Brotherly love; Blood or Business?

[LMLDallas78]

JR and Bobby were close, but how close?

JR threatened that brotherly love a number of times during the fight for Ewing Oil (bring Bobby down) and when he thought Christopher was his son.

JR was willing to expose the truth to Pam if Bobby didn't vote his shares JR's way. This was a child he believed was his!

Did those shares really mean more than his own child? (As he thought)
Then the Lisa Alden thing.

Bobby also threatened that brotherly love by leaving Southfork and attempting to drown JR during yet another brotherly brawl.

Would Bobby have gone through with it if JR hadn't been shot and he was stopped from fighting?

When it comes down to it,
Did the business mean more to each of them than their sibling love?



What about Gary and Ray?

Ray was JR's best buddy until he was a Ewing then he was Bobby's buddy.

At the beginning Bobby said he didn't really know/remember Gary but liked him. Then overnight he seemed to know him well.

JR felt threatened by Gary but he didn't really pose any threat surely? JR always referred to Gary as weak.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

JR was a narcissist with sociopathic leanings. Bobby was a hothead.

Gary and Ray (once he learned he was a Ewing) undoubtedly felt less-threatened by Bobby, for obvious reasons.

What went on between Jock and Jason??

 

[LMLDallas78]

Was this true after all?



What went on between Jock and Jason??
[/QUOTE]
Oh yes, I hardly remember the early years.
Was this history repeating itself?

JR was a narcissist with sociopathic leanings

Even towards a baby he believed was his son?
He was willing to allow Christopher to grow up calling him Uncle JR in return for control of Ewing Oil.

JR turned out to be a great Father to John Ross so he was able to shift his narcissistic tendencies.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Even towards a baby he believed was his son?
He was willing to allow Christopher to grow up calling him Uncle JR in return for control of Ewing Oil.

JR turned out to be a great Father to John Ross so he was able to shift his narcissistic tendencies.

It's highly debatable whether or not JR was a good father. Grooming your child to believe in "winning" no-matter-what is questionable messaging.

 

[LMLDallas78]

It's highly debatable whether or not JR was a good father. Grooming your child to believe in "winning" no-matter-what is questionable messaging.

See, that's what I love, when I'm encouraged to look at something in a completely different way.

I'm quoting Sue Ellen really who told JR what a great Father he'd turned out, shame he wasn't more of a loving husband. I guess she was brought up to "win" too, even though her marriage wasn't so much of a win.

I pity John Ross now.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

See, that's what I love, when I'm encouraged to look at something in a completely different way.

I'm quoting Sue Ellen really who told JR what a great Father he'd turned out, shame he wasn't more of a loving husband. I guess she was brought up to "win" too, even though her marriage wasn't so much of a win.

I pity John Ross now.

Sue Ellen and Kristin had an alcoholic father and a mother who'd groomed both daughters to catch a rich man.

What can go wrong??

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

JR was a narcissist with sociopathic leanings. Bobby was a hothead.

Gary and Ray (once he learned he was a Ewing) undoubtedly felt less-threatened by Bobby, for obvious reasons.

What went on between Jock and Jason??

* note the following is just my 'headcanon' - just can't help myself from repeating it here ad nauseam *

Jason was a contrivance to get Mr. Taj Mahal and Chrissy’s replacement from Three’s Company on the show. I guess also a convenient, if convoluted way for Cliff to get a chunk of Ewing Oil. He wasn't mentioned once in the first several seasons, and was barely mentioned at all after Jack and Jamie were disposed of by the producers.

In my 'headcanon' there is no Jason! It’s just Jock and Digger all the way…

"Now tell me this, Barnes: just who in the *hell* was this Jason fella supposed to be?!

See, that's what I love, when I'm encouraged to look at something in a completely different way.

I'm quoting Sue Ellen really who told JR what a great Father he'd turned out, shame he wasn't more of a loving husband. I guess she was brought up to "win" too, even though her marriage wasn't so much of a win.

I pity John Ross now.

my take is that JR had set the bar so low with his behavior that anything positive he does resembling what a ‘normal person’ would do is blown way out of proportion.

case in point: a man shows concern over his comatose wife, even getting a bit teary-eyed: “love affair of the millennium!!!”

He shows John Ross some occasional attention, even affection, but it’s mostly in the context of “this is my son and he’s gonna get Ewing Oil someday!” ..approaching being an adequate father, maybe.

The “provides for his son” argument you hear sometimes doesn’t hold up… JR could have sat on his ass and given John Ross a very comfortable upbringing from his trust fund alone, and in fact risked squandering the family fortune entirely on more than one occasion.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

* note the following is just my 'headcanon' - just can't help myself from repeating it here ad nauseam *

Jason was a contrivance to get Mr. Taj Mahal and Chrissy’s replacement from Three’s Company on the show. I guess also a convenient, if convoluted way for Cliff to get a chunk of Ewing Oil. He wasn't mentioned once in the first several seasons, and was barely mentioned at all after Jack and Jamie were disposed of by the producers.

