Recap: Bobby stops at the gas station in Braddock and chitchats with Red (the attendant), who tells him that customers have been bellyaching to him about the rising prices of gas despite the fact that he doesn't set the prices. Bobby clucks sympathetically, then goes inside the gas station to get himself a cup of coffee.

Over at Southfork, Lucy is wearing Miss Ellie's wedding gown as the seamstress makes the necessary alterations. Miss Ellie gets a dreamy look on her face and recalls that after Jock proposed, he had the fancy white fabric specially flown in from Paris. Sue Ellen reminisces about how the day she married JR was the most wonderful day of her life...and everyone just kind of lets the remark about her now philandering husband hang in the air until Pam reminds everyone that she and Bobby eloped to New Orleans and found the nearest Justice of the Peace to wed them. Miss Ellie chuckles and tells her that her daddy hated Jock at first, which she translates to mean that it's A-OK for Pam to have had the last word on who she married. Lucy changes the subject and complains that Mitch is sooooo focused on med school, and Sue Ellen says she's lucky he's so ambitious and looks to Pam to concur - but Pam argues that ambition is only OK if it doesn't become an obsession.

When Bobby arrives at the office, Connie passes along a message that Jordan Lee wants to schedule a meeting with him this afternoon to sign the Gulf oil deal contract...and Louella covertly buzzes the phone in Bobby's office, where JR is busily snooping. JR tells Bobby he dropped by to see if he needed help with anything, but Bobby says he's too busy to talk and assures him he'll give him a call if he ever needs his assistance.

Jock and his cronies are at the Cattlemen's Club, poring over their plans to develop the Louisiana/Texas swampland. They discuss their concerns about Dave Culver getting in their way, then express relief that (for now, at least) no one knows that they're the ones behind this raping of the swampland. One of them suggests bribing some commission so that the ecologists will give them the go-ahead for the project.

Louella calls the office from a motel room and tells Connie that JR has assigned her to an important task...and by important task, she means she's currently in bed with JR enjoying some post-coital afterglow. After she hangs up, Louella tells JR she regrets marrying a man who's always on the road...then explains that she has no compunction about spilling Bobby's secrets 'cause she strongly feels that he's the brother who should be running Ewing Oil. She adds that she's pretty sure Connie has a thing for Bobby - but because he's always so busy working, he doesn't have time for any extramarital hanky panky.

Liz Craig drops by Pam's office to tell her that Alex Ward invited them to lunch on the pretext of discussing doing a feature media spread on The Store. Pam says she's too busy, and that it's prolly better if she doesn't see him for awhile. Liz offers to go in her stead and cackles, "He's mighty persistent!"

When Jordan Lee and his attorney arrive at Ewing Oil, Bobby signs the contact and hands him a check for the initial 50K downpayment. Jordan thanks him and assures him that this venture is going to be a HUGE moneymaker for everyone in the cartel, then says he's soooo happy to do business with him and not JR. After they leave, Connie asks Bobby why he didn't mention that he's short the $12 million he's going to need in a few months, and Bobby says he'll find it somehow...but then contorts his default wooden expression into one of concern. 

During pre-dinner drinks at Southfork, Jock tells JR and Bobby he heard that Jordan Lee is putting together a big Gulf oil deal. JR feigns surprise and is all, "Wuh? Really?" - LOL - while Bobby proudly says he knows all about it 'cause he's in on the deal. JR asks him how he's going to come up with the $12 million he's going to need to throw into the pot once the drilling starts, and Bobby says he's working on it...and the two bicker back and forth about what a great/terrible idea it is to enter into a deal without having all the needed cash upfront. Jock grizzles that he rather likes the idea of Ewing Oil working with the cartel again, and Bobby earnestly assures his daddy that [with no help from him] he'll somehow scrape together the necessary cash.

Lucy and Mitch are in his teeny tiny apartment, enjoying some sack time and discussing the imminent arrival of his mother and sister. Lucy says she really hopes they like her, then informs Mitch that she booked them a couple of rooms at the Fairview Hotel. Mitch scrunches his face disapprovingly and says he'd prefer it if the two bunked with him in his apartment and says he's pretty sure that, given what an impoverished lifestyle they've been enduring up until now, they'd feel a lot more comfortable staying in his cramped shithole as opposed to a swanky hotel (as it turns out: not). Lucy's all, "OK, whatever", then says she definitely wants them to move to a better place once they're married - but Mitch decrees that they're going to live wherever he can afford. 

Bobby returns home from work and finds Pam milling around the dining room. He moans about all the problems he's dealing with at Ewing Oil...but when Pam encourages him to open up to her about exactly what problems these are, he says he'd rather work through them on his own. Pam gets visibly irked and says it'd be nice if they solved their problems together, then stalks out of the room.

The next day, Mitch and Lucy greet Mitch's mom (Arliss) and sister (Afton) at the airport. When Mitch introduces them to Lucy, Afton asks her if it's really true she's rolling in dough, and Lucy sheepishly admits that, yep, her family is pretty wealthy. Arliss says there's no reason to feel bad about being disgustingly rich, and Lucy beams happily and asks Afton if she'd like to be one of her bridesmaids.

Donna, Dave Culver, and Cliff are guest speakers at Southfork at an engagement aimed at a group of women who are advocating stopping the Louisiana/Texas swampland development [which Miss Ellie seems to have no idea that Jock and his cronies are behind]. Miss Ellie privately applauds Donna for her speech and promises to do what she can to save the swampland, while Cliff wanders over to where Sue Ellen is standing and tells her how good she's lookin'. Sue Ellen says she's never been happier and is getting along really well with JR these days...and Cliff's all, "Oh yeah? Well Donna's super bright, strong, and caring." Sue Ellen tells him how fantastic that is - but that since people are starting to gawk at them, they should probably stop talking now.

Jock ambles into the study and finds JR reading a book. JR explains that since he's been banned from running Ewing Oil he doesn't have much to do these days, so Jock suggests the two of them drive into Braddock and tie one on at the local bar. 

The Ewing Oil accountant goes over the books with Bobby and confirms that, yep, he definitely has a temporary cash flow problem...and that there's little in the way of assets he can sell without interfering in oil production. Bobby stares despondently into space for a few seconds before vowing to somehow find the $12 million he needs for the Gulf deal.

After a short boozefest, JR and Jock head over to the Braddock gas station and chitchat with Red, who sourly informs them that Bobby just ordered Brady York to raise the price of gas...and threatened to cut off his gas supply if he doesn't capitulate. Red complains that this gas hike is going to put all of the independents out of business, and Jock scrunches his wrinkly face disapprovingly and declares that no son of his would knowingly screw over the little guy...and if he did, he'd be steel-toed out of Ewing Oil. JR perks up at that pronouncement and promises Red that they'll look into the matter.
​
JR summons Jeremy Wendell to the Ewing condo to ask him if it's really true that he offered to buy gasoline from Ewing Oil. Jeremy confirms it's true and says he offered Bobby $2 more a barrel than he's been getting from the independents - but Bobby declined 'cause he's so skittish about breaking the handshake deals Jock made with the yokels more than twenty years ago. Jeremy shakes his head in dismay and tells JR he'd much rather do business with him, and looks forward to the day he returns to the helm of Ewing Oil.

Alex Ward calls Pam at The Store and invites her to dinner - but she declines and tells him that while she's not trying to avoid him, she doesn't think they should ever see each other anymore [which is kinda the definition of avoid]. Alex points out that there's nothing to worry about if her marriage is solid, but she firmly says no and abruptly ends the call.

During pre-dinner drinks at Southfork, Lucy returns to the ranch with Arliss and Afton Cooper in tow and introduces them to the Ewing clan. As Miss Ellie makes polite smalltalk with Arliss, JR openly ogles Afton and offers to fix her a drink. Arliss giddily tells Mitch that Afton just loooooves the fancy, cleavage-baring dress Lucy bought for her, and Mitch scrunches his face disapprovingly and grumpily says that he'd prefer to be the one who buys his sister new skankwear.

That evening, Pam finds Bobby doing paperwork in bed and asks him if he can finish that in the morning, but he says he's waaaay too busy to stop working until well into the night. Pam sighs and tells him they neeeeeed to spend more time together and complains that he hasn't boned her in weeks, and Bobby kind of rolls his eyes and offers to move his papers out of the way so they can enjoy an impromptu romp. Pam gets annoyed and snaps, "No one's ever made love to me out of pity!" and storms out of the room.

At breakfast the next morning, Jock tells JR that the Cooper women seem nice enough, and JR nods his agreement and wonders aloud if Afton can type. Oh dear. When a grim-faced Bobby and Pam emerge from the house, JR gleefully tells Bobby it takes a special kind of woman to be an executive's wife. Bobby snappishly retorts, "It's none of your business" - just as Jordan Lee calls the ranch to inform Bobby that the oil samples in the Gulf look great, and that they hope to start drilling in ten days. He excitedly adds, "Get your money ready! It's gonna be a bonanza!" ... and Bobby hangs up the phone, his face etched with worry. He tells Jock that drilling in the Gulf is scheduled to start in about a week, and JR cheekily reminds him, "You just need $12 million."

JR summons Jeremy Wendell back to the condo and orders him to offer Bobby $15 million upfront for gasoline from the new Ewing refinery, then assures him that Bobby is so desperate for the cash that he won't be able to avoid screwing over the independents that Jock so cherishes.

Pam returns to her office and finds a bouquet of pretty flowers waiting for her. She assumes they're from Bobby until she opens the note that reads 'Just in case you change your mind. Love, Alex'. She stares contemplatively into space for a few seconds, picks up the phone, but then puts it down and defiantly tears up the note.

As Sue Ellen gets dressed, she reminds JR that Lucy is having her bridal shower at the ranch today - and that since the house is going to be overrun by females, he might want to spend the day elsewhere. JR shrugs and says he doesn't mind, then tells her that Bobby's downfall at Ewing Oil is imminent...and cackles as he adds, "And so is my reinstatement at Ewing Oil." Sue Ellen grins at the sound of his evil laugh, and climbs onto the bed for a quickie.

Out on the patio, Lucy excitedly opens her shower gifts. Afton asks Miss Ellie if that's JR's car in the driveway...and when Miss Ellie says it is, Afton asks why he hasn't come out to say hello. Miss Ellie shrugs and says that since this is Lucy's party, he probably just wants to stay out of the way. Afton mulls that over for a few seconds, then glances around before covertly wandering towards the house and slipping inside. Mmm hmm..

Connie tells Bobby that Jeremy Wendell has requested an urgent meeting this afternoon, and Louella immediately perks up at that intriguing development.

Afton pretends to accidentally stumble into JR's bedroom, where he's lounging atop his bed reading the paper. As he stares at her hungrily, she "explains" that she left her sweater in Lucy's room...then purrs about how much she looooves Southfork, has no desire to go back to Mississippi, and really wants someone to talk her into staying in Dallas.

One of the shower guests asks Sue Ellen to bring her son to the party so they can all gush over the cute tot...and then the camera pans over to JR's room, where he and Afton are pressed against the door in a lip-lock. She tells him they shouldn't do anything heavier today, then exits the room...and JR stares longingly after her and moans to himself about wanting to tap that soon.

Afton runs into Sue Ellen after descending the staircase and tells her she's lucky to have a fine husband like JR and live in this beautiful house...and as she sexily sashays towards the patio, Sue Ellen stares after her suspiciously.

Jeremy Wendell offers Bobby $15 million upfront for a large supply of gasoline, and Bobby looks startled by the cash offer and says he's definitely going to rethink all the handshake deals his stupid father made decades ago [seemingly without bothering to get any of it in writing] and strongly consider accepting his offer.

Mitch arrives at Southfork just as the bridal shower is winding down. When JR ambles over, Arliss expresses her concern on how hard Mitch is going to have to struggle financially before he gets his medical license. JR says there's always room at Ewing Oil  for "an enterprising man" and tells Mitch he could earn big money if he decides to ditch medicine and leap into the oil business. As Mitch twitches angrily, Jock raises a toast to the happy couple and announces that he's gifting them a giant condo in the fancy Oakridge neighborhood. As Lucy claps joyfully, Mitch frowns and says he'd prefer them to begin their married life in his teeny tiny apartment. Arliss completely ignores that and says she loooooves the idea of her son living in a nice big, Ewing-subsidized condo...and JR chuckles and jokingly (?) tells Lucy that once she's knocked up, he'll buy her a house so that Arliss and Afton can come live with her and Mitch full-time. A steamed Mitch makes it clear he has no desire for a job at Ewing Oil and intends to stick to his plan of becoming a medical researcher, then snaps, "I don't want the Ewing money!" and storms off.

Later, JR gets a call from Jeremy Wendell, who reports that Bobby accepted his $15 million offer. When Jock stumbles into the study a few seconds later and asks whassup, JR says, "You'll find out soon" and grins evilly.

Recap: Pam is presiding over a downtown photo shoot when a man who's been ogling her from across the street for several minutes finally wanders over. He introduces himself as Alex Ward, the publisher of Dallas Life Magazine (aka the agency that commissioned this photo shoot) and flirtily tells Pam he'd loooove to stay and observe the photo taking.

Over at Ewing Oil, Jeremy Wendell (of West Star Oil) is imploring Bobby to sell him some much needed gasoline for $2 more a barrel than what he's currently getting, but Bobby says that most of their supply is contracted for Brady York, an old friend he can't bring himself to hit up for an additional $2 a barrel. Jeremy points out that if he cuts Brady York loose and does business with him, he'd make a cool $18 million profit - but Bobby sanctimoniously says that honesty and friendship are far more important to him than profits. Jeremy shakes his head in utter incredulity as he heads out, and Bobby tells Connie to cancel his lunch with Pam for the umpteenth time 'cause he needs to schedule an emergency summit with his accountant that absolutely needs to take place over the lunch hour.  

JR arrives at Ewing Oil just after Bobby leaves and gets the low down from Louella on everything Bobby's been up to lately. She blabs about how Bobby is meeting his accountant to discuss a $12 million deal he has brewing with Jordan Lee, and JR stares contemplatively into space as he chews on that fascinating nugget. 

After the photo shoot, Alex Ward asks Pam to lunch, but she says she already has a lunch date with her husband - just as Bobby pulls up in his convertible to let her know he's once again far too busy at Ewing Oil to spare any time for her. Pam's all, "&%$#!!" and tells him she urgently needs to update him on Operation Find Mother Barnes, but he's like, "No can do!" and squeals off. LOL. A miffed Pam strides back over to where Alex has been watching the embarrassing exchange and tells him she'd be more than happy to have lunch with him after all.

