Dallas - Season 5, Episode 7

JR's smugness will prove to be short-lived

"Blocked"
Original airdate: 11/20/1981

Episode summary: JR offers to replenish Clayton's oil supply in exchange for returning John Ross to Southfork. Bobby confronts Jordan Lee about possibly being Kristin's baby daddy. Ray and Donna move forward with a real estate project in San Antonio.

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Recap: Afton is rehearsing in the Stardrift Lounge when JR enters the restaurant and interrupts her to bark about how annoyed he is with her for not behaving in more flirty a manner with Vaughn Leland. Afton pretends as though she had no idea she was supposed to be hitting the sheets with a man she complains makes her skin crawl. A vexed JR asks her if she's willing to give up a lucrative recording contract for the sake of her personal dignity, and Afton mulls that over for a few seconds and decides 'mmm...nope' and promises to do a better job of warming up to the aged banker. 

Bobby drops by Jordan Lee's office to confront him about all the checks he's been sending to Kristin...and when he weakly claims it was a loan, Bobby dramatically holds up the print copy of Christopher Shepard's birth certificate and demands the truth. Jordan sheepishly tells him that an extortionist named Jeff Farraday is blackmailing him, then insists that since Kristin was doinking a bunch of different men months before she gave birth, it's questionable whether or not he's the father. He further explains that he paid Kristin a monthly sum for her silence, 'cause if his wife found out he'd been cheating on her, she'd open a can of whoop-ass on him he'd not soon forget. Bobby reminds him that since Kristin is now dead, her baby daddy has a responsibility to care for the hapless infant...and Jordan wearily says he needs some time to think over the messy situation of his own making, and will call him once he's figured everything out. 

"As Kristin's possible baby daddy, you're going to have to man up."

"My wife is definitely not going to like this."

Over at Southern Cross, Sue Ellen tells Dusty she's abstaining from horseback riding 'cause she knows how painful it is for him to no longer be able to ride, and Dusty's all, "Noooo! I feel like I'm crippling you too if you don't ride." Clayton summons them to breakfast - just as some guy named Joe from the Galveston refinery pulls up to report that, due to the sudden stoppage of their crude oil deliveries, he's going to have to start laying people off. Clayton furrows his brows and says that he's determined to get to the bottom of this suspiciously timed conundrum.

JR is on the phone with Mr. Williamson, aka the distributor who has agreed to divert Clayton's oil supply to him. Mr. Williamson says he's taking an abrupt vacation 'cause he's too much of a scaredy-cat to face Clayton's wrath when he gets wind of how hard he just screwed him over. JR hangs up and muses to himself that Clayton will get his oil when he returns his son to Southfork. 

Ray and Donna meet with Walter Sherr at the Cattlemen's Club to formally move forward with the San Antonio housing development. Ray remarks on how this is the first time he'll be wheelin' and dealin' without the aid of Jock or Punk Anderson, and Walter assures him that the land in question is a prime piece of real estate and that everything is going to turn out super fantastic.

Cliff and Rebecca drop in at Brooktree to visit Pam, who now says she was acting foolishly when she threatened to leap off the roof of a tall building. [Which is a ridiculously giant understatement, but OK.] She says that Dr. Conrad has been peppering her with questions about her childhood, then asks Rebecca if she seemed like a happy baby. Rebecca says she was, then reminisces about the day she took her first steps. Pam beams at her recollection and asks how old she was when she first started talking, and Rebecca turns silent 'cause by then she had already abandoned her family. Pam's expression instantly morphs from happy to blank as she abruptly declares that she's tired and wants to head back to her room to rest. 

Lucy meets up with Mitch in downtown Dallas and tells him in a few hours she's off to Houston to do some publicity work for the Miss Young Dallas campaign. Mitch, in turn, shares his good news that he's decided to specialize in plastic surgery and, to that end, has been accepted as an intern at Frank Waring's hospital. He says that this means he'll be staying in Dallas for the foreseeable future, and Lucy woots and happily hugs him before rushing off to get ready for her trip. 

A visibly annoyed Clayton informs Dusty and Sue Ellen that his supply of crude oil has been diverted and bought up by someone who's dickishly trying to shut down his operation. He cryptically says he has his suspicions and vows that there's going to be hell to pay when he confirms the identity of the scoundrel, which Sue Ellen seems to correctly assume is her soon-to-be ex-husband.

Clayton is on the phone with the uber-boss of Texas's oil distribution, demanding to know why he hasn't received his shipment. The man studies the distribution list and is all, "Hmm...that's weird" when he sees that Clayton's name has been crossed off. When Clayton learns that his usual distributor, Mr. Williamson, is currently on vacation, he snarls that he's done ever doing business with that man...and after he slams the phone down, he tells Dusty that their dwindling oil supply is likely going to trigger a shutdown of their operation. Dusty's all, "Bummer", then tells him that Sue Ellen went into town a few hours ago. 

