Jock Ewing Fan
Telly Talk Star
I don't remember that quote from Miss Ellie, but it is a great insight into why JR became so...JR!
Mustard
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
Gary couldn't deal with the pressure of responsibility when J.R. was piling the pressure on as well. It drove him to drinking and he ran off. Gary was like 18 at the time. And Gary is the alcoholic type that when he's off the wagon, he hits rock bottom pretty damn fast and will do violent things in his desperation for more booze. He is not a Digger Barnes or Sue Ellen type of alcoholic. Gary is a non-functioning alcoholic. He has to be on the wagon to live normally. Val was the fighter back then, trying to keep Lucy. J.R. felt threatened enough to issue a death threat if she ever returned to Texas.
I think it was in the Survival episode in Season 2 DVD, when J.R. and Bobby were feared to have died in a plane crash. It's certainly in Season 2 DVD.
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Miss Ellie was independent for her time. But she is definitely from the era where the man was the head
When we first m
Gary was a loser when we first met him. He abandoned his family twice instead of being honest with his parents & brothers. However, he eventually grew up & didn’t remain a loser
I’m at the beginning of Season 12. I’m convinced getting Jocks approval was JR’s ultimate drive. Even after he’s dead, he’s still fighting to make jock proud of him. I can imagine Jock was the hardest on him & had higher expectations of him. That’s not uncommon with the first son. Especially the son of a man like Jock who placed so much value on winning. Bobby was clearly Jocks favorite & Gary was Miss Ellie’s. Jock had probably mellowed & learned more about life by the time Bobby was born. Miss Ellie made reference to JR doing everything he could to get his approval, but never fully succeeded. Jock & Miss Ellie bear some responsibility but not the entire responsibility. JR became obsessed with winning & control & power. That was his demise
Billy Wall
Telly Talk Dream Maker
Great post. I never bought into the “Gary’s a loser” narrative. If he’s a loser, what exactly is JR? I’ve noticed in real life, if people can’t bully you, they label you something that fits their agenda.
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Luke_Krebbs_Ewing
Telly Talk Champion
Yeah everything he did he did for his Daddy.
Neither of them where easy men to live with.
But that's what make's this show so gawd damned entertaining, as Jock might say.
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Jimmy Todd
Telly Talk Mega Star
If Gary was a " loser" because of his alcoholism than the same could be said about JR. He was addicted to living up to Jock's approval even after Jock died. He was also a sex addict.
Gary had his demons and the worst thing he did was abandon Valene and Lucy. JR abandoned his wife and son for Ewing Oil
Even when he tried to get John Ross back to SF, he expected Miss Ellie and Jock to raise him the way he raised Lucy. However, Gary eventually faced himself in the mirror , accept responsibility and overcome his weaknesses. He was able to move from SF physically and emotionally.
Mustard
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
J.R. did what his daddy taught him, i.e. to be ruthless in business. Gary dared to question his daddy a lot when challenged, or ran off when the pressure was put on. Gary didn't like responsibility, tended to refuse to feel obliged to do things, whereas J.R. can't imagine not feeling obliged to do what daddy wants. With Bobby, they did things in between, making him have the sense of duty and obligation that J.R. had, but spoiling Bobby rotten so that he was a nicer person. Bobby likes Gary being around because Gary shows the gentler side of human nature, not the ruthless side like Jock and J.R.
When Gary would show interest in things like painting and poetry as a kid, didn't like the killing of animals in their hunts, it was taken as being "weak" or a "loser". Gary had the last laugh though. It's just a pity that Jock wasn't around to see most of it, because I do think Jock in the late 1980s would have been very impressed with Gary's resiliency of character. Jock should have accepted that Gary was just different. He wasn't the naturally ruthless type, and wanted to find himself as an individual, so didn't react well to pressure and responsibility being forced on him.
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This picture brought a tear to my eye.Yeah everything he did he did for his Daddy.
View attachment 40855
Neither of them where easy men to live with.
But that's what make's this show so gawd damned entertaining, as Jock might say.
Luke_Krebbs_Ewing
Telly Talk Champion
And to mine too because I recently bought a canvas picture of it on eBay as I really wanted a photograph of both Jock & JR.
It's going on the wall in my sitting room (I haven't put it up yet) but I'm debating whether to have it on the wall beside my PC trolley or take down the mantelpiece mirror and put it above the fireplace.
Two terrific actors Larry Hagman and Jim Davis.
Richard Channing
Eternal Member
Jock Ewing Fan
Telly Talk Star
If there had been a reveal that Digger was JR's father (Possibly the writers thought about it) It could have opened up a lot of
psychological insight into JR and made him more sympathetic
psychological insight into JR and made him more sympathetic
Lastkidpicked
Telly Talk Dream Maker
And this goes full circle to the first episodes of Dallas. J.R. was written to be a sympathetic character back them. Toiling away at the office under Jock's thumb while Bobby was out spreading the "three B's".
Jock Ewing Fan
Telly Talk Star
Interesting perspective. I would expand it to say that the viewer could feel more empathy for the JR character back then - Bobby as the favorite son, Gary as Ellie's favorite, Sue Ellen not getting pregnant, JR sometimes having to make the difficult, unpopular decisions and point out the hard truths i.e. that Miss Ellie wanting to give Garrison the ranch was thoughtless, ill-advised and not good judgement
Luke_Krebbs_Ewing
Telly Talk Champion
Lastkidpicked
Telly Talk Dream Maker
You are right. And then Larry Hagman was able to shift the character into being a villain. More specifically, "The man we love to hate."
Jock Ewing Fan
Telly Talk Star
Many times, JR's adversaries were unscrupulous business people, so that made JR easier to support at times
Steffi B.
Telly Talk Member
Hello everyone,
Topic JR&Suellen Dallas has been streamed on RTL+ since July 15, 2022, the seasons are being uploaded and I really enjoy watching it and I'm happy to have found this forum. My favourites: JR&SE I also enjoy reading the fanfiction.
Maybe it's because of the german synchronization but in season 2 John Ewing III Part 2 he opens up to Bobby when they are sitting on Suellen's bed: I don't understand what happened, at the beginning of our marriage I loved her so much.. ..
(sorry I translate with google translate)
Topic JR&Suellen Dallas has been streamed on RTL+ since July 15, 2022, the seasons are being uploaded and I really enjoy watching it and I'm happy to have found this forum. My favourites: JR&SE I also enjoy reading the fanfiction.
Maybe it's because of the german synchronization but in season 2 John Ewing III Part 2 he opens up to Bobby when they are sitting on Suellen's bed: I don't understand what happened, at the beginning of our marriage I loved her so much.. ..
(sorry I translate with google translate)
Jock Ewing Fan
Telly Talk Star
I always thought that JR prioritized and respected Jock's memory more than Miss Ellie and Bobby.
Ray was a little more aware at times, for instance when he wanted to believe that Wes Parmalee was Jock and the
battle with Cliff, Pam and Jamie for Ewing Oil