Jock is at the Cattlemen's Club, yukking it up with Punk Anderson and Pat Powers as they discuss the Texas-Louisiana swampland conversion project...and Ray and JR bob their heads approvingly. JR urges his daddy to jump on the deal, so Jock growls, "I'm in!" and raises a toast to the exciting new venture. 

A smiling Pam returns to work after her lunch with Alex Ward. She gets on the phone, calls Ewing Oil, and asks Connie to tell Bobbie to call her asap.

Bobby, meanwhile, arrives home and finds JR lounging by the pool. When JR asks whassup, Bobby tells him he needs to talk to Jock about a Gulf Coast oil deal he wants to enter into with Jordan Lee and the cartel and reveals that it amounts to a $12 million investment. JR pretends to look impressed and says it sounds like a great opportunity, and Bobby curtly nods and heads inside while JR smirkingly stares after him.

Bobby runs into a swimsuit-clad Sue Ellen, who expresses surprise that he's home at such an early hour. She remarks on how hard it is to run Ewing Oil 'cause "you can't call your soul your own" - but Bobby insists that he can, and that he wants Ewing Oil to play by the rules. Sue Ellen chuckles about the notion of a Ewing respecting rules and says that JR generally operates by the principle of 'when it comes to power, there are no rules'. Bobby argues that he doesn't just want power for power's sake, and Sue Ellen snidely retorts, "Don't worry, you'll never get it" and adds that JR is a natural born fighter who understands power and is enough of a sociopath to know how to control and manipulate people. She then gives Bobby a derisive once over and says that he, on the other hand, is "JR's little brother" before smiling smugly and sashaying off to the pool.

Pam arrives home late and irritably gives Bobby the update she's been trying to give him all episode: she found her bio ma, learned that she's married to a rich guy and has a daughter - but she doesn't want to blow up her marriage by telling him she used to be married with children. Bobby's like, "Yeesh, sounds rough" and admits that he's been so busy with work lately that he hasn't had time to feign interest in her family problems. Pam accuses him of caring only about Ewing Oil, so he snaps, "Did it ever occur to you that I might need a little support from you now and then?!", and she counter-snaps, "I wouldn't know...you're never home!" Bobby says he won't apologize for being so dedicated to his work, then announces that he's so fuckin' pissed off right now that he's off to spend the night in Kristin's old condo...and as he storms out, Pam glares into space and visibly trembles with rage. 

When Mitch arrives at Southfork during pre-dinner drinks, Lucy ushers him into a vacant room and eagerly suggests they get married next month. He's like, "What's the rush?" and reminds her that he needs to finish school. Lucy chirps, "So do I!" and says they could study together so she can be with him all the time. When he doesn't have the good sense to refuse, object, or give her a tepid maybe, she drags him into the sitting room where the Ewings are assembled and excitedly announces, "Mitch and I are getting married!" A dismayed looking Miss Ellie moans, "Oh no, Lucy.." - LOL - while Jock scrunches his wrinkly face disapprovingly and grumbles, "The hell?" Lucy ignores the lacklustre reaction and happily gabbles about how she's giving them a month's notice so that Miss Ellie has time to plan the grand affair, and Mitch confirms that, indeed, he's on board with this horrible decision and half-heartedly declares his love for Lucy. JR points out that it's going to take him awhile to get a medical practice going and be able to accommodate his spoiled niece in the lifestyle to which she's become accustomed, and Mitch just shrugs and replies, "Her style will have to change", then clarifies that he's chosen to go into research, not start a medical practice. JR asks if that pays well, and Mitch retorts, "Well enough", then says all that matters is the love he and Lucy feel for each other. Pam strides over and says she'd like to be the first to congratulate the happy couple, then kisses Lucy's cheek before shooting JR the stink-eye...and Jock rolls his eyes and growls, "I need another drink."

The next morning, Ray assures Jock that Lucy could do a lot worse than marry Mitch - but Jock just grunts disapprovingly and says that Lucy has always had terrible luck with men...and Ray refrains from chuckling, "You don't know the half of it!", 'cause I don't think Jock has any idea that in Season 1 Lucy was bumping uglies with him, aka her now-uncle. Ew. Jock changes the subject to the Texas-Louisiana swampland conversion project and says he feels positively vigorous now that he's officially committed to the venture...and Ray says he may want to give Bobby a heads up that he's about to draw $10 million from the Ewing Oil account. Jock snarks that Ewing Oil is his, and that if Bobby doesn't like him randomly withdrawing millions from the bank account of the company he himself appointed him to run, then tough shit. 

Bobby drops by The Store to present Pam with a flower bouquet and an apology for acting like such a dickwad last night. They both agree they love and miss each other, and Bobby suggests they have a romantic dinner date tonight...and promises to pick her up at never o'clock 'cause no doubt another emergency meeting will pop up to place a continued strain on their crumbling marriage. 

Back at Southfork, Miss Ellie urges Lucy to consider if a quickie wedding with a guy she's only known for eight episodes is truly the best thing for her and Mitch, then suggests she give him the time and space to finish med school and get his research career off the ground before he's burdened with such a twit-wife. Lucy nixes that idea and says she badly neeeeeeds to belong to someone asap in order to make up for her parent-less upbringing.

Jock takes his coterie of man pals along to the Lonestar Bank so they can watch him withdraw the $10 million he needs to invest in the Texas-Louisiana swampland conversion project. JR wanks him about "the helluva deal" he just made and asks him if, by chance, he spoke to Bobby about withdrawing so much cash, but Jock dismissively says that Bobby is probably too busy to have a conversation about it. What a shithead.

Alex drops by The Store to gush to Pam and Liz Craig about how awesome the photos from the shoot turned out, then invites both ladies to lunch to celebrate. They happily accept.

Bobby meets with Les Crowley of the Lonestar Bank to tell him he's going to need a quick infusion of cash once he withdraws $12 million from the Ewing Oil account. Les gets an uncomfortable look on his face and informs him that his daddy was just at the bank and withdrew $10 million from the account for a new real estate venture, and heard that he and his man pals - JR included - were off to the Cattlemen's Club to celebrate. Bobby pales and is all, "The fuck?" and informs Connie that he's off to angrily confront his father and brother.  

Bobbie storms into the Cattlemen's Club, glares at JR, and asks him why he wasn't told about the impromptu $10 million withdrawal. Jock interjects and says that JR doesn't generally go around discussing his private business with anyone, so then Bobby turns his ire towards his father and asks why he didn't think it would have been helpful for the Ewing Oil President to know that the company's bank account would suddenly have a debit of $10 million, then angrily explains that he needs $12 million for a Gulf Coast oil deal with Jordan Lee. Jock furrows his brows, gets all in Bobby's face, and declares that every penny in that bank account is his...and when Bobby points out that the money actually belongs to Ewing Oil, Jock snaps, "Ewing Oil is me! And don't you forget it!" When Bobby reminds him that he gave him the power to run the company, he Jock growls, "Real power is something you take!" ... and after Bobby chews on that nonsensical pronouncement for a few seconds, he grits his teeth and replies, "Well, I'm going to remember that" before stalking out of the restaurant.

Liz Craig is third-wheeling it on Pam's lunch date with Alex Ward as the two flirtily gabble about their passions, hopes and dreams.

Bobby calls Jordan Lee to cancel their meeting, but promises to reschedule for tomorrow afternoon. He then asks Connie to hold his calls for the next hour so he can stare despondently out the window. 

JR takes Sue Ellen jewelry shopping and buys her a giant sapphire ring for being such an agreeable trophy wife lately...and she gigglingly thanks him for the needlessly extravagant gift. 

Connie tentatively enters Bobby's office to ask him if he's OK, and he moans, "A whole lot is wrong" and tells her about Jock's $10 million withdrawal, which is going to compromise his ability to finance the Gulf Coast oil deal. He says he could always dump Brady York and sell gasoline to Jeremy Wendell for $2 more a barrel - then looks as though he's just stumbled onto a brilliant compromise: ask Brady York to pay $2 more a barrel for his gasoline. He tells Connie that this request is somehow going to entail him meeting with the accountant all evening...which means he's going to have to cancel yet another dinner date with Pam.

After leaving the jewelry store, JR and Sue Ellen run into Donna Culver and Cliff and share a few seconds of awkward chit-chat. When they part ways, JR mutters about how disturbing he finds the combination of those two, so Sue Ellen says it won't last 'cause he won't let it...and JR chuckles at the seed she just planted into his devious brain.

Alex drops by The Store to invite Pam to dinner, but she declines 'cause she [is still under the impression that she] will be dining with Bobby for the first time in a very long while. A few seconds later, Bobby calls to cancel dinner, and she stonily asks, "How can you do this?" He starts nattering about the rough day he's having, and she's like, "Oh fuck off, Bobby" and hangs up before ringing Liz's office to tell Alex she's free for dinner after all.

The next morning, Bobby apologizes to Pam for standing her up yet again, and she breezily tells him not to worry about it 'cause she had a perfectly lovely time with Alex Ward. Bobby says he'll somehow make it up to her, but she snappishly tells him to not make rash promises...and he sheepishly mentions that he has a late meeting with Les Crowley and won't be home for dinner tonight. An exasperated Pam climbs into her car and squeals off, leaving Bobby staring after her with his wooden face contorted into a pained expression.

Jock ambles around Southfork with Ray and grumbles about how much Bobby has changed, and not for the better. Ray gently points out that Bobby has a lot on his plate with Ewing Oil, but Jock sneers that he now regrets installing him as President and is still pissed off about the way he embarrassed him in front of his yokel friends.

Pam arrives at her office in The Store and is stunned to find it filled with flowers. She assumes they're from Bobby - until Liz Craig wryly hands her the card that reveals Alex Ward as the sender...and that he's inviting her to meet him for dinner at a swanky restaurant this evening.

Brady York tells Bobby that no way in hell can he afford an extra $2 a barrel for gasoline without passing along the cost to his customers, and Bobby's like, "That's too bad, 'cause I really need the capital" and vaguely says he has to see what he can work out. After Brady York slinks out, Connie suggests to Bobby that he dump the lightweight in favor of doing business with Jeremy Wendell - but Bobby says he wants to run Ewing Oil honestly, while also having enough cash to do business with Jordan Lee.

Pam arrives at the swanky restaurant looking all dolled up, and is stunned when she sees that Alex Ward has closed the restaurant for the next two hours so they could dine and dance in private. He pours her a glass of wine and says he hopes that by the end of the evening she's as interested in him as he is in her, and she stares at him with a wistful expression on her face. 

​Later, the two slow dance while the live band plays...and when Alex leans in for a kiss, Pam is all into it and kisses him back. He whispers, "Come home with me", but she says, "I can't." Alex says he can tell she wants to...and she doesn't disagree, but explains that at the moment she's vulnerable 'cause her marriage is in the shits. He nods and says, "When you're ready, I'll be here" and Pam chews on that intriguing prospect as she ambles out of the restaurant. 

Recap: During pre-dinner drinks at Southfork, JR urges Bobby to write off Ewing 23 now that it's been blown up, and Bobby glares at him and snarks back, "You'd like that, wouldn't you, JR? Then you could cut Cliff Barnes right out of his share." Bobby insists that he wants Ewing 23 back in production asap and points out to Jock that the oil wells can generate an annual revenue of $30 to $40 million. Across the room, Mitch discreetly asks Lucy if the Ewings have nothing better to talk about than money 24/7, and Lucy's like, "Uh, nope." Bobby admonishes JR for not doing as he was instructed during the previous episode, to which Sue Ellen growls, "Extortion money" while JR says he wasn't about to give $5 million to a terrorist. When he tries to draw Mitch into the conversation to get him to agree with him, Mitch shrugs cluelessly and says he has no concept of that kind of money. Lucy snappishly asks if they have to talk about this now, and Miss Ellie concurs and announces that dinner must be ready by now, prompting everyone to get up and dutifully file over to the dining room. On the way, Miss Ellie urges Jock to spend some time talking to Mitch, but Jock makes a blech face and haughtily growls, "What the hell do I have to talk to a parking lot attendant about?" Miss Ellie informs him that Mitch is working his way through medical school, and a still unimpressed Jock just sneers disinterestedly...and the two idiots are having this conversation within earshot of Mitch, who's standing just a few feet away. 

Pam gets a call from her PI, John Mackey, who reports that he's pretty sure he has located her mother, who's now living in Houston. He urges Pam to get to Houston asap so she can get a look at the woman in question, and Pam excitedly tells him she'll be on the next plane.

After dinner, Pam rushes upstairs to pack for Houston. A disapproving Bobby tells her it'd be better for her to travel when she's not so wound up, then says he'd accompany her if he didn't have a smouldering Ewing 23 to deal with. He asks her to please be back in Dallas by Wednesday night 'cause Jock is insisting that the family attend a fundraising dinner for Dave Culver...and Pam sarcastically retorts, "Oooh, well I'll be home then. I wouldn't want to disappoint your family."

Downstairs, Mitch tells Lucy they don't belong together, and that it's obvious the Ewings don't like him 'cause they clearly only have respect for money and power, aka two things he'll never have. When Lucy assures him that the Ewings' acceptance of him is just going to take some time, he says he couldn't give a rat's ass about their acceptance 'cause he has zero desire about wanting to be in their orbit, then suggests they stop seeing each other for awhile. Lucy snaps, "OK, fine" and angrily opens the front door. After Mitch exits, JR - who's been eavesdropping on the conversation - says, "You sure can pick 'em" and mocks his niece for being a magnet for losers and failures. Lucy somehow refrains from pointing out that Mitch is studying to be a doctor and is therefore not an "up and coming pauper" as JR characterizes him, and glares at her uncle as she snaps, "I can't do much worse than Sue Ellen, can I?" and stomps up the stairs. 

In Houston, John Mackey shows Pam all of the evidence he's gathered that prove Rebecca Burke (who now goes by Rebecca Wentworth) is her mother. He then suggests they regroup first thing in the morning so she can get a good look at the woman.

