Recap: Inside the Braddock County Courthouse, Cliff is testifying about the night he found Kristin floating face-down in the Southfork swimming pool, insisting that she was dead before his attempted rescue. He says a few seconds after that, he looked up and saw JR standing on a balcony with broken railing...then proceeded to pull Kristin out of the swimming pool and call the local sheriff's station. Sue Ellen arrives at the courthouse with Dusty and Clayton in tow, and the three enter the courtroom in time to hear JR's side of the story. He testifies that Kristin was high as a kite and uncharacteristically disheveled when she arrived at Southfork...and that he had been so distracted about his missing son that he somehow didn't realize that the mood-altered Kristin had wandered onto his balcony, crashed through the railing, and landed in the swimming pool below. He says he's definitely not guilty of doing anything to harm her, as was evidenced by the lie detector test that Sheriff Washburn administered on the night of her death, and the judge interrupts to tut tut him for bringing that up 'cause polygraph results are not admissible in court. Expert witness Dr. Hooper testifies that Kristin hit her head on the edge of the pool when she plunged off the balcony, a blow that rendered her unconscious and lead to her drowning. He adds that she had a shit-ton of PCP (aka angel dust) in her system, a drug with side effects that include lack of coordination, a sense of euphoria, and agitation...in other words, it totally explains why she crashed through the balcony railing without anyone pushing her. Dr. Hooper says he has no problem believing that Kristin is fully responsible for her own death, and - to more convincingly exonerate JR so that the show can move on from the contrived Season 4 "cliffhanger" - it's entirely possible that she was suicidal. As the courtroom spectators look intrigued by that bombshell and begin to titter, the jury goes off to deliberate...then returns in record time with a verdict of accidental death. Texas sure has one speedy justice system. Howard Barker tells JR that, now that Kristin's death storyline has been so nimbly wrapped up, they can focus all of their energy on devising a strategy to reacquire custody of John Ross. Sheriff Washburn interrupts the conversation to sheepishly apologize to JR for "everything I had to put you through" - OMFG - and JR breezily tells him, "No harm done" and cackles about how impressed the jury looked when he snuck into his testimony [the, I'm assuming, fib] that he had passed a lie detector test. He assures Washburn that his law enforcement job in Braddock County is safe, and the rotund sheriff beams at him gratefully while expressing his thanks for not being mad at him.
Sue Ellen laments how Kristin ended up being a drug fiend - despite there never being a whiff of her doing any kind of drug in all the time she was on the show - and Bobby and Pam cluck sympathetically at her loss, then urge her to put her sister's death and drug woes firmly behind her, 'cause the writers would much prefer to focus on her imminent divorce and ugly custody battle. JR meets up with Detective Harry McSween outside the courthouse, grumbling about how the authorities tried to pin Kristin's untimely death on him. He then instructs Harry to learn all he can about Sue Ellen's arrangements for Kristin's funeral, in particular any travel plans she has in the works, so that he can plan his next move. The next day, Cliff notices the front page of The Dallas Press, which features the headline 'Southfork Death Ruled Accidental' above photos of himself, JR, and Kristin. A few seconds later, he arrives at Jeremy Wendell's office to discuss his employability at WestStar Oil and gushes about how happy he is to finally meet him, and that he worked closely with Dave Stratton in an attempt to link JR to the Southeast Asian counter-revolution. An unimpressed Jeremy reminds him that JR didn't end up paying the price for that crime, and that he also beat the murder charge he was just in court for. Cliff shrugs apologetically, then informs him that, while working together to bring down JR, Dave Stratton had promised him a position at WestStar, but Jeremy responds by haughtily snarling, "WestStar Oil does not reward losers." Ouch. In the lobby of the Ewing Oil building, JR meets with private investigator Jerry Macon, who agrees to stake out the Southern Cross Ranch and follow Sue Ellen's/their tot's every movement. Over at Southfork, Bobby is swimming [in the pool Kristin died in just a few days before, which...ew] while a spacey looking Pam sits on a lounge chair and stares despondently into space. Bobby remarks on how uncomfortable things were at the courthouse earlier, and Pam nods, mutters, "Poor Kristin..", and says she totally gets how unfulfilled Kristin must have been with her worthless life. Bobby points out that she really can't compare herself to Kristin 'cause she has a way better, more stable life...to which Pam unconvincingly mutters, "I guess so." Bobby stares at her concernedly and says he's worried that her unending desire for a baby has become an obsession. She shrugs and is all, "I can't help it" ... and when Bobby reminds her that it is physically possible for her to have a child, she moans that she can't endure another miscarriage.
