Pam and Ray's relationship

[Sarah]

Apart from the very early days of Dallas, why do you think there was no real mention made again of Ray and Pam's relationship? I know JR stuck his orr in but wouldn't it have been fun to have this crop up again at some point later in the series? It was kind of swept under the carpet...

Thanks to Dallas Decoder for the photograph.

 

[Karin]

I guess the reason it was swept under the carpet was because whatever Pam and Ray had was over and done with before the show began. The audience clearly wanted Pam with Bobby and Ray with Donna and therefore there wasn't much point in revisiting this part of history.

But well I can think of two mentions of Pam & Ray later on, one was in this scene:


They talk about their past and how they met and he mentions how he couldn't stand that she spent the whole evening dancing with Ray.
She replies that he was her date.

Then there was also a mentioning in the season after Pam left. It was in the scene where Ray asked Bobby to be his best man when he was going to marry Jenna.
The brothers then reflected over that they had changed girls, since Jenna used to be Bobby's girl and Pam used to be Ray's.
I don't have a screencap of that scene though...

 

[Sarah]

Great post @Karin Schill - I guess in Dallas sometimes things went full circle

 

[Karin]

Yeah it surely seems that way. Even though it's a bit strange how Bobby and Ray switched girls. I guess it can happen in real life too but it's rather unusual I think.

 

[Clubsoda]

It would certainly have been nice to have some Pam and Ray scenes scattered throughout the seasons but I guess it just wasn't regarded as important enough at the expense of scenes with characters that Pam and Ray had big relevant storylines with.

It was exactly the same with Pam and Lucy after Pam divorced Bobby. Not a single mention of their close relationship ever again. Even a scene of one of them saying they'd just been to dinner or the oil barons with the other off screen would've been nice but no. That was just unrealistic and lazy writing.

 

[Toni]

Pam and Ray´s affair was also mentioned when Jenna left Southfork and said goodbye to Ray, right after she was dumped by Bobby. The irony of that storyline in the future (Ray raising Bobby´s child and Bobby losing Pam and having to raise alone the natural son of...Kristin) got lost in the chaos of the post-dream seasons, which made every twist seem totally random and surrealistic. Anyway, Pam´s relationship with Ray, even after her divorce from Bobby, sounded completely believable because she did care about him (and Donna) and felt somewhat torn between her new life and her past with the Ewings, which usually happens when a couple breaks up in real life.

The first 3 seasons included a lot of scenes where Pam seemed to be really interested and concerned about Ray´s well-being. What sometimes bugged me was the fact that Bobby never was jealous of Ray at the time, not even for a minute. That was big-hearted Bobby, before the fight for Ewing Oil and the appearance of Mark Graison, of course. Or maybe Bobby just knew that he had nothing to envy to good ol´ Ray...and Pam knew that too... :danc:

 

[Justine]

Whenever I think of Ray and Pam's relationship, I'm reminded of the Ray and Lucy "call me her name scene" in the first season

Back on topic, I personally don't see any reasons for additional scenes between Ray and Pam. In my head, their relationship probably started because Pam was curious about Southfork and "the awful family that destroyed her daddy" - and that was probably the only real appeal of Ray for her.

 

[Chris2]

It was exactly the same with Pam and Lucy after Pam divorced Bobby. Not a single mention of their close relationship ever again. Even a scene of one of them saying they'd just been to dinner or the oil barons with the other off screen would've been nice but no. That was just unrealistic and lazy writing.

This was one of the few flaws of “Swan Song”. Bobby goes to visit Pam and mentioned that Lucy got married again, to Mitch. Pam doesn’t know about that marriage, doesn’t know that Lucy was even seeing Mitch, and doesn’t seem to care that Lucy didn’t tell her or invite her to the wedding.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

it seems like it should have been more present, at least, if not mentioned.. it was a pretty important part of the show’s setup.

Now the one they *really* swept under the rug was Sue Ellen’s night of passion with Ray in Black Market Baby!

 

[Toni]

This was one of the few flaws of “Swan Song”. Bobby goes to visit Pam and mentioned that Lucy got married again, to Mitch. Pam doesn’t know about that marriage, doesn’t know that Lucy was even seeing Mitch, and doesn’t seem to care that Lucy didn’t tell her or invite her to the wedding.

Maybe it was because of jet-lag from her Hong Kong trip...I honestly loved Pam´s sweet reaction when Bobby told her: she was happy for her...Imagine Sue Ellen in that situation. "She married who? Does he make money?"

