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S4 Ep14 Dallas - Start The Revolution With Me: The "Lower Case "D" Dilemmas" Episode

• Jett Shae • Episode 253

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Ever felt like the 9-5 workday is as outdated as JR's playboy charm? This episode of our nostalgic podcast transports us back to 1981, where the Ewing women of "Dallas" are breaking through the male-dominated narrative. Join me on this throwback journey as we explore Sue Ellen's emotional evolution and Bobby's energy escapades in Oklahoma City. Reminisce about the joys of classic 80s culture and a time when AV carts were the highlight of any classroom. With humor and insight, we'll revisit Pam's ever-changing hairstyles and the pivotal moment where the Ewing women seize their agency.

JR’s ego takes a bruising when he encounters a woman immune to his usual allure, prompting a hilarious reflection on the lowercase "d" dilemma in Dallas. Meanwhile, the tangled web of personal and professional relationships tightens as Jock pushes Ray into unfamiliar business territory. Witness the silent battles within the Ewing family, punctuated by Miss Ellie's strategic moves and Donna Culver's political reluctance. Each character grapples with ambition, family loyalty, and the pressures of societal norms, making for an episode filled with unexpected twists and drama.

Sue Ellen’s quest for independence takes center stage as she navigates her marital woes and the possibility of rekindling romance with Clint. Her journey sparks a ripple effect among the Ewing women, inspiring Pam and Lucy to confront their own struggles with traditional roles. As Pam finds herself on an island assignment, she faces an unexpected emotional challenge with Alex, highlighting her desire for a life beyond being Bobby's wife. This engaging episode of our podcast offers a blend of humor, drama, and nostalgic reflection on a time when powerful women began to reshape the landscape of "Dallas." So grab a drink, stay moisturized, and mind your own business as we uncover the dramatic relationships that made the show unforgettable.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome, or welcome back to Soap Dwarf. I'm your host, shred, and we're reviewing the soapiest, sexiest primetime storyline of 1981. We are back at iconic Dallas on an all-girls episode, Sort of. So, whether you're new to this or a true journalist, tell the kids it's time to play outside or, out of sight, tell them you have no questions, suggestions or concerns. Anyone else in earshot, anyone else with an agenda, understand this. You can be cool, quiet, kicked out, canceled, eliminated from my contact list if I feel like you're trying to play with me. We are watching your story. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is Soap Pop. Hello, you're listening to Soap Pop. Your host, your hostess, your hostess, your hostess still viewing and viewing one of the most iconic soap operas of all time. Reviewing one of the most iconic soap operas of all time.

Speaker 1:

I went into this a little bit blind. It is my absolute. If I don't do anything else, I want to keep the integrity of the show by not viewing something previously and forming an opinion about it. I watched about 20 minutes of this and I had to jump back on. I thought, okay, I'm going to have to. I can't do this one in real time. There's just too much going on. I hope you are enjoying whatever day it is when this drops. I feel like this would be mid-January-ish, so I hope your days are going as well as they possibly can.

Speaker 1:

Y'all. We got a whole lot of stuff to talk about here. Is Dr LB, the love of Sue Ellen's life Hear me out Is JR's performance due of a review, and the Ewing women have all decided that they have better things to do on this fun-filled episode of Soap Lore. So join me as I watch, for the first time, season four, episode 14, and start a revolution with me. The revolution, huh, it's such a funny term. I've definitely heard my entire life. The revolution will be televised, but I didn't really understand what that means. I'm still not 100% sure.

Speaker 1:

This episode, though 20 minutes deep, has reminded me of the good old AV cart days. Now I have professed to be a millennial. I probably identify as a wannabe Gen X. I'm just going to go ahead and put that out there. If I could have been born 10, 15 years earlier, I would probably be wearing the X across my chest. However, that's not the case. I don't want to be a traitor to my generation, but it has come to my attention that there's probably a big divide between early millennials and latter millennials and I think if you're born in, it's like a split between the 80 millennials and the 90s millennials. I think most 80s millennials would identify with Gen X ideology as where the 90s probably has a little bit more of a free range thought process.