JR drops by Afton's apartment, barks at her to fix him a drink, then slumps on her couch. She rubs his shoulders to ease his tension, and he thanks her once again for helping him get access to Cliff's documents detailing his role in the South Asian counter-revolution. He says it's nice coming to her place, where he can relax with a drink, then makes it clear he's in no mood for sex 'cause of how irked he continues to be about Sue Ellen taking their son to her boyfriend's ranch in San Angelo. Afton weakly assures him that eventually he'll get John Ross back, then offers to fix him some dinner - but he moodily declines, says he should prolly head home, and abruptly gets up and walks out, leaving a dejected Afton staring unhappily into space. JR arrives at Southfork and peeks into the empty nursery with his sad face on. Later, he calls Miss Ellie in Paris to break the bad news of Kristin's untimely demise...and then, off-camera, fills her in about Sue Ellen and John Ross leaving Southfork to shack up with Dusty Farlow. Sue Ellen, Dusty, and Clayton are ferried back to the Southern Cross ranch by stretch limo. Sue Ellen wanders over to the pasture fence and stares sadly into the distance as she tells Dusty that the full weight of her sister's tragic death is just hitting her now, and that she blames their controlling mother for pushing them into fulfilling all of the things in life - e.g. wealth, status - that she was never able to achieve. She deduces that 1) Kristin was so bummed by her life's failure that she abruptly turned to drugs to numb the pain, and 2) her mother's relentless pressure could explain why she herself turned to booze to cope with her unhappy marriage to JR. Dusty clucks sympathetically, then offers to travel to Albuquerque with her to attend Kristin's funeral, but she gives him a hard no on that and says she hasn't yet explained his presence in her life to her mama and thinks it's best if she and John Ross travel alone to bid her druggie/suicidal (?) sister a final farewell. At Ewing Oil, JR is interviewing an attractive woman named Heather for the secretarial position, but when she admits to having zero typing or shorthand skills and really only has her ample cleavage to offer, he tells her they only hire attractive women who have superior secretarial skills. She shrugs at that and sashays out, and JR buzzes Phyllis to ask her to bring in the next applicant...and instructs her to keep Heather's contact info on file in case he's ever interested in a random booty call with a woman who's clearly willing and eager to put out. The next applicant is an attractive, confident blonde named Sylvia (her friends call her Sly), who tells JR that she has lots of experience working with independent oil companies and can type 90 words a minute and write 120 words in shorthand...and when JR is interrupted by Phyllis, who needlessly passes along a phone message from Detective Harry McSween, Sly gaily tells him that her dad and Harry are such great friends that she refers to the detective as Uncle Harry. JR nods approvingly at her good looks, solid secretarial credentials, and personal connections to local law enforcement and happily says, "Well, Sly. Welcome to Ewing Oil!" and shakes her hand.
As Ray and Donna shop around for a new saddle, Ray, who continues to be buoyed by his recent success as a real estate developer, insists on buying her the most expensive one. Donna argues that she doesn't need anything super fancy - but he insists that since she's going to be on horseback during in a parade in Braddock County, as well as some charity thing in Plano, she should be sitting atop the most luxurious saddle available. Over lunch with Rebecca, Cliff grumbles about how shittily his job hunting has been going, lamenting that no one wants to hire him after his latest legal skirmish with the Ewings. Rebecca reminds him that he has a law degree and would do well to put his grudges with the Ewings behind him, citing that that kind of simmering hatred ruined Digger's life - but Cliff reminds her that, for whatever God-only-knows-why reason, the writers seem very invested in keeping the tedious Barnes vs. Ewings Feud alive for all eternity. Ray and Donna run into Punk Anderson while shopping, and he gabbles about how awesomely the Lubbock housing project is going, gushing that the units are selling like hotcakes. He credits Ray for having "the Midas touch", then invites the two to jet with him to Lubbock this afternoon to check in on the development in person. Detective Harry McSween reports to JR that Kristin's corpse is scheduled to be transported to Albuquerque in two days, and that Sue Ellen and John Ross are booked on the same flight. JR thanks him and says he'll take care of the rest. Bobby drops by The Store to say hey to Pam, but soon learns that she made an impromptu trip to San Angelo to visit Sue Ellen and her tot. Bobby scrunches his face all irked-like and gets on the phone with the Ewing pilot, ordering him to gas up the chopper so he can fly over to the Southern Cross Ranch asap and fetch his errant wife. Cliff arrives at Afton's building and manages to catch her in the parking lot before she heads off to work. He invites her to join him lunch, but she tells him she's too busy, pretty much forever, then chides him for using her to learn whatever intel she may have had regarding JR's involvement in the South Asian counter-revolution. She tells him she read all about what he tried to do to his arch-nemesis during the hearing in Austin, then snarlingly calls him a loser and says she has no room in her life for losers. Ouch again.
