Those eyes

Rodeos pit man against beast and on “Dallas,” no one is more beastly than J.R. In “Rodeo,” Sue Ellen, having failed to tame her savage husband, considers climbing in the saddle with a man who seems far less brutish: Dusty Farlow.

Sue Ellen meets the dashing cowboy when she enters a Braddock café with an armful of packages and accidentally bumps into him. Dusty’s first words – “Let me help you, ma’am” – are prophetic, letting us know he’s a different creature than J.R. The attraction between Sue Ellen and Dusty is instant.

Their brief conversation at the café continues the next day at the Ewings’ annual rodeo, where Dusty is the star competitor. Sue Ellen tells him about her loneliness; he tells her about his nomadic life on the rodeo circuit. They realize they have more in common than either might have guessed.

Linda Gray and Jared Martin have an undeniable chemistry, although let’s be honest: It would be hard for any actress to not have chemistry with him. With his lean frame, passionate delivery and come-hither eyes, Martin exudes sensuality.

Together, Gray and Martin make “Rodeo” a third-season highlight and one of my favorite “Dallas” episodes. I also like Leonard Katzman’s direction, which captures the rhythms of a real-life rodeo. Katzman constantly ducks and dives, cutting between the action in the arena and the drama unfolding in the crowd.

Toward the end of the episode, Dusty tells Sue Ellen he doesn’t need the prize money he’s poised to take home but wants it anyway. “The competition,” he says, “that’s not the important thing – it’s winning.”

The line evokes memories of the second-season episode “For Love or Money,” when Cliff compares his affair with Sue Ellen to a game. We remember how Sue Ellen was hurt the last time she sought love with another man.

In “Rodeo’s” closing moments, J.R., fed up with Sue Ellen’s public flirtation with Dusty, yanks her into their bedroom. She slaps him and he throws her onto the bed – and we’re reminded of another second-season scene: the disturbing climax in “Black Market Baby,” when J.R. forces himself on his unhappy wife.

In that episode, Sue Ellen submits to J.R. This time, she bucks him off.

“I’ve wasted more than enough time on you,” J.R. sneers before leaving.

In “Rodeo’s” final shot, Katzman freezes the frame on Sue Ellen, lying on her bed, while Jock’s voice is heard over the loudspeaker outside, announcing Dusty has won the award for best all-around cowboy.

But is he the best man for Sue Ellen?

Grade: A

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Eight-second ride

‘RODEO’

Season 3, Episode 8

Airdate: November 9, 1979

Audience: 17 million homes, ranking 15th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Camille Marchetta

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: The Ewings host their annual rodeo at Southfork, where Sue Ellen arouses J.R. jealousies by flirting with cowboy Dusty Farlow. Meanwhile, J.R. stages a fight with Alan, who impresses Lucy; Digger drops by to see Jock and Miss Ellie’s grandson; and Ray learns Donna’s husband is dying.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Randolph Powell (Alan Beam), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Keenan Wynn (Digger Barnes)

“Rodeo” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Tracks of her tears

“Lover, Come Back” is an episode about reunions. Sue Ellen discovers Dusty is alive and rushes to his side, Ray and Donna get back together and J.R. returns to the cartel. All three stories require a healthier-than-usual suspension of disbelief.

Dusty’s return is the most fantastical, of course. At the end of “Dallas’s” third season, Sue Ellen learned Dusty died in a plane crash. In “Lover, Come Back,” after some Nancy Drew-style sleuthing, Sue Ellen finds out Dusty survived the accident but is now confined to a wheelchair; the body found in the wreckage belonged to one of his ranch hands.

Today’s audiences might find the character’s return from the dead clichéd, but Linda Gray brings so much conviction to Sue Ellen’s weepy reunion Dusty – and charismatic Jared Martin is such a welcome presence on “Dallas” – I’m willing to overlook it.

Both actors are especially wonderful in the episode’s touching final scene, when Dusty sends Sue Ellen away because he believes he can’t make her happy as long as he’s paralyzed. Everything here works, particularly scriptwriter Leonard Katzman’s beautiful dialogue (“Don’t make me see myself every day in your eyes.”) and Martin’s stoic delivery. This is good old-fashioned soap opera, right down to the tight close-up of Gray’s tear-streaked face.

Surprisingly, the reunion of Ray and Donna, who are usually “Dallas’s” most down-to-earth couple, feels less credible. In “Lover, Come Back,” he asks her to persuade Miss Ellie to drop her fight against the Takapa development. Donna gets righteous, Ray gets angry, their argument turns passionate and the next thing you know, she is waking up to his marriage proposal, which she accepts on the spot. How efficient!

But the real eye roller comes when J.R. summons the cartel members to his office, just as Hank phones to announce the Asian coup succeeded and the nationalized oil wells will be returned to their rightful owners. The cartel members are gleeful – J.R. even gets a kiss from Marilee, who sued the Ewings at the beginning of the season because she blamed J.R. for her husband’s suicide – and Leslie later compliments him on a job well done.