The next morning on the patio, Jock asks Lucy whassup with her moping, so she tells him she's bummed that Mitch put a pause on their relationship, but is confident that they'll make up soon enough. Jock makes a blech face and says that while Mitch seems like a nice enough guy, he's definitely not good enough to be dating a Ewing, even when the Ewing in question is an obnoxiously infantile twit. Lucy argues that Mitch is "as good as they come" 'cause of how honest, smart, and ambitious he is...then points out to her crusty granddad that Mitch likes her in spite of the fact that she's a Ewing, 'cause he's made it clear that he really can't stand the pompous, back-stabbing, money-obsessed clan.

Bobby meets up with Jordan Lee, who offers him the opportunity to join the cartel in an oil drilling venture off the Gulf Coast if he's able to scrape together the required $12 million. Bobby says he'd loooove to participate and be able to boast to his daddy that Ewing Oil and the cartel are playing nice again - but admits that he's currently in a cash bind and will have to figure out to free up that kind of dough.

John Mackey drives Pam to the gated estate where Rebecca Wentworth lives with her rich husband. The two peer through the gates as a sophisticated looking woman exits the front door, chats with a womanservant for a few seconds, then climbs into a chauffeured car before it drives off. Pam tells John she's stunned that her mother is living so high on the hog, so John explains that after she quit her waitressing job, she put herself through secretarial school, got a job at an oil company named Wentworth-Pitts, and caught the eye of the magnate-in-charge, Herbert Wentworth. Not long after that, she became his trophy wife...and the two seem happily married and have a daughter named Katherine.

JR arrives at the Cattlemen's Club and finds Jock and Ray lunching with Punk Anderson and Pat Powers. When JR ambles over and asks whassup, Punk spills the beans about their prospective plans to invest - by each throwing in $10 million - in a project that will transform swampland on the Texas-Louisiana border into a recreational area. As Jock looks visibly irritated that JR now knows about this, JR smugly points out that Bobby has been overspending and wonders aloud if his daddy will even be able to extract $10 million for the venture. Jock growls that he can't fathom the day Ewing Oil doesn't have that kind of cash laying around for a pet project, gruffly reminds Punk and Pat that he's still in the process of thinking about the investment, then abruptly gets up and exits the restaurant.

Pam phones up Rebecca Wentworth, introduces herself, then asks her if the name Pam Ewing means anything to her. Rebecca says that naturally the name Ewing rings a bell, but not Pam Ewing specifically. Pam tells her she really really needs to speak with her in person about an important matter, so Rebecca invites her to swing by the estate at 5pm. After the call, Herbert Wentworth, a wrinkly old man, tells his wife he's off to Dallas, and she chides him living such a fast-paced life at his advanced age, says she has no idea what she'd do if he suddenly keeled over, and gives him a goodbye kiss.

Lucy and her bespectacled friend Muriel are walking together on campus. Muriel tells Lucy she's a jerk if she continues to chase after Mitch, given that they definitely don't belong together. When she tells Lucy she should be happy that Mitch walked out on her, Lucy huffily retorts, "No one walks out on me!" and stomps off in search of Mitch.

Pam arrives at Casa Wentworth via cab, and is ushered inside the house by the womanservant and brought to an indoor pool area, where Rebecca is waiting. Pam gabbles about how she's rehearsed this moment a dozen times...and that when she was a child she thought about her mother every day, never accepted that she was dead, and launched a search for her against the advice of everyone. She giddily squeals, "And then I found you! You're alive! I'm soooooo happy!" - to which Rebecca Wentworth reacts by stonily saying that it's literally impossible for her to be her mother. Pam's face falls as she's all, "Wuh? That can't be", but Rebecca insists it be, and that she's sorry to have to break such difficult news.

JR calls a Ewing Oil flunky named Baxter Kirby and orders him to bring the company's accounting books to Kristin's old condo tomorrow morning...and to keep their meeting on the down low.

Les Crowley tells Bobby that the bank is nervous about giving yet another multi-million dollar loan to Ewing Oil, and urges him to slow down with spending like a drunken sailor. Bobby says he's sure the cartel venture will result in huge profits and urges him to convince the loan committee that it's a sure thing. After Les exits the office, Pam calls Bobby to report that she'll be back in Dallas by noon and really really wants to have lunch with him so she can bare her soul about what just happened on her ill-fated trip to Houston. Bobby declines and says he's far too swamped and suggests they talk tonight, so she sourly reminds him they're scheduled to attend the Dave Culver fundraiser this evening. Bobby tells Pam to just spit out whatever it is she wants to talk to him about, so she tells him that it turns out the woman John Mackey tracked down isn't her mother after all. Bobby's like, "Oh well, it was a long shot" and says he really has to go now.

Lucy complains to Ray about how everyone thinks she and Mitch are wrong for each other, then points out that it's the very same reason he and Donna Culver broke up. Ray says he understands what she's going through, but that she and Mitch go together like oil and water. Lucy snarks at him for being too chicken to give a relationship with Donna a chance, then huffily declares that no way in hell is she going to allow a diamond in the rough like Mitch to slip away.

The Ewing clan arrives at the Dave Culver fundraiser and warmly greets Dave and Donna, while ignoring Cliff. When Sue Ellen asks JR why Jock was so insistent about the entire family attending this event, JR explains that since it's Dave is likely going to become governor one day, it never hurts for the Ewings to preemptively suck up to the politician. Pam, meanwhile, runs into Rebecca Wentworth, who introduces her to Herbert and looks visibly weirded out when Pam points at Cliff and identifies him as her older brother.

Cliff goes on stage and introduces Dave Culver as the Texas state senator and future governor...and when Pam glances around the room, she notices that Rebecca and her husband are no longer sitting at their table.

The next morning, Lucy finds Bobby doing laps in the Southfork pool and tells him she definitely doesn't want to talk about how supposedly ill-suited she and Mitch are. Bobby advises her to make her own life decisions and stop asking people what they think, and then respond by getting upset. Lucy translates this to mean that she should permanently hook up with a dud she met just seven episodes ago, and happily hugs her uncle and gushes about how terrific he is.

Over in Kristin's old condo, JR is looking over the Ewing Oil books with Baxter Kirby. JR tells Baxter he's dismayed that Bobby has everything tied up in equipment and leases and left the company with a total lack of liquidity, and says that one day soon Jock is going to want to withdraw $10 million for his swampland-leisure area venture. He then stares contemplatively into space before grinning devilishly.
​
Bobby tells Jordan Lee he still wants to get in on the Gulf Coast oil drilling deal, but first needs to sort out his cash flow problem. Jordan warns that the clock is ticking, but that he'll give him 24 hours to come up with the cash.

Lucy and Mitch are lounging on a campus lawn, and for some reason they've dressed themselves in matching shirts. Mitch apologizes to Lucy for being so distant lately, and Lucy acknowledges that they come from very different backgrounds and regrets inviting him to Southfork and making him endure the shittiness that is her family. Mitch says that, yep, her family makes him very uncomfortable, and Lucy chirps, "Me too!" and points out that that's something they have in common. Mitch chuckles and says, "I love you very much", prompting Lucy to propose so he can take her away from the Ewings. Mitch laughingly calls her "a genuine little stinker" ... and when Lucy says if he had any guts he'd marry her, Mitch mulls that over and accepts her dare, er proposal. The two start smooching and going at it as Lucy happily shrieks that they're going to have the biggest, bestest wedding ever. 

Rebecca Wentworth stakes out The Store until Pam exits the building. She asks Pam if they could take a walk together and have a soul baring one-on-one so she can admit that, yep, they are mother and daughter after all. Rebecca explains that she managed to seal off the first part of her life for many years - but when she saw Pam and Cliff in person at the Dave Culver fundraiser, the whole facade instantly broke apart, and she had to endure the pain of admitting that she's Rebecca Barnes, the woman who abandoned her own children. Pam tearfully asks, "You are my mother..?", and Rebecca confirms she is, and explains that she never divorced Digger 'cause she was terrified he'd find her and force her to resume her shitty life as his wife...and eventually she saw a chance for happiness and took it. She adds that Herbert has no idea she was previously married with two children, and that the shock of it would devastate him. She implores Pam to try to understand that she doesn't want to lose her second family by telling them she had a first family, and Pam weeps and sympathizes about how difficult this must be for her. 

Later, Pam drops by Cliff's apartment to report that John Mackey wasn't able to locate their birth mother after all...and Cliff shrugs disinterestedly and murmurs, "Well, that's that" even though there's no chance in hell of that being that.

Recap: Ray is horseback riding on a remote area of Southfork when he stops, dismounts, and runs his fingers through the dirt while staring contemplatively into space. A few seconds later, he climbs atop his horse and trots off. 

JR paces the pool deck while Sue Ellen suns herself on a lounger. He rails that he's still in his prime and nowhere near ready to retire from Ewing Oil, and Sue Ellen sexily concurs that she can definitely testify to him being in his prime. She suggests he start a new company, but he points out that Ewing Oil is already his company and that he wants it back. He admits to being surprised at how well Bobby handled the latest crisis, and says it's nice to see he has "some Ewing blood in him". As Ray rides over, JR rolls his eyes derisively and says he's willing to tolerate having a new half-brother as long as the yokel stays on the ranch and out of his way. Sue Ellen remarks on the fact that Jock always paid more attention to Ray than he did Gary, then worries that since Bobby continues to run Ewing Oil, which squeezes him (JR) out, their importance in the family's pecking order is slowly getting chipped away at. JR assures her she has no reason to worry 'cause he's about to hatch a plan that will "put a burr" under Bobby's saddle. And possibly Ray's too.

Over in the stables, Ray tells Miss Ellie he's grateful to her for not reacting to the news that he's Jock's bio son by wanting to throw him off the property. Miss Ellie just shrugs and says the news wasn't exactly the world's biggest bombshell, then tells him he's in for a huge adjustment now that he's officially the fourth Ewing brother. Ray argues that he's been Ray Krebbs for too long to suddenly switch over to being Ray Ewing, and would prefer it if no one but the immediately family knew about it - but Miss Ellie says she doubts that'll be possible, and welcomes him into her dysfunctional family.

Pam's private investigator, John Mackey, drops by ​The Store to give her an update on Operation Find Mother Barnes. He managed to trace her movements to Kingsville three months after she supposedly died in Corpus Christi twenty years ago. Specifically, she worked in Kingsville as a waitress in a coffee shop, where she met a traveling salesman and then left town with him. Pam exclaims, "That's wonderful!" and urges him to keep pressing ahead with his investigation.

Jock tells Miss Ellie that JR and Sue Ellen are upstairs "taking a nap", and Miss Ellie beams and says she's soooo she's pleased that the two have managed to repair their former train-wreck of a marriage. She then says she had a lovely chat with Ray and remarks on how much like Gary he is in loving the land, which she mistakenly thought was a trait that she alone passed along to Gary and (sort of) Bobby. Jock grins at that acknowledgement and gruffly coos about how much he looooves Southfork.
​
Bobby is meeting with Les Crowley of the Lonestar Bank, discussing the possible purchase of the Wilson property, aka a large plot of land that sits adjacent to Ewing 23. Les tells him he has a few weeks to make a decision, and Bobby promises to give it some serious thought.

Ray picks up the morning paper, sees an article about Donna Culver heading up a charity drive, and stares wistfully into space.

Cliff is putting the last touches on a fancy dinner for two at his apartment when Pam drops by to share the latest news about Operation Find Mother Barnes. Cliff tells her it's not a good time for a brother-sister chat...and when Pam notices the fancy table settings, she correctly guesses he has a hot date. A few seconds later, Donna arrives and gives Pam an eyeful when plants Cliff with a tongue-on-tongue smooch...and Pam's like, "OK then, I'll talk to you another time, Cliff" and beats a hasty retreat. Cliff tells Donna that once Pam starts blabbing about what she just saw, the entire Ewing family is going to know they're hitting the sheets...and Donna's just all whatever and says that people are going to have to find out about them sooner or later.

Bobby calls the foreman at Ewing 23 to give him a heads up that he's dropping by tomorrow to look at the adjacent Wilson property. A few seconds later, we see that some nefarious looking guy is skulking around Ewing 23, planting a bomb inside an oil well.

That evening at Southfork, Bobby tells Jock he's contemplating buying the Wilson property and wants to take Ray along to look it over with him. He figures that even if there's no oil on it, it could expand the grazing land for the Southfork herd. JR asks why Ray isn't joining them for pre-dinner drinks...and when Miss Ellie says he isn't ready to make any dramatic changes in his life, JR predicts that that'll soon change, given that "Ewing assets are hard to resist". When everyone stares at him, visibly appalled, he's like, "Just kidding!" and agrees it's probably best to slowly ease Ray into the Ewing fold. He then changes the subject and asks Bobby if Cliff Barnes is getting cut in with the Wilson real estate purchase [not sure why he would], then says that that loser wouldn't be getting a dime from the Ewing 23 crude oil profits if he were in charge. Pam angrily reminds JR that Cliff is legally entitled to any profits generated from Ewing 23, then smugly informs him that Cliff is currently involved with someone who could potentially cause trouble for him. When she names Donna Culver as her brother's new romantic interest, JR chuckles and mutters, "Will wonders never cease?" and Miss Ellie cuts the bitchy conversation short by announcing that it's time to go eat dinner. 

At bedtime, Pam tells Bobby she hates herself for letting JR get to her - but Bobby tells her not to beat herself up about it too much, and points out that Cliff's/Donna's hookup will eventually become public knowledge. Pam says she's mostly worried about Ray finding out, and Bobby nods solemnly and says he'll drop by Casa Krebbs in the morning and break the news to his half-brother. Pam changes the subject and announces that she got some news from her PI that indicates her mother might be alive and well and living in Texas, but Bobby just grunts and disinterestedly warns her about getting her hopes up. Pam gets miffed that he doesn't share her excitement and says she's really starting to hate what's happening to their marriage, specifically how obsessed with work he is and what an insensitive prick he's becoming. Bobby explains that as the CEO of Ewing Oil he has to do his hardest to concentrate a lot more than he did when he was JR's underling, and assures her he loves her...but she just stares back at him with a look of scepticism etched across her face.

JR frets to Sue Ellen that he now has to worry about Cliff and Donna Culver joining forces against him. He asks her if she's bothered by Cliff hooking up with another woman, but she assures him that there's zero heat left over from that icky affair, and that their newly re-bonded marriage is all she cares about these days. JR nods approvingly, but then pronounces, "A man needs more" and vows to cut Bobby out of Ewing Oil any way he can.

