Dallas:Season 10

This is one of my absolute favorite seasons of the show. To me actually, this is where the real show begins-I'm a tremendous fan of the later years and these are the releases I have really been waiting for. With Patrick Duffy back, and Dack Rambo in the main title, and also starring Steve Forrest, Deborah Shelton, Jenilee Harrison, and Sheree J Wilson, this season is of course infamous for returning the show to "reality" by making the last year a dream. However, with Leonard Katzman and David Paulsen back in charge of the show, the real Dallas came back after the disappointing and weak year without Bobby. There is excitement, intrigue related to the oil business, bad behavior, reunions and breakups that had been waiting to happen, and huge epic events for the show as a whole. Just in general it is the show at it's best, with yet another classic cliffhanger.

After watching season 10 of "Dallas", I realized a couple of things. First of all, the picture quality is disappointing compared to the earlier seasons. It almost looks like VCR-quality picture at times. Secondly, it is a nice comeback season after the horrible 9th season which turned out to be a dream. Thirdly, while it is enjoyable, it is generally uneven and does not capture the magic of the terrific earlier seasons (seasons 3 through 7).

Some of the major storylines during the season include J.R.'s secret dealings with a terrorist, the return of Jock Ewing in the body of Wes Parmalee, Sue Ellen's master plan to get even with J.R., the whole Bobby/Jenna/Pam/Ray/Donna love triangle, and the whole Cliff/April/Jamie/Jack connection.

First let's start with the best storyline: J.R.'s dealings with a terrorist. With the American oil industry struggling, J.R. secretly comes up with an idea to hire a mercenary to blow up oil fields in Saudi Arabia to help increase the price of oil. With each subsequent episode, J.R. seems to get in deeper and deeper. Eventually it reaches a point where people lives are on the line and J.R.'s money cannot get him out of this situation. You begin to realize that J.R. has really stepped over the line this time. This is more than the blackmailing of a top official. People's lives are seriously put at stake here. However, J.R., true to form, explains it to the family as if he was an innocent bystander sucked into a terrorist's plot and then had the courage to blow the whistle. This storyline and its aftermath ran the bulk of the season and ultimately brought major changes going into season 11. It made for great drama, as you knew that the terrorist was dangerous and you waited for his next move. The aftermath helped to bring Jeremy Wendell to the forefront. In my opinion, the Jeremy Wendell was one of the most underused characters on the show. He was just as ruthless as J.R but unlike J.R., he had no loyalties or no relationships. He was much more of a serious threat to the Ewings than Cliff, Wes Parmalee, Carter McKay or anyone else ever was. Unfortunately, the producers did not seem very keen on the Wendell character and preferred to give increased screen time to lame characters such as Wilson Cryder, Casey Denault, and Ozwald Valentine.

Another good storyline was Sue Ellen's newfound emotional strength. In previous seasons, there was a cycle with the Sue Ellen character. Sue Ellen finds out that J.R. is cheating. Sue Ellen herself cheats. Sue Ellen suffers a setback in that relationship. Sue Ellen turns to the bottle. Sue Ellen reconciles with J.R. and pretty soon the cycle start all over again. However in season 10, the producers decided to break that cycle by giving Sue Ellen a company in which she can use to come up with a master plan to humiliate J.R. and his new mistress Mandy Winger. Instead of being upset when the plan unravels, J.R. actually tips his hat to Sue Ellen. She responds by saying that she learned from the best. This would ultimately lead to another reconciliation going into the next season.

The third major storyline is the Wes Parmalee as Jock revelation. While the storyline is entertaining, it is so far-fetched that it actually becomes unintentionally funny at times. In soap operas, a plane crash is a convenient way to kill off a character. It is convenient because, with no body found, it always leaves the door open for that character to be resurrected. In "Dallas" alone, four characters died in plane crashes (Dusty Farlow, Jock Ewing, Rebecca Wentworth, Marc Graison). Out of the four, three were brought back in some capacity. Dusty was brought back as himself. Marc was brought back as part of a "long dream" by Pam. Now, it was Jock's turn to come back. It would have been one thing to actually bring back the real Jock. But to bring him back in the body of someone else who is much shorter and talks differently is another thing. This unbelievability led to many scenes where I found myself laughing for all the wrong reason. Who could forget the scene where he gets up at the Oil Baron's Ball and states the Jock Ewing Memorial Scholarship should no longer exist because he is still alive and that all Ewing Oil business will go through him. I know that the producers were trying to create tension in the family and create a threat to the ownership of Ewing Oil. However, there are much more believable ways to do this without straining credibility.

The fourth major storyline was the whole Cliff/April/Jamie/Jack connection, which for the most part did not work very well. The Jamie and Jack Ewing characters were very inconsistent. All the major screen time that they previously had was erased by the dream season. It was almost as if the producers did not know what to do with them. The Jamie Ewing character was almost a walking contradiction. She hated the Ewings and all they stood for, yet she married Cliff who was really no different. Like with Cliff's previous girlfriend Afton, you were constantly wondering what she saw in Cliff, who treated her like dirt. After the whole battle for Ewing Oil with Cliff, the Jamie character became somewhat useless. Her brother, Jack Ewing, at first came across as very arrogant and self-absorbed. However, some time between the end of season 9 and beginning of season 11, he all of a sudden became morally righteous. Then all of a sudden when you felt that there would be some sort of conflict between him and either Cliff or the Ewings, he just disappeared into thin air. It was to the point where he was referred to more than he was actually seen. Midway through the season, Jack's ex-wife, April Stevens, was introduced. While April eventually becomes a beloved character, she was very lame and unconvincing when she first appeared on the scene. She was almost the exact same character as Marilee Stone, who is impressed with money and sleeps her way to the top. However, I think that the producers soon realized that with Victoria Principal leaving the show, they needed to find a love interest for Bobby. Hence, they decided to make April a much more likable character.

