JR's Last Cliffhanger

So the second season of the reboot of Dallas will probably be … awkward … following Larry Hagman’s death. They had already started shooting some episodes. I imagine they will do at least part of this season since there is a lot they can milk from JR Ewing’s death. Hagman, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy has been good friends for 35 years so there will probably be some real pathos as they mourn on screen. I wonder if they will write it as a death from natural causes or do like with Jock Ewing, where he was “in South America on business” for months before dying in an off-screen plane crash.

JR’s death, though, is the one that hits the show by far the hardest. I think he’s one of the greatest TV characters of all time. There’s a website called TV Tropes that has a category of Magnificent Bastard and JR was the originator. He was so despicable and you wanted to see him get his comeuppance but also wanted to see him win. The best episodes of Dallas were the ones that ended with him reveling in some scheme and flashing his million-dollar shit-eating grin. Without characters like JR Ewing, we wouldn’t have anti-heroes like Walter White.

As much as I did enjoy the reboot of Dallas, this should be the last season because the heart of the show is dead. The whole thing didn’t really get going until Hagman came out of his depression in the first episode and flashed the aforementioned smile. The episodes were lacking somewhat in energy without the interaction between him and Sue Ellen.

The smartest thing the Dallas producers did was just continue the show’s plot 21 years after the original ended. There had been rumors for years that they would remake it entirely with a new cast and that would have been horrifying, especially since Jennifer Lopez was rumored to be the new Sue Ellen. What fans really want to see is the original cast reunited. The intrigue with John Ross and Christopher and the next generation was fun but I kind of spent their scenes waiting for the patriarchs and matriarchs to reappear. There are plenty of people like my brother and I who can quote chapter and verse from the first 14 seasons and it was a treat for us to revisit some old plot lines and nuances. One thing they should have followed up on is that Christopher’s birth parents are JR and Kristin, who was Sue Ellen’s sister and the woman who infamously shot JR. I don’t think the series ever mentioned that salacious bit of gossip again and only Bobby ever knew it. Now I don’t know if they’ll revisit that plot point.

It’s a shame because the last season of the show really hit its stride in the last few minutes of the last episode. They had a good fake-out going with John Ross and Christopher supposedly working together, and it looked like the show would take a turn for the bland until their rivalry reignited after – what else? – some devious advice from JR. Then there was the big reveal that Christopher’s estranged wife was the daughter of Cliff Barnes, which I thought they pulled off fantastically well. This also makes Christopher’s wife his adoptive half-cousin, which would have made for some delicious twists and angst, and now who knows what will happen.

At least I have 14 years of DVDs to console me.