Alexis
Telly Talk Superhero
OMG... But you are saying that in that split second Bobby sat and weighed out such pros and cons. He did something on instinct, it was dangerous but he didn't think about that at the time.
Dallas Scenes That Didn't Make Sense
- Thread starter Kenny Coyote
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Taylor Bennett Jr.
Telly Talk Winner
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CeeCee72
Telly Talk Star
There IS no upside in running towards bullets to save someone who is a chronic pain in your rear end.
All we're saying is that he didn't have time to think about it. Bobby had a deep hero complex. The instinct of most people is to run from danger. Bobby's instinct was to run toward it.
Willie Oleson
Telly Talk Schemer
Yeah, that's why I thought W.J. was the third (after Jeb and Jimmy Mahnahmahnah).
James from London
International Treasure
That's how I have always read the scene. I mean, Bobby had had very recent experience of shoot-outs and life-and-death situations. Within the space of a few months, he'd help rescue his family from a couple of nutters with guns, rescued his niece from another nutter with a gun, rescued his brother from a severe beating and survived a plane crash. Cliff hasn't had those kind of storylines so his instincts probably aren't as sharp.
Taylor Bennett Jr.
Telly Talk Winner
ah! I was just skimming and thought you meant there were 3... wait, it would have been 4 Willie Joes. My reading comprehension is worse than my hair!
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Willie Oleson
Telly Talk Schemer
Also, if you use the argument that our instinct is to run away from gunfire - which I tend to agree with - and assuming that Bobby was in the position to do so, then how would that look on screen?
Let's take this a step further and put Pam in Cliff's position.
According to the instinct-argument he wouldn't be able to save her even if he wanted to, because all he *can* do is to run away from the gunfire.
Viewers would never accept that, and Bobby's character would be damaged beyond repair.
It's just not the kind of thing a showrunner would sacrifice on the altar of realism, especially when there are explanations for the opposite scenario in a stand-alone episode mostly created for some action-packed entertainment.
And as we know he did it again when April was shot, and he had to make much more effort to try to save her.
Let's take this a step further and put Pam in Cliff's position.
According to the instinct-argument he wouldn't be able to save her even if he wanted to, because all he *can* do is to run away from the gunfire.
Viewers would never accept that, and Bobby's character would be damaged beyond repair.
It's just not the kind of thing a showrunner would sacrifice on the altar of realism, especially when there are explanations for the opposite scenario in a stand-alone episode mostly created for some action-packed entertainment.
And as we know he did it again when April was shot, and he had to make much more effort to try to save her.
Another lockdown-hairdo victim?
Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
Human beings are the only animal that cannot survive based on instinct. We do have a self preservation instinct but running towards gunfire is not an example of it.
We'd have gone extinct if we had an instinct to run towards a danger that can't be overcome such as bullets.
The shooting happened suddenly but no quicker than Bobby found out that a car was going to run over Pam. He saw that she didn't see it and would be killed if he didn't pushed her out of the way. In that instant he made the rational decision to save her life because he loved her so much he would rather risk his life to save hers than to live without her. Like the shooting situation, it was a split second judgement call. Judgement is not instinct as it requires reasoning.
In the shooting, he did not hear the shooting before Cliff did; they both heard it at once. There is nothing rational Bobby could do to save Cliff's life in this situation because the proper response is to get down to make oneself a harder target to hit. Cliff could do that for himself faster than Bobby could tackle him. It can't explained any more simply. The situation made no sense. Nobody has explained how Bobby could run all the way to Cliff and tackle him faster than Cliff could simply drop to the ground on his own. That's because it would be literally impossible to do. All Bobby was succeeding in doing is making himself an additional target. It was a completely nonsensical, irrational reaction.
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Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
Which is why it fits the category of things that made no sense.
Taylor Bennett Jr.
Telly Talk Winner
Another lockdown-hairdo victim?
another couple of months and I'm going to look like my avatar!
Herofan
Telly Talk Active Member
This is general, but one thing that never made sense to me is some of their in person meetings that could have been done over the phone. I remember a guy flew in from Houston to meet with Bobby over some business transaction. Bobby insisted they meet, but when he arrived, the discussion didn’t last 30 seconds. He basically just confirmed the business. They could have just done that over the phone. This type of meeting happened at times, and I never understood the need.
Willie Oleson
Telly Talk Schemer
To hell with proper, I'd scream and run (not necessarily in the right direction).
Also, once you're flat on the floor, it'll be harder to escape to another position. If the shooter is close and intends to kill you, all he has to do is walk towards you and shoot you in the back.
But this was a different situation.
We're talking about seconds here but the video clearly show that Cliff was not attempting to save himself, presumably because he was too dazed by the unexpected calamity.
As for "Cliff doesn't deserve to be saved" (because he annoyed Jock and JR, right?) then let's think how Pam is going to react when her brother, in an attempt to end the kidnap drama, is killed by a Southfork bullet.
Let's hope she'll do the proper thing and don't make a big melodrama out of it, because that's not really her style, is it?