In my 'headcanon' there is no Jason! It’s just Jock and Digger all the way…


"Now tell me this, Barnes: just who in the *hell* was this Jason fella supposed to be?!

I've always been okay with it and have never really viewed it as a "retcon" per se, because the introduction of Jason issue in Season 8 didn't contradict established details from the Ewingverse backstory. It just added to it.

To me, at least, there's a difference.

 

[LMLDallas78]

because the introduction of Jason issue

Wouldn't it have been great if we saw Jason then before we heard he'd died?
Maybe he could've been a more prominent character beforehabd especially with Jock long gone.

Then a scruffy, dirty faced Jamie turning up on the drive wouldn't have looked quite so Annie-ish.

That would have been another brothers tale to add to the saga.

In my 'headcanon' there is no Jason! It’s just Jock and Digger all the way

I absolutely get all of your points, but this Jason guy could have made quite an impact on the Ewings if he'd been real and made an appearance.

Wasn't he mentioned by Donna when she was writing her book and her and Miss Ellie had words?

But as you say barely mentioned otherwise. Should've had more mentions and the family Should've tried to contact him after Jock's death.

That would've been fascinating to see, imagine that, Jock's brother.

 

[Billy Wall]

JR turned out to be a great Father to John Ross so he was able to shift his narcissistic tendencies.

When was this? Lol

my take is that JR had set the bar so low with his behavior that anything positive he does resembling what a ‘normal person’ would do is blown way out of proportion.

case in point: a man shows concern over his comatose wife, even getting a bit teary-eyed: “love affair of the millennium!!!”

He shows John Ross some occasional attention, even affection, but it’s mostly in the context of “this is my son and he’s gonna get Ewing Oil someday!” ..approaching being an adequate father, maybe.

The “provides for his son” argument you hear sometimes doesn’t hold up… JR could have sat on his ass and given John Ross a very comfortable upbringing from his trust fund alone, and in fact risked squandering the family fortune entirely on more than one occasion.

Perfectly said.

 

[LMLDallas78]

When was this? Lol

Well I know! (Lol) As I said I was quoting Sue Ellen really, more than my own opinion.

Let's just say he had a few (and only a few) tender moments as a Father.

JR was obviously incapable of sharing what little love he did have with anyone.
Unless he stood to gain from it, there was little affection shown.

In this scene in Double Wedding JR says to Bobby "We'll make you a Ewing yet" when he managed to "get around" some church commitee members by quoting scriptures.

Bobby was trying to get the committee to agree to build a school for wayward boys.
Earlier Lucy had asked if she could visit the school (great line).

From JR's comment above he still didn't regard a young Bobby as a true Ewing just because he was nice and found it funny when Bobby behaved a little craftily?

 

[LoganRhinewood]

In JR's world, Bobby was a Ewing when he needed something from him or when he ranted about yet another "outsider" on Southfork and wanted to use Bobby as an example for a "real" Ewing. But Bobby was NOT a Ewing when it came to who should be in charge of Ewing Oil. lol

 

[DallasFanForever]

JR and Bobby were close, but how close?

They were only close when aligned against a common outsider or enemy. When there was no one else to fight they turned that hostility towards one another. It was always inevitable.

Did those shares really mean more than his own child? (As he thought)

Yes, I think they did. He only remarried Sue Ellen over voting shares. I don’t think there’s any doubt he loved John Ross, but ultimately even his own son was just a pawn in his games when it served him well.

Then the Lisa Alden thing.

This was low even for JR. Trying to take advantage of Bobby after Pam’s accident was despicable. He claimed he wasn’t going to let it go as far as to let Lisa take Christopher away but I’m not so sure. After this I was actually convinced that it was JR who must’ve been behind Pam’s disappearance from the hospital.

(Perhaps they should’ve explored this possibility and had him working with Katherine again? Maybe an idea for another thread sometime).

When it comes down to it,
Did the business mean more to each of them than their sibling love?

To JR? Unquestionably. The business meant more to him than anything. It was Ewing Oil first, everything else second. I think Bobby put family ahead of business but as seen many times he could play just as dirty as his brother when he had to and when the fate of the business was on the line. Bobby loved Ewing Oil, but it didn’t mean to him what it meant to JR.

 

[Mustard]

J.R. always goes for profit first and foremost, and he doesn't see his drive for profits as separate from family. Also, J.R. assumes that anyone with the potential to hurt him in business is his actual business enemy, i.e. "do unto others before they do unto you".

J.R. only likes Bobby as a rival because Bobby plays the Ewing power games and is predictable in his behaviour, unlike Gary.

 

[CeeCee72]

JR's relationship with John Ross was the same as his relationship with Sue Ellen... he didn't love them so much as he needed to possess them.

JR "loved" five people in his entire life - Jock, Ellie, Bobby, Sue Ellen, and John Ross. Having said that, his version of love wasn't normal. With Jock and Ellie, his "love" was a need for approval. With Bobby, his "love" was about the Ewing name. With Sue Ellen and John Ross, his "love" was about ownership.