telling the only family member not living
in Dallas.. Kind of thoughtless. You'd think someone would have called him. Good point.
- Also his time at Southfork was never pleasant, you'd think that he would bring Val or
Abby or whomever he was involved with home for some support when he came to visit. I
mean Val was Bobby's sister-in-law for years .You'd think she would want to pay her
respects... Yes, but the Dallas producers don't
want to PAY her. :)
- Ms. Ellie is looking at a picture of Bobby on her desk a few hours after the
accident. Isn't it kind of strange that she has no other pictures of her family-not
even her sons or grandkids- on the desk. I could understand if this was a few days
later and all she wanted to do was stare at his image so she removed all other pictures,
but it looks like she just happens to notice it there for the first time. This
struck me as strange.... It's a nice touch but you're right. I remember a
few seasons ago when she had a picture of Pam on her dresser, which I found so stupid
since Pam's not even related to her!
Episode 193: Rock Bottom, Part Two
- The bag lady has some really nice glasses. Maybe even prescription glasses! And not a scratch or nick on them. Is she holding on to them in case she gets a hankering for a really expensive bottle of Chateau Lafitte?
- You don't have to be a genius to see that Sue Ellen has a bad day...on the nitpick front as well. First, let's start with JR's tirade towards her at the beginning of the show. After her tearful walk back to the driveway...we hear a car starting and pulling out! You mean Sue Ellen's car was there the whole time? So why did she leave in Dusty's car after the funeral? Wouldn't she eventually need her wheels?
- Not only that, but when we see Sue Ellen in the bar shortly thereafter, she's changed her clothes. How? Did she buy something at a store and wear it out? It's unlikely that she went back to Dusty's room, because Dusty would have never let her go out on her bender.
- AHN Anne
and I both found it ridiculous that the car thief would find her car right away after her ever-so-specific description of the vehicle as being "gray". Especially since it was one of about five gray cars in the first half of the parking lot! Unless the guy recognized her as Sue Ellen Ewing, why did he assume it was the gray MERCEDES?- I don't want to be cruel here, because I think that Linda Gray is a very lovely woman. But when she's in the red light district, staring through the window of the liquor store, what exactly did the guy in the store find appealing about her? I mean, even though she still is Sue Ellen, her hair is a mess, her face is a mess, her clothes are a mess...you get the idea. I don't think the guy spotted her diamond ring, because she had her hands pressed up against the window, so the ring would probably not be visible. If he were looking for female companionship, there are lots of ready and willing women not far from the liquor store, and Sue Ellen certainly doesn't appear to have been accosted or molested. Is he just looking for someone to talk to? This doesn't seem like enough motivation to buy a whole lot of booze and get a motel room. Just so Sue Ellen can lie on the bed and hear about his adventures at the racetrack?
- I'm really trying not to make snide comments about this, but bear with me. When JR first arrives at Mandy's place, she comes out of her bedroom tying up her dressing gown. We can't see any clothing other than the dressing gown, which leads us to believe that she's very skimpily dressed. Now, bear in mind that Mandy told JR she was reading. Also bear in mind that JR is planning an evening out, so it's not exactly bedtime yet. So does Mandy usually read in underclothes or lingerie in the early evening? As I said, I'm trying very hard to refrain from a snide comment here.
- When talking to Jenna about Charlie's upbringing, she says something inexplicable: that she believes it takes two to raise a child. REALLY? Which plastic surgery made you realize this, Jenna? Certainly in your first two incarnations you never gave a second thought to the lack of a strong male influence on your daughter!
Mike,
AHN Bill, Joe Stanganelli, and many others noticed that Bobby's will is surprisingly up-to-date. Not only does it include mention of Jenna and the Boutique (by the way, what happened to the Boutique when she was in jail?), but it also states that Bobby left his 30% of Ewing Oil to Christopher. 30%??? Didn't Bobby have 35% until very very recently, until he had to give 5% to Jack? Did Bobby say to himself after the deal, "Gee, I've lost 5% of Ewing Oil, guess it's time to update my will." How often does one update one's will, especially at Bobby's age? Maybe this is normal behavior for people as rich as the Ewings. Or maybe Harve was nice enough to update Bobby's will and cover letter... Certainly you're all correct...it should say 35 on the will. Though it is possible that Harve changed it or at least paraphrased, realizing that it's 30 now.AHN Anne's corner:
- I thought that Bobby really shafted Pam in his will. His reason was that she already
had more wealth than she'd ever need, but he bequeathed sentimental things to the rest of
the family to show how much he loved them. Wouldn't something like that be appropriate for
her, too? All she got was a wish for good luck. I'd feel really hurt if I were her.
Yeah, I know what you mean. But on the other hand
[and I'm not being wishy-washy here], Pam and Bobby's relationship WAS special. I'm sure
we agree that they were totally meant for each other. Perhaps he could have left some
memento of their time together but I figure she got most of that in the divorce
settlement.
- Sue Ellen is on the wrong side of the tracks, right? Well how do you think she spent the
night in that neighborhood and managed to keep that huge diamond ring as long as she did?
Agreed. I realized this when the guy took it away
from her. It's possible that she slept in such a way that her left hand was hidden from
view - drunk people sleep very soundly and don't toss and turn that much.
- Pam got ANOTHER new car. What's more, I think she picked up some of Bobby's driving
habits. Did you notice how she was driving smack dab in the middle of the road? :) Yes I did! Yikes.
-When J.R. wakes up and he begins to unload Mandy's groceries, how did it happen that he
found a glass right there on the counter? I didn't notice one. And I didn't notice him
pour himself some juice, either. I wondered about this too. Could have been a TNN
cut.
Joe Stanganelli submitted
one more minor point about the episode. How many engagement rings has Sue Ellen gone through? I know she's been remarried to J.R., but her original ring was a hell of a lot bigger than the one she has now (or had, until it was stolen). I would think she might be wearing that one as well. Maybe she swapped it for a sweeter wedding ring once the ceremony happened.AHN Bill's corner:
- I understand that Pam, JR and Cliff were all shocked by Bobby's unexpected death.
When someone close to you dies, you tend not to think clearly. Having said so, it still
seems odd to me that neither Pam JR or Cliff even considers the possibility that someone
other than JR would manage Bobby's share of Ewing oil. I mean.. we all know that the
share will go to Christopher.. we also all know that he's underage and couldn't possibly
manage it. Did the always-calculating JR actually think that Bobby was going to give
him 60% (30+30%) of Ewing oil to control?? After all the problems that Bobby had
with JR's running of it? I mean.. at least you'd think Bobby'd give Ellie his voting
shares or something to make sure JR didn't have full run of the company. and JR and
Cliff seem shocked to high hell to find that Bobby gave Pam Christopher's share of Ewing
oil. both are not dumb.. and both have shown very much in the past that they seem to
put business interests (especially when it's Barnes vs. Ewing) before family.. the look on
the faces when they all find out is way too over done.
This is an interesting way of looking at it. JR
probably assumed [and quite correctly] that since Pam doesn't know much about the oil
business, Bobby wouldn't involve her. It might also have something to do with the fact
that Pam's been through so much lately. Cliff would probably assume the same thing. Of
course, Bobby made the correct decision because in the long run, Pam is the only person
who will sincerely look out for Christopher's interests before his or her own.
AHN's Jason's corner:
- I found it surprising that Bobby neglected to leave anything to Sue Ellen, Donna, Lucy or Valene considering how long he has known them. You'd think a sensitive guy like Bobby would be more thoughtful.... a memento or something. Well, let's face it. He didn't leave anything like that to Pam. This can be explained by the fact that all of the women you mentioned were Bobby's sisters-in-law, and not blood relatives. Except of course for Lucy. It's possible that Bobby, from the grave, READ THE SCRIPT and knew that Lucy wouldn't be there anyway, so he figured he might as well not give her anything. That's a true nit.
- Why the heck does Ms. Ellie seem to blame Sue Ellen for dragging JR down? She
witnessed him verbally abuse her for about the last 5 or six episodes and never seemed to
threaten him to shape up. No wonder he grew up to be so crooked.. his parents seem to
justify his actions even when they witness him doing others in.
I know what you're saying but Sue Ellen's not
helping anything. And Ellie hasn't 'witnessed' too much of JR's abuse, though I'm sure she
knows about it. Maybe she doesn't know how extensive it is. And the bottom line is that
only Sue Ellen can make herself feel guilty about things...JR just knows how to push the
right buttons.
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 3
- Not a nit, just a comment: there's a new Sheriff in Braddock! Did Fenton Washburn retire or did he fall out of favor with the Ewings?
- I'm sure there will be lots of comments about Jack telling Ray he was "almost married" once. Later, of course, we learn that he was indeed married, to the pretty April Stevens. It's quite possible he's just lying to Ray or avoiding the issue so as not to be asked any more probing questions.
Laurel Gross mentioned: In Episode 95, we see footage of the Beauty Pageant, where Sue Ellen is said to be 5'7'' 1/2. But in this episode when she's in the detox ward, she's said to be 5'10''. I'm not a doctor but usually one doesn't grow a drastic 3'' after age 18. Did they include her heels in that measurement? Or did Sue Ellen, in attempt to be more like Barbie, get some sort of plastic surgery that makes your heels always lifted (like Barbie's).
AHN Mike's corner:
- Whose dream is this anyhow - Pam's or Sue Ellen's? The police say Sue Ellen is 5'10", 110 lb. 100 lb.?!? In your dreams, Sue Ellen! Yeah, I found this odd. Linda Gray's taller than me? I don't think so. And the weight is absolutely ridiculous.
- This whole drunk thing with Sue Ellen is done to the point of being cartoonish. It's just downright hokey and embarrassing. I remember hating it when it first ran 12 years ago and I hate it even more now. You mean the cops didn't give her one phone call? Or that they did but she was so messed up she couldn't remember her name or phone number the whole time she was there? Phooey! Well, it's possible. I mean, the DTs are a terrible thing. You can't think straight, you can't act straight...I think it gives Linda Gray the opportunity to show what a great actress she is...at least yesterday. Today she's just kind of scary. Also, bear in mind that you only get your 'one phone call' if you're under arrest - which Sue Ellen is not.
- That cartel member, Andy Bradley, actually spoke in this episode. Up till now you might have assumed he was a deaf mute!
