Recap: Bobby calls a record clerk in Los Angeles to ask for more details about Kristin's hospital invoice...and when the clerk tells him that she's not authorized disclose anything over the phone, he says he'll be in Los Angeles tomorrow morning. Miss Ellie tells Sue Ellen that her grief-fuelled outburst in the kitchen last night was long overdue, and that breaking all that dishware has resulted in her being able to see things more clearly now. She adds that she's soooooo happy that she and JR are looking so cozy these days and hopes it means they'll reconcile, and Sue Ellen happily tells her that the prospect is under serious consideration, then waxes on about how considerate, thoughtful, and loving JR is [pretending to be]. Miss Ellie beams joyously and invites her to join the Ewing clan for dinner again tonight, and Sue Ellen says she'd be delighted. Post-coitus, JR hurriedly gets dressed and tells Marilee he needs to get back to the office pronto...and when Marilee tries to confirm a repeat of the sex romp for tomorrow, he makes a derisive snorting noise and mumblingly replies, "Let's not overdo it." A stung looking Marilee reminds him they agreed, that in exchange for participating in Operation Ruin Cliff's Life, she was to receive daily sack time with him. JR tells her he's totally back pedalling on that 'cause he's doing his best to turn over a new leaf in his quest to win back Sue Ellen, and a vexed Marilee accuses him of using her to get Cliff out of Sue Ellen's life. JR's like, "Uh duh", tells her they've had a great time knockin' boots, and breezily assures her that one day soon she'll find a handsome young stud to enjoy as a new boy toy. As he beats a hasty retreat towards the door, Marilee picks up something from her nightstand and throws it at him, but he manages to duck and slip out unharmed. Clayton has returned from his European vacation and is back at Southern Cross, gazing happily at a ginormous diamond ring. He then picks up the phone, calls Sue Ellen's house, and leaves a message with Mrs. Chambers that he'll be in Dallas tomorrow and will call her back then. Back at Southfork, Bobby tells Pam he has to go to Los Angeles tomorrow to research a hospital invoice for Kristin...then decides it's finally time to spill the entire story about how Christopher came to be their soon-to-be-adopted son. An astonished Pam stonily chides him for lying to her, like a lot...and Bobby sheepishly admits that, yep, he did - but only 'cause he was worried that if she knew the full truth, she'd once again find herself atop the roof of a tall building and threaten to end it all. Pam's like, "Fair point", then insists on going to Los Angeles with him, and canoodlingly thanks him for everything he's done to bring Christopher into their lives.
Back at Southfork, JR and Sue Ellen are enjoying the night sky as they exchange I love yous and share a passionate smooch. The next morning, Pam and Bobby arrive at Los Angeles Memorial Hospital and express their hope to one another that this trip doesn't end up being a wild goose chase. Over at Casa Depression, a despondent Cliff tells Afton to go home 'cause there's nothing worthwhile for her here - but she somehow disagrees with that spot-on assessment, insists on staying, and pours him a cup of coffee. While she's doing that, Marilee Stone drops by decked out in a giant fur coat to apologize to Cliff for the failed Wellington land deal, then sheepishly confesses that she went along with JR's plot to falsify the geologist's report 'cause she dug the idea of regularly riding his baloney pony...but is newly miffed that JR has now dumped her in favor of reconciling with Sue Ellen. Marilee tells Cliff she wants to make amends, but he despondently says there's no point 'cause he's lost everything he ever cared about...and as Afton reacts by contorting her face into a hurt looking expression, Cliff ambles onto his balcony and guzzles some booze. Bobby and Pam learn that Kristin had been hospitalized when she suffered a miscarriage...and they quickly deduce that Kristin must have lost JR's/Jordan Lee's? baby and got knocked up a second time, 'cause, for whatever reason, she seemed to have had a strange aversion to practicing birth control. Bobby takes note of the name of the doctor on the invoice...and, after further, on-the-fly investigating, sees that he also performed a Caesarean section on Kristin when she delivered Christopher. By this time, the irritated clerk snappishly orders Bobby to give her back the [supposedly confidential] file, so he hands it back to her, along with a tip. While departing the hospital, Pam tells Bobby she's thrilled that they're free of JR in terms of his paternal association with Christopher - but is now very curious about who fathered the tot. Bobby suggests they head over to the apartment complex Kristin lived in during her time in Los Angeles and see if they can uncover any clues there. Lucy and her dorky friend Muriel are hanging together by the Southfork pool...and Lucy confesses that she continues to be traumatized by being abducted by Roger, who raped her while she was being held captive at the photography studio. Muriel stares back at her in speechless horror, says she needs to tell someone rather than pretend it didn't happen, then looks aghast as she asks if there's a possibility she could be pregnant. Lucy breezily dismisses the horrific possibility of the rapist freak's bun being in her oven and says she'd rather not speak of it. A drunk Cliff is at a local bar, nattering to a group of aged cowboys about how Digger Barnes was the greatest wildcatter in the history of wildcatting...before the Ewings broke him, just like they broke him a generation later and scammed him into thinking he could become a millionaire and stick it to JR good by marrying his ex. A few seconds later, Afton enters the bar and tells Cliff it's time to stop drunkenly holding court like his idiot father used to do, and go home to sleep off the excessive amount of booze he's been ingesting. Clayton and his ginormous diamond ring meet up with Sue Ellen at a Japanese restaurant. He tells her that his vacation gave him a chance to think about what he'd like their relationship to be...and Sue Ellen seems oblivious to the smitten vibe he's putting out and interjects to tell him how delighted she is that they can continue to be platonic buddies. She excitedly shares that lately she and JR have been getting along great and are strongly considering re-coupling, and a deflated Clayton cautions her to be sure she's not repeating the mistake of falling for JR's phony charm, and graciously assures her that he'll always be her supportive platonic friend, however stupid and self-destructive her personal decisions prove to be.