Lastly, the whole Bobby/Jenna/Pam/Ray/Donna love triangle just did not work at all. The Jenna character was one of the worst characters to appear on the show. She had absolutely no charisma and it made no sense why Bobby would be attracted to her. While she should have just been a bump in the road for Bobby and Pam, the producers decided to keep her on the show for 5 seasons (4 real seasons + one dream season). When Bobby left her for Pam, you would think that she would have less screen time or even be banished from the show. However, the producers decided to create a brilliant plot where she becomes pregnant with Bobby's child right before Bobby marries Pam and she ends up in a relationship with his half-brother Ray who is having a baby with his estranged wife Donna who spends most of her time in Washington and is romancing a Senator. Do you follow all that? It almost plays out as bad as it sound. Except for Bobby, all of these characters are just plain tiresome and have long outlived their usefulness. Pam just becomes too emotional and sappy that it seems like in almost every scene she is either crying or berating J.R. or Cliff. With the Ray character, it seemed like the producers always tried way too hard to come up with story lines for him. I mean how interesting can you possibly make a ranch foreman on a show about power and deception. He was once a prominent cast member but being with Jenna really brought his character down. With the divorce, his soon-to-be ex-wife Donna also becomes obsolete to the show. She travels to Washington and becomes so independent of the rest of the cast that you almost felt that she was on her own spin-off show. Her only connection was through occasional meetings with Ray. When the producers thankfully remove her character from the show at the end of the season, you realize how pointless the whole Washington/Senator Dowling angle really was.

To summarize, while season 10 is uneven, it still has some good enough storylines that make it interesting enough to want to keep watching. While the show is long removed from the glory years, it still manages to surprise you and keep you guessing at times.

Remember how each episode of "The Wild Wild West" began with "The Night of"? Or "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." used "The ____ Affair" for each installment? Well, the best way to describe season ten (really season NINE, but that's another story) would be to use the word "year" as a reference point:

This season, in no particular order) was:

1) "The Year of Valentine Lingerie" - In this storyline Sue Ellen (the one and only Linda Gray) becomes a worthy equal to husband J.R. (the Emmy-deserving Larry Hagman) as she becomes a successful entrepreneur and manipulator. Deborah Shelton, as J.R.'s latest "fling", Mandy Winger, is stunning as the symbol for the company, especially when she wears a big hat and a color-coordinated outfit. Derek McGrath is hilarious as Ozwald Valentine, the most unlikely designer of "naughty nighties."

2) "The Year of the Awakening" - Fortunately, the controversial "solution" to bring back Bobby (Patrick Ewing) is so quickly introduced in the first episode that viewers can jump into the plot devices for this season.

3) "The Year of the Comic Relief" - While Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) has always been fodder for J.R., in this season he becomes the show's true buffoon, getting involved in one thing after another, in his quest to get the family that "wronged" his daddy.

4) "The Year of Male Chauvinism" - The writers intentionally (I hope) poked fun at the train of thought by having so many sexist comments made by Cliff and others in the cast, as well as situations where the female of the species was treated with less-than-polite respect.

5) "The Year of the Minority" - While there have been minorities seen - and even given a line or two - in the past, this was the season that saw them featured more prominently. Teresa (Roseanna Christiansen), the Ewing's Hispanic maid, gets more screen time and even gets to say more than "Dinner is served". Dora Mae, (the statuesque and always coiffed-to-the-nines Pat Colbert) is shown and heard more frequently to patrons of the Oil Baron's Restaurant and even gets to react to the actions of her customers, especially in a confrontation between Cliff and Jeremy Wendell. J.A. Preston even appears in several episodes as crafty CIA agent Leo Daltry. Daltry gets to deliver one of the more memorable lines of the season, one that makes J.R. speechless.

6) "The Year of Departures" - Suffice it to say, this season sees several "PRINCIPAL" leavings, including one of the original cast members.

7) "The Year of the Secretary" - All three of the "girl Fridays" get some increased screen time from J.R.'s Sly (Deborah Rennard) to Cliff's Jackie (Sherill Lynn Rettino) to Bobby's Phyllis (Deborah Tranelli). Even Sly becomes president of one of J.R.'s "dummy" corporations.

8) "The Year of Jeremy Wendell" - William Smithers as the devious oilman makes a worthy adversary for J.R., fitting in prominently in the season finale.

9) "The Year of Ray and Jenna" - Though just as equally dull as "The Year(s)of Ray and Donna", the story does allow some decent moments between actors Steve Kanaly and Priscilla Presley.

10) "The Year of Wes Parmalee" - This is probably the most absurd of the season's plot lines, but it does allow from some stellar acting from Barbara Bell Geddes (remarkable as always as Miss Ellie), Howard Keel as Ellie's husband Clayton, and guest Steve Forrest as the-man-who-might-be Jock Ewing.

The sound and picture of the DVD are not up to par with previous compilations and there are no "extras," not even audio commentary on select episodes.

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