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S4 EP9- Dallas: The Prodigal Mother-The " Just Some Lady in Houston" Episode

• Jett Shae • Episode 227

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Welcome Back Soap Fiends
Prepare to be transported back to 1981 as we dissect the Ewing family's power plays and personal dramas in Dallas Season 4, Episode 9, "The Prodigal Mother." Want to understand the psychological tactics of JR Ewing? We've got you covered. This episode showcases JR's unparalleled talent for manipulation, as well as the curious pre-dinner rituals that mask the family's turbulent past. We'll break down the Ewing household dynamics, portraying how they’ve managed to bury troubles like Sue Ellen's alcoholism and Jock's heart condition under the guise of family unity.

Join us as we spotlight an evening at the Ewing mansion with Lucy's modest boyfriend, Mitch, taking center stage. Witness the high-stakes family dinner where Jock, JR, and Bobby clash over the future of Ewing Oil, particularly after the Ewing 23 explosion. Through Jock's dismissive attitude towards Mitch's parking attendant job, we explore how the Ewings' perception of wealth and status contrasts with the American political trend of candidates flaunting their working-class roots. This segment offers a rich tapestry of familial and social commentary, emphasizing how deeply ingrained attitudes toward class can shape relationships and ambitions.

Lastly, we dive into an emotional subplot that could rival any soap opera twist. Pam’s quest to uncover her true heritage unfolds dramatically, as a private investigator reveals shocking details about her long-lost mother, Rebecca Barnes Wentworth. Experience the emotional highs and lows as Pam confronts this revelation, navigates her relationship with Bobby, and eventually reconnects with Rebecca under tension-filled circumstances. Wrapping up with speculation on future storylines and complex relationships, we underscore why the Ewing family's saga remains endlessly captivating. Tune in for a nostalgic yet insightful journey through one of Dallas' most riveting episodes!

Speaker 1:

Living in that Ewing house. Too good for regular coffee, too good to drink pink dough bean coffee. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome, or welcome back to Soap Floor, the official gathering place for newbies, novices and OG diehard fans of the golden age of primetime. I'm your host, jed, reviewing one of the lower level, sudsy episodes of Dallas from 1981. Lower level, sudsy episodes of Dallas from 1981. So, whether you're new to this or true to this, get back and enjoy. Tell the kids to play outside or out of sight. Tell bae no questions, suggestions or concerns for the next 25 or 35 minutes. Everyone else on earshot, cool, quiet or kicked out. Those are your only options, because we are watching our stories. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is SoFlor. Hello, gorgeous, welcome back, party people to another fun-filled edition of SoFlor. Gotta be honest with you. This one is not going to be super long. We are jumping back into Dallas, season four, episode nine, and this one is pretty cut and dry. I feel like this is one of those builder episodes. We need a couple of things to happen so that we can build out the story going forward. I feel like this is a longer season too. Y'all, if I'm being honest with you. I am recording this from the bed.

Speaker 1:

I'm feeling a little under the weather today so I thought I'd vibe in bed and I made the mistake of thinking I was a big girl now and I decided I was going to watch something a little nostalgic but very, very terrifying. I put on Unsolved Mysteries, quickly freaked myself out. After like an episode and a half I don't know what I was thinking. Remember how I told you guys like my dad had us on a regimen we could only watch tv like for so long when we were very little and like I, I watched a lot of like designing women, a lot of things that were in syndication, cheers, stuff like that, because that was what came on before the simpsons, but like after power rangers, depending on what season it is. One of the things that would scare the crap out of me with the quickness is when my mom would come in and she'd insist on watching unsolved mysteries. It came on at 6 30. You better believe I found a book or something to entertain myself after that. I hated that guy so much and today I thought I'd be brave and quickly regretted it. So I rewatched season four, episode nine of Dallas, just looked forward to.

Speaker 1:

It Looks like there's only 23 episodes this season. So this is about the mark. This is about the time where you got to start thickening the plot a little bit. We've already had the shooting. We've already had Kristen Lee. Not really much else is going on. Three things, and three things only, are happening on this episode. So grab yourself something to drink, kick back. We're going to keep it cute, we're going to keep it quick. Season four, episode episode nine Dallas the prodigal mother. First things first. Yes, this is still about Ewing 23. We're still trying to figure out what to do about it. Nobody's really pressed.

