Just when I thought that this show couldn’t get any better, the writers have proven me wrong once again. After starting off the show with what I thought was a rather uneven start, the writers really hit their stride beginning with episode 1x05 “Truth and Consequences” and started to really live up to the expectations that I had for the show before it started.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still a few things about the show that I don’t really care for, namely Bobby, but the level of enjoyment that I get from watching this show is definitely increasing with each passing episode, and this episode took my love of the show to a whole new level. Prior to this episode, Christopher was also one of the things about this show that I didn’t really like, but I really found myself warming up to Christopher when I watched this episode the first time, which really surprised me.
This episode began with what I think was fantastic writing, directing, camera work and editing for the opening teaser scene between John Ross and Elena talking in the prison interrogation room before the police officers arrested John Ross. I really like how they showed the pictures that were supposed to be John Ross’ mug shots at the very beginning of the episode. Also, if I had to choose who I think Elena should be with, I definitely want her to be with John Ross. I think Josh Henderson and Jordana Brewster have great chemistry together. I’ve always liked the scenes where John Ross and Elena are interacting with each other, but I’ve never liked Christopher and Elena’s scenes together.
The main reason why I loved this episode so much is that this was a very John Ross-centric episode, and he’s officially my favorite character from the younger generation. Also, I feel like the writers finally gave Linda Gray what I thought was a lot of screen time in this episode, and she along with J.R. have become my favorite characters from the original series. Until now, I felt like Linda Gray wasn’t getting very much screen time compared to the significant amount of screen time that Patrick Duffy and Larry Hagman have been getting. Also, whenever Sue Ellen was involved in the episodes I felt like she wasn’t really involved in anything that was truly scandalous and dramatic unlike Bobby and J.R., so it was nice to see Sue Ellen do something that was morally questionable, but at the same time her motives were good because she was doing it to protect her son.
Sue Ellen approached the medical examiner telling him that she would make sure that he’s named the next chief medical examiner when she’s elected governor if he said in his autopsy report that Veronica’s death was a suicide. Apparently she found out that he had been writing prescriptions under the names of people who are dead and she used this information as leverage to blackmail him.
Vicente approached Bobby about getting the oil that J.R. and John Ross had promised him. They told him that they apparently have a note stipulating that since they loaned money to J.R. they hold a lien on Southfork, which is a part of the previous deal that he had made J.R. and John Ross. Unless they got the oil they were promised, they would be forced to take ownership of Southfork. Bobby’s lawyer told him that what Vicente said was true and that unless they get the oil that John Ross and J.R. owed them, they could take ownership of Southfork. Bobby’s lawyer also told him that unless they could prove that the deal was fraudulent, it was still legally valid. Bobby visited his mom’s grave telling her how conflicted he felt about the possibility of having to drill on Southfork when her will had stipulated that they couldn’t drill on the ranch any more. He came to the conclusion that since they would be drilling oil in order to help keep John Ross safe that she would understand. This brings me to my next point.
Is it just me, or is Bobby basically in a perpetual state of anger? Ever since the show started he pretty much always looks like he’s on the verge of ripping someone’s head off over one thing or another. The fact that he’s always acting arrogant and condescending and seems to basically always blow a gasket over something is a big part of why he’s my least favorite character on the show. He’s not just my least favorite character from the older generation, he’s my least favorite character on the whole show, and I’m including the guest-stars when I say this.
Based on the promos, it looks likes Bobby is going to have a heart attack or at least some other kind of medical emergency in tonight’s episode, episode 1x09 “Family Business”, and I have to say that I’m honestly not the least bit surprised given the fact that he’s always in a fit of rage or worked up about something. Whatever it is that happens to Bobby in tonight’s episode, it’s probably stress induced. I know that this will probably be a very unpopular opinion, especially with fans of the original series, but I really wish the writers would kill Bobby off the show, only this time it wouldn’t be a dream that some character is having like they did in the original series. I doubt that will happen though. I guess I’ll just have to learn to tolerate Bobby, just like I’ve had to tolerate Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, Ivy Sullivan on 90210 and Amanda Clarke on Revenge. At least Ivy has been written off 90210 for season 5 and Margarita Levieva is only a guest-star on Revenge, so God willing she’ll be leaving the show at some point in season two, but I digress.