AHN Anne's corner:
- Ray sounded and looked a bit surprised to see Jack when he was out riding the first
time. That can't be a good sign. Sure, Jack owns ten percent of the company, but he's not
exactly close to the family yet. Did the family say that he could come by any time, pick
up a horse and ride the terrain?
Yes, this was very strange. Probably a TNN-cut scene we missed. I'm sure Ellie doesn't
mind Jack's presence, since he did single-handedly save the company.
-And what's with the guy at the desk in the police station? First of all, the records
he had with him looked like he was crossing off names at a voting precinct. Weren't there
more sophisticated means of keeping tabs on the inmates in those days? And in an
inner-city police station, it really doesn't seem too likely that he'd remember Sue Ellen,
her condition and where they took her.
Hmm..that's a good point. Even though they sent
around a description of her, she looks very grungy and nondescript at this point. And I
wonder what kind of description the Ewings could give, since they don't even know what
she's wearing at this point!
AHN Bill's corner:
- This one really made me laugh. We see Ray staring off into space while watching the
Cowboys. In our first glance of the game, we see Cowboys quarterback Danny White complete
about a 40 yard pass downfield. After this happens in a real football game (even though
Donna let us know that the game was toward the end and a close one), it takes time for the
officials to move the chains and for the two teams to get down the field, for a play to be
called, etc. In spite of this, we see Danny white handing off the ball less than 10
seconds after we watched the end of the last play. I chuckled when I saw this. The timing
was way off. There's a reason that it takes three hours to play 60 minutes of football.
I think Ray mentions it's tape delayed. Maybe he
means they're just showing highlights, like one of those NFL Films shows. I noticed this
too.
- Finally we see Jenna is thinking of leaving Southfork. I'm surprised this is the first
that it's came up, that she has not already left and that she is going to keep hanging
around at all. In the past, she has shown herself to be quite independent and even
resentful of those who offer to support her in what she deems to be charity. Even if she
were truly engaged to bobby at the time of his death, this would be a bit odd. The fact
that she knew or at least suspected his feelings for Pam (what did she think he was doing
over there in the morning.. Not having come home to SF the night before?) Makes this even
more odd.
I think Jenna knows, but is hoping that no one else
thinks about it and puts two and two together. Pam hasn't said anything yet, after all. Of
course, you're right: there is no good reason for Jenna to hang around any more.
- Joe Stanganelli picked up that
Pam's picked up her bad habit of talking through her chin, again. In her phone conversation with Cliff, she has the telephone speaker far below her mouth and onto her chin. I realize the producers want us to see Victoria Principal's face, but this is just silly. Even Cliff knows enough talk directly into the phone! But then again, I think Pam is more attractive than her brother (no offense to Ken Kercheval).- Joe Stanganelli also mentioned that
after J.R.'s meeting with his banker, demonstrating worry for Sue Ellen, J.R. picks up a picture of her on the bookshelf. Isn't it convenient that whenever a Dallas character is thinking about a family member, a picture of that family member is readily handy (thanks to the property master who put it there but a few minutes ago). I was reminded of the day before when Miss Ellie picked up the picture of Bobby that just happened to be there (though there were none of J.R., Gary, or anyone else). And towards the end of the seventh season, when Bobby is having second thoughts about marrying Jenna, there just happens to be a picture of Christopher handy to remind Bobby of his son. I'm not saying its impossible for these pictures to be around, but why haven't we ever seen them in their respective places before? At least the Jock Ewing portrait remained in the same place for every episode.The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 2
- When Jenna ominously cabbages Donna's amniocentesis for us, I have to wonder why she left that big bowl of grapes sitting on the kitchen counter. She had three or four of them and then just left them there! Shouldn't she put them back in the fridge?
- Someone at Meadowlark needs to know their role. When the orderly offers Sue Ellen vodka, Sue Ellen presses the beeper that should alert a nurse or doctor or someone to come into the room. What I don't understand is why she has to press the button twice. Don't the people at Meadowlark know that she's Sue Ellen freakin' Ewing? JR Ewing brought his wife to this facility to have her taken care of, right? I don't think this is the kind of beep that a nurse or doctor should ignore.
AHN Joe submitted:
I thought it was highly unlikely that the scene in the park with Pam and the stranger would play out that way. Wouldn't Pam have seen that limo at the end of the scene? After all it was only a few moments after she confronted the man. How far away could she have been? Pam is not known for her powers of perception, but it is very unlikely.Mike submitted:
When the orderly offers Sue Ellen the vodka and she scares him into leaving, he just walks out with it in his hand. Anyone in the hall could have caught him offering her booze.Matthew Becker submitted: there is a continuity error. It shows Pam turn around when she is under stress. Then it cuts to an angle to show Mark and she turns around again. This is quite strange!
AHN Anne's corner:
- Did you notice Jackie's dress in the first scene? Talk about clash! I don't think even at the lowest point of the eighties that kind of outfit would have been acceptable.
- Was Bobby's picture on Pam's desk before? They said that this was Pam's first trip
back to the office since his death, so she couldn't have set it out after he died and
there's no way we would have missed that in previous episodes.
That used to be Christopher's picture. This is an
awfully convenient change.
- Mail's on Pam's desk. Now Jackie and Pam might have been referring to the mail that's
been piling up on the desk during her absence, but I kind of got the impression that Pam
was expecting that day's mail as well. Then Cliff came in and said that he'd take her out
to lunch. Now I'm not sure how efficient the postal service is in Texas, but in the
Midwest, we never get mail before lunch. Back me up on this.
I believe you. Here in Ontario we usually get it in
the morning, but this isn't hard to believe.
- I don't understand the logic behind Wendell's offer. All it will mean is that J.R.
can go and buy another company. Well, what's the point? Why not keep the company they have
and run that one, especially since it's a family legacy. Now that Bobby's dead and J.R.'s
in control, I doubt if the oil business will cause heartache the way it used to. I don't
know. I think there really isn't much sense to the whole proposition.
I agree. The whole thing is just a new angle to
provide a monster Pam push. That said, JR could go and buy another company but it would
only have 30% of the resources that Ewing Oil has right now - and he'll have to go out and
find new customers and all that.
- It's not Larry Hagman's fault, but did you notice that he had pink eye when he was talking business with Pam today? He looked a little sick.
- AHN Joe S found: Why doesn't Mark arrive at Pam's house in his convertible with the GRAISCO license plate? Instead, he's in a plain-looking ugly brown car. Mark probably READ THE SCRIPT, saw the camera shots, and decided it would be more suspenseful and better for the moment if he arrived in a more nondescript vehicle.
- AHN Jason found:
Right before Mark comes in, Pam is on the phone with Norman, the head honcho at Wentworth... She tells him that she realizes with Katherine's death, she has a lot of voting decisions to make. My question --- Does this imply that Katharine (wanted for attempted murder and hiding under an assumed name) has been running Wentworth all last season while she was on the lamb? Shouldn't Pam have been handling these decisions since the time Katharine was arrested for gunning down Bobby? I've had this on the back burner for some time, but I didn't know what to make of it...I just figured Katherine gave her proxy vote to someone, or that Wentworth had some mechanism for dealing with it. It's also possible, since it appears that Wentworth is a publicly traded company, that Katherine and Pam are just two members of the board of directors - and now that there's one fewer member, each member's vote becomes more important. But your point is well made. This shouldn't be anything new to Pam.Introducing with a bang...AHN Joe S.'s corner
- Money sure does make people rather presumptuous. At least in Jack's case. Did you notice that at the dealership, when Jack is checking out the hot little black number with the doors that open straight up and then goes to look at another car, he doesn't bother to close the door of the car. He just leaves it wide open. Maybe being on Southfork has gotten him used to the idea of servants doing things for him.
- And speaking of cars, when Clayton is driving Dusty back from lunch, there is a
stop sign just before the parking lot that he is pulling into, only Clayton doesn't bother
to stop, or even slow down. Instead, he just goes right through it. He's
probably channeling the spirit of Bobby. AHN Bill
also noticed that the stop sign is on the left side of the road - very odd.
This is a great one! I haven't checked the tape,
but AHN Bill saw it too, so I'll take your word for it.
- Also, sometime between the last two nits I pointed out above, Pam and Cliff had
a conversation that really scared me. When Pam has a fit while Cliff is talking to
her and decides to leave, she says (paraphrased), "Oh my God, I left Christopher home
alone all day!" and barges out of the office. Cliff replies, "It's not
like you haven't done it before." This got me to thinking. Does Pam mean
that she left him alone with Angela, the maid (in which case, there really isn't a lot to
worry about, and Pam is just being hypersensitive) or does she mean she left him home
alone with nobody?
I think Pam means he's home with Angela [who has
replaced Louisa, by the way] and she's just using it as an excuse to get out of the
office. Slacker!
- In the scene with J.R. in his office alone, when he is looking at some files,
he is also presumably using his computer (indicated by him looking at it and hitting it on
his way up from the chair). However, the computer isn't on. The screen is
blank, and there aren't any horizontal lines going up and down the screen (like there are
on television when a computer's pattern hasn't been synchronized with that of a
television). Either the tech. people and producers didn't think anyone would
notice/care, or J.R.'s actions were misleading, and he just decided to hit the computer
for no particular reason because he's upset (not a bad idea...).
- Also concerning J.R.: J.R. states that Jeremy Wendell has already talked to Miss
Ellie, Ray, and Gary. However, there was no indication prior to this statement that
Wendell had talked to Gary. TNN couldn't have cut a scene with Gary because Ted
Shackelford wasn't in the end credits. The only possible explanation (aside from the
writers just skipping any indicative scenes altogether to speed up the action) is that TNN
cut a scene where Miss Ellie, Jeremy, or someone else makes specific reference to a
conversation between Jeremy and Gary.
Wendell probably spoke to Gary over the phone,
off-screen.
- A continuity error concerning J.R. (and Jack as well): When J.R. and Jack
are at the bar having drinks, at the beginning of their conversation (immediately after
J.R.'s toast), Jack's drink is filled near the top right after his sip from it (the liquid
level is just below the insignia on the other side of the glass). Then, after the
two-shot of them resumes after the sequence of close-ups, Jack's drink is only
half-full. J.R.'s drink is a little lower as well. Either J.R. and Jack took
quick sips during the other's close-ups, or the director and editors just put different
takes together (this is more likely; continuity errors like this happen more often than
one would think because of the piecing together of different takes).