Sue Ellen storms into JR's office, and he reacts by mockingly asking, "Getting a little tired of the celibate life, are you?" She ignores that jab at Dusty's penile deficiencies and demands to know whaddup with him buying up Clayton's oil supply. JR shoots back that it's none of her business - but that if she sends John Ross back to Southfork, Clayton's oil problems will magically disappear. Sue Ellen seethes, "Never" and tells him she's going to win the divorce settlement, and JR rejoins, "What I want I get...eventually", and while she's storming out of his office, he chuckles about her "long, lonely nights on Southern Cross" ... and says this as though he had been regularly pleasuring her in their Southfork bedroom the entire time she was his obedient trophy wife. 

"I can only assume that you're very lonely after committing yourself to a penile-ly inept cowboy."

"Yes, because it's such a drastic difference from being married to a man who coldly abandoned his husbandly duties pretty early on in the marriage."

Lucy tells Miss Ellie that she saw Mitch yesterday and learned that he's going to be staying in Dallas while he trains to become a wealthy plastic surgeon. Miss Ellie cautions her that Mitch may have made the decision to change his specialty to plastic surgery in an effort to keep pace with her expectations...and that one day he might resent her for changing his ideals. Lucy just kind of shrugs at that prediction and says she hopes that Mitch's new career means they can get back together, then rushes off when her airport shuttle pulls into the driveway. 

Clayton is working the phones in an attempt to get to the bottom of his oil delivery quagmire and how he might avoid a mass layoff.

Senator Dickson drops in on Bobby to admonish him for taking too much time off to tend to Pam's mental health issues and, in turn, abdicating his responsibility to show up in Austin once in awhile to vote on the floor. He bitterly recalls that he was almost defeated in getting some project in his district passed, then warns Bobby that one day he might need a senatorial favor...and when that day comes, he can go pee up a rope if he expects his support. After he storms out, Jordan Lee stops by to hand Bobby a doctor's report verifying his blood type...which apparently precludes him from being the father of Kristin's spawn. Bobby's all, "Wha-a-a?" and stares at the medical report in stunned bewilderment.

Sue Ellen returns to Southern Cross and tells Dusty and Clayton that earlier today she stormed over to JR's office 'cause she suspected him of being the scoundrel who shut off their crude oil supply...and that he confirmed that, yep, he did it for the purpose of getting John Ross back onto Southfork. Clayton wonders aloud where JR is storing all of that oil, 'cause the rental units have gotta be costing him a fortune. Sue Ellen tells him that JR will go to any lengths for revenge, then says she should prolly cave and return their son to the Ewing estate post-haste. When Dusty and Clayton protest that decision, she tells them she can't stay and ruin their lives in the process, then tearily whimpers, "Pleeeeeease let me go away."

Afton is performing at the Stardrift Lounge when she notices Cliff arrive with a date. She wraps up her song and takes a break to sashay over to the bar to say hey to Cliff, and to remind him that he's a nice guy without a future. Cliff informs her that something monumental has changed in his life, and that it has everything to do with Wentworth Tool & Die - in case she's interested in looking into that on her own - then urges her to scuttle off when his date returns from the ladies room.

"What would you say if I told you I was a newly wealthy CEO?"

"I'd say that I might possibly be able to dredge up some feelings of affection for you."

Ray and Donna arrive at the Southfork breakfast buffet, where JR is chowing down and reading the newspaper. He remarks on how relieved he is that the price of oil seems to be holding steady - just as Miss Ellie wanders over and says she was just on the phone with Jock, but that the connection was so terrible he told her he'd try to call again tonight. Donna tells the two that she and Ray are jetting to San Antonio later to check out some land she and Ray have invested in to build a development of townhouses...and JR snidely tells her her late husband would be spinning in his grave if he knew that a cowboy simpleton was sweet talking her out of his hard earned cash. Donna shoots him the stink-eye before shoving him (fully clothed) into the swimming pool, a move that causes Miss Ellie (and me) to laugh out loud, along with JR as he calls after her, "Donna, don't go away mad!" [I must interject here to emphasize that Larry Hagman is the absolute best thing about re-watching Dallas.]

Bobby meets up with Jeff Farraday to inform him that Jordan Lee has been medically ruled out as the bio dad of Kristin's spawn, then suggests that he hand the baby over to a known living relative, e.g. Sue Ellen. Jeff argues that the baby is his "ace in the hole" and insists that he's doing nothing wrong with holding onto him 'cause Kristin personally asked him to take care of him. Bobby scrunches his face perplexedly and says that someone else had to have been giving Kristin money during her maternity grift, and Jeff says that the only other source of money he knew of was a trust fund, with a law firm facilitating her monthly stipend. Bobby perks up at that tidbit and says he'd like to see copies of those checks, and Jeff agrees to produce them in a couple of hours and adds that that documentation is going to cost him another $2,000.

