Dallas: The Last Hurrah Recap

The fourth installment of Dallas is called “The Last Hurrah” (6/27/12) and refers to the last BBQ being planned before the sale of Southfork. It opens with Christopher Ewing making love to Elena! Then he startles awake from this dream and he is lying in bed with his wife, Rebecca.

The scene shifts to early birds J.R. and John Ross plotting the only way left to bring Mitch Lobell in line — set his son, Ricky, up for another drug bust because he’s already got two felony convictions and the threat of a third strike will make his father dance to their tune. J.R. suggests they exploit the son’s weakness for the ladies with the fake Marta. John Ross doesn’t want to use her, leading J.R. to wonder if things are getting serious there. But John Ross says Marta is getting a little clingy. That makes J.R. think John Ross would rather get clingy with “that Mexican girl.” John Ross sets him straight: “Her name’s Elena … I think that’s over.” J.R. tells him to find someone he can trust fast. John Ross calls up Rebecca and says they need to meet up to have a little talk about the email she sent Elena:

“The one that broke her up with Christopher.” ~ John Ross Ewing

J.R. meantime is getting the lowdown on the fake Marta. His PI tell hims “Her real name’s Veronica Martinez — and don’t break her heart.” She has bipolar disorder and two arrests for stalking her ex-boyfriend. Seems Veronica was able to convince a jury that the knife she used on her ex was in self-defense. J.R. tells the PI that John Ross is involved with Veronica but he only has eyes for Elena.

Elena shows up unexpectedly at Southfork to show Christopher some bids. As they look them over, Rebecca comes downstairs. She is surprised to see Elena but plays it off and rushes off to the law library. It’s an awkward scene where everyone else in the room senses the tension. Christopher leaves and Bobby decides to follow him to find out what was up with all that.

JR is back sniffing around Sue Ellen. He brings her Miss Ellie’s pearls for good luck. Who should be there but Cliff Barnes, who says he will stop at nothing to get back what is rightfully his and he knows J.R. is the same way. But J.R. reiterates that he is a changed man.

Evidence of that is the fact that you’re not being wheeled out of here with two broken legs. ` J.R. Ewing

Sue Ellen and Cliff are leaving for lunch and J.R. asks: “Are you really going to break bread with this low-life?” Sue Ellen reminds him that he lost his right to tell her who to have lunch with a long time ago.

Meeting up with John Ross, Rebecca denies sending the email but John Ross doesn’t care because he’s got evidence that says she did. She is the one he wants to set up Lobell’s son and he tells her that he thinks she’s a very resourceful woman. He says once she figures out how to pull it off: “Ill let you get away with whatever scam you’re trying to pull on my dimwitted cousin.”

Elena drags John Ross out of a bar to charm Mrs. Henderson into letting them drill on her property. Mrs. Henderson smiles when John Ross says she the sexiest woman in Dallas County when she’s mad, and says he’s got his daddy’s charm but she hopes he didn’t get his morals. The playful little boy in John Ross comes out as he splashes Elena with water from the hose, pretends it was an accident and then does it again and says that one was on purpose. They end up in each other’s arms. J.R.’s PI isn’t far away taking photos of this epic event. He calls J.R. to report that he’s got something on his boy. John Ross and Elena go to see Sue Ellen who says she will transfer $75,000 to Elena’s account. Sue Ellen will never trust J.R. for good reasons and she takes John Ross into her office for a private chat. She asks him if he thinks J.R. has really changed. John Ross says he knows J.R. is teaching him about the oil business like he always promised he would. Hmmm. Does this grudge John Ross has against his mother have something to do with a broken promise?

Christopher confides everything about the Elena situation to Bobby while they prepare to birth a calf. He still believes John Ross sent the email and now Bobby does too. He says he really loves Rebecca and Bobby says if that’s true, he must let Elena go.

Rebecca goes to a self-help meeting Ricky Lobell is heading up. She gets him to take her out with a woeful tale of love gone bad. She suggests they get high together but Ricky refuses and shows her the number one reason he is clean: his woman. She realizes this is the way she feels about Christopher and leaves without any further effort to fulfill John Ross’ mission. But back in her room, the other intrigue she is mixed up in rears its ugly head — Tommy is installing the spyware on Christopher’s computer. She hurries him out.

J.R. tells his PI he plans to use the photos of John Ross and Elena to make Marta “madder than a hornet’s nest” or maybe get Elena to take John Ross to the BBQ. His PI says if J.R. needs a backup plan, he’s good at trouble. “Me too,” J.R. says.

Elena wants John Ross to go back into business with her. “What about us?” he asks. “One step at a time,” she replies and kisses him on the cheek. Marta (we just have to keep calling Veronica Marta until everyone knows her real name) has been waiting for John Ross and shows a bit of her bipolar disorder when she impulsively forgives him for keeping her waiting, even though she knows he is lying. She takes him out to buy him an expensive Piaget luxury watch when Rebecca calls to say she can’t accommodate his evil plans. He explains his predicament to Marta who has no qualms about ruining Ricky Lobell’s life.

At Southfork, J.R. “runs into” Elena and butters her up, saying John Ross would never have read a book in his life if it weren’t for her. She tells him that John Ross was dyslexic, not stupid. He suggests she invite John Ross to the BBQ, then his own date arrives.

It’s Sue Ellen! She’s now breaking bread with J.R. She says Cliff is going to fund her campaign for governor. She questions J.R.’s motives but her wily ex is holding his cards close to his chest and claims to be making amends for his years of bad parenting.

Christopher blows Elena’s mind when he shows up with a $20,000 check to pay her for consulting help. He is clearly trying to deliberately alienate her to make his choice easier, but wow! Did he have to insult and hurt her?

“I’m just trying to protect myself because it’s pretty clear how quickly you’ll compromise your integrity for money” ~ Christopher Ewing

John Ross gets a text from Elena at 12:07 (we need a phone like that with the big time). “Wanna be my date at the BBQ?” He smiles then his daddy calls and wants to know what’s up with Lobell’s son. He says Marta took care of it and tells J.R. something he already knows — he’s going to the BBQ. Then he texts Rebecca and tells her too. He also says she should have done what he wanted.

Marta’s washing down her medication with lots of booze. A knock on her door turns out to be J.R. toting the photos his P.I. took. He’s very sorry to report that John Ross was just using her. She shows him her compromising pics of Lobell’s son. J.R. seems both taken aback and impressed. He didn’t expect such graphic results. Marta says Ricky was tougher to persuade than she anticipated. Initially, it seemed like J.R. meant to incite her jealous side to cause John Ross problems. Now he offers to cut a new deal with her altogether. Or maybe that was his plan all along? You just never know what J.R.’s got up his sleeve. Lobell’s about to find out though that it’s J.R.’s tune he’s going to dance to, and that includes cutting out John Ross.

At the BBQ, right after Bobby’s speech, Rebecca spies John Ross. She runs to Christopher and says they need to talk. Christopher takes her to see the calf that he and Bobby saved from dying. Rebecca nervously and tearfully begins to tell him about the infamous email, and the next thing you know, you’re watching the coming attractions. Goll-eeeee.

Is Rebecca Cliff Barnes’ daughter?

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