Why Was Bobby So Damn Infuriated By The Notion That Cliff Could Be The Father Of Sue Ellen’s Baby?

[Billy Wall]

I know it’s because, heaven forbid any type of embarrassment comes to the Ewing name, but he starts beating up Cliff as if Sue Ellen was his wife and he had found out that Cliff could be the father of the baby. He even tells Pam that he could have killed him.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

I know it’s because, heaven forbid any type of embarrassment comes to the Ewing name, but he starts beating up Cliff as if Sue Ellen was his wife and he had found out that Cliff could be the father of the baby. He even tells Pam that he could have killed him.

I think he saw it as dishonoring Sue Ellen, a married woman, and his sister-in-law. This was the late 70s so it was probably a moral issue for him, as well as defending her honor on Bobby's mind. Keep in mind this is the era when Reagan was in the primaries, his divorce was an issue for many.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

at the time it appeared to be primarily because Bobby was legitimately concerned with Sue Ellen's well being and protective of her and felt that Cliff initiated the affair simply to get at JR with no regard for any of the hurtful consequences. There's kind of a "sanctimonious hypocrite bully Bobby's the *real* bad one" vibe here, but other than that temper (and we can see where he got that from Jock), he was pretty pure and noble in the early days. There's no hint of any other motivation during that intense scene he had with her in Fletcher Sanitarium.

Also, he probably felt that Cliff doing something like that escalated the Barnes-Ewing feud and made his marriage to Pam more difficult.

 

[Billy Wall]

If you guys watched the early episodes like I have as of late, you’d see Bobby going out of his way to keep the Ewing name clean. He was JR’s number one enabler for the sake of the Ewing name. And during this fiasco, all it seemed that he cared about was what it would do to Jock and Miss Ellie.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

And it was early in the show, and Sue Ellen's pregnancy was the first story arc that really kicked in and put the DALLAS narrative into forward motion.

The Ewings, as far as we know, were not used to the kind of public scandal they would soon find commonplace.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I think it was because it would be an embarrassment for the family, and because it would accelerate the feud.
Bobby could be self-righteous, but when it came to protecting the family interest, he could be just as ruthless.

 

[Chris2]

Because if the Barnes men were going around impregnating Ewing women, it meant that they were winning the Barnes/Ewing feud. Bobby only liked it when the Ewing men were impregnating the Barnes women.

 

[Billy Wall]

Because if the Barnes men were going around impregnating Ewing women, it meant that they were winning the Barnes/Ewing feud. Bobby only liked it when the Ewing men were impregnating the Barnes women.

I tend to believe that more than I believe Bobby had some moral compass when it came to the sanctity of marriage considering he knew of JR’s infidelities.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I think Bobby was mad because he saw it as Cliff taking advantage of a vulnerable woman.

That's why he took it personally. He was fully ready to beat the crap out of Cliff if Cliff hadn't managed to wriggle his way out of it.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I think Bobby was mad because he saw it as Cliff taking advantage of a vulnerable woman.

That's why he took it personally. He was fully ready to beat the crap out of Cliff if Cliff hadn't managed to wriggle his way out of it.

And yet he had no problem with JR's many escapades LOL
I get it, this was family. Like I said, Bobby could be just as ruthless as JR,
when protecting the Ewing empire was at stake

 

[Jimmy Todd]

I think Bobby was mad because he saw it as Cliff taking advantage of a vulnerable woman.

That's why he took it personally. He was fully ready to beat the crap out of Cliff if Cliff hadn't managed to wriggle his way out of it.

I agree. Bobby, as well as Pam, were very patient with Sue Ellen, and Bobby always seemed to have a soft spot for her. I think it's because they pitied her more than anything else.

 

[Snowcat]

I think it’s because he felt Cliff was using her to get back at JR & didn’t really care about her

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I agree. Bobby, as well as Pam, were very patient with Sue Ellen, and Bobby always seemed to have a soft spot for her. I think it's because they pitied her more than anything else.

Yes indeed but it wasn't just out of pity. Both Bobby & Pam knew full well what JR was capable of. Miss Ellie even told JR that the day he brought Sue Ellen back to Southfork that he neglected her. Bobby & Pam knew that JR wouldn't give a damn for Sue Ellen if it had become known that the baby was actually Cliff's. JR would've sent her & the baby packing off of Southfork quicker than you could say Ewing Oil!