CeeCee72
Telly Talk Star
We spend a lot of time talking about the awful last few years of Dallas and how they destroyed JR Ewing - who had been one of the greatest characters ever on TV.
It got me thinking about what one thing they did to JR that was so out of the character that it felt like it was the point of no return.
For me, it's his relationships (or lack thereof) with his sons.
For years, we watched JR scheme, manipulate, and brutally hurt Sue Ellen and others to KEEP John Ross at Southfork. Then suddenly, John Ross goes to England and JR doesn't do a damn thing to get him home. We even had a scene of JR talking to SE on the phone asking her to KEEP John Ross, supposedly to give him time to get rid of Cally. But come on. The real JR wouldn't have cared about John Ross's feelings enough to spare him dealing with Cally leaving. After all, look how he was willing to abuse John Ross's OWN MOTHER right in front of the boy just to keep him at home.
Letting Cally's baby go didn't ring true either. Oh sure, JR would have signed any agreement Cally wanted to get out of the sanitarium, but he would have reneged the moment he was free. He hunted down Val to snatch his NIECE to raise her at Southfork. You guys really think he would have let Cally take his own child from him? We're supposed to believe he did it for the good of the child? Again, JR never cared about what was good for John Ross. He only ever cared about keeping him.
Finally there's James. A mess from beginning to end. First JR accepts him with no proof of paternity. I get the writers at that time were trying to convey that JR "loved" Vanessa enough not to doubt her, but the JR we knew and loved would have made sure, love or not. Then the forced father/son crap, then the horrible "James outmarts JR" storyline, then JR just lets James and Debra Lynn TAKE HIS GRANDSON off to parts unknown without a fight.
I know some will say that JR didn't particularly care about his blood since he was willing to let Pam and Bobby have Christopher when he thought Christopher was his son, but was he really? I tend to think he would have kept quiet about Christopher's real paternity just long enough to get total control of Ewing Oil then come out swinging.
It just all seemed so out of JR's character (the one we had seen develop over years and years) to me.
There are of course many other areas where the writers and producers damaged the character or JR Ewing. But for whatever reason, the relationships with and his willingness to walk away from his sons did the most damage.
It got me thinking about what one thing they did to JR that was so out of the character that it felt like it was the point of no return.
For me, it's his relationships (or lack thereof) with his sons.
For years, we watched JR scheme, manipulate, and brutally hurt Sue Ellen and others to KEEP John Ross at Southfork. Then suddenly, John Ross goes to England and JR doesn't do a damn thing to get him home. We even had a scene of JR talking to SE on the phone asking her to KEEP John Ross, supposedly to give him time to get rid of Cally. But come on. The real JR wouldn't have cared about John Ross's feelings enough to spare him dealing with Cally leaving. After all, look how he was willing to abuse John Ross's OWN MOTHER right in front of the boy just to keep him at home.
Letting Cally's baby go didn't ring true either. Oh sure, JR would have signed any agreement Cally wanted to get out of the sanitarium, but he would have reneged the moment he was free. He hunted down Val to snatch his NIECE to raise her at Southfork. You guys really think he would have let Cally take his own child from him? We're supposed to believe he did it for the good of the child? Again, JR never cared about what was good for John Ross. He only ever cared about keeping him.
Finally there's James. A mess from beginning to end. First JR accepts him with no proof of paternity. I get the writers at that time were trying to convey that JR "loved" Vanessa enough not to doubt her, but the JR we knew and loved would have made sure, love or not. Then the forced father/son crap, then the horrible "James outmarts JR" storyline, then JR just lets James and Debra Lynn TAKE HIS GRANDSON off to parts unknown without a fight.
I know some will say that JR didn't particularly care about his blood since he was willing to let Pam and Bobby have Christopher when he thought Christopher was his son, but was he really? I tend to think he would have kept quiet about Christopher's real paternity just long enough to get total control of Ewing Oil then come out swinging.
It just all seemed so out of JR's character (the one we had seen develop over years and years) to me.
There are of course many other areas where the writers and producers damaged the character or JR Ewing. But for whatever reason, the relationships with and his willingness to walk away from his sons did the most damage.
