Joanna Pettet lays down the Law on "Knots Landing"

The depiction of law enforcement on most 1980s prime time soaps are usually perfunctory characterizations with professional, workman-like actors brought in as plot devices to help expedite the investigation of whatever crime has taken place on the show.  They are usually introduced to help highlight the already established and accepted personalities and relationships of the principal and regular cast members.  Rarely are they ever given their own unique perspective or personality, nor do they help to shine a different light upon the regular characters so that we are able to consider them in a way we have not seen them before.  A notable exception to this was the time in 1983 when "Knots Landing" brought in the underrated Joanna Pettet (one of the best, most appealing actresses working in films and television in the 1960s and 1970s) to play Lt. Janet Baines, a homicide detective with the Knots Landing Police Department.  (Special thanks to Chris B. of the esteemed blog DallasDecoder.com for his assistance in this article.) 

Pettet appeared on "Knots Landing" in the last four episodes of the 4th Season, and continued through four additional episodes at the start of the subsequent 5th Season, playing a smart, no-nonsense investigator who becomes enmeshed in the lives of the residents on Seaview Circle after the murder of promising rock singer Ciji Dunne (Lisa Hartman).  Not only did Pettet's performance, and the character of Janet Baines, transcend the one-dimensional, cliched portrayal of law enforcement officers on prime time soaps, her character also stood in as Ciji's de-facto "avenger," quietly judging and, in a sense, punishing the regular characters who had mistreated Ciji throughout her tenure on the series.  In so doing, she helped ensure that the principal cast were not excused of their complicity in the events leading up to Ciji's death.

Janet Baines joined "Knots Landing" in the February 17, 1983 episode entitled "The Loss of Innocence."  She was introduced in a scene that took place in the morgue where she was already investigating the suspicious drowning of an unidentified Jane Doe when Mack MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson), an old flame and a new resident of Seaview Circle, arrives to identify Ciji's body.  From the get-go, it was clear that Janet was not meant to be a typical portrayal of a law enforcement officer.  She already had a personal connection in that she was once romantically involved with Mack, an acquaintance of Ciji's.  She also transcended stereotypes of police officers in that she was not only elegant and attractive, but also perceptive, detail-oriented, and dedicated to her job.  As Mack explains to his wife Karen (Michele Lee), Janet Baines "has great instincts.  She could see a body or even hear about a body, she knows it's a homicide.  She wouldn't be on this case if she didn't smell a rat."  She was neither fluffy nor ornamental at one extreme, nor stuffy or a haus-frau at the other.  Baines had her job cut out for her as she attempted to wade through the emotional morass that was known as Seaview Circle and piece together clues as to who may have committed this crime.

There is an assumption among fans of 1980s prime time soaps that "Knots Landing" was the most substantive, three-dimensional of the shows in that genre.  Its constituents point to the complex, ever-changing dynamics of the personalities and relationships of the characters on that series as examples of its distinctive qualities.  At some point, however, what can perhaps be described as a reverse-snobbery eventually developed among "Knots Landing" personnel and its followers, where they maintain that the show was more "relatable" than the Ewings of "Dallas" because of its purported middle-class milieu (which was only applicable in the first 4 seasons and only occasionally thereafter), as well as the alleged depth and sense of humanity expressed among the characters towards one another that was supposed to be a contrast to the superficiality and ruthlessness of the characters on other prime time soaps.  (To be clear, I like "Knots Landing" very much.  I just don't like it when people put down other prime time soaps of the 1980s in order to highlight is strengths.  "Knots Landing" is a great show on its own terms without having to make comparisons.)  Throughout Janet Baines' tenure on "Knots Landing, however, the regular characters behaved so reprehensibly that there was no distinction between them and the other characters from competing shows in the same genre. 

As I blogged about before, in the 4th season of "Knots Landing," the inheritance that Gary Ewing received from the terms of his late father Jock Ewing's last will and testament laid the groundwork for bringing out the worst in his neighbors on Seaview Circle.  With regards to how it related to Ciji Dunne, the normally docile Ginger Ward (Kim Lankford) grew to resent Ciji over the amount of attention and time her husband Kenny Ward (James Houghton) and Gary were spending to promote Ciji's burgeoning music career.  As Gary started drinking again and spinning out of control, he leaned on Ciji far too much for platonic friendship and support.  Gary's girlfriend Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills) resented the fact that Gary was confiding in Ciji and even threatened to harm her if she ever learned that Ciji was indeed having an affair Gary.

Richard Avery (John Pleshette) also resented Ciji because Abby had forced him to turn his restaurant "Daniel" into a nightclub/cabaret venue to help promote Ciji's career.  Richard's feelings of resentment toward Ciji intensified when he started to believe Ciji was having an affair with his wife Laura (Constance McCashin).  Valene Ewing (Joan Van Ark), Gary's estranged wife, has a heated argument with Ciji the same night in which she would be killed, with Ciji bitterly blaming Val for having written a story about her marriage to Gary that would inadvertently be published in an tabloid and caused him to start drinking again.  Val pushed Ciji away from her while she was verbally berating Val, and caused her to hit her head on a table.  And so on and so on.