Speaker 1:

I only bring that up because as I was watching this episode I started thinking about those good old AV cart days on Fridays in elementary school, junior high and high school, one of my favorite movies. I feel like we were born at the absolute perfect time people born in the early 80s or 80s period Because we got to see the Mighty Ducks, the Sandlot, mighty Ducks 2, little Giants, alfalfa and them, the Little Rascals. We got to watch all of those movies come about and like at the peak of our childhood. It was just so much fun. And as I'm watching this episode I was reminded of the Little Rascals and their whole club was the He-Man-Woman-Hater Club. I think we have the inverse on this one. We have the She-Woman-Woman-Lovers Club on this one. All of the Ewing women woke up and decided you know what? We got better things to do. We can either sit here and wait on these men or we can do what we need to do to move the future forward. Sue Ellen, dare I say it is an enigma. You're going to love her, you're going to hate her, but at the end of the day, has she ever really lied? I don't think she has.

Speaker 1:

Join me as we dive deep into season four, episode 14 of this iconic soap opera. It is a little bit strange even in 1981, that the episode does not revolve completely around a man. I know I call this the girls episode or the she-woman-woman-lover episode. I know I call this the girls episode or the she-woman-woman-lover episode. However, there is still a very heavy and quite amusing storyline concerning JR.

Speaker 1:

But let's get the particulars out of the way. First and foremost, bobby is busy. Bobby is so busy that he is still not really making it home. Every night he's having to close these deals. He's in Oklahoma City this episode trying to close an alternative energy contract. He has someone on the hook. They're interested, they're very interested in working with Ewing and he just wants to get this done before it's all blown up in his face. Ultimately, the contracts quote unquote don't work out. He needs to sort through them. I just can't even imagine what that means. But that is his reasoning for not being heavy and front and center on this episode Y'all.

Speaker 1:

So I'm minding my business right when I initially turned this episode on. It's one of those cold winter days. I'm home by myself with my puppy and I'm just sort of getting things ready for the evening. Um, the show is on. I'm not fully paying attention, but I can still hear everything that goes on. I'm doing one thing or another in the kitchen and I pop out and I'm like who is this with this? Jerry, girl, y'all, girl, girl. Shout out to my YouTube bestie in my head who was like hey, pay attention to this season because Pam's hair is going to change.

Speaker 1:

Now, one of the things about Pam's hair I've always noticed it's like a really beautiful. It's not necessarily like a deep brunette. She's like this sort of red. It's a pretty color. I always pay attention to it and I have really believed for a long time that Pam's haircut is what Fallon was going for on Dynasty. However, she doesn't have the same thickness in her hair. It does not work. It does not fit her face the same way. It isn't right.

Speaker 1:

Side note years ago my friend Hilde had a haircut and she's like she's always had this hairstylist and she calls me over one night. It's like 8.30 at night, which is an odd time because it's like we hadn't planned to go out, but it's not late enough to go out. So she's like hey, can you come over and look at something? Of course I drive over to her apartment and when I open the door she has this sort of mullet haircut. Now it's not bad. I'm like it's cute, it frames your face, she's beautiful. Think of like a baby Mariah Carey, she's so beautiful. But she's like I trust my hairstylist, she's always on point, but this one is just a little too much for me. It was a mullet in the early 2000s. It just was not working out the way it should have worked out. So she did end up dumping her regular stylist, going somewhere else and, as far as I remember, that haircut never really caught on in the early 2000s, unless, of course, you were a dancer.

Speaker 1:

So when I see Pam's hair, that's the first thing I think. I'm like okay, this was the era of that haircut, because it's not bad, y'all. I'm minding my business. I'm in my kitchen. I hear Bobby talking to someone. I'm thinking he's talking to his secretary who is in love with him. So I poke my head around the corner and tell me why I see Jerry curl. Realness. I'm like who the hell is that Y'all?

Speaker 1:

Pam has entered the perm rod. Goddess chat. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge that Hair in the 80s is probably one of the most iconic and most important identifiers of an 80s film Anything. Let me just say this. I was shocked initially. I'm like girl you really came on television in front of God and everybody with this Jerry Curl adjacent, dry perm answering the phone. But the more the episode went on, I'm like I don't actually hate it. It's actually not that bad. But I need one of you OGs to explain to me the fascination with the perm.

Speaker 1:

We went from thick curls to perms. Hers isn't crunchy. This is probably why I like it. It's not crunchy. It's not fried, dyed, laid to thems. Hers isn't crunchy. This is probably why I like it. It's not crunchy. It's not fried, dyed, laid to the side. Y'all. She has entered the chat.