Pam and Bobby arrive at Kristin's old apartment - but when they learn that the building manager is out of town until tomorrow, they decide to spend the night in Los Angeles. JR escorts Sue Ellen home...and after yet another passionate smooch, JR coos, "It could be like this always" and formally proposes remarriage. Sue Ellen remarks on how safe she feels with him [which made me laugh heartily 'cause I suddenly remembered the episode where he plotted to have her forcibly removed from Southfork by a team of men in white coats], then decides to throw all good sense to the wind and agree to a marriage redo. The next morning, Afton suggests to Cliff that they spend the day doing fun, quiet things together, but he tells her he has zero interest in that and needs to go run some unspecified errands. Afton implores, "Please don't", and he snappishly retorts that he has things to do, and that she's starting to sound like a naggy wife. Afton absorbs the insult better than I would have expected and offers to wait for him in his apartment - but he tells her he's really starting to get weirded out by the way she keeps hovering over him, waiting on him hand and foot. He says there's no reason for her continue hanging out at his apartment, and Afton mulls that over and tells him she'll stop by later tonight, and he's like, "Yeah, whatever...fuck off", and a few seconds after she leaves, he puts on a blazer and heads out the door. The L.A. building manager tells Pam and Bobby that he recalls Kristin being visibly pregnant, then motions at a young woman (Sharon) sitting by the pool and says he knows that she and Kristin were friends. Pam and Bobby wander over to where Sharon is sitting and ask if she wouldn't mind sharing whatever intel she might have on Kristin before her untimely demise, so Sharon tells them that Kristin was living with a creep named Jeff Farraday before they got married [which seems wholly out of character for a gold-digging woman who seemed to prefer targeting wealthy men like JR and Jordan Lee] ... and around nine months later, she delivered little Christopher. Cliff drops by Sue Ellen's house to admit that, yeah, it was poor judgement to ask her to loan him $4 million, but insists that they could still have a great life together. Sue Ellen tells him to shut it, not least 'cause she's expecting JR any minute...and poor Cliff starts ugly crying as he wails, "I've lost everyyyyyything. But I know I can start over, I know I can build a new life, if you would just believe in me and loooooove me!" Sue Ellen coldly tells him that she has accepted JR's remarriage proposal...and when Cliff scrunches his face and pitifully moans, "Ooooooh nooooo..", she firmly says she doesn't want to see him anymore - like, including right now, and orders him to leave her house.
