Dallas - Season 4, Episode 13

Sue Ellen schools Pam on the art of simultaneously disengaging from and clinging to a dysfunctional Ewing marriage

"Making of a President"
Original airdate: 1/30/1981

Episode summary: JR hires a savvy PR consultant to revitalize his image. Bobby starts a new venture within Ewing Oil. Afton gets a job as a restaurant singer.

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Recap: JR tells Bobby he can't go along with his resignation proposal 'cause he doesn't like..

• The idea of creating an Alternative Energy division within Ewing Oil
• Giving him personal control of the Ewing 23 well, 'cause by law Cliff Barnes gets 50% of those profits

Jock shrugs at JR's concerns and says that if Bobby can live with making Cliff wealthy off of their oil, then so can he. JR further complains that Bobby wants 25% of the oil refinery profits, and Jock agrees that that's excessive and negotiates that down to 12%. Bobby agrees and explains that that money will be used to fund the Alternative Energy division so that Ewing Oil can expand beyond fossil fuel and look into developing solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Jock's like, "Yeah, whatever" and signs the contract and orders JR to do the same, and he reluctantly obeys his daddy.

At Southfork, Lucy and Mitch pack up their stuff so they can head over to their luxury marital condo. Mitch thanks Miss Ellie for funding their fantastic honeymoon, and Lucy gives her grandmother a warm hug goodbye.

Bobby arrives at Madison's Restaurant for a meeting with Jim Lassiter...and on the way to his table he spots Justin Carlisle and stops by to say hello. Justin introduces him to the woman he's lunching with: Leslie Stewart, attractive media consultant who's relatively new to Dallas. Leslie tells Bobby she heard about his interest in alternative energy and would looooove to schedule a meeting to discuss how she can help him promote this new initiative. Bobby's like, "Word gets around fast" and invites her to call his secretary to set something up. He then heads over to Jim Lassiter's table...and once he's out of earshot, Justin tells Leslie she's focusing on the wrong Ewing, and explains that JR is the one who's in dire need of a complete image redo.

Over at the Cattlemen's Club, JR meets with some crony named Elroy to propose a joint venture between Ewing Oil and his cartel, and Elroy warns him that the Jordan Lee et. al. cartel might be miffed if he joined a different cartel after Bobby worked so hard to heal that rift. JR says he couldn't give a rat's ass 'bout that, so Elroy agrees to broach the subject with his cartel. After Elroy lumbers off, JR notices the Jordan Lee et. al. cartel seated at another table and wanders over. They smugly tell him they're celebrating striking oil in the the Gulf and cackle about all the money they're going to make. JR laments the fact that Bobby passed on the Gulf deal, but Jordan snappishly retorts that with him (JR) back in the president's chair, there's no way in hell they'd offer to cut Ewing Oil in on the deal. He snarls, "You're finished as a power in Dallas", and JR looks startled and bewildered at the insult. 
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Over at The Store, Pam calls Bobby and suggests they get together for lunch, but he declines and explains that he already had lunch with Jim Lassiter. Pam says she's miffed that while he was out of town this week he only called her twice...and when she hangs up and looks visibly irritated at the dissatisfaction that is her marriage, Alex Ward enters her office and invites her to lunch tomorrow so they can discuss whatever's bothering her. She mulls that over for a few seconds and decides 'yeah, sure, why the hell not?'

"My marriage is in the shitter."

"Yay! Let's celebrate over lunch."

Clint Ogden calls Sue Ellen to invite her to lunch tomorrow so they can talk about old times, and she agrees that that'd be a fantastic idea.

JR arrives at Ewing Oil and finds Afton waiting for him in his office. He tells her he figured that she and her ma would have returned to Mississippi by now, so she tells him she cashed in her airline ticket and rented an apartment in Dallas. She further explains that she's looking to break into showbiz as a singer, asks if he can help her out with that, and sexily offers to audition...and he grins and purrs, "Audition real quietly" before mounting her atop the couch. 

Over lunch, Donna and Miss Ellie are racking their brains to try to figure out who the investors of the Louisiana/Texas swampland development project could possibly be. Hmm...I wonder. Donna wanks Miss Ellie about the stoic way she holds her own in a family of male douchewads, and is further impressed that she accepted Ray so gracefully into the family. Miss Ellie stares sheepishly into space, no doubt recalling the cunty way she chastised Jock during the previous episode for letting a non-Southworth nobody like Ray Krebbs co-run her daddy's precious ranch.