Speaker 1:

All I can think of is what would Angela Channing do? Angela Channing kept her perms short. It is under three and a half inches. Chase has a natural curls. What do they think about this? What do you make of a long, dry curl? I don't know, it didn't look bad.

Speaker 1:

I think there's a whole thing. If you have curly, wavy hair, you understand that you just can't walk outside, you can't spread a little mousse on and move on with your life. It takes a whole thing. It's maintenance. There's thought behind this. There are special conditioners or special gels. You really have to put your thought into this. There are special conditioners or special gels. You really have to put your thought into this. But I think she did okay. I was just shocked. I was like not just let your soul grow, let it all so silky smooth, just let it shine. If you don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you.

Speaker 1:

First off, go and watch 1980 blah, blah, blahs coming to America. There's a whole scene with the soul glow. Just Google it on YouTube. I don't think Okay. So okay, let me just say this In the deep recesses of my mind I do remember in elementary school. You know people had different perms. In my part of Texas you straightened your bangs and in this part of Texas, on Dallas, pam let her perm rods be inserted into her bangs. I think I agree with the latter more than the former. What do you think? Go ahead and leave me a line in the show notes. Go ahead and text me. Do you curl your perm bangs or do you let them free? Do you flat iron bangs or do you allow them to be perm rodded to the gods? Bobby made me out of town working on solar energy etc.

Speaker 1:

Jr is in town working on his image. Actually, he's not working on his image. The incomparable Leslie Stewart is working on his image and she does not sleep. I respect, first and foremost, that. She keeps her mind on her money, her money on her mind. She is building a reputation for herself and she's not losing any sleep over it. She has rebranded the logo.

Speaker 1:

She is reaching out to different entities because she understands, in 1981, the advantage that she has that no one else has or that she's not aware of, is that there is no social media. Yes, jr may have flummoxed a deal or two, but he saved his company. She's going to spin it towards. He saved his company because he is such a business savvy man. So she is presenting him with different ads that read Ewing Royal people over profits, Ewing loyal energy of the future Very vague, very not trackable sort of things to say. She understands the game and her whole thing is like OK, we're done with Dallas. Dallas is a small town. It is a blip on the map If you look at the entire world. I'm putting this in the New York Times, I'm putting this on the LA Herald. We're putting this coast to coast. All these other cities.

Speaker 1:

I want to turn you from a big fish in a little pond to a big fish in a big pond. Ewing Oil is going worldwide. He's kind of turned on and impressed worldwide. He's kind of turned on and impressed. He's very turned on. Let's be very clear. He is 75% turned on, 25% impressed. And for the life of him he doesn't understand that there could be a woman who does not need to sleep with him to gain any sort of status in the community. Ms Stewart is one of those. She doesn't want to bone him, even though he keeps offering it. He's like, hey, why don't we go to dinner? I can't go to dinner, I'm busy. I love it. I love it this whole season Excuse me, this episode. I'm busy, jr. I'm too busy. I'm working too hard, I'm too busy.

Speaker 1:

By the end of the episode he's quite annoyed. Now here's the tea he has still been reaching out to his plug in the South Pacific and his whole thing is he wants to start a revolution. He wants to sort of overtake a government. Now I really don't understand how that would work out. It's not important, if you're watching in real time, we'll learn together. I don't know how that's going to work.

Speaker 1:

Miss Stewart hears him as he's explaining his thoughts on the future and what he's going to do in the South Pacific and she's like are you trying to overthrow a government? And he all but admits yeah. But he's more concerned with like, why aren't you trying to sleep with me? I don't want to talk about business all the time. I want to talk about caviar and steak and such. And then I want to go to my apartment and take you down. What the heck woman she's like. Listen, jared, that's very flattering. I need you to know you are my type, but I have a job to do. Once you're running the world, once I'm by your side, as you're running the world, we can do all the things.

Speaker 1:

Now this satisfies his ego, but sort of not really. It's really, really bothering him that there is a beautiful, brainsy, busty, moxie-filled foxy broad who doesn't want to jump his bones, quiet as cat though. What he doesn't know is that she has been recording all of those conversations, specifically the conversation about him trying to overthrow a foreign government. I'm going to let that play out. That is the biggest soap tax I've seen so far on Dallas. That's probably one of the more outrageous things, but I also don't understand how that even happened.

