Dallas - Season 3, Episode 4

"From now on I think it'd be best if I limited my TV appearances to Knot's Landing episodes."

"Secrets"
Original airdate: 10/12/1979

Episode summary: Valene returns to Dallas to make amends with Lucy. Pam learns she's pregnant.

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Recap: Bobby is doing laps in the Southfork pool when Pam comes over to say good morning and explain that she left their bed in the wee hours of the morning 'cause she felt the need to canoodle with Baby John Ross in the nursery. Bobby's like, "I know" and snidely points out that the tot has a mother and a baby nurse, then gets miffed about her unexplained reversal on wanting them to have a baby of their own. Before she can reply with another non-answer, Jock and Miss Ellie emerge from the house to have breakfast on the patio. Pam wanders over and spacily says hi to her in-laws before going inside to get dressed for work.

As Pam drives through the Southfork gates to exit the property, we see that Valene is parked on the side of the road, monitoring the Ewings' comings and goings. When she spots Lucy exiting the gates in her fancy convertible, she puts her car into gear and trails behind her.

Pam calls Dr. Hollister to see if he can squeeze her in for a physical...and, as luck would have it, he happens to have an opening that morning.

Bobby grumbles to Miss Ellie about marrying into the shitty Barnes family and how confusing Pam's behavior has been lately. He asks his mother how in blazes she's managed to stay married to her gruff misogynist of a husband for so many years, and Miss Ellie smiles her idiotic serene smile and says that, like most Ewing men, Jock can be a major pill to live with, so she picks her battles carefully. Bobby suddenly looks sheepish at the realization that he too can be a difficult Ewing man and has probably been unfair to Pam about the whole baby matter...and Miss Ellie urges him to apologize before things start spiraling out of control. Bobby shoots her an affectionate smile and says the only two people in the family he ever felt comfortable talking to was her and Gary...as in Gary, the estranged brother who JR has been allowed to bully, alienate, and be forced to give up custody of his only child.

Lucy arrives at the university campus...and Val parks behind her, climbs out of her car, and cries, "Luuuuucy!" When Lucy turns around, Val smiles brightly and says, "Hello baby!" Lucy glares back at her and snidely asks her how much bribe money she took from JR during her previous Dallas appearance, then storms off in her much-too-high wedge sandals.

Dr. Hollister tells Pam she has no symptoms of neurofibromatosis, and that even if she does start to develop some, at her age it's unlikely to be fatal. She asks, "What if I have children?" and he tells her that since she carries a strain of an inherited genetic disease, there's no guarantee that her babies won't die in infancy...but also no guarantee that they won't. He's really not the cheery, optimistic sort, this doctor.  

Jock and JR are in a meeting with Alan Beam and Ewing Oil's original white man lawyer, Harv Smithfield. Jock rails about how the OLM keeps interfering in the approval process for Ewing Oil's prospective drill sites, and a weary looking Harv tells him they can't do much to stop Cliff Barnes 'cause the courts all agree he's not overstepping his OLM boundaries. Alan reminds everyone that Cliff ran for public office before taking a job at the OLM, but Jock says he doesn't find this talk helpful 'cause he's pretty sure it's common knowledge that no one in Texas would ever vote for a dickwad like Cliff.

When Lucy returns to her car, Val approaches her with her sad face on. She denies taking any of JR's bribe money, but Lucy just shrugs and says it really doesn't matter, considering she's been abandoned at Southfork since babyhood. Val says she figured it wouldn't be so bad for her to continue to live there 'cause she was raised there, but Lucy tells her she's never felt truly loved by the Ewings, and therefore doesn't feel as though she belongs anywhere. Val moves in for a hug, but Lucy slaps her away and tells her to get lost.

"I didn't so much abandon you as I did pursue a lead role in a successful spin-off."

"Fair point."

Sue Ellen looms over Baby John Ross as he yowls in his crib. When the baby nurse ambles over and asks Sue Ellen if she'd like to change his diaper, she haughtily snaps, "That's what I'm paying you for."

Val calls Bobby at Ewing Oil to inform him that she's skulked into Dallas on the down-low and could use his help on something Lucy-related. She gives him a time/place and he promises to meet up with her tomorrow. 

When Pam returns home, Miss Ellie tells her she got a message from a Mr. Hollister. Pam rushes upstairs to return the doctor's call, and is stunned when he tells her that her blood tests revealed that she's pregnant.

"Looks like you have a bun in your oven."

"I have a what now?"

That evening, Bobby tells Pam that Val's in town and invites her to come along with him to their secret meeting, but Pam declines and says she'll be tied up all day. He apologizes for being a rude turd to her earlier and says he'll do his best to refrain from pressuring her about having a baby. Pam scrunches her face mournfully and says she'd love nothing more than for the two of them to produce another Ewing spawn...and when she doesn't elaborate further, Bobby says that whatever she's not telling him is all going to come out in the end anyway, and she retorts by squeaking, "I know." 

