A very strong episode. I want to say "pivotal" in that it looks backwards and also points ahead. The "ruckus" at the Oil Baron's Ball is mentioned by Cliff, Mickey's passing by Lucy, Aunt Lil back in Kansas by Ray, and of course the Jenna-Bobby kiss that capstoned the charity rodeo at Billy Bob's in the preceding episode. Sue Ellen points us ahead to the next episode as she busily prepares for Barbecue Four, and in the most tantalizing presaging of future events, J. R. promises to bring Cliff down "very, very hard." With Sly's cover blown and J. R. flipping her into a double agent, the stage is set for exciting events ahead.
I loved the clever title playing on that of the 1971 Kirk Douglas comedy TO CATCH A SPY. This is no laughing matter, however. We knew Sly was going to get caught sooner than later--and so did she! A shoutout to Debbie Rennard for a strong performance that had me empathizing with her mounting panic as JR cast the dragnet, tightened the perimeter, and triangulated on the culprit. And for all that high-tech phone tapping and piles of cassettes plopped into a Sony Walkman, it was an old-fashioned tail and incriminating photographs that brought down our JayVee Gal from UNCLE.
The obvious question is why didn't JR suspect Sly from the start? I mean, who arranged and sat in on in those meetings with the oilmen? JR kept insisting nobody knew about these deals except himself and the men he dealt with. Was Sly sitting there taking notes beneath JR's imperious notice? Just a piece of furniture? And it's not like JR (and the audience) haven't been down this road before. Julie Grey was the first treacherous secretary who passed secrets to Cliff way back in the show's spring of '78 infancy. As a seasoned cop turned private investigator, Harry McSween should have had Sly placed high on the suspect list.
And what was with McSween suddenly being Sly's "Uncle Harry" and asking after her folks (but not her ne'er-do-well jailbird brother)? I was sure that plot twist was sprang upon us to prolong the storyline, with Harry discovering and then trying to coverup his niece's misdeeds. But nope, Harry had his agent Judy Baker hustle those incriminating photographs right over to JR. And Judy sure played it poker faced, being shown into JR's office by Sly, whose undoing was lurking in the manila envelope Judy carried.
Those photos tell a bigger tale, by the way. It's established they were all snapped the same afternoon Judy followed Cliff after he excused himself from lunch with Mark and Pam, right? Note that the first photo shows Sly in the pool in her bust-baring swimsuit with Cliff crouching down getting an eyeful. I contend he got more than that because the next photo shows Sly dressed for work, her hair dry, and Cliff with his jacket jauntily slung over his shoulder in a Frank Sinatra "come fly with me" conquest pose. Remember their first meeting when Sly offered to go upstairs with Cliff? I believe he finally took her up on it (alas, poor Afton!).
JR's slow cranking the vice on Sly in the closing scene is a classic that captures Hagman as JR at his best. Talk about an iron fist in a velvet glove (offering a glass of white wine, no less!). He knows Sly is vulnerable and malleable, and he plays that leverage to his advantage. But Sly is foxy as her name implies. She stammers out that Cliff threatened her. JR lets that prevarication slide, knowing it's the panic talking. Cliff's sole threat was to ensure Sly's brother served his full sentence unless Sly played ball. The whole getting my brother parole motivation was a weak link in this subplot. It lacked any compelling life-or-death urgency. Okay, so her brother serves his full sentence. He should. As BARETTA taught us, "don't do the crime if you can't do the time (don't do it!)."
Another example of DALLAS history repeating itself with none of the characters noticing is Peter's obsessive love for Sue Ellen. It was weird and unsettling in the beginning but has now crossed over into scary. I'm suffering flashbacks to the fifth season when Lucy fell victim to psycho shutterbug Roger. I hope now that Lucy has witnessed Peter's erratic behavior when inviting him to the wedding she will warn Sue Ellen. But will Sue Ellen heed the warnings? She's unfazed that Peter stalked her to the hairdressers. Then she tells the increasingly unhinged Peter their puppy love relationship has to end because she felt pangs of jealousy when Lucy expressed interest in him, which head-smackingly stupid admission of affection only poured fuel on his disordered dumpsterfire of desire. Nothing good is gonna come of this.
Bobby and Jenna and Mark and Pam, the continuing saga (with Ray and Donna as the Greek chorus). I just can't get as invested in this soapy storyline as I can the wheelings and dealings of JR and Cliff. At least Charlie is honest in anticipating a luxurious life as the alluring outcome of Mom's latest romance. But uh-oh, what dirt is the ridiculously overdressed for a trip to the library Katherine scraping up from old newspaper files? (And what paper would have so many crossword puzzles--every third page--and so large an article about Jenna booking an overseas trip?)