Speaker 1:

But something that stands out to me on this episode is that JR is better at psychological warfare than anybody else. He is leaps and bounds ahead of Jock and Bobby and pretty much all of Dallas. Jr does this thing better than anyone, fictional or not. He is perfectly content. Whether people absolutely hate his guts or they adore him, it's the same vibe, it's the same energy, despite the surroundings. It's very, very unusual, I think most humans, most people I know by about 30, you start to realize that, okay, I'm probably not going to be the best of friends with everybody. You start really understanding. Sometimes you just associate with people. Sometimes you tolerate some people, some people you just don't like. They don't like you and it's fine. You don't have to ruin your life, you don't have to ruin theirs, you don't even have to talk about it and you can be content with that, I would say. Most people, though, fill away if you find out that someone hates your guts and you can't really figure out why. It might nag at you a little bit. Jr, on the other hand, he knows exactly what he's doing. He knows exactly how many people he screwed over. He know he screwed the pooch with his family more times than a little bit, yet he still walks up and down the hallways as chin up chest out, like the world is his oyster and he's never done anything wrong.

Speaker 1:

We see this at the beginning. You know how the e the Ewings pregame before they have a meal. I really don't understand the pregame prep rally. Before every single meal they're waiting in the living room having a few cocktails. Never mind the fact that Sue Ellen was a swampy drunk Season and a half ago they're over that. Never mind that Jock had some sort of heart condition Everybody seems to have forgotten about. We're all going to congregate while the servant folk prepare us a delicious meal.

Speaker 1:

On this particular night. Lucy has invited over her boyfriend Mitch, who is subject number two, which we'll jump into just a bit here and then a little bit more later on. Immediately, the thing that stands out is that Bobby, of course he's. You know, ewing 23 just blew up in the most amazing graphics I've ever seen on television. They had that sci-fi channel budget, god. Do y'all remember how terrible the sci-fi network is? I'm sure it's still out. And let me be very clear I think the series on sci-Fi Network were fine. It was like the movies that were. They had a budget of about $14. Anyway, ewing 23 is gone.

Speaker 1:

Kaboom, jr is starting the part, because starting the pot, because he wants to jump back in the saddle. He wants to be head of Ewing Oil and you can tell Jock does too. We're not really talking about that. Jock is still going off to Fort Worth every chance he gets to kind of focus on the ranching aspect of their business. But his two little home boys keep showing up like hey, man, you're going to do this, you're going to do that. You can tell he wants to be that dude again. It seems like he retired a little bit too early and I've thought about that. I hadn't thought about it in a while, but I I thought probably right after his heart attack didn't seem like he was stressed by the job per se. I don't understand why he couldn't stay on his head and then have the boys as vice president, but it seems like he jumped out of the saddle a little too quickly and he wants to get back in. So we see JR working his magic. You know he's planning little thoughts here and there.

Speaker 1:

Bobby, you can't do that, you can't. Why are we gonna waste all this ewing money on new equipment? And Bobby's like shut up, dude, like that thing pumps out millions of dollars a month, we're gonna be fine. Jock's like okay, yeah, but what if it keeps burning? I've seen oil wells burn for years and years and years.

Speaker 1:

Nobody's talking about the attempted murder. That it's just another day in the neighborhood. I guess once one family member has been shot, the novelty is gone. They don't really care. So Mitch, who is Lucy's boo, is sitting on the couch and she's making these big puppy dog eyes at him and he's like squirming, like he has hemorrhoids or something, and he looks over to Lucy and he says does your family talk about anything other than money, we'll get to that. She's like ignore them, who cares what they talk about? Let's just go, let's go eat. So finally, teresa or whoever announces that the meal is ready and the family leaves their little pregame and they all start heading towards the, the dining room.