The next morning, Donna drops by Ray's house to tell him in person that she's now hitting the sheets with Cliff. She says he's fun and easy to be with and that she got tired of being alone, but that this hookup is not nearly as deep and meaningful as their relationship was. Ray assures her he's fine with it and is happy if she's happy - just as Bobby arrives to pick up Ray to go check out the Wilson property.

As Bobby helicopters himself and Ray to Ewing 23, Ray admits he was totally freaked out when Jock announced to the family that he's his bio dad. Bobby asks him if he told Donna the shocking paternity news, since it's soooo obvious they love each other - but Ray shakes his head and says she's now into Cliff, with whom she has a whole lot more in common. When the two arrive at Ewing 23, the foreman informs Bobby that some nut just called the field house and threatened to blow up the wells unless he gets $5 million by 4pm, and will call again at 12:30pm to get an update on his demands. An ashen-faced Bobby's all, "Wha-a-a-a-a?!"

JR drops by Ewing Oil to give [his secretary] Louella a bouquet of flowers and suggest they have a late lunch to "catch up" ... and she's all, "Mmm hmm.." and assures him she's totes into that idea.

Pam tells Cliff that her PI learned that their mother lived in Kingsville after Digger claimed she had died - but Cliff's like, "I really don't give a shit" and reminds his sister that the woman abandoned them when they were children. He adds that he has zero interest in digging into the past and much prefers looking to the future with his fancy new girlfriend. Pam asks him if he's mostly interested in Donna 'cause she's rich and has powerful political connections, but he pretends that any such ulterior motive is the last thing on his mind. 

Bobby calls Connie at Ewing Oil, gives her a quick debrief of the bomb threat, and asks her to locate Jock asap. Ray, meanwhile, orders the men working at Ewing 23 to spread out and search for bombs. 

JR notices Connie and Louella frantically working the phones and asks whassup, so Louella tells him that some nut threatened to blow up Ewing 23 and that they're desperately trying to locate Jock. JR chides them for not coming directly to him and reminds them that since he used to run the company, he's more than capable of handling this type of crisis.

At 12:30pm, a sweaty looking man calls the Ewing 23 field house from a pay phone. He tells Bobby he's demanding a fully gassed jet at 4pm, $5 million in cash on board, and no police involvement. He promises that once he's safely in the air, he'll reveal the location of the various bombs he planted. Bobby whines that $5 million is a lot of money to raise quickly, so Sweaty responds by directing his attention to the toolshed on Ewing 23, then presses the explode button on his detonator. When the toolshed promptly blows up, he smugly says, "In case you think I'm joking", and Bobby looks completely freaked out by the explosion.

The sheriff and his officers are on the scene at Ewing 23, picking through the charred remains of the toolshed. Bobby gets on the phone with Les Crowley at the Lonestar Bank and orders him to put together $5 million and deliver it to Ewing Oil stat. One of the officers finds the remains of the bomb and tells Bobby it looks to be a sophisticated contraption that was set off by a remote control. Bobby gets on the phone with JR, tells him what's happening, and that he's decided to cave in to Sweaty's demands and have the $5 million and gassed jet ready at the nearby airstrip by 4pm. JR asks him if he's absolutely sure he's doing the right thing, and an impatient Bobby pissily tells him to just make sure that all of the demands are met. JR calls Franklin Horner at the Cattlesman Bank to inform him that the Lonestar Bank will soon be frantically trying to put $5 million together for Bobby, then orders him to not cooperate and to convince the other banks to be equally as uncooperative.

The sheriff goes over the Ewing Oil employee list and comes up with two of the likeliest suspects: a drunkard named Duke, and a disgruntled slob named Gillis. 

The sheriff's men, along with Bobby, head over to the trailer park where Duke lives and burst into his trailer home. They find Duke, passed out drunk in front the TV, then deduce that since he's probably been passed out for hours, the bomber has to be Gillis. 

Les Crowley manages to scrape together the $5 million and rushes it over to Ewing Oil. A dismayed looking JR calls him "a real go-getter". 

Bobby and Ray arrive at the airstrip just as the fully gassed jet lands. The bomber, who is indeed Gillis, runs onto the tarmac with a detonator clutched in one hand. He glares at Bobby as he races towards the plane - just as JR and two armed police officers exit the plane and point their guns at Gillis. When he waves his gun at them they open fire on him, and he falls to the ground and drops the detonator. As everyone stands around and uselessly watches, Gillis crawls toward the detonator while a horrified Bobby yells, "Noooooo!!" and runs toward him in slow motion. Gillis reaches the detonator and presses the explode button, and a few seconds later, the nearby Ewing 23 oil wells simultaneously explode with some pretty spectacularly fake looking '80s style special effects. LOL.

Bobby is furious at JR for allowing the officers to shoot Gillis instead of giving him a chance to talk the nut down - but JR points out that since Gillis pulled a gun on them, they had no choice but to shoot, and that he really really hates the idea of giving in to an extortionist. Bobby picks up the detonator, then whips it angrily into space before staring despondently at the hilariously fake looking flames. 

It remains unclear if this debacle was, in fact, "the burr" JR was plotting to put under Bobby's saddle to get him out of Ewing Oil - but if so, talk about overkill.

​Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!

Recap: ​JR is stretched out on a pool lounger, reading the Dallas Press and smiling with glee at the Tanker Sinks headline. A few seconds later, he gets up and joins the rest of the Ewing clan for the delicious looking buffet breakfast spread and hands out various sections of the newspaper, reserving the Tanker Sinks article for Bobby. He smirkingly points out that the top news of the day is that the 600,000 barrels of crude oil he was awaiting mysteriously vanished in the ocean, and Bobby sarcastically thanks him for his sympathy, says an investigation is pending, and that it's merely a minor setback 'cause he assumes that the insurance company is going to cover the financial loss.

Ray exits his house, climbs into his truck and drives off, unwittingly passing Amos Krebbs, who's parked on the side of the road, pretending to tend to a flat tire. He stares after Ray's truck and smiles all sinister like.

At Ewing Oil, Bobby asks Connie to get in touch with the oil tanker's insurer so he can go about filing a claim...and a few minutes later, Brady York pops by to nervously wring his hands about how worried he is about being able to deliver gas on time to all of the various service stations he has contracts with. Bobby gets defensive and says that the sunken tanker was not his fault, then once again gives his word that he'll get his damn gasoline on time.

Back at Southfork, Sue Ellen is rubbing suntan lotion on JR as he happily whistles and says he's pretty confident that Jock is soon going to come to the realization that the wrong Ewing is running Ewing Oil. He gets a phone call from Sally Bullock and agrees to a sexy rendezvous at her secret condo tomorrow, and keeps his part of the conversation vague sounding enough so it doesn't make Sue Ellen suspicious. After he hangs up, Sue Ellen remarks on how curious it is that a ginormous oil tanker just vanished into the ocean, then asks JR if he happens to know anything 'bout that. He smirks and asks her what her reaction would be if he said he did know, and she grins sexily and says, "I'd be real impressed" before the two break out in evil laughter.

Miss Ellie tells Jock he can't possibly blame Bobby for the sunken tanker debacle, and urges him to help his son through this crisis - but Jock pissily retorts that since Bobby insisted on doing everything himself, he's not going to a damn thing to help him while keeping his fingers crossed that the crisis doesn't permanently harm the company. He adds that if Bobby can't prove he's the strong guiding hand Ewing Oil needs, then it's obvious that the wrong Ewing is in the job. Miss Ellie stares back at him in mute alarm.

Bobby helicopters over to a refinery to ask the foreman if he happens to have any excess crude oil, but he says no and that he's reserving a large supply for Mort Wilkinson's refinery, which is part of a handshake deal he made with Jock Ewing over twenty years ago. Bobby nods solemnly and agrees that anything involving his daddy's handshake is sacred, then gets on the phone with somebody named Steve Taylor to see if he happens to have any spare crude oil laying around. When Steve's like, "Uh, no", Bobby mulls over his options for a few seconds and orders the foreman to dip into Mort Wilkinson's supply and ship it over to the Ewing refinery and that he'll take the flak for renegging on the sacred handshake deal.

When Ray arrives home, he finds Amos Krebbs sitting on his doorstep. The old man introduces himself to Ray as his long lost daddy and as proof pulls out some black and white photos of Ray as a child. Ray reminds him that he ran off on him and his ma when he was just a tot, and never bothered writing or sending money. When he asks Amos why he came back all these years later, Amos replies, "Things is different" ... and by different he means that Ray now has a nice plot of land, a cute bungalow, and is in the good graces of Jock Ewing. Ray reminds him that after his ma died he was a young lad of fifteen and showed up at Southfork with a note his ma wrote, begging Jock to help him out. He says that Jock unquestioningly took him in and became more a father to him than Amos ever was...and when Amos pissily says he should be rewarded for raising him for the first three years of his life, Ray throws $100 at him and angrily snorts, "That should about cover it!" Amos complains that he ain't playin' fair, and that his life turned out a lot shittier than expected - but Ray's like, "I really don't give a rat's ass" and tells him to get lost. 

During pre (or after?) dinner drinks at Southfork, Mitch drops by to say hey to Lucy. She squeals excitedly, introduces him to the family, and steers him over to a private room. He tells her that after some deep thought, he's decided to not let her family's wealth get in the way of their budding romance 'cause for some God-only-knows-why-reason, he digs her more than he probably should. Lucy lights up and happily chirps, "Oh Mitch!" - but he makes clear that he'll only continue dating her as far as his meagre income will allow.

Pam is reading in bed when Bobby finally arrives home. He bitches about his lousy day 'cause he had to do something he's not proud of: back out of a handshake deal that Jock made years ago so he could honor his own commitment. Pam reminds him that there's no shame in walking away from a job and a repressive home life he (meaning she) hates - but he tells her he can't bring himself to quit Ewing Oil after hitting his first snag. Pam's like, "Drats", then despondently shuts off the lamp on her nightstand and goes to sleep.

The next morning, Mort Wilkinson drops by Ewing Oil to give Bobby the what for for breaking the handshake agreement he had with Jock. He then whines that he doesn't have a wife or kids -  just his gasoline delivery business - and if he doesn't meet his contractual obligations, he's finished. Bobby stares back at the sad sack with his usual wooden expression and says there's not a helluva lot he's willing to do for him at the moment. 

Amos stalks Jock to downtown Dallas. Eventually he stops Jock on the street, introduces himself, and suggests they stop in at a nearby eatery for a brief chat.

Amos tells Jock that he married Margaret Hunter despite the fact that 1) she always carried a torch for her WWIII lover, and 2) was pregnant (!) with his spawn on their wedding day. When Jock's all, "Wuh?", Amos pulls out Margaret's diary, hands it to him, and points to it as proof that Jock had an affair with Margaret in London during the '40s and unwittingly fathered her son. Amos tells Jock he's willing to sell him the diary in exchange for whatever amount of money Jock is willing to be extorted for...and Jock stares contemplatively into space and says he's going to need a few days in order to fully process this startling news. Amos shrugs and says that since he's waited all these years for a Ewing windfall, he'll happily wait a few more days. 

Bobby meets with the insurers and is aghast to learn that only the tanker, not the oil, was insured...which essentially means that Bobby is without coverage for the loss of 600,000 barrels of crude oil. He stares ashen-faced at the insurers and says he just assumed that the Bullocks had taken care of all the insuring, but the insurers are like, "Uh, no" and inform him about another piece of bad news: there's an investigation pending 'cause it looks like the oil tanker, which was insured for double its value, sank under suspicious circumstances. After they exit the office, Bobby asks Connie to give Eugene Bullock a heads up that he's about to angrily storm over to his office.

Cliff is dining out with Donna Culver when he gets a phone call about the sunken oil tanker and the news that there will be a full investigation for insurance fraud. He cackles gleefully and anticipates a huge power struggle between Bobby and JR...and adds that he doesn't care who loses, "'cause either way a Ewing loses". Donna nods politely and somehow refrains from suggesting that Cliff get a life that doesn't include such an unhealthy fixation on the Ewings. 

Bobby bursts into Eugene's office and demands to know what in blazes he's up to. When Eugene says he has no idea what he's talking about, Bobby rails that his reputation is at stake after the oil he bought from him sank and turned out to be uninsured. When he asks to see his accounting books, Eugene says that ever since he lost his mind and put his wife in charge in much of the day-to-day operations, the books are stored in her personal safe...then chuckles and calls her "a very vigorous woman". Bobby ignores the grossness of that remark and says he strongly suspects Sally of being involved in something nefarious, and Eugene's like 'yep, it would be totally in character for her to be up to no good'. LOL. He then smiles mischievously and produces a key, and explains that he secretly keeps a key to his wife's safe so he can keep tabs on whatever she's up to whenever it becomes necessary. 

Jock arrives at Ray's house as a shirtless (blech) Ray is chopping wood. Jock tells him he had a chat with Amos Krebbs earlier, and that the man tried to put the squeeze on him. He then explains that he and Ray's ma were close friends in England during WWII...and by close friends he means that they repeatedly hit the sheets despite him being married to Miss Ellie at the time. Philandering douchebag. Eventually, he and Margaret were separated when they both got shipped out of England, and he never heard a word about her until he (Ray) showed up at Southfork soon after her death. Ray apologizes for having been harassed by Amos and says he'll handle his daddy, to which Jock retorts by blurting out, "He's not your daddy. I am." Ray stares at him in shocked bewilderment as Jock tells him he got a pretty good look at Margaret's diary and considers it proof of his paternity - but also that he "feels it" and has no idea why he never realized before now that they're father and son. When he adds that he hasn't told any of this to Miss Ellie, Ray urges him to keep this life-changing secret under wraps 'cause he knows it's going to cause problems for his already dysfunctional family.

As Bobby and Eugene pore over the books, they discover that the missing crude oil arrived at a holding harbor in Corpus Christi and was transferred to the harbor storage tanks. Bobby says he'd really like to confront Sally about the brazen theft, and Eugene writes down the address of her "secret" condo, but warns him to go easy 'cause he still intends on "keeping her", which...ew.

Amos stops by Ray's place to taunt him about being a bastard whose bio dad refuses to publicly acknowledge him, and is basing this assumption on the $10,000 Jock gave him to keep his mouth shut about Ray's paternity. Amos flashes the wad of bills and smugly calls it his retirement - I guess $10,000 went a long way in '80s Texas - and tells Ray he should be thanking him for making him aware he has a pedigree. He grins stupidly some more before finally climbing into his car and squealing off.