That said, I like Jenna and Charlie and am hoping it works out for them and Bobby. If anything, having a beautiful wife and a blended family would give him a dry run for his later role on STEP BY STEP.
I loved the clever title playing on that of the 1971 Kirk Douglas comedy TO CATCH A SPY. This is no laughing matter, however. We knew Sly was going to get caught sooner than later--and so did she! A shoutout to Debbie Rennard for a strong performance that had me empathizing with her mounting panic as JR cast the dragnet, tightened the perimeter, and triangulated on the culprit. And for all that high-tech phone tapping and piles of cassettes plopped into a Sony Walkman, it was an old-fashioned tail and incriminating photographs that brought down our JayVee Gal from UNCLE.
The obvious question is why didn't JR suspect Sly from the start? I mean, who arranged and sat in on in those meetings with the oilmen? JR kept insisting nobody knew about these deals except himself and the men he dealt with. Was Sly sitting there taking notes beneath JR's imperious notice? Just a piece of furniture? And it's not like JR (and the audience) haven't been down this road before. Julie Grey was the first treacherous secretary who passed secrets to Cliff way back in the show's spring of '78 infancy. As a seasoned cop turned private investigator, Harry McSween should have had Sly placed high on the suspect list.
And what was with McSween suddenly being Sly's "Uncle Harry" and asking after her folks (but not her ne'er-do-well jailbird brother)? I was sure that plot twist was sprang upon us to prolong the storyline, with Harry discovering and then trying to coverup his niece's misdeeds. But nope, Harry had his agent Judy Baker hustle those incriminating photographs right over to JR. And Judy sure played it poker faced, being shown into JR's office by Sly, whose undoing was lurking in the manila envelope Judy carried.
Those photos tell a bigger tale, by the way. It's established they were all snapped the same afternoon Judy followed Cliff after he excused himself from lunch with Mark and Pam, right? Note that the first photo shows Sly in the pool in her bust-baring swimsuit with Cliff crouching down getting an eyeful. I contend he got more than that because the next photo shows Sly dressed for work, her hair dry, and Cliff with his jacket jauntily slung over his shoulder in a Frank Sinatra "come fly with me" conquest pose. Remember their first meeting when Sly offered to go upstairs with Cliff? I believe he finally took her up on it (alas, poor Afton!).
JR's slow cranking the vice on Sly in the closing scene is a classic that captures Hagman as JR at his best. Talk about an iron fist in a velvet glove (offering a glass of white wine, no less!). He knows Sly is vulnerable and malleable, and he plays that leverage to his advantage. But Sly is foxy as her name implies. She stammers out that Cliff threatened her. JR lets that prevarication slide, knowing it's the panic talking. Cliff's sole threat was to ensure Sly's brother served his full sentence unless Sly played ball. The whole getting my brother parole motivation was a weak link in this subplot. It lacked any compelling life-or-death urgency. Okay, so her brother serves his full sentence. He should. As BARETTA taught us, "don't do the crime if you can't do the time (don't do it!)."
Another example of DALLAS history repeating itself with none of the characters noticing is Peter's obsessive love for Sue Ellen. It was weird and unsettling in the beginning but has now crossed over into scary. I'm suffering flashbacks to the fifth season when Lucy fell victim to psycho shutterbug Roger. I hope now that Lucy has witnessed Peter's erratic behavior when inviting him to the wedding she will warn Sue Ellen. But will Sue Ellen heed the warnings? She's unfazed that Peter stalked her to the hairdressers. Then she tells the increasingly unhinged Peter their puppy love relationship has to end because she felt pangs of jealousy when Lucy expressed interest in him, which head-smackingly stupid admission of affection only poured fuel on his disordered dumpsterfire of desire. Nothing good is gonna come of this.
Bobby and Jenna and Mark and Pam, the continuing saga (with Ray and Donna as the Greek chorus). I just can't get as invested in this soapy storyline as I can the wheelings and dealings of JR and Cliff. At least Charlie is honest in anticipating a luxurious life as the alluring outcome of Mom's latest romance. But uh-oh, what dirt is the ridiculously overdressed for a trip to the library Katherine scraping up from old newspaper files? (And what paper would have so many crossword puzzles--every third page--and so large an article about Jenna booking an overseas trip?)
That said, I like Jenna and Charlie and am hoping it works out for them and Bobby. If anything, having a beautiful wife and a blended family would give him a dry run for his later role on STEP BY STEP.