- The same thing happens toward the end of the episode when Jack is talking to Cliff in his [Cliff's] office. Jack has a drink that is almost halfway down after his first sip. On the next shot of him with his drink, Jack's drink has been mysteriously refilled near the top. Both are great calls!
- When Jenna and Donna talk about going to lunch and later shopping, it occurred to me that Jenna still has the boutique (as bequeathed to her by Bobby). Couldn't she get Donna some sort of discount at her own store. It seems to me that Jenna would want to generate some extra business for her boutique. Speaking of which, shouldn't she be at work? What's she doing hanging around Southfork, riding horses with Charlie and baking blueberry muffins, when she has a job to do? Hey, that's right! What kind of management is this?
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 3
AHN Anne's corner:
- Miss Ellie's jewelry has to get in the way. She wears these two gold bracelets (which
she never wore in previous seasons --maybe something personal) and her big honking wedding
ring. Is it logical that she would be wearing those, unprotected, while gardening? And
would most women wear heavy bracelets to bed? I think not.
Agreed. Good call!
- Jack's burglar is such a loser! Burglary 101 should have taught him that when you make a
big noise, especially if the burglaree is on the premises, you high-tail it out of there.
And then if you see the victim coming at you, you don't shine a flashlight in his face as
a quick fix! You shouldn't need to because you should be wearing a mask, in case the
victim sees you and can identify you later on. Wendell or whoever hired a bigtime freak
show for the job.
He was pathetic, wasn't he? Certainly JR would not
stand for such incompetence, and neither would Wendell. I wonder if they're already
setting up Angelica Nero...I don't remember.
- And once again, J.R. gets smacked, but escapes without a scratch. I guess I should have
realized that if Bobby's best shot couldn't leave a mark, then Mark's wouldn't.
AHN's Jason's corner:
- I am not sure if this is a nit but did Mark come through her house when he surprised Pam or did he sneak around back? It didn't look like he entered from the back and I would have assumed that there would be some sort of property fence around the whole back yard if Pam has a pool... Also shouldn't there be a fence around her pool? Christopher is only a young kid at this point.... Some sort of safety law I think.. Rebecca mentioned that she was going to install one when she bought the house years ago.. Both are good points; if there was a way to get into Pam's backyard, Mark would surely know about it. :)
- OK lets start with the favorite topic of conversation with the newest MR.
Ewing. I will try to be as tactful as possible. The man is a stuffer.. I bet
anything.. Has anyone else noticed it is centered and hemispherical.. rather
like... a hard cased jock strap and it is the same whether he wears jeans or
boxers....Not to be crude but it should shift slightly to one side or another... and not
be so circular...
Which brings me to the next point. I am a boxer man myself. Unless he is also
sewing the front fly(?) shut, I really don't see how when he sat up in his bed how he
could avoid flashing the Ramboski to the TV audiences.. Mercifully the front flap was
closed which goes against anything I have ever experienced with boxers (I realize
this two nits are rather graphic, but if we are going for realism, I had to speak my
mind...hmmm maybe Freud would like to comment on this part of Pam's dream...)
I was really hoping to avoid any Ramboski
discussions, but this is pretty funny. Comments are welcome.
- Did anyone notice that Jack's Passport has Dallas Texas on it (presumably as his
address, yet seems to be stamped with foreign countries.... Didn't he move to Dallas
AFTER he traveled abroad?
I didn't notice that it says Dallas, Texas. It's
possible he's been to the passport office.
- How is changing his locks doing to prevent a burglar from breaking in again? If he
picked it once, he can again... Also why the heck did he break in when Jack was
home. Why not during the day? Better lighting and less change of a
disturbance..
Well, of course it can be picked again. Maybe he
got a stronger lock...it's hard to tell. And of course, the burglar must not have realized
his own incompetence.
- When Jack throws his hard hat at Cliff, his right hand clearly is empty, yet
when he gets into the car, he immediately starts up the engine. The man left
the keys to his BRAND NEW CAR in the IGNITION while walking around a construction
site....AND his parking is horrible. He definitely is a Ewing....
I noticed this too. Although in his defense, Jack's
parking isn't bad...no one's is. The Ewings just have no FREAKIN idea where to park.
AHN Joe S's Corner:
- First of all, there's something that's bothered me for a long time, many seasons ago
and long before I ever heard of this website. Have you noticed that no one on Dallas
ever wears a seat belt? No one!! Ever!!!!! Actually, I think the only
exception was when Bobby got Christopher from Jeff Farraday and took him to SF for the
first time, and he strapped Christopher into his car seat. Aside from that, you'll
never see someone buckled up on Dallas, and this episode was no exception. Watch
closely the next time someone is in a car on Dallas (in which case they're unbuckled) or
gets into one (in which case they don't bother to buckle and the car just speeds off).
You are right...seat belts seem to be an option on
Texas cars. Robert Frazier reminded me that Sue
Ellen also did buckle up her seat belt just before she crashed into Walt Driscoll.
- When Jeremy Wendell and Cliff are walking through the city, how does the ice cream
vendor know what flavor and size of ice cream Wendell wants? Or that Wendell wants
no toppings??? I find it highly unlikely that the vendor has only one flavor in one
size and no toppings. Wendell doesn't even break his conversation with Cliff for a
moment. He just gives the vendor some money and takes his ice cream. Is Jeremy
a regular customer at this stand with the same usual order?
Good call! I was busy making notes for the summary
so I missed this.
- When Mark shows up unexpectedly at J.R.'s office, Sly simply identifies Mark as a
"messenger," and doesn't give any indication as to who it is, nor does she sound
scared or surprised. Yet after Mark leaves, when she enters J.R.'s office, she seems
very surprised and says, "I thought he was dead." This clearly indicates
that Sly knew who Mark was before, yet apparently it didn't strike her when Mark first
showed up. Very odd.
Maybe it did strike her at first, and Mark
instructed her in no uncertain terms to tell JR that a 'messenger' had arrived. If she
said that 'Mark Graison is here', it would have spoiled the surprise, right?
- Did anyone notice that in his lunch conversation with Clayton, J.R. had one blue
eye (his right) and one green eye (his left)? I guess Larry Hagman was missing a
contact that day. Didn't notice. I'll check.
- So we find out that Jack has a house. When he first arrived in Dallas he had a
hotel room. Then, I got the impression he had moved onto Southfork, because he spent
so much time there. Now he has a house. Not only does he now own a fairly
nice-looking house in the Dallas area, but it is well furnished and looks particularly
lived in and well settled in to. Even assuming he could get settled into a house
this quickly, how did he get so much furniture and wall decorum and get so well-organized
in so little time? The Ewing name must be more influential than I thought...
Well, he's a rich man now...and it's hard to tell
exactly how much time has elapsed. It's been a few weeks at least, right?
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 3
- Well, now we finally know. Jenna reveals in this episode that she has to go shopping to prepare to 'reopen' the boutique. In other words, the boutique has been CLOSED for some time. How long? Well, probably ever since she was kidnapped by Naldo, right? 25 episodes ago. Does she actually expect to have any customers when she reopens?
- The person taking shots of Jack should really get some of his face, don't you think? I think he or she realized it too late. The first couple of snapshots that we see show only a little bit of the right side of Jack's face! Then he turns towards the camera and it captures the big Ramboski in all his glory. Someone needs to read the manual.
- When JR breaks into Mandy's apartment, he finds it totally empty. He shouldn't be surprised, because he's got a different apartment! Remember last season? Mandy's door open straight into her livingroom, which was longer than it was wide with respect to the door. In this apartment, it's wider than it is long. Come on, JR. Dig out that address again. [Maybe you can chalk this one up to "it happened in Pam's mind"].
Kyle Wasko pointed out
something very pertinent regarding the meeting in Cliff's office. Wendell hands Mark Graison a report which is supposed to be a comprehensive analysis of his company. The analysis includes (to paraphrase Wendell): financial statements for the past 10 years, as well as financial predictions for the next ten [years]. This is, of course, absurd. Any first year business student worth his salt will tell you that reliable financial predictions cannot exceed two years. Trying to predict anything beyond two years time would be dangerous (not to mention ridiculous). Add that to the fact that we're talking about the oil industry, a very volatile market, and the meeting in Cliff's office seems quite silly.AHN Anne's corner:
- Mark's doctor friend has a weird intercom. Usually, when the secretary has something to say, she buzzes and then the boss has to press a button and say, "Yes?" and then she tells him what she has to say. But Jerry's intercom works so that she can annoy him whenever she wants to. Yes, this is strange.
- Patricia talked about J.R. and Sue Ellen's second wedding as if it was all unfamiliar
to her. Is there a special reason why she wasn't there?
I know the reason: the producers didn't want to pay
Martha Scott to be there. I leave it to you to decide whether this is a 'special' reason
or not.
- And what is up with Mandy's door? If J.R. can kick the door in, Mandy better install
a security system for the real threats!
Maybe that's why she left that cheap place.
- Finally, in that last shot, did you notice how Miss Ellie walked away from the door, past J.R.'s office and looked at Jock's portrait, then she was magically back in Bobby's doorway? Then her ordeal of looking at Jock's picture was replayed. How bizarre! Yes I did notice. This was weird.
AHN's Jason's corner:
- Sue Ellen's therapist says "So because your father was an alcoholic, that
makes you an alcoholic".....Excuse me but isn't alcoholism hereditary.... I am not
saying that Sue Ellen shouldn't take actions for her behavior but this is a valid
fact that the therapist should be aware of...
AHN Joe pointed this out too. I think what the
therapist means is that Sue Ellen is using this as an excuse for her alcoholism. Sure, we
can say that it's hereditary, but that doesn't help us, does it? And Sue Ellen says she
wants to overcome her problem, so the therapist wants to remove her excuse.
- Mark tells his doctor that he had Pam believing he was dead for "almost a
year" Lets' see.... Mark 'died' several episodes before the
83-84 season cliffhanger and didn't appear again until fall of 85.... that
seems to be more than a year.... and Dallas time lawyers seem to run faster than
real time (Just look at the kids growth spurts..) Well, this could be explained semantically...Pam
didn't actually believe he was dead until she came back from Hong Kong, right? I know what
you're saying though.
