Watching Capricorn Crude

[Werewillie Oleson]

Previously, on Capricorn Crude

JR is being reined in by the only person he looks up to

Yes, Jock has kept his promise to supervise the goings-on at Ewing Oil, and JR is fed up to the back teeth with it.

He ruins my chair!

*stamps*

I think at this point it's become clear that this is not the Jim Davis Show - and JR certainly agrees with that - but because of his relatively passive role it keeps the legend of the former Oil Giant intact. It's not about what he or Miss Ellie do, it's what they represent; a power that needs no muscle work.
Kristin's throwaway observation about Bobby provides JR with the answer on how to cut Pop's leash.
Later, JR explains to Jock that he's feeling guilty that his father has to spend so much time away from Mama, and even though the timing of JR's emotional manipulation couldn't be more obvious, Jock buys into it anyway (and since Jock always wanted Bobby at Ewing Oil, one could argue that Jock has manipulated JR, even counting on this very scheme).
The thing that I like about JR's character is that he's not too proud to grovel or humiliate himself as long as he gets what he wants. I've always had a soft spot for whores and desperate scoundrels.

However, it turns out that Miss Ellie really is feeling a bit lost and melancholic.

I don't think this is the first time that JR and Miss Ellie are on the same wavelength, albeit unknowingly.
It's true that for the most part it plays out as the good son and the bad son, and she reacts to them accordingly, but there's something about it that makes me want to re-evaluate this complicated mother-son relationship. But since that would steer me into fanfic territory I'm not sure it's worth the time and effort, so let's say it's a nice thing to keep in the back of my mind, for personal experience only.

Donna Culver is back in the picture and I think she's one of those very modern and drama-free women who always makes the best of the status quo.
She could be Abby Fairgate's nice sister.

I like the little things she does like touching her face and hair, maybe it's more a Susan Howard thing than he Donna Culver thing.
The episode is called Love And Marriage, I presume to show how difficult it is to combine these when you're a SoapLand inhabitant.
Ray proposes but Donna needs more time. Pam needs more time to deal with the fact that...hmm, most of her logic went over my head...JR needs more time to distract and demotivate Bobby. But time is the only thing that's not for sale.

Bobby is still doing his homework in the bedroom.

Aren't we glad that Cynthia Cidre gave him a proper Southfork office?

Guest star Mel Ferrer slithers as The Store owner Harrison Page with the toothy fake charm.

It's a short scene but he's very entertaining and also believable as a character who knows everything about everybody in Dallas.
The conversation is delightfully downplayed in that typical Texan style, all aware of the bullshit to-ings and fro-ings that's going to make eeeeverybody happy, except for some excluded from that very conversation, like Pam and Bobby Ewing.

A late night patio encounter (aren't they the greatest) between Pam and JR turns predictably nasty, but we wouldn't want it otherwise.
Pam mocks JR's studhood and thenJR pre-echoes Alexis' "empty-armed madonna" insult.

I was certainly man enough for me and Sue Ellen to produce a son and heir. Something which you and Bobby seem incapable of.

But then Pam throws him off balance when she insists that Cliff is the father.
It's always puzzled me a little that this had never become a big thing from the very beginning, I mean from JR's point of view. The very idea that Cliff Barnes of ALL people could have fathered Jock's grandson.
And then JR calls the Barnesses "trash!" and we clutch our pearls while loving every second of it.

In order to justify Pam's promotion, Harrison Page has Liz Graig transferred to the Houston Store department. Both she and Pam react as if she being shipped off to a Third World country. But then again, managing a store across SoapLand's frontier is the equivalent of being cancelled.