Sally is shocked to see Bobby when he arrives at her condo, and is even more shocked when he tells her that Eugene provided him with the address. She mutters that she didn't think her fossil of a husband knew about her secret love nest, and Bobby wryly says the man's old but not stupid. He then tells her he knows all about how she and JR conspired to overload a decrepit tanker with water that was purposely sunk, while the 600,000 barrels of crude oil safely made its way to Corpus Christi. When she weakly tries to deny the scheme, Bobby says he has proof that can land her in jail for fraud. She switches gears and gazes at him all sultry-like and offers him a proposition: she'll let him screw her brains out after she arranges for another shipment of crude oil that should take about a week to arrive. Bobby stares back at her stonily and tells her to listen carefully, then do as he says: sign over the 600,000 barrels of the Corpus Christi crude oil to him and decline all insurance money for the lost tanker...and in exchange he won't blow the whistle on her for stealing his oil. Sally mulls that over, acknowledges that the jig is up, and agrees to sign whatever he wants her to.

That evening at Southfork, Bobby confronts JR about the scheme he devised with Sally, but JR plays dumb and pretends to have absolutely no idea what he's talking about. Bobby asks him if he was really willing to destroy Ewing Oil just to get him out as president, and JR calls that "a crazy accusation" and chides him for not being more on top of the insurance contract. Bobby warns him to stay out of his way, then advances on him - just as Ray enters the room and puts a stop to the near brawl. A few seconds later, the entire Ewing clan files into the room, per Jock's request so he can drop a bombshell on everyone at the same time: he doinked Ray's ma during WWII and fathered a child he just learned he had. He then walks over to Ray and reveals he has a fourth son, then gruffly welcomes the yokel to the family before giving him a hearty man hug. After that, the camera pans across the faces of each family member, capturing varying degrees of shock, astonishment, and dismay. (I couldn't tell if it was dawning on Lucy that she used to bump uglies with her now uncle. Ick.) 

Recap: Bobby tells Pam he doesn't have time for breakfast 'cause he has an early meeting about the new oil refinery, and she urges him to slooooow down at work and maybe once in awhile talk about something other than Ewing Oil. He tells her doesn't wanna 'cause he's just so darn excited about all the wheelin' and dealin' he gets to do, and she splashes more cold water on him by reminding him that JR will likely be taking over the company in the near future and thank goodness for that. LOL.

Ray arrives at the main house to remind Bobby that they have a ranch to run, and would like him to weigh in on decisions he'd rather not trouble Jock with. When Jock and JR emerge from the house, Jock irritably tells Bobby he just found out that he (Bobby) sold off a bunch of Ewing assets in order to free up enough cash to buy the new oil refinery. Bobby points out that Ewing oil neeeeeded that refinery and because they now own it, they can triple their oil output and earn tons and tons of money. He adds that he's really getting peeved at always having his decisions questioned, then storms over to his car and squeals out of the driveway. JR tells his daddy that they're going to need to do something to rein in his out-of-control brother now that Ewing Oil no longer has enough assets to pay the mounting bills. After he hobbles back into the house, Ray asks Jock if he'd like to go to the Forth Worth livestock auction with him, and Jock's like 'sure, why the hell not?', then grumbles that he has no idea what to do about his squabbling sons.

Sue Ellen tells Miss Ellie how dismayed she that Bobby is trying to cut JR out of Ewing Oil, but Miss Ellie denies that that's what's happening and points out that Bobby was asked to step in after the shooting and is running the company as he sees fit. Sue Ellen's all pfffft and accuses her of siding with Bobby against JR, so Miss Ellie barks back that they're both her sons...but is admittedly afraid that if Bobby isn't constantly coddled in a wrapped-in-cotton-wool kind of way, he might soon realize that he's a grown ass man who'd be far happier if he didn't live under the same roof as his overly involved parents and manipulative brother. 

Pam is hard at work at The Store when the investigator she hired, John Mackey, calls to give her an update about the search for her mother. He tells her the search is going nowhere fast, and she urges him to continue looking and use all of his resources to find some trace of her.

Bobby arrives at Ewing Oil for a meeting with grizzled Eugene Bullock and his trophy wife Sally, last seen in Season 3 when JR tried to get them to help finance his ill-fated Asian oil deal. Eugene tells Bobby he's completely given up being relevant and defers to his vapid wife on all matters of business, so Bobby politely explains the potential output of his new refinery to Sally and says he'd like her and Eugene to supply him with 600,000 barrels of crude oil. Sally flirtily mulls that over and says she can make that happen via their Venezuelan connection for a prepayment of $18 million, and Bobby excitedly agrees and says he'll have a check for her this afternoon.

Ray and Jock are at the livestock auction in Fort Worth when two of Jock's cronies, Punk Anderson and Pat Powers amble over to say hey and get introduced to Ray. Punk asks Jock how his sons are doing, and Jock grunts something unintelligible before suggesting they all take an auction break to go grab a beer.

JR drops by Ewing Oil for an impromptu visit and gets an especially warm hug from his secretary Louella, which...mmm hmm. He happens to catch Eugene and Sally Bullock as they're exiting Bobby's office, and looks fake delighted when Eugene gushingly describes Bobby and his dealmaking savvy as "a real live wire".
​
When JR sees an empty champagne bottle, Bobby explains that they were just celebrating his purchase of a huge shipment of crude oil from the Bullocks' Venezuelan connection in order to supply the new oil refinery. JR asks him how he's paying for it, so he replies that he took out a short term loan. JR reminds him that his role as Acting President was only ever supposed to be a temporary assignment until he got back on his feet...so Bobby asks, "Are you asking me to step down?" and JR replies, "Uh uh. I'm telling you." Bobby argues that he's capable of running this company as good as any Ewing, but with the added bonus of not engaging in all the dirty dealin', and JR pretends to be offended by that jab and orders him again to step down. When Bobby refuses, JR snarks that at some point he's going to be forced to admit that he's in waaaaay over his head.

Dr. Ellby asks Sue Ellen if Bobby was the person who posted her bail after she was arrested, and she says no and that she's somehow not remotely curious about who might have done that for her. She then criticizes Bobby for turning into a power-hungry douchetard...while Saint JR, on the other hand, is a totally wonderful man now that she's back to enjoying hitting the sheets with him.

The camera pans over to JR, who's out for a drink with Louella, telling her to keep her eyes and ears open so that she can report on anything tantalizing. He calls their partnership "a mutual understanding of old friends", then asks how her new husband is doing. She makes a face and says he's always on the road, prompting JR to cluck, "Ooooh, too bad" and non-subtly promises to drop by her house some evening when she might be up for some extramarital hanky panky.   

During pre-dinner drinks, Lucy arrives home and asks for permission to host a barbecue/pool party at Southfork this weekend so that her spoiled rich friends can have an opportunity to meet her new boyfriend, Mitch. She then gushes about what "a real man" he is, aka a considerate, smart, honest guy who parks cars for a living. JR snidely remarks, "At least he has a future", and Miss Ellie smiles benignly and tells Lucy that a barbecue/party is A-OK with her. 

After dinner, JR rails to Sue Ellen about how Bobby refuses to step down from the top job at Ewing Oil, and Sue Ellen shakes her head at her brother-in-law's impudence and snarks that he should stick to what he knows something about: running the ranch. JR admits that he's genuinely worried Bobby will be successful and make him look bad by comparison, then says he's off to a late night business meeting. Sue Ellen asks him if she should wait up, and JR replies, "By all means" before exiting the room. He hobbles downstairs and tells his parents he's off to "lend Bobby a hand" ... and an oblivious Jock's like, "Sounds good to me", then privately tells Miss Ellie he hates what's going on with his sons. Miss Ellie insists that under no circumstances is anyone to ever do anything to make Bobby even contemplate the possibility of ever wanting to leave Southfork...and that if he (Jock) does anything to drive him away, she'll never forgive him. Jock miserably points out that JR is going to be destroyed if he's never allowed to run Ewing Oil again, given that it was his job for years before the shooting...then adds that Bobby's bitchy "hands off" attitude is really starting to stick in his craw. Miss Ellie muses that Bobby is probably feeling the pressure to prove himself as a businessman, then makes clear that she's not willing to lose another son.

Lucy stops by Mitch's apartment to invite him to her barbecue/pool party, and he agrees to make an appearance on Saturday afternoon.

JR is having drinks with Sally Bullock and telling her he has a proposition for her. She looks intrigued and assumes he's looking to "shaft someone", and he cackles while concurring that, yep, that's exactly the kind of no good thing he's up to.

Sue Ellen is lounging in the Southfork pool when Bobby ambles over and joins her. He tells her it's been awhile since they had a real conversation, then says he's really really enjoying being at the helm of Ewing Oil. Sue Ellen snidely retorts, "I've noticed", then asks what he expects JR, aka the more deserving president of Ewing Oil, to do all day. Bobby reminds her that she used to constantly plead with him to stop JR from committing his various shenanigans, and she shoots back that he's the one who now needs to be stopped. A few seconds later, JR emerges from the house, tells the two he's here to take a dip for his therapy, and Sue Ellen dutifully rushes over to him and steers him towards the pool.

John Mackey calls Pam to inform her that he just got a lead about her mother, and she reacts by beaming happily.

Jock and Ray are at the livestock auction when they run into Punk and Pat again and decide 'hey, let's all hang out together'.  

Pam informs Bobby that she's off to meet Cliff for lunch, and that she may have news about her long lost mother. Bobby urges caution and to not to jump to any conclusions that may get her hopes up. A miffed Pam glares back at him, then stomps off as JR and Sue Ellen giggle together while playfully splashing each other at the far end of the pool.

While out for a beer, Punk reminds Jock that they go back a long way and suggests they do business together...and by do business together, he means develop swamp land near the Texas/Louisiana border into some prime recreation real estate. Jock perks up at the prospect - just as some random old guy at the other end of the bar asks the bartender if that dumbfaced yokel over there is Ray Krebbs, then looks visibly intrigued when he learns that the old goat Ray's hanging with is Jock Ewing.  

Mitch drives over to Southfork in his beater to attend Lucy's barbecue/pool party...and when Lucy spots him enter the pool area, she excitedly rushes over and introduces him to her friends. Mitch tells Lucy that he feels really awkward 'cause big crowds aren't his thing, then stares at her incredulously when she insists that this is nothing more than a small gathering.  

Cliff stops by Pam's office to take her to lunch, and she giddily tells him she just got her first bit of good news about their mother, which is that someone reportedly saw her after she supposedly died. Cliff shrugs disinterestedly and reminds her that their mother cheated on Digger, then ran off and never bothered to try to find them...and that, frankly, if she is alive he'd rather she stay where she is. When Pam stares at him all crestfallen, he rails at her for always being so consumed with the past, then suggests she convince Bobby to pull up stakes and move somewhere that's far far away from Southfork and start a family. She glares at him, snaps, "A family?", and reminds him that she can't risk having children and for whatever reason has a burning need to know where she came from. She reminds him that since Digger wasn't her bio bad, her only (maybe) living blood parent left is her mother, and cries, "Whyyyyyy can't you understand that?!"

During Lucy's barbecue/pool party, one of the rich partygoers bets Lucy hundreds of dollars that she can't win a second chicken fight in the pool, and she's like, "You're on!" and runs over to grab a wad of cash from her wallet. LOL. Mitch is all, "Wuh?" at the thought of betting that kind of money on something as idiotic as a chicken fight, then tells Lucy he's outa here and storms off. She races after him and asks him why he's so upset, so he tells her her circle of friends is "too rich" for him, and that it's a big mistake for him to be mingling among her kind.  

Bobby assures a business associate, Brady York, that he can guarantee a huge shipment of refined oil within three days...and when the guy looks skeptical, Bobby explains that he has a ginormous supply of crude oil on its way from Venezuela. Connie enters the office with the prepared contract, and Bobby makes a point of telling Brady that he never goes back on his word, and that he'll definitely have his oil on the specified delivery dates. Brady mulls that over, then looks convinced and signs the contract.

Jock stops in at Ewing Oil to pick up a land map of the Texas/Louisiana border area. He greets Brady York, who gushes about how proud he should be of Bobby for being an awesome businessman who just made a helluva great deal with him.

Mitch is studying when Lucy drops by his apartment to apologize for how badly the barbecue/pool party turned out. Mitch says he appreciates her apology, but that since he's never going to have the kind of money her family has, he doesn't feel comfortable being in her orbit or having to compete with her rich friends. Lucy insists that he doesn't have to compete with them, given that they accept him on account of he's with her...and Mitch snarls back that he doesn't give a damn about their acceptance. Lucy shoots back that he's a reverse snob and thought they had a good thing going...but that if he can't bring himself to like her for the spoiled, obnoxious, immature nymphet she is, then he's just not the man she thought he was. 

Jock tells JR that he ran into Brady York at Ewing Oil and listened to him gush endlessly over Bobby's astonishing businessman skills...which is making him rethink his decision to ask Bobby to step down as president. He concedes that Bobby's done a damn fine job with buying an oil refinery, ensuring a supply of crude oil, and negotiating the requisite gas contracts...and JR pretends to be happy for his brother's success and announces that he's taking Sue Ellen out for dinner.

Upstairs, JR suggests to Sue Ellen that they get it on before heading out to dinner, then cackles about the great job Jock thinks Bobby is doing at Ewing Oil...and has no idea that his little brother is heading for a fall. Sue Ellen perks up at that intriguing tidbit and plants his lips with a big smooch.

Bobby is toasting his success with Connie when an irate looking Pam enters the office and reminds him that they had dinner plans. Bobby's like, "Oops, I forgot" - just as he gets a phone call with some very bad news: the tanker transporting the crude oil he bought from the Bullocks just went missing. In other words, the 600,000 barrels of oil and $18 millions are suddenly gone, no doubt due to some maneuver that that rascally JR masterminded at the risk of sabotaging his family's company.

Back at Southfork, Sue Ellen and JR are basking in the afterglow of a post-coitus canoodle. Sue Ellen purrs that their romps just keep getting better and better, and he responds by grinning devilishly into space. 

