Did Ray really need to be Jock's son?

[Billy Wall]

For those saying that they never addressed Ray/Lucy. They didn't directly, but I think they did in a roundabout way during the Edgar Randolph storyline where it was discovered that he had an inappropriate relationship with a minor. Ray was on his high horse and Donna asked him "is there anything that you're happy that no one found out about?" Ray reluctantly said "yes."

 

[DallasFanForever]

Absolutely they should have addressed this. Just to completely dismiss it from any future reference was wrong.

I can see why they didn’t address it. It was insestual once he became Jock’s son and they really didn’t want to go there. Still, I think they should have brought it up at some point, if not to make it into a storyline then at least they could’ve had Lucy and Ray discuss it between themselves to perhaps give it some closure. I think we all hate having our intelligence insulted, and quite often when the writers sweep these things under the rug that’s exactly how we end up feeling.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Donna asked him "is there anything that you're happy that no one found out about?" Ray reluctantly said "yes."

Great observation! I wonder if that was a nod to it? Sounds as though it could've been, albeit a very small nod.

 

[Chris2]

It was just too convenient for Ray to be Jock’s son. And how fortunate that it was someone that most of them got along with.

What if it had been someone awful who was money grubbing? Or some hillbilly that they were horrified by, like Japhet or Boaz Harper?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It was just too convenient for Ray to be Jock’s son. And how fortunate that it was someone that most of them got along with.

But Margaret Hunter sent Ray from Kansas in his teens, so it's more deliberate than coincidental.

 

[JROG]

I'm really quite surprised to hear so many oppose it.

I thought it was pretty inevitable, added an extra layer of complication/juiciness to the character, and Ray was a complex man whose insecurities and differences were very nicely, thoroughly examined. It's a win for me.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Or some hillbilly that they were horrified by, like Japhet or Boaz Harper

“I’ve got a fourth and a fifth son. Japhet, Boaz, welcome to the family, boys!”

*dramatic season 4 stock music cue plays, this time with sinister banjo undertones*

 

[LMLDallas78]

I'm really quite surprised to hear so many oppose it.

For me I wanted it to have a bigger impact and to have a greater effect on the Ewing Family.
The whole thing fell a bit flat with Ray just wanting to prove he was........Ray.

 

[Billy Wall]

I'm really quite surprised to hear so many oppose it.

I thought it was pretty inevitable, added an extra layer of complication/juiciness to the character, and Ray was a complex man whose insecurities and differences were very nicely, thoroughly examined. It's a win for me.

I liked Ray as a character, but his insecurities really got old fast. It made him act like a total jackass to Donna.

They always wanted to make the women go see a psychiatrist, Ray should have seen one.

 

[DallasFanForever]

But Margaret Hunter sent Ray from Kansas in his teens, so it's more deliberate than coincidental.

So in all the years Ray worked for Jock I’m supposed to believe that Jock was never once told Ray’s mother’s maiden name?

Why would Margaret even send her teenage son to Jock if she wasn’t going to tell him he was his father? Did she not want Ray to ever know the truth for some reason?

I never understood this part of the story.

 

[Billy Wall]

So in all the years Ray worked for Jock I’m supposed to believe that Jock was never once told Ray’s mother’s maiden name?

Why would Margaret even send her teenage son to Jock if she wasn’t going to tell him he was his father? Did she not want Ray to ever know the truth for some reason?

I never understood this part of the story.

And where did Ray live? Did he live with the Ewings?

 

[DallasFanForever]

And where did Ray live? Did he live with the Ewings?

Perhaps he lived with the Ewings early on. Wasn’t he only about 15 when he got there? Unless he lived out in the bunkhouse and Jock put one of the ranch hands he felt he could trust in charge of looking out for him.

 

[tommie]

They always wanted to make the women go see a psychiatrist, Ray should have seen one.

Maybe they should've given him some of those tranquilizers that they always seemed to give to women who had an "emotional" episode?

 

[Seaviewer]

No way were the audience going to forget, we were more intelligent than that, even if the writers weren't.

I wonder if they would have addressed it somehow? especially if they knew it would still get discussed 45 years later.

I wonder how many viewers really did remember during the original run. There were no DVDs or on demand streaming so you could rewatch at will as we can now.

So in all the years Ray worked for Jock I’m supposed to believe that Jock was never once told Ray’s mother’s maiden name?

How often does your mother's maiden name come up in casual conversation?

 

[tommie]

How often does your mother's maiden name come up in casual conversation?

Oh I don't know, what's you mom's maiden name, the name of the first pet you had and the street you grew up on? I mean, that's normal dinner conversations, so do share.

 

[Chris2]

I assumed that Ray’s mother sent him to Southfork after getting in touch with Jock and asking him to let Ray work there. Jock just didn’t know that Ray was his son at that point, but he said later on that he should have been able to figure it out.

 

[LMLDallas78]

How often does your mother's maiden name come up in casual conversation

Jock would have been interested in the boys background, he did know his mother.

Surely it crossed Jock's mind? But then he was naive sometimes, he didn't for one minute think Cliff Barnes could be Baby John's Father.

Was that just because it was Cliff or he just didn't imagine that Sue Ellen would have been unfaithful?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Jock would have been interested in the boys background, he did know his mother.

Surely it crossed Jock's mind? But then he was naive sometimes, he didn't for one minute think Cliff Barnes could be Baby John's Father.

Was that just because it was Cliff or he just didn't imagine that Sue Ellen would have been unfaithful?

Jock did chide himself for not realizing it earlier.

 

[LMLDallas78]

chide

That's going to be my trending word of the week, what a marvellous word.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Ray was probably a good choice for Jock's son, in the context of representing Jock's background as a rancher/cowboy
who was not wealthy pre-oil business.
He certainly was not as business wise as Jock, which was a plot device, in part.
There had to be a Ewing who was not as business wise as JR and Bobby, and Gary was on another show.
Ray's character was understandable and realistic in the sense that he would have insecurities because his wife, Donna,
was well accomplished, and his bothers were successful oil men.