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For me: with this. Illegal fracking on section 40 causes a chasm to open, threatening to swallow the Ewings into the fiery depths. Never would a cliffhanger been a more appropriate term.
How should it have ended?
- Thread starter Laurie Marr
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I want to see Lady Jessica's Season 13 murder spree taken seriously; her motive? -- as was cleverly suggested by someone on these pages -- to kill the Dallas cartel (as opposed to Clayton's business partners) because she'd been extorting them for 40 years with claims they'd fathered Dusty. And then they stopped when she went into the asylum.
I want JR to fake his death in the latter part of Season 14 (as the did in JR RETURNS) leading Ray, Donna, and Sue Ellen to return for his funeral. JR then shows up alive, and Sue Ellen -- backed by a consortium -- reveals she's purchased a weakened Ewing Oil, and places Cliff in the position of CEO just to irk her ex-husband... Miss Ellie and Bobby are perversely amused, and JR is predictably enraged yet grudgingly respectful of Sue Ellen's guile... In the final scene of Season 14, Miss Ellie takes the family on horseback out to see the dark secrets long-buried on Section 40, and she's thrown from her horse and gets a great death scene on the Texas prairie.
In Season 15 (yes, I'd have a Season 15), JR struggles dealing with the possibility that he might be Digger's biological son (an inebriated Clayton spilled the beans, perhaps during Ellie's funeral) which can be undone, if we prefer, with a DNA test. The men also learn Pam may have died as the result of neurofibromatosis (Rebecca either lied, or was confused about, Hutch McKinney having fathered her daughter) making JR and Pam potentially brother and sister.
In the final scene of the series, after months of Ewing Oil teetering under Cliff's tutelage (and JR trying endlessly to unseat him), the family again rides out to Section 40 to open up that damned well. (Worried, Lucy and Afton, engaged to Bobby, refuse to go; but Donna, loyal to Ray -- with whom she's attempting to reconcile after Senator Dowling's fatal heart attack -- agrees to go along with the men... The rig collapses, sending the Ewings symbolically down into the bowels of hell, and the camera pans away from the platform to a distant shot to an angsty, hazy long-shot of the Dallas skyline. The music fades out, no freeze frame, and all we hear is dust and the traffic at a distance.
End of series.
I want JR to fake his death in the latter part of Season 14 (as the did in JR RETURNS) leading Ray, Donna, and Sue Ellen to return for his funeral. JR then shows up alive, and Sue Ellen -- backed by a consortium -- reveals she's purchased a weakened Ewing Oil, and places Cliff in the position of CEO just to irk her ex-husband... Miss Ellie and Bobby are perversely amused, and JR is predictably enraged yet grudgingly respectful of Sue Ellen's guile... In the final scene of Season 14, Miss Ellie takes the family on horseback out to see the dark secrets long-buried on Section 40, and she's thrown from her horse and gets a great death scene on the Texas prairie.
In Season 15 (yes, I'd have a Season 15), JR struggles dealing with the possibility that he might be Digger's biological son (an inebriated Clayton spilled the beans, perhaps during Ellie's funeral) which can be undone, if we prefer, with a DNA test. The men also learn Pam may have died as the result of neurofibromatosis (Rebecca either lied, or was confused about, Hutch McKinney having fathered her daughter) making JR and Pam potentially brother and sister.
In the final scene of the series, after months of Ewing Oil teetering under Cliff's tutelage (and JR trying endlessly to unseat him), the family again rides out to Section 40 to open up that damned well. (Worried, Lucy and Afton, engaged to Bobby, refuse to go; but Donna, loyal to Ray -- with whom she's attempting to reconcile after Senator Dowling's fatal heart attack -- agrees to go along with the men... The rig collapses, sending the Ewings symbolically down into the bowels of hell, and the camera pans away from the platform to a distant shot to an angsty, hazy long-shot of the Dallas skyline. The music fades out, no freeze frame, and all we hear is dust and the traffic at a distance.
End of series.
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I’m also happy with them tumbling into a collapsed rig. Love it! Is the paternity issue resolved for JR, though?
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Probably. The audience most likely doesn't want to see JR as a Barnes in the end. But final-season paternity issues can be fun, even if they're cleared up before all is said and done.
In my Phantom Season 10 of DYNASTY, I have Alexis running around trying to throw water on the possibility that she's the biological daughter of Adolph Hitler (due to her mother Minx's affair with Der Fuehrer in 1936). By the penultimate episode, Alexis is relieved to learn it's impossible -- but not for her sister, Caress, who might still be his offspring...
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Miss Ellie dies, family are gathered at her bedside, her final breath she says that Digger is JR's father and he and Cliff are related and to "play nice together"
JR looks horrified! Freeze frame!
JR looks horrified! Freeze frame!
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It was the one big secret that (sadly) the show never got around to exploring - but it would have made for a memorable conclusion. I seem to recall that Digger as JR's daddy was hinted at in Raintree's novel.
