Could Pam really have been Digger's daughter after all?

[Snarky Oracle!]

Now we all know that Willard "Digger" Barnes confessed on his death bed that he had murdered Southfork foreman Hutch McKinney because Hutch had had an affair with Digger's wife, Rebecca, and she was carrying Hutch's child.

But could this have been a lie? Or a genuine error on Rebecca's part as to her baby's paternity?

People have sometimes complained that eliminating Digger as Pam's father likewise eliminated the Romeo & Juliet premise which was the basis for the series.

Could we have learned later that Digger might have indeed been Pam's daddy after all? I always like the idea of Bobby and Cliff finding out in the closing seasons that Pam might have died and that adult-onset neurofibromatosis was perhaps the culprit.

Are there other scenarios that are possible?

 

[Mustard]

I didn't think it was necessary to change Pam's biological father and it didn't achieve any positive purpose. Still, as far as the law is concerned, Digger was Pam's father. Digger was Rebecca's husband at the time of birth, and Willard Barnes' name was on Pam's birth certificate (among Digger's things in the Season 2 DVD episode "Double Wedding"). And while Aunt Maggie brought up Cliff and Pam (and her own son, Jimmy) from day to day, Digger had times when he was around quite a lot (and sometimes sober), as well as times when he would disappear for weeks or even months. Notice how Cliff and Pam sometimes called him "Digger" as well, and not always "Daddy"? That suggests that they put him on something of a pedestal, as a genius sniffer of oil from the old wildcatting days, as well as probably seeing him as "that damn drunk of a father" at times as well.

 

[MenaceTheDennis]

This might’ve been explored if the Pam character continued after Victoria left. The only reason I can think of of changing Pam’s father was maybe the chance of any child she had with Bobby having the disease or Pam herself eventually having it? But this is nighttime soap opera world, which they would’nt have to deal with it if they didn’t want to conveniently, so I don’t know. If she succumbed to the disease instead of pancreatic cancer, I think that would’ve been totally great and appropriate in acknowledging Digger was her father indeed, but Cidre was never going to catch this. This is why TNT version needed at least one writer who wrote and was familiar with the original.

 

[CeeCee72]

Now we all know that Willard "Digger" Barnes confessed on his death bed that he had murdered Southfork foreman Hutch McKinney because Hutch had had an affair with Digger's wife, Rebecca, and she was carrying Hutch's child.

But could this have been a lie? Or a genuine error on Rebecca's part as to her baby's paternity?

People have sometimes complained that eliminating Digger as Pam's father likewise eliminated the Romeo & Juliet premise which was the basis for the series.

Could we have learned later that Digger might have indeed been Pam's daddy after all? I always like the idea of Bobby and Cliff finding out in the closing seasons that Pam might have died and that adult-onset neurofibromatosis was perhaps the culprit.

Are there other scenarios that are possible?

That's a great idea and it would have brought a new dynamic to the relationship between Cliff and Bobby. Sadly, a plot like this would have required the producers to care enough about Pam's character to give us fans closure, and we all know they had actual disdain for both the character and the actress.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

That's a great idea and it would have brought a new dynamic to the relationship between Cliff and Bobby. Sadly, a plot like this would have required the producers to care enough about Pam's character to give us fans closure, and we all know they had actual disdain for both the character and the actress.

Years later, David Jacobs said that Victoria didn't have the best relationship with the executives, and that that sometimes winds up affecting what happens on screen -- although, obviously, it shouldn't.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Digger's memory might not have been the best in 1952, but he sure seemed to think he was the father initially in that flashback scene... it seems possible it would have been a JR/Cliff/John Ross situation where the husband may not have been as frequent of a sex partner but still ended being the father. The dark horse for me, as in the John Ross situation, would have been the skinny yet seductive 15 year-old ranch hand Ray Krebbs, but alas the years don't work out...

(and I'm totally going to refrain from saying something dumb like "Digger #1 was her father and he didn't have neurofibromatosis, and Digger #2 was a Wes Parmalee-like impostor from New Jersey who made up the Hutch McKinney story")

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I wish she dad been Digger's daughter
I always thought the show should have kept Digger.
I would have had a plot where a drunken Digger stumbles onto a field, smells oil, tells Cliff
and Cliff/Digger build an oil company to battle Ewing Oil

 

[Michelle Stevens]

Maybe Digger was just drunk and got his facts mixed-up? This certainly would have been my theory if it were the David Wayne Digger on his deathbed.

In his telling of the story Rebecca looked exactly like Pam and there was no life-like color in his memory. As to why Rebecca would lie, I'm clueless.

Regardless, Digger died too soon.

 

[Mustard]

Digger's memory might not have been the best in 1952, but he sure seemed to think he was the father initially in that flashback scene... it seems possible it would have been a JR/Cliff/John Ross situation where the husband may not have been as frequent of a sex partner but still ended being the father. The dark horse for me, as in the John Ross situation, would have been the skinny yet seductive 15 year-old ranch hand Ray Krebbs, but alas the years don't work out...