Over pre-dinner drinks at Southfork, JR grumbles at Bobby for his alternative energy pursuit, which he thinks is "money down a rat hole". Jock tells them to stop bickering, then tells JR he hopes he's able to patch things up with the Jordan Lee et. al. cartel. A few seconds later, a drunken Miss Ellie staggers in, apologizes for holding up dinner, then invites them to file into the dining room so they can all sit down and eat. As the family stares after her perplexedly, Sue Ellen pulls JR aside and tells him he needs to convince Jock he's fit to be president of Ewing Oil, then snidely adds, "Since you're back to your old self in every way." 

Bobby gets up early the next morning and tells Pam he wants to catch Lassiter before he leaves Dallas on a business trip. Pam urges him to slow down...then complains about feeling as though her life was on hold when he was running Ewing Oil, and reminds him that during the Season 3 finale they had made the decision to leave Southfork and start a life that didn't involve them living under the same roof as his parents and brother's family. Bobby says he's decided to scrap that excellent idea 'cause he now thinks it was wrong to leave Southfork, and has gotten himself involved in something new and exciting. Pam points out that she no idea what his new venture is, so he grunts, "Solar" and that he needs to hightail it downtown right now to meet with Lassiter. A frustrated Pam shrieks after him, "Who the hell is Lassiter?!"

"When are we going to move out of Southfork and get a life of our own?"

"How about a week from never?"

Afton is about to audition for a restaurant owner, who cackles at JR that the busty blonde looks like she's good in the sack. JR pretends to look appalled by the remark and pretends that Afton is nothing more to him than his niece's new sister-in-law, then asks Afton to demonstrate her singing ability. She does...and when her voice turns out to be not half bad, the restaurant owner agrees to hire her. Afton thanks JR for helping her get her foot in the door and suggests they go somewhere for a nooner, but he declines and says he'll drop in on her from time to time to see how she's doing.

Leslie Stewart is in Bobby's office, excitedly making recommendations for his new alternative energy venture: developing a new logo, and attending the upcoming Alternative Energy Symposium. Bobby seems overwhelmed by her enthusiasm and says that for now he'd prefer to keep a low profile. She dials it down, thanks him for meeting with her, and encourages him to call her once he's ready for a full on launch. As Bobby escorts her to the reception area, they run into JR...and JR looks intrigued by "the new PR lady that Justin's been raving about". Leslie tells JR to call her if he needs her to help promote Ewing Oil, and he smittenly says he may do that.

Over lunch at Bruno's, Clint tells Sue Ellen that his then-girlfriend Alicia stuck by him while he was in Japan learning about electronics...but that all the while he was hoping that she (Sue Ellen) would divorce JR, and even delayed proposing to Alicia until after John Ross III was born. He admits that he attended Lucy's wedding so he could spend time with her and determine whether or not he was over her, then gives her a wistful stare and says he wishes they were back in college, aka a time when there was no JR or Alicia. Sue Ellen glances across the restaurant and sees Pam arrive with Alex Ward, and Pam stares back at Sue Ellen and reacts by looking aghast at being "caught" ... even though Alex reminds her that it's perfectly acceptable to be seen publicly with a business associate. Pam ignores that sensibleness and insists on abruptly leaving the restaurant as if she's got something to hide.

​Jock and Ray are in a meeting with Punk Anderson to look over the renderings of their new swampland development. Punk says he's worried about the "do gooders" halting their construction, but Jock just chuckles and growls in his obnoxiously misogynistic way, "By the time those ladies finish sipping their tea and making sure their hats are on straight we’ll have a permit, maybe even start building.” 

"I'm worried about the do gooders putting a stop to our development."

"By the time those silly fillies get their panties out of a knot, they'll be on their knees, thanking us menfolk for building them a new shopping center."

Sue Ellen enters the Southfork sitting room, where Pam is downing some hard liquor. Sue Ellen assures her her secret is safe with her, and that Ewing wives need to create a life of their own. Pam snappishly retorts that she did create a life of her own as a career woman at The Store, then insists that her lunch with Alex Ward was business-related. She says she can't/won't accept that Bobby and JR are anything alike, and Sue Ellen points out that when Bobby was running Ewing Oil, he pretty much treated her like a non-person...similar to the way JR views her (Sue Ellen) as arm candy. She adds that since JR so often seeks affection and sex elsewhere, she feels she should be able to do the same. Pam says that her marriage isn't quite as fucked-up - but Sue Ellen warns her to protect herself, says that Ewing men are all the same, and that the choices are to either get divorced or play by their rules. A few seconds later, Bobby enters the room...and Pam gives him a big hug while looking over at Sue Ellen, who stares back at her smugly.