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A despondent JR hears a knock at the door. Bobby is there and says 'JR there's somebody here to talk to us'
Steve Forrest shows up and says ''OK JR, Bobby, it's time to get back Ewing Oil. Let's get to work'
Steve Forrest shows up and says ''OK JR, Bobby, it's time to get back Ewing Oil. Let's get to work'
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If we had to have The Dream which revived Bobby in 1986, I like the idea that after Bobby finds JR in his room at the end of "Conundrum," un-bloody and on the bedroom floor, the picture ripples to Pam waking up in her bed -- the scene filmed 5 years earlier -- and she goes to the shower, opens the door, and finds Mark Graison (or a lookalike, as John Beck never shot this scene) on the shower floor. Pam screams "Maaaaaaaark! Maaaaaaaark!!" and the camera pans into the drain.
No music. Fade to black.
If VP would permit re-usage of the footage.
It's a little farfetched, but by ending on that, it becmes a dream-within-a-dream. And it allows the audience to re-visit the long-unresolved dream issue, and thus reconsider what parts of DALLAS may or may not have been a dream.
No music. Fade to black.
If VP would permit re-usage of the footage.
It's a little farfetched, but by ending on that, it becmes a dream-within-a-dream. And it allows the audience to re-visit the long-unresolved dream issue, and thus reconsider what parts of DALLAS may or may not have been a dream.
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Young Christopher Ewing tears into a hearty plate of eggs and toast, ecstatic that his parents are back together. Freeze frame, roll credits.
seen above: the happy family prepares to descend the stairs for the triumphant final scene
(Who’s the mysterious woman in the car outside the house? Is she the same one who threw the tomato juice at the TV? Who cares, we’ve reached our happy ending!)
seen above: the happy family prepares to descend the stairs for the triumphant final scene
(Who’s the mysterious woman in the car outside the house? Is she the same one who threw the tomato juice at the TV? Who cares, we’ve reached our happy ending!)
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Bobby wakes up in the hospital after a long period of unconsciousness following the head injuries sustained from the windshield of Katherine's car and realizes the last dreadful "seasons" were all just a horrible nightmare. Thus, both poking fun at the dream resolution for his comeback and keeping the correct, core characters in play at the end.
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After one final victory, a gleefully JR returns to Southfork, has a victory drink and heads to the kitchen for dinner and glances at all the empty seats and realizes that there's no one there to celebrate his victory because he literally ran everyone away. He sits, Teresa ask him will he be eating alone, he reluctantly says yes, camera pans out for the last time, roll credits.
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I want to find out that Jeremy Wendell had been spiking the Southfork aquifer with some hallucinogen since 1984; hence, Donna Reed and The Dream and the shlocky final seasons.
"I've loved Jock Ewing all my life, and you bastards and yo mama took him away from me....!"
"I've loved Jock Ewing all my life, and you bastards and yo mama took him away from me....!"
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This is what happened at the beginning of episode 356/357 of the classic series, except that J.R. had lost everything, namely his family, Ewing Oil, Westar, and Southfork Ranch. A similar scene involved Michelle Stevens and previously Carter McKay.
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DALLAS should have ended better. J.R. should have went out at the top of his game, rather than rock bottom. Pam should also have featured, with a happy conclusion i.e. not as happy as J.R. but back at Southfork again and reunited with Bobby. Then again that just wouldn't have made J.R. happy. Maybe they should have had Pam driving up to the mansion, towards the end. J.R. doesn't see her but is partying himself and reminiscing, in a good way c/w rose tainted glasses.
Patrick; Larry, Linda, Steve, Ken, Victoria and Charlene are reminiscing, in the Southfork living room about their time on DALLAS. The subject then comes around about their other original cast members (Barbara Bel Geddes and Jim Davis), (a scene from Dallas ‘Return To Southfork’; retrospective reunion movie, DVD-4, DVD – ‘The Movie Collection’, 2004):
Larry: “Ye know a get together like this reminds me of Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes. They were really the heart of this family.”
Patrick: “Well Jim would be right up here now, talking about the Oil Barons Ball.”
Larry: “Yeah or putting ideas into my head for the next oil deal. What a great spirit he was, ah?”
Steve: “He was like a team captain, a cheer leader. He just stayed with everybody, encouraging us all to do our best and to work as a team.”
Victoria looks at Patrick, Larry and Steve: “In the script Jim was your daddy but on the set I always thought he was mine.”
Linda: “Very sweet!”
Charlene: “Yeah!”
Larry: “Yeah!”
Flashback scenes of Jim as Jock are shown, (complete with trumpet sound):
Jock walks along the paddock, standing at the bar during the barbeque, on a horse in one of the Southfork fields.
Jock to Pamela, who is bed after recovering from the barn fall and loosing her baby:
"I guess you don't have no reason to really care but I want to keep my family together."
Jock with Ellie looking on gives JR a pat on the back, to congratulate him on the birth of John Ross Ewing III:
JR: “Thank you!”
Jock: “I just can’t believe it my oldest boy finally got himself a baby.” Jock is very happy.
Jock speaks with Bobby, at the Southfork stables:
Jock: “JR giving you a hard time?”
