Recap: Bobby pours himself a cup of coffee on the Southfork breakfast patio, then tells Ray and Donna that he's off to Brooktree to visit Pam. Once Bobby is out of earshot, Ray tells Donna he's surprised that Pam went so far off the deep end 'cause of how badly she wants a baby, then points out that they've never discussed the prospect of having children. Donna mulls that over for a few seconds and says she wouldn't mind having a cute cowboy like him (blech) - just as Miss Ellie emerges from the house and informs them that Jock just phoned to report that he's currently on his way to whatever fictional South American country has given him permission to look into how best the U.S. can exploit its oil supply. JR is in a meeting with the three biggest banks in Dallas, demanding a low interest rate on the insane amount of money they're discussing lending him so that he can hoard the entire Texas oil supply for the sole purpose of sticking it to Sue Ellen. The bankers agree to lend him $100 million and tell them they found a banker in Houston who might lend him the other $100 million he wants...and a few seconds later, Vaughn Leland makes as dramatic an entrance as someone who's as charisma-free as he is could possibly make. As JR stares at him in stunned bewilderment, Vaughn explains that he works at a Houston bank now, and that all the charges he faced after getting tangled up in JR's Southeast Asian fiasco last season have been dropped. Over at Brooktree, Pam laments to Bobby how badly she's let him down by suffering a suicidal meltdown - but he breezily tells her all that matters is that she get better. Pam miserably urges him to dump her in favor of someone who can give him a family, but Bobby insists that she's all the family he needs. When JR arrives at his Ewing Oil office, Sly informs him that Miss Ellie had called to pass along the update that Jock had a brief layover in Dallas before flying on to South America. JR snappishly asks Sly why she didn't let him know about this when he could have rushed to the airpot to bask in the glow of being in his daddy's presence, so she tells him she did call - but that the secretary at the bankers' office refused to interrupt their meeting by putting her through. JR glares at her and growls, "For your future reference, there is nothing more important than my daddy", then stomps to his office and gets a phone call from someone who offers him another million barrels of oil that had been earmarked for Clayton Farlow. Bobby arrives at his senate office and gets a call from Jeff Farraday, who offers to meet with him at a public park tomorrow morning. He tells Bobby that for $2,000, he'll provide more information about Kristin's baby, then instructs him to come to the park alone. Katherine pops by Brooktree to visit Pam, and Pam says that while she's delighted to finally meet her, she's sooooo embarrassed that she's currently in a mental hospital. Katherine says she needn't be embarrassed, 'cause after all they're sisters, then says she's about to return to New York to get back to her TV job. Pam looks alarmed and goes, "No! You can't!" and says she really really wants to learn from her what it was like to grow up having Rebecca as a mom, and Katherine looks weirded out by her distress and assures her that they'll have plenty of time to catch up. Vaughn Leland drops by JR's office and tells him he's not sure why he'd want to do business with him, given the legal problems he faced when he got entangled in last season's Southeast Asian scheme. JR urges him to put that in the past, but Vaughn's like, "Uh, my wife left me as a result of that fiasco" ... so JR reminds him that he made a lot of money on that scheme, then vows to do whatever it takes to repair their friendship. He urges Vaughn to give him twenty-four hours to demonstrate what a good friend he can be, and Vaughn says he'd better come up with a spectacular case for his financial assistance - otherwise no loan. At Southfork, the Ewings gather together for pre-dinner drinks...and Dave Culver is making a guest appearance, updating everyone on Jock's South American venture. He explains that since there's so much turmoil in the Middle East, the U.S. government is looking to drill for oil elsewhere and figured 'why not start exploiting another part of the world?' Dave proudly adds, "The U.S. government is giving Jock a big job to do", and Bobby and JR chuckle about how this implausible government request must surely remind Jock of his wildcattin' days of yore. Dave concurs, then tells JR that the government is looking for other oilmen to join them, and JR kind of winces at the prospect of giving up his cushy lifestyle and says he'd love to, were