“I do have my moments, don’t I?” he responds.

Yes, J.R., you do. But this isn’t one of them.

Grade: B

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Together again

‘LOVER, COME BACK’

Season 4, Episode 16

Airdate: February 20, 1981

Audience: 27.1 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Leonard Katzman

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Sue Ellen learns Dusty is alive but he doesn’t want her back because he’s paralyzed. Ray and Donna get engaged. J.R. is welcomed back into the cartel when the Asian coup succeeds and the oil wells are “denationalized.”

Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Len Birman (Claude Brown), Claudia Bryar (cleaning lady), Jeff Cooper (Dr. Simon Elby), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Joel Fabiani (Alex Ward), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Susan Flannery (Leslie Stewart), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Ron Hayes (Hank Johnson), Susan Howard (Donna Culver), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherrill Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Martin West (Phil McKenna), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Lover, Come Back” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Farewell, my lovely

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “Lover, Come Back,” Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) is preparing to leave Dusty (Jared Martin) for the evening.

SUE ELLEN: I have to get to Southfork, darling, but I’ll be back first thing in the morning. [She kisses him and begins walking away.]

DUSTY: No, Sue Ellen. Don’t come back. Ever.

SUE ELLEN: [She turns back toward him.] I have to. I couldn’t stand to lose you again.

DUSTY: You have lost me, Sue Ellen. You’re pretending we are as we used to be. We’re not.

SUE ELLEN: [She stands behind him, leans down and puts her arms around him.] But we love each other. That hasn’t changed.

DUSTY: The only thing we have left is a memory of how we were. And that was perfect. But I’d rather remember it like that than to be together now and have it die.

SUE ELLEN: [Moves around to face him, kneels down] But I won’t let it die.

DUSTY: I know you wouldn’t, Sue Ellen. You wouldn’t want to. You look at me now, you see me the way I used to be, and nothing else matters.

SUE ELLEN: And it never will.

DUSTY: Sue Ellen, someday it will. Not now, not a month from now, not a year, maybe even more than that, but someday you’re gonna walk in that door and you’ll see me – not as you want to see me, but as I really am. And then you’re going to realize that you’re married to a man who can’t walk again, who’s never going to make love again.

SUE ELLEN: [Crying] No, no.

DUSTY: And I’ll see it in your eyes. And you’ll cover it up, pretend that nothing has changed, but I’ll know. And that’s going to destroy me.

SUE ELLEN: No, I’d never hurt you. Dusty, I love you.

DUSTY: I love you. That’s the only thing I have left. If I didn’t know that, I might as well not have survived that plane crash. But if you really love me, don’t make me see myself in your eyes every day. Let me have my memories of you, and my dreams of you. Love me enough to do that.

SUE ELLEN: [Sobbing] You’ll never know how much I love you. Never. [They kiss.] Goodbye, my darling. [She rises, exits the room] Goodbye.

Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) finds Dusty (Jared Martin) again in this 1981 publicity shot from “Lover, Come Back,” a fourth-season “Dallas” episode.

Foiled again!

At the end of “Gone But Not Forgotten,” Sue Ellen and John Ross are gliding cheerfully through a Love Field airport terminal when they’re suddenly approached by two of J.R.’s goons. While one man distracts Sue Ellen, the other snatches the child. Is this the end of our heroine’s bid for happiness?

No, because seconds later, Dusty Farlow and a trio of white-hatted cowboys swarm the thug clutching John Ross. “Give us the boy,” Dusty says, and even though he’s using crutches to stand, there’s no doubt he means business. As Sue Ellen and John Ross are reunited, J.R., who’s been watching the whole thing from a mezzanine, fumes.

Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Jared Martin are terrific here, but the real star is Bruce Broughton, whose score lets us know exactly what we should be feeling as we watch Dusty come to Sue Ellen’s rescue. I especially love how the music swells when director Leonard Katzman zooms in on J.R. the moment his scheme is foiled.

But as much as I like this sequence, the highlight of “Gone But Not Forgotten” comes at the end of the first act, when Katzman pans his camera across John Ross’s darkened Southfork nursery and stops at the doorway. The character we expect to see standing there is Pam, who has been using the boy’s absence as the means to express her dashed dreams of having children, but instead we find J.R. looking around the room in silence.

It’s impossible to watch this scene and not be reminded of the third-season episode “Paternity Suit,” when J.R. walks into the nursery and picks up John Ross for the first time. As joyous as that moment was, this one is very sad. Once again, Broughton’s music is instructive: His piano score shifts to a few bars of the “Dallas” theme when the camera reaches J.R.

