Miss Ellie vs. McKay

J

Jimmy Todd

Telly Talk Mega Star
How much potential did you see in the range war as a story that could have featured Miss Ellie much more prominently? I loved when she fearlessly confronted him on his porch. Later, when the Ewings blew up McKay s dam, I wanted Miss Ellie to tell Bobby to step aside and for her to push the detonator.
Could this story have been better if it was Miss Ellie centric and brought up in some way her past on Southfork?
 
pete lashmar

pete lashmar

Telly Talk Addict
I personally hated the range war storyline, I also felt that it went on for far too long, even on re-watches I pretty much fast forward the episodes featuring it.

However, it was wonderful to see BBG get some meaty scenes and maybe if they had gone all out and given her more I may have found it more enjoyable. Ellie would have done so much more when dealing with a situation like that.

In the old days JR would have just had them arrested and sent to prison on false charges. It showed that the writers had given up on plots based in reality.

I always feel it was done just to make Bobby look butch, which it failed miserably with.
 
Monzo

Monzo

Telly Talk Star
I didn't really like the story, but at least it was different and better than other stories from that season. Miss Ellie was as strong as I expected her to be, so I never felt like she needed to give more.

The first time Carter McKay caught my interest was when Kimberly Cryder offered him the CEO position at Weststar. Looking back, Carter McKay's introduction was pretty good because I didn't expect him to end up at Weststar.
 
Snarky Oracle!

Snarky Oracle!

Telly Talk Supreme
Of all the prominent female characters who were most neglected, it was Miss Ellie -- from start to finish. She never really came into her own, unlike the others... I'm amazed Katzman allowed her to tell off the cartel in 1981, and he probably regretted it as much as he did killing April (good riddance) in Paris.

Miss Ellie was the secret star of DALLAS. But they used her less, instead of more, as the program aged.

I wanted to like the range war plotline, but it didn't really make any sense, especially the way it played out. And Katzman probably just wanted to reproduce the dam explosion he saw on THE YELLOW ROSE so he could use it in the next season's opening theme.

Carter McKay also served little effective purpose, and he was only handed the reins of Westar because Jeremy Wendell asked for a raise when Lorimar-Telepictures was cutting back.

Frankly, I wanted to find out that Miss Ellie was against Section 40 being opened for drilling for the same reason she dragged her feet in calling in the authorities during the range war: because there's something buried out there that only Miss Ellie and Jock knew about --- and Wes Parmalee, who whispered something about it in Ellie's ear right before he skipped town during that Ewing barbecue.


"I hope they don't find that drifter Jock and I raped and murdered back in the day -- maybe I can get Donna to blame Sam Culver for it in one of her books.. I'd hate for Digger to be implicated yet again, the poor loser..."
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Toni

Toni

Maximum Member
"How strange... Everybody seems to talk through my mouth lately... Maybe it´s time to get the shotgun out of the closet!"

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the-lost-son

the-lost-son

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
pete lashmar said:
In the old days JR would have just had them arrested and sent to prison on false charges. It showed that the writers had given up on plots based in reality.
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Spot on.

I watched these episodes once and could hardly make it through. Horrible.

First Ray, a millionaire (!) sold the land Jock gave him, nobody knows why. Then JR/Jock and Ellie/Bobby/Clayton of the old days would have dealt with that easily, but not anymore. The producers obviously tried to get McCay over as a real threat, but it accomplished only the portrayal of the Ewings as really weak and helpless. When Bob and Clayton were chased off with their cattle and their tails between their legs by a jeep full of hillbillies - it was cringeworthy.
The Ewings and the Farlow who once held their protective hands over the Sheriff's office of Fort Worth and San Angelo.

On top of that we get the Scoobydoo-kind of revelation with a smirking Carter. I was truly waiting for Wendell being dragged off the scene shouting "You meddling kids."
 
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