I love Kristin when she plays JR's vampish sidekick like a bad Bond girl who loves being bad.
In this scene she subconsciously mimics JR's moods and facial expressions, it's very funny.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

Who shot JR? Well, I think they all did. I truly believe that the most obvious suspects wanted him dead in the last episode of season 3.
These last 7 episodes have been unstopwatchable soap heaven but when you take a moment to think about it then it's hard to ignore the contrivances contributed to the overall storyline.
It just happened to be Jock's gun, there just happened to be an old and forgotten legal document about Ewing 23, there just happened to be an Asian revolution without any details as to why, it just happened to be Digger who shot Hutch McKinney - and with just enough time to confess it - because it just so happened that Hutch was having an affair with Digger's wife.
The only seriously legitimate soaptastic moment is when Bobby tells his parents that he's leaving Southfork. Because that's his decision.
However, we wouldn't have reached this point without everything building up to it.

All soaps are terribly contrived, the challenge is to make sure that it doesn't feel that way. To make all that nonsense look perfectly believable - and hugely entertaining.
This is DALLAS on top form, everything is in place and everything clicks, all the characters are charismatic for various reasons.

Pam is all over the place looking for her mother and it's fascinating to know that one day she is going to be "that mother". And that's just another reason to love TNT DALLAS.
Probably the best soapy storyline is Miss Ellie coming to terms with her mastectomy, that problem that just wouldn't go away.
Not because it's the most exciting part of these episodes but because it was happening right in front of my very nose and I didn't realize it until she explained it to Jock.
Mimosa Park is melting in the dark...etc.

This first fully serialized and very successful DALLAS series is going to be a tough act to follow and with the benefit of hindsight I think it's safe to say that it's become sort of a template for future, equally successful Texas-size soap plots.
Apart from Mark Jennings I don't see an awful lot of future DYNASTY in it. Obviously they wanted to copy the success of DALLAS, but the characters and storylines are so different and I'm sure that's why the Scorpio Peak Saga became a TV smash in its own right.

I also want to mention (again) one of my all-time favourite gut-punching DALLAS scenes: Dusty Farlow's death on SoapLand TV.
I think what makes it so strong is that most of the emotional impact is dumped on the viewer. The fact that Sue Ellen pours herself a drink at this particular stage of the narrative is telling enough, but the real meltdown happens off-screen. And after that, Dusty is mentioned only once in Dr. Elby's office.
This allows her secret drama to fester and it's quite frustrating because we expect these soap characters to make a song and dance about everything.

It's nice that people still remember the Who Shot JR phenomenon but it couldn't have been without all that soap greatness preceding it. The fact that many people watched the same thing because there wasn't much to choose from doesn't change the other fact that this was highly entertaining and addictive TV in a way that only soap opera can be.

 

[James from London]

These last 7 episodes have been unstopwatchable soap heaven but when you take a moment to think about it then it's hard to ignore the contrivances contributed to the overall storyline.
It just happened to be Jock's gun, there just happened to be an old and forgotten legal document about Ewing 23, there just happened to be an Asian revolution without any details as to why, it just happened to be Digger who shot Hutch McKinney - and with just enough time to confess it - because it just so happened that Hutch was having an affair with Digger's wife.

And for me, the obviousness of those contrivances is a big part of what makes DALLAS, specifically this period of DALLAS,so incredibly irresistible. It's absolute trash ... with absolute class.

The only seriously legitimate soaptastic moment is when Bobby tells his parents that he's leaving Southfork. Because that's his decision.
However, we wouldn't have reached this point without everything building up to it.

Yeah, that's the one genuinely emotional, maybe even KNOTSian, moment of the season finale. It feels character-driven, but only inside this mad Ewingverse. Anywhere else, the idea of everyone crying because a fully grown millionaire has chosen to move out of his parents' house would be ridiculous, but here it matters and that's soap genius.

everything is in place and everything clicks

Yes, it feels like one big game of chess, with the writers and/or JR manoeuvring the rest of characters into precisely the positions they need to be in at any one time.

Pam is all over the place looking for her mother and it's fascinating to know that one day she is going to be "that mother". And that's just another reason to love TNT DALLAS.

Yes yes yes.

Mimosa Park is melting in the dark...etc.

HA!