AHN Joe S's Corner:
- Is Miss Ellie trying to act stuck-up towards Patricia or was she just not
thinking? She tells Patricia that John Ross is in his room, and Patricia goes in to
see him. How can Patricia be expected to know where John Ross's room is? She
hasn't been on SF since John Ross was a baby and his room was in the nursery (which is now
Christopher's bedroom when he visits). Plus, there do seem to be a lot of bedrooms
on Southfork (the master bedroom, J.R.'s, Sue Ellen's, John Ross's, the nursery, Bobby's,
Jamie's, Jenna's, Charlie's, Lucy's, plus the servants' rooms, etc.. I guess
Patricia really is stubborn, because she goes right in without even asking where John
Ross's room is. Yes! Yes! Yes! You are absolutely right! I can't
believe I missed this. Although the point is, as we will soon see, that Patricia and Ellie
don't see eye to eye on anything.
- When she's at the big clothing store with Donna, Jenna mentions she needs to get
things from there to restock her boutique. Wouldn't it make more sense for Jenna to
buy directly from the manufacturer, rather than from an expensive, swank retail
store? Not only would it save money, but it would make buying things in bulk a lot
easier. No wonder Bobby didn't leave her that much in the will; she'd probably
squander it all in a few months.
Correct on both counts. Of course, if she bought
from the manufacturer, Jack couldn't have his snapshots taken, and then they couldn't make
goo-goo eyes at each other.
- If you look closely at the invitation to the Ball, you'll notice the stamp on the
envelope of the invitation is uncanceled. I doubt the invitation was hand-delivered,
because the full name and address is written on the envelope. Occasionally the P.O.
forgets to cancel stamps and sends the mail anyway, but it doesn't happen as often as
Dallas makes it out to be. Really? Missed it completely.
- When J.R. calls Mandy from his office and gets the recorded message saying the line's no
longer in service, the message repeats itself rather quickly, more quickly than you would
hear in real life. Plus the three high-pitched beeps that precede such messages from
the phone company (I call them the three beeps from Hell) are absent here. Here in Ontario, I would say that the recorded
message is dead on, both in frequency and in ability to annoy. I don't know if the three
beeps were around in 1985...but they would be now.
- Another thing about J.R.'s call to Mandy: J.R. is using the big office phone, and dials
seven numbers. You'd think he got it right this time, but wouldn't he have to dial
eight numbers for an outside line on the office phone (He'd dial "9"
first)? It's possible the Ewing Oil phones aren't set up this way, but this is still
pretty iffy.
I don't know. This seems to change episode to
episode. Unlike Barnes-Wentworth, where Jackie once indicated that they use four-digit
extensions, I have no direct evidence that the Ewing Oil phones work that way.
Episode 198: The Wind of Change
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 3
- Everybody, including AHNs Anne and Jason, thought it was really stupid to have a rabbit farm at a sanitarium. [If you missed the episode, there's a scene where Sue Ellen and JR talk about her recovery, and John Ross goes to play with some bunnies.]
- That first scene with Jenna, Jack, and Charlie, is really annoying. First of all, I'm beginning to remember why I dislike Jenna so much. Her shushing Charlie while she tries to play matchmaker is ridiculous - come on Jenna, you know you like him. Charlie's bad harmonica playing is an even stranger touch to what would ordinarily be a fairly funny scene.
- When Sue Ellen says goodbye to her friend at the sanitarium, she mentions that they were 'roommates'. How does that work? In a sanitarium? I seem to recall that during JR's internment in 1990, he also had roommates, which strikes me as odd now that I think about it.
- During Pam and Ellie's conversation at her home, there's a continuity problem. When the camera is focused on Pam, it sounds like a hose or sprinkler is working in the background. This sound is not heard when the camera's focus is on Ellie. Obviously the sprinkler was going during one take and not in another.
- About the Oil Baron's ball: as AHN Jason found, how the heck did Mandy get in? Who does she know in the oil business other than JR, Cliff, and Jeremy Wendell? If Wendell invited her, shouldn't she be sitting at his table? Instead, she's sitting at some random table where I assume all of the uninvited people sit.
- Speaking of which, how did Patricia Shepard get in? She's only been in town for a few days - who sacrificed a ticket so she could come? Maybe it's Lucy's ticket...or maybe the Ewings just buy enough seats to fill a table and happened to have one for her. I find the latter hard to believe because the Ewing table seems full even though Ray, Donna, Jack, and Jenna are absent.
- Jordan Lee's demeanor bears some scrutiny. When re-introducing himself to Mark Graison, he just says "Good to see you, Mark." Huh? Is this how you greet a guy who's returned from the dead? No one seems to be surprised at seeing Mark up and about again, which makes zero sense. The guy should be mobbed by old friends and acquaintances and interested media types.
- What about the Jock Ewing scholarship winners? Shouldn't they be announced? And whatever happened to the Digger Barnes scholarship that Cliff established last year? Or, in the true spirit of cheapness, did he not go through with it?
- It's clear that the producers didn't want to pay Morgan Woodward for being in this episode because it probably went over budget, but where the hell is Punk Anderson? He's chairman of the darn committee, right?
- Pam says something very odd during her emotional speech to the crowd. Did Bobby never draw a distinction between Ewing Oil and the family? It seems that that comment is more descriptive of JR than Bobby. Bobby left Ewing Oil on more than one occasion without abandoning the family, albeit much earlier in the series. Even during the battle for the company after Jock's will is read, Bobby only indicates how important the company is too him because of his father, but I don't ever recall him intimating that it dominates his life and validates his existence, the way JR often does.
Clint submitted:
when JR talks to Sue Ellen in the sanitarium, JR says John Ross will stay at South Fork -- yet he tells Bobby's spirit, his mother, Mandy, those oil people that he is leaving and going to bigger and better things. Knowing how crafty JR is -- he couldn't have known his mother was listening in on his conversation with Bobby's spirit - but maybe he played a hunch -- he always does that so well.- Good thing Donna got that bad news.. I really like her character but between
that teased to death hair do and the black nighty that poses at a dress, she looks like
the bride of Dracula.....
This is the first time that I actually feel
inclined to say something positive about Susan Howard's acting. Not that she's a bad
actress - she just doesn't get good scenes. But today's thing with Ray was quite good. That
said, her outfits and hair absolutely do make her look hideous.
- I just knew that cream pie was going to fly... although I thought JR was going to be the
thrower.... Did anyone notice the lady standing behind Cliff after he gets hit by
the pie. For the rest of the scene, she has an arm across her chest defensively like
she's afraid someone will assault her with a pastry.. Kind of overacting...
I didn't notice that. Interesting. I bet in one of
the takes she did get hit.
- Did anyone notice that after Pam accept the statue and gave her speech, she left the
podium WITHOUT the statue..... Guess it really meant a lot to her....
I didn't notice that either. Good one!
AHN Anne's corner:
-Did you notice how Patricia opened the front door and then Sue Ellen had to put her suitcase in the back seat? Maybe this isn't a nit, just stupid on Patricia's part. There is a back door, you know. Didn't notice. Good call!
-J.R. is not the greatest guy in the world, but he does have some class. Is it logical that he would be wearing cowboy boots to the biggest social event of the year? I wouldn't think so! Wasn't that dumb? I don't understand this show sometimes.
AHN Joe S's corner:
- When the Barnes clan is having dinner at Cliff's condo, there is one point where Jamie pulls a chair back to sit down, then the shot cuts to a close-up of Pam.When the shot is back on Jamie just a few short seconds later, we find her pushed all the way in to the table and sitting very comfortably. Is it just me, or did this seem rather abrupt? It doesn't seem she would have had time to be sitting like that by the time the camera's back on her, but instead would be just settling down in her chair. I checked and you're right. Good call.
- When Miss Ellie is on the balcony with Clayton, and Raoul is walking away after Ellie offered to take care of the dishes, she asks Raoul where J.R. went. Without bothering to stop or even look at her, Raoul replies rather vaguely ("He took John Ross and left") and then leaves, before Miss Ellie can say anything else or ask a follow-up question. Raoul's been pretty rude lately, huh? Did he do that? I guess I was kind of spaced out at the beginning of the episode.
- What sort of accent is Angelica Nero supposed to have? It sounds Eastern
European (probably Hungarian or Romanian), but her surname Nero is Italian. Maybe
the director wasn't specific enough when he told her she was foreign. Are all
foreign accents supposed to sound like this?
It's a caricature, of course. For all we know,
maybe her name is Brenda Goldberg and she's from Queens and maybe this whole thing is an
act.
- Ellie must either be clairvoyant or hypocritical. When telling J.R.that she'll
stand by him and won't sell her shares of Ewing Oil, she tells him that Gary and Ray won't
sell, either. How does she know this? We haven't seen either of these Ewing sons
make a decision one way or the other, and Ellie told Ray in no uncertain terms would she
act as his "conscience" and direct him as to what to do. Has she had a
sudden change of heart? Or is she acting out of desperation to keep J.R.'s spirit up
and keep him and John Ross on Southfork? She must have talked to them about it, and like the
boring jellyfish they are, they stood by her decision just like they said they would do.
- When Sue Ellen leaves the sanitarium with Patricia, they are only carrying one piece of
baggage out (actually, Patricia's carrying it). I was able to accept the fact that
Sue Ellen was able to wear designer clothes at the sanitarium from time to time (q.v., the
scene walking with J.R. while John Ross is playing with the rabbits) because I figured the
Ewings probably sent some clothes over for her, but I'm surprised that all of those
outfits would fit in that one suitcase, unless they were carelessly stuffed in. Two
suitcases would seem about right in this situation.
Agreed. And I'm also not sure where the outfit for
the Oil Baron's Ball came from.
- Another nit about Sue Ellen leaving the sanitarium: When Sue Ellen leaves the
sanitarium, she has her purse with her. How? When Sue Ellen was picked up, she
had nothing with her, not even a purse. How does she have one now? Is there a
gift shop at the sanitarium?
Did she? I missed this too! Of course, it may have
come with the designer clothes.
- This is more a nit about Wednesday's episode, but why did Mandy disappear? This
wasn't sufficiently explained in her reunion with J.R.. She was concentrating too much on
looking seductive and acting like a porn star.
Agreed. There's no explanation for this at all,
except that Deborah Shelton probably wanted a few days off and/or it makes JR seem more
isolated if he can't seek solace in someone. As for acting like a porn star...well, based
on some of the responses I'm getting for the latest Poll of the Week,
this is exactly what the Dallas fans want.