Pam remarks on how Kristin used her maiden name on Christopher's birth certificate, and Bobby says she prolly did that so she wouldn't lose the blackmail money she was getting from Jordan Lee and JR...and after her miscarriage just substituted Christopher as their presumed spawn. The two marvel at what a shithead Jeff Farraday was to have blackmailed Bobby with his own child, and Bobby says he's kinda looking forward to confronting JR with his findings. JR presents Sue Ellen with a new sable coat and says it'd be nice if she wore it to Southfork when they announce their remarriage plans. When Sue Ellen heads off somewhere to primp, JR wanders over to the kitchen, where John Ross is having a snack, and assures the tot how happy they're all going to be once they're back at Southfork...then adds that, with the additional Ewing Oil shares that come along with that permanent living arrangement, he can finally run the company as he sees fit. It remains unclear why JR hasn't clued in to the reality that, now that Miss Ellie has accepted Jock's death, the voting shares situation he's so desperately clinging to is likely to be superseded by whatever's in the late patriarch's final will and testament. A spacey looking Cliff is lounging atop his couch, guzzling yet more booze, when Afton calls to remind him that she plans to come over later. He's like, "Yeah, whatever...I thought I told you to fuck off", then hangs up and continues drinking. During happy hour at Southfork, JR announces to the family that Sue Ellen has accepted his proposal - a pronouncement that causes Lucy to react with a smirky eye roll, and Ray and Donna to look quietly alarmed. Only Miss Ellie seems truly happy about the news and joyously congratulates the two and gushes about how awesome it is that they're going to be a [dysfunctional, but intact] family once again. Afton arrives at Cliff's apartment and finds him unconscious on the floor with an empty bottle of pills next to him. She's all, "OMG, nooooo!!" and rushes to the phone to call an ambulance. After the commercial break, Cliff is transported to the nearest Emergency Room while a doctor barks at his staff to get blood gases and a ventilator, stat. A nurse sternly directs Afton to the nearby waiting room...and a few seconds later, Rebecca rushes in and asks Afton what has happened. Afton describes the condition in which she found Cliff, and is keeping her fingers crossed that she was able to get him help in time. Rebecca laments her bitchy firing of Cliff and says that whatever financial shenanigans he had gotten himself into at Wentworth Tool & Die is not worth ending his life over. Afton tells her not to be so hard on herself, 'cause there's a multitude of reasons Cliff might have wanted to end it all. She tells her about Marilee's visit to apologize for her role in JR's scheme to fake a geologist's report in order to entice Cliff to buy a worthless piece of land, and Rebecca's all, "The fuck?" and says she had no idea that JR was capable of that type of fiendishness.
The ER doctor tells Rebecca and Afton that Cliff is comatose and hooked up to a respirator, and that right now it's too soon to know if he'll survive. He adds that the next twenty-four hours will be critical...and if Cliff doesn't expire before morning, he'll be transferred to the ICU. Bobby notes that Jeff Farraday's blood type is the same as JR's, which explains that it also matches Christopher's blood type, and Pam remains stunned that Jeff would sell his own child. Bobby says he's stunned that JR was ready to trade Christopher (who he believes is his child) for Ewing Oil voting shares, 'cause he was under the illusion that his brother would have a spark of decency. He solemnly vows to "take him apart" once he returns to Dallas...and Pam agrees with the taking apart of JR, but adds that all that really matters is that they have custody of Christopher. Back at the hospital, Afton is hovering over the comatose Cliff and clutching his hand. Rebecca storms over to Southfork to haughtily challenge Miss Ellie to fire JR from Ewing Oil, the way she fired Cliff for his wrongdoing at Wentworth Tool & Die. She rails, "He used Ewing funds to destroy my son!" - just as JR and Sue Ellen enter the room. Rebecca informs them all that Cliff was so distraught he tried to kill himself, curses the tedious relentlessness of the Barnes-Ewing feud, and vows to use her financial resources to break the Ewing family. Sue Ellen's all, "Ack! I need to go visit Cliff in the hospital!" and ignores JR's attempts to block her from leaving the room. A befuddled Miss Ellie asks JR if Rebecca's accusations are true, and he's like, "Uh yeah", but adds, in his defence, that he didn't exactly put a gun to Cliff's head and force him to embezzle from his mom's company. Miss Ellie looks awed by how little he cares about another man's life, chides, "You're a cold and insensitive man, JR", and threatens to remove him as Ewing Oil president as soon as Bobby returns home. JR smugly informs her that she doesn't have enough voting shares to do that, then says he's going to try to talk some sense into his ex/soon-to-be wife about visiting Cliff. Sue Ellen enters Cliff's hospital room and gets a stink-eye from Afton, who snarls about how sad it is that Cliff didn't know how guilty everyone would feel if he overdosed. Rebecca ushers Afton out of the waiting room in order to get some much needed rest...and Sue Ellen tearfully whispers to Cliff to get better and apologizes for not dipping into her sizeable bank account and loaning him the $4 million he needed. A few seconds later, JR enters the room, and Sue Ellen tearfully whimpers, "Look what I've done to him. Look what we've both done to him." JR sheepishly says he didn't think his elaborate faux oil drilling scheme would end in a suicide attempt, then reiterates that Cliff did this to himself. Sue Ellen insists again that they did this to him...and makes it clear to JR that if Cliff doesn't pull through, she's putting the kibosh on their remarriage. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
1 Comment
Kyle
11/17/2023 09:47:26 am
Kristin being pregnant twice was a total cop out, because the show didn’t want to deal with the messiness of Bobby and Pam loving and raising JR’s child. “Dallas” always shied away from any plot point that would cause long term messiness, unless they really had to (like when actors left). For example: Leave a Reply. |
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