I also want to mention (again) one of my all-time favourite gut-punching DALLAS scenes: Dusty Farlow's death on SoapLand TV.
I think what makes it so strong is that most of the emotional impact is dumped on the viewer. The fact that Sue Ellen pours herself a drink at this particular stage of the narrative is telling enough, but the real meltdown happens off-screen. And after that, Dusty is mentioned only once in Dr. Elby's office.
This allows her secret drama to fester and it's quite frustrating because we expect these soap characters to make a song and dance about everything.

God yes! I've always felt it but never quite been able to put it into words before: everyone thinks Sue Ellen has already started drinking again, but she hasn't. Then she does start drinking, but only because of a terrible tragedy she can't tell anyone about. So when Bobby, the conscience of the show at this point, finally does see her drunk, he doesn't realise she was telling the truth all along ... until she wasn't. It's soap irony at its frustratingly finest.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

Pam is all over the place looking for her mother and it's fascinating to know that one day she is going to be "that mother". And that's just another reason to love TNT DALLAS.

I didn't love nuDALLAS (although I tried and wanted to) but I've never even thought about the fact that Pam left her family and disappeared just like Rebecca...!

 

[Guzzler’s Frightening Hair]

And that's just another reason to love TNT DALLAS.

the primary reason, of course, being to antagonize the sizable forum contingent that wants Cidre locked up in some awful maximum security prison for life..

 

[Guzzler’s Frightening Hair]

I didn't love nuDALLAS (although I tried and wanted to) but I've never even thought about the fact that Pam left her family and disappeared just like Rebecca...!

hadn’t it been established in Lorimar Dallas that she’d done that, though? (my memory is kind of fuzzy, but didn’t Cliff meet her?)

 

[Julia's Spooky Nun]

No, he met Margaret Michaels, an imposter prentending to be Pam!

 

[Spooky Owl!]

the primary reason, of course, being to antagonize the sizable forum contingent that wants Cidre locked up in some awful maximum security prison for life..

Oh, they know nuDALLAS wasn't very good. But our egos can turn perverse.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

I wish I've had the time to review the episodes individually but like I said it was unstopwatchable. Also, I'd like to stick to my Thrillie TV schedule: a disc of Dallas, a disc of Batman, 10 episodes of Dark Shadows and 2 episodes of NuDoctor Who (although I'm still in the early revival years). It's quite a line-up that will guarantee plenty of variety - like it used to be when we watched our stories on TV.

And for me, the obviousness of those contrivances is a big part of what makes DALLAS, specifically this period of DALLAS,so incredibly irresistible

The Ewings are such a funny family and perhaps that explains my emotional connection between DALLAS and THE COLBYS as opposed to THE COLBYS & DYNASTY.
Those post-dinner family gatherings in the living room can be quite transcendental sometimes.
It's as if they're performing a play for Jock and Miss Ellie to enjoy, and only when things get seriously out of hand they tell them to stop it. But not before everyone has had the opportunity to share their venom and accusations with the rest of the family.
At some point they're even discussing JR's plan to gaslight Sue Ellen but since that actually was the storyline it seems bizarre that they know as much as the viewer - and then, to "top" it off, address the issue en plein public.
Things like this predates the famous Battle For Ewing Oil, that script-heavy plotline that spills over into the on-screen dialogue.

My favourite scene-to-over-analyze is when Jock asks JR if he knew about the upcoming revolution and the nationalization of foreign companies.
On the surface it's about JRs cold-blooded lie, but was confessing really an option here? And more importantly, didn't all three men realize this?
I'm not sure if Jock was interested in the truth and to be honest I don't think he believed JRs denial. I wonder if it was more like a test, to see how convincing JRs lie would be. After all, if he could lie to his own father without even blinking it means he could lie to everybody - and stick with it.
That way, Ewing Oil (and by extension, Jock himself) would not be disgraced, or worse.
Similarly, it made me wonder what part of mortgaging Southfork caused Jock's disapproval. Was it the mortgage itself, as it appeared in those scenes, or the fact that JR hadn't been careful enough to make sure that no one and his especially his mother would never find out?
A oil man's gotta do what an oil man's gotta do, but keep the upheaval out of the kitchen. Or something like that.