Earlier in the episode a man from another energy company named Exxon approached Christopher about buying the exclusive rights to his methane energy project, but he turned them down saying that he wanted his methane energy project to be a part of Ewing Alternative Energies. Before they even began drilling for oil on Southfork, Christopher suggested that they offer Vicente exclusive South American rights to his methane energy project instead of the oil that John Ross and J.R. owed them so they wouldn’t have to drill on Southfork. When Christopher proposed this deal to Vicente he also asked for the security footage that would prove John Ross’ innocence.
In the end, it was the deal that Christopher made with Vicente that got John Ross cleared of the charges and out of prison since the security footage proved that someone else pushed Veronica off the roof. When John Ross found out that he had been cleared of the charges Sue Ellen immediately believed it was because of the deal that she made with the medical examiner, but she quickly learned that John Ross had been cleared of the charges because the security footage at the hotel proved John Ross’ innocence, not because of the deal she made with the medical examiner. This news really shook Sue Ellen up, because she realized that Veronica’s killer was going to get away with murder. It will be interesting to see if this comes back to haunt Sue Ellen, and I’m sure that it will. Given the fact that the season is almost over and who knows how much time will pass between the end of season one and the beginning of season two, I don’t think there’s enough time left in the season to really explore what kind of fallout this will create for Sue Ellen and her run for governor, so if the writers explore this further, they will have to deal with the fallout from Sue Ellen’s actions in season two.
I’m glad that J.R. also came back to be there for John Ross, but unfortunately he didn’t tell anyone that he was back in Dallas and John Ross was really groggy at the time so he believed that it was a dream. I wish that he hadn’t kept his return to Dallas a secret. I really like how the family all came together to help John Ross get out of prison and cleared of being charged with the murder of Veronica Martinez after he was attacked by some of Vicente’s men in prison, which brings me to my next point. If the Ewings are going to insist on blackmailing people, then they really need to be better at communicating with each other so they know who they do and who they don’t need blackmail, because while their efforts paid off in the end, Sue Ellen’s methods for dealing with the situation are sure to blow up in her face, but Christopher’s idea for how to deal with the situation ended up working and kept Bobby from having to start drilling on Southfork again.
After John Ross was released from prison, he thanked Christopher for his role in him being cleared of being charged with Veronica’s murder. They’ve buried the hatchet, for now at least, because they both admitted that everything that they had been doing was to try and make their fathers proud; of course we all know that the peace between John Ross and Christopher won’t last, otherwise there wouldn’t be a show.
In addition to all of the drama going on with John Ross, Christopher and Rebecca were trying to figure out how they were going to handle things between them since Rebecca is pregnant with twins, but they aren’t together anymore. I thought it was kind of a low blow for Rebecca to use the fact that his parents got a divorce to lay a guilt trip into him for leaving her given everything she’s done. Christopher said that he’ll be there for the babies and that he’ll support them financially, but as far as he’s concerned their marriage is over. Honestly, I have say that I’m not so sure about that, a part of me thinks they will get back together. Whether they get back together because Christopher forgives Rebecca or simply because Christopher decides that they should stay marries for the sake of the babies remains to be seen, but I’m just not sure that they are going to actually get divorced. Although, given the fact that this is a soap opera it’s entirely possible that Rebecca will end up having a miscarriage. I know that I’ve said this before, but if I had to guess, I’m guessing that Rebecca will end up having the twins, because it would be a way to keep Rebecca on the show.
Ann offered to help Tommy get a job as a ranch hand at her cousin’s ranch in Oklahoma so Rebecca could have a fresh start away from him. I’m not sure that Tommy is going to take the offer though, because the episode ended with a major doozy of twist. It turns out that Rebecca and Tommy aren’t brother and sister after all; pretending to be brother and sister was simply a part of their scheme. They revealed this when Tommy gave Rebecca a rather passionate kiss and told her that she’s really gotten deep into their scheme if she actually believes that they are brother and sister. Maybe other people saw that coming, but I’m not entirely sure that I did, at least I didn’t see the whole thing with them being romantically involved coming. I guess a small part of me didn’t think they were actually brother and sister, but I was still beyond shocked by the ending of the episode.
All in all, I absolutely loved this episode for the most part, especially considering the fact that it was a very John Ross-centric episode. Bobby continued to annoy the hell out of me in pretty much every scene that he was in, but thankfully everything else about this episode overshadowed how annoying Bobby was in this episode. The opening teaser for the episode was definitely one of the main highlights of the episode for me, and as a whole this episode was definitely quite the thrill ride.
That being said, I give this episode a rating of an A+.
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