36 - hurt

My post on the Ultimate Dallas Forum from September 2, 2014 (episode aired on September 1, 2014):

Loved:

- JR´s Masterpiece finally being revealed and everybody´s reaction to it (except for zombie PR, who still seems sedated). About time. I have to disagree with some of you about Bobby because here I did see our former Bobby from TOS: closer to Miss Ellie than to Jock. Trying to be objective, bearing attacks from all sides, only desperate when he´s alone (and breaking things like his Mama when she accepted that Jock died!)...and even listening to Elena´s bullshit with a little naïveté. I guess that directing the episode might have helped him to deliver a better performance (though actors who direct tend to say the opposite) and undoubtedly, he´s helped everybody (with, again, Julie´s exception) to give their best acting of the season so far.

- Sue Ellen is back! How I loved it when she said that "Miss Ellie would be ashamed of you!"! That was so early Sue Ellen! The same one who called Pam a "hussy" and said that she "was a disgrace to this family!". I wonder who really wrote this piece of dialogue because it was just superb, so in-character and wonderfully acted by Linda. She was the star of the episode to me, though I think that all the other actors had their chance to be bright. Sue´s talk with Bum is completely relevant and so necessary for her character´s development. I almost cried when she tore off JR´s letter calling it "garbage". Poor, poor Sue Ellen. But now we know that she´s gonna recover, and soon.

- Duffy´s direction: Maybe I was too biased by him but I got the impression that he used his old tricks from the original directing school of "Dallas"...instead of the nervous steadycam and sudden cuts. We had a lot of close-ups (therefore, lots of mixed emotions!), the usual night shots of the city and the ranch (which is making this new "Dallas" very, very "noir" in both senses), and that shot of Bobby´s face from below that another poster has already mentioned and compared with the "Citizen Kane" shots. Oh and I didn´t mind the "Hurt" montage at all! Actually it´s my favorite Johnny Cash song and I´m glad it was even used as the episode title. The lyrics make me think of the latter JR we saw die and his juxtaposition with Bobby´s rage attack was such a great idea! (Note: One of the fans here made a fantastic video using this song that I´d recommend everybody to watch on YouTube!).

Liked:

- Finally, Elena´s been shown as a two-faced girl. It´s too bad because 1) It´s the only Spanish character that ever starred on "Dallas", and being Spanish, I think it´s a shame that a Cuban-rooted person like Cidre had failed to make her a better character. 2) I like Jordana in her interviews. And 3) What everybody here said about her when she left JR3 for Chris and sent Mamá Ramos to give her ring has turned out to be THE BIGGEST TRUTH in TNT´s Dallas. Enough said.

- The interaction between the three young guys: Chris, JR3 and Nicolás have each made mistakes since we first met them, and the latter has even killed a man we though he cared for. Now the well-structured plot of this episode has shown them re-acting to the events and causing further events. During the exposé, there was a lot of hidden looks between the 3 guys whenever certain facts surfaced, and then we do have seen them dealing with them in the following scenes. This, such a simplistic theory of script-writing, has been stolen from us in the first 5 or 6 episodes of this season with the nonsense, shocking scenes of brothels, fetish and sperm-robbers (where must Candice be by now?). I loved how actively vindictive JR3 was toward Elena and also Nicolás´s reaction to Elena´s betrayal. Yes, man, you´re not what you seem to be, but you know: she isn´t either what she seems to be: a Mary Sue, at all! I even tolerated Chris and he reminded me of the early Bobby too. Kudos to Metcalfe, finally.

- The Ryland scenes: I don´t always enjoy them (sorry but I hate Judith with a passion) but they were great last night. Emma really seemed to be about to pull a Sharon Stone for the druglord (as another poster here said so rightly) and the view of both parents when she came home, each sitting in each side of the room and staring at her, was absolutely frigthening! I think Brenda has potential if they dare to give her the real strength that a mother should have to re-educate a daughter "like that". Pileggi is always great, and I hope that Emma´s head isn´t in next week´s wrapped box for "Coke-liking Mama"!!

Disliked (but actually didn´t care too much):

- What are they supposedly going to do with Julie Gonzalo this season? Because there are only 4 episodes left and she has just modeled a green piece of lingerie a couple of times and has hinted she was willing to have a threesome when she was actually trying to give JR3 and Emma hell!! Please don´t waste Miss Gonzalo: She´s the best Dallas girl since TOS cast Leigh Taylor-Young as Kimberly Cryder (not comparing them, just remembering when they chose a good nice actress for the show!).

- The whole Who Stole Whose Land plot: Right now, I think that it´s the biggest bluff this series has pulled since they hinted that Pamela Barnes Ewing might be alive last season. And I can see old Cliff forging a document to turn Elena against the Ewings! He finally learnt something about his dear little stepsister Katherine! I want him out of prison because I want to see Kenny acting and looking decent too, and if the show is renewed and he stays, I hope they can find a way to use him without killing any little affection we audiences might have for the character. Is redeeming him asking too much? And maybe giving him a miniplot with a battle between him and Afton for Pam´s love and respect?

- I still dislike the drug storyline. I think it has to do little with "Dallas", last time I checked out this show was about oil and methane business, right? I also deeply dislike that it seems that only the Mexicans deal with drugs in soap world. Oh and I hope that Ann has the lovetree cut down if she ever returns to Southfork...