- At last year's Oil Barons' Ball, Punk Anderson was the Master of Ceremonies only because
Clayton Farlow couldn't do it. Why was the Master of Ceremonies Jordan Lee this
year, instead of last year's first pick, Clayton? I posted the nit that Punk should be the one
because he's supposedly the chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee...but why not Clayton.
Good point!
- When Pam is on stage, accepting the Bobby's award on behalf of Christopher, she says,
"There's a lot of wisdom in what Miss Ellie said. I guess I know where Bobby got his
from." Excuse me, but did that Barnes woman just insult Jock??? I'm
surprised J.R. didn't take any overt offense to that remark.
I spotted this too! Right away! I wondered why JR
let it go, and that's why I let it go...I figured he read the script and realized it would
work out in the end.
- Finally, we notice that J.R. is certainly overeager to get Christopher's shares of
Ewing Oil. But if he had listened to Pam's speech, he would have heard that she wants Christopher to follow in his daddy's footsteps
in the oil business, and basically inferred she wants Christopher to have that chance in
Ewing Oil, eventually taking over what Bobby left behind. Now think: How can
Christopher do that if Pam sells his shares to J.R.??? Obviously, she's not going to
sell to anyone!!! I rarely have nits concerning things J.R. says or does, but this
is really stupid. That's a good point. Pam says a lot of things and
now that I think about it, it's quite possible JR wasn't paying attention until she got to
the end and said what he wanted to hear.
- When Jenna leaves the lake after Jack has asked to escort her to the Ball, Charlie
just stays behind, kicks back, and relaxes. Jenna doesn't beckon for Charlie to
follow her, or even ask if Charlie is staying with Jack (nor does she ask if Charlie will
be going anywhere else). Nor does Charlie make any prior indication that she wants
to stay with Jack. This is odd. Southfork is a pretty big place after
all. It's not exactly your typical backyard. Doesn't Jenna want to know where
her
daughter will be (much less ask that Charlie come with her)?
- What is John Ross doing at the sanitarium? Shouldn't he be at school? It's
possible that it's the weekend, but we've been seeing a lot of John Ross during the day
lately. Come to think of it, the same goes for Clayton. Doesn't he have, like,
a job to go to, or something? Yet everyday, save the occasional trip to Texas City,
we see him just wandering around Southfork (usually following Miss Ellie). Maybe he
and Jenna are soulmates.
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 1
- As AHN Joe S noticed along with me, Phyllis must be awfully resourceful. Pam asks her for herbal tea, and Phyllis has a steaming cup for her lickety-split! How does she get it so quickly? Is JR a closet herbalist himself? Was Bobby or, dare I say it, Jock, fond of it? Yikes!
- And by the way, who unlocked Bobby's office? JR ordered it locked after Bobby died so it wouldn't be disrupted. He opened it a few days ago to talk to it, but then did he leave it unlocked so Pam could get in?
- I don't understand why the soccer game jobs to Ray and Donna. Donna picks up the ball and spends thirty seconds realizing how wonderful the handicapped kids really are. Then she passes the ball to Ray, who spends the same amount of time deciding not to be such a jerk anymore. Meanwhile, the kids are waiting for their ball back from the nice old couple without saying a word. Shouldn't someone from the crowd at least speak up?
Kyle Wasko mentioned:
Did anybody else find the soccer coach/supervisor's response to Donna's comment somewhat strange? I sure did. Donna says "they sure look like their having fun" and then the coach says "of course they are,AHN Joe S's corner:
- Mandy mentions that the place she's currently staying at belongs to a friend
who's away temporarily. If that's true, then where did Mandy put all of her
furniture and other things (remember, she cleaned everything out of her old place)?
I find it highly unlikely there'd be enough room for her friend's stuff and hers.
Perhaps it's in storage. That's a good point.
- When Donna meets Ray at the building site for their new house, there isn't a car in
sight; she just comes out of nowhere. Hard to believe a pregnant lady would have
walked all that way. I noticed Donna waddle away too...I figured it
might be near their old house, but there's no evidence of that.
- Why would news of a national Space Bill be in the Business section? Unless it
has an immediate, obvious effect on local industry, shouldn't it be in the National News
section? This is a good point, but a lot of these
projects take place in Texas because there's a lot of available desert land.
- Why does Cliff hit "3" on his telephone to get Jackie on the intercom?
Was the intercom missing that day, or was "3" simply the handiest button to
hit? Also, when he's done talking to Jackie, he doesn't even hit it again to end the
conversation.
This appears to be a new phone system. I'm not sure
whether Cliff hit '3' or whether that's some other button. It's very hard to tell, but AHN Jason
confirms that it was "3".
- Also, we know that Jamie is at Jack's place, and then Cliff calls her, hitting only one
button ("3" again), presumably on speed dial. My question is: Why
does Cliff have Jack on speed dial??? Did he really consider Jack that important an
asset in the deal with Jeremy Wendell? Or was he just tired of having to dial seven digits
and always get it wrong?
I think he probably hit the redial button. Are you
sure it's the same button?
- Just before Sue Ellen meets Dusty, she is driving Ewing 2. Isn't that Miss Ellie's
car? Why did Ellie let Sue Ellen borrow her car? In fact, Sue Ellen hasn't
even been to SF since she got out of the sanitarium. This is odd. You're right! I checked the tape and you're right!
How did this happen?
- When Angelica meets J.R. for dinner, there are only water glasses and the usual place
settings on the table. When the waiter comes, they order drinks. But in
Angelica's close-up not much later, she takes a sip of something with a crimson hue.
This certainly isn't water. J.R. also magically has a drink for his close-up.
Then, the waiter serves their drinks! This makes no sense whatsoever. I'll take another look at this.
- Even though Angelica hasn't seen the menu, yet, she immediately knows what she wants
upon opening the menu, without even looking at it. I doubt she's a regular at La
Champagne (since we can only infer she's new in Dallas), so this is kind of dumb. She seems familiar with French food. I'm not too sure what
she's saying - forgotten all my high school French.
- In the last scene, Pam storms in on Mark in a bedroom in Pam's house. Pam also says
"Is this how it's going to be -- You in your bedroom, me in mine?!?" This
leads us to believe that Mark is living with Pam. My question is: Why???
Before Mark's "death," they didn't live together (though they did spend a lot of
time with each other and one sometimes stayed the night at the other's place). And
Mark has a beautiful estate that would put Pam's house to shame. So why does Mark
have his own separate bedroom at Pam's house?
I'm not too sure about this one. I have a feeling
we missed something as a result of a TNN cut.
AHN Jason's corner:
- Didn't Angelica invite Cliff and Jamie to dinner? Doesn't look like she served
Cliffy anything but a drink.....
Maybe they already ate and this is the after-dinner
banter.
- Anyone notice that Pam barges into her first staff meeting with no writing materials,
notes, briefcase or such... I know she was surprised to hear about it and
rushed in, but you'd think she would have grabbed a notebook or something to jot down her
thoughts... As Randy Savage is wont to say,
"Oh....that's just my style!" I think that Pam just wanted to make it known that
she knows her role within the company and everyone else should too.
- This is a question not necessarily a nit.. Wouldn't there be a conflict of
interest to have Pam help run Ewing Oil and Barnes Wentworth? For
example tonight, Angelica says she is looking into both companies for some deal. And JR
asked Pam at the staff meeting what she knew about the Marinos deal with Barnes...Seems to
be a conflict of interest or something unethical about running two rival companies.. This bears some scrutiny. If I remember correctly, Pam
doesn't "run" Barnes-Wentworth: Rebecca gave it to Cliff for his very own. Cliff
asked Pam to come and work for him, specifically as a PR person. The assumption has to be
that Pam has quit her work at Barnes-Wentworth for now. I don't remember whether this is
specifically addressed later or not. It's a good point.
AHN Anne's corner:
- Jenna's got a new boutique! This one is definitely larger than the shop she had before. I thought that Bobby left her the store, so does it seem possible that she'd go out and buy a new one? I figured she expanded with the money Bobby left her.
-The headline about the Weststar/Ewing Oil takeover in Cliff's newspaper is bad journalism. "Weststar/Ewing Oil Take Over a Bust." That headline needs an active verb and you really shouldn't use articles in headlines, either. Once again, they may do things differently down South. Spoken like a true journalism student.
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 2
- Boy, these Texans sure are excitable people. I thought that the crowd at Friday's soccer game overdid it by cheering for every kicked ball [I do realize they were trying to encourage the kids]. But this rodeo crowd is ridiculous! They're cheering for every word the announcer says! By the end of the day, they'll all be hoarse!
- Early in the episode, Jack drags Jenna around to get herself registered for the events. What I want to know is how Sue Ellen got registered. She didn't even want to go to the rodeo until the day before! Seems unlikely she'd get so enthusiastic so quickly. Must be the bad aura she has at the ranch.
- The ambulance. I know it should be there at the rodeo, but 20 feet away from Donna, conveniently able to whisk her away to the hospital? This is ridiculous. Also, I don't remember for sure, but on a real ambulance, the word 'AMBULANCE' should be written backwards for the benefit of drivers looking at it through a rear-view mirror. I suspect that this particular vehicle did not.
- It might just be Jenna's way of talking, but she tells Ellie that she 'didn't tell anyone else' about Donna's accident. Then Ellie wonders where Clayton is, and Jenna assures her that Raoul will let him know what happened. Wait a minute: if you 'didn't tell anyone else', how would Raoul know? Or isn't Raoul 'anyone'? Boy, living at Southfork has gotten to Priscilla's head - either that or some Graceland flashbacks.
Kyle Wasko asked:
Let me get this straight, the Governor of Texas comes all the way from Austin to Dallas (approximately 400 km or so) to say: "thanks for having me"? That's odd. Hmm. Good call.- If Angelica's car from the Ewings wasn't available (and I do realize that she was
lying), how did Grace get back to the hotel? Do you think she could have requested a car
back? I think Grace took the car, and Angelica
fabricated the story. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.
- Donna's whole miscarriage was a mystery to me. Surely a fall like that wouldn't merit
operation! Did the ram poke her stomach and tear her up or what? She doesn't seem the worse for wear from the outside. This was bizarre.
Much like Pam's fatal fall from the hayloft way back in the mini-series...just doesn't
seem right.