For the audience, the “Gone But Not Forgotten” nursery scene is also useful. Hagman’s sad eyes let us know John Ross isn’t just a pawn in J.R.’s war with Sue Ellen. J.R. genuinely loves the boy, and it’s hard to not feel bad for a dad who misses his son – even when that father is J.R. Ewing.

Grade: A

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Her hero

‘GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN’

Season 5, Episode 2

Airdate: October 16, 1981

Audience: 23.1 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: J.R. is cleared in Kristin’s death and hires a new secretary: Sly. Dusty foils J.R.’s scheme to snatch John Ross from Sue Ellen. Pam’s preoccupation with having children worries Bobby. Afton breaks up with Cliff.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Raleigh Bond (pathologist), James L. Brown (Harry McSween), Barry Corbin (Sherriff Fenton Washburn), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Bruce French (Jerry Macon), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Heather Lowe (Heather), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Bill Morey (judge), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Herbert Rudley (Howard Barker), Lane Smith (prosecutor), William Smithers (Jeremy Wendell), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Gone But Not Forgotten” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

The survivor

In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “Gone But Not Forgotten,” after the Farlow limousine parks in the Southern Cross ranch’s driveway, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) exits and walks away, followed closely by Dusty (Jared Martin).

DUSTY: Sue Ellen?

SUE ELLEN: Kristin is dead. I knew it but it didn’t hit me until right now.

DUSTY: I know darling.

SUE ELLEN: That beautiful young girl is gone. My sister. We didn’t play together very much when we were growing up. She always made fun of my boyfriends. And then when she went to high school, she was no longer “Sue Ellen’s little sister.” She was Kristin. She had an identity. She was real smart. She could have been anything that she wanted to be.

DUSTY: What happened?

SUE ELLEN: [Pauses, faces him] Mama is what happened. Mama wanted us girls to have everything that she wanted but couldn’t get by herself. We were like little dolls, created to fulfill all the things that she wanted. She wanted wealth and position and decided that we could get it for her. Maybe that’s why Kristin turned to drugs. Because she failed to live up to the goals that Mama had created for her. Maybe that’s why I had a problem with alcohol.

DUSTY: What about your father? Didn’t he have any say in how you were brought up?

SUE ELLEN: Daddy? The only thing I remember about my daddy was the smell of liquor on his breath. He left us right after Kristin was born. And I guess it was about a year later Mama got a letter saying he was dead.

DUSTY: Well, I think I had better go to that funeral with you.

SUE ELLEN: No, John Ross and I can go to Albuquerque. I don’t think I can explain you to Mama. [Smiling] Not quite yet, anyway. [They kiss.]

DUSTY: I think you had better leave John Ross here at the ranch with me.

SUE ELLEN: No, he’ll be all right. My mama hasn’t seen him since he was a little baby anyway.

DUSTY: [Touching her face] You ready to go in now?

SUE ELLEN: Yes.

She kisses his hand and they walk toward the house.

With Dusty (Jared Martin) watching, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) attends a preliminary custody hearing for John Ross in this 1981 publicity shot from “Little Boy Lost,” a fifth-season “Dallas” episode.

Mind games

Sending J.R. and Dusty to the Cotton Bowl for their big showdown at the end of “The Split” doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but who cares? The sequence is a logistical feat, and Larry Hagman and Jared Martin deliver terrific performances. This is one of those moments from the classic “Dallas” series that fans still talk about.

Leonard Katzman, who wrote and directed “The Split,” opens the scene with J.R. arriving at the stadium in his Mercedes. He drives through the gate, down the ramp and parks at the edge of the AstroTurf. This is the sort of thing Ewings can get away with. As J.R. gets out of his car and walks onto the field, we hear whirring, and then Katzman switches to a wide shot as Dusty’s helicopter floats in from the Dallas skyline and touches down on the 50-yard line.

The arrival is another example of how the Farlows are constantly one-upping the Ewings. Southfork is grand, but the Southern Cross is grander. Jock’s relationship with his sons is full of angst, while Clayton and Dusty get along just fine. One family spends years obsessing over the birth of their first grandson, and after he finally arrives, the other family ends up raising him.

Interestingly, J.R. doesn’t summon Dusty to the stadium because he wants him to turn over John Ross. No, this is about Sue Ellen. J.R. wants his wife back, and he knows to get her, he must first drive a wedge between her and Dusty. Why else does J.R. go to the trouble of insulting Dusty’s manhood and insinuating Sue Ellen and Clayton are sleeping together? This whole sequence is confirmation that J.R. still loves Sue Ellen.

As for the setting of the scene, the only reason to have it take place at the Cotton Bowl is for metaphorical value. J.R. and Dusty are a couple of gladiators, after all. And while I’m generally not a fan of excess – please note this site isn’t called “Dynasty Decoder” – there are times when big moments are called for. J.R.’s confrontation with the man who stole his woman is one such instance.