Recap: ​At Southfork, Kristin is telling Assistant District Attorney Martin Purcell (and the  fascinated Ewings) a made up story about how obsessed she became with JR and did everything possible to get him to notice her - but that he held firm and was steadfast in his determination to remain faithful to Sue Ellen. Kristin claims that she became so tortured by the realization that she could never have him, that when he rejected her on that fateful night, she reacted by shooting him. As the camera pans across the room to register the skepticism on the face of each Ewing, Purcell asks her why she waited until now to confess to the shooting. JR interjects and says it's obvious that she was far too skeered to come forward, and Kristin tearfully concurs and adds that she was soooo distressed by shooting the man with whom she was soooo obsessed that she also has no memory of hiding the gun in his closet the following day. JR tells Purcell that he's not interested in signing any kind of 'attempted murder complaint' against Kristin 'cause she was obviously in a state of temporary insanity at the time of the shooting, and hopes that his disinterest in seeing Kristin prosecuted will convince the DA's office to save the taxpayers money and summarily drop the entire thing. He then gets up and steers Purcell into another room for a tête-à-tête, and Jock grizzles that if it were up to him, Kristin would be rotting in a prison. Miss Ellie sheepishly apologizes to Sue Ellen for believing that she was the one who shot JR, and Sue Ellen's like, "No problem" and assures her that from now on, everything's going to be A-OK. A few seconds later, JR and Purcell return to the room, and Purcell announces that all of the charges against Sue Ellen will soon be dropped, and that he's on board with doing JR's personal bidding and is totally willing to risk his job and reputation by keeping Kristin's confession under wraps.

On the breakfast patio the next morning, Miss Ellie tells the family that the DA's office formally agreed that there was no point to putting Kristin on trial for attempted murder...and Jock says they can all rest easy from now on 'cause right now JR and Sue Ellen are transporting Kristin to the airport, where she'll jet off to California and never be heard from again (um, not). As the younger Ewings head out to start their day, Jock tells Miss Ellie he doesn't get why a hottie like Kristin would want to mess around with a married man...and Miss Ellie's just like, "Whatever" and asks him what the plan is now that JR is nearly recovered and will likely want to return to the helm of Ewing Oil at the same time that Bobby is really happy running the company. Jock's like, "Plan? There is no plan" and Miss Ellie makes it clear that she doesn't want Bobby to feel like he's getting pushed out of the family company and then overreact by leaving Texas.

In the airport waiting room, JR tells Kristin he'll send her a fat check every month in exchange for her keeping her mouth shut about the identity of her baby daddy, and that she should let him know when the baby arrives. Kristin saucily reminds him it's not the baby, but rather his baby - and that she's merely pointing this out in the interest of being truthful. Sue Ellen lets out a bitter guffaw and reminds her that she lied through her teeth to ADA Purcell last night - but JR hastily compliments the performance and says that Purcell swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. Someone from the airlines announces that the California flight is ready to board, and Kristin smugly tells JR, "I'll be seeing you" before whirling on her heel and sashaying towards the gate.

Bobby orders a foreman named Harry Owens to get Ewing 23 back up and operating at full capacity within the week, and Harry's like, "Er, OK", then reminds him that the operation requires access to an oil refinery. Bobby says he's looking into that...but that, in the meantime, he's to get the oil field back into operation.

Upon returning to Southfork, JR tells Sue Ellen he thinks the Kristin farewell scene went well, and Sue Ellen screeches about how pissed off at him she is for not doubting Kristin's word that her spawn is his after the way he accused her of having Cliff's bun in her oven when she was with child in Season 2. JR somehow refrains from pointing out that it was actually a reasonable accusation, given that she had doinked both him and Cliff around the time she got pregnant - and Sue Ellen becomes so enraged that she grabs JR by the collar, rails incoherently at him, and pushes him atop the bed. He perks up and assumes she's up for some sexy roughplay and grabs the back of her head to push it towards him...and she yells, "Noooooo!!" before succumbing to his forcible kisses a few seconds later.

Connie informs Bobby that Jim Redfield is in town, and Bobby quickly gets on the phone with him to set up a dinner meeting so they can discuss the purchase of his oil refinery.

After a long political advisory session between Cliff, Dave Culver, and Donna Culver, Cliff suggests that the three of them go out and grab some dinner. Dave says he can't make it, so Cliff asks Donna if she'd be into getting some cheap Mexican food with him, and she's like 'sure, why the hell not?'  

Lucy is attempting to cook dinner for Mitch in his tiny apartment when he arrives home and asks whassup with the burned food smell. She explains that she wanted to prepare a nice meal for him after his classes, then shows him the charred remains of what was supposed to be beef stroganoff. He makes an ew face and suggests they stop by the nearest burger place to grab a quick bite before his valet shift starts.
​
At the cheap Mexican place, Donna natters about the awesomeness of Sam Culver and waxes on about everything he taught her. Cliff asks her if she hooked up with anyone since Sam's death, and she sadly says she started seeing a dumb-faced yokel immediately after the funeral, but that he didn't feel worthy of her and is no longer in the picture. Cliff changes the subject and tells her that his raison d'être is beating the Ewings, and Donna makes a seriously? face and says that surely there must be more to his life than that...and he mulls that over for a few seconds and flirtily replies that he does have a soft spot for beautiful rich ladies who are university educated and well connected. Mmm hmm..

Bobby tells Pam that Ewing 23 is going to be back in operation in about a week, which will mean a lot of incoming dough for her brother. Pam looks less than thrilled by the news and snarkishly accuses him of resurrecting the field just so he can rub it in JR's face that he's the one calling all the shots at Ewing Oil. She adds that he's clearly enjoying his new-found power and asks him where it leaves them, and he's just like, "Dunno" and urges her to hang in there.

JR presents Sue Ellen with a new Mercedes, and she squeals happily and gushes about how much she loooooves it. He hands her the keys and suggests they go for a quick spin - just as he's informed that there's an important phone call from Harry Owens, who's calling to rat out Bobby's plan to reopen Ewing 23. JR tells him he appreciates the intel, then ambles over to the patio to tattle about it to Jock, who growls his disapproval. Bobby's like, "I don't give a shit 'cause I'm in charge of Ewing Oil", then threatens to leave Texas if either of them try to push him out of the company. After he storms off, Miss Ellie reminds Jock that she's against anything that will result in Bobby wanting to leave Southfork to get a life of his own.    

Bobby and his accountant are doing a quick inventory of the company's assets when Jordan Lee and two cartel members enter his office. Bobby greets them warmly and explains that he summoned them here to offer them a chance to invest in the oil refinery he hopes to acquire from Jim Redfield, but they're like, "No way in hell" and remind Bobby about how hard JR fucked them over with the disastrous Asian deal last season. As the three file out, a dismayed Bobby tells Connie to get Franklin Horner on the phone so he can once again go through the futile exercise of begging the man for a bank loan.

While horseback riding on Southfork, Jock tells Ray he's worried about the impending clash between JR and Bobby, and wishes he could wave a magic wand and make it so that his sons are content to work side by side in harmonious fashion. He adds that if Bobby gets pissed off enough he'll leave Dallas, and fears that it'll put him in the doghouse with Miss Ellie.
​
Liz Craig drops by Southfork to ask Pam if she wants to resume working at The Store, and Pam says that since it looks like Bobby isn't willing to leave Dallas anytime soon, why the hell not?

JR tells Jock that he really really wants to return to the helm of Ewing Oil, but Jock urges him to just take it easy for awhile 'cause he's happy with the "damn fine job" that Bobby's been doing and owes it to him to let him run things awhile longer. JR petulantly retorts, "It's my company and I want it back", but Jock meekly says he can't do that 'cause his wife will get too mad at him...and JR's own fear of Jock keeps him from loudly expressing his disdain about how annoying it is to have a daddy who allows his wife to carry his balls around in her purse.   

Sue Ellen tries to convince Dr. Ellby that ever since the shooting, JR is a brand new man, and that she's thrilled they're getting close again. An incredulous Dr. Ellby reminds her that JR impregnated her own sister and that she herself had wanted him dead just a few weeks ago, and Sue Ellen angrily replies that the Kristin affair is over...and that when she and JR hit the sheets yesterday for the first time in a looooong dry spell, he performed so much more awesomely than she remembered and is ready to completely let bygones be bygones.

Franklin Horner calls JR to give him a heads up that Bobby requested yet another meeting with him to beg for a loan. JR instructs him to turn Bobby down...and when Franklin whines about how awkward it's getting to repeatedly alienate Bobby, JR snappishly says that if he expects to do business with Ewing Oil in the future, he'll make damn sure that Bobby gets no access to cash.

In the next scene, Bobby is imploring Franklin to approve a massive loan so that Ewing Oil can purchase an oil refinery, and Franklin tells him he'll pretend to think it over and then not get back to him. Bobby wails, "I don't have time!" and Franklin explains that since the deal isn't being signed off on by Jock or JR, but rather someone who has no record or experience in the oil industry, there's no way a large loan can be approved. Bobby snaps, "Take your bank and stuff it!" and storms out of the restaurant.

Lucy loafs around in Mitch's apartment as he studies for med school. She asks him how much longer he needs to study, and he jokingly replies, "For the rest of my life." She sighs dramatically and says she may as well go home then (uh, d'yuh) and heads over to the door...but then gets a devilish look on her face before bolting the door and stripping off her clothes. A startled Mitch looks over at her, then hornily perks up as he gets up from his study table, strides over to her, and gives her an amorous smooch.

Bobby is standing on the Southfork patio, staring contemplatively into the darkness, when Miss Ellie steps outside to ask him whassup. He tells her he used to look down on all of JR's wheelin' and dealin' when he was CEO of Ewing Oil, and now gets why it's super stimulating. Miss Ellie says she's surprised to hear him say that, then adds that maybe he inherited more of the obnoxious Ewing Thirst for Power gene than she had originally thought.

At Ewing Oil the next morning, Jim Redfield tells Bobby that if he can come up with the financing to buy his refinery then it's all his - but that he's going to have to move fast 'cause he just got another offer from Jordan Lee and the other two cartel members. Sneaky devils. After Jim departs, Bobby laments to Connie his failure in getting Franklin Horner to loan him the cash, then looks as if a lightbulb just went off inside his head when he suddenly realizes that there's more than one bank in Dallas, and that as the CEO of a well established oil company he could apply for a loan at any number of financial institutions! Ye haw! He excitedly asks Connie to get Les Crowley from The People's Lonestar Bank on the phone pronto.

Les tells Bobby it would be a pleasure to do business with Ewing Oil, and when Bobby gives him Ewing Oil's accounting records and says he can put up $100 million as collateral for a matching $100 million loan, and Les is like, "Sold!" and promises to wrap up the paperwork by this evening.

The Ewing menfolk are enjoying pre-dinner drinks when JR smirkingly asks Bobby what deals he was able to cobble together today. A few seconds later, Les Crowley calls the ranch to inform Bobby that his $100 million loan has been officially approved, and Bobby woots happily at the news...and when Pam enters the room, he announces that Ewing Oil just got the financing to purchase its own refinery, and that he and Pam are going out to dinner to celebrate! A dazed JR's all, "Wha-a-a-a?" and contorts his face all discombobulated-like. LOL.

In the privacy of their bedroom, JR rails to Sue Ellen about Bobby's success in purchasing an oil refinery - which, for some reason, is something he was never able to pull off. He glares angrily into space and vows to bring Bobby down, and snarls, "I'm going to cut him out, if I have to destroy Ewing Oil to do it!" which seems entirely counter-productive to his life's goal...but OK.

​Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!

Recap: A dazed Sue Ellen is hauled off to the police station, where she's fingerprinted and photographed for her mug shot. She tells a detective she doesn't think she went through with her plan to shoot JR, despite putting a gun in her purse before leaving Southfork hours before the shooting. A few seconds later, her lawyer, Kyle Bennett, arrives at the police station and advises her to stop sharing self incriminating details with the police...and also not confess anything to him until she's out on bail and can speak without the risk of them being surveilled. He then tells her he'll be back to see her in the morning, leaving her to cry, "Wuh? I can't spend the night here!" and then stare despondently into space as a guard leads her to a holding cell.

The next morning, Cliff is eating at an outdoor cafe when he happens to see a newspaper featuring a headline about Sue Ellen getting arrested for shooting her husband. He's all, "Ack!" and rushes off. 

At Southfork, Jock gets a call from Kyle Bennett informing him that Sue Ellen's bail is going to cost 100K...and he growls, "Over my dead body!" before hanging up. When he asks the family who the hell arranged for Kyle to defend Sue Ellen, Bobby admits that he was the one who called Kyle and insists that his sister-in-law has a right to legal counsel. JR and Jock are like, "Mmm, nope, we're A-OK with her languishing in jail", and Bobby angrily retorts that he'll put up the money himself if need be - but Miss Ellie nixes that future good deed and tells him it's far too dangerous for a potential killer like Sue Ellen to be out on the loose.

Kyle tells Sue Ellen that the Ewings are refusing to pay her bail, then asks her if she knows anyone who might have an extra 100K laying around. Sue Ellen sadly says she's not friends with anyone not named Ewing who has that kind of money, then wails, "I can't spend another night in here!" Kyle promises to do all he can before rushing off, and a few seconds later, Cliff enter the room and tells Sue Ellen he came by to help. He asks her to recall everything she can about the day JR was shot, so she admits that she definitely did want to kill him...and he nods sympathetically and replies, "So did I. And half the people in Dallas." She adds that the police have the murder weapon with her fingerprints all over it - but because she got herself so blitzed on the day of the shooting, she has no idea if she actually pulled the trigger. When she self-piteously tells him that the Ewings won't put up her bail, he lets out a bitter sounding chuckle and says he's not surprised, then promises to do his best to find the money somewhere.  

Franklin Horner stops by Ewing Oil to tell Bobby that his bank's loan committee won't sign on off on a loan request for Ewing Oil while the Ewing family is in such disarray. Bobby gets irked and says he neeeeeeds the money to buy a new oil refinery that's on sale for really cheap - but Franklin just shrugs helplessly and pretends that his hands are tied. 

Sue Ellen perks up when she's informed that her bail has been posted by an unknown benefactor.

Sue Ellen asks a taxi driver to stop in front of the Southfork gates so she can stare at the estate longingly. After a few seconds of that, the driver gets impatient and asks, "Where to now?" and she sighs and tells him to take her back to Dallas. 