Speaker 1:

Oh, ellie goes over to Jock. She's noticed that he hasn't really made an attempt to get to know Lucy's boyfriend. Now, on the one hand, we all know Lucy gets around. He's probably just like let me just not get attached, I'll worry about it when I need to. But out of his mouth he says why do I need to get to know the what does he call him? Parking attendant, and JR just cackles. This really rubbed me the wrong way. Jock and JR and the rest of the Ewings are ranchers first, which is a very, very blue-collar job, and they're oilmen after that, which can be either a very blue-collar, a very white-collar job.

Speaker 1:

Part of the appeal. If you live in the state, you'll you know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm curious. We have listeners all over the world. Shout out to y'all worldwide Whenever there's like a political campaign coming up in the United States, and I would. I would love to hear from people from all over the States.

Speaker 1:

In the US there is something about you proving, if you're a politician, how down home you are. Now, I'm never going to be political on here, but I'm just pointing out this fact. Doesn't matter how blue blood you are, it doesn't matter if your family's been rich for like the last 300 years. They'll be like yeah, we're just regular people. You'll see them squatting, they're picking up the dirt, they're going by the Dairy Queen, waving at the farmers and stuff. Oh, yeah, we're of the people.

Speaker 1:

The closer you are to like a farmer or a steel mill worker what else? An oil field worker? I'm trying to think something. Just think of anything. A roughneck, a guy who you know works in the coal mines, depending on what part of the US you're in. If you're a sailor, the closer you are to the hardworking, working people, the salt of the earth. America loves to think of ourselves as like we're those people, the better off you do in your campaign.

Speaker 1:

Generally. You have to be, you know, campaigning to the little guy. When I think of cattlemen and oil guys, especially like the wildcatters, which is what Jock claims to have been like somebody who just kind of got lucky, got out there start digging, pulled herself up by the bootstraps. You know what I mean. You would be the highfalutinous blue collar guy To then turn your nose up at a guy who parks cars. And, mind you, he parks cars, along with 17 other jobs, because he is putting himself through school. Why is nobody banking? Nobody is talking about the fact that Mitch is going to be a doctor. They're acting like he's going to skin chinchillas and sell them on the black market. He is working. He is feeding himself, clothing himself, putting himself through medical school every single day, getting up, working to to take care of himself. He's not robbing anybody. He's not selling drugs. He's not pimping out women. He, you know, screwing his friends out of millions and millions of dollars. He simply goes to work, comes home and jocks scoffs at the fact he parks cars. I'm like you kick cow turds. You literally are elbow deep. I'm not even going to go there. You kick cow turds. You have a wife in an insane asylum. You had a prodigal son or a kid walking around on your ranch for 15 years. You got him living in the outhouse like an animal instead of in your house. But you know, ew, manual labor. You park cars at a prestigious restaurant, gross anyway.

Speaker 1:

The episode is more or less that, as, concerning jock jr and bobby, jock's friends want him to get involved in some sort of cattle, or no, no, no, they want him to buy some land in louisiana. So this would be the Texas Louisiana border. It's swampland right now, but they feel like they can turn it into a resort or you know something, something magical. They just need his. You know his eyes on it. They meet at the cattleman's club because they're highfalutin, but they're down to earth, they're cattlemen, you know. And he takes Ray.

Speaker 1:

Jr happens upon them. He didn't happen upon him. He plans it. Devil works hard, kris Jenner works harder, jr works hardest. He shows up, injects himself into the conversation and he starts playing these psychological games with his dad. But Jock has yet to decide whether or not he wants to be involved in this, because it's like $10 million. Well, his friends are talking. Jock's friends, his old guys, blah, blah, blah. It's not really important.

Speaker 1:

Jr basically plants the seed in Jock's head that, oh God, it's going to look really bad if Ewing Oil can't produce $10,000 or can't come up with 10 million. He's like dad, are you sure we should do 10 million right now? He's doing that thing where you say, oh honey, I don't know. I don't know if I should buy this brand new vacuum. It's just so expensive. I don't know if, if you're, you, have enough time on your hands to put it together. It might be too complicated for you.

Speaker 1:

Where you like kind of insult someone so that they do something you want, that's what he does. Meanwhile, bobby is having meetings with members of the cartel. Now it is plain as day on this episode. The cartel is rejoicing that JR was shot. They all regret that he's still breathing and they all kind of wish they had shot him.