You can straighten it and model it in the Farah Fawcett look.
Taylor Bennett Jr.
Telly Talk Winner
I posted this one in an earlier thread:
The Barneses are getting ready for the miniseries Ewing barbecue and Cousin Jimmy (remember him?) has a favorite shirt he'd like to wear. Even Cliff enthusiastically exclaims that it's a terrific shirt.
Pam, however, has other plans and makes Jimmy wear a different shirt (which apparently wasn't terrific). You see, she wants Jimmy to come across as a 'hayseed' to impress Lucy, who'd undoubtedly be able to see through the scheme if his shirt was too terrific. ("Oh, c'mon Pam, how much hay is there on the streets of Dallas?", Cliff asks.)
I guess Pam's trying to get Lucy to date someone more age-appropriate than Ray while also getting her cousin some action? Maybe she thinks Lucy likes hayseed types since Ray is a cowboy? Does she really think another Barnes-Ewing union is a good idea? Weird!
terrific!
not terrific!
now that's tempting!
The Barneses are getting ready for the miniseries Ewing barbecue and Cousin Jimmy (remember him?) has a favorite shirt he'd like to wear. Even Cliff enthusiastically exclaims that it's a terrific shirt.
Pam, however, has other plans and makes Jimmy wear a different shirt (which apparently wasn't terrific). You see, she wants Jimmy to come across as a 'hayseed' to impress Lucy, who'd undoubtedly be able to see through the scheme if his shirt was too terrific. ("Oh, c'mon Pam, how much hay is there on the streets of Dallas?", Cliff asks.)
I guess Pam's trying to get Lucy to date someone more age-appropriate than Ray while also getting her cousin some action? Maybe she thinks Lucy likes hayseed types since Ray is a cowboy? Does she really think another Barnes-Ewing union is a good idea? Weird!
terrific!
not terrific!
now that's tempting!
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Swami
Telly Talk Supreme
Similarly, often JR or Bobby would arrive in the office, seemingly for a full day's work, and maybe only spend five or ten minutes. That would be good work if you could get it!
Swami
James from London
International Treasure
But behaving irrationally does make sense within the context of the scene. If everyone in Dallas rationally considered their actions before embarking on them, no-one would ever get drunk or have an affair or swear revenge or shoot anyone and it would be really boring.
Swami
Telly Talk Supreme
On that basis a more plausible recast would have been needed, there isn't much of a resemblance between the two actors, and of course the combover is difficult to overlook!the dastardly Jeb Ames was the one who was recast!
Swami
J. R.'s Piece
Telly Talk Star
Oh, yes. In fact, at the weekend I was watching Man of the World (onscreen the future former spouse of Leslie Stewart and in reality married to the future Jessica-sister of Clayton), where he was being rescued from certain death by The Sentimental Agent for $5000 + expenses. Although the TSA accepted an IOU before he started. But The Sentimental Agent also risked his own life and rescued an imprisoned scientist for free and escaped with the aid of a photographer (Shirley Eaton) for nothing more than the prospect of getting his own spin-off series.
And Bobby was Cliff’s brother-in-law and had made sure that Cliff and Pam reconciled after that business where Jock used JR to dig something up on Cliff to ruin his election. And Bobby had gone to eat with Cliff and Pam. And if you think of his awareness/suspicions of some of JR’s actions at that point and he dealt with those. I don’t find it surprising.
Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
I posted this one in an earlier thread:
The Barneses are getting ready for the miniseries Ewing barbecue and Cousin Jimmy (remember him?) has a favorite shirt he'd like to wear. Even Cliff enthusiastically exclaims that it's a terrific shirt.
Pam, however, has other plans and makes Jimmy wear a different shirt (which apparently wasn't terrific). You see, she wants Jimmy to come across as a 'hayseed' to impress Lucy, who'd undoubtedly be able to see through the scheme if his shirt was too terrific. ("Oh, c'mon Pam, how much hay is there on the streets of Dallas?", Cliff asks.)
I guess Pam's trying to get Lucy to date someone more age-appropriate than Ray while also getting her cousin some action? Maybe she thinks Lucy likes hayseed types since Ray is a cowboy? Does she really think another Barnes-Ewing union is a good idea? Weird!
terrific!
not terrific!
now that's tempting!
I don't think that was the intention of the story. Pam thought it was better to keep Jimmy and Lucy apart so she specifically didn't want him wearing anything to impress Lucy. Pam cared about Lucy and was trying to help her, but though she'd make a terrible girlfriend for Jimmy. That's why he had to wear the boring shirt. Pam knew Lucy went through men like Kleenex and didn't want Jimmy to end up as just another one of many.
Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
This is a different kind of "doesn't make sense" than getting drunk or having an affair. Those at least have upsides. Bobby is going to run in and save Cliff from being shot except he can't outrun the bullets, so he's not going to get there in time. If he does get there while the shooting is still going on he gets shot. There is absolutely nothing Bobby could do for Cliff in that particular situation that Cliff couldn't do for himself and more quickly.
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