it not essential for him to remain at the helm of Ewing Oil to make sure it's being run properly...and says this as though Operation Hoard Texas's Oil Supply, a maneuver designed to get Sue Ellen to return John Ross to Southfork, is a reasonable manner in which to be running a multi-million dollar oil company. Miss Ellie and Donna discuss their plan to buy some new bedroom furniture for Pam in order to "give her a lift" when she returns home. Miss Ellie then remarks on how much she misses Jock...and when Donna's all, "Wuh? I never thought of you being so dependent on a man", Miss Ellie explains that she's soooo in love with her husband that she likes being around him as much as possible. She then asks Donna how things with Ray are going, and Donna says that he's visibly changing from the dimwitted yokel she married into a half-Ewing who's obsessed with measuring up to the paternal side of his family. She adds that she has a feeling that their dull-as-fuck marriage may not last forever. Vaughn meets up with an old buddy and oil expert, Lloyd Bettinger, to pick his brain about what he predicts will happen with the price of oil. Lloyd tells him that it's most likely going to rise for the short term, but then dramatically drop within a couple of weeks. Vaughn "hypothetically" asks what someone should do if he were sitting on five million barrels of oil, and Lloyd says that if he couldn't sell it within two weeks, he'd better be prepared to hold onto it for at least a year. Vaughn grins to himself, then calls JR and proposes they get together later. Bobby meets with Jeff Farraday, who tells him he's a former lover of Kristin's, and that her baby was in his custody at the time of her death. He says he has zero desire to take care of the tot and wants Bobby to arrange for him to be reunited with his family, cryptically adding that this "family" is someone he's quite familiar with. Bobby scrunches his face confusedly as he hands Jeff a wad o' cash totalling $2,000, and Jeff hands him a large envelop with copies of checks that Kristin received from Jordan Lee (which...ick). He tells Bobby he'll call him in a few days. Walter Sherr has convened another meeting with Ray and Punk Anderson to discuss the San Antonio housing project, and Punk says he's going to have to decline 'cause he's been summoned to South America to work on the big oil project that Jock was tapped to lead. Ray wishes Punk well, then tells Walter he needs to consider whether or not he has the smarts and/or the dough to enter into this project on his own. JR drops by Afton's apartment and gives her a disgusting new assignment: hit the sheets with an important (aged) banker in exchange for a recording contract, adding "You take care of that banker, and I'll take care of you." A few seconds later, Vaughn Leland arrives for what he assumes is a private meeting with JR, but looks pleasantly surprised by the sight of Afton. He asks JR why in blazes he should secure such a huge loan for him, so JR promises a lucrative finder's fee and "other perks" ... and says that last thing while motioning over at Afton (which...ick). Vaughn perks up at the prospect of a naked romp with the buxom blonde and happily retorts, "We have a deal!", leaving Afton looking less than thrilled about JR pimping her out to this smarmy fossil. Sue Ellen is horseback riding when she comes upon Clayton standing in a field, staring into space. When she asks him whassup, he motions towards a building and tells her that Dusty was born in the ranch hands' house over yonder, and that he tore down the house he shared with his wife 'cause he couldn't bear to live there after she had died inside of it (from illness) while he was away on business. Sue Ellen clucks sympathetically and says, if it cheers him up, she's sooooo in love with Dusty...and Clayton says she's the best thing to happen to him, and that a man needs someone to care for. Rebecca and Katherine drop by Cliff's office so that Katherine can say goodbye before heading back to New York. She says she feels kinda bad about not staying to support Pam, then makes a weird remark about what a swoony hunk Bobby is. As Cliff tries not to retch in his mouth about being continually irritated about a Barnes being married to a Ewing, Katherine glances around the office and asks her brother what happened to the antique cabinet her father once had, so Cliff tells her he had it put in storage when the office was redecorated. Katherine looks visibly miffed that he took it upon himself to make decor changes in her father's office and murmurs about how the antique cabinet always seemed to belong there...then shakes it off and brusquely tells Rebecca that they need to head