- Finally, towards the beginning of the episode, J.R. said that he would send a car for
Angelica. Well, he knows her phone number but she never gave him an address. Maybe he took
her home after dinner the other night, but you see where I'm coming from?
I do see what you mean. Hmm.
AHN Joe S's corner:
- Not a nit but worth posting. Obviously the actors on the show are not professional riders. For the most part the matching of Actors to Stunt people was done well.. I just found it a little hard to believe that Jack and Ray's hats didn't fall off when they were riding those wild animals.. And the close-ups of Jack had him moving much slower than his stunt double was doing on the real horse... Jack's hat did fall off the first time I think. I also thought this was well done.
Episode 201: Suffer the Little Children
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 1
- As we'll see below, everybody found it bizarre that Phyllis is willing to lose her job just because she wants to preserve Bobby's memory. Pam must really think highly of her to dream that she would be so noble.
AHN Mike and AOL Matt pointed out
that when Patricia goes to Southfork, Miss Ellie is sitting around the pool wearing her usual sack dress and white cowgirl boots! Uhhhhg-lee!- When JR finally arrives at the Oil Baron's Ball and asks Cassie to get him his 'usual', she takes an awfully long time! I guess she must have read the script and realized that she shouldn't interrupt JR's dramatic conversation with Angelica.
- Sue Ellen says to JR that her son is the only good thing that's come from their ten years of marriage. Hold on there, little filly. You married him in 1970. It's 1985 now. I know there was a lull of about a year or so, but wouldn't that be fifteen, or at least, fourteen, years of marriage?
Kyle Wasko pointed out that
: A vodka-chugging, child neglecting woman who, over the past three months has spent a significant amount of time either: a) walking the streets of Dallas in an alcoholic haze, b) detoxifying in a hotel roomAHN Jason's corner:
- Pam's conversation with Phyllis confused me.. Did Pam start to interview girls for the job because Phyllis wanted to resign due to bad memories or did she simply want to find the best secretary possible... If Pam wanted her to stay, why not ask her before interviewing all those other secretaries. After all , she said Bobby spoke highly of her.. Just seems silly to search for a secretary when you have a good one already working there. And if Phyllis didn't work out, there always is JACKIE!!!!! (I had to say this.) LOL! I can't understand why Phyllis doesn't want her job anymore.
- During the Rodeo episode yesterday, Angelica tells Pam that Grace will be
giving her the Marino's paperwork in the morning. The next day (toady's episode) JR
shows Pam his copy of some Marinos reports, then says Sly will give her all the
papers. My question: A) why doesn't he simply give it to her then and
there (I know that he likes to make her life difficult but why she accepts his
stalling is another story) or why doesn't Pam just grab it? B) Why should she
ask Sly if Grace is supposed to be dropping them off? JR probably should have heard
about this from Angelica by this point...
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we try to
figure out Pam's contribution to the show.
- I couldn't tell but was that Pam's office at Barnes/Wentworth that she was cleaning
out? Looked like an apartment.... and I didn't see Jackie's desk in the background
when Cliffy opened the door.
I thought so too. I have a feeling that we see very
little of Barnes/Wentworth this season so they decided not to use that set at all, hoping
we wouldn't notice.
AHN Anne's corner:
- Phyllis never called Pam "Mrs. Ewing" before, so why did she start today?
And why would it be painful to have her around just because she was Bobby's secretary?
I don't know. This is just stupid.
- Pam had the same photo of Bobby as Miss Ellie, which is okay, but it was also in the
same frame. Maybe Bobby gave out multiple copies as Christmas presents or something. :)
It's a nice picture [as I'm sure you'll admit]. I
guess it must have been a Christmas thing.
-
Secondly, how come Sue Ellen isn't using her first divorce lawyer? He was pretty successful with her case, so there doesn't seem to be much reason for a turn-around. Yes. Obviously the first actor was unavailable, but this is a very good point. He at least would be familiar with her history.AHN Joe S's corner:
- Just before Pam leaves J.R.'s office, after being told she'll be given all the
pertinent information on the Marino deal, Pam says (after a lengthy pause), "I'll let
you know what I think when I've read it." Well, no s**t, Pam! Gee, you're
quick. What did you think he was giving you the information for?!? The writers
probably felt Pam should say something just before she left J.R.'s office, but this is
just plain stupid. Bonehead line of the day...I like it.
Unfortunately, it might make look like a Pam-basher because that's where all of the
bonehead lines come from. I'll consider it.
- John Rettino must have gotten into Pam's office again. As Pam is finishing her
packing, she reaches into a box and pulls out two pictures of Bobby (one of the pictures I
don't think we've ever seen before (the one of Bobby and Ray), at least not in Pam's
office). Wouldn't it have made more sense if Pam had her "moment" with the
pictures as she was picking them up and packing them, rather than after they had been put
in the box? Or did she have another "moment" that we didn't see?
This is a good point. If I know Pam, though, she's
emptying one box and filling another.
- Isn't it amazing that Donna's eye makeup is so well-intact after lying in the hospital
bed for a long time, and probably crying a bit, too. I shouldn't really pick on
this, though, because the make-up artists did a good job of making her look pale and weak.
Another good point.
- When J.R. enters Angelica Nero's hotel room, neither he nor Angelica bothers to close
the door. It is left wide open. However, as J.R. steps farther into the room,
we see the shadow of the door moving and expanding, indicating the door is closing (all by
itself, mind you), and we hear it click shut off-screen. Was Angelica's assistant
hiding behind the door and in the shadows, or is the hotel room haunted by the ghost of an
angry stage-hand?
It's the Phantom! It has to be!
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 3
- I don't want to get too wrapped up in the "dream within a dream": namely, Sue Ellen's nightmare. Just one thing that I'll point out and then leave the rest to the AHNs. Sue Ellen and John Ross are magically transported from a field into a thickly wooded forest. How exactly does JR's car, without a driver, navigate through this dense woodland without crashing? It kind of reminds me of Ralph Wiggum on the Simpsons: "Sleep! That's where I'm a Viking."
- The scene between Donna and Ellie was a just a bit too contrived for my liking. They hug just as soon as we cut in to the Krebbs home. Just a little too well-timed.
- I don't understand JR. He's awfully subdued for someone who's about to 'lose' his son. Why isn't he dragging Sue Ellen through the mud instead of pussyfooting around the issue of her alcoholism and recent affairs with Dusty and Peter Richards? This is very uncharacteristic of him.
- Not a nit, just a comment. There's now a couch in the upper Southfork hallway. That's new.
- It never amazes how the producers never get this time difference thing down, given how often characters travel around the world. As the family scatters to search for John Ross, Pete Adams calls the ranch, and it's broad daylight in Athens. There is an 8 hour time difference between Dallas and Athens. So that means that if it's early morning in Dallas, it's the middle of the night in Athens. Sheesh.
- During Cliff's boring conversation with Jamie, it's clear that he's got a short memory. He tells Jamie that "It's been a long time since someone stood by his side." Excuse me, Cliffy. What about Pam? Didn't she offer you her full support when you took on the Ewings last season? Or did this not count?
- Something bothers me about John Ross's escape from the ranch. Clayton didn't wake him up, because he didn't want to risk losing the Lucy award today. Ellie didn't wake him up, because she thought Clayton would. Teresa didn't because she figured one of the Farlows would. The implication is that John Ross woke himself up. And dressed himself in nice clothes? And left the house without anybody seeing him? The second part I'll buy, but I find it kind of hard to understand why John Ross would take the time to dress nicely before running away.
- So Ellie finds him in Bobby's treehouse. All well and good. But then she just takes him for a walk and tries to straighten out his confused feelings? Shouldn't she alert his anxious mother and father first, so they stop worrying? This is very un-Ellie-like.
- Oh, and by the way, Ellie, it's very convenient that you decided to wear jeans today. Is it possible that you read the script and realized you'd have to hunt your grandson down, so you didn't put on a sack dress? At least you dumped those horrid cowgirl boots from yesterday.
AHN Anne's corner:
- Sue Ellen's mascara absolutely flowed after waking up from her dream. If you took your make-up off before you went to bed you wouldn't have that problem, dear. Good call. That's why it's great having a female AHN. They notice these things.
- Then J.R.'s contact. J.R. says, "Are you telling me to hold off on this
deal?" And the contact says, "I'm not telling you anything, but hold off until I
get back tomorrow." So he is telling J.R. to hold off. Little contradiction there.
I noticed this. How silly. Let's call this one the
"bonehead line".
From Kyle Wasko [on the verge of AHN-dom].
- This may be overstepping the bounds of nitpicking, but I find it very unlikely that Pamela would dream about Sue-Ellen having a dream. Although I think the real issue is that the dream was ridiculous and quite out of place. (Some may argue this about the entire 1985-86 season!) [Not me]. Anne mentioned this too. This was pretty dumb.
- Jack sure doesn't look very Greek. You know what? Neither does Dimitri Marinos.
- Dimitri lost track of Jack, but then re-discovered his son in the Dallas Society Column? Does the Society Column have a large circulation in Athens? Just wondering. Another one for the tote board! The media just doesn't have enough to do.
- Jenna's observation that Jack doesn't look like Jamie is overkill. Sometimes the
Dallas writers are as subtle as a dumptruck.
I think the only reason they even had this scene is
so Jenna wouldn't be a candidate for the Lucy award. And subtlety has never been one of
the strong suits of the show.
- J.R. answers a phone that we never hear ring (TNN or production glitch?) I suspect a cut, but it's hard to say.
From AOL Matt:
- Even though it is a dream, why is Sue Ellen running away in that outfit? That dress, and the scarf, and those boots? why not a sweat suit and sneakers? Seems she could run a little faster then. This whole thing was just dumb.
- Then, when Sue Ellen wakes up, she goes crazy. Does she react the same way to a nightmare as she does to being in Detox? It seems so. I'll say it again: this whole thing was just dumb.
- And we see Sue Ellen after she woke up, and Angelica, who is in a bathrobe, presumably just woke up, and both women are in full makeup. Don't these two beauty queens like these two know that they should take their makeup off before bed? Won't they break out? I don't understand it myself, but Anne did point out this weirdness.
- When Ellie visited Donna, she gave her a dozen roses. A dozen FAKE roses. Are
we supposed to believe that one of the richest women in Texas, who is giving a present to
another one of the richest women in Texas, who just happens to be her best friend, and her
daughter in law, who just had a miscarriage a dozen FAKE roses? Unbelievable.
