Was Jock Smart?

[Billy Wall]

I know he was getting up there in age, but it seemed very easy to get things past him. Lucy even once said "grand daddy will believe anything I tell him." But mostly I'm referring to the "who's John Ross daddy" storyline. Jock couldn't tell that Cliff could have been the father just by observing JR's and Sue Ellen's body language. When Harv Smithfield calls to say that JR and Cliff has the same blood type and JR gleefully says, "that means we WON." Right then and there Jock AND Miss Ellie should have had both eye brows raised at JR and Sue Ellen. Lol

Jock might have been business savvy, but when it came to domestic situations, he was definitely lacking.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

There was a lot of denial at Southfork. And Grandpa couldn't keep up with all the sluttin' around.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Yes, he obviously had to be smart to get to where he got, but lol, yes..the writers set it up so he was kind of oblivious to what was going on around him at times. That's a perfect example with the paternity episode. I know there are several other examples that I'm blanking on at the moment. You have to wonder how he didn't see what J.R. had been up to with those Asian oil leases as well. Well, and all that time, you mean to tell me he didn't think Ray could possibly be his kid? Also, not telling Ellie about Amanda was a bit bone headed.

 

[lbf522]

Daytime soaps used to to that as well. They would introduce a character as being a very strong, powerful person but over time water them down. I agree they watered down Jock to make JR seem more powerful. A man like Jock who built his empire is not going not know what is going on in his company. Just taking JR's word for the Asian Oil Wells made Jock seem stupid.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Daytime soaps used to to that as well. They would introduce a character as being a very strong, powerful person but over time water them down. I agree they watered down Jock to make JR seem more powerful. A man like Jock who built his empire is not going not know what is going on in his company. Just taking JR's word for the Asian Oil Wells made Jock seem stupid.

they had him be the gullible, doddering grandpa a lot, but in the case of the Asian oil leases, I think he absolutely realized JR had screwed over the Cartel boys.

If you assume that, then the “JR, I’m gonna ask you a question, and you’re gonna answer it, then we’re never gonna talk about again” exchange was Jock circling the wagons and establishing their official position. Jock turned around and blew off Vaughn Leland and Jordan Lee right after that - “you know this bi’ness - it’s a crapshoot” and “do you have any proof? Because if not..”

Bobby was visibly disgusted when Jock accepted JR’s obvious lie, and the next morning when Bobby said he was leaving because Jock backed JR on Ewing 23, I could see where the real reason was Jock backing up JR on the Asian Oil deal, but true to Ewing form, that was not something to say out loud.

(You’d think Jock would have been decent at backgammon, though…)

 

[lbf522]

they had him be the gullible, doddering grandpa a lot, but in the case of the Asian oil leases, I think he absolutely realized JR had screwed over the Cartel boys.

If you assume that, then the “JR, I’m gonna ask you a question, and you’re gonna answer it, then we’re never gonna talk about again” exchange was Jock circling the wagons and establishing their official position. Jock turned around and blew off Vaughn Leland and Jordan Lee right after that - “you know this bi’ness - it’s a crapshoot” and “do you have any proof? Because if not..”

Bobby was visibly disgusted when Jock accepted JR’s obvious lie, and the next morning when Bobby said he was leaving because Jock backed JR on Ewing 23, I could see where the real reason was Jock backing up JR on the Asian Oil deal, but true to Ewing form, that was not something to say out loud.

(You’d think Jock would have been decent at backgammon, though…)

Love your analysis.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

In reflecting on this more, I think in fairness to Jock, the family did intentionally try to hide things from him. The first thing that comes to mind is when Bobby and J.R's plane went down, and Miss Ellie insisted the family keep it a secret from Jock. In this case, it was due to his heart, but later on, I'm not sure. Laugh. I think it's more insinuated later in the series that they tried to keep things hidden from him, but it's not explicitly stated in dialogue. That's just speculation, though. Also, even if they were trying to hide things from him, the fact that he didn't pick up on some of the things is questionable. Really, I think the writers just set it up that way, a little clumsily, and not realistically.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

In reflecting on this more, I think in fairness to Jock, the family did intentionally try to hide things from him. The first thing that comes to mind is when Bobby and J.R's plane went down, and Miss Ellie insisted the family keep it a secret from Jock. In this case, it was due to his heart, but later on, I'm not sure. Laugh. I think it's more insinuated later in the series that they tried to keep things hidden from him, but it's not explicitly stated in dialogue. That's just speculation, though. Also, even if they were trying to hide things from him, the fact that he didn't pick up on some of the things is questionable. Really, I think the writers just set it up that way, a little clumsily, and not realistically.

yeah, it seems they couldn’t decide if he was the ruthless head of the family or a doddering old grandpa.. it’s valid that someone could be both or either one at various times, but Jock wasn’t *that* old, and I liked the character more as the former.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Wasn't there even an episode where Jock says something along the lines of, "I feel like there's something going on here, and I don't like it" or something of that nature? LOL. I know that's kinda vague, but I'm blanking on what the plot was he was referring to. I just know my friend and I both kind of laughed when he said it. We more laughed because it was like, heck yeah, there's something going on(I mean, wasn't there always) not at Jock's expense, but it does make me think of this current topic.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Family is different than business.
I think he knew what JR was doing, and that is part of the reason that he was so determined to develop Bobby for
a leadership role in Ewing Oil - to counterbalance JR's excesses

With Family, I think Jock grudgingly conceded some things because business required so much of his attention, not to mention the Ranch.
It was a matter of choosing the priority at a given time.