Elroy stops by Ewing Oil to regretfully inform JR that his associates expressed zero desire to do business with him on account of the shitty way he sold out his partners during the Asian oil lease fiasco at the end of Season 3. He further explains that there isn't an oil man in Texas who's willing to go into deals with Ewing Oil, and that they consider him yesterday's news. JR reacts to being shunned by staring despondently into space.

Sue Ellen tells Dr. Ellby that she suspects Pam is about to have an affair, and he's like, "Uh, so?" and asks her why she cares. Sue Ellen says she finds it fascinating that even though Pam is married to the kind brother, she's still afflicted with "the Ewing disease": falling in love with a Ewing man, being lavished with attention and affection, then neglected once the husband gets busy with Ewing Oil. Dr. Ellby asks her if she suspects JR of having an affair with Afton, and Sue Ellen says she's sure of it and that at first she felt hurt by the betrayal - but now realizes the problem isn't her 'cause she knows she's more than capable of having a sane extramarital relationship with the right man (as evidenced by her hookup with Dusty).

Cliff meets up with Donna at Dave Culver's office, where he gets introduced to Senator John Bascomb, who announces that he's just been given a Cabinet post and is appointing Dave Culver to fill his seat in the Senate. Cliff perks up when this, of course, means that Dave Culver's seat in the State Senate is up for grabs.

While having dinner in a Japanese restaurant, JR asks Leslie Stewart what her "angle" is, so she tells him she's heard a great deal about him during the short time she's lived in Dallas, namely that he's a cheat, liar, and double-dealer. Bwahaha! JR shoots her a pouty look, so she wanks him by adding, "You're my kind of man" and urges him to hire her as his consultant so that she can rehabilitate his image to the point where the oilman cronies who currently refuse to give him the time of day would beg to do business with him. JR looks intrigued by the prospect, then suggests they head over to the nearest motel to seal the deal - but she sassily says she'd rather they meet in his office tomorrow and sign an official contract.

"Word on the street is that you're the most corrupt, double-dealing cooze-hound in Dallas."

"I didn't detect a compliment in there."

Alex Ward drops by The Store to tell Pam that furtive handholding and sneaking around isn't his style, then comes right out and asks her if she wants him. She says she does, but that they're at a stalemate 'cause she's not ready to give up on Bobby and therefore doesn't want to cheat on him.

Arliss and Afton drop by the condo to visit Mitch and Lucy and share the exciting news about Afton's new singing gig, courtesy of JR's restauranteur connections. As Lucy stares suspiciously into space, Mitch agrees to drive Afton to the restaurant for her first night on the job...and as Lucy closes the door behind them, she snidely calls JR 'a true soul of generosity'. Heh.

At Southfork, JR grumbles to Sue Ellen about their new bed, which she bought 'cause the previous one "had been used once too many times". She remarks on his cheery demeanour and tells him that Mitch's sister and ma decided to stay in Dallas permanently, and he tries to look completely unaffected by that development as he mumbles, "That's nice." Sue Ellen then comes right out and says she actually feels sorry for Afton, and calls her "a poor little girl who has no idea what she's getting into", and JR smirks mutely before exiting the room. 

JR is moping in his office now that it's become painfully clear he can't get any Texas oilmen to return his phone calls. Leslie Stewart arrives to discuss Operation Pull JR's Reputation Out of the Dumpster and tells him she's lined up interviews with the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and explains that her objective is to put Ewing Oil on the national map so that he doesn't have to rely solely on the local yokels to enter into joint business deals. JR says he definitely likes the sound of that and eagerly signs the contract, then pours each of them a drink. After Leslie toasts, "To my biggest challenge", JR suggests they kick off the campaign with a sexy romp - but she says she has no time for that, then exits the office, leaving JR staring after her in befuddlement.

That evening, Leslie is in the sack with Justin Carlisle...and after some post-coitus canoodling, she tells him this will be their last evening together 'cause she just took on a big client that requires her to have "room to maneuver". Justin perks up at that and asks, "Ewing?", then looks impressed when Leslie confirms that, yep, it is.

JR calls Hank Johnson and learns that whatever fictional Asian country his oil leases were based in is experiencing instability, unrest, and an active underground. JR barks that he wants a revolution, and that he wants it now so he can finally regain control over the oil fields.

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