Recap: JR drops by the clinic-mansion to get an update on Sue Ellen's detoxification. Dr. Rogers ushers him into his office and informs him that Sue Ellen still has the shakes from her recent booze withdrawal and that - no surprise - she's in a highly perturbed state about being forcibly confined to a rehab clinic-mansion. He says he can't release her anytime soon 'cause it's more than likely that she'll start drinking again, and JR concurs - but says he'd like to see her so he can report on her condition to his nosy family. Sue Ellen is sipping a glass of water in her room when JR suddenly appears in the doorway. He asks her how she's feeling, and she snarls at him for leaving her at the clinic-mansion to be treated like a caged animal, then hurls her drinking glass at him. JR hastily shuts the door to avoid being struck...and as the drinking glass shatters, Dr. Rogers locks the door and assures JR that his nutty wife is being well taken care of. Sue Ellen, meanwhile, clutches her pearls (like, literally clutches her pearl necklace) and stares tearfully into space. Lucy and Miss Ellie return home after shopping for Lucy's prom dress...and Lucy excitedly tells Jock that her date for the evening is a socially acceptable young [hetero] man named Lawrence Templeton. Miss Ellie ambles over to Bobby and moans about how much she hates the idea of Sue Ellen being kept away from the family, but Bobby insists that right now the clinic-mansion is the best possible place for her. Miss Ellie wonders aloud what could possibly have caused the woman to become such a hopeless boozer. Gee, I dunno...could have everything to do with the callous, philandering douchebag she married so she could live a life of pampered leisure on a ranch, aka the most lucrative gold digging opportunity that was available in Texas circa 1975. Cliff drops by the department store where Pam works and asks her why she's been avoiding him for the last few weeks, so she tells him she's tired of having to take sides in the tedious Barnes-Ewing feud the writers can't seem to fully let go of. She informs him that Sue Ellen has been forcibly confined to a clinic-mansion rehab 'cause of her out-of-control drinking, then accuses him of doinking her purely to get back at JR. Cliff admits that it, yep, their icky affair definitely started out that way - but that he ended things 'cause he didn't want Sue Ellen to lose her social standing as Mrs. JR Ewing. Pam argues that the real reason he broke things off was 'cause he was so worried about what the scandal would do to his budding political career, then snarks at him to stay away from Sue Ellen if he isn't prepared to offer her marriage, kids, a white picket fence, etc. JR returns home and reports to Jock that Sue Ellen is "out of sorts", but that she appears to be improving from some much needed therapy...and Jock stares into space, looking like he half believes that obvious bullcack. Miss Ellie drops by the clinic-mansion to visit Sue Ellen...and is spared having anything thrown at her dumb, placid face. Sue Ellen puts on the brightest, happiest faux smile she can muster and gushes about how awesome it is being in rehab - kind of like the vacation that JR never took her on after their honeymoon 'cause he's such a neglectful assbag of a husband. She pretends that the reason she's being confined is 'cause she was so exhausted from all the charity meetings she was attending - but Miss Ellie's like, "Cut the shit" and asks her if her marital problems caused her to start hitting the bottle so hard. Sue Ellen insists that she and JR are just fine, and that they're both looking forward to parenting Cliff's love child while passing him off as the Ewings' first grandson. Miss Ellie chides her for always worrying so much about pleasing her and Jock, then decides it's time she headed back to Southfork so she can lounge around and do her usual nothing alongside her grizzled husband. Sue Ellen gets annoyed when her door is promptly locked by the orderly, then buzzes the nurse and bitchily demands her medicine. The nurse tells her it's not medicine time yet, then fondles the pearls around Sue Ellen's neck and tells her, "There are other ways to keep calm...everything's available if you have the money to pay for it." Sue Ellen snaps at her to get out - but the unfazed nurse urges her to think about what she said. Last day of school! Lucy excitedly tells a friend that she somehow passed all of her classes and is eligible for graduation. After that, she runs into Anne and her drug dealer friend...and when they invite her to hang out and pop some pills, Lucy declines and smugly says she's sooo done with the pill addiction storyline. The drug dealer scoffs, "I've heard that one before", then dickishly says the next time she needs her fix, the cost will be double. Lucy chirps, "There won't be a next time", then climbs into her car and squeals off. Sue Ellen is having a one-on-one therapy session with Dr. Rogers, telling him nonsense like what a successful marriage she and JR have...and denies ever being angry with JR whenever he stays away for long stretches on his "business trips". Dr. Rogers points out that she threw her drinking glass at him the other day and that she really should dig deep in order to uncover why she's been drinking so excessively. Sue Ellen angrily insists that her drinking has been blown out of proportion...then stops herself and says it's not very ladylike to express emotion in front of a stranger. Dr. Rogers refrains from pointing out that her image as a ladylike Texas socialite is a ship that has long sailed, and just tells her that they'll pick up this thread during their next session. That evening, Jock initiates a fruitless father-son chat with JR. He asks his son whassup with the rift between him and Sue Ellen, and JR breezily assures him it's nothing he can't handle. Jock scrunches his face and says he's not so sure 'bout that, and remarks that Sue Ellen seemed marginally happy (if you don't count her affair with Cliff, and the time she tried to kaput her marriage by fleeing to her mother's) shortly before getting knocked up. JR tries to shift the conversation to the OLM, but Jock snaps, "To hell with the OLM!" and demands to know how JR plans to repair his marriage. JR says he put her into rehab, then whines, "What more do you waaaant?!" Jock credits him for being a good businessman, but orders him to put more effort into being a good husband and father once the baby arrives. JR unconvincingly retorts, "I surely will" - LOL - then beats a hasty retreat from the study, leaving