HOLLYWOOD—After all of his betrayals, lies and conniving tactics the late Larry Hagman bid farewell on Monday nights episode of “Dallas” that saw the actor go out with a explosive bang to say the least. It was very reminiscent of the classic cliffhanger back in the 80s that had millions of people wondering who shot J.R., well in 2013 that’s the same question we’ll all be asking ourselves as well. Let’s rewind a bit to discuss what lead to departure of this iconic character.
The episode opened with John Ross (Josh Henderson) and Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) basking in the midst of their new acquisition of shares for Ewing Energies. Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) were not to pleased so they had an ace up their sleeve; cut off oil production/selling for the company. Without the oil aspect the company would indeed go bankrupt. A risky plan indeed, but one the father and son were willing to risk to send a message to J.R., John Ross and Sue Ellen.
Caught in the middle of the melee was Rebecca Barnes (Julie Gonzalo), Christopher’s estranged wife. She has a percentage of Christopher’s shares from Ewing Energies, which makes her a formidable foe for control of the company. Would she side with J.R., her new BFF or with her former flame Christopher? Both made compelling arguments, but Rebecca appears more concerned with securing the financial security for her unborn twins and her father, the vengeful Cliff Barnes.
To prove his point, Christopher raised the stakes with a car race to prove to investors that his methane gas proposal was one worth taking. It was a risky race, where John Ross did everything in his power to ensure that Christopher would not win the race. Even after, making sure the race vehicle would falter Christopher won in the end; this didn’t make John Ross or Sue Ellen happy.
Elena (Jordana Brewster) had to sit back and watch that everything that she worked for be taken from her. Her brother had a plan which saw the siblings developing their own plan for business. J.R. was missing in action, but stayed in communication with John Ross via telephone to ensure that their takeover for Ewing Energies was still on tact.
More importantly, J.R. himself was dabbling with his #1 henchman to make sure things were going as planned with Harris Ryland. Hmm, just what is J.R. up to and who is he looking to screw over now. Harris was none to pleased to see his daughter Emma (Emma Bell) beginning to formulate a relationship with her mother Ann (Brenda Strong). To see his mother Judith Light, console him in his time of despair was quite weird to say the least. Is it me or does Harris and his mother have a bit of an incestuous relationship? There’s more between these two then what meets the eye.
The defiant Emma rode horses with her mother and let her guard down; she’s realizing the mother she thought was all bad, isn’t so bad after all. During the final moments of the episode, Emma made a game-changing decision to leave her father and grandmother’s abode to live with the mother that she never knew. Rebecca chose to side with Christopher and Bobby after he won the race. A defeated John Ross gave his father a call to inform him of his failure. For the first time in a long time, J.R. praised his son brightening his spirit, but it a strange turn of events J.R. begin to explain to his son that he wouldn’t have to pay for his sins.
It was as if J.R. was foreshadowing that something bad was about to happen to him. Moments later he placed the phone down as someone entered the room; who that person is remains a mystery, but from the look on J.R.’s face he knew his assailant who fired several shots. A fluttered John Ross, screamed “J.R., J.R.,” he hears nothing in the background. In the final moments he shouts the word, “Dad?” John Ross rarely refers to J.R. as his father, but in those final moments he does so. And now a new mystery begins. Just who pulled the trigger taking the life of Southfork master manipulator J.R. Ewing? Was it a family member, a former friend, a nemesis or someone from the past? I’m sure the big revelation will shock audiences, but until then we can only speculate who pulled the trigger and why? “Dallas” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on TNT.
By LaDale Anderson