Over at the Southern Cross Ranch, Pam happily visits with John Ross and asks Sue Ellen if there's anything she can do to further accommodate her rich-man-funded life of leisure. Sue Ellen says she's getting all the emotional support she needs from Dusty, who's far sweeter and more loving than JR could ever hope to be, and Pam clucks sadly about how sorry she is that she had to leave Southfork to find her happy place...and says this as though it's not blatantly obvious that any Ewing spouse (ex or otherwise) would be immeasurably happier after moving far, far away from that wretched cesspool of a ranch. Jerry Macon updates JR from his car phone on Operation Stalk Sue Ellen and reports that Pam is currently visiting his soon-to-be ex-wife on Southern Cross. JR irritably wonders aloud what she's up to now, then says he wants to know the details of his wife's Albuquerque travel plans pronto. Bobby's chopper lands on the Southern Cross ranch - just as Pam is about to put John Ross down for his nap. As Dusty and Clayton emerge from the house to see which Ewing decided to drop in uninvited, Bobby amiably waves at them and says he's only here to pick up his wife. He then chides Pam for not telling him about her plans to travel to San Angelo...and she just kind of shrugs and is all, "Whatever" before carrying John Ross inside. Bobby seats himself next to Sue Ellen and gives her the what-for for using Pam to sneak her son away from JR, and Sue Ellen insists that she had no other recourse...and, frankly, didn't have to do a whole lot of convincing to get Pam to help her out. After Bobby chews on that for a few seconds, the two agree that Pam is annoyingly desperate to have a baby, and ponder the possibility of adopting a child. Back at Southfork, Donna and Lucy are horseback riding together and discussing their shared dilemma of being married to men who are monetarily inferior to them. Donna says she much preferred it when Ray was just a simple-brained cowboy, not the savvy "wheeler and dealer" we're supposed to believe he's suddenly become. She tells Lucy that money isn't the solution to a loving relationship, and Lucy looks doubtful 'bout that and says she's still somewhat half-hearted about not wanting to give up on Mitch. Howard Barker drops by Ewing Oil to report that he received word from Sue Ellen's lawyer regarding scheduling a preliminary hearing for temporary alimony and custody. JR says he's bracing himself for the nasty fight ahead, and Howard warns that if he doesn't get John Ross back at Southfork by any means necessary before the hearing, he may never regain custody of the tot...which seems like odd, somewhat nonsensical advice for an officer of the court to be giving to his client - but then I'm a recapper, not a family law expert from fictional 1980s Texas. The next morning, JR finds Marilee Stone waiting for him in his office for seemingly no other purpose than to invite him to lunch 'cause she figures he's got to be lonely without Sue Ellen around. He declines 'cause he has meetings all day, but then agrees to have dinner with her tomorrow night. He tells her that tomorrow he'll definitely be in the mood to celebrate getting something back that belongs to him (though: not). At Southfork, Bobby gets off the phone with Jock and tells JR that their parents are planning to cut their vacation short and are scheduled to return home in a couple of days. He makes it a point to mention to JR that Miss Ellie was particularly worried about John Ross no longer living at Southfork, and JR snarls that that's largely due to the stupidity of his wife - just as Pam enters the room with a shopping bag filled with goodies for John Ross. JR snappishly tells her his son has everything he needs and doesn't need anything from "his demented aunt" ... and a few minutes later, Ray and Donna arrive to go out to dinner with Bobby and Pam. Bobby sheepishly tells Pam he forgot to mention making special dinner plans for the four of them, and she just kind of shrugs and spacily says she's A-OK with a double-date dinner with the two dullards.
JR gets a call from Gerry Macon detailing Sue Ellen's plans to attend her sister's funeral in Albuquerque tomorrow. The following morning, Sue Ellen and John Ross are transported to Love Field airport by chopper...and once they enter the airport, they encounter two of JR's goons: one grabs the tot, while the other subdues Sue Ellen. As Sue Ellen's all, "Nooooo!! Help!!", Dusty and a posse of his burly ranch hands suddenly appear, take control of the situation, and return John Ross to his mother. Dusty explains to Sue Ellen that he figured JR would try something sinister like this, and that he's also arranged for a security team to meet her at the Albuquerque airport, just in case. The two then look up and notice that a visibly miffed JR is inside the airport, glaring down at them from the second floor landing. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
1 Comment
Kyle
8/12/2023 06:03:08 am
>> Howard warns that if he doesn't get John Ross back at Southfork by any means necessary before the hearing, he may never regain custody of the tot...which seems like odd, somewhat nonsensical advice for an officer of the court to be giving to his client - but then I'm a recapper, not a family law expert from fictional 1980s Texas.<< Leave a Reply. |
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