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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 172 — ‘Barbecue Five’
The middle “Barbecue Five” ranks among “Dallas’s” best barbecue episodes because it delivers almost everything we expect from a Ewing hoedown. There’s a fight, a dunking in the Southfork swimming pool...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 173 — ‘Do You Take This Woman?’
Take your wife. Please. “Do You Take This Woman?” marks the moment “Dallas” turns into a Lifetime movie. The hour begins with Jenna Wade happily planning to marry Bobby, but by the time the closing...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 174 — ‘Déjà Vu’
Game of phones What could be unholier than an alliance between J.R. Ewing and Cliff Barnes? In “Déjà Vu,” the sworn enemies agree to work together to keep Bobby and Pam apart. The scene where J.R. and...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 175 — ‘Odd Man Out’
Raising the bar “Odd Man Out” is the 12th “Dallas” episode directed by Larry Hagman, who demonstrates once more that he’s as talented behind the camera as he is in front of it. The main storyline finds...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 176 — ‘Lockup in Laredo’
Caged beauty Jenna Wade goes to jail in “Lockup in Laredo,” which is cause for celebration as far as I’m concerned. This is when Stephen Elliott arrives as Scotty Demarest, the high-dollar super lawyer...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 177 — ‘Winds of War’
Scene from a marriage In “Winds of War,” J.R. insists he’s been faithful when Sue Ellen accuses him of cheating. He’s lying, of course, but why? Is he trying to spare his wife’s feelings, or is he...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 178 — ‘Bail Out’
Truth to power Bobby springs Jenna from jail in “Bail Out,” while Sue Ellen liberates her own tongue. After discovering J.R. has cheated on her yet again, she stops playing the dutiful wife and begins...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 179 — ‘Legacy of Hate’
Girl on fire Who doesn’t love the first scene in “Legacy of Hate”? Pam storms into J.R.’s office and demands to know why he sent her on a wild goose chase for her presumed dead fiancé, Mark Graison....
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 180 — ‘Sins of the Fathers’
Darkest before dawn You know J.R. Ewing is having a bad week when he gets kneed in the groin and it’s the least of his problems. Such is our hero’s fate in “Sins of the Fathers.” The assault-by-patella...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 181 — ‘The Brothers Ewing’
The dark side In “The Brothers Ewing,” J.R., Bobby and Ray join forces to protect the family business from the increasingly dangerous Cliff Barnes. You’d think by now we’d all be used to seeing the...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 182 — ‘Shattered Dreams’
Key lighting It’s probably safe to say no “Dallas” episode would perform well on the Bechdel test, which some critics use to gauge sexism in movies. (To pass, a film must have at least one scene where...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 183 — ‘Dead Ends’
Inner sanctum The title “Dead Ends” refers to Pam’s fruitless search for Mark Graison, but it also describes “Dallas’s” final batch of eighth-season episodes. This show is now killing time. The writers...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 184 — ‘Trial and Error’
Miss Trial Jenna Wade has her day in court in “Trial and Error,” although I’m not sure why we should care. Now that Pam’s search for Mark Graison has come up empty, “Dallas” clearly is paving the way...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 185 — ‘The Verdict’
Stand by your woman, man Bobby Ewing fights to save Jenna in “The Verdict,” but the real man of the hour is Patrick Duffy. After an unusually long stretch of disappointing episodes, Duffy takes his...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 186 — ‘Sentences’
It’s a crime Do you hate to see the judge send Jenna Wade to prison in “Sentences”? I do. Not because I think it’s unfair to punish Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s character for a crime she didn’t commit....
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 187 — ‘Terms of Estrangement’
Hello, stranger Jack Ewing is a bad boy who makes a good impression. “Terms of Estrangement” introduces the character, a long-lost cousin who comes to town offering to sell J.R. information that could...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 188 — ‘The Ewing Connection’
Emergency, plus four No matter how many times I see the “Dallas” characters come together during a medical crisis, it never seems to lose its dramatic punch. In “The Ewing Connection,” John Ross’s...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 189 — ‘Deeds and Misdeeds’
Bottle shock Sue Ellen’s scenes in “Deeds and Misdeeds” aren’t easy to watch. The previous episode ended with her taking her first drink in almost two years, and in this hour, she continues slipping...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 190 — ‘Deliverance’
To the victors “Deliverance” is the next-to-last episode from “Dallas’s” eighth season, but if you didn’t know better, you might think it was the finale. By the end of the hour, the year’s two major...
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Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 191 — ‘Swan Song’
Exit the hero “Swan Song” is a masterpiece. This is the best “Dallas” episode ever made because it dares to set aside so many of the show’s conventions — wheeling, dealing, double-crossing — to focus...
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