The core theme for 4th season of "Knots Landing" was that it examined the effects of mob mentality when a group of dysfunctional people pick out one individual as the scapegoat to pin the blame for all the troubles in their life.  At times, especially where Richard Avery was concerned, the character of Chip Roberts (Michael Sabatino), a con artist who was Ciji's lover and sleazy manager, acted as an effective Iago-type character, whispering in the ear of all the Seaview Circle residents and laying seeds of suspicion so that they would begin to doubt the motives and actions of the show's Desdemona stand-in, Ciji.  When Ciji is found murdered, after failing to appear at the launch party for her newly completed album, Janet Baines is brought on the scene in order to try and put the pieces together of the circumstances that led to Ciji's death.  The answers she found weren't pretty and demonstrated how the characters of "Knots Landing" were as capable of being cruel, vicious and petty towards their fellow man as the Ewings of "Dallas." 

With her gruff partner Nick Morrison (Steve Kahan) playing "bad cop" to her deceptively gentle "good cop," Baines interrogated virtually the entire principal cast of the series in fascinatingly staged scenes where the cast was foaming at the mouth trying to justify their actions against Ciji while Baines (and occasionally Morrison)  quietly sat back and listened.  Joanna Pettet was particularly good in these scenes, taking in what they were saying and digesting it all.  Baines' gently probing questions, which put the regular "Knots Landing" characters on the spot by asking them to articulate their opinions, feelings and experiences with Ciji, allowed them to realize how self-indulgent and ridiculous they had been behaving all season, especially with regards to their cruelty against Ciji.  Pettet was also good at quietly expressing Baines' slowly mounting disgust and revulsion with the neighbors on Seaview Circle.  Because of the way they behaved in her presence, there was nothing about them that would make them more substantial individuals in her eyes than the people on "Dallas." 

With some exceptions, very few members of the "Knots Landing" cast genuinely mourned Ciji's death.  Each of them were preoccupied with Ciji's death in terms of how it would affect their own lives.  Even Laura, who was supposedly Ciji's best friend, lost sight of reality when she used Ciji's death to falsely accuse Richard for having murdered her in order to rationalize the reasons for why Richard had decided to abandon his marriage by disappearing in the middle of the night.  As such, Janet Baines remained the only person in the cast who had their eye on the ball where Ciji's death was concerned.  She was the only one truly seeking justice for Ciji and the only one who, in essence, during her interrogations with them, put each of the "Knots Landing" characters on trial for their complicity in the events leading to her death.  She was, as I indicated earlier, Ciji's avenger in the story.  Even Mack's motives for becoming involved in the investigation had more to do with protecting his friends and family than with ensuring that justice was served and that the perpetrator was properly punished.

I particularly like the sequence where Baines and her partner Morrison are interrogating Kenny, Ginger and Richard.  Throughout these scenes Baines and Morrison get at the heart of the issues each of these characters had with Ciji.  For Kenny, it was Ciji's perceived lack of loyalty to him after Gary sold her recording contract to record producer Jeff Munson (Jon Cyper).  For Ginger, it was her professional jealousy against the attention being paid by Kenny and Gary on Ciji's career.  For Richard, it was his resentment against Ciji's presence in his restaurant, which turned it into a cabaret nightclub, and in his marriage, where he perceived Ciji as a romantic rival for Laura.  By making them have to explain themselves out loud, Kenny, Ginger and Richard are forced to acknowledge how silly it was for them to have made Ciji a scapegoat for the more overarching problems and issues in their lives.  For Kenny, it was his stubborn refusal to try ever work for another boss again.  For Ginger, it was her own frustration and insecurity over her stagnant recording career.  For Richard, it forced him to examine the root causes to his troubled marriage to Laura.  Because she didn't pamper them self-indulgently, Baines helped each of these characters achieve epiphanies about themselves that they would never have been able to achieve if they had gone to an enabling therapist.

Janet Baines' dealings with the more prominent members of the cast further affirmed her gradually mounting disgust with the residents of "Knots Landing."  In her interrogation with Gary Ewing, it was clear that Baines was losing her patience because Gary's statement to the police was rambling, confused, and contradictory, as he continually refused to heed the advice of his attorney Mitchell Casey (Edward Bell) to reschedule his statement until after Gary and Casey had had a chance to confer privately.  Pettet is particularly good at expressing Baines' quietly mounting impatience as she tells Casey "Then why did you bother coming in today?"  In so doing, Baines emphasizes that her time is valuable and that she doesn't appreciate having it wasted because of the self-indulgence of the regular characters.  In the scene, when Casey reiterates that he would like to continue the interrogation at another time, Baines reminds both Casey and Gary "That's up to your client.  He's been advised of his rights.  Gary, you understand that anything you say can be used against you in a court of law, don't you?"  If Gary ends up inadvertently incriminating himself, and diverting attention in the investigation from the true perpetrator, Chip Roberts, it is due to his own carelessness and stupidity.  It's not Baines' fault that Gary failed to exercise his right to remain silent.  Nobody pressured Gary to give the dumb statement that he did and Baines made it clear what his rights were.  The fact that Gary later succumbs to his own self-pity and refuses to vigorously participate in his own defense in court helped further muddle Baines' investigation.  As Val later reminds Gary, "Someone out there is getting away with murder while you play this pathetic game!  If you had any respect for Ciji, you'd be doing everything in your power to put the real killer in here.  Your giving up your life for hers means absolutely nothing."

