Jock's Ghost
Telly Talk Fan
Not bad. I'd rather have had something outlandish yet moderately acceptable than outright bad. The return of one guy should not have titled the show on its axis, yet it did and Katzman and Hagman are to blame. I'd much rather have had something like Bobby's car being found abandoned... they search all season. Had a Patrick said no to a return, kill him. If yes, JR to the rescue. "Not again. My Daddys gone but not my brother!"I agree. So many believable ways this could have been handled differently. I'm not a fan of the actor returning as a different character, but even such was a vast improvement over what they choose to do. To me it was on par with Dallas TNT ignoring the movies - which I agree weren't all that great. Or Dallas 2020 ignoring Dallas TNT (if there were such a thing).
Though I must say one of my favorite TV series endings was when Bob Newhart woke up in bed with Susanne Susan Pleshette and made one series a dream of another. But that was a comedy and it was also the end of a series.
I don't see why Bobby couldn't have been in a comma that year. Certainly it would have been a closed casket funeral (we don't know otherwise and it's plausible considering how bad his face was damaged). It's also plausible that JR had the heart monitor flatlined and then shut off only to move his brother to some place he else. His closest relatives would have been a minor son the doctors would not have consulted with and Miss Ellie and JR and Gary. Gary was not there. Miss Ellie was too distraught. JR makes the decision. No one would have believed that JR could "pull the plug" on Bobby. And JR certainly has the money to put him away somewhere to be in a coma. Instead of the shower scene, a body in a hospital bed, we look down at Bobby's face and his eyes open. We return next season to find Sue Ellen fighting for her life in emergency and Bobby struggling to speak. And JR with a whole lot of explaining to do.
Wendell and Katherine are behind it. Anyone of is posting here have posted good to brilliant resolutions. Z