You also have to admire “Dallas” for going to all this trouble, as Martin recalls in Barbara A. Curran’s “Dallas: The Complete Story of the World’s Favorite Prime-Time Soap:”

“[T]he chopper had to arrive on time and touch down at the right spot, the light had to be constant, with no wind, Larry and I would be standing on the right spot, with the cameras rolling and in focus and if either actor came up dry all the elaborate step-by-step mechanics would need to be repeated – at great cost.”

TNT’s “Dallas” memorably paid tribute to Hagman and Martin’s scene at the end of its first episode, “Changing of the Guard,” when John Ross went to Cowboys Stadium to meet with Marta del Sol. Having those characters meet in that setting made no more sense than having J.R. meet Dusty at the Cotton Bowl.

But I loved it all the same.

Grade: A

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He’ll take his wife back now, please

‘THE SPLIT’

Season 5, Episode 8

Airdate: November 27, 1981

Audience: 23.5 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Jock divides control of Ewing Oil among the family. Bobby decides against running for re-election. Donna’s book about Sam Culver is published, while Ray’s development deal hits a snag. Afton stops moonlighting for J.R. and spills his secrets to Cliff. J.R. tells Dusty he’ll never make Sue Ellen happy.

Cast: Bernard Behrens (Haskell), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Art Hindle (Jeff Farraday), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Andy Jarrel (Neal Hart), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Barbara Stock (Heather Wilson), Robert Symonds (Martin Porter), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), David Tress (Walter Sher), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing), H.M. Wynant (Edward Chapman), Gretchen Wyler (Dr. Dagmara Conrad)

“The Split” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

American gladiators

In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “The Split,” a helicopter lands on the football field at the Cotton Bowl. Dusty (Jared Martin) exits and walks toward J.R. (Larry Hagman).

DUSTY: Ewing.

J.R.: Well, that was a very impressive entrance. You looking to see if I had any troops stationed outside?

DUSTY: I didn’t come here to play games, Ewing. What is it you wanted?

J.R.: Well, we got almost 72,000 empty seats there. [Motioning toward Dusty’s cane] You sure you wouldn’t like to sit down?

DUSTY: Look, why don’t we just get on with it, huh?

J.R.: All right. I suppose you think I came here to ask you to give me my boy back.

DUSTY: Yeah, that had occurred to me. So don’t even bother.

J.R.: Well, actually, I came here to do you a service.

DUSTY: Really?

J.R.: Ever since I found out about your … your problem – at the trial – well, I’ve been thinking about you.

DUSTY: I don’t know why you should think about me at all. Except for the fact that your wife is living with me.

J.R.: Well, in a sense, I suppose that’s true – technically. But how long she’s going to be living with you under the circumstances, I wouldn’t make a hazard to guess.

DUSTY: [Smiles] You do like to get down in the dirt, don’t you?

J.R.: I find it advantageous at times, yes.

DUSTY: All right, let’s get this over with.

J.R.: All right. My wife – and she is still my wife – is a lady of very tempestuous moods. Mostly sexual. Now I can give you a rundown of the names of her lovers if you’re really interested but –

DUSTY: No, not at all.

J.R.: There is a point here. I don’t want to be so crude as to call her a nymphomaniac, but all while she and I were enjoying a very healthy relationship, she was out looking for more elsewhere.

DUSTY: [Walks toward J.R., stands close to him] You are a disgusting man, Ewing. You think I don’t realize what kind of cheap trick you’re pulling here?

J.R.: Maybe a trick. But it’s certainly the truth. Hasn’t it occurred to you? Now surely you remember how she was before your accident. My bet is that you could hardly keep her out of bed. [Dusty backhands him] How long do you think she’s going to stay with a sexual washout? Hell, she can’t go without it forever. [Dusty turns and begins walking way; as J.R. continues speaking, he steadily raises his voice.] Maybe she won’t have to. I’ve seen your daddy. Maybe she’s staying with you because she’s not going without it. There’s only one person who’s man enough to keep that lady happy and on the Southern Cross. [Shouting] And that sure as hell ain’t you. [Chuckles as Dusty stops and looks down.]

Dusty (Jared Martin) returns to the rodeo circuit in this 1981 publicity shot from “Starting Over,” a fifth-season “Dallas” episode.

Barnburner

The only thing the Ewings love more than a dip in the pool is a roll in the hay. In “Lifting the Veil,” TNT’s most recent “Dallas” episode, Christopher and Heather (Jesse Metcalfe, AnnaLynne McCord) got romantic in the Southfork barn, continuing a tradition that goes back to “Dallas’s” earliest days. Here’s a look at the five hottest hayloft scenes from the original series.