Lucy runs into Mitch on campus and apologizes for her bitchitude during the previous episode. He acknowledges that, yep, he was pretty annoyed by it, then explains that he's under soooo much pressure as a med student. She's like, "Speaking of your studies.." and tells him she picked up something he might like, then opens the trunk of her car and shows him the brand new set of medical books he was working so hard to earn the money to buy. He gives her a funny look and says she shouldn't have done this, but she just grins like an idiot and points out that he no longer has to worry so much about how he's going to afford the much needed books. Mitch mulls that over and decides to be charmed by her presumptuousness. 

Sue Ellen shows up at Cliff's apartment to thank him for posting her bail, but he just stares at her confusedly and says he has no idea what she's talking about. He invites her in and says she can stay at his place for as long as she needs to, then tells her he has to run out for a very important appointment, but will be back asap.

​While horseback riding on the vast acreage of Southfork, Jock grizzles to Ray about how worried he is that Miss Ellie is going to have a mental breakdown with all the family problems they're enduring, but Ray assures her she'll be fine, given what a tough old gal she is.

Cliff meets with Dave Culver after a rally to discuss his gubernatorial campaign. Donna sees the two talking, looks instantly alarmed, and runs over to remind her stepson that they have a plane to catch and need to leave pronto.

At dinner that evening, JR accuses Bobby of putting up Sue Ellen's bail money, but Bobby just stares back at him cluelessly and says he had absolutely nothing to do with that. JR then turns his snarly attention to Pam and asks her if she was the one who paid, and she says no, but that she's glad that Sue Ellen is no longer rotting away behind bars. Miss Ellie agrees with that sentiment and says she felt awful knowing that her daughter-in-law was locked up...which seems like a strangely abrupt reversal from her feelings at breakfast, when she forbade Bobby to put up her bail.

Cliff returns to his apartment clutching a bouquet of flowers, but quickly deflates when he sees Sue Ellen's 'thanks for your help, but I can't stay here' note. 

Sue Ellen shows up at Kristin's condo and asks if she can crash with her for awhile, and Kristin chirps, "Of course!" and welcomes her to stay as long as she likes...or for as long as JR forgets that she's still squatting in the company condo and gets it together enough to throw them both out. Sue Ellen tearfully says she doesn't know what she would have done without her during these last few episodes, and Kristin says, "That's what sisters are for" and leans in for a hug.

Sue Ellen intercepts Bobby on his way inside the Ewing Oil building and tells him she really really wants to see her baby. Bobby says he doubts that JR would allow that, but will see if Miss Ellie or Jock have a differing opinion 'bout that. Sue Ellen thanks him, says her baby is the only thing she has to hold onto right now, and that she's staying at Kristin's place in case he needs to get in touch with her.

Donna Culver runs into Cliff downtown and warns him to stay away from Dave 'cause she's put a lot of time and energy into his political career and doesn't want him tainting it with his luckless Barnes aura. Cliff argues that he has the kind of expertise and energy that Dave's campaign could really use, and points out that he still has a strong political base in Dallas he could sway in Dave's favor. Donna looks momentarily intrigued, then suggests they discuss this further over a cold drink.

Sue Ellen is in a session with Dr. Ellby, telling him she still hasn't the foggiest idea whether or not she shot JR. He suggests putting her under hypnosis to see if anything shakes out from that, and she's just like 'sure, why the hell not?'

JR wheels himself into a downtown restaurant to meet with Kyle Bennett. He asks Kyle if Sue Ellen confessed to shooting him, but Kyle reminds him that he can't reveal anything from any conversation he had with her 'cause he's bound by client-attorney privilege. JR snaps, "But she's my wife!" and threatens to permanently take him off the Ewing Oil payroll if he doesn't start spilling the beans...and Kyle tells him where he can shove his threats, then declares that he's stepping back from Sue Ellen's case and will refer her to a lawyer who doesn't give a rat's ass about pissing off the Ewings.

Back at Southfork, Bobby tells the family that he saw Sue Ellen today and that she desperately wants to see the baby. JR barks, "No way", Jock growls, "It's too big a risk", while Miss Ellie decrees that Sue Ellen can visit with the baby in a public place while she and Pam supervise.  

Bobby tells the owner of the refinery he wants to buy that since Franklin Horner refuses to lend him any money, he's going to have to pass on the deal until he can arrange other financing...and refinery owner's like, "Yeah, OK. Whatever."

Pam and Miss Ellie meet Sue Ellen in a downtown park so she can enjoy a visit with Baby John. She tearfully tells the two she can't believe she could have shot JR and is hoping for a miracle that will offer proof of her innocence, and they agree that they too would like to see this dragged out who dunnit mystery wrapped up asap.

During Sue Ellen's next therapy session, Dr. Ellby puts her under hypnosis and takes her back to the Season 3 finale. During a flashback, Sue Ellen recalls that she took the gun with her when she left Southfork, stopped in at a bar to drink herself silly, then staggered over to Kristin's condo to rant and rave about her desire to kill JR 'cause she didn't want him to commit her to a sanitarium. After that, she has no memory of anything before waking up in the airport parking lot, then driving home and getting a visit from Kristin who informed her of the shooting and assured her she'd stand by her no matter what. Sue Ellen says she then took a shower and went to the hospital with Kristin...and when Dr. Ellby furrows his brows and asks, "What about the gun?", Sue Ellen says she had somehow changed purses upon returning home from her day-long bender...and giddily translates this to mean it's irrefutable proof that she couldn't have had the gun with her at the time JR was shot. Dr. Ellby refrains from pointing out that since she has no memory of anything between the time she left the condo and woke up in the airport parking lot, it's not actually proof of anything.

Sue Ellen takes a taxi to Southfork and finds JR sitting by the pool, reading a magazine. He panics when he sees her ambling towards him, warns her not to get any closer, then frantically wheels himself over to the phone to call 911. Sue Ellen assures him she's not going to hurt him, and that she just wants to know where Kristin is. When Kristin flounces out of the house a few seconds later, Sue Ellen snarkishly tells her she's finally figured out the 'who shot JR?' conundrum. She says she now realizes that after she had arrived at the condo on the day of the shooting she must have left the gun behind after guzzling the booze that she (Kristin) was plying her with...and then we finally get a flashback of what really happened on that fateful night: Kristin grabbed the gun, headed over to Ewing Oil and shot JR, then planted the gun in his bedroom closet when she dropped by Southfork the following day. JR's all, "Wha-a-a-a?", then starts to dial the police - but Kristin smugly says he shouldn't do that, unless he wants his child to be born in prison. JR stares back at her in horror, then accuses her of bluffing about his bun being in her oven (blech) ... but she just shrugs in response and challenges him to speak to her ob-gyn. JR hangs up the phone and tells his icked out wife that instead of involving the authorities, he's going to handle Kristin his own way.

Recap: A tormented looking Sue Ellen is writhing in her bed in the middle of the night and crying, "Nooooo! Stop it! Go away!" Miss Ellie rushes into the room to see whassup, then turns the lights on and pokes Sue Ellen awake to tell her she's having yet another loud nightmare. When Sue Ellen wails that she dreamed JR was dead, Miss Ellie urges her to talk to Dr. Ellby about whatever is troubling her, then tells her to try to get some sleep without shriekily waking the entire household.

Jordan Lee drops by JR's hospital room to gleefully ogle his crippled nemesis, and JR yells at him to get the hell out, then summons his security guards to sharply admonish them for letting the unapproved visitor get past them.

At breakfast, Bobby suggests to Pam that they meet up for lunch, and she reminds him that lately every time they've made lunch plans he either cancels or forgets. He promises that that won't happen today [even though it ends up happening], and she shoots him a skeptical stink-eye before getting up from the table and ambling over to her car.

Cliff is informed by his coworker Gil that the higher ups at the DA's office want him to take a leave of absence until he's fully cleared of being a suspect in JR's shooting. Cliff's all, "Wha-a-a?" and reminds him that, according to the law, he's presumed innocent until proven guilty - but Gil just shrugs and is all, "Don't shoot the messenger." No pun intended.   

Sue Ellen takes JR out for a stroll in his wheelchair - but he just grumpily rails about the incompetent security guards (while they're within hearing range, LOL) who allowed Jordan Lee to just waltz into his hospital room...then laments his current state of paralysis before wheeling off by himself. He heads over to the hospital's lovely looking rehab/pool room, and is staring despondently into space when Ray pops by for a visit. Ray reminds him about all the good times they used to share [before JR doinked his girlfriend Garnet in Season 2] and solemnly says he can count on him during this difficult time if he needs anything. JR derisively rolls his eyes at the yokel and snappishly replies that he prefers to only count on himself, and grouchy wheels himself out of the room.

​Bobby tries to reach Franklin Horner at the Cattleman's Bank by phone, but keeps getting the brush-off by his secretary. Bobby explains to her that he has loan papers JR initiated to secure funding before his shooting occurred, and that he simply needs Horner's signature to get the cash...and adds that he's getting pretty darn miffed by the constant runaround every time he calls. He warns that if Horner refuses to talk to him on the phone, he'll have no choice but to storm over to the bank and force the man into a face-to-face meeting - egads! - and when the secretary hangs up, we see that Franklin Horner has been hovering over her the entire time, eavesdropping on the call.

Sue Ellen is describing her nightmare for Dr. Ellby: she's running down a long corridor, being chased by men in white coats while trying to get to the door at the end of the corridor...and when she finally reaches it, JR is blocking the doorway, so she shoots him with the gun that's suddenly in her hand. Sue Ellen twitches nervously as she tells Dr. Ellby that she's starting to believe that she was the one who pulled the trigger on JR for real, and is worried she'll never be free of the nightmares.

On campus, Lucy storms over to the married professor she doinked in the Season 3 finale and rails at him for not telling her he had a wife. Greg weakly says he had considered maybe, possibly, at some point telling her about his marital status - but she snarlingly calls him a cheat, shoots him the stink-eye, and angrily flounces off.

JR is in the rehab room, struggling to regain the ability to walk between a set of parallel bars. By scripted coincidence, Miss Ellie and Jock arrive at the hospital and watch from the doorway...but when JR slips and snaps at the orderly, Miss Ellie covers her eyes and whimpers in distress before she and Jock scuttle down the hall.
​
Bobby drops by the Cattleman's Bank for a person-to-person confrontation with Franklin Horner, who admits that, yep, he's definitely been avoiding talking to him 'cause he's used to dealing directly with JR. He suggests tabling the loan request until Ewing Oil can sort out who's in charge - but Bobby snaps, "I'm in charge!" and warns him that if he continues along this sassy path, he'll pull every cent of Ewing money out of his bank. Franklin sheepishly promises to speak to the loan committee and get back to him asap.

While out for a drink, Cliff tells Pam he's considering leaving Dallas once the 'who shot JR?' conundrum is fully resolved. He then confides that on the night JR was shot, he was on his way to the Ewing Oil building, armed with his gun in order to kill JR (!) - but when he got there, he saw that someone else had beat him to it. He laments that JR is his "personal burden" 'cause he always seems to suffer whenever something bad happens to the man...and Pam clucks sympathetically while somehow ignoring the fact that Cliff just confessed to nearly committing a cold-blooded murder, and gives him a comforting hug. 

​Mitch runs into Lucy on campus and apologizes for the dickish way he treated her during the previous episode and explains that he'd been really stressed out about the test he had been studying for. Lucy thanks him for the apology and accepts his invitation to go get something to drink...and in the next scene, the two are sitting together in an outdoor cafe. Mitch tells her that he and his sister Afton were raised by a cash-strapped single mother, an upbringing that steeled his determination to become a doctor and make something of his life. To that end, he saved up for two years so he could afford to attend medical school, and continues to live on an extremely tight budget. Lucy gazes at him in wonderment and says it all sounds amaaaazing, and that she envies the way he seems to know who he is and what he wants - unlike the spoiled, aimless twit the Ewings raised her to be.

Sue Ellen runs into Kristin as she departs the hospital to take Baby John for a checkup. She thanks her sultry sister for dropping in on JR and hopes that her visit can help JR get his mind off his troubles. 

JR is on the phone with Franklin Horner, ordering him to continue brushing off Bobby and dealing exclusively with him...and it remains unclear why JR doesn't order him to either green-light or cancel the loan request that he himself initiated so that Bobby doesn't have to continue calling the Cattleman's Bank to inquire. A few seconds later, Kristin enters the room and taunts JR about no longer being able to perform like a fully intact man (ouch), then callously shoves the wheelchair in his direction. JR stares back at her with a stricken expression as she smirks back at him and smugly sashays out of the room.

Sue Ellen is cuddling Baby John in the nursery, telling the tot that she may have done something very bad...then promises him that everything will somehow turn out fine, and that she'll make it up to him and his daddy so that one day soon they can all be one big happy, dysfunctional family.

Over at Ewing Oil, Bobby is miffed when he learns that some flunky named Jess who was supposed to move oil pumping equipment to Ewing 11 neglected to do so. Jess tells Bobby that JR ordered him to ignore the edict, then complains that he hates being caught in the middle of this nonsensical power struggle. An irked Bobby insists that he's running the company and that what he says goes, then abruptly storms out of the office to give JR the what for - completely forgetting about his lunch date with Pam.

Pam is out shopping when she runs into her old boss, Liz Craig. She tells Liz she hopes she doesn't still hate her after what went down at The Store last season, and Liz assures her that she's over it and invites her to lunch.

Bobby finds JR moping in the hospital's rehab/pool room and tells him that he (JR) needs to accept the fact that he (Bobby) is now the president of Ewing Oil. JR pretends to mull that over, then is like, "Nope, I never agreed to that", but adds that he grudgingly admires the way he seized this opportunity. Bobby clarifies that he was asked by Jock to step in, then implores him to stop interfering in Ewing Oil business...and when JR says he's concerned about all the mistakes he's going to make, Bobby says he's A-OK with his inability to effectively run a multi-million dollar oil company. JR somehow manages to keep a straight face as he tells his brother he'd never do anything to undermine him, and Bobby rolls his eyes and hurriedly heads toward the nearest exit.

Over lunch, Liz tells Pam she's back in Dallas running The Store, then apologizes for snarling at her when she was forcibly transferred to Houston last season. Liz adds that since she's hitting the sheets with Harrison Page (!), she's aware that JR ordered him to promote her (Pam) in an effort to fuck with her marriage in exchange for a percentage of the profits on what's turned out to be worthless Asian oil leases...and apparently Harrison is extremely pissed off at JR for duping him. Pam complains about how busy Bobby is at Ewing Oil these days, and that she mostly spends her days shopping and running errands, aka the mindless existence she had when she and Bobby were first married. Liz offers her her old job at The Store, but Pam declines in the hopes that she and Bobby will soon leave Dallas as they had attempted to do during the Season 3 finale.