Pam tells Dr. Conrad about her visit with Cliff and Rebecca, then blanks out when she says that Rebecca wasn't able to recall when she started talking 'cause by that point she had abandoned her family. Dr. Conrad stares concernedly at her, then summons a nurse to escort Pam back to her room. She then gets on the phone with Bobby and says they need to talk about his wife asap, and he looks alarmed and says he'll be right there. 
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Clayton returns to Southern Cross looking visibly unhappy about not being able to resolve his crude oil supply problems.

Over at Ewing Oil, JR instructs Sly to issue all of the necessary checks for the many storage units it's going to take to hold Clayton's oil supply. He then asks her to get Clayton on the phone for him...and during a brief conversation, the two men agree to meet tomorrow morning.

Dr. Conrad tells Bobby that she's worried Pam is heading towards a full-blown psychotic depression. She asks about her early life, so Bobby tells her that after her mother disappeared she was raised by Digger and her Aunt Maggie...and that Rebecca only recently resurfaced after Pam hired an investigator to locate her. Dr. Conrad wonders aloud why she'd want to search for her mother after all these years, so Bobby explains that Pam had recently learned that Digger wasn't her biological father...which effectively means that she's an extra suffering orphan 'cause she's lost her mother and both fathers. Dr. Conrad chews on that intel for a few seconds and says that knowing this is going to be very helpful in how she treats Pam during their therapy sessions, and adds that she can only assume that Pam's desperate need to love and care for a child is a way to somehow retroactively make things right for Baby Pam. Seems plausible.

Jeff Farraday tries to contact Bobby at his office, but his secretary tells him he abruptly left to tend to a family emergency.

Ray and Donna are in San Antonio, looking at the plot of land they just purchased from Walter Sherr. A few seconds later, architect Neal Hart arrives, gets introduced to Walter, and asks Ray if he's had the soil tested to ensure that the land is actually suitable for construction. Ray stares back at him dumbly and says he didn't know enough to do that before making such a huge purchase, and Neal's like, "No big deal" and says he'll bring in his engineer to take care of it. Ray and Donna amble off with Walter while Neil glances around at the acres of undeveloped land, grabs a handful of soil [that I can only guess isn't going to turn out to be the right kind], and stares at it contemplatively.

"Did you do your due diligence by getting the soil tested?"

"I'll let the blank expression on my dumb face be your answer."

That evening at Southfork, JR assures Jock over the phone that everything's going swimmingly with Operation Hoard Texas's Oil Supply 'cause he can only assume that Clayton won't want to just stand by while his refineries are shut down. He says after Clayton caves to his demands, he'll repay the $200 million he took out in loans...and promises his daddy that when he returns to Southfork, John Ross will be here and that the Ewings will once again be a big happy family. 

The next morning at breakfast, Bobby laments to Miss Ellie about how much he misses Pam, and that her doctor warned him that right now she's in a critical phase and might possibly not get any better. He's pretty sure that a baby will pull her out of her depression - but he's powerless to do anything to help 'cause he's been to every adoption agency in town, without having any luck, and has even considered adopting illegally. Miss Ellie asks him if Pam is even well enough to care for a baby - uh, right?? - and Bobby vaguely insists that she's great around children, her mental health problems notwithstanding. Miss Ellie coos at him to chillax and give Dr. Conrad a chance to work her magic, given that Pam has only been in therapy for less than a week.

Clayton arrives at his meeting with JR and angrily greets him by calling him a snake and asking how much he wants for his crude oil supply. JR says the price is returning Sue Ellen and John Ross to Southfork, so Clayton reminds him that Sue Ellen hates him with the intensity of a thousand suns and therefore doesn't ever want to return to her marital home. JR points out, "She can't make it on her own. Every time she runs away, it's to another man" - which...true enough - but Clayton declines his ultimatum 'cause of how much he respects Sue Ellen and how strongly he feels that a young lad like John Ross belongs with his mother. JR shoots him the stink-eye and growls, "I'll break you" and Clayton points out that he's the one who's going broke, then explains that he's been keeping track of the price of oil and has found that it's starting to drop. He smugly tells JR that the bankers who must have loaned him an insane amount of money to hoard the Texas oil supply aren't going to be patient forever, and that there may not even be a Ewing Oil by the time Jock returns from South America...and JR responds to that prediction by staring back at him with his face scrunched concernedly. 

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