Pammus interruptus

5. Lucy and Jimmy. Lucy (Charlene Tilton) was hot to trot for Camaro-driving Jimmy (James Canning) when he attended a Ewing Barbecue with his Uncle Digger. But as soon as she lured Jimmy to the hayloft, killjoy Pam arrived and told Jimmy he had to take Digger home before he drunkenly belted out any more verses to “The Yellow Rose of Texas” on the dance floor. Pam then hung around the hayloft for some alone time, which turned out be a big mistake: J.R. showed up and tried to mend fences with her, which ended in a different kind of hay roll for poor Pammy.

Power tools. Grrr.

4. Ray and Jenna. Not long after Jenna (Priscilla Beaulieu Presley) started shacking up with the newly divorced Ray (Steve Kanaly), she went roaming around his house and eventually wound up in the barn, where she found him doing manly Ray things. The next thing you knew, these two were undressing each other in one of the stables. Was it the sight of the shirtless Ray working with power tools that turned on Jenna? Or was this her way of thanking him for taking in her and her two bratty kids? We never found out. Maybe it’s better that way.

Stacked

3. Sue Ellen and Dusty. Hey, look everyone: Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) is home from the sanitarium — and just in time for the annual Ewing Rodeo. Hooray! How is she going to celebrate her return to Southfork? Well, for starters, she’s going to tell off J.R.’s latest tramp, Mandy, and then she’s going to head over to the barn for a little extra-marital lovin’ of her own with Dusty (Jared Martin). Good plan, Sue Ellen! I suppose it’s kind of shocking to see this uptown lady cavorting in such a down-home setting, but let’s be honest: When Sue Ellen rolls in the hay, she makes it look classy.

Virgin territory

2. J.R. and Laurette. “Dallas: The Early Years” is full of historic moments, but the biggest event of all might be when the teenaged J.R. (Kevin Wixted) loses his virginity to his poodle-skirted girlfriend Laurette (Bethany Wright) in the Southfork barn. It’s a kick to see J.R. learning how to charm a lady — he calls her “sugar” and brings along a bottle of beer to get her in the mood — and even though this isn’t exactly the kind of romantic setting we’re used to seeing our hero in, it beats that time he seduced a different floozy (cough, cough Afton) in his own marital bed.

Head games

1. Lucy and Ray. “Dallas’s” first roll in the hay is still the kinkest — and the ickiest, in retrospect. On the day Bobby brought home his new bride Pam, Lucy was in the hayloft getting chummy with Ray, who was still carrying a torch for Pam, his ex-girlfriend. Naughty Lucy even made Ray call her by Pam’s name during their encounter, which is pretty darn twisted. Years later, the audience discovered Ray is Lucy’s uncle, which rendered their past relationship into the Storyline No One Dare Speak of Again. Maybe the producers forgot about it, but the fans never did. (Do we ever?)

What’s your favorite “Dallas” hayloft scene? Share your thoughts in the comments section below and read more Dal-Lists.

Not every “Dallas” storyline ends on a satisfying note. What if you had the power to change the things that disappointed you?

Would Bobby choose Jenna over Pam? Would Sue Ellen ride off into the sunset with Dusty? Would Miss Ellie have returned to Southfork after her travels abroad? How would you have written J.R. out of the TNT series?

Your #DallasChat Daily question: Which “Dallas” storylines should have ended differently?

Share your comments below and join other #DallasChat Daily discussions.

J.R. was the love of Sue Ellen’s life, but how much did she care for the men with whom she cheated during their marriage?

Among her flings: J.R.’s arch rival, Cliff Barnes; little John Ross’s camp counselor, Peter Richards; investment banker Nicolas Pearce; and of course, everyone’s favorite rodeo cowboy, Dusty Farlow.

Your #DallasChat Daily question: Did Sue Ellen love any of the men she had affairs with?

Share your comments below and join other #DallasChat Daily discussions.

As much as we all love “Dallas’s” opening credits, they aren’t without their quirks.

Linda Gray and Steve Kanaly weren’t added to the title sequence until the second season, while poor Ken Kercheval had to wait until Season 3 to get star billing. By the time the show was winding down, the credits had become a free-for-all: Lesley-Anne Down was added to the opening titles the moment she joined the show, even though hardly anyone remembers her character, Stephanie Rogers.

Meanwhile, actors who made lasting contributions to “Dallas” — including John Beck (Mark), Morgan Brittany (Katherine), Mary Crosby (Kristin), Jared Martin (Dusty), Deborah Shelton (Mandy) and William Smithers (Jeremy) — were never promoted to the title sequence. (This is just a sampling, of course. Feel free to name additional actors in your response.)

Your #DallasChat Daily question: Which “Dallas” actors deserved a spot in the opening credits?

Share your comments below and join other #DallasChat Daily discussions.

Who says you can’t beat a Ewing?

