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Critique: Dallas Episode 108 — ‘Jock’s Will’
Let the games begin At the end of “Jock’s Will,” the Ewings gather in the Southfork living room to hear Harv Smithfield read the family patriarch’s last will and testament. Everyone is present — even...
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Critique: Knots Landing Episode 59 — ‘New Beginnings’
Home field advantage “New Beginnings” is chockablock with trivia. Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy both guest star in this “Knots Landing” episode, the only time two marquee players from “Dallas” appear...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 109 — ‘Aftermath’
Staying afloat “Aftermath” lets the audience into J.R.’s head in a way other “Dallas” episodes don’t. In the most revealing scene, J.R. and Sue Ellen sweep into a fancy French restaurant, where the...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 110 — ‘Hit and Run’
Shady To fully appreciate how much composer Richard Lewis Warren contributes to “Hit and Run,” I challenge you to an experiment. First, turn off the volume and watch the sequence where reckless driver...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 111 — ‘The Ewing Touch’
Word from a mother In “The Ewing Touch’s” most memorable moment, Miss Ellie warns Rebecca not to cross her family. “Other people have fought the Ewings before — and they’ve regretted it,” Ellie says....
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Critique: Dallas Episode 112 — ‘Fringe Benefits’
Savvy In “Fringe Benefits,” Afton sleeps with sleazy Gil Thurman to ensure he’ll sell his lucrative oil refineries to her boyfriend Cliff. Is this yet another example of Afton allowing a man to use...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 113 — ‘The Wedding’
What is she thinking? “The Wedding” is a strong episode with a silly ending. In the final scene, J.R. and Sue Ellen stand under a big tent in the Southfork driveway, where a minister is conducting...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 114 — ‘Post Nuptial’
December bride “Post Nuptial” picks up where the previous “Dallas” episode left off, as the Ewings and their guests wait to see what will happen after Cliff stands up during the middle of J.R. and Sue...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 115 — ‘Barbecue Three’
Mr. Right In “Barbecue Three,” J.R. finally reveals his plan to win the contest for Ewing Oil: He begins flooding the market with cut-rate gasoline, hoping to drive up his half of the company’s...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 116 — ‘Mama Dearest’
Mother knows best? In “Mama Dearest,” Miss Ellie embarks on a quest to break Jock’s will and stop J.R. and Bobby’s contest for Ewing Oil. This causes the alliances within the family to shift, sometimes...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 117 — ‘The Ewing Blues’
Don’t box him in “The Ewing Blues” includes one of “Dallas’s” cleverest scenes. J.R. appears on a local TV talk show to tout his new chain of cut-rate gas stations, which is turning him into a hero in...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 118 — ‘The Reckoning’
Ewings divide! Few moments on “Dallas” stir as many emotions for me as Miss Ellie’s testimony at the end of “The Reckoning.” Ellie, who is trying to overturn Jock’s will because it’s dividing her...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 119 — ‘A Ewing is a Ewing’
It’s complicated The most unsettling moment in “A Ewing is a Ewing”: Holly Harwood arrives for an after-hours meeting at J.R.’s office, where he chastises her for telling one of Harwood Oil’s top...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 120 — ‘Crash of ’83’
Welcome to the dark side At the beginning of “Crash of ’83,” the corrupt energy commissioner George Hicks tells Bobby he’ll “never” vote to revoke J.R.’s permission to pump more oil than anyone else in...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 121 — ‘Requiem’
Goodbye, Mama Rebecca Wentworth swept into “Dallas” like a character from a Douglas Sirk movie, so it’s only fitting that she leaves in the same manner. Her death in “Requiem” is pure soap opera. In...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 122 — ‘Legacy’
Into darkness “Legacy” opens with Pam, having decided to separate from Bobby, packing up her Porsche and driving away with little Christopher. It’s a landmark moment in the life of the series....
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Critique: Dallas Episode 123 — ‘Brothers and Sisters’
Sad as hell In the best scene from “Brothers and Sisters,” Pam watches as Cliff finally unleashes the guilt that’s been consuming him since Rebecca took his spot aboard the doomed Wentworth jet. “I was...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 124 — ‘Caribbean Connection’
Scene to remember The final moments in “Caribbean Connection” set up one of “Dallas’s” best week-to-week cliffhangers. J.R. is in a seedy cocktail lounge, delivering $100,000 in cash to Walt Driscoll,...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 125 — ‘The Sting’
Stung Which Ewing brother do you root for in “The Sting”? I cheer for Bobby at the top of the hour, when he thwarts J.R.’s illegal sale of 100 million barrels of oil to Cuba. It’s nice to see Bobby...
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Critique: Dallas Episode 126 — ‘Hell Hath No Fury’
Those eyes Sue Ellen is the perfect wife, living the perfect life, when “Hell Hath No Fury” begins. She fusses over J.R. at breakfast, smiles when he brings Roy Ralston home for dinner and gazes at him...
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