Why Did Jenna And Ray Make Such A Big Deal About Bobby Seeing Lucas?

[Pandora]

That's not the way it works,, both parents have parental rights when a child is born, a petition to terminate the parental rights of one of both parents would have to be filed in court.

That is assuming Bobby went to court and attempted to obtain a finding of paternity. You can not terminate what you do not have.

Paternity | Office of the Attorney General

Paternity is legal fatherhood—and it's one of the most important steps in the child support process. Establishing paternity will benefit the child, the father and the entire family.Remember: For unmarried parents, the biological father does not have legal rights to his child until paternity is...

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov

Regarding Lucy, Gary abandoned her and Valene. Valene would have raised her but JR kidnapped Lucy and drove her out of Texas. The only ones who could and would raise her at that point were Jock and Miss Ellie.
Jenna was Lucas' mother and still with him. There was no need for Miss Ellie to step in and raise him. Although, it would have made sense if Miss Ellie supported Bobby in seeking his rights as a father, but not to take Lucas away from Jenna. She could have gone to Jenna and asked her to let Bobby be a part of Lucas' life.

She could have but why should she? Bobby wasn't interested enough to seek parental status of Lucas.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

I'm watching season 11 now and find it bizarre how little Bobby seems to care about Lucas

Bobby was shown some of the raw behind the scenes footage of Ray and Jenna’s parenting with Charlie before those episodes went to air and wisely and selflessly figured he couldn’t improve upon perfection.

It’s also thought by many that after seeing Christopher turn into a completely different person while he was dead and not even have the common decency to turn back into the original when he came back to life that he couldn’t risk getting attached to another son.

 

[Chase Gioberti]

Fathers have surprisingly few rights in American divorce courts, so it happens all the time, despite his legal wrangling. The only thing that would work in Bobby's favor, of course, is his money.

Wrong. I just spent two and a half years with my granddaughter’s alcoholic “father” trying to get visitation rights. The family courts and GAL will bend over backwards to accommodate loser fathers.
This person is a bartender and doesn’t have money like Bobby Ewing.
The way the courts are, Jenna is lucky Bobby didn’t take Charlie on top of taking Lucas.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

The family courts and GAL will bend over backwards to accommodate loser fathers.

Is that systemic?

 

[CeeCee72]

Regarding Lucy, Gary abandoned her and Valene. Valene would have raised her but JR kidnapped Lucy and drove her out of Texas. The only ones who could and would raise her at that point were Jock and Miss Ellie.

Miss Ellie and Jock weren't the only ones who could raise Lucy at that point. What they could have - and SHOULD have done was returned Lucy to Valene, offered to support her in any way they could, and DARED JR to interfere again .

 

[Chase Gioberti]

Is that systemic?

It seems to be. We have not looked at this individually. We follow blogs, groups. They prescribe “reunification therapy”, which is so bad it is now in the process of being outlawed.
So, yes, it definitely seems to be systemic. It is a myth from the days of yore that fathers don’t have many rights.

 

[CeeCee72]

It seems to be. We have not looked at this individually. We follow blogs, groups. They prescribe “reunification therapy”, which is so bad it is now in the process of being outlawed.
So, yes, it definitely seems to be systemic. It is a myth from the days of yore that fathers don’t have many rights.

I think it may depend on where you live and what judge you get. In my family there was a custody battle where the mother had drug issues and abandoned the baby only to come back later and demand custody. The father won, but it cost a fortune and he had to go through pure hell.

 

[Pandora]

I think it may depend on where you live and what judge you get. In my family there was a custody battle where the mother had drug issues and abandoned the baby only to come back later and demand custody. The father won, but it cost a fortune and he had to go through pure hell.

It may well be the luck of the draw. Your relative should not have had to go through that. Had Victoria stayed they might have handled the situation differently. You might have seen some sort of court situation involving Lucas. But it seems like the writers were too busy with Christopher and Lisa Alden.

Miss Ellie and Jock weren't the only ones who could raise Lucy at that point. What they could have - and SHOULD have done was returned Lucy to Valene, offered to support her in any way they could, and DARED JR to interfere again .

I always wondered why they didn't do that. Does make me wonder why JR didn't try to do something with Lucas.

 

[CeeCee72]

I always wondered why they didn't do that. Does make me wonder why JR didn't try to do something with Lucas.

I kept expecting that - JR trying to leverage Lucas's paternity in SOME way. But like you said, instead we got that Lisa/Christopher drivel.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Bobby was shown some of the raw behind the scenes footage of Ray and Jenna’s parenting with Charlie before those episodes went to air and wisely and selflessly figured he couldn’t improve upon perfection.

Very unfair of anyone to ask Bobby to live up those lofty expectations. Ray and Jenna did set a standard that couldn’t be equaled.