As the original “Dallas” neared its end, two Westar board members invited J.R. to become the company’s new chairman. J.R. found the offer too good to refuse, so he sold his share of Ewing Oil to Cliff Barnes and accepted the offer to join Westar — only to have the rug pulled out from under him by Carter McKay. In “The Decline and Fall of the Ewing Empire,” J.R. discovered the Westar job was a ruse; Carter’s minions had dangled the offer in front of J.R. long enough for him to sell Ewing Oil, and then Carter snatched Westar away, leaving J.R. with nothing.

History repeated itself, sort of, as TNT’s “Dallas” sequel series drew to a close. Carter’s grandson Hunter encouraged J.R.’s son John Ross to take Ewing Global public, making shares of the company available to outside investors. In “Victims of Love,” Hunter, with help from partner-in-crime Nicolas Trevino, purchased all of Ewing Global’s shares during the company’s initial public offering — seizing control of John Ross’s company in a single swoop. Once again, a McKay had beaten a Ewing.

The parallels between these storylines aren’t perfect. Carter merely tricked J.R. into giving up Ewing Oil, while Hunter took over Ewing Global. Nevertheless, there are similarities between the scenes where J.R. and John Ross each realize the tables have been turned against them. Both sequences feature surprise reunions — J.R. and Dusty Farlow (!) in “The Decline and Fall of the Ewing Empire,” Christopher and Hunter in “Victims of Love” — and J.R. and John Ross use similar language. J.R. to Carter: “You son of a bitch. You set me up.” John Ross to Hunter: “You and Nicolas were setting me up.” There are also important differences: cool-as-a-cucumber J.R. keeps a stiff upper lip after Carter’s victory, while hot-headed John Ross attacks Hunter.

It took a while, but J.R. eventually clawed his way back to power. Will John Ross do the same? More importantly, how long will we have to wait to see it?

‘You Son of a Bitch. You Set Me Up.’

Like son

In “The Decline and Fall of the Ewing Empire,” a 14th-season “Dallas” episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) is sitting at his office desk when Rose (Jeri Gaile) enters the room.

ROSE: Mind if I come in?

J.R.: What do you want?

ROSE: Thought maybe there was an office you wanted me to bug. [Looking around] Oh, this is nice. This is very nice. Oh, yes. I especially like your desk. [She sits on it and strokes the lamp.] It’s so … big. Use it much?

J.R.: How the hell did you get in here?

Carter (George Kennedy) enters.

CARTER: Your assistant seems to have vacated her post. Hello, J.R. Rose is right. It’s a very nice office.

J.R.: I thought you left Dallas for good.

CARTER: Only to find Rose. [Puts his arm around her] We decided to come back here for a while. Just to see how things were doing. [Sits in a chair]

J.R.: You heard, huh?

CARTER: Heard what?

J.R.: That I’m going to be the new chairman of the board of Westar. You come here to stop me?

CARTER: I did receive a few phone calls about it. Frankly, J.R., I think you’d make a terrible chairman of the board. [J.R. smiles.] I do have some affection for Westar. I’d hate to see you destroy it.

J.R.: Well, that’s too bad. Because I now have the voting rights. [Rose smiles coyly.]

CARTER: Oh, that’s right. Clayton gave them to you, didn’t he? They carry a lot of weight.

J.R.: [Chuckles] That’s an understatement.

CARTER: Maybe, but maybe the voting rights aren’t enough. Don’t you have to have the shares to go with them?

J.R.: Oh, don’t you worry about that. [Stands, moves from behind the desk] I’ll get ’em. In time, I’ll get them.

Dusty (Jared Martin) enters.

DUSTY: I wouldn’t be too sure of that, J.R.

CARTER: You do remember Dusty Farlow, don’t you?

J.R.: Like I remember athlete’s foot. Well, I don’t know what rock you had to turn over to find him, but those voting rights are legally mine.

DUSTY: You haven’t changed, have you? You’re still plottin’ and schemin’ and one-uppin’ everyone you can.

J.R.: [Chuckles] Well, some people are easier to one-up than others — as I’m sure you remember.

DUSTY: Oh, I remember J.R. Except this time, I don’t think your little schemes are going to work.

J.R.: You going to try to stop me?

DUSTY: I already have. You see, those shares were more trouble than they were worth. I was happy to sell them to Mac.

J.R.: [To Carter] You son of a bitch. You set me up.

CARTER: True, and I didn’t think it would be that easy. I’m the majority stockholder now, J.R., and tomorrow, I’m putting my own man in. And you can kiss your dreams of becoming chairman goodbye. [Rose blows him a kiss, and then she and Carter exit.]

DUSTY: So long, J.R. Give my regards to Sue Ellen. Oh, that’s right. I forgot. She dumped you. [He smiles and leaves.]

‘You and Nicholas Were Setting Me Up’

Like father

In “Victims of Love,” a third-season “Dallas” episode, Hunter (Fran Kranz) is in his apartment when he answers a knock at the door, revealing John Ross and Christopher (Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe)

HUNTER: John Ross, Christopher. What’s up guys?

