New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="James from London" data-source="post: 241459" data-attributes="member: 22">Cricket (KNOTS, 04 Mar 82) v Crime Story (DALLAS, 04 Mar 88) Two very different episodes, exactly six years apart. Cricket is a sweet, if slight, tale of a step-kid (Cricket) of an ex of Val's (Rusty) who gets dumped on her doorstep. No-one but Val likes her — a plot contrivance that obliges Gary and Lilimae to play the bad guys, which is kind of interesting. Val and Cricket eventually forge a tight bond, but then Rusty gets his act together, takes Cricket back from Val and they leave together in a happy/sad ending. The most intriguing part of the scenario is Val having an old boyfriend, but as Rusty's off screen for the most of the ep, we don't get to find out if he was the one who "rung her chimes", as a drunken Gary put it in Bottom of the Bottle, during their long separation. There again, maybe it works better if we don't learn too much about Val's wilderness years; that way, she retains the "frozen in time" quality that makes it seem like the Val who ran away from Southfork in the early '60s is the same girl/woman who Lucy found slinging hash at the Hot Biscuit in the late '70s, and it's only now, as her second marriage to Gary starts to unravel, that she is finally forced to evolve.If there is a link between these two eps then maybe it's the sudden influx of big-hearted New Yorkers. Cricket also sees the introduction of Karen's brother Joe — and what a hugely warm, likeable presence he is. He may have barely been mentioned before (if at all), but as soon as he walks through the Fairgates' door you totally believe in him as a member of the family. There are more effusive displays of familial affection between Noo Yawkers as Nicholas Pearce risks a visit to his Witness Protected parents on DALLAS and they all start cooking and crying and talking Italian. (Hey, there are worse stereotypes.) It can sometimes be hard to get past Nick's cheesy '80s hair and cheesy '80s knitwear and cheesy '80s dialogue (likewise Sue Ellen's next suitor, Don Lockwood), but underneath all that, he's a decent, sympathetic character and the few scenes he gets with his family are really quite endearing (especially in hindsight when you know that he's not long for this world). While this episode of KNOTS is centred almost entirely around the cul-de-sac, with Cricket fleecing the neighbours and Karen and Joe getting reacquainted in the kitchen, this episode of DALLAS spreads its canvas wide. In fact, this era of the show might have the largest supporting cast of its entire run. And what a wonderfully diverse selection of weirdoes they are, including Clayton's painting-come-to-life, the beautiful bonsai-tweaking Laurel Ellis; her snobby psycho English ex (future FALCON CREST nut job Charley St James); her slovenly blackmailing painter pal David (who this week gets knocked on his artistic arse by Clayton when he tries to extort $50,000 from him); Kimberly Cryder's powerful but wheelchair-bound daddy who appears to have been wheeled in from the set of PEYTON PLACE, and would-be teen rebel Charlie who's just the worst liar ever. Meanwhile, Sue Ellen is on fine smouldering form, mocking her husband and assuring Kimberly that she intends "to stay married to JR till the end of time, just so you can't have him", only to let herself down slightly by blubbing when Nick says he won't be able to give her his full undivided attention for a little while because his entire life does not revolve around her. And the winner is ... Crime Story BONUS BEATS[MEDIA=youtube]Qk2JOON_Xgw[/MEDIA]</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?