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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James from London" data-source="post: 208903" data-attributes="member: 22">Blame Game (DALLAS, 25 Feb 13) v Blame it on Bogota (DALLAS, 24 Jan 86)Blame it on Bogota is one of those strange Dream Season episodes in which the Ewings manage to sit down to dinner together without exchanging a harsh word. Instead, they chit-chat about emerald mines and special needs kids while pretending not to notice Jenna has completely lost her mind. Blame Game is one of those fantastic New DALLAS episodes where the Ewings spend most of the episode tearing each other apart before uniting against a common enemy, only to start tearing each other apart all over again just in time for the closing credits.Described in Old DALLAS terms, Blame Game is Winds of Vengeance meets Ray’s Trial. While Ann awaits sentencing after being found guilty of trying to kill her ex (well, she did shoot him in cold blood), the rest of the family are held at gunpoint at Southfork. It’s nail-biting stuff, particularly a thrillingly kinetic fight between Christopher and one of Vicente’s thugs.Both eps feature a foreign-sounding baddie. Angelica Nero is so deliciously exotic in 1986 that the Ewings can’t help seeming a little drab in comparison. Vicente Cano is such a blast in 2013 (especially when he realises John Ross and Christopher have exchanged love interests: “You Ewing boys share after all! I love it!”) that it’s kind of a shame when he gets mown down by Drew Ramos, aka the Mexican Mickey Trotter.Both Blame episodes have to work around the unforeseen absence of one of their main actors: Larry Hagman in Game, Victoria Principal in Bogota. Each appears for one brief scene. In Game, we see JR being introduced to the apps on his new tablet by a pretty young nurse/assistant/whatever. “I even gave you Angry Birds,” she tells him. “Honey, I don’t need any more angry birds,” he assures her. He subsequently annoys Bobby from off-screen by messaging him a video of a basketball-playing dog. All this “JR discovers the internet” stuff is very charming and funny in and of itself, but unexpectedly becomes a pivotal plot twist later in the episode when, during a bitter confrontation with John Ross, Bobby realises the video JR sent him was really a viral Trojan horse designed to erase crucial evidence on his computer that he was planning to use against his brother and nephew. Bobby storms angrily into his brother’s room — only to discover that he’s flown the coup. Just as he has from the beginning of New DALLAS, JR continues to wrong-foot characters and audience alike right up until the end. Meanwhile, the lack of Pam in Bogota is explained away by a couple of “oh, you just missed her” scenes. She eventually appears at the end of the episode when she and Matt Cantrell arrive at their hotel in Colombia. She’s on-screen for less than a minute, but is a very welcome presence: it feels like the episode’s missed her.Sue Ellen substitutes for Pam in a couple of scenes in Bogota and throughout the ep adopts the role of a sympathetic, supportive listener. Sue Ellen is just sympathetic and supportive when we first see her in Blame Game visiting Ann in jail. But in the very next scene, she instantly turns ice cold towards Elena and Christopher. This unpredictability continues throughout the episode. She and Bobby argue, but seem to reach an understanding while being held hostage by Vicente, yet by the end of the ep, she’s sided with John Ross and betrayed him again. Just as it has JR, New DALLAS has turned Sue Ellen into a wild card. You’re never sure which side of the moral divide she’s going to land, and more often than not, it’s the darker, more interesting side. This is the opposite of Pam’s Dream where Sue Ellen became one of its nicest, safest and most predictable characters.And the winner is ... Blame GameBONUS BEATS:[MEDIA=youtube]6mp72xUirfs[/MEDIA]</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?