Were they fake? I didn't notice. Thanks a lot!
- When JR was looking for John Ross, are we supposed to believe that he forgot to call Sly and tell her that he would be late for the meeting with Angelica Nero because he was looking for his missing son? I would accept this from a nitwit like Pam, but not J.R. FREAKING Ewing. That is another very good point.
AHN Joe S's corner:
- When Angelica and J.R. are discussing Jack and Dimitri at the restaurant, Angelica's
drink is pretty much untouched for the whole conversation (while it is filled nearly to
the top). Then suddenly, a waiter comes to refill their glasses (even though neither
Angelica nor J.R. seems to have summoned him), and Angelica's glass is only half-full.
First Jack, now Angelica. Gee, this seems to be a common problem when
drinking with J.R.. Maybe the Phantom of Ewing Oil has been following him around.
It is always a problem when shooting such scenes.
- I'm very surprised that J.R. let John Ross visit Sue Ellen and Patricia for dinner,
especially considering how scared he was in
Tuesday's episode that Sue Ellen might kidnap him again. But then again, if John
Ross didn't go over there, he wouldn't have been tempted to want to choose his mom over
his dad (i.e., when Patricia brings the cake out). J.R. and John Ross must have read
the script! I wonder whether this is JR's call.
Probably Ellie let him go.
- I've noticed lately that Angelica's accent is lapsing from time to time.
Typically, foreigners whose first language is not English tend to be very careful about
pronunciation, but Angelica has been carelessly dropping "G"s at the ends of
words (i.e., droppin' instead of dropping, walkin' instead of walking, etc.) and even
saying "gonna" in lieu of "going to." I wouldn't even mind so
much if she had the right accent to begin with (q.v. an earlier nit of mine).
Hmm. Interesting. I still think that Angelica is
probably named Brenda Goldberg, she's originally from Queens and the whole thing is
an elaborate scam.
- Isn't it SO convenient that Jenna just happens to find a picture of Jack's parents right
after the scene where Angelica reveals to J.R. that Jack is Dimitri's son. John Rettino
outdid himself this time. I'm surprised he didn't leave an ultrasound photo of
Donna's baby lying around when Ray had his silent scene in the Krebbs's nursery.
As Kyle pointed out, subtlety is not a strong point
on the show.
- John Ross tells the judge that his daddy [J.R.] taught him how to swim. Actually,
if memory serves, although J.R. did help John Ross with swimming quite a bit, Peter
Richards also had a lot to do with teaching John Ross to swim. John Ross was
probably just looking for good things to say about his daddy though, so maybe this is too
nitpicky.
It's borderline. I remember before Peter came
around JR did have a few scenes in the pool with John Ross. I think Peter Richards is just
an experiment that the writers would rather forget - JR doesn't mention Sue Ellen's affair
with him, which is odd.
- When Cliff, Jamie, Pam, and Mark are having dinner, the dining room their eating in
looks not like the dining area at Cliff's condo, but suspiciously like Cliff's
Barnes-Wentworth office (the large window with the Venetian blinds gives it away).
Hey! Good one! I didn't notice!
AHN Jason's corner:
- Observation...Donna seems to have gotten her figure back really quick. She was really bulking out with those pillows right before she miscarried a few episodes back.. I knew she was pillowing!
-Throughout the episode, JR and Pam state that they alone make the decisions in the
company, although each only owns 30% of the company. My question: Don't the
other owners have any input? I would have thought since Ray, Gary, Jack and Ellie
all control a share they would. Especially after JR makes a comment that he may need
Jack's (vote) to overrule Pam...
I think it's understood that Ray, Gary, and Ellie
have no interest in running the company and just go along with whatever happens as long as
it's not egregiously bad. In theory, if it were necessary, Pam and JR could assemble them
together to settle a dispute or something, but this rarely happens in practice on the
show. Having Jack around is probably meant to be pressure for Pam, so that she 'feels'
overruled, should it come to that.
- Jack tells the waitress at the club he and JR go to to get fetch him a beer... What kind? I guess he's not picky.
- Bobby's clubhouse looks pretty good considering it was 20-25 years old. Wouldn't the wood have rotted or the nails rusted? Seems like that happened to my clubhouses when I was little in just a couple of years. Yes! Yes! You are absolutely right! Even though it doesn't rain that much in Dallas, it still does rain. Good call!
- Pam offers the waiting and impatient Angelica coffee (or tea) after she has been there 15 minutes.. Shouldn't someone have offered it to her before (Of course they may have) Perhaps someone did. I don't know.
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 4
Bonehead dialogue of the day:
Jenna: "We were going to be married."
Jack: "I know."
He certainly should know...he was at the Ewing victory party
last season when JR announced it!
- It's finally time for a BILC [check the FAQ if this is new to you.] Today's fireside chat between Jack and Jenna qualifies. When Jack provides Jenna with a robe so she can get out of her soggy clothes, she comes out of the bathroom holding it together with her hands so that it doesn't come apart and get the big Ramboski too excited. Now wait a minute. Jack is a fair bit taller than Jenna and certainly quite larger. So certainly his robe can't be too SMALL for Jenna, right? So why does she have to hold it together with her hand, quite provocatively? Because it looks cool and titillates the audience who figures that she might have an 'accident' and the big Ramboski will see her in all her splendor.
AHN Anne pointed out
that the framework for Ray and Donna's house wasn't up in past episodes, and he hasn't had much time to work on it recently, so how did he build the whole thing so quickly?AHN Jason's corner:
- It's pick on Grace, the guest star voyeur today....
- How did she manage to not only get Adam's bosses secretary out of commission (but
apparently not kill her since she says she will be in tomorrow) and bypass the temp
agency to get the job there just to steal a piece of mail... Grace is obviously a woman of many talents. She
probably paid off the secretary - a small amount of cash compared to what she and Angelica
plan to get out of the Ewing deal.
- There is a continuity cut when the mail man gives her the mail. She appears to smile when he starts to hand the mail but when the camera cuts to her face as she accepts the mail, you see her normal frigid face. This may or may not be an error. Grace can probably do that.
- A similar thing happens when Sue Ellen finishes talking to Clayton and Ellie. She is holding her purse in her left hand in one cut. As she walks to the door you see it under her shoulder and then she takes it back into her hand.... Really? I was busy making notes. Thanks.
- Sue Ellen is still driving Ewing 2.... Well, you would think so, but we never actually see the license plate. It certainly does look like the same car.
- And while she is looking through her mail at Patricia's, did anyone notice in the pile of letters she holds that the bottom letter's flap is unsealed. Not technically a nit but interesting.. Perhaps Patty is reading her daughter's mail.. I did notice this, but thought I'd let it pass. Okay, you've got it.
From AOL Matt:
[also on the verge of AHNdom]- When Ray walks in to his house, he takes his boots off....and puts them on the coffee table. Even that half-breed Ray Krebbs should know that boots covered in mud, grass, and cow pies do not belong on the coffee table. Yes, you are right. I can't believe I missed this.
- Later, when Ray and Donna are talking in the kitchen, we notice that the roses Miss Ellie gave her are gone. Now, since those were fake roses, wouldn't they last a while? It's unclear how much time has passed, but it's a good point.
- I always thought that Patricia liked JR. She always wanted her daughter to be
"Mrs. JR Ewing", and even recently she told Sue Ellen to get back with JR, but
today told her to get John Ross away from Southfork, where JR was "poisoning his
mind". isn't this an abrupt turnaround?
I'm just glad she's leaving tomorrow for good. This
is an abrupt turnaround, but I think she's resigned herself to the fact that Sue Ellen's
not going to be his wife any more. She said as much in Episode 202. I think she
understands JR very well, and was hopeful that Sue Ellen could bring herself to deal with
it the way she feels she could in her daughter's position, but now that it's over, she
knows the implications.
- And when Dusty and Sue Ellen were talking, we see Dusty's outfit. the same
outfit he has worn in just about every episode of Dallas. Can't Dusty, who is the
only heir to the immense Farlow Family fortune, afford a different suit?
I guess not. Sheesh. Maybe Jessica was right and
Clayton sold him out.
- Also in that scene Dusty called Sue Ellen a wonderful mother? Wonderful?
I like Sue Ellen a lot, and we all know that she loves John Ross, but wonderful? Wasn't
she a complete drunk while pregnant with him? Didn't she get in a car accident and
almost kill him before he was born when she was escaping from the sanitarium? Hasn't
he had several affairs? Recently, didn't she sleep around with Peter Richards (who
was old enough to be her son), and Dusty Farlow? Wasn't she in an alcoholic rage,
sleeping with anyone with a bottle of vodka? Wasn't she in the drunk tank,
then detox, then in ANOTHER sanitarium? Didn't she neglect her son when he had
appendicitis? Now, JR isn't the model father, but Sue Ellen is by no means
"Wonderful"!!!!
Well, everything you said is true, but I wouldn't
say she 'neglected' her son when he had appendicitis - she just happened not to be there
at that very second. My mom once sent me to school even after I told her I was feeling
sick, because she thought I was faking. I wasn't. That doesn't make her a terrible mother
- she's the best! You know what I mean. But I do see your point. Dusty's just saying the
right things here.
- At the Mexican restaurant, there was an Italian Flag hanging. It could have been a Mexican one, but I didn't notice the big symbol in the middle. Really? I didn't notice!
-Another nit about sleeping with full-makeup on. When Ray came home and Donna (presumably) came right out of bed, or was ready for bed. Maybe she hasn't taken it off yet, but this is starting to annoy me. It annoys me too. Good call.
Introducing...AHN Kyle's corner:
-. If the Lucy Award could be given to a corporate entity it would have to be
Barnes-Wentworth. That whole plot line seems to have vanished. This is an obvious de-push
(see? I'm even using the new lingo!)
Hey, great stuff! I didn't realize it would be so
popular.
- Is J.R familiar with the expression "there's no sense getting all dressed up for
the ball if you don't have a date"? It seems to me that he should have tried to bribe
the appeal judge, too. I think you mean the first judge. I totally don't
understand it at all. He didn't even try to paint Sue Ellen out to be a bad mother or
anything. It's ridiculous.