Speaker 1:

So anyway, jr is all in his deep dark feels when his secretary he's with Bonin comes in and she's like can I go, are you done with me for the day? And he goes yeah, you can go home. I'm sure you need to make dinner for your husband. She goes well, you know he happens to be out on business. I'm going to be making dinner for myself. Jr Everett the playboy says well, be ashamed to waste all that effort on just you. Why don't I come over? She goes I was thinking the same thing. Why don't you stop by about eight o'clock? Then here is the tea. This is why we say kitties, please leave the room. But if not, I'm a respectable woman. Auntie Jet's going to make sure I speak the truth and nothing but the truth. If you were born before the year 2000, you're going to hear me loud and clear.

Speaker 1:

So JR attends his secretary's impromptu dinner and it is a delicious meal, satisfying, one of those things you go to like. Let's say, maybe you thought you were going to have salmon for lunch, but something changes, you end up having a sandwich. It's fine, it's delicious, it fills you up, it's one of those things. So after dinner, secretary says is there something wrong? Not complaining Dinner was delicious, dinner was, it was wonderful.

Speaker 1:

However, dinner felt like a lowercase D instead of a big D. That's what she said Her words, not mine. Maybe I'm paraphrasing, maybe I'm not, but it makes me laugh because in Texas, dallas is known as Big D. It's the D, and if the D is representing itself as a lowercase D, that might make people feel a little way about themselves. Jr is absolutely appalled. How dare you? There's no lowercase D here. This is all big D. It usually is big D. However, you seem distracted. Distracted is a lowercase d word, if you know what I'm saying. Well, he gets all in his feelings. He scuffles off, he goes home. It's still bothering him, and this is.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to exert a little bit of Sue Ellen in this. She has her own storyline, this episode, but they're at the point where they're like we're not even going to hide this anymore. I'm not even going to pretend like we are this monogamous couple. So she's brushing her hair whatever in her fly robe. She has purchased a brand new bed because of what happened with he and after she's not in the mood for that. So he's coming home and he's just stressed she's never seen him.

Speaker 1:

This press, this man has been shot. This man has almost lost the company 50, 11 times. But he's pressed. So she's like oh okay, I imagine that, um, miss Stewart ain't into you. Don't be ridiculous to Ellen, everybody's into me. She's like clearly you haven't slept with her. And this is the first time I've ever heard the word sex, I believe on this show she goes you clearly haven't had sex with her. That's why you're so upset. And he is insulted how dare you say this to me? Because his mistress already said it. And he's like that's ridiculous to Ellen. You should know better about you.

Speaker 1:

I love the impromptu insecurity for this man. He's already losing the company, he's already been shot, but none of that bothers him as much as knowing that there could be a woman who doesn't want him. And Sue Ellen says as much If you haven't had sex with her, it's probably because she doesn't want to have sex with you. He can't even imagine it. So eventually, within this episode, he's like I just don't understand it. I don't understand. I really want you. Why don't you want me? She's like I'm busy, I'm working, I'm not gonna mix business with pleasure. Jr, why don't you think of me as a man? He scoffs, can't do, goes well. Think of me as a soft man, whatever that means. He doesn't seem to be satisfied, but he seems to be like okay, fine, I'll think about it for four or five minutes. But JR is all in his feelings because he has been demoted from the big D in Dallas to a lowercase d in Dallas, if you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1:

We got to jump into one more just sort of side story. Jock is still trying to get this whole swamp retreat happening. It's not really happening. They're asking different builders. They find one that they really like. But Jock is really making an effort to make Ray a part of this whole thing. I don't know why Ray is so front and center in these sort of business dealings, because Ray is more of a rancher than anything else. Why would he know anything about construction? Ray's thoughts are that they need to get a second opinion, since this is a multi-million dollar project. Jock agrees, but he's also like, okay, we'll get other bids, but we'll also just go with the guy I want, period, miss Donna Culver.

Speaker 1:

Donna Culver was on the last episode in her Polka Dot Realness and she was talking to a very, very drunk, secretly disgruntled Miss Ellie. Well, the conversation was basically about Donna Culver's stepson who was running for senator or something. He was going to be Texas governor. He gets a call from the big leagues on that same episode and a senator has been promoted to something else, so he's going to move up the rank and there isn't a vacancy. This is good news. Bad news because obviously his career is excelling. However, someone needs to fill his spot. Someone needs to fill his spot and take the same sort of stance that he was taking with this whole swamp thing, the swamp venture, which is essentially an Ellie versus big jock excuse me, big Ellie versus big jock situationship.

