Dallas - Season 4, Episode 3

"Yup, it definitely smells like the attempted murder weapon."

"Nightmare"
Original airdate: 11/14/1980

Episode summary: Bobby continues to have difficulties running Ewing Oil. Lucy goes on a date with Mitch. Jock finds the pistol that was used in JR's shooting. 

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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.

"I'm here for you, JR."

"Piss off, Ray."

​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.
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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. 

"I absolutely would have killed JR if someone else hadn't shot him first."

"I don't normally condone premeditated murder...but in your case I'll make an exception."

​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.

"You need to accept me as the new President of Ewing Oil."

"No can do, Bobs."

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.

"You're not still getting balled by that philandering professor are you?"

"Nope, I've latched myself onto a hapless med student."

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. 

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