- Furthermore, Harve Smithfield might be the worst lawyer ever. Maybe the Ewings should
get rid of him. 1) He obviously doesn't like J.R. (lots of hostility), and 2) If he can't
use the Alcoholism/Sanitarium/Illicit Affairs of Sue Ellen to get an appeal granted, than
maybe he's getting a bit too old for the industry.
Agreed, but it doesn't even look like JR consulted
him because he was so confident he would get custody. Why he thought so is beyond me
because he made no effort.
- What's this, a job for Sue Ellen? What exactly is she qualified for? My instincts tell
me that since she's a Ewing, she probably won't stoop to secretarial work, but really,
what else can she do? It's too bad they don't pay people to drink vodka...
Obviously she and Patricia can have no idea at this
point, but it looks to me like the beginnings of the Valentine Lingerie empire.
- Donna and Ray always seem to re-unite after the most arbitrary and odd occurrences.
First it was the Down's Syndrome soccer encounter, than it's Ray's performance as the one
man wrecking crew. I guess that shows how much he cares...
Obviously Donna thought so. They really are a
boring couple, aren't they?
- Furthermore, when Ray's tearing the house down, he's sweating profusely. Know why? It's
cause of those damn long sleeve work shirts! What's the deal with that? I've been to
Dallas, and it's (obviously) very, very hot! So why is everyone always working in these
chambray work shirts? I just don't get it. Good
call!
- You've probably already pointed this out, but there's another time difference glitch
between Dallas and Athens. It appears to be morning in both cities. You know what? I missed it today. Thank you so much for reminding me!
AHN Joe S's corner:
- Gee, Pam may have been really busy consulting her "experts" on the Marinos
Shipping deal, but she managed to find time to redecorate and paint Bobby's office.
When I first saw her at her desk, I thought she was back at Barnes-Wentworth (the Barnes
clan seems to have a fetish for Venetian blinds).
Did she redecorate? I don't remember seeing her at
her desk.
- Once again, Donna has managed the distance between the Krebbs's home and the building
site for the new house on foot (when she finds Ray tearing the framing down), instead of
by vehicle. At least she isn't pregnant this time.
Yeah, I noticed that too, but forgot to jot down a
note.
- It's amazing that Grace manages to find the file on Jason Ewing and Nancy Shaw in the
top file cabinet drawer in the very front. I guess the Adams & Barker agency
hasn't been in business very long, as it seems that they've never investigated anybody
whose last name came alphabetically before EWING.
Maybe they sort things by date, with the current
cases first. That's how I do things at my place, especially with 'unfinished' business.
- A continuity error: At first, when Jenna is sitting at Jack's fireplace in a
bathrobe, the robe is slipped down below her left shoulder so we see her neck, shoulder,
and top of her arm. Then there is a brief cut to the fire. When the shot
returns to Jenna, the robe is suddenly brought up over her shoulder, covering her arm,
shoulder, and neck.
- When Ray came in from the storm, he had a large wet spot it the middle of the back of
his shirt, and he wasn't soaked anywhere else. At first I thought it was a sweat
stain (Ray seems to get sweat stains in the oddest places -- I remember a recent episode
where he had sweat on his back and navel, but no where else, let alone his armpits and
chest), but then reference was made to the storm, and I assumed he was wet from the
rain. Yet I wonder how managed to keep all of his clothes dry EXCEPT for the one
spot on his back. Maybe the directors were just trying to keep Ray interesting.
Another eagle-eyed spot. I totally missed this. AHN Mike
caught this too.
- When John Ross packs to leave with Sue Ellen, his entire room is cleaned out (save the
furniture, of course) except for the wall decorations and pennants. Why would John
Ross take everything else but leave his pennants on the wall, rather than take the
pennants with him to hang up in his new room at Sue Ellen's house? Probably because
John Ross realized he would stay on Southfork after all when he READ THE SCRIPT!!! Absolutely correct.
- Hey, by the way, how did Patricia manage to get a house in Dallas (and furnish it) so
quickly when she first arrived in Dallas this season? She must know Jack's realtor... Must be a rental. Some of them come furnished, I think.
Episode 204: Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen
The Jack Ewing stupid laugh meter: 3
Bonehead dialogue of the day:
Dusty to Sue Ellen: "You'll just have to RIDE this one out." Nominated by AHN Joe.
- There was some pretty awful cabbageing at the beginning of this episode. For thirty minutes, no one could begin a conversation without talking about Sue Ellen's dramatic decision to leave her son at Southfork. I almost thought Angelica would mention it too, but I guess she doesn't get time to read about these things because she's too busy picking out awful outfits.
- At first, I was going to say that the room from which we see Clayton call his lawyer was new. Then I realized it was part of the newly redecorated Ewing livingroom! When did this happen? Suddenly we see Raoul or Paco or whoever it is coming from all different sides of the room, instead of just from the kitchen and dining area. All this for Sue Ellen's return? Wow.
- I'm trying very hard to understand why JR admits to Sue Ellen that she would lose custody of John Ross if she moved back to the ranch. This is not JR's style. Yes, I know that Sue Ellen can practically read JR like a book and will probably guess that he's up to something anyway, but why come right out and say it? I don't get it.
- When Dusty and Sue Ellen are having dinner, take a look at the guy in the background in the restaurant - the one sitting in the distance beyond her. At one point, Sue Ellen is talking for a continuous forty seconds, and the guy spends the whole time chewing one small piece of meat!
- If anyone out there doesn't think that Ray Krebbs is an uncivilized boor, I beg you to consider this evidence: when Jack comes over to visit him, he tells Jack to get his own beer from the fridge? Just when I was getting some sympathy for him for putting up with Donna's self-pity for so long, he goes and does something like this. Come on, Ray!
- Speaking of conversations centered around dinner, the talk Sue Ellen has with Patricia is weird too. Who arranged the candlelight spread at their house, not to mention all that food, for two people? I don't think they have a maid or anything and Patricia doesn't exactly strike me as being a domestic. Nor does Sue Ellen for that matter. This is weird.
- And by the way, if you look at the table, there appears to be a big plate of delicious fried chicken. All well and good except that neither of the ladies is EATING the fried chicken. What's up with that?
- Let's see. The writers needed another gimmick for Mandy, so they had her find out about Sue Ellen's return to Southfork from Cliff Barnes. All well and good. Except for one thing: they bump into each other because Cliff was picking up his DRY CLEANING from a small corner plaza. HUH? Cliff Barnes, CEO of a rather large oil company, has to go to pick up his own dry cleaning? I know that Cliff's a cheapskate and all that, but this seems ridiculous. I do some consulting for some fairly big companies in downtown Toronto, and believe me, even the Executive Secretaries to the Assistant Vice-Presidents at some places feel that they're much too important to pick up their own dry cleaning.
- Actually, I would let the previous one go if not for one other thing: let's say for sake of argument that Cliff likes to go get his dry cleaning himself. Fine. But at least you would assume that he would go to some place close to his home, right? Looking at the scenery, I would hazard a guess that he's not near the office because it doesn't look like downtown Dallas. So my point is, what the heck is Mandy doing walking around Cliff's neighborhood? Nowhere has it been suggested that Mandy lives near there. Given her line of work, it's unlikely that modeling brought her there. So why is she there?
AHN Anne's corner:
- There is something that really bothers me about Jenna closing up the boutique. Maybe
it's that nobody else appeared to be working there. Maybe it's because I don't know one
person who can justify locking up at three in the afternoon. Maybe it's because the name
of her boutique has nothing to do with clothes or her own name. Maybe it's because her
expensive store requires only a sign and a key to keep it safe. Something wasn't quite
right. Can you help me put my finger on it?
All three things bothered me. Of course, all of the
things can be justified...but it is very strange.
- When J.R. and Sue Ellen met at cocktails, he mentioned that she had given John Ross up
that day. Well, if she did, she would have had to come for him in the morning, because she
had plenty of time to get her hair done and change clothes before meeting J.R. later on.
Sue Ellen had one busy day if we can believe it!
I believe that Sue Ellen did come in the morning,
when JR and Angelica were having their meeting. She did have a very busy day...a late
afternoon meeting with JR, and then dinner with Dusty. She really gets around! She might
[gasp!] have had to skip an AA meeting!
- Ray didn't sneak up on you, Clayton. Even someone very deep in thought could hear Ray
pounding behind him. Maybe it's your old age, because those subsidiaries wouldn't make you
lose your head.
Yet another one for the OX-files. [Sorry, couldn't
resist.]
How could Angelica not sign page three of her contract with J.R.? Isn't it customary to go in order of the pages? Or, when it's a big business venture, do the heads skip around? Did she skip page three? I didn't notice!
- When John Ross came downstairs and said hello to Miss Ellie and Clayton with his mother, I guess that Ellie was in too much of a hurry to kiss Sue Ellen because Junior put his arm up to give her a hug and had to bring it right back down: Miss Ellie kissed him on the cheek and stood up right away to talk to Sue Ellen. Little John Ross got the shaft! LOL! It's tough being a Ewing child sometimes.
- Did you find it bizarre that Mandy Winger said she didn't care about Sue Ellen? For the last god knows how many episodes, her primary concern has been J.R.'s wife. "I just can't help thinking about Sue Ellen.." Mandy is joining the contradictory gang on Dallas, right alongside the champs, Pam and Clayton.
Introducing AHN Matt's corner:
-In the scene where JR and Sue Ellen sit down to eat, Sue Ellen has a big, full head of hair, but in later scenes (namely the one with her eating with Dusty), her hair is much smaller, much less 80's like. Maybe she used less hairspray, but it looks a lot shorter. Sue Ellen's hair is very strange from here till Pam wakes up.
Ray and Jack are both a couple of slobs. They both drink beers and just
fling the bottle caps anywhere. Now, I pointed out yesterday that Ray has little
respect for his property, but Jack should be courteous enough to put the bottle cap in the
trash. Well, Ray made him get his own beer, so I
guess it serves him right, the inconsiderate host!
-We all know JR likes her looks and not her brains, but how stupid is Mandy Winger?
OBVIOUSLY he is going to choose his son over her, and sane parent would. What an
idiot. Someday I would like to begin a rant about Mandy
Winger's stupidity. Unfortunately Geocities only gives me 11 Megabytes of storage space.
- I always thought that Mandy and Cliff were on bad terms, but when they 'bumped' into each other today, they seemed very amicable. I wonder if Afton would be this nice to Cliff. Well, getting dissed by JR does strange things to people.
AHN Mike's C