Sometimes I sense a faux self-righteousness similar to Angela Channing. Angela would order Lance or someone else to "fix" the Giobertis, and failure was not an option, but whenever they crossed the line she would hide behind a faux-morality. "But I never told you to do that !"
I wonder if Jock performs a similar "clean hands" attitude in front of Miss Ellie, but secretly trying to teach JR how to get away with murder, the way JR wanted to teach John Ross in TNT DALLAS.
And it's in this particular scene that Bobby realizes that his father is in the wrong kind of right. JR lied, they all knew it, and Jock pretended to accept it for the sake of his precious Ewing Oil.

I find it rather typical that when Bobby does accept the wrong kind or right for the sake of Ewing Global, courtesy of JR's scheme from the grave, it's not him leaving Southfork.

That oh-so precious character development is great, but they should never learn too much from their or someone else's mistakes. It helps to keep the soap going on and on and on (unless it's brutally and totally unjustifiably cancelled).

 

[James from London]

My favourite scene-to-over-analyze is when Jock asks JR if he knew about the upcoming revolution and the nationalization of foreign companies.
On the surface it's about JRs cold-blooded lie, but was confessing really an option here? And more importantly, didn't all three men realize this?
I'm not sure if Jock was interested in the truth and to be honest I don't think he believed JRs denial. I wonder if it was more like a test, to see how convincing JRs lie would be. After all, if he could lie to his own father without even blinking it means he could lie to everybody - and stick with it.
That way, Ewing Oil (and by extension, Jock himself) would not be disgraced, or worse.
Similarly, it made me wonder what part of mortgaging Southfork caused Jock's disapproval. Was it the mortgage itself, as it appeared in those scenes, or the fact that JR hadn't been careful enough to make sure that no one and his especially his mother would never find out?

Brilliant insight! I feel like I should have known this, like I almost knew it, but never actually did.

Jock's first instinct when he found out there was oil under Southfork was to drill for it (same as JR, same John Ross on New DALLAS) so it makes absolute sense that that same instinct is still there deep down.

Sometimes I sense a faux self-righteousness similar to Angela Channing. Angela would order Lance or someone else to "fix" the Giobertis, and failure was not an option, but whenever they crossed the line she would hide behind a faux-morality. "But I never told you to do that !"
I wonder if Jock performs a similar "clean hands" attitude in front of Miss Ellie, but secretly trying to teach JR how to get away with murder, the way JR wanted to teach John Ross in TNT DALLAS.

And Miss Ellie herself will pull her own faux-morality/"clean hands" move on Jock starting next season and continuing after his death.

I'd like to stick to my Thrillie TV schedule: a disc of Dallas, a disc of Batman, 10 episodes of Dark Shadows and 2 episodes of NuDoctor Who (although I'm still in the early revival years). It's quite a line-up that will guarantee plenty of variety - like it used to be when we watched our stories on TV.

What a line-up! I love a schedule. Let me quickly share mine: Mondays is Brookside '85, Tuesdays is Sons and Daughters: the Boring Years, Wednesdays is the 1960s in chronological order (currently Peyton Place Oct '66), Thursdays is the Ewingverse in alphabetical order (midway through M), Fridays is New Enders and seven year-old episodes of Emmerdale, Saturdays is whatever's on my Netflix list (currently Dahmer) and Sundays is something British and contemporary (currently Somewhere Boy and Responder).

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

And Miss Ellie herself will pull her own faux-morality/"clean hands" move on Jock starting next season and continuing after his death.

Great, I'm a sucker for soapy hypocrisy.

Sons and Daughters: the Boring Years

To diss it and sharing our frustations in the S&D thread made it a little easier to get through the "bronze" years. But it's not all bad, thankfully. On the other hand, the seriously bad stuff is probably much worse than you imagine it will be (e.g. Caroline in a life-size bunny suit trying to promote chocolate or whateva).