LOL. At the time that Digger Barnes killed Hutch McKinney (i.e. December 1952), Ray Krebbs was 7 years old and still living with his mother Margaret in Emporia, Kansas.

 

[Ray_Krebbs]

If Ray was older and fathered Pam, then he'd have gotten lucky with both his daughter and niece. Margaret could have come back from the bed and had a threesome with Ray and Donna

 

[CeeCee72]

If Ray was older and fathered Pam, then he'd have gotten lucky with both his daughter and niece. Margaret could have come back from the bed and had a threesome with Ray and Donna

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

As to why Rebecca would lie, I'm clueless.

To try and convince Digger to leave them alone.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

There's no way Pam is Digger's daughter.

When you're lying in your death bed you're not about to lie to your loved ones.

I honestly believe Digger was telling the truth about Pam's parentage.

 

[CeeCee72]

There's no way Pam is Digger's daughter.

When you're lying in your death bed you're not about to lie to your loved ones.

I honestly believe Digger was telling the truth about Pam's parentage.

Honestly is different than the truth. Digger may have genuinely believed what he was saying, but that doesn't make it true.

If he had sex with Rebecca in the correct time frame, he *could* have been Pam's father.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Honestly is different than the truth. Digger may have genuinely believed what he was saying, but that doesn't make it true.

If he had sex with Rebecca in the correct time frame, he *could* have been Pam's father.

Well, there's obviously a possibility but a very slim one.

Digger had neurofibromatosis which is genetic & hereditary.

He already lost two children to it and only Pam & Cliff survived.

Pam may have survived because she wasn't Digger's child which also throws up the possibility that Cliff may not have been Digger's either.

 

[Mustard]

Well, there's obviously a possibility but a very slim one.

Digger had neurofibromatosis which is genetic & hereditary.

He already lost two children to it and only Pam & Cliff survived.

Pam may have survived because she wasn't Digger's child which also throws up the possibility that Cliff may not have been Digger's either.

In the flashback, Digger seemed to think that Pam was his baby before Hutch said otherwise. There was none of that "Oh, the baby can't be mine because of the timeframe", which even J.R. thought about with John Ross when Cliff seemed much more likely to be the father. If Rebecca had been to bed with both Digger and Hutch at the time that Pam was conceived, there's no way to tell who the biological father is before the baby is born, especially in the 1950s. The law, especially then, will automatically assume that the husband of the mother is the father of the child, unless there's proof to the contrary.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Honestly is different than the truth. Digger may have genuinely believed what he was saying, but that doesn't make it true.

If he had sex with Rebecca in the correct time frame, he *could* have been Pam's father.

Yes, it would obviously be Rebecca's lie -- not Digger's lie; Digger just assumed for 28 that it was true.

Jeez!

 

[Michelle Stevens]

Digger's memory might not have been the best in 1952, but he sure seemed to think he was the father initially in that flashback scene... it seems possible it would have been a JR/Cliff/John Ross situation where the husband may not have been as frequent of a sex partner but still ended being the father. The dark horse for me, as in the John Ross situation, would have been the skinny yet seductive 15 year-old ranch hand Ray Krebbs, but alas the years don't work out...

TNT Dallas states her birthdate as 10 April 1950 ... so maybe the child from Hutch was someone else and again Digger was confused. Of course I thought until then she wad born in 1946 in Japan to an American G.I.

(and I'm totally going to refrain from saying something dumb like "Digger #1 was her father and he didn't have neurofibromatosis, and Digger #2 was a Wes Parmalee-like impostor from New Jersey who made up the Hutch McKinney story")

I think you're on to something there @The Spooky Guzzler. Cliff, Pam, and Ellie were fooled but I'm sure JR and Bobby (and if Clayton were around) would have seen past that beard and knew he was an imposter.

 

[Mustard]

TNT Dallas states her birthdate as 10 April 1950 ... so maybe the child from Hutch was someone else and again Digger was confused. Of course I thought until then she wad born in 1946 in Japan to an American G.I.

In classic Dallas, the night of Jock Ewing firing and punching out Hutch McKinney was dated as weeks after the 1952 US Presidential election, where "Eisenhower had just whipped that Stevenson guy, and we were still celebrating". It was only the second time in a US Presidential election, after 1928 with Herbert Hoover, that Texas had voted for the Republican presidential candidate.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

oldDALLAS established in 1980 that Pam was born sometimes after Christmas 1952, perhaps January 1953. And Bobby was born a couple of months earlier around the time Eisenhower's election in November 1952.

During the dream season, Bobby's headstone as dreamed by Pam gave Patrick's actual DOB of 17 March 1949.

These things fluctuate, don't they...