CHRISTOPHER: Hunter, we were hoping to have a little chat.

HUNTER: Yeah, no problem, of course. Come on in. Come on. [The cousins follow him into the apartment, where he pauses a video game and picks up a beer bottle.] All right. Man, Christopher. It’s been a minute, huh? [Laughs] Last time I saw you must’ve been … high school. [He takes a potato chip from a bowl and eats it.]

JOHN ROSS: And last time you saw me, you and Nicholas were setting me up so that you could steal our company.

HUNTER: Whoa, guys, I-I-I don’t want there to be any hard feelings. It was all just business.

CHRISTOPHER: Except what you did was illegal. You see, we know the money you used came from the Mendez-Ochoa cartel.

HUNTER: I don’t know what you’re talking about. [Sips his beer]

JOHN ROSS: I think you do.

CHRISTOPHER: And we’re filing a suit with the SEC, and when we do, you’re going to find yourself in jail.

HUNTER: [Sets down his beer] Guys, let’s just be honest. If you already had proof of where that money came from, you wouldn’t be standing in my apartment. [Chuckles] I think I win.

CHRISTOPHER: [To John Ross] Let’s go. [They turn and head for the door.]

HUNTER: You know, John Ross, Nicolas wasn’t so sure you’d take the bait. But then I told him how J.R. fell for a similar move when my grandfather tricked him into giving up Ewing Oil. That’s sort of poetic justice, right? You losing your company the same way your daddy did?

John Ross lunges for Hunter and grabs him by his sweatshirt.

CHRISTOPHER: John Ross!

JOHN ROSS: We’re going to find out where that money came from, McKay, and when we do, you’re finished!

CHRISTOPHER: [Pulls John Ross away] Let’s go! Come on.

What do you think of the Ewings’ losses to the McKays? Share your comments below and read more “Dallas Parallels.”

Suicide watch

In “Those Eyes,” a ninth-season “Dallas” episode, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), lying in a hospital detoxification unit, covers her eyes when Dusty (Jared Martin) enters and sets on her bed.

DUSTY: You have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be afraid of anymore. [Pulls her hands away from her face] Sue Ellen, I’m here because I love you. I’m here to keep that promise I made to help you. No matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes. Because I want to see you healthy again. Because I want you.

SUE ELLEN: I want a drink.

DUSTY: Oh, God, no, darling. A drink would kill you.

SUE ELLEN: [Whispering] Kill me.

DUSTY: Sue Ellen, no. Don’t be like this. Just hang on. Hang on to me. [Embraces her]

J.R. (Larry Hagman) enters and spots them.

J.R.: Farlow! [Takes off his hat, tosses it aside] What the hell are you doing here? Let go of my wife, you hear? [Pulls Dusty away from her, grabs him by his jacket lapels]

DUSTY: Settle down, J.R. I’m warning you!

J.R.: You bastard. I ought to tear your head off.

DUSTY: You stay away from me, and you stay away from Sue Ellen. [Pushes him away, sending J.R. crashing into medical carts]

J.R.: Listen, is this the way you’re helping her? Huh? Is this the way you’re helping her? You’re a genius, you are! [Grabs him and punches him in the gut, sending him onto a bed] Now you get out of here, or I’ll kill you, I swear it.

DUSTY: [Rising] I love her, and I’m never going to let you hurt her again, you —

As they grab each other’s lapels, Sue Ellen rises between them.

SUE ELLEN: [Screaming] No, no! [Collapses onto the bed as orderlies and a doctor pull J.R. and Dusty away from each other.]

Watch this scene in “Those Eyes,” available on DVD and at Amazon and iTunes, and share your comments below.

Buckle up

Reading Jared Martin’s obituaries over the weekend, I was struck by how many emphasized his connection to “Dallas.” Entertainment Weekly, Deadline Hollywood and several other entertainment news sites mentioned the show in the headlines announcing his death, while the headers from the Associated Press and the Hollywood Reporter went so far as to also include his character’s Louis L’Amour-worthy name, Dusty Farlow. This is somewhat surprising. Not only did Martin have an extensive career beyond “Dallas,” he appeared in just 34 episodes of the original series, or slightly less than 10 percent of the show’s total output.

Yet numbers don’t tell the whole story where Martin’s “Dallas” contributions are concerned, do they? Dusty might not have logged as much screen time as other characters who came and went over the years, but boy, did he make an impression! We mostly remember him as the suitor who swept Sue Ellen off her stilettos, but you also can make a case for Dusty being the most formidable adversary J.R. ever faced. Unlike Cliff Barnes, whom J.R. regarded as a nuisance, Dusty was a genuine threat. He was as rich and as handsome as J.R., and his ranch, the Southern Cross, was even mightier than Southfork. Worst of all, Dusty’s daddy Clayton showed him the kind of love and respect that J.R. craved from Jock but never got. J.R. didn’t just despise Dusty. He envied him.