Fridays is New Enders and seven year-old episodes of Emmerdale

Via unboxing Return To Eden, youtube suggested the various themes of Emmerdale, I had no idea how beautiful the intro was.
Of course it made me curious and started watching what I think was the first episode. It's a young woman complimenting a farmer's matriarch on her lovely kitchen and brass taps and I almost forgot to stop watching it.

 

[Guzzler’s Frightening Hair]

My favourite scene-to-over-analyze is when Jock asks JR if he knew about the upcoming revolution and the nationalization of foreign companies.

yes, after watching that one a few times it seems to me that Jock knew JR had screwed over his friends and this was an exercise in establishing the official Ewing position on the matter. They made sure to show Bobby’s expression of disgust as Jock seemed to accept JR’s lie.

I’m not sure if the writers/producers were thinking that subtly, but it makes sense that Bobby leaving Southfork was much more about that than about Cliff and Ewing 23, which seemed like a minor matter in comparison. The latter was just a more palatable excuse for leaving, along the lines of Miss Ellie always wanting to sweep the most sordid aspects of the family business (Ewing Oil and otherwise) under the rug.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

cough, cough (blows off dust)

And speaking of dust, the cleaning lady discovers the body of JR and then screams in a way that only happens in a film or TV.


If there's any proof that the series takes the follow-up of the WSJR? hype as seriously as the real world does then it's the exorbitant number of extras in the Ewing Oil area.

It's almost as if the people in the background had already reserved their seats, like a selection of fans who had won a competition to be on set.

All the Dallas characters are being informed one or way or another, and it's looking for clues in their respective reactions.
Kristin is the only one who provides information, including a wobbly flashback.

Of course it's easy to say now, but it does look like controlling the narrative before the narrative can control the suspect.
She also asks Jock and Miss Ellie if there's "anything I can do?", suggesting that this would be the first time she'd get involved.

Surprisingly, there's no "where's the doctor, why isn't anyone telling us anything" cliché in the Dallas Memorial scenes.
Actually, the doctor bombards the senior Ewings with graphic and specific medical information.
It's a nice detail that the problematic antibody in JR's blood isn't there just because, but because it may be related to a blood transfusion from a previous episode.

With everybody in the hospital or whereabouts unknown, it's all "Mr. Ray" and "Mr. Krebbs" at Southfork.
But then when he's also gone Sue Ellen returns from several missing hours, only to find a completely deserted Southfork. Has she entered the Twilight Zone?
It should be noted that the staff isn't so active anymore, probably just sitting on their lazy asses doing nothing.

The episode also features a Knots Landing crossover and it's funny to think that Bobby and Pam - who were heading to California - could have become new neighbours if JR hadn't been shot.
Only very important or very dangerous people will be stopped by a helicopter and that's how their escape comes to a halt.

It also puts Miss Ellie's wish to keep her boy at home in to perspective. There's a difference between not living at Southfork and living on the other side of the country.
On the other hand it emphasizes the ridiculous idea that if they can't live on Southfork they can't live anywhere in Dallas or even Texas.

Apart from JR's physical condition the episode presents two dramatic points: accusing Cliff Barnes without considering Pam's feelings, and Sue Ellen who believes that she may have shot JR.
We finally get that Agatha Christie-esque moment when JR, after being asked if he had seen the shooter, looks at everybody in the room and then very tellingly rest his eyes on Sue Ellen.

And yet it's not the same as pointing the finger at a villian because we believe that Sue Ellen doesn't remember what she's done.
But if she's dunnit, then there's the possibility that Jock will send her back to the sanitarium a.s.a.p.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Really love the BOX Mansion, it looked like an old Southern plantation, transplant. Pretty on the outside, but full of secrets and lies.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

Really love the BOX Mansion, it looked like an old Southern plantation, transplant. Pretty on the outside, but full of secrets and lies.