Speaker 1:

But you can hate the person and respect their money. Like I said, you don't always have to like everybody, but you can be cordial and that's what they want to. But you can be cordial and that's what they want to do. They all like Bobby and now that they know JR is nowhere in sight, they're like listen, ewing Oil has clearly come into all this money. We'd be more than happy to do a little business with you. We have this whole thing going on, some offshore stuff I think you put in like I can't remember the exact amount you put in, let's just say 10 million to keep it uniform. Put in 10 million, you'll get like 110 back. Uh, what do you say, bob? We're willing to let you in, let y'all back into the cartel, so long as JR is nowhere near it. Bobby's like cool. So they kind of go.

Speaker 1:

They spend the rest of the episode off to the side dealing with that. We all know that's going to blow up into something else later on. Wonderful, wonderful, not really. Money, money, money, money. Mitch hates money. Let's go ahead and get into it. So let's rewind back to the Ewing pregame, pre-dinner chitter, chitter, chat, chat, where they sit around and they clink glasses and insult each other. Lucy sitting there with Mitch Mitch turns to Lucy Does your family talk about anything other than money? She's like ignore them, forget them. Well, he says to her can't ignore anything like that.

Speaker 1:

Now JR says something there. He's arguing with Bobby and Jock about Ewing 23 being burnt up. Jr's point is that we probably shouldn't be using our assets to pour money into this. And you know, it could be a one and done. It could be over. We really don't. He's thinking let's put the money somewhere else, let's not concentrate on Ewing 23. Let's just stop for now. Let it smother out or burn out or whatever, and then maybe later we can revisit it. I don't see why we should be pouring more money into new equipment out there. Jocks doesn't disagree, but he also doesn't agree. But it's pretty clear that like writing it off would not be a bad thing. Jocks kind of lean in that way because it could possibly burn for years and years. You know what I mean. Bobby and JR in disagreement. Jock is just like I mean, we'll see.

Speaker 1:

So the conversation quickly starts to feel a little bit weak. Jr points out that Bobby basically dealt with a terrorist and was extorted out of all this money and Bobby disagrees. He's like you just don't want me to start pumping because you don't want Cliff Barnes to get his cut. I forgot that Pam and Cliff get a cut of that. Well, jr brings mitch into it and jr is like even this young man understands this. He's like no, would you deal with terrorists? Mitch is like well, I don't understand that kind of money. Jr's like I don't take it. Don't matter how much money it is, it's common sense. If someone's holding a gun to you, do you give them all your money? We're going to keep coming back to this room. This is all too much. By dinner's end Mitch says he wants a break.

Speaker 1:

Yet again, this is what the third or fourth time, the third time they've broken up or been put on pause. So Lucy goes throughout the episode just kind of crying about it. She's upset, she's like why does he keep doing this? Well, her little friend, her little redhead friend, tells her okay, this kid is orderly, he's kind, he's smart, he loves to study, he's basically everything that you are not. Now I don't know if she I couldn't really tell if she wanted her to get back with him or not. But Lucy tells her girl, you're just short-sighted. I think she was being shady talking about their girl's glasses. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Lucy's at the swimming pool one morning, where Uncle Bobby is also swimming, and they have a heart to heart. Side note, remember when I told you that Sue Ellen is doing a whole lot of poolside, whatever. Lucy's starting to swim a bunch too.

Speaker 1:

I have made up a story in my mind that whoever was in charge of the wardrobe, the head designer for the wardrobe department was like hey, my cousin Eleanor is a main purchaser for Kmart. She has a ton of stuff they're just going to throw out. Why don't we use it? Everybody's in a bathing suit every other episode now, but it could be the obligatory. We are sexy and we know it. We know people are looking at us, so let's put this little young thing in her little swimsuit.

Speaker 1:

So she's in a Baywatch swimsuit, sitting on the side of the pool and Bobby tells her in not so many words you were a big girl. Stop asking people what to do, and do what your heart tells you to do. It's time for you to make a decision. If you want Mitch, go and get him. Stop asking everybody what you should do. And she's like I don't do that. He goes, you definitely do. And then you get pissed off when people don't tell you what you want to hear. So she decides it's time to make amends. She goes to sit with Mitch at school. They're sitting on the courtyard or whatever, and all of a sudden he's like oh, you have me wrapped around your little finger. She tells him bet, why don't you go ahead and marry me?

