Characters Who Had a Happy Ending

[Lastkidpicked]

There are a few characters who actually had a happy ending in the series. Believe it or not, Cliff Barnes is one of them.

In the reunion move "J.R. Returns", Cliff is all set up to sell Ewing Oil to Weststar. J.R. tips him off that Afton is in Waco in the hopes that Cliff will go to Waco and miss the big meeting.

So, Cliff is faced with a choice. Go find Afton or make the deal of a lifetime.

Bobby asks him, "What are you going to do, Cliff?" And Cliff says, "I'm going to find Afton." He pauses a moment, "I don't need Ewing Oil."

Ken Kercheval does a great job in this scene. The look on his face during that half second pause where he realizes the entire feud means nothing compared to friends and family. And he finally makes the right decision and chooses family over the feud.

Can you think of other characters who were able to find good lives for themselves?

 

[Michelle Stevens]

How about Clayton? He seemed happy with Ellie away from the drama at Southfork.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

How about Clayton? He seemed happy with Ellie away from the drama at Southfork.

Yes! Bobby addressed this as well:

"Momma and Clayton come by when they can, but they are busy leading their own lives."

 

[Monzo]

Cally seemed happy when JR saw her one last time. James was happy when he left with his new found family. John Ross was happy with his mother, which didn't make JR very happy in the end.

 

[tommie]

Pam.

Got away from those horrible people and got some top-notch plastic surgery to boot.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Gary and Valene. They ended up together and with the twins. Gary was the only Ewing to end up with his true love.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

it was heartwarming to see Muriel Gillis end the series as Head Librarian of Dallas City and County, married to a nice young man…

wait, did I make that up?

 

[Mustard]

Gary and Valene. They ended up together and with the twins. Gary was the only Ewing to end up with his true love.

Indeed. Gary and Valene had amazing resiliency as a couple, even when apart. They really were unbreakable.

The famous Abby quote to Gary's fiancee Jill years earlier "Let the second Mrs. Ewing give the soon to be third Mrs. Ewing a friendly warning. The first Mrs. Ewing doesn't go away, ever".

Of course, that's on Knots Landing rather than Dallas, even though Gary and Valene originated on Dallas.

 

[Angela Channing]

Sue Ellen had a happy ending in the series. She became a successful businesswoman, left her toxic marriage with JR and found new love with Don Lockwood. She left Dallas on her own terms and turned the tables on JR in that she had something (her film) she could use to control his future behaviour.

Donna also had a happy ending. She left a marriage to a husband who resented her successes, had the child she always wanted and found a new partner (Senator Dowling) who appreciated her intellect and never let her feel guilty of her achievements.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Pam.

Got away from those horrible people and got some top-notch plastic surgery to boot.

Yeah she's very happy.

She's remarried to Mark Graison and lives with me and my half brother Christopher.

 

[Chris2]

I didn’t view Sue Ellen’s ending as happy. She was still obsessed with JR to the point where she was willing to carry out some silly revenge plot.

In reality, hate isn’t the opposite of love; indifference is. A happy ending for Sue Ellen would have been to walk away from the Ewings and never look back and worry much less about material things. And if anyone contacted her about the Ewings, she would have simply said, “I just don’t care any more.” Think about Pam’s line toward the end of the dream season when selling Ewing Oil (“The fight just isn’t worth it”). That, to me, is a true happy ending.

 

[Angela Channing]

I didn’t view Sue Ellen’s ending as happy. She was still obsessed with JR to the point where she was willing to carry out some silly revenge plot.

In reality, hate isn’t the opposite of love; indifference is. A happy ending for Sue Ellen would have been to walk away from the Ewings and never look back and worry much less about material things. And if anyone contacted her about the Ewings, she would have simply said, “I just don’t care any more.” Think about Pam’s line toward the end of the dream season when selling Ewing Oil (“The fight just isn’t worth it”). That, to me, is a true happy ending.

I completely understand your point but Sue Ellen would never be able to walk away like that because JR was a vindictive, controlling person who would have made Sue Ellen to always be looking over her shoulder in fear of what he might do to her. The way she left gave her control over the situation and allowed her to live in peace and happiness with a partner that was willing to support and protect her from JR. From her point of view, it was as good as she was going to get.

 

[Jon Ewing Jr.]

What about Alan Beam. He seemed at peace with everything and fairly content when he bids Kristen at the hospital in season 4.
That dude, (Cantrell) seems like he found himself when he sees Pam and Mark one last time.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Happy endings rarely ring true. Everyone thinks they want a happy ending and when they get one they go "Awwwww!" and then promptly forget about it.

The classic movies everyone remembers had sad or at least ambivalent endings --- except for maybe THE WIZARD OF OZ.... but that was a dream, too.

 

[Laurie Marr]

Even as a kid I always intuited that happy endings on tv shows were contrived. Conflict would be spirited away with some deus ex machina moment and everything felt flat and phoney - not satisfying. Then again, that may just have been the early stirrings of my essentially tragic view of life…..

 

[Lastkidpicked]

James was happy when he left with his new found family. John Ross was happy with his mother, which didn't make JR very happy in the end.

Gary and Valene. They ended up together and with the twins. Gary was the only Ewing to end up with his true love.

Sue Ellen had a happy ending in the series. She became a successful businesswoman, left her toxic marriage with JR and found new love with Don Lockwood. She left Dallas on her own terms and turned the tables on JR in that she had something (her film) she could use to control his future behaviour.

The thing each of these people had in common is they got away from the Ewings and Dallas. When we do a rewatch I want to yell at the screen, "Just get out of town! Go somewhere else and start your live over somewhere else!"

Of course, the show wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining if they had done that.

 

[Laurie Marr]

And how often do humans persist with dysfunctional relationships and cleave to patterns of behaviour that are masochistic and damaging? Rather a lot. To that extent, the repeated failure of many Ewings to escape this fate made the show strangely archetypal.

 

[Chris2]

I completely understand your point but Sue Ellen would never be able to walk away like that because JR was a vindictive, controlling person who would have made Sue Ellen to always be looking over her shoulder in fear of what he might do to her. The way she left gave her control over the situation and allowed her to live in peace and happiness with a partner that was willing to support and protect her from JR. From her point of view, it was as good as she was going to get.

Excellent points - I really appreciate your response.

 

[Snowcat]

Cally seemed happy when JR saw her one last time. James was happy when he left with his new found family. John Ross was happy with his mother, which didn't make JR very happy in the end.

John Ross was not happy. He never got to heal from his parents divorce. He only left JR because he was angry and hurt

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Well, Andy Bradley was very happy. He moved to Houston with Jimmy Monahan and opened up a Gay bar.

A magnum opus of his life story is at this moment being prepared of his life story in three very detailed volumes.