If only they'd explained the re-casting of the house after episode 5 -- with the Ewings sitting by the pool in "Reunion, Part 1" as workmen walk across a plastic-tarped roof, and Jock & Ellie make some reference to "that dang twister" which necessitated a make-over of the mansion from the Box to the Duncan.

But if they didn't feel a need to explain Miss Ellie's new face(s), what's so important about a ranch??

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

One bullet has been removed, but the other one is that special kind of bullet that has plagued (or will plague) several SoapLand characters, including Karen MacKenzie.
The operation requires a specialist and for some reason these soap specialists are always very difficult to get hold of because they're Swedish or Italian or on a cruise or climbing the Mount Everest or, in this case, at a conference in London.
The other doctor, Dr. Elby, has had his suave coupe-de-gris cut and it's just not the same anymore. Massively jumping the shark here.

Gary visits Dallas and everybody is very glad to see him.

The three brothers are having a little chit-chat but it's obvious that JR is trying to figure out what's going on behind his back.
Jock has appointed Bobby as interim president of Ewing Oil but JR has already reached out to his connections to inform them that his brother is only there to answer the phone, and not to make any business decisions.
Nevertheless, Bobby is immediately tasked with cleaning up JR's mess when Marilee Stone files a lawsuit against Ewing Oil.
Mostly thanks to his charm and hunkiness he manages to settle out of court, which only goes to show how much JR undervalues his brother's asset.

Marilee tells him how much she misses her husband while looking at Bobby with horny eyes.
Interesting titbit: Marilee has always been the financial decision maker of her company, which makes her future role as business woman more believable than the scenario of socialite widow who just ends up behind a desk (e.g. Pam and Alexis).

Lucy meets Mitch.

Fans often complain that Lucy doesn't have enough interesting storylines, but no matter what she does it always puts a big smile on my face.
She just have to be herself, fall in love, being disappointed, feeling very sorry for herself and then start all over again.
Not so very different from Fallon Carrington, actually, and she was more fun in the mansion sneaking up on Krystle than as the La Mirage career woman.

Meanwhile at Dallas Memorial the nurses have a full-time job informing the Ewings about various phone calls.
Bobby complains to Jock that he can't really do anything at Ewing Oil without explicit authority, and then Jock promises to put it in writing.
This really shouldn't concern Sue Ellen but the fact that the camera makes it clear that she notices everything makes it a lot of fun.
Episode 2 ends with my favourite scene, even if it doesn't look like a cliffhanger.

I think there's something metaphorical about the way she holds the bars of JR's bed, sort of imprisoned by a misguided loyalty based on misguided guilt.

The next episode starts with a time-jump because Sue Ellen has been "having nightmares for weeks".
We usually have no idea how time passes in SoapLand unless they mention it.
Later at breakfast Miss Ellie asks her how she's feeling - well, that's almost 50% of all "Dallas": how is somebody feeling. It can also be translated into "are you going to be dramatic today?".

JR takes his first wheelchair ride outside the hospital, complaining to high heaven about everything and everyone. It's a great example of soap humour because none of the characters acknowledge it as humour.
Ray also visits JR and they talk about the good ol' times as friends (as we saw in the first series) and I think it could have been interesting if it had stayed that way until he's revealed has the half-brother.

Cliff confesses to Pam that he had planned to kill JR but couldn't do it because he had already been shot. Again, nobody seem to understand the hilarity of it all.
It's never occurred to me before just how much happy soap sisters Kristin Shepard and Caress Morell look alike.
Perhaps not literally but they have the same kind of sultriness and mischief.


Fur coat alert in Dallas. They're not as big as the ones from Dynasty but I guess it's hotter in Texas.
Pam and Liz are on speaking terms again and Liz even offers Pam her old job back. Yes, do it, Pam. Go back to The Store!

