Bobby giving up on Pam

[CeeCee72]

Sorry for posting multiple threads...just thinking about "Dallas" a lot tonight.

We've often talked here about the last few years of the show destroying our favorite characters, but one thing I haven't seen discussed was how out of character it was for Bobby to stop looking for Pam just because he got a letter telling him she didn't want to be found.

Remember after Katherine shot him? The scene where Pam tells him she never wrote the "divorce" letter but that Katherine had forged it? After that, why would he take one letter as golden evidence that Pam didn't want him to look for her?

Up until that point, Bobby was always portrayed as the headstrong, often reckless hero It was totally out of character for him to give up on the woman he loved so easily.

 

[DallasFanForever]

This always bothered me as well. There really isn’t much I can add cause I think you summed it up perfectly. I remember when Bobby went to visit Parker Ellison after he had read the letter and he demanded to know where Pam is. Parker refused and I was waiting for Bobby to throw him out the window or at least hang him outside of it until he confessed Pam’s whereabouts. But sadly it never happened. And then at the end of the season when cliff goes to Southfork to tell Bobby that Jordan saw Pam and he’s going to look for her. I expected Bobby to run out of that house and look for her too. But again it didn’t happen.

 

[the-lost-son]

I watched the episodes after VP's exit once (never will again)
It's a jump the shark moment, the Pam-look-alike storyline was unbearable to watch for me.

After BBG and PD coming back, they didn't want to close the door on VP understandably. But you got to move on. How do you accomplish that? A simple plane crash (yes done multiple times, but essential here).

You get them mourn Pam and leave the possibility for a return. They dropped the ball there.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

I see it two ways, every time there was trouble in their relationship, Pam was always the one to leave, and Bobby chasing after her, I suppose he didn’t want to do that this time.

But even so it does irk me that Bobby seemed completely indifferent, I could understand it if Bobby was at first trying to bury his feelings and then he gets obsessed with finding Pam later on but to simply give up on your wife who was badly burned in a horrific car accident whose mental state clearly isn’t in the right frame of mind is quite out of character of Bobby for him to not care

 

[DallasFanForever]

You would think that he’d at least want to find her for Christopher’s sake. The poor kid knows he’s adopted and has struggled with it and now loses the only mother he’s ever known on top of it. And to make matters worse she’s abandoned him. As his father I’d definitely want to find her to get some answers.

 

[Billy Wall]

Remember, Christopher actually talked Bobby out of going to find her. He pretty much told Bobby “SHE left us.”

 

[Sarah]

But it was standard from this point on wasn’t it?

The most important female characters, weren’t done right by.

Sue Ellen - JR abandoning his marriage to her for some idiot with no brain thus destroying the show. JR as we knew him would never have left Sue Ellen for some bimbo - regardless of Ewing Oil. He would have come up with a way to keep Sue Ellen and get what he wanted in business. Not just roll over because some silly aul twat told him to do so.

Pam - Bobby not coming after her and the rest of the family following suit. Would not have happened. Bobby would at least have tried.

Miss Ellie - leaving Southfork - WHAT?! Can’t even.

Donna - I can kind of get on board with Donnas final journey but didn’t want to leave her out.

The treatment of these all important characters was appalling. I’ve seen better fanfics than what we were given. I’m all about Sue Ellen but it doesn’t mean I didn’t notice what was going on with the rest of my family as a lifelong Dallas fan.

I just don’t know if it was laziness, sexism or what.

The older I get the more I want to wring those writers necks.

 

[Billy Wall]

I just don’t know if it was laziness, sexism or what.

The older I get the more I want to wring those writers necks.

Dallas was VERY sexist. But that was Texas. As Sue Ellen’s lawyer once said, “Texas is one of the last strongholds of male chauvinism there is.”

It would never fly today, but they were probably accurate in their depiction of Dallas in those days.

 

[CeeCee72]

Dallas was VERY sexist. But that was Texas. As Sue Ellen’s lawyer once said, “Texas is one of the last strongholds of male chauvinism there is.”

It would never fly today, but they were probably accurate in their depiction of Dallas in those days.

Agree.

But the writers and producers made a HUGE mistake by not respecting their female characters - especially Sue Ellen and Pam. A large part of the audience was female and we LOVED those women.

VP could have been written out in so many interesting ways. Instead they leave her to voluntarily leave her son - you know the one she was ANNOYINGLY attached to...AFTER she had lived through the damage of having her own mother abandon her.

And Sue Ellen? They just took a total blow torch to her. She was u recognizable by the time LG finally threw up her hands and walked away.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

If Pam’s accident had taken place in seasons 7 (DVD) you can bet your life that Bobby would have moved mountains, heavens, earths and whole universes to find her.

I think by Season 11 it was lazy writing that played a huge part in how awful Pam’s disappearance played out

 

[Billy Wall]

If Pam’s accident had taken place in seasons 7 (DVD) you can bet your life that Bobby would have moved mountains, heavens, earths and whole universes to find her.

I think by Season 11 it was lazy writing that played a huge part in how awful Pam’s disappearance played out

You guys are thinking logically. The facts is VP had left the show and wasn’t coming back. Would they really waste Bobby trying to find someone who wasn’t coming back? On top of that, many viewer probably knew she had left the show.

 

[DallasFanForever]

At the time I honestly thought VP was just taking a break and would be back for the next season. The naïveté of a 12 year old!

 

[CeeCee72]

At the time I honestly thought VP was just taking a break and would be back for the next season. The naïveté of a 12 year old!