Speaker 1:

Now Donna was non. It seemed like she didn't want him to. She didn't want her son to take it on the previous episode, episode 13. But on this episode she's had a little bit of time to think about it and I realized she was concerned about who was going to take over for him and what that meant with the proposition she was reaching out to Ellie.

Speaker 1:

For Now she needs Ellie because Ellie has big influence. She's big Ellie and big D. She has all the influence and the ladies of the Alamo listen to her. But if they don't have a candidate, that creates a problem. So on this episode they're having their whole chatter, chatter, chit, chit at the ranch. The ladies of the Alamo are listening. Okay, girls, we're going to do this, we're going to preserve this land. Ellie's like I already know how much money y'all got. Do not play in my face, you better make the right contribution. She says it in that very kind of Southern sweet thing and they are like yeah, this is so wonderful.

Speaker 1:

And then Donna has to drop the bomb. Hey, my stepson got this call. He's possibly considering moving up to the city. He's going to be moving to Washington. We're going to need someone here. And Ellie says is it going to be Cliff? Now, cliff would be the perfect person, but obviously that's going to cause a problem with Ellie and all of the Ewings. And Donna's like I don't really see anybody else better for the position, but we're going to have to wait and see.

Speaker 1:

Well, later on in the episode, she and her stepson are having a conversation and it's pretty clear that Cliff thinks he's a natural person to take over the position. So does Donna. But her stepson's like he's perfect, but I think he can be bought. And she's like for real, he's like, yeah, you don't think he can be bought. And she's like for real. He's like, yeah, you don't think he can be bought. Apparently, he thinks he can be bought, so much that when the time comes to make his formal announcement within his office first, of course, before they go public he says there's only one person in this office who can take it. Now, cliff is there, don is there, two other yokels are there and stepson nominates his stepmother. She's like holy crap, no, I don't want anything to do with public office, I can't do it, I won't do it. Well, the two other guys in the room clearly think she's they. Everyone thinks she's the best person, except Cliff. Not that he doesn't think that, but it's like he didn't see that coming. He thought this was his, his wraparound, his turnaround, his, his phoenix rising moment donna decides that, listen, I'm never going to change my mind, but I will do everything I can to help.

Speaker 1:

Now, the other side of this coin is that ellie is working against jock, but not to his knowledge and it. You have to question yourself as you're watching this is she doing this because she believes in the cause or she's pissed off that jock is paying so much attention to ray? Here's one of those things. It's that whole underlined relationship things. It's this is what being what, what, uh, what playing nice gets you. She's not saying all the things she really wants to say. So she's been late to dinner. She's come home drunk, she's all, but not saying anything to Jock or anyone else in the family. They don't really notice because everybody has their own problems.

Speaker 1:

Well, one night Jock is sitting in the um sitting room I suppose he's having a little cocktail, and I remember thinking to myself I thought Jock had a whole heart condition. He wasn't supposed to be drinking. He's been drinking since the last part of season two. Well, ellie says you know, hey, jock, how you doing. She comes and she sits down and he's like, hey, there's clearly something wrong. Do you want to talk about it? No, well, why don't you talk about it? You're really pissed off. I don't want to talk about it, jock, because if talking about it is going to cause a problem. I don't want to talk about it, jock, because if talking about it is going to cause a problem, I don't want no problems. Well, he's big Jock. He's a big Jock, let's have a problem.

Speaker 1:

She's like okay, cool, the problem is you don't give a damn about your sons. The only son you give a damn about is Ray, and Jock's like Ray is my son son. She's pissed because what she meant was the children that we have seem to be on the back burner now. I feel like she's pulling this out of her butt. I do not. I'm gonna have to side with big jock on this one. This thing, he ain't doing nothing differently than he's ever done. Ray was never a problem. He still ain't really a problem. Ray just want to pet horses and live his life.

Speaker 1:

But ellie feels a way because she knows that gary ewing, the car salesman crook, is not coming back to the big team. She don't want to hear all that. So she says don't you know jr and bobby needs you too, but all your, you're too far up race. But butt, did you do anything about it? So there has been a silent declaration of war. There's a silent line drawn in the sand. And I don't think Big Jock is any the wiser about Ellie's intention. I feel like she's only jumping on this project because it might take down Ray and his fall show, aka, aka Big Jock.