Speaking of clothes, Jock and Miss Ellie are packing some items for JR but Sue Ellen says she'd be happy to do it for him. JR tells her that it's already been taken care of.
Of course it had to happen this way so that Jock could discover the gun in JR and Sue Ellen's bedroom.
Miss Ellie tells Jock not to jump to conclusions, but it's obvious that Sue Ellen is not their favourite person anymore. This becomes even more evident in my favourite scene of episode 3 when the Ewings including JR leave the hospital.
Jock helps JR inside the car and asks Sue Ellen to hold the bag. Miss Ellie, rather passive-aggressively, says "I'll do it!" and grabs the bag before Sue Ellen even gets the chance to touch it.

Sue Ellen's body language is a combination of surprise and mild annoyance because this is the second time she's not allowed to help.
Oh, and why would the Ewings even bother with that plant from the hospital? It's such a lower-class thing to do.

Later that evening the detective shows up at Southfork with the result of the ballistic tests (Sue Ellen had no idea).
I'm sure that's not how it happens in real life but whatever.
The episode sort of ends like the first cliffhanger, but this time it's about the Ewings who realise they are living with a murderess!


I must say that the longer it takes to find out whodunnit, the more the mystery starts losing its momentum. Or was it really Sue Ellen? Gosh!

 

[James from London]

almost 50% of all "Dallas": how is somebody feeling. It can also be translated into "are you going to be dramatic today?".

Why have I never thought this before?

It's a great example of soap humour because none of the characters acknowledge it as humour.

I have thought this before but never so succinctly.

Ray also visits JR and they talk about the good ol' times as friends (as we saw in the first series) and I think it could have been interesting if it had stayed that way until he's revealed has the half-brother.

ooh ... yes

I must say that the longer it takes to find out whodunnit, the more the mystery starts losing its momentum.

I wonder how much of this has to do with the weirdly languid background music they were forced to use because of a musicians' strike at the time. It's very slow, all about impending doom, not much urgency.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

I wonder how much of this has to do with the weirdly languid background music they were forced to use because of a musicians' strike at the time. It's very slow, all about impending doom, not much urgency.

I guess I'm completely illiterate when it comes to TV background music. I remember complimenting a score from Sons & Daughters but that turned out to be generic "library" music (that probably also had something to do with a musician's strike).

This is not the first serialized whodunnit and I think the main reason why it looks as if the case is getting "cold" is because all illegal and dangerous activity has stopped.
There's nobody hiding in dark corners waiting for an opportunity to sneak in and try to smother JR with a pillow or something like that.
Interestingly, the writers had thought about it because after Jordan Lee had visited JR to gloat, JR complains about the incompetent security and that everybody could simply waltz into his room and finish the job. It just doesn't feel that way.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

I wonder how much of this has to do with the weirdly languid background music they were forced to use because of a musicians' strike at the time. It's very slow, all about impending doom, not much urgency.

Heh.

I guess I'm completely illiterate when it comes to TV background music.

It's no coincidence that the narrative suddenly seems to pick back up as soon as the strike ended and John Scott's uncredited score is replaced with fresh compositions by DALLAS ' usual cadre of musicians.

Music score makes such a difference -- good or bad.

I know they didn't have much of a choice, but I really wish the stock score had ended with "The Prodigal Mother" -- others say it's acceptable through "The Executive Wife" (but I thinks that's a wee bit too late).

 

[James from London]

I remember complimenting a score from Sons & Daughters but that turned out to be generic "library" music

It might well have been the same score they used in this period of Dallas. I know it's cropped up in Prisoner Cell Block H. I really like it too, it's just a strange fit for Dallas. It gives everything a slow, almost underwater quality -- not bad, just weird.

This is not the first serialized whodunnit and I think the main reason why it looks as if the case is getting "cold" is because all illegal and dangerous activity has stopped.
There's nobody hiding in dark corners waiting for an opportunity to sneak in and try to smother JR with a pillow or something like that.

I guess that's true, but JR himself still seems genuinely frightened, which is interesting -- showing a vulnerable side of him, but without turning him into a loveable pussycat.