Recap: Cliff brags to Rebecca and Katherine about how he was able to outsmart JR in his plot to get him hired and then fired at Olco Industries, and Rebecca says she's just happy that he's staying put at Wentworth Tool & Die. Cliff's like, "Uh, about that.." and tells his ma he's becoming increasingly displeased about having to get approval from the board every time he wants to make a deal...and when Rebecca says she'll talk to the board members on his behalf, Katherine irritably points out that she can't intervene every time Cliff wants something. Cliff agrees and says he'd much prefer to have carte blanche to run the company as he sees fit - and Katherine's all, "The fuckity fuck?!" and reminds him that all of the other division presidents are required to obtain permission from the board before they make major decisions. Rebecca tells her that since Cliff is family she's willing to give him a very long leash, and Cliff grinningly says, "Thank you, mama." JR arrives at Sue Ellen's house to drop off John Ross, and Mrs. Chambers tells him that Sue Ellen is out...and after he leaves, Sue Ellen emerges from where she was hiding and thanks her nurse-nanny for covering for her. The next morning at Southfork, JR gives Ray an appreciative once-over, then says, "I hardly recognized you, Ray. You look like a new man." He also applauds him for handing over his voting shares - but a peeved looking Ray tells him he'd rather not talk about that ever again. JR's like, "Sounds good to me!" and scampers off to work, while Ray meets up with Miss Ellie to give her some ranch-related paperwork to sign off on. Donna is in Big Springs, meeting with Dr. Kensington, the administrator of the local mental hospital. He tells her that fifty years ago, Sam Culver had a relative named Jonas committed to the hospital - but if she wants to get the full story, she should talk to Abel Greeley over at the hardware store. Sue Ellen and Clayton hold hands (!) as she complains about how much she dreads facing JR on the weekends, and he wanks her about what an amazingly strong woman she is and assures her that she's totally capable of handling herself with her ex. The two grin at each other and continue staring at each other in a way that makes it look as though they're about to lean in for a smooch (!) - when Cliff arrives to take Sue Ellen out to lunch. As Sue Ellen exits the room to do some quick primping, Cliff remarks to Clayton that they seem to bump into each other a lot at Sue Ellen's house, and that it's likely going to continue happening 'cause neither seems willing to give up on pursuing Dallas's most eligible (divorced) lady of leisure. Pam drops by Bobby's office to invite him out for dinner - just as Bobby gets a call from Jeff Farraday. Bobby declines to take the call and tells Phyllis he'll get in touch with him tomorrow 'cause right now he's off to dinner - just as a deliveryman arrives with an envelop for JR. Sly signs for it and rushes it over to JR's office, and he promptly rips it open and sees that it's the birth certificate of Kristin's out-of-wedlock spawn. He immediately gets on the horn with Lowell Greer and tells him he wants to know who Kristin was hanging out with around the time she died...and after he hangs up, he stares at the birth certificate, murmuring, "Christopher... My, my. What a coincidence." Clayton drops in on Afton at her restaurant workplace as she prepares for her next singing performance to tell her he's been seeing a lot of Sue Ellen, since they're such good friends and all, and is concerned about whether Cliff is good enough for her. Afton says it hardly matters, 'cause JR is never going to let Cliff have Sue Ellen, then asks him why he cares so much about who she dates...and suggests that he, and not his son Dusty, is the one who's in love with her. A few seconds later she's summoned to the stage, and Clayton stares contemplatively into space.
JR joins the family for breakfast and learns that Christopher is seven months old, noting to himself that it's the same age that's documented on Kristin's son's birth certificate. Katherine drops in on Cliff at his Wentworth Tool & Die office and snaps, "Why are you ruining my father's company?" Cliff explains that he wants to wheel and deal like the Ewing brothers are always doing, and Katherine reminds him that her father built this company and she doesn't want to see it destroyed 'cause of his idiotic obsession with JR. She says that her father would never have run the company this way, and Cliff reminds her that the elder Wentworth is no longer around and that he's now at the helm. Katherine glares at him with her freakishly blue eyes and seethes, "You disgusting little man" ... and when Cliff declares that no one is going to stop him from running the company the way he pleases, she retorts, "I wouldn't be so sure of that" and storms out. Lucy tells Blair she's amazed at how much modelling work she's been getting [me too, Lucy...me too], and he assures her that with his agency behind her, she'll get a ton more work. He reminds her that she's booked for the holiday mascara session on Tuesday and advises her to get a good night's sleep...and Lucy tentatively broaches the subject of hiring a photographer who's not Roger. Blair dismissively asks her if they had a lover's quarrel, then decides that since Roger takes such wonderful shots of her, he's not inclined to make any major changes in personnel for the upcoming shoot. Jeff calls Bobby and admonishes him for ducking his calls. He says they need to discuss Christopher, then gives him a time/place to meet up at a public place tomorrow night. Abel Greeley tells Donna he knew and liked Jonas Culver, and insists that Jonas wasn't so much crazy as he was stubborn...and dishes about how most folks believe that Sam had him put away in a mental hospital so he could get a valuable plot of land. Sadly, though, Abel was so distraught that he only lasted a few months in the hospital before killing himself. Donna says she finds it very hard to believe that Sam would do such a terrible thing and shoots Abel a peeved glare, and Abel continue to go about his hardware store business and somehow refrains from reminding her that she was the one who asked him to give her the low-down on this dull-as-fuck Sam-Jonas saga that took place fifty years ago. Katherine meets up with JR for dinner at a fancy restaurant to complain about Cliff wanting to have full autonomy to run Wentworth Tool & Die. She worries that he's going to run the company into the ground and curses her naive mother for giving in to him. JR agrees that that was not a wise decision, then asks her what Rebecca would do if Cliff were to, say, abuse that trust. Katherine says she highly doubts her mom would let anyone destroy her late husband's legacy, and JR smilingly promises that, very soon, she'll have nothing to worry about.
