Dallas had now been on the air for a little over ten years and despite the dreary dream season it was easily the most successful and popular glam soap of the 80's. By 1988 it was still going strong, had recovered well in season 10 and continued to pull in respectable ratings although they were down from it's peak in the early 80's. Season 12 marks the last decent season before Dallas began to display major fault lines prior to being canceled. There were a number of factors that contributed to this but not least the most obvious was the ongoing list of characters leaving the series. By the end of this season Dallas was to see the last of Sue Ellen and Ray Krebs, two of the original cast. With Jenna's departure at the end of the previous season and Donna and Pam's departure prior to that, it just all began to take it's toll. This is not to say that there were not some good scenes or great episodes and even some good stories in 13 and 14, it's just that one sensed that Dallas seemed to be running down the clock. Also in season 12 JR seemed to get more and more vulnerable and started to lose his authority and edge. In addition there were very few updated outdoor shots of Southfork which would explain why there was no Ewing barbecue this season, although we still had the oil barons ball.
So out of the original Ewings plus Cliff Barnes we had 5 of the originals left at the end of this season with Lucy returning after a four year absence. Also, by this time many of the sub-characters had all gone by the wayside, Sheriff Fenton, Scotty Deamrist, Franklin Horner and Andy Bradley had departed. By the end of this season Harry McSween was to no longer visible and the excellent cold -blooded Jeremy Wendell who had been an integral character on and off for a number of seasons would make way too. Sometime during this season Jordon Lee would retire from the oil business although he would continue to pop up every so often until the last season.
So what were we in for in season 12? Well at the end of the previous season something that some Dallas fans had been wanting to see for some time saw a distraught Sue Ellen shooting JR after her lover Nicholas Pearce fell off the Ewing condo balcony during an altercation with JR. At the beginning of this season JR was sitting up in bed recovering from gunshot wounds much to the bemusement of the doctors who were scratching their heads wondering why no vital organ was hit or major blood vessels severed? OK we knew that JR had no heart but to come through almost unscathed was a miracle! Despite the fact that no charges were brought against Sue Ellen or JR they were both now totally irreconcilable and filed for their second divorce! However, this was not nearly enough for her and wanted the ultimate revenge. She hooked up with a film producer to make a movie about a character based on JR that was intended to make him the laughing stock of Dallas. Consequently to do this the viewer was treated to many flash backs from previous years.
Ray Krebs had decided to sell up and move to Europe with Jenna so his ranch was sold to carpet bagger Carter Mckay, well cast by George Kennedy, who after seemingly being to good to be true caused the Ewings all sorts of trouble. This resulted in an all out range war between the two with both sides hiring mercenaries to defend each others land. Mackay was a welcome addition to the series and I think his presence added a nice touch even during season 13 and 14when Dallas was on the wain. He proved to be more than a match for JR and his relationship with the Ewing brothers got testy on more than one occasion. He brought in his daughter who had a fling with Bobby and also his drug crazed son Tommy who was very dislike able and much to the relief of Dallas fans eventually got what was coming to him. Cliff was to join Ewing oil as a full partner which in some sense gave a feeling that Dallas had come in a complete circle, consequently he didn't have a forceful or combative relationship with the Ewings in this season. However, Jeremy Wendell continued his obsessive vendetta against JR as well as any Ewing who happened to be in the way.
The Ewings did some traveling to Europe during this season, JR got himself into all sorts of hot water as well as finding a new a new bride and despite some missteps and ups and downs Bobby finally managed to find a new love although Pam still lingered in his mind. Still good entertainment, enjoy this season but I think it began to slide from season 13 onwards.
So out of the original Ewings plus Cliff Barnes we had 5 of the originals left at the end of this season with Lucy returning after a four year absence. Also, by this time many of the sub-characters had all gone by the wayside, Sheriff Fenton, Scotty Deamrist, Franklin Horner and Andy Bradley had departed. By the end of this season Harry McSween was to no longer visible and the excellent cold -blooded Jeremy Wendell who had been an integral character on and off for a number of seasons would make way too. Sometime during this season Jordon Lee would retire from the oil business although he would continue to pop up every so often until the last season.
So what were we in for in season 12? Well at the end of the previous season something that some Dallas fans had been wanting to see for some time saw a distraught Sue Ellen shooting JR after her lover Nicholas Pearce fell off the Ewing condo balcony during an altercation with JR. At the beginning of this season JR was sitting up in bed recovering from gunshot wounds much to the bemusement of the doctors who were scratching their heads wondering why no vital organ was hit or major blood vessels severed? OK we knew that JR had no heart but to come through almost unscathed was a miracle! Despite the fact that no charges were brought against Sue Ellen or JR they were both now totally irreconcilable and filed for their second divorce! However, this was not nearly enough for her and wanted the ultimate revenge. She hooked up with a film producer to make a movie about a character based on JR that was intended to make him the laughing stock of Dallas. Consequently to do this the viewer was treated to many flash backs from previous years.
Ray Krebs had decided to sell up and move to Europe with Jenna so his ranch was sold to carpet bagger Carter Mckay, well cast by George Kennedy, who after seemingly being to good to be true caused the Ewings all sorts of trouble. This resulted in an all out range war between the two with both sides hiring mercenaries to defend each others land. Mackay was a welcome addition to the series and I think his presence added a nice touch even during season 13 and 14when Dallas was on the wain. He proved to be more than a match for JR and his relationship with the Ewing brothers got testy on more than one occasion. He brought in his daughter who had a fling with Bobby and also his drug crazed son Tommy who was very dislike able and much to the relief of Dallas fans eventually got what was coming to him. Cliff was to join Ewing oil as a full partner which in some sense gave a feeling that Dallas had come in a complete circle, consequently he didn't have a forceful or combative relationship with the Ewings in this season. However, Jeremy Wendell continued his obsessive vendetta against JR as well as any Ewing who happened to be in the way.
The Ewings did some traveling to Europe during this season, JR got himself into all sorts of hot water as well as finding a new a new bride and despite some missteps and ups and downs Bobby finally managed to find a new love although Pam still lingered in his mind. Still good entertainment, enjoy this season but I think it began to slide from season 13 onwards.