JR chides Sue Ellen for continuing to lounge around in a bathrobe and do fuck all, and she snaps back that she doesn't give a damn what he thinks of her laziness. He asks her why she continues to live at Southfork and stay married to him if she's so miserable, and she cackles evilly and says she gets enormous delight out of his uncertainty about Baby John Ross's paternity, especially when unwitting family members remark on how much the baby resembles his father. JR retorts by slamming his glass of booze in front of her and urges her to feel free to start drinking again, 'cause he found her to be far less bitchy whenever she was stumbling around the house, blitzed out of her mind. Could someone please tell these two to get divorced immediately??

Over at Ewing Oil, Alan Beam tells JR that, according to OLM bylaws, the head of the agency must resign his position once he officially embarks on a campaign to run for public office. JR looks intrigued by this angle and orders Alan to scout around for some fake political donors who can get the ball rolling. Alan warns him about the possibility of Cliff getting elected, but JR says that once Cliff has resigned from the OLM, he'll ensure that the campaign donations suddenly dry up. As he chuckles devilishly, Alan winces and remarks, "I'd sure hate to be on your bad side" and JR's like, "Damn straight" and warns him to never forget what a vengeful assbag he can be to his perceived enemies. 
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Dr. Hollister confirms to Pam that, yep, she is indeed pregnant...but that he still has no way of knowing if her baby can survive whatever strain of neurofibromatosis he/she will be born with. Pam says she's so distressed about the strong possibility of her baby dying in infancy and would prefer to not burden Bobby with this kind of pain and uncertainty, so Dr. Hollister urges her to find someone (other than him) she can bellyache and moan about this to.

Pam meets up with Cliff downtown and tells him she's pregnant, and he's like,"OMG!" and advises her to tell Bobby about her dilemma. She says she can't possibly share this news with Bobby, 'cause then the cat will be out of the bag about Baby John Ross possibly having a genetic disease that could kill him at any moment...even though it's probably something JR and Sue Ellen have every right to be informed about, asap. 

"Turns out I'm unexpectedly pregnant."

"Yeech. Sucks to be you."

Bobby meets up with Val in a public place, and she tells him she saw Lucy earlier, but that the spiteful little troll made it clear she doesn't want anything to do with her. She adds that she's also been in touch with Gary, who put a temporary halt to his boozing and has gotten himself a job somewhere on the west coast. She thinks there's a strong possibility that she and Gary could hook up again and would like to share this good news with Lucy - but Bobby advises against getting Lucy's hopes up...'cause, considering the rollercoaster nature of hers/Gary's shitty relationship, it's more than likely they'll break up again. Val says she doesn't want to do anything to hurt Lucy, but would really like it if they could at least be friends. Bobby promises to help with that effort and agrees to meet her at her motel...and she asks him to keep all this on the down-low 'cause she'd rather that JR didn't get wind of her superfluous guest appearance on Dallas. 

Bobby drives Val over to the university's practice field, where Lucy is rehearsing a cheerleading routine with her teammates. Bobby wanders over and tells Lucy that Val is in his car and would love to chat with her, but Lucy makes a meh face and says she's not interested. The camera then pans up to the spectators in the bleachers, and we see that JR dropped by to observe Lucy's cheerleading practice - 'cause, yeah, that really seems in character for him - and is staring over at Val and Bobby through a pair of binoculars.

Pam joins Miss Ellie in the sitting room for a brief heart-to-heart. She asks the old gal what she thinks her life would have been like if she'd never had children, and Miss Ellie says it certainly would have been different, though not worse, to live without "the byproducts of our love for each other". She says that she and Jock loved each other, regardless of the existence of their children [or his gruffly misogynist disposition], and would have had a great childless life together. Pam says she's not so sure she could say that same about her and Bobby, then says she knows how important children are to him and has grave doubts that a childless marriage could survive.  

"Jock would have been a misogynist douchebag of a spouse with or without children."

"That's what I figured."

Jock gruffly tells JR he doesn't like the idea of Cliff Barnes getting elected to Congress and would prefer to tackle the issue by sending Bobby to Austin so he can "help maneuver things", whatever the hell that means. Bobby says he's not thrilled about the idea, but will do it...though not tomorrow 'cause he'll be too busy bridging the divide between Lucy and Val.

Bobby implores Lucy to meet with Val and hear her out...and after a tiny bit of hemming and hawing, she agrees to go with him to Val's motel.

Val is all, "Ack!" when JR shows up at her motel and says as soon as he found out she was in town, he sent a team of his flunkies to check out every cheap motel in Dallas to find out where she was staying. He accuses her and his drunk of a brother of wanting a piece of the Ewing pie, and orders her to leave town by nightfall - but Val gets all in his face and refuses, threatens to call the police, and insists on staying in Dallas so she can make amends with her daughter. As she wails, "'Cause I have nuthin' to lose!", Bobby and Lucy suddenly appear in the doorway of her room - and Lucy shoots JR the stink-eye, then gushes at her mom for finally having the stones to stand up to the ogre. As Bobby forcibly steers a red-faced JR out of the motel room, Val admits to Lucy that despite abandoning her at Southfork her entire life, she's always loved her and would like it if they could be on speaking terms again. Lucy agrees, coos, "I love you, Mama", and the two hug.

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