Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Whatever Happened to Baby John? Part I

Dallas 
Season 2 Episode 1
Air Date:   September 21, 1979

Recap:  At the hospital Sue Ellen is looking at the baby, while JR is talking to the doctor, on his way over to Sue Ellen he borrows a lady’s newspaper and reads that Willie Joe Garr and Jeb Ames have been paroled.  He tells Sue Ellen that she gets to go home today and that the doctor told him that the baby can come home in a few days.  They walk out of the hospital and don’t see Cliff, who is lurking in the hallway.
   Bobby and Jock are rounding up the cattle, Bobby found a dead one and they need to take care of the screw worm that is going around or they could lose all the cattle.  JR and Sue Ellen drive by and he makes her wave to Bobby and Jock.
   Pam and Cliff are having lunch, she is trying to tell him that Sue Ellen still isn’t herself, and he needs to give her a chance to get better.  He thinks that he can help her, Pam tells him that he can only help her start drinking again.  Pam tells him he needs to stop blaming JR and start taking some responsibility for himself.
   Lucy is with her friends on the patio, she runs over to JR and Sue Ellen when they get home, she tries to hug Sue Ellen, but she is very distant.  Lucy’s friends say that they thought she was better.  In their room JR tells her that he’s glad that she’s home, and he promises to make it up to her.
   At Ewing Oil, Willie Joe and Jeb are there to see JR, his secretary tells them that he’s not in, they ask about the baby, she tells them that the baby is still in the hospital.
   Miss Ellie is worried about Sue Ellen, but JR tells her that he’s trying hard, and she’ll be herself again soon.  Jock and Bobby get home and tell JR about the cattle.  When Pam gets home she goes after Sue Ellen and tells her that she’s glad that she’s home, Sue Ellen barely acknowledges her.  Pam tells Bobby that it’s impossible t o talk to her, and she thinks that Sue Ellen hates them all.
   Sue Ellen goes to the nursery it’s really creepy, she starts all the music boxes, Bobby goes in and talks to her, he asks her how she is, she tells him that she’s fine, but there is no emotion in her voice at all.  He tells her that everyone cares about her, not just the baby, she says that she knows that, but you can tell that she’s just saying this to get rid of him.  He tells her that she can trust him not to tell anyone what she told him about Cliff and the baby.  She tells him she doesn’t know what he’s talking about then drops the music box she’s holding and walks out of the room.
   Bobby and Jock are checking on the cattle and Bobby has to shoot one.
   JR wants to take Sue Ellen to a little Greek restaurant that they used to go to after they go see the baby, but Sue Ellen tells him that she’s not going to the hospital, she tells him that she needs to rest.  JR goes downstairs and Miss Ellie asks him if when he’s going to see the baby, and offers to take him and Sue Ellen to lunch, he tells her that Sue Ellen isn’t going to the hospital today.  Pam tells Miss Ellie not to worry.
   At the O.L.M office a co-worker is telling Cliff that he needs to stop focusing on Ewing Oil, and that he can’t decline the environmental report, this time.  He tells him that he’s heard things from Austin and if he’s not careful he’ll be out of a job, and have a lot of questions to answer.  Cliff calls the hospital and pretends to be a friend of the family to get information about the baby.
  The secretaries at Ewing Oil are looking through a wedding catalogue, when JR comes in, they tell him that Harv Smithfield is in his office and that Willie Joe and Jeb have been calling for him.  JR goes into his office and meets Alan Beam, the lawyer who will help them with the O.L.M.  Willie Joe and Jeb call, but JR tells the secretary to tell them he’s in a meeting, they say that they will make JR talk to them.
Lucy and Pam go to see the baby, the nurse allows Pam to hold the baby since she tells them that Sue Ellen won’t be coming in today.
   JR updates Jock about Alan Beam.  Pam and Lucy get home, JR goes over to Sue Ellen who is sitting by the pool, he tells her that he wants her to start taking an interest in things.  She asks like what.  He tells her the baby.  He gives her a ring, but she tells him that she can’t be bought anymore.
   Miss Ellie and Sue Ellen are talking in the dining room the next morning, she tells Sue Ellen not to brood on the past.  She tells her that she and Jock are very happy to have another grandchild, but they want her to be happy too.  Lucy comes in and asks when they are going to go see the baby, Sue Ellen gets up to go change, but fakes a dizzy spell and says that she’s going to lie down.  Lucy says she doesn’t think Sue Ellen wants her baby, Miss Ellie tries to deny it, but Lucy says that some mothers don’t want their babies like her parents didn’t want her.