to the airport now. JR admonishes Franklin Horner for dragging his feet on finalizing his loan request, but Franklin says he needs confirmation from Vaughn Leland before he can sign off on the $200 million loan. Pam tells Dr. Conrad she feels as though she's wasting her time at Brooktree, and is now whitewashing her suicide attempt as her just being in a terrible mood that day. She concedes that it may have had something to do with John Ross no longer needing her love and care now that he's at Southern Cross with Sue Ellen...then hastily adds that returning him to his mother was the right thing to do. She mutely contemplates her own statement for a few seconds before spacily lamenting, "No one ever did that for me", then explains to Dr. Conrad that for years she thought her mother was dead, and only learned that she was still among the living after hiring an investigator to look into it. Dr. Conrad looks intrigued by the tale and asks her how she feels at this very moment, so Pam says she thought that finding her mother would ease her loneliness, but has determined that she continues to feel empty. She adds that she highly doubts she'd feel this empty if she had a child of her own to love and care fore...and if that's impossible, she truly doesn't see the point of living. Bobby tries to get in touch with Jordan Lee - but in vain, 'cause he can't get past the stonewalling from Lee's secretary. Lucy and a guy pal named Scott arrive at a house party thrown by their friend, Sandy Waring. Another partygoer, Beth, rushes over to say hey...and when Scott ambles off to get them some drinks, Lucy is shocked when she sees that Mitch is in attendance at the party, amiably chatting it up with Frank Waring. She sashays over, just as Mitch is telling Frank that he's beginning to warm to the idea of specializing in plastic surgery. Frank greets Lucy and wanders off...and Lucy tells Mitch she's pleasantly surprised, while deeply mystified, that he knows the wealthy doctor. Mitch explains that he's considering interning at Frank's hospital, a decision that will keep him in Dallas - but then emphasizes that he'll still never be as rich as the Ewings, even if he does opt for a more lucrative speciality. Lucy pretends as though money suddenly doesn't matter to her and tells him that all she cares about is getting back together...'cause I guess being married to a future renowned plastic surgeon seems way more impressive than being the wife of a lowly medical researcher. Over at Casa Yokel, Ray is tapping numbers on his calculator and looking dismayed...and when Donna asks him whassup, he tells her he's trying to figure out whether or not he should enter into a development project with Walter Sherr. Donna asks if she can help, then expresses yet again that she's not wild about losing the cowboy simpleton she thought she married. Ray says he actually enjoys all the "wheelin' and dealin'" 'cause it makes him feel less yokelly, and Donna assures him that she doesn't want him to fail...and to that end, proposes that she come in on the deal as a silent partner. Ray weakly points out that marriage and business don't mix - but when Donna points out that she considers her money [all of it earned by her late rich husband] their money, he agrees. Miss Ellie arrives at Southern Cross by chopper...and Sue Ellen and Clayton happily greet her and steer her over to the gazebo so they can all have a seat and share her joyous visit with John Ross. A few seconds later, Dusty pulls Clayton aside to tell him that the Galveston refinery hasn't received its expected shipment of crude oil, and for some odd reason he can't get answers from the distributor. Clayton furrows his brows and says they need that oil shipment asap, and that he's going to look into what the problem is. Vaughn Leland drops by Ewing Oil to deliver the loan papers to JR. JR chortles delightedly and asks him how he's getting [it] on with Afton, so Vaughn says she's gorgeous, though a bit cool with him, and JR's like, "Hmm...that's surprising" and assures him she'll warm to him eventually. JR begins signing the loan papers and remarks on how confident he is that the price of oil will continue to rise indefinitely, 'cause it'd really suck if he were stuck with five million barrels of oil he can't unload. He adds that if he weren't able to make the payments, it would mean that the Houston bank that Vaughn works for would, in essence, own Ewing Oil...and Vaughn's just like, "Oh? Is that a fact?" and chuckles to himself as he watches JR continues to sign the loan papers and seal his self-inflicted fate. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
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