I thought she'd be back too. Back then, actors were constantly leaving the shows that made them famous only to crawl back in a season or two. Remember the Dukes of Hazzard debacle? Not to mention the Patrick Duffy debacle.

 

[Sarah]

I can honestly say hand on heart (sorry) that Pam leaving didn't really affect me, however I do understand the impact her absence had. I was just never a big fan. I do remember at the time thinking it was very odd that she wasn't there with Bobby though (I was 11 when VP made her exit).

In hindsight, I think it would have been better for Pam to have been killed or just throw the towel in on the Ewings. It was too painful to watch Bobby going through all that pain and very hard to believe that Pam would abandon him or Christopher, especially when VP had made her intentions clear.

Fast forward to when I was 13 and the hysteria that surrounded my life when Linda left. This was not a good time for me - utterly distraught. Even at such a young age I could see the damage that was being done and couldn't believe the mess that was created after Linda left. I hung in there because I'd never abandon 'my Dallas' but dear God - don't even insult me by talking about what happened next if you want to have a calm conversation. If that was now, I can honestly see the words 'chained to railings, Lorimar, mass protests, Irish girl arrested' in the one headline on CNN.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Linda leaving was also a big shock to me at the time. And my first reaction was the same one I had when VP left; she’ll be back. How could she not come back? But she didn’t (with the exception of the final episode but I’m not counting that). So I guess I was just as naive at 14 as I was at 12.

 

[Sarah]

I had known for a while that Linda had planned to leave. I actually prayed that she would change her mind. Larry Hagman also begged her to stay, but Linda knows her own mind, and her mind was made up. I just wish the internet had existed back then. I really believe the fans would have had the power to change things, and certainly let them (the dumb writers) know what we did and didn't want.

 

[the-lost-son]

I just wish the internet had existed back then. I really believe the fans would have had the power to change things

I'm sure the Internet could have helped to for Dallas to stay on track. People would address the decrease in quality. They obviously never did any test-screening with series (like they do with movies to decide which film's ending is more favorable for the audience.) I'm not sure if they do today?

But I don't think fans today know about backstage politics (creative disagreements, actor's rivalries, budget decisions) like people knew back in the day. Hard to compare - the hysteria with Primetime soaps and all the detail we know (e.g. Falcon Crest - actors not talking to each other, refusing certain storylines or Dallas (Katzman vs. Capice) or actors who wanted out of a series and weren't let go (Tom Selleck/Magnum - Indiana Jones or Pierce Brosnan/Remington Steele - James Bond).

Maybe today a series' production is much more private (with a few exceptions).

I'm not sure - Do fans have less insight today than back than?

Did the viewers back then think Victoria Principal would return? Now we know how clear her decision was. But the general fan must have regarded a return of Pam at least as possible.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

The way Bobby reacted to Pam's departure has always bothered me. The whole family, really. I have to seriously overlook this to enjoy any of the rest of the series. I suppose they did it this way because they thought Victoria might come back, and they also probably wanted to make it plausible for Bobby to date again, and possibly some inside animosity for VP.. but it was so out of character. He could have at least spent the season looking for her, and trying to get her to come back. Only giving up when he realized she was just too traumatized, and would not. I have said before that maybe an unseen interaction between either Bobby and Pam, or even Cliff and Pam would have made more sense. Would the audience have liked an unseen interaction? No, I'm sure we wouldn't, but how else, aside from the words of Bobby or Cliff were we to believe she really was refusing to come back, and that they finally accepted it? I know we finally got the scene with Cliff and Pam the next season, but Bobby had already turned his back on her almost a year earlier, and had already been dating.

 

[CeeCee72]

Exactly. And to be honest, it ruined my whole perception of Bobby.

I never saw him as the perfect hero that others did, but I believed in his love for Pam and Christopher. Him just walking away and moving on so quickly made me doubt everything I thought I knew about him.

And I have always said, Pam and Bobby might have been the core "love story" of Dallas, but this ruined that. And it made me compare him unfavorably to JR. I think if Sue Ellen had disappeared like that, JR would have done whatever he had to to find her - for her AND for his son.

The fact that Bobby couldn't be bothered to even look really hit me hard.

 

[Barbara Fan]

A large part of the audience was female and we LOVED those women.

Id say the majority of the audience was female, I didnt know many guys in UK who watched it other than the hope of seeing Victoria in a bathing costume with BUOYS springing to mind

I hated how Victoria was written out of Dallas, she made it pretty clear she wouldnt be coming back in interviews and Pam should have died in that car crash

Mummified Pam in the hospital was awful and "Pams Return" played by a different actress cringey

I also wanted to shake Bobby by how he drifted from one bland girlfriend to the next and no way would he have touched JRs sloppy seconds, he gave up on Pam too easy

But I will take Lorimar Bobby any day over the annoying charachter he became on TNT, OMG for years he wa sman of my dreams and then went to insufferable!!

VP leaving did the biggest damage to the show as the character of Pam was central to so many stories, she was the most important female member of the cast and Number 2 after Larry/JR
She was the centre pin and link to Barnes V Ewing, Bobby V his family, the back history of Digger V Jock, Digger and Ellie, Pam V Cliff

Im glad the internet didnt exist during Dallas - Im so glad Dallas was in the 1980s with no internet as it would have ruined so much and spoiled so much of my enjoyment
I put many a pen to paper in a letter and airmail stamp to LorimarProductions and sometimes they listened as they sacked Dreary Reed and I consider 2 letters on the subject and airmail stamps well spent!