Bobby: “I can’t work with him daddy. Now I don’t like saying it but it’s true.”
Jock: “Bobby you stand up to him!”
Jock is smoking on the Southfork veranda and has a fatherly chat with JR:
Jock: “You jackass!”
JR: “Now wait a minute daddy.”
Jock: “Well it’s about time you learned the art of subtlety.” He then takes another pull of his cigarette.”
JR: “Well why should I be subtle?”
Jock: “Because the lack of it turns competitors into enemies and enemies into fanatics.”
Jock is standing at the barbeque bar drinking bourbon and has an exchange of views with Digger:
Jock: “Same old Digger Barnes!”
Digger: “You took everything; everything, including my girl.”
Jock: “Your what?”
Jock and Ellie are in the Southfork den facing each other:
Ellie: “I really wouldn’t know what I’d do without you!”
Jock: “Ah!”
They kiss and hug, as Jock says: "You're beautiful.”
Jock and Ray are on horseback, in one of the Southfork fields:
Ray: “Oh you look kinda tired.”
He gives Jock a pat on the back.
Jock: “No I’m not tired, just trying to keep myself busy that’s all. Keep my mind from working so much. Ye know every time I get get things settled. It seems like something else turns up. I can handle myself if that’s what you mean. Let’s go home!”
Ray: “Yes sir!”
They gallop towards the Southfork mansion.
Focus on Jock’s portrait; as the rest of the Dallas T.V. cast begin to speak about the other DALLAS anchor, Barbara Bel Geddes.
Patrick; Larry, Linda, Steve, Ken, Victoria and Charlene are reminiscing, in the Southfork living room about their time on DALLAS. The subject then comes around about their other original cast members (Barbara Bel Geddes and Jim Davis), (a scene from Dallas ‘Return To Southfork’; retrospective reunion movie, DVD-4, DVD – ‘The Movie Collection’, 2004):
Larry: “Ye know a get together like this reminds me of Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes. They were really the heart of this family.”
Patrick: “Well Jim would be right up here now, talking about the Oil Barons Ball.”
Larry: “Yeah or putting ideas into my head for the next oil deal. What a great spirit he was, ah?”
Steve: “He was like a team captain, a cheer leader. He just stayed with everybody, encouraging us all to do our best and to work as a team.”
Victoria looks at Patrick, Larry and Steve: “In the script Jim was your daddy but on the set I always thought he was mine.”
Linda: “Very sweet!”
Charlene: “Yeah!”
Larry: “Yeah!”
Flashback scenes of Jim as Jock are shown, (complete with trumpet sound):
Jock walks along the paddock, standing at the bar during the barbeque, on a horse in one of the Southfork fields.
Jock to Pamela, who is bed after recovering from the barn fall and loosing her baby:
"I guess you don't have no reason to really care but I want to keep my family together."
Jock with Ellie looking on gives JR a pat on the back, to congratulate him on the birth of John Ross Ewing III:
JR: “Thank you!”
Jock: “I just can’t believe it my oldest boy finally got himself a baby.” Jock is very happy.
Jock speaks with Bobby, at the Southfork stables:
Jock: “JR giving you a hard time?”
Bobby: “I can’t work with him daddy. Now I don’t like saying it but it’s true.”
Jock: “Bobby you stand up to him!”
Jock is smoking on the Southfork veranda and has a fatherly chat with JR:
Jock: “You jackass!”
JR: “Now wait a minute daddy.”
Jock: “Well it’s about time you learned the art of subtlety.” He then takes another pull of his cigarette.”
JR: “Well why should I be subtle?”
Jock: “Because the lack of it turns competitors into enemies and enemies into fanatics.”
Jock is standing at the barbeque bar drinking bourbon and has an exchange of views with Digger:
Jock: “Same old Digger Barnes!”
Digger: “You took everything; everything, including my girl.”
Jock: “Your what?”
Jock and Ellie are in the Southfork den facing each other:
Ellie: “I really wouldn’t know what I’d do without you!”
Jock: “Ah!”
They kiss and hug, as Jock says: "You're beautiful.”
Jock and Ray are on horseback, in one of the Southfork fields:
Ray: “Oh you look kinda tired.”
He gives Jock a pat on the back.
Jock: “No I’m not tired, just trying to keep myself busy that’s all. Keep my mind from working so much. Ye know every time I get get things settled. It seems like something else turns up. I can handle myself if that’s what you mean. Let’s go home!”
Ray: “Yes sir!”
They gallop towards the Southfork mansion.
Focus on Jock’s portrait; as the rest of the Dallas T.V. cast begin to speak about the other DALLAS anchor, Barbara Bel Geddes.
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I like this idea. JR finally has motive to celebrate but comes to the realization it means nothing without family as he glances at the portraits of Jock and Miss Ellie on the wall and the numerous photos of past characters on the piano in the living room.
End credits.
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Finale like Falcon Crest?
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Season 6 of "Dallas" (fire) might have been one of the possible Series Finales, along with "Swan Song" and Sue Ellen´s departure. "Falcon Crest" should have ended with Melissa burning the mansion...