It’s also thought by many that after seeing Christopher turn into a completely different person while he was dead and not even have the common decency to turn back into the original when he came back to life that he couldn’t risk getting attached to another son.

Quite the paradox. Going from Christopher pre-dream to Christopher post-dream is quite jarring, yet they did have a common bond. But sadly that connection would end up being long forgotten after the first episode of the Dream Season and the expression “eggs and toast” would never be heard in Dallas again. If only TNT had mentioned this iconic breakfast phrase just once. Could’ve changed the entire course of history.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Very unfair of anyone to ask Bobby to live up those lofty expectations. Ray and Jenna did set a standard that couldn’t be equaled.

indeed, it’s nearly impossible to not feel great sympathy for Bobby whenever Christopher delivers his patented “why aren’t you as overbearingly strict with me as Uncle Ray is with Charlie? Is it because I’m adopted?” line..

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It seems to be. We have not looked at this individually. We follow blogs, groups. They prescribe “reunification therapy”, which is so bad it is now in the process of being outlawed.
So, yes, it definitely seems to be systemic. It is a myth from the days of yore that fathers don’t have many rights.

Really? Are you sure?? Mothers get custody the vast majority of the time.

 

[Chase Gioberti]

Really? Are you sure?? Mothers get custody the vast majority of the time.

Why do you keep asking after I’ve given you an answer? I seem to be pretty sure. Either accept it or reject it. I’m not going to change what I’ve come to know based on prodding questions from “ Snarky Oracle” on Tellytalk.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Why do you keep asking after I’ve given you an answer? I seem to be pretty sure. Either accept it or reject it. I’m not going to change what I’ve come to know based on prodding questions from “ Snarky Oracle” on Tellytalk.

'Prodding'? It's a conversation board! You act like you've been caught fibbing or something...

 

[tommie]

Dallas overall had a very old-fashioned view of the nuclear family where it had to be the traditional mom-pop-child unit. I think it fits into the ages of the writers to be honest - I can think of several cases from my dad's age (born in the 40s) where the biological father just ended up staying away and allowing the stepfather to take over (because it would "confuse the child"). I think in the 80s that sort of thinking was outdated so it became odd on Dallas.

 

[CeeCee72]

'Prodding'? It's a conversation board! You act like you've been caught fibbing or something...

Again, I think it depends on where you live. Yes, mothers still get custody the vast majority of the time (unless she is deemed unfit), but re-unification therapy is a real thing and it is being mandated by many courts. It happens when a parent has abandoned the child, or so much damage (often through drug addiction or neglect) has been done between the parent and the child that the non custodial parent has little to no contact with the child by the child's choice. Through this therapy, the absent parent is allowed to drag the child into the court mandated therapy and is granted visitation rights. I am in the deep south in the US and it is very common here.

 

[Pandora]

Again, I think it depends on where you live. Yes, mothers still get custody the vast majority of the time (unless she is deemed unfit), but re-unification therapy is a real thing and it is being mandated by many courts. It happens when a parent has abandoned the child, or so much damage (often through drug addiction or neglect) has been done between the parent and the child that the non custodial parent has little to no contact with the child by the child's choice. Through this therapy, the absent parent is allowed to drag the child into the court mandated therapy and is granted visitation rights. I am in the deep south in the US and it is very common here.

I am in Texas and have heard my neighbor use this phrase. I guess the writers did not want to take us down this road with Bobby. I didn't like the way Ray pulled a bait and switch with Jenna over this .... at first he supported her not allowing Bobby to see Lucas. Then after Pam skipped out on him and Christopher he whines to Jenna that they have to let Bobby see Lucas because he's going though such a bad time. Slight indication Jenna and Ray did not belong together.

 

[KayLloyd]

I am in Texas and have heard my neighbor use this phrase. I guess the writers did not want to take us down this road with Bobby. I didn't like the way Ray pulled a bait and switch with Jenna over this .... at first he supported her not allowing Bobby to see Lucas. Then after Pam skipped out on him and Christopher he whines to Jenna that they have to let Bobby see Lucas because he's going though such a bad time. Slight indication Jenna and Ray did not belong together.

Or you could say that because Donna acted like a grown up with him about Margaret, Ray realized that Jenna was wrong to keep Bobby from seeing Lucas. Just saying ...

 

[Pandora]

Or you could say that because Donna acted like a grown up with him about Margaret, Ray realized that Jenna was wrong to keep Bobby from seeing Lucas. Just saying ...

I do not believe Ray ever said anything to Jenna about Donna and Margaret. But I will find the scene later. It still doesn't clear Ray of doing something that is sketchy.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Personally I couldn't give a toss for either Bobby or Jenna or Uncle Ray. The way they all treated poor Lucas was ridiculous. He deserved so much better.