Indeed, Dusty and J.R. are at the center of so many memorable “Dallas” scenes. Remember their confrontation near the 40-yard line inside the empty Cotton Bowl Stadium? There was absolutely no logical reason for the conversation to take place there, but where else would you expect “Dallas” to stage a clash between two Texas gladiators? Or how about the time J.R. had to present Dusty with the best all-around cowboy award at the end of a Southfork rodeo? Larry Hagman’s gritted teeth in that scene gave J.R.’s wicked grin a whole new level of menace.

It’s also worth noting that at the end of the original “Dallas’s” long run, after J.R. lost Ewing Oil to Cliff and Southfork to Bobby, the character who came along to grind salt into his wounds was none other than Dusty. “Give my regards to Sue Ellen,” he told J.R. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot. She dumped you.” On a show that often bungled beloved characters’ final farewells, Dusty got one of the better sendoffs.

Of course, as much fun as “Dallas” had with J.R. and Dusty’s rivalry, nothing really compared to Sue Ellen and Dusty’s romance. He met her when she bumped into him outside a Braddock café, and Martin’s very first line on the show — “Let me help you, ma’am,” delivered as Dusty bent down to collect Sue Ellen’s dropped packages — proved prophetic. Dusty was always helping her pick up the pieces of the life she kept shattering. When J.R.’s goons tried to snatch little John Ross from Sue Ellen’s arms during one of the couple’s custody wars, Dusty swooped in with his own hired guns to save the day. When Sue Ellen went on a bender after Bobby’s death, Dusty whisked her away to a motel so she could dry out for the funeral. He was her knight in shining spurs, although he wasn’t perfect. Never forget that Dusty ultimately chose the rodeo circuit over Sue Ellen — a sign, perhaps, that he carried the craziness gene that drove his mother-slash-aunt, Lady Jessica, over the edge. I mean, what Texan in his right mind would choose to hang around smelly horses instead of sexy Sue Ellen?

Lady and the cowboy

Through it all, no matter what “Dallas” gave him to do, Martin was one of the show’s most reliable performers. Part of it was his physical appeal: With his smoldering eyes — once described by People as “Newmanously blue” — Martin could give millions of viewers the vapors with just one look. But this man could act, too. Dusty was lusty, and Martin often delivered his lines through a clenched jaw, as if it took everything the character had to contain his passions. His scenes with Linda Gray were especially fiery. Dusty and Sue Ellen didn’t love each other as much as they burned for each other. It’s a credit to both actors that they could take a well-worn trope like the cowboy and the lady — something everyone was doing during the “Urban Cowboy” era of the 1980s, including “Dallas” with its Ray/Donna pairing — and make it feel fresh.

Of all the great scenes Martin and Gray had over the years, one of my favorites remains the time a fur-draped Sue Ellen was reunited with a wheelchair-bound Dusty, one year after the audience believed he perished in a plane crash. (Long before Patrick Duffy’s Bobby was reanimated in the shower, Dusty became the first “Dallas” character to rise from the dead.) The reunion scene is Sirkian: tight close-ups of tear-streaked faces and soapy dialogue like “don’t make me see myself every day in your eyes,” but Gray and Martin bring so much conviction to the material, you can’t help but feel moved. The actors shared a bond in real life, too: When news of Martin’s death broke last Friday, Gray tweeted that she had “such beautiful memories” of working him; his son Christian responded to Gray, telling her that Martin “loved working with you as well.”

Besides “Dallas,” Martin appeared in dozens of other shows and movies, including a starring role on “War of the Worlds,” a promising sci-fi series that petered out after two seasons in 1990. He also was a painter and photographer, and last year, he joined forces with Robert Mrazek, a former New York politician, to co-direct “The Congressman,” a comedy starring Treat Williams. Martin also taught acting and directing, including co-founding a nonprofit group that introduces inner-city kids to filmmaking. In recent days, artists who knew Martin as a mentor have posted tributes to him on social media.

I get the sense Martin took great pride in his work after “Dallas,” but I hope he was also proud of his association with the show. It remains fashionable to dismiss “Dallas” as a 1980s frivolity; just a few months ago, “Twin Peaks” co-creator Mark Frost told an interviewer that “Dallas” was the kind of show that he and David Lynch “wouldn’t be caught dead watching.” It was a snotty comment that ignores “Dallas’s” many contributions to shaping modern television drama, including its role in popularizing prime-time cliffhangers, serialized storylines and all the antiheroes who’ve followed in J.R.’s boot steps. And while it’s always sad to lose actors like Martin, their deaths also give us occasion to remember all that was great about “Dallas” — and how much it has meant to the art of television.

What are your favorite memories of Jared Martin on “Dallas”? Share your comments below and read more opinions from Dallas Decoder.