As noble as Val's statement sounds, she herself does the investigation no favors when, after learning that Ciji was killed by a blow to the head, she foolishly confesses to having killed Ciji during their argument when she knocked her down and caused her to hit her head against a coffee table.  Without seeking legal counsel, she shows up at Janet Baines' office and announces that "I killed Ciji," which causes Baines and Nick Morrison to take her into custody and interrogate her.  Val's interrogation by Baines and Morrison reflects the self-indulgent, overwrought, and emotional nature of her character.  Baines becomes particularly impatient when Val describes how Ciji, after hitting her head against the coffee table, screamed at her to leave the apartment, but maintains that she didn't dump the body in the ocean and doesn't know how it got there.  An exasperated Baines asks Val, "You mean she was still conscious when you left?...Mrs. Ewing, you came down here to tell us you killed Ciji Dunne.  Now you're saying that she was conscious when you left, and you don't know how she got in the ocean."  When Baines asks Val what she believes happened next, and Val says she doesn't know, Baines tells Val, "Mrs. Ewing, please don't waste our time."  In scenes like this, our sympathies start to veer away from established characters like Val, and lean more towards guest stars like Janet Baines, because we realize that people like Baines are attempting to properly do their jobs despite the confusion caused by characters like Gary and Val.

Baines not only has to deal with the disarray caused by the emotions attached to this case, she also has to deal with meddling from "Knots Landing's" resident sanctimonious characters, Mack MacKenzie and his well-meaning wife Karen MacKenzie.  After Val confesses to Ciji's murder, Karen, Mack and Val's mother Lilimae Clements (Julie Harris), show up at the police station demanding that Janet cease her interrogation of Val until an attorney can represent her.  They rudely interrupt the desk sergeant as he attempts to take a statement from a civilian whose vehicle is missing in order to demand that they be allowed to speak with Baines.  Karen attempts to pull rank with the desk sergeant by having Mack flash his credentials as a federal prosecutor--even though the case is a local investigation--which demonstrates the extent to which she feels as much a sense of entitlement to special treatment as the Ewings do on "Dallas."  Once Baines arrives, Karen accuses her of violating Val's civil liberties, even though Val has been informed of her rights and has waived her right to be represented by an attorney, while Mack tries to order Baines around in terms of how she should handle the case.  Janet reminds the trio that "Valene has been informed of her rights, now if she requests an attorney or if one shows up to defend her..." before Karen interrupts Janet by reiterating "She needs to be protected!"  By this point, Janet has had enough of their meddling and puts Karen in her place by telling her, "If you have a complaint, Mrs. MacKenzie, I suggest you report it to the police commission.  And may I remind you that Valene came in to see us!  We didn't drag her in off the streets!...Mack, this is my case, not yours!"  For once, it was good to see someone who was, in essence, a decent and sympathetic character put the "Knots Landing" protagonists in their place by reminding them that they shouldn't always get their way.

By the time Baines gets around to interrogating Gary's companion, Abby Cunningham, about his behavior and tendencies while drunk, after Abby insists that Gary has never been violent or hostile to her while he's been inebriated, Baines's contempt for these people has been well established so that she can only respond by sardonically joking, "Sounds like the exemplary drunk."  After Baines asks Abby whether Gary would be able to clean up a messy crime scene while drunk, Baines explains that someone else has come in and confessed to the crime.  She is unprepared for Abby's amused, almost giggling reaction when she informs her that Val has confessed to the crime.  Baines becomes quietly appalled as she witnesses how Abby is able to make light of a serious situation and is willing to throw Gary under the bus to ensure that he will not return to her romantic rival, Valene.  Baines asks Abby, "Why are you laughing?  You don't believe Val could've done it?"  Abby appears callous as she explains "No, I'm laughing because it's so Val!  It's just the kind of thing she'd do!...Confess to keep Gary from going to the gallows.  'Stand by your man' all that."  Baines asks "Even if he's committed murder?" to which Abby replies "Especially if he's committed murder!...Well, I didn't mean that..."  Baines is further shocked when Abby insists that Baines shouldn't believe Val's confession and even tries to undermine it for fear that it would bring Gary and Val back together again, "Did she say why she did it, or how she did it?  She didn't implicate Gary did she, I mean if she did you can't believe anything she says...She's crazy, you know, you can't believe a word that she says," which leaves Baines speechless as she attempts to understand Abby's true interests and motives in this case.  I like how this scene contrasts the modus operandi of Baines and Abby, two attractive, smart, successful blonde career-women who have achieved their success in different ways: Abby, through lying, scheming, manipulation, and subterfuge; and Baines, through honesty, integrity, directness, and hard work. Joanna Pettet's earthy intelligence is put to good use in this scene opposite Donna Mills' simpering superficiality. 

Janet Baines must also deal with interference from Laura Avery, who insists that Baines should investigate