If Dallas Did a Moldavian Massacre

[Seaviewer]

Instead of planting bombs, Angelica Nero should have shown up on Southfork with a few gunmen who could have fired submachine guns into the crowd at the annual Ewing Barbecue. Conveniently, the season with Angelica turned out to be a dream and the writers didn't have to worry about who was going to die.

Yes, arguably that triple finale was their Moldavian Massacre, they just never went ahead with it.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I believe the bigger question is had it been done in a season other than the dream how would Dallas have handled the fallout from such a massacre? Would they have bungled it like Dynasty did or would it have been resolved any better?

How many times did someone not die after being shot in a cliffhanger?

It's just not what prime time soaps do no matter how exciting the idea is (although we'd probably complain about the unnecessary loss of a popular character).
Just as with Bobby's return I look at it as a bizarre TV artifact of the 1980s. It's grotesque, it's glorious, it's stupid and it happened.

 

[DallasFanForever]

How many times did someone not die after being shot in a cliffhanger?

Oh, all the time. Although I have to say terrorists opening fire in a crowded wedding where no one had time to leave and not succeeding was kind of taking the suspension of disbelief a little too far for me.

It's just not what prime time soaps do no matter how exciting the idea is (although we'd probably complain about the unnecessary loss of a popular character).

I agree, and that’s why I don’t single out Dynasty for its resolution of that cliffhanger. Dallas bungled quite a few cliffhangers themselves. Let’s face it, a shooting cliffhanger was usually set up to disappoint in prime time. Nine times out of ten we knew the character being shot was too relevant to die and charges would end up mysteriously being not filed or virtually disappear because the perpetrator always had some kind of leverage over the victim.

Just as with Bobby's return I look at it as a bizarre TV artifact of the 1980s. It's grotesque, it's glorious, it's stupid and it happened.

It’s all of those things, but it’s a part of the history of the show and can’t be erased. I feel the same way about the Massacre. Maybe it gets criticized but I enjoy it for what it was. The fact that we’re still talking about these things, popular decisions or not, is very telling. They have a place in TV history.

 

[Toni]

If Dallas ever did such a rubbishy bonkers Dynasty type scene, it would be done so much better.

Dallas got bonkers later on, but early Dallas would have done such a scene with class and taste and a real Cliffhanger who lives, who dies?

I'm sure we could all list the ones we would have liked to be massacred.

 

[Willie Oleson]

terrorists opening fire in a crowded wedding where no one had time to leave and not succeeding was kind of taking the suspension of disbelief a little too far for me.

If there had been only one survivor it would still be a miracle. And wouldn't it be funny if that survivor was Lady Ashley.
It could work as a series finale - and we got a series finale cliffhanger anyway - in the same way the UFO could be used for the finale of THE COLBYS.
On the other hand, a massacre might have been too unpleasant as a farewell to a popular soap family.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Could have been another great Cliffhanger. Not too many caught in the crossfire, but really left us guessing.

Just one more to add to the list posted by @Toni




Then there's Clayton..................
What becomes of our beloved Clayton?

 

[xab]

I'bet my favorite skirt that as soon as they decided to film Pamela's awakening in her bed and Bobby in the shower smiling as if nothing had happened they obviously knew season 9 would turn to be a dream. Maybe they even decided it as soon as Patrick Duffy was rumored to come back. But I'm pretty sure they made up their mind much earlier than they claimed they did. Everything else was just publicity and smokescreen...
So why not playing bold and having a big Moldavian massacre at Pam and Mark's wedding ? Anyway it was meant to be a nightmare, so let's have fun ? Angelica Nero with a machine gun would have been priceless...

 

[LMLDallas78]

So why not playing bold and having a big Moldavian massacre at Pam and Mark's wedding ?

Because Dallas wasn't the copycat.

Angelica Nero with a machine gun would have been priceless

Yes that would have been quite something. Angelica would definitely know what to do with one!