Speaker 1:

Side note, jock's little homeboy with the bolo ties is killing it. I can't wait to see him on screen. I just want to do a whole episode on the beauty of his bolo ties. He is eating them alive. My girl, sue Ellen. Oh, you know how I felt about my girl. Love me some, sue Ellen.

Speaker 1:

This is an interesting episode. She has all but professed to herself and to Dr Elby and to Pam that she is no longer going to be the side chick, slash, main chick of her husband. She needs to build a life and that's exactly what she's going to do. So Clint, her old squeeze, her main squeeze from back in the day pre-JR, is back in the picture and he has professed his love for her. He has confessed that he was silently waiting to see what would happen with this marriage. He'd hoped they'd divorce, but then, once they had a child, he decided to marry his wife Alicia and then move to Tokyo to build this whole computer company. Now Sue Ellen has given him the green light to know we're going to see each other. I really don't care. Jr really don't care. We're going to live our lives out loud.

Speaker 1:

It is what it is. He's just kind of showing up. He's trying to remind her of that old thing. He wants that old thing back. He's saying hey, baby, don't you remember our first date? She's like yeah, you were in a tuxedo, I was in a dress, I was trying to look 20 or 30 years old.

Speaker 1:

They go to the old spot. It's a parking lot which is a big symbol If you think about it on the show, it's showing how much things have changed. What once was a warm, welcoming club that they can go and spend their time with is like this cold, concrete thing. So it's like is it going to become something else or are they going to? Are they going to move forward or are they going to move back? She wants to move forward, but it's very clear about halfway through the show, when she's talking to her real main squeeze, dr Elby, that she's playing a different game. Now the sad thing is, if she left Clinton once, she could probably leave him twice. She clearly saw something in JR which was the power at the time and it seems like Clint has sort of tried to be as powerful as JR so that he could be worthy of Sue Ellen. They're having a good old time. They're going to the picture show, they're going here, they're going there.

Speaker 1:

She's talking to Dr Elby about oh my god, it feels so good to have a friend. Dr elby feels so good to go out and have someone see me to actually understand what I'm going through. Dr elby's like. But sue ellen, uh, does he understand that this is a friendship? Of course he does. Doesn't seem like. It Seems like you are only thinking of yourself here. She thinks that is poppycock. That's absolutely ridiculous. But it's not ridiculous when you think about it, because there is not really any chemistry, it's just safety. And sadly, when someone is on the rebound, when someone has been rejected in such a big way, you might be offering them comfort versus a future, but not one to be completely played. Fool me once, fool me twice.

Speaker 1:

Big Clint says hey, if we keep going out the way we're going out, I'm going to tell my wife something at some point. She's a wonderful woman, I like her a whole lot, but if there's a possibility that you and me could be a thing I need to know. Well, she didn't really get to answer because she starts to notice hey, do you see that strange sort of figure in the background watching me? He's like no, I don't see nobody. Seems like Sue Ellen is being followed. Now, is this JR with a PI on her? I don't think so. I was thinking about this as I'm watching the show. I had to run it back two times and I thought to myself there's no way he could really hold anything over her head at this point, because all she has to do is say hey, let's give my baby sister, kristen's son or daughter a paternity test and you're going to find out who the father is.

Speaker 1:

That is the worst headline in the paper that you can possibly imagine. It would devastate his parents, it would devastate the company. You were banging your wife's little sister, you knocked her up and then you sent her off to California. I'm going to tell you what. There is a silent battle between Texans and Californians on who has the best state. I, because I'm a native Texan, I feel like Californians rep their state as much as Texans do, and there would just be nothing more devastating in Dallas than to learn that he sent his mistress to California, they would be devastated.

Speaker 1:

Despite the new problem that Sue Ellen may or may not be facing, she has made an impact on the women in her family, especially with the new Pembroke goddess of Dallas, miss Pamela Ewing. But before we get to her, let's talk about baby girl Lucy. Just real quick. Lucy is settling into married life but nothing has changed, nothing really. You can tell that all the things that gave what's his name, mitch, pause before they got married are manifested now. Lucy is not going to clean the house. She's not going to be the standard suburban wife, because she's never had to be. She's probably never picked up after herself, not one time in her life.

Speaker 1:

So it's his birthday. They're having this beautiful little picnic by the pond and she buys him in the most hideously wrapped present at, might I add, it was a horrible wrapping paper. They're having this whole moment. He's like, hey, why didn't you go to class? I'm not going to go to class because it's your birthday, but the truth is she's probably hadn't been to class and he's starting to clock it. So he gives her this whole speech. Lucy, you can't just be my wife, you need to be you, you need to.