Jock staring contemplatively into space. JR arrives at the clinic-mansion for a second visit with Sue Ellen. She looks fake jovial and tells him she's totes fine now and eager to come home [so she can hit the booze stash in the Ewing study]. JR says he'll only allow it if Dr. Rogers gives him the green light, then points out that the only reason she's sober is 'cause she hasn't had access to alcohol. He pulls out a newspaper and shows her a photograph with Cliff and his date at a recent gala opening, snidely urging her to remember who she's married to and what's at stake. Sue Ellen accuses him of doctoring the photo, then screams at him to get out. After he leaves, she summons the nurse and removes her pearl necklace. Sue Ellen is lounging on her bed after a drinking binge (courtesy of the corruptible nurse) when she's informed that Bobby Ewing has arrived for an impromptu visit. Bobby hands Sue Ellen a lovely bouquet of flowers, and she smiles at him and waxes on about how marvelous the clinic-mansion is. Bobby gives her a brief update on the family, and Sue Ellen says she's bummed she won't be able to attend Lucy's graduation. Bobby says she just needs to give the doctor time to help her get her head screwed on right...and this triggers a freak-out, during which she starts beating him with the bouquet. A couple of men in white coats quickly rush over, subdue her by grabbing her arms, and announce that they're forcibly taking her back to her room. Bobby snappishly orders them to take their hands off of her, and insists on being the one to escort her inside. Sue Ellen apologizes to Bobby for losing control, then complains that the clinic-mansion is little more than a prison. Bobby urges her to give it a chance...and she sarcastically retorts, "All I have in my life is taame." She moans about how hard it is to fill the days at Southfork now that she's a lazy married lady of leisure, then complains that JR always comes home "smelling of his sluts". Bobby blushes and tells her she's embarrassing him and implores her to have this conversation with JR. Sue Ellen stares into his eyes and laments not meeting him first, tells him he's kind and loving...then leans in close and gets all touchy-feely with his face. She natters about how much she loves JR - but that he doesn't love her back...and when he forbade her from adopting a baby in the Black Market Baby episode, she went out and got herself knocked up in order to hurt JR, who incidentally shows zero interest in ever wanting to doink her. She tears up and says the only people she hurt were herself, the hapless fetal alcohol poisoned child she's carrying, and the somewhat clueless baby daddy. Bobby contorts his face into an aghast expression, then grabs her by the arms and demands to know who the baby daddy is, and she admits that it's prolly Cliff Barnes. Bobby gasps, then stares at her in horror...and Sue Ellen hangs her head in shame and whimpers, "No one can help me now." An enraged Bobby heads straight over to Cliff's apartment, punches him in the face, and says he knows all about his icky affair with Sue Ellen. He snarlingly accuses him of taking advantage of a vulnerable women who also, not coincidentally, could leak intel about JR and Ewing Oil. Cliff insists that at some point during the affair he fell in love with Sue Ellen, but Bobby just shoots him a disbelieving stink-eye. He warns him to keep his trap shut about possibly being Sue Ellen's baby daddy 'cause he doesn't want JR, Jock, or Miss Ellie to find out. Cliff sheepishly agrees, but then informs him that JR has been long clued in about the blechy affair. Back at the clinic-mansion, the corruptible nurse supplies Sue Ellen with more booze, then bitches at her for being such a messy inmate. Sue Ellen implores her to leave her door unlocked so she can flee at the first available opportunity, but the nurse refuses. As she starts making the bed, Sue Ellen hits her on the head with a water pitcher, then grabs her purse and booze and flees. She finds a car parked near the entrance that has keys in the ignition (it always amazes me that people wander away from their cars with the keys in the ignition) and drives off. As she chugs from her booze bottle, she swerves to avoid hitting a car, but then crashes into a telephone pole. At the hospital, Dr. Krane examines an injured Sue Ellen and announces that the baby is miraculously OK after the car crash - but that it needs to be delivered by Caesarean asap. She exits the exam room to tell JR and Bobby that Sue Ellen has some internal bleeding and if they don't deliver the baby now, they could both be lost. She also mentions that Sue Ellen had been drinking at the time of the accident...and JR and Bobby relay all of the shocking news to the rest of the family that's camped out in the waiting room. As Sue Ellen is being prepped in the operating room, the surgeon remarks that Sue Ellen's drinking has "doubled our trouble", and that they only have a window of two minutes to deliver her preemie. Bobby asks Pam if she knew that Cliff was doinking Sue Ellen, and she admits she did...but then shows no signs of knowing that he might be the baby daddy. Bobby tells her he paid a visit to Cliff and punched him 'cause he was so miffed at him for taking advantage of Sue Ellen. Cliff turns on the TV and sees news coverage about Sue Ellen's car accident and subsequent hospitalization. Must have been a slow news day in Dallas. He looks alarmed and rushes out. A nurse informs JR he now has a son, and that he's currently on display through the glass window in the neonatal unit. Dr. Krane tells him that Sue Ellen is stable, but that the baby will be touch-and-go for a few days. Pam spots Cliff in the hall, discreetly extricates herself from the Ewings, and demands to know what he's doing here. He replies, "I want to see my son!" and Pam stares at him in shocked horror before accompanying him to the neonatal unit. Cliff stares tearfully at the incubated baby and decrees that the tot, assuming he survives his fetal alcohol poisoning, is going to be raised a Barnes. (Nope.) A somber JR and Bobby are sitting by Sue Ellen's bedside. JR wonders aloud why their marriage degenerated into such a hate-filled cesspool, then reminisces about how much he loved her for the first five minutes after they got married. He stares at her and tearfully remarks on how beautiful she is, and that she's got to live, damn it! Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
1 Comment
Robin
3/11/2019 01:14:17 pm
Hi, Isabel!
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