Dallas: Blame Game Recap

Episode 6 of Season 2 of Dallas 2012 (2/25/13) was entitled The Blame Game, but was more about the daughters under the thumbs of their daddies, specifically Harris Ryland and Cliff Barnes. This “I must please my daddy” subtext mainly took the form of pained cryptic looks from Emma whatever-her-last name-is and Pamela Rebecca Barnes.

Ann Ewing, numero uno victim of Ryland’s controlling nature, was due to be sentenced and Sue Ellen, once quite the victim herself, visited Ann in the hoosgow to buck her spirits up. Sue Ellen then confronted Elena in the hall about being left in the dark on the Henderson thing. Christopher tried to put in his ever-present two cents but Sue Ellen coldly shut him down. Elena didn’t really need his help — she did a pretty good job of putting a stop to Sue Ellen’s rantings all by herself.

Along comes that little devil, John Ross, to ask his momma how she liked putting up with their ‘tudes. Sue Ellen complained about having to ask, and John Ross planted the suggestion that she forget about asking. It’s time to just take what is hers. He later laid out the whole morals clause thing. Sue Ellen inquired if John Ross set Drew up, but he assured her Drew broke the law all by himself. John Ross just made sure he got caught. She observed that he is his father’s son, while the little sneak buttered her up some more.

At the Venezuelan consulate, Vicente Cano had his own complaints about the way an important connected dude such as himself was being treated. The head honcho informed Cano that he is a disgrace to Venezuelans. Until his extradition, he will be treated as a criminal because that’s what he is, not to mention a murderer. Later in the car, the handcuffs come off and Cano checks that everything is set for “a proper goodbye” for the Ewings.

Pamela Barnes agrees to everything Christopher wants in exchange for 10% of Ewing Energies. This means they will have full joint custody and Christopher can have his annulment. When John Ross finds out, he thinks that means he’s getting the 10% signed over to him. When Pamela refuses, he threatens her with war.

Christopher learned about Drew’s legal problems but Elena assured him Drew had no idea he was transporting smuggled goods. Drew will plead guilty and that will be the end of it. She handled this on her own because he had enough problems. Christopher relates the good news about the annulment. They can have a proper wedding.

Bobby is trying to get some work done while JR plays with his tablet, sending Bobby messages until he gets Bobby to click on a video of a dog playing basketball. Thinking JR is in his dotage, Bobby chuckles but yells at him to leave him alone. When he goes to court, Bobby pleas for leniency for Ann, describing how they met when she was a therapist helping abused women. After court, Bobby pays a visit to Emma to let her know if she ever needs them, the Ewings will be there for her. He tells an obviously conflicted Emma how much she reminds him of Ann.

In one of the stupidest parts, Christopher angrily confronts Drew about getting himself arrested and Drew tells his side, indicating that he thinks the foreman deliberately sabotaged the drilling. This is old news, not just to us — Christopher has already confronted both John Ross and the foreman Brian and threatened them both (in False Confessions). So now all of a sudden, they’re like who would do this? Lame! Then Christopher studies the Sue Ellen contract and a light bulb goes off when he comes to the morals clause. He gets a call in to Elena to stop Drew from pleading guilty but it’s too late. Elena is so mad, she makes Drew find his own way back to Southfork and gets there before him. Pamela is also on the way to deliver the signed contract and ultrasound in person.

Emma drops in on Ann in prison who is delighted to see her but why she showed up is never really explained, particularly since she still claims to be supporting Harris. Ann recognizes the pressure Emma is under so she recalls a tale about how putting highlights in her hair was a cardinal sin when she and Harris were married. She tells Emma things will get easier, a strange remark coming from a woman facing 20 years!

When Bobby learns about Sue Ellen’s plans to divest Elena of her assets, he goes straight for the extra copy he made of the evidence against John Ross and J.R. He is about to show Sue Ellen and John Ross that he means business but the video JR sent contained a virus that erases Bobby’s evidence. Don’t ask us how. We could have sworn Bobby said he had that stuff on a cloud drive at one point, in which case it would still be online. All our cloud stuff is. But anyhow, that’s when Vicente Cano and his posse show up. They grab Pamela who is on her way in. Vicente whacks John Ross and demands the methane prototype. If he doesn’t get it in an hour, he tells Christopher his wife and babies will be dead. But John Ross leaps to Pamela’s defense and an amused Vicente laughs at how the Ewing boys share their women. “I love it,” he crows as he points a gun at Elena’s head and says she will be the one who gets it.

Vicente sends his man with Christopher to Ewing Energies to get the prototype while Ann and lawyer Lou are at the sentencing hearing wondering where the hell Bobby is. No one will answer their calls so they have no choice but to proceed solo. Ann expresses her deep remorse and begs for a second chance, but everyone can see it is Emma she is really speaking directly to. Harris Ryland coldly tries to kill any sympathy for Ann. The jury lets Ann off with probation and Ryland’s mother, Judith goes wild. The judge orders her to shut her trap on pain of contempt and tells Ryland he would probably have shot him too if he’d been in Ann’s shoes. Ann’s primary concern now is to find out what kept her hubby away.

At Ewing Energies, Christopher tries to outwit Cano’s thug, but can’t get the upper hand since the guy has a cell phone ready to shoot a text to Cano telling him to kill Elena. At Southfork, the hostages pass the time delving into the whys and wherefores of their conflicts. Bobby tells Sue Ellen she can be the instrument of change. Elena tries to get an honest answer out of John Ross about why he is such a rat. Pamela confesses that Cliff is pulling her strings. She apparently feels she owes her daddy this one and also wants to know if what happened between her and John Ross was revenge sex. John Ross says revenge sex was all he could afford. Upon Christopher’s return, Cano marches out the door with the prototype, taking Elena with him for insurance. John Ross creates a diversion with Christopher that allows them and Bobby to go all Rambo on Cano’s men. Drew sees his sister with a strange man. He asks no questions — just goes and gets himself a high-powered rifle and kills Cano just as he is about to shoot Christopher and Elena.

After all that, Sue Ellen decides she is going to be the instrument of change but not in a Bobby Ewing-approved kind of way. She is now the newest board member of Ewing Energies. Bobby vows to give them the fight of their lives.

Next week’s previews show that it’s time for J.R. to go to that big rodeo in the sky, and the week after that will be J.R.’s funeral.

What shenanigans can go down among all that sadness we don’t know, but the way things are going, we figure at some point, Emma will escape from under her daddy’s thumb and probably fall under the evil spell of John Ross Ewing.