I thought Jock’s death was handled so well, and it played out in a realistic amount of time, as opposed to everyone getting over it in two episodes.
I remember that they were searching for him in South America and JR hopelessly said something like , “It can’t end here. Not in this stinking hole.”
I also loved the episode “Head of the Family” where Bobby was trying to hold the family together and finally pulled JR out of bed, with JR pitifully saying, “It’ll never be the same, Bob.” And by the end of that episode, JR’s motivation for his business misdeed has pivoted from pleasing his daddy to building a legacy for his son. Excellent storytelling.
Ellie’s denial of her grief mirrored my mom’s. While my mom didn’t deny that my father had passed, the true grief didn’t hit her until three or four months later. Again, excellent writing.
And of course, the battle for Ewing Oil in the wake of the reading of Jock’s will was one of its best storylines.