 

[tpayne1987]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum but I'm very interested in your topic. I tried to find the history of Pam and Ray's relationship on the Internet, but unfortunately, I couldn't find anything accurate. As far as I understand, is this a TV series or a movie? Could you tell me the name of this movie? I recently broke up with my ex-boyfriend and now only songs or movies can calm me down and distract me from negative thoughts. I would love to find out more about this couple's history. By the way, I will be glad if you share here other similar films.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Hello @tpayne1987 and welcome to the forum! Ur really gonna like it here, trust me. Pam and Ray’s relationship was from the TV series DALLAS that ran from 1978-91. But they had already broken up by the time the show began so you won’t find much on the internet about them as a couple. The show began as a five part miniseries in ‘78 with Pam having just married Bobby, which was Ray’s half brother, but that part would remain unknown for a couple of more years. In the pilot episode called Digger’s Daughter, Ray and Pam discuss their past. I suggest you go back and watch this episode as you will get a feel for all the characters and how they intersect. As far as suggesting other shows like Dallas, to me that’s impossible. There’s only one. But if ur looking to get into all the 80s prime time soaps then I also suggest Dynasty, Knots Landing (spin-off of Dallas), Falcon Crest and The Colbys. They were all very good and extremely popular.

 

[Billy Wall]

it seems like it should have been more present, at least, if not mentioned.. it was a pretty important part of the show’s setup.

Now the one they *really* swept under the rug was Sue Ellen’s night of passion with Ray in Black Market Baby!

Exactly. Ray went though the entire house. SMH

 

[Rove]

Could it be we all had it wrong with Pam and her innocent persona as the sweet girl from the wrong side of the tracks? Something was attracting her to Southfork. First Ray then Bobby. Perhaps JR was correct all along and had good reason to mistrust that Barnes woman. If Pam and Ray had dated surely JR would have known this: now she was after the Ewing Prince.

When I think about it the Ewing family lead a simple, inward looking life until that woman arrived at Southfork and that's when all the problems began. Perhaps it was Pam's plan all along to destroy the Ewing family: from the inside out.

Careful Miss Ellie. I think this woman is really about seeking revenge for the heartbreak you caused her daddy.​

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Exactly. Ray went though the entire house. SMH

Pam, Lucy, Sue Ellen, Donna and Jenna. Now if he had Katherine, Kristin, and April it would be a complete set. All of his sisters in-law.

 

[tommie]

it seems like it should have been more present, at least, if not mentioned.. it was a pretty important part of the show’s setup.

Now the one they *really* swept under the rug was Sue Ellen’s night of passion with Ray in Black Market Baby!

I always assumed that the original plan was to have paternity of John Ross further up in the air and have Ray involved. I'm guessing once Jacobs left to do Knots Landing the entire storyline was dropped and they focused on making Ray an actual Ewing.

 

[Billy Wall]

I always assumed that the original plan was to have paternity of John Ross further up in the air and have Ray involved. I'm guessing once Jacobs left to do Knots Landing the entire storyline was dropped and they focused on making Ray an actual Ewing.

I’ve heard that was Larry Hagman’s idea to keep Steve Kanaly from leaving Dallas.

 

[Seaviewer]

I always assumed that the original plan was to have paternity of John Ross further up in the air and have Ray involved.

I'm not sure why you would assume that. I suppose it was always something they could have shaken out of their sleeve at some point but there was no indication that their one night would ever be mentioned again, while her affair with Cliff was a major plotline.

 

[Sarah]

No I wouldn’t assume that at all. It was never the intention. I’m not sure why Ray was swept under the carpet but I think JR would likely have killed him had he found out. Which is ironic considering he slept with Sue Ellen’s sister. Maybe behind the scenes Ray was told to keep his mouth shut. He was probably starting to feel like the Southfork Saddletramp after Lucy as well!!!

 

[tommie]

I'm not sure why you would assume that. I suppose it was always something they could have shaken out of their sleeve at some point but there was no indication that their one night would ever be mentioned again, while her affair with Cliff was a major plotline.

It's a bit too much of a coincidence that Swellin' turns out pregnant as she's just had slept with JR, Cliff and Ray. It always sticks out to me like something that would've been explored had David Jacobs not left to focus on Knots Landing; plus in itself it's just a classic soap trope. Have someone sleep around and do a "who's the father?".

Maybe the next continuation of Dallas will reveal John Ross's true identity.