Dallas Premiere: Let the Double Crosses Begin

The premiere of Dallas, “Changing of the Guard,”opens with John Ross Ewing (Josh Henderson) hitting a 10,000 barrel gusher right on Southfork. “How are you going to tell Bobby,” Elena Ramos (Jordana Brewster) says.

It’s Bobby Ewing’s (Patrick Duffy) birthday and he’s at the doctor’s where he has just learned that he has cancer! But his adopted son Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) is getting married and he swears the doctor to secrecy. “I’ve got family business to attend to before anybody knows I’m dying.”

Christopher is conducting a deal of his own with venture capitalists but he doesn’t like the take it or leave it terms: “I ain’t a virgin but I ain’t a whore either.” His fiancee, Rebecca Sutter (Julie Gonzalo), pretends to be a mademoiselle in distress and we learn that Christopher speaks French.

At home with his wife, Ann, Bobby proposes a world cruise, but Anne says they are much too young, they’ll do it in their golden years. John Ross celebrates his strike by treating everyone to a weekend on him and hands a man a big wad of bills to pay him for not telling Bobby about the drilling. “Betting against J.R.’s son would have been like betting against the Dallas Cowboys,” the man says, “downright unpatriotic.” And then Bobby visits a sanatorium where J.R. is being treated for depression. He tells his brother that he wants a different life for their sons and says he loves him.

At Southfork, Christopher and Rebecca are welcomed and introduced all around, while Carmen, the cook, chastises Christopher for leaving her girl for Rebecca and shows her disapproval when Elena walks in with John Ross. Everyone but John Ross feels very awkward when John Ross suggests Elena can be her bridesmaid. Oh, and Rebecca. You can see she doesn’t know something yet. John Ross’s mother, Sue Ellen, shows up, and at dinner, Bobby makes the unexpected announcement that he intends to sell Southfork.

John Ross takes him out to the field where he has struck oil. Bobby blows his stack and Christopher is on his daddy’s side. Bobby promised his mother there would no drilling on Southfork. John Ross snidely remarks that they are long past caring about Miss Ellie’s precious wishes. Bobby tells him that Southfork is for sale and oil alternatives are the future. “Keep me out of it, dad,” Christopher says and John Ross reminds him that Bobby is not his real dad, and he will never be a real Ewing.

But John Ross and Christopher do have blood ties, y’all.

A fistfight ensues. When it’s broken up, Bobby will not allow drilling on his ranch.

John Ross files an injunction against the sale of Southfork and when Bobby is served with the papers, he vows to give John Ross the fight of his life. Bobby gets a court order forcing John Ross to shut down operations and tells him to go find oil somewhere else.

“We’re not done here, uncle.” John Ross says in a challenging manner. Then he goes to see his daddy, whom he’s been neglecting up till now. After John Ross gets done pouring out his troubles to J.R., not even knowing whether he is hearing him or not, J.R. wants to know on what grounds he plans to overturn Miss Ellie’s will.

Well, there’s just nothing like double-crossing Bobby to perk J.R. up.

Dallas Season 1 Episodes: 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6 : 7 : 8 : 9