   At the hospital they run into Pam, they tell her that the baby will be able to come home tomorrow.
   Alan tells JR that the property they want to drill is perfect, and he’ll write up a brief and if Cliff shuts them down again, then they can file an abuse of power against him.  JR’s secretary comes in and tells him that Willie Joe and Jeb are here to see him, he tells her to tell them that he’s in a meeting, but they burst in anyway.  They tell him that they want to talk to him in private.  They tell JR it feels like he’s been avoiding them, they tell him that they think he’s just as responsible for Julie’s death as they are.  They want him to give them money since they can’t touch their own because they are being sued by everyone.  He tells them that he’s not going to give them a cent, and tells them to get out of his office, they tell him that he’ll be sorry.
   When Bobby gets home he finds Sue Ellen home, he tells her that he’s going to go see the baby, and tells her that she can’t keep avoiding the things that are important.  She asks him what he wants from her.  He just wants to help her.  She tells him that the only way he can help her is for him to leave her alone.
   Cliff is walking toward the hospital when Bobby gets there, he tells him that he told him to stay away.  Cliff tells Bobby that he wants Sue Ellen and the baby.  Bobby tells him that he’ll only cause Sue Ellen more problems, Cliff tells Bobby that he will get Sue Ellen and the baby anyway he can.  He tells Cliff that he and JR will get him if he tries anything.
Cliff goes back to his office and tells his co-worker that he’s going to make the Ewing’s give him everything that is rightfully his.
   Jock tells JR that he doesn’t want Willie Joe or Jeb to have anything to do with Ewing Oil, JR tells him not to worry about that.
   Pam asks Bobby if he’s mad at her, he tells her he’s sorry, he’s just had a bad couple days.  He tells her that the Barnes/Ewing feud makes it hard to be honest with each other.  He tells her that he sent Cliff away from the hospital, she tells him that Cliff wouldn’t do anything I remember her saying this before and she learned that her brother is just as bad as JR I guess she’s forgotten all about that.  Bobby tells her that if Cliff doesn’t stay away from Sue Ellen then he’ll tear him apart and he won’t be able to work in Dallas.  Bobby goes with Jock to take care of the cattle. 
   JR gets home and wants Sue Ellen to go with him to pick up the baby from the hospital, she tells him that she can’t go because she’s got a headache, Miss Ellie tells him to be patient with her when he follows her into the house.  In their room he tells her to get dressed and that he’s not fooled like everyone else it with her excuses.  He tells her that it’s time she started acting like a wife and mother, he goes to the closet and pulls out a bunch of clothes and tells her to get dressed or he'll do it for her.  
   When they get to the hospital there is a crowd about the hospital, reporters come over and start asking them questions, a detective comes over and takes them into the hospital where he tells them that the baby has been kidnapped, the doctor and nurse apologize telling JR and Sue Ellen that this has never happened before.  JR calls home and tells Miss Ellie that the baby had been kidnapped.
Final Thoughts:  This was a great episode to start the next season, you've got two choices about who kidnapped the baby, but I think it's pretty obvious who did do it and his initials are not C.B.  I doubt the change in JR's attitude will last that long.  It's interesting to hear Lucy say that her parents don't want her since they are remarried and living in California, "waiting" till they think they are ready to have her live with them, she won't know that they are remarried till the end of this season of Dallas, but will in the next episode of Knots Landing, Lucy isn't a child anymore she just graduated I highly doubt that she would really want to live with her parents even if she knew that they were back together. 
Best Outfit:  There weren't any really awful outfits, but this one of Pam's was the closest, she's got a scarf tied around her waist, in a previous scene you can see it on the side, it must have shifted or it's been redone in this shot.
Fight Count:  2 (Bobby vs Cliff) (JR vs Sue Ellen)

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