JR meets with a lackey named Murphy, and the two study the Lubbock map that has three distinct plots of land:
JR tells Murphy he wants him to falsify his geological reports so that it appears as though plot #3 has oceans of oil beneath the surface...and when Murphy balks at committing fraud and says it could cost him his business license, JR reminds him that he recently bailed him out financially and wouldn't want to have to call in his loan. Murphy meekly agrees to do his bidding, and JR happily encourages him to make his reports convincing, then gives him the bum's rush out the door. Donna returns home and looks pleased to see that Ray has finally cleaned himself up and is no longer whining incessantly about what a stupid loser he is. The two smooch intensely, and Donna tells him she knew things would get better once he realized that he wasn't cut out for a life of wheelin' and dealin'. Ray sheepishly says he feels bad for the horrendous way he treated her [as well he should], but she assures him that she's happy to sweep all that under the rug, 'cause none of it matters now that they're together. He happily tells her he's off to go ranchin' with the guys, and she kisses him and tells him not to be gone too long. Donna calls Dave Culver to ask him if he knew anything about a family member named Jonas who died in a mental hospital fifty years ago. Dave says that the name definitely rings a bell, then suggests to Donna that she check the attic of the Culver home to see if Sam happened to leave behind any self-incriminating diaries or files. Afton drops by Sue Ellen's house to tell her that she wants Cliff for herself, and to express concern that she's using him as a weapon to hurt JR. Sue Ellen snaps back that it's none of her business if, why, or how she's using Cliff to get back at her ex-husband, then cheekily asks Afton how strongly her feelings developed for Cliff after he became a wealthy CEO...which, fair point. She then asks her if JR sent her, and Afton says he didn't - but that she did get a visit from another of her boyfriends: Clayton. She says that given the choice between JR, Cliff, and Clayton, she'd dump JR and Cliff in a New York minute to hook up with a silver fox like Clayton. [Er, seriously?] Sue Ellen continues to insist that Clayton is merely a friend...and Afton's like, "Believe what you want" and sashays out of the house. Roger angrily asks Lucy whassup with her telling Blair she wants to work with a different photographer, and she points out that lately he's been acting like a weird, angrily obsessed freak who scares her - kind of like he's doing right now. Roger growlingly tells her to get one thing clear: he is the only man on earth who's authorized to take photographs of her. As he looms over her with a demented glare, she fearfully nods...and a few seconds later, Blair and two clients enter the studio and somehow don't notice that Lucy is cowering against the wall looking extremely wigged out.
That evening at a busy bar, Jeff Farraday tells Bobby he learned about him initiating the adoption of Kristin's baby and says that, due to inflation, he's going to need another blackmail payment. Bobby angrily says he's not getting another dime...and when Jeff saucily asks if his wife would feel the same way, Bobby grabs him by the collar and threatens to kill him if he ever goes near Pam again. He then storms out of the bar, leaving the bar-goers tittering about the near ask-kicking they just witnessed. Donna is in the attic of the Culver house, reading Sam's old diary from the 1930s, which references Jock's involvement in forcibly committing Jonas to the mental institution, where he unexpectedly killed himself. Donna looks troubled as she stares mutely into space. Lucy is twitching nervously by the Southfork pool when Pam emerges from the house carrying Christopher. She asks Lucy whassup, so Lucy tells her about how possessive and weird Roger has been acting lately, and that she's genuinely frightened for her safety. Pam chews on that for a few seconds, then hands the baby over to Lucy, asks her the address of Roger's studio, and rushes off. While spooning in bed, JR tells Marilee Stone that he really hates having to answer to his family whenever he wants to involve Ewing Oil in some wheelin' and dealin'...and is also irked that he had to sign over the ownership of an oil field to Cliff Barnes. He brings up the plot of land in Lubbock that's been proven to not have a drop of oil...and when Marilee asks him why he's so interested in that, he laughs and says he'd be happy to explain it to her, then rolls himself towards her so the two can start getting it on again. At Studio Creepy, Pam introduces herself to Roger as Lucy's aunt, then warns him to stay away from her if he doesn't want to face the ire of the entire Ewing family. Roger's all, "Wuh? Are you threatening me?" and Pam's like, "Yep", but adds that she also did him a favor by not bringing along her husband for this preliminary warning. As she turns and exits the studio, Roger stares at a photo of Lucy, and touches it tenderly.
Clayton is once again over at Sue Ellen's house, remarking on how distracted she seems, so she asks him why he felt it necessary to chat with Afton. He explains that he wanted to reassure himself that Cliff was worthy of her, and Sue Ellen tells him that Afton thought he was in love with her. Clayton says he does love her, though not in a romantic sense...and Sue Ellen lets out a big sigh of relief, says she thinks of him as the father she never knew, and gives him a hug. Lowell Greer arrives at Ewing Oil to report to JR that Kristin brought her baby along when she travelled to Texas, and the man she was shacking up with at the time was Jeff Farraday, whose location is currently undetermined. Lowell says he assumes that the baby is still in Texas, and JR smirkingly says he might have an idea of where the little gaffer has been hanging out. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
1 Comment
Fiona
1/8/2024 12:30:29 pm
Honestly, I prefer reading your recaps instead of watching the show. What a cluster that family is! :) Leave a Reply. |
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