Lucy and Mitch go out to a movie...and when it lets out, Mitch says he has to cut their date short 'cause he's working the late night valet shift at the hotel. He then suggests that for their second date, they go to dinner so that they can have more time to talk.

JR tells Sue Ellen he's being released from the hospital sooner than expected, and that he called his parents to pack him a bag so he'll have some fresh clothes to change into. Sue Ellen looks put out by that and says that she wanted to be the one to bring him his things, but he just shrugs and asks what the hell it matters who brings him his clothes.

Jock and Miss Ellie are in JR's and Sue Ellen's bedroom, packing a suitcase of JR's things. As Jock looks through the closet, he stumbles across a pistol, holds it up to his snout, and mutters, "Oh my God.." He shows it to Miss Ellie and says it smells like it's been recently fired, and she's all, "Wha-a-a-a?!" and promptly calls the police. Detective Don Horton rushes over and carefully bags the pistol...and Jock orders him to come to him first when/if he learns anything incriminating that might link the pistol to JR's shooting. He then tells Miss Ellie that as far as he's concerned, it had to have been Sue Ellen who hid the gun in JR's closet...and when Miss Ellie chides him for jumping to that conclusion, he tells her they're going to have to put a pin in this conversation 'cause they need to head over to the hospital to collect JR. 

Pam drops in on Bobby at Ewing Oil and insists that he take a lunch break with her. He agrees - until some random guy bursts into the offices to tell Bobby he desperately needs him to sign some papers right now, and that it can't possibly wait an hour. Pam stares despondently into space as she gives up on the idea of ever lunching with her busy husband.  

The Ewing clan arrives at the hospital to pick up JR...and his parents wheel him over to a waiting limo, stuff him inside, then climb in after him before the driver speeds off. 

Lucy arrives at Ray's house to report that JR is on his way home from the hospital. Ray invites her to hang around for a quick drink so he can ask her if she's still doinking the married professor...and she happily reports that she's no longer tapping that and has already found someone new to fixate on. She beams as she describes Mitch as an aspiring doctor who's working his way through med school, and Ray looks impressed and says he'd like to meet him sometime. Lucy says she'd looooove to bring him to Southfork one day soon and that she doesn't intend to let this keeper slip away.

When the limo arrives at Southfork, JR glances around the ranch and murmurs, "It's good to be home."  

JR and his wheelchair are transported up to the second floor of the house...and when Miss Ellie offers to help him get into bed, JR declines and says that Sue Ellen can do that. Miss Ellie stares over at Sue Ellen with a look of alarm, but exits the room without saying anything.   

Lucy meets up with Mitch on campus and asks him out for dinner tonight, but he declines and says he got a last minute gig working in a lab. Lucy points out that he has to eat sometime, but he tells her he'll just grab a burger on his way to the lab...then reminds her that he had warned her about his super busy schedule. Lucy growls, "Boy, did you ever!" and storms off in a nonsensical huff.   

Sue Ellen and JR join Jock and Miss Ellie in the study for pre-dinner drinks when Detective Horton drops by with an update on JR's pistol. He confirms that it was, in fact, the gun used in the shooting...and the camera slowly pans across the faces of JR, Sue Ellen, Miss Ellie, and Jock to register their expressions of shocked bewilderment. Detective Horton then drops another bombshell: Sue Ellen's fingerprints were found are all over the pistol. Sue Ellen tears up and cries, "Oh my God!" while a perplexed JR stares contemplatively into space. 

Recap: JR glances around his hospital room in response to the police detective's question, "Do you know who shot you?", then finally replies that it was too dark and that he doesn't remember anything after stepping into the darkened hallway. A nurse enters the room and orders everyone to leave so that JR can get some rest...and Sue Ellen hangs back and hovers over JR as she tearfully moans, "I'm sooooo very sorry."

Lucy returns to Southfork from her airport run with Gary, and he's warmly greeted by the family before everyone seats themselves at the patio table for breakfast. After a few minutes of pleasant chitchat, Gary decides he'd like to meet his baby nephew and heads up to the nursery. Ellie reminds Jock about his promise to keep Bobby at Southfork, so Jock turns his attention to Bobby and tells him he'd like to install him as interim overlord at Ewing Oil. Bobby makes an ew face at the prospect and says he's not remotely interested in being in charge of the family business, then asks if the company can't just run itself for the time being. LOL. Ellie pleads with him to stay in town and take the reins of the company...and Bobby unhappily mulls that over for a few seconds before agreeing to temporarily fill in.

Gary dotes over Baby John, then turns his attention to Sue Ellen and invokes the car accident that led to the tot's premature birth. When Sue Ellen gets defensive about her binge drinking, Gary says that as a fellow alcoholic he totally gets her reluctance to open up about it...and she manages to keep a straight face when she retorts that sure she likes to take a drink every now and again to steady her nerves, but doesn't consider herself to be an alcoholic. Gary nods sympathetically at her deluded pronouncement and says that he too thought he had his alcoholism beat - but as soon as he took one drink, things immediately spiralled out of control. Sue Ellen snaps at him to stop preaching at her, insists again that she's not an alcoholic, and stomps out of the nursery.

At the entry point of the Southfork gates, Gary asks Bobby to pull the car over so they can gaze at the estate and contemplate the toxic Ewing dysfunction from afar. Bobby informs him that he and Pam were on their way to start a new life in California when they got the news about JR's shooting, then agree that the collective douchewaddery of Jock and JR are what make living at Southfork so unbearable. Gary jokes that if JR hadn't been shot, they might be surfing together right now...and the two lament how, hospitalized or not, JR always seems to control their destinies.

Sue Ellen is sitting by JR's bedside, urging him to get better so that he can come home soon. JR says that that may not be very realistic, then reveals that he can't feel his legs and worries it's 'cause he's paralyzed...and Sue Ellen stares back at him in horror while twitching nervously.

Dr. Pearson tells the Ewings that JR's paralysis is caused by the bullet that's still lodged in his spine, but that a second surgery could be risky 'cause it could lead to permanent paralysis...or kill him altogether. Miss Ellie ignores that last thing and insists that she wants the world's best neurosurgeon to operate on her son - but Sue Ellen snaps that she doesn't want her husband to undergo the risk of surgery, period. After she storms off, the Ewings continue to discuss JR's options, and Dr. Pearson says that if JR gives him the go-ahead for the surgery, it'll need to get done in the next day or so. 

Pam turns on the local news and hears a report on Vaughn Leland, who's been cleared as a suspect in JR's shooting 'cause apparently he was his lawyer's office at the time, filing for bankruptcy.

Sue Ellen schedules an emergency appointment with Dr. Ellby to wail at him about how afraid she is that she may have been the one who shot JR. Dr. Ellby scrunches his face confusedly and asks her how in blazes she wouldn't know that for sure, so she explains that 1) she had a gun in her purse, 2) had every intention of ending her husband's life when she stormed out of the house, and 3) got wasted on her way to kill JR and now has no memory of what happened prior to waking up the morning after in the airport parking lot. She then rolls her eyes and recounts - with a mystifying lack of self-awareness - how her recovering alcoholic brother-in-law had the temerity to also refer to her as an alcoholic, and Dr. Ellby's like, "Well duh" and points out the obvious: she just confessed to drinking so much booze that she completely blacked out and isn't sure whether or not she shot her own husband. Sue Ellen says she's perplexed at the tenderness she now feels for JR, who she just wants to protect while he's laying helpless in his hospital bed. She tearfully adds that she's against him having a second surgery 'cause she's afraid it might result in her losing him for good.

During a stroll, Gary tells Miss Ellie that he was incentivized to stop drinking when Valene threatened to leave him...and would possibly consider moving back to Dallas if Jock and JR didn't always act like such hostile dickwads towards him and his wife. Miss Ellie says she'd loooooove it if he and Valene settled in Dallas, and Gary stares wistfully into space and non-promises, "Maybe someday."

Bobby is on the phone at Ewing Oil, talking to some yokel named Billy John about oil leases. After the call, he whines to his secretary Connie by rhetorically asking what he was thinking agreeing to being in charge, and complains that any of his business decisions can be overturned by Jock at any given time. Connie just shrugs and weakly reminds him that he's a Ewing...and a few seconds later, a process server bursts into the foyer to hand Bobby a subpoena. Upon reading it, he learns that Ewing Oil is being sued by Marilee Stone for the wrongful death of her husband Seth after he reacted to getting swindled by JR by killing himself. Bobby gets Marilee on the phone and implores her to drop the lawsuit, and she snappishly retorts that she has nothing to say to him and that her lawyer will be in touch with his lawyer.

Gary and Bobby are visiting with JR, and the three happily reminisce about their childhood at Southfork. JR asks Gary if Miss Ellie has tried to talk him into staying in Dallas permanently...and Gary says she has, but that it's a non-starter now that he has a spin-off show he needs to get off the ground.

Lucy and her gal pals are hanging by the Southfork pool, making plans to go out on the town this evening and troll for men.

JR is conducting Ewing Oil business from his hospital bed...and when he ends the call, Sue Ellen fusses over him and urges him to relax more. JR shoots her a suspicious glare and remarks on all the time she's been spending with him since his shooting, and she says she's merely ensuring that he's being properly cared for...then warns him about the dangers of undergoing a second surgery. A skeptical JR asks her if she's running her scam of pretending to be a loving wife so that she can blindside him by abruptly filing for divorce and taking away their son - but she gets teary and says she feels protective of him after the shooting and that she genuinely wants to be close to him. As JR stares back at her in puzzlement, she leans in and gives him a tender smooch.

Bobby whines to Pam about how frustrated he is that his business decisions keep getting overruled by Jock and JR. He says he's going to demand that the two stay out of his handling of the Stone lawsuit...and that if Jock agrees to give him carte blanche at Ewing Oil, he'll finally know whether or not his daddy truly trusts him.

Kristin runs into Alan Beam in the hospital parking lot and tells him she heard that the cops were looking for him. Alan says they tracked him down in a Chicago hotel room...and that he's happy to report he's no longer a suspect in JR's shooting 'cause he was in Missouri when the actual shooting occurred. He asks Kristin if she knows who the shooter could be, and she just shrugs faux cluelessly and says with a straight face that she has absolutely no idea...then foolishly reminds him that she too had a motive to shoot JR 'cause of how horribly he treated her. 

Bobby drops by Marilee Stone's house unannounced to urge her to settle the wrongful death matter out of court. Marilee rails about JR being "a vulture", says it's no wonder that Sue Ellen became a drunk, then moans about how much she misses Seth. Bobby says he's sympathetic, but that winning a lawsuit against Ewing Oil is a long shot...and that the only thing she'll accomplish is making her lawyers rich. He offers her a payment of 500K and the satisfaction of knowing that she beat the Ewings, and she flirtily straightens his collar and calls him "very persuasive". She invites him to stay for a drink, but he declines and mumbles, "Rain check."

A bored, drunken Lucy is out clubbing with her friends...and eventually she grows tired of the clubbing and announces that she's leaving. She staggers out the door, gigglingly gives the cute blonde valet her ticket...and he wisely pays a cab driver to transport the nitwit home in lieu of allowing her to put herself in danger and/or needlessly kill whoever else happens to be out on the road in a senseless drinking and driving accident.

Two policemen drop by Cliff's apartment with a search warrant, and Cliff saves them the time and energy from ripping the place apart by directing them right to the drawer where he stores his .38 calibre gun. The cops carefully place it in a baggie and ask Cliff to accompany them to headquarters for questioning in the attempted murder of JR Ewing, and he's like 'sure, why the hell not?' and amiably heads out with them. 

A world renowned neurosurgeon tells the Ewings that JR needs to have an operation in order to remove the bullet that's lodged in his spine - but can't guarantee that he'll ever walk again. Miss Ellie and Jock tell him they're A-OK with that...while a despondent Sue Ellen heads into JR's hospital room to hover over him before giving him a pre-surgery good luck kiss. He gamely assures her, "No one ever beats JR."
​
Cliff calls Pam to inform her that he's been stuck at the police station all night while a ballistics check was being performed on his revolver to see if the bullets match the ones that someone pumped into JR. Pam's all, "Ack!" and tells him she'll be right over.

The cute blonde valet (aka Mitch Cooper) is studying in his dorm room when Lucy drops by and saucily asks him if he remembers her. He says he vaguely recalls that she was the drunkard from the bar last night, and she tells him she came by to repay the cab fare and get the skinny on who he is and what he does. He tells her he's a med student who has very little time to socialize...and when she flirtily suggests that they get together sometime, he says he hopes she's not asking him out 'cause he's a misogynist tool who prefers men to do the asking. Lucy shoots him an irritated stink-eye before storming out...and this is definitely not the last we'll see of chauvinist Mitch.

​Cliff is playing cards with a lieutenant when Pam arrives at police headquarters. A few seconds later, the ballistics report comes back and Cliff is told that the bullets from his gun don't match the ones that were uncovered in JR's shooting. The lieutenant tells Cliff that while he's free to go, he's still considered a suspect.

During JR's surgery, Dr. Pearson remarks that the nerve near where the bullet is lodged wasn't severed, which is good news for JR possibly being able to walk again.

Bobby is in the hospital's waiting room when he gets a business call from some two-name yokel. Bobby irritably informs the caller that he doesn't have the authority to decide anything without first clearing it with Jock, then hangs up and stomps back to the waiting room looking visibly frustrated. When Jock asks him whassup with the bitchy demeanor, Bobby whines about having to run to him to get an OK for everything that happens at Ewing Oil, and that he's sick and tired of always being second guessed. He then lays out an ultimatum: he'll agree to remain at the helm of Ewing Oil as long as he's granted full control of all company decisions, in writing. Jock says he'd be more than happy to accommodate that...and an eavesdropping Sue Ellen looks less than thrilled to learn of this latest development.

After the surgery, Dr. Pearson tells the Ewings that JR handled the operation well - but that it's too soon to know if he'll regain the ability to walk.

That evening, Sue Ellen sits by JR's bedside and stares at him concernedly...and for some reason this where the writers decided to abruptly end the episode.

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