Speaker 1:

Who thought that Mitch would be the voice of the feminists of 1981? Lucy, have something for yourself. Don't depend on a man. Don't depend on me. Yeah, I'm going to be a doctor, but you need your own thing. You are more than my wife. You are Lucy effing. Ewing Mitchery whatever Mitchery's last name is Lucy ain't really trying to hear this. I know I'll go. I just I don't really care about school and plus, if I waited for you to get out of class tonight, it would be like midnight and I have to celebrate your birthday the next day.

Speaker 1:

So he has two gifts. She opens a gift the first one, or he opens the first gift in this hideous wrapping paper and it's a pair of boots. And you see his face shift. Mitch is Mississippi boy. I don't know if people in Mississippi wear boots like that, but him having this shiny, probably $300 pair of boots even if it's 1981, $300 pair of boots symbolizes what she thinks a man is, and you can see that he's a little bit uncomfortable when he pulls it out.

Speaker 1:

The next gift that he pulls out is a microscope. And I'm so embarrassed y'all. I'm like I need to crack open some sort of studious books, because I'm like what is it? A microphone, micro? What do you call that? Is that a magnifying A scope? A horoscope? My God, it's a microscope, couldn't think of the name of it.

Speaker 1:

So he pulls out a microscope and he goes Lucy, this is worth a year's worth of tuition. I'm like what the F for real for a microscope. So I go to look, I do my due diligence, I try to pull up, I say Google, what is the cost of a microscope in 1981? All I could find is things on eBay that they are selling now and they're selling for like 22 bucks. Like surely you can go to college for a full year for 22 bucks.

Speaker 1:

So I said, okay, jet, let's do something else. Let's look at the cost of tuition at a public school in 1981. And then I remembered he goes to SMU, which is Southern Methodist University, which would be a private school. And do you know what the cost was of a private school, four-year tuition in 1981? Around $4,100 for two semesters, baby, two full semesters, allegedly. That seems a little bit high to me, because it said what was the cost of a public education? So like if you went to a public university, it was about $900. So let's split the difference. Let's say it was probably around $2,000.

Speaker 1:

There I go in my Roman Empire. I just I was stuck on that. I was like damn, I'm depressed. Now, happy birthday, mitch. You, mitch. Well, at least someone is happy. Mitch may not be happy with the money that Lucy spent on his microscope that he's going to probably need as a doctor. She already seduced him and wooed him with other gifts, but that's in the past.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about our good sis, pam, and her brand new jerry curl, her dry jerry curl Y'all. It took me a minute to settle in, but the long and short of it is that Bobby was in going to Oklahoma City. He thought he was going to be an OKC for like one day. Turns out the contracts were fumbled so he needs to stay there for one or two days and the whole point was that she was going to go to her boss's dinner party slash party, right, she gets there. She's like girl, it's the whole mess. Bobby ain't coming.

Speaker 1:

So her boss is like let me tell you something, not to mimic Sue Ellen, but to mimic Sue Ellen. You need your own thing, baby girl. It's not enough to have a job. You need to keep yourself busy. If your man is busy, you need to be busier. Pam's like you, right, you right, I can't even deny it. My sister-in-law said something very, very similar to me in the past.

Speaker 1:

So her boss said okay, well, cool, why don't I go ahead and send you down south? You can be the head of this, you can be the AR person or the um, whatever it's called, the visual person, the artistic visual person. For this shoot. We got coats, we got bathing suits, we got all the things. I know you don't kill it. Why don't you just go ahead and go down there? Now, mind you, as she's saying this, alex has his back to her boss, so he's hearing all of the details of the hotel. What is going to happen? Pam's boss is like, hey, can we leave? And she says I can leave tomorrow.

Speaker 1:

So she ends up going to this island not Padre Island, it escapes me at the moment and she hears she's at her hotel room and it's. You can tell it's one of those where it's like an adjoining room, but you don't necessarily know the next person. So you have the decency not to. All you have to do is keep your door locked. They'll keep their door locked. You'll never interact with each other, but there's an envelope on the door that says hey, pretty lady, she opens it and Alex is there looking like a whole snack.