Speaker 1:

I cannot figure out for the life of me why Mitch would think this is a good deal, other than his insecurity about money and Lucy's telling him that you, you know, it doesn't matter, we don't really need money. Just take me away from all this. I guess this is young love, but God, does this not sound like the worst idea ever. The okay, I can tell right away there's no chemistry with these kids. There's no way Mitch is going to be on this show long-term. There's just no way. I'm sure they'll bump into each other. Later, once he's a doctor, I'm sure she'll get married or something. They'll bump into each other. But right now it just doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1:

Lucy leaving the show, lucy running off, or Lucy waiting to be a doctor's wife which everyone keeps scoffing at like she's, I mean, some sort of smuggler or something. It's Just not adding up to me. But for whatever reason, mitch agrees yeah, I think we should get married. Let's do it Okay, again. I have to remind myself this time and time again. Sometimes episodes are just to build upon an idea so that we can crash it later. 100%. This is a crash and burn later. Also, mitch reminds me of Lucy's no good daddy, gary.

Speaker 1:

Y'all know I still have beef with Gary from last week, where Mitch doesn't run from problems per se. He is like hyper fixated on the fact that she comes from money and anytime something gets a little bit inconvenient. Anytime she just kind of enjoys the life that she lives. He takes it as a personal insult. Now, to me that seems very unfair. She can't help where she comes from, she can't help how she lives. She certainly isn't flaunting it, but he just can't handle it. And I'm like you really want to attach yourself to that, because the minute she wants, you know, cafe bustelo instead of the walmart brand coffee, he's gonna throw a fit living in that ewing house. Too good for regular coffee, too good to drink pink dough bean coffee. You know, he is damn it. Lucy, I work 17 jobs to pay for these books and if she can't, never this. This is a setup. Lucy, run for the hills. Mitch Seem like a lovely young man. Run for the hills. The both of you.

Speaker 1:

Some people insist on making the struggle their personality. I don't know if that's Mitch's MO, but okay, yeah, she's rich, you're probably going to be pretty rich. I'll let this go eventually. But I can't think of a single place on planet earth where being a doctor is like gross ew, like you're gonna be so broke. That's neither here nor there.

Speaker 1:

But speaking of broke, broken dreams, broken promises, a broken identity, pam has been doing her due diligence all season long, so that is, was it nine episodes to find her mother? Remember Digger Barnes, on his deathbed, confessed that Pam belonged to another man, hutch McKinney, and she decided from that moment on she was going to find out more about her mama. Now her and cliff believed her to have been dead for many, many years, but I can't remember what flipped the switch. So let's go back one more time to the ewing family pre-dinner pre-game. While jr bobby and jock are discussing slash arguing, slash song shaded each other, and while mitch is cowering in the corner freaking out over the fact that he's not a kabillionaire like the rest of these bohos, pam is just kind of quietly watching life go by.

Speaker 1:

She gets up to go to dinner when, when Teresa calls everyone into the dining room but there's a phone call, bobby picks up the phone and it's detective Mackie or private eye Mackie I'm not sure what the proper term would be, I suppose investigator Mackie, her PI. He's like hey, pam, I got some good news. I think I found your mama and she is very much alive. Do you think you can get to Houston, like as soon as possible? She's like absolutely, let me eat. It's it's roast beef night or whatever. Let me get a meal in my gut and I'll be on the first thing, smoking. So of course, after dinner she goes upstairs.

Speaker 1:

She and bobby are going through that thing where they can't figure out how he can work and she can work and they can still be a couple. He's having to work more and more, and he really does. He has to work triple and double and quadruple over time because his brother is working harder than the devil and chris jenner to ruin his reputation. So she tells bob okay, I'm gonna go to houston. They think they found my mama. He goes. Well, will you be back by wednesday? I need you to go to this family event to support donna culver's boy culver whoever, I can't remember his name, but she's like oh, of course I'll be there to support your family. Emphasis on your, emphasis on you suck emphasis on I can't believe you have the audacity to blow me off and expect me to show up for you. That's what she said. Well, before long she gets to Houston and, sure enough, detective Mackie is excited. This was my favorite part of this episode.

Speaker 1:

The very stark difference between the way Pam hears information, the way the detective or the PI delivers it, and their ideals about their mom there was I can't remember which episode. They sprinkle a little bit about her mom every episode and the last Mackie had found out was that she had left East Texas with this traveling salesman and they believe that she was like a waitress at some point. So all signs pointed to her being alive, at least at the time she was reported dead. So when they get to the hotel room he starts explaining to her that he looked this way, he looked that way, he did all these name checks and, based on the traveling salesman, they were able to kind of track him down and she was with him at the time. But it seems like after that they split up and she changed her name about dozens and dozens of time. He says every 20 minutes she's changing her name.

Speaker 1:

But he's tracked her down to Houston and Pam wants to know wow, how do you know this is her, which is a valuable question. If someone keeps changing their name, especially if it's like a common, like a Rebecca, back then I'm sure Elizabeth, names like that, mary, you could be anybody, any age, any race. You know what I mean. It's just very difficult. So Pam is a little bit doubtful. He goes no's why you pay me so much. I definitely have my ways. I'm pretty sure this is her. So Pam goes. Well, god, I just can't even believe she's alive. I hope so, but did you tell her about me? He's like no, I didn't tell her about you. They think her name was Rebecca Burke.

Speaker 1:

At this point he's like I didn't really like approach her because I didn't know how you wanted to handle this. Like he didn't know if she wants to just know and not do anything, kind of keep an eye on her going forward, or if they want to be introduced. And she goes. I know I keep asking you this, but how? How are you so sure that this is my mama? And he said something very interesting. Now I don't know if it's true, if it's just one of those little TV tidbits, one of those soap text things so that the story fits together, but he says that when a person changes their name, they generally keep the same letters or, excuse me, they keep the same initials. So Rebecca Burke could be Rebecca Brown, rebecca Blue, rebecca Bernstein, rebecca, and she kept that same pattern. He's like this woman did that. She changed her name, but it was always something very, very similar.

Speaker 1:

And it reminds me of that movie, gone Girl with Ben Affleck. Remember, his wife had, like, faked her own death Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler and she was living off of someone else. And they she ended up getting robbed because the fake name that she assumed was so very different from her real name that she never turned like, she wouldn't even answer to it most of the time and people figured out pretty quickly that she was not who she said she was. So Pam and he decide that they're gonna go visit her tomorrow. So she sits in her hotel room that night just kind of thinking up like, wow, I can't believe my mom was here. And here comes the best possible scene oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I need to emphasize something. Pam's like oh my God, is she okay? Mackie the PI's like she looks pretty good to me. Now he says that more times than a little bit. I think he's a little bit sweet on her mom.

Speaker 1:

The next day they pull up to this sprawling mansion. They pull up South Side of the Gate in the longest Lincoln Cadillac ever or Lincoln town car ever, and he's like oh, it's right about time, it's right about time. So the door opens and these two women come out and they're both holding something, and one's a maid. One's this other lady and Pam's like oh my God, she looks so old. Jesus, how long has she been working here? She's thinking dang, my mama's run down. She knows she's been a waitress, she's been all these things. And the PI is like that's not your mama, that's your mama. The other lady, mrs Rebecca Barnes Wentworth, the rich lady in the mansion, and immediately my mind goes back to Cliff. Cliff told him I don't have a mama, I don't have a mom. If I had a mom, to hell with her, because you know what she left us with him.

Speaker 1:

Now, I'm sure that's easier to swallow when you think she's running for her life. She's destitute, she can't possibly afford to take care of these two children. But you cool up into a McMansion that rivals Southport and there's your mama telling her maid what to go do, while a guy in a car comes up. She gets a doorman, he opens the door. She is living the life.

Speaker 1:

Pam is like no wait, now. I just I can't believe it. I just thought in my mind she's going to be old, she's going to be plain and she's definitely going to be poor, destitute if I was lucky. But you mean to tell me she has been living here and he's like, yeah, with her husband. She said, wait a minute, how does a broke down old in the face waitress pull a rich man like that? But she just cannot imagine that her mom is not broke Detective's like well, I mean, she went to school. She got. After she left the salesman, she got down here, she went to school, she got into secretary school. She starts working with Wentworth. Now I'm thinking JG Wentworth, 877-cash-no. 877-cash-no. Maybe that Wentworth, maybe not, but she became his secretary. They fell in love. He was president of the company and the rest is history.

Speaker 1:

Pam is taking this quite well Now that she knows her mom's not old and poor. When she wraps her mind around that she's like oh my God, is she in love with her husband? Are they happy? Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're fine. But she has one daughter named Catherine who lives in New York and my oh, I'm so excited because you know what that means. That's more drama. At some point Catherine gets to slink into town, hopefully shake up some things.

Speaker 1:

Pam is taking this pretty well, but she does go back to the hotel and she calls house and Rebecca Burke Wentworth answers the phone and pretends like she doesn't know who this is. Pam says hi, my name is Pamela. Pamela Ewing, does that name mean anything to you? She's like, no, ewing maybe, but no, she goes. Okay, I'd really like to talk to you. Do you have some time to meet with me first? Rebecca's like no, I really don't have time. Pam's like I won't take up much of your time. And she sounds so sweet. She sounds like a little girl wanting to speak to someone. She's so polite that's that was what struck me. She has the best telephone manners. She's being so kind, so courteous. And finally Rebecca says okay, sure, do you know where I live? Come by tomorrow about five o'clock.

Speaker 1:

So Pam shows up and I won't bore you with the details. She's happy, she's joyful and she starts telling Rebecca that she believed as a little girl that her mother was dead. And now, through you know some clever working and looking at things, she figures out that you're her mother. There's a little bit of funny that happens when Pam is making the phone call. At first she sits down with a piece of paper and if you look at the paper you can clearly tell that it's the lines that she's supposed to read on the phone. Anyway, she's pouring out her heart, saying that she just it was so hard for her to accept when her father, digger Barnes, told her that her mother had died. She just didn't believe it and she's like and now here you are in Rebecca's stuff, so she goes. I'm so sorry, I better do this now. My name is Rebecca Burke Wentworth and I'm not your mother. I'm so sorry, honey, I'm just not your mother. Pam starts getting teary eyed. Rebecca, you wait, you trifling. Look at her in her face too. And I'm looking at Rebecca. She kind of looks like this is I'm not your mom. This is just a horrible mistake. But Pam fights back tears, respectfully leaves a woman's house even though she didn't believe she's like she didn't believe her. Pam knew that this woman was lying. So fast forward to Wednesday where she, pam, is being a respectable wife.

Speaker 1:

The rest of the Ewing's are showing up at Donna Culver's stepson's campaign, which is super weird because Cliff is his campaign manager. Sue Ellen asked a question. I was thinking why would they all show up there? Jr breaks it down and says this guy is going to be in the, in the government at some point. He's probably going to be governor at another. It's always good business to be on the best side with the governor. You want to be on his good side.

Speaker 1:

Well, pam and Bobby are there. They're kind of bumping elbows with everybody and Pam kind of she feels okay being there because she can support Cliff, despite what the Ewings think. She's there for her brother and she pulls him aside. She wants to talk to him real quick and I love this. I've never really clocked this before, but Cliff is her only family, on her dad's side or not even her dad's side, doesn't matter. Digger Barnes is her dad, doesn't matter to me. They are so close and Cliff always, always, always makes time for her. Even if it's just a few seconds, he always makes time for her. So he does just that.

Speaker 1:

There she's about to tell him that she went to Houston to talk about their mom and you can see he's rolling his eyes because, like he said, he don't have a mother. I got no mama. She starts talking to him and the other campaign guy says I know, cliff, cliff, cliff, you need to introduce Culver, I need you to introduce him. And he goes give me a second. He goes no, no, no, I can't wait. I'm so sorry, sis, he'll be back. So Cliff goes up there and he is giving this wonderful just reading this illustrious career of this Culver kid and why he's him, why he's the answer for Texas, really riveting.

Speaker 1:

Pam looks ahead of her and guess who's standing there? It is Miss Rebecca Burke Wentworth and her husband, mr Wentworth. Chubby fellow, kind of looks like Santa Claus, very happy in the face. So she's like hi, rebecca, and Rebecca goes, hi, mrs Ewing. She introduces Pam to her husband and uh, he goes oh yeah, ewing, ewing, your she goes. Well, that's my family by marriage, but if you'll look up there behind you that's my brother. My maiden name is Barnes and that's my brother, cliff Barnes. And you can see Rebecca's face kind of crack a little. She's like, oh shit. She turns, she looks and Cliff is giving this riveting speech and it's all sorting to kind of you can tell she was lying earlier. Pam sees this too, end of that.

Speaker 1:

So Pam goes about her life. She goes to work the next day and, sure enough, rebecca Wentworth accosts her. She didn't accost her. She stops her on the sidewalk as Pam's heading to lunch and in not so many words they have a quick conversation. Rebecca confesses that, yes, I, I am your mom and I had hid that part of my life away from me.

Speaker 1:

It was so hard. It was really, really hard to say goodbye to you guys, and just seeing you guys together last night was too much for me. But listen, my husband does not know that I was ever married before. I just never could say it to him. I never really divorced Digger Barnes. So I'd like to keep this quiet. I don't really want to say anything to him because he's sick and he just might fall over dead if I tell him now. So Pam's like so you mean to tell me that I've met you, my mother's come back from the dead and you're saying we can't have a relationship, and the mom's like yeah, sorry, honey, now is that the truth. Or is she worried about him falling over dead? Or is she worried about the fact that her whole marriage would be null and void if she was still married to Cliff? I mean to excuse me, digger Barnes, at the time of marrying this man this is what I'm saying.

Speaker 1:

Y'all before now, like you, probably could not get away with that. Now people would identify you. There's Facebook's, all sort of pictures, but people, the wild, wild west. Up until about 1995 you could do whatever you want, say who are you or whoever you wanted to be now how she goes to the doctor. I thought about this extensively. How, how she goes to the doctor. I thought about this extensively. How does she go to the doctor? And he's like, oh, this is your first pregnancy. But then I remembered men probably weren't going with their wives to the OBGYN, circa 1950 ish. She could tell him anything she wants. No, honey, I've never I don't know, I've never had any kids, two kids deep anyway.

Speaker 1:

The episode ends with pam going over to cliff's house and he's about to leave. But he's like, hey, hey, what were you gonna tell me the other night? What'd you find out about mom? And she's like, no, it wasn't mom. The lady in Houston is just some lady in Houston. And he's like, oh, you can tell he's a little bit disappointed. But then he's just like, okay, well, I guess that's all about that and that's all for this episode. Man, heartbreaking. But you know what opens the door to something else plus, I know there's a small spoiler.

Speaker 1:

Not too long ago, one of my Google alerts was Victoria Principal who does play Pamela Ewing wishing her TV mom a 100th birthday. Now, I did not pay attention to who the actress was. I was more caught up in the fact that, wow, this lady's 100th. That's so cool, so I'm assuming she's going to continue to be on the show now. Will she be a villain? She didn't strike me as one, but I mean it couldn't hurt. Couldn't hurt to build an arsenal, at least for cliff's sake, of wealthy women to back him up. He's already got Donna if his birth mama turns out to be a billionaire. But I bet their sister's gonna come in and swoop in and mess it up if she doesn't't.

Speaker 1:

I'm very disappointed. Something has to happen. Just, I hope it's not weird and, you know, incestual. They don't mind making people hook up with their relatives on these shows. Lucy even goes to ask her uncle lover, friend Ray, for some advice about her man on this episode, and I was quite uncomfortable. They don't address that. Let's just sweep it under the rug. All right, guys, thank you for joining me. Oh, totally forgot to do fan mail. I have like three pieces to read. Sorry, we'll do that next episode. If you want to drop a line, check the show notes, send me a text. Remember, folks, if your girlfriend is wealthy, wealthy and you are working for less than minimum wage, don't be afraid to tuck in the tags and return that suit to Dilla. There's no shame in saving a couple bucks here and there. Stay hydrated, stay moisturized, mind your business and keep all of your drama on TV. Thank you, bye.