Speaker 1:

So they start spending all this time together because she has been thinking about what Sue Ellen said. Sue Ellen said maybe you can't just have a job, you need to have a whole life outside of Bobby. He's's running a business, he's running you and all. He's running you and something. Listen to me, listen to me. I've been through this more times. In a little bit you need your own thing. Well, pam and her new hair are like you know what's the willing? You might be right. So she starts spending more and more time and it's like she's all but agreed with Alex that they're going to go ahead and see this thing through. So they're having a wonderful evening after one of the shoots. They're having a good time. They had such a good time that they shut down the restaurant. The waiters, waitresses and bar hands were like yo, we want to go home at some point. They were kicked out of the hotel thing. They were shutting it down. They had a good time.

Speaker 1:

They get back to her room and I hate myself right now for using floral in the Dynasty episode 14 title because Pam's room looks like a tropical garden. He sent every piece of floral just majesty that he could to Pam's room and it's about. I mean, they're looking in each other's eyes. She's like I want this Bobby's busy, bobby's off, bobby's in OKC when he could be down here with me. He ain't even seen my fresh perm yet.

Speaker 1:

It's over. Forget Bobby. She's talking to Alex. Alex is talking to her. It's so sweet. Yeah, this is great. This is so sweet. Yeah, this is great. This is so great. This is so nice. This is so wonderful. They're inches away from each other's face. When ring, ring, ring. The phone rings. Alex's spidey sense clicks way before Pam's because she is schnockered, as she should be. She's had a rough couple of weeks. She picks up the phone. Tell me why. It's Bobby. Oh, hey, bobby, hey, love, I just wanted to hear your voice. I'm so sorry I can't be with you. It's good to hear from you.

Speaker 1:

And Alex sees this and he just moonwalks out of the room. He knows what it is. He snatches. No, he didn't snatch, let me be be real. He just pulls the envelope off of the door that said pretty lady, and he just slides back into his room because he knows what's up.

Speaker 1:

You can't compete with a husband. This woman is in love with her husband but, plot twist, the next day she feels a way about Alex being let down. So there's a shoot at the beach and once that's over, she goes walking up to her hotel room and she sees Alex. He went and bought some new clothes. He looks fly. He's standing there looking all GQ, looking at her and she's like oh my God, alex, I didn't think you'd want to talk to me. I didn't know if you were still talking to me. He's like of course I'm still talking to you, honey, are you sure? Yeah, I'm sure. I'm so sure. I told the hotel I'm going to stay a whole nother day just to be with you. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say.

Speaker 1:

It is so interesting that all of the Ewing women, with the exception of Lucy, are now content to go against the grain. They've seen just enough. They've seen just who these men are, and it has nothing to do with other women, it has only to do with business who they are when they feel like there is a powerful plug that they need to sort of insert themselves into. I'm a little bit shocked with Pam. I feel a little bit guilty because I find myself rooting for them Now. I don't think that's right. But Bobby is completely preoccupied Now. At the end of the day, bobby and Pam are different than Sue Ellen and JR. Jr is never going to stop doing this.

Speaker 1:

I love the fact that he feels insecure about having a lowercase d rather than a big t. This episode, which is a funny take because you think about playboys it's like you only have to do it one time to be called a playboy. Nobody ever actually talks about like, does he have a reputation? I guess he has a reputation, but it's lowercase d this time. You know, you're just, you're mid average, mid shelf. But Bobby is blind, completely blind, and Alex is reading all of the signs. It is a very interesting thing.

Speaker 1:

Now, with Sue Ellen and Alec no, what's his name? Clint, I don't really know. I don't really know. Um, although she's being affectionate, I don't really know. I don't really know. Although she's being affectionate, I will go ahead and be on her side with this. I don't think she's doing anything overtly, just sort of romantic, to make him think that she wants him. But the night is young. Now she thinks somebody is following her Girl, who would be following you. At this point they really don't care, unless she owes somebody some money. I don't really know. But the big thing here is big Ellie and big Jock. I don't know how they're going to work this out, but I love that Ellie is sort of entering her living room.

Speaker 1:

All right, guys, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did. I will not let myself not watch Dallas for so long. I fully, fully enjoy these two episodes, but we've got to jump back into our regular scheduled program In the meantime. In between, you win some, you lose some. Sometimes you're a big deal, sometimes you're a little bit sneaky. Always keep your head up for drama, stay hydrated, stay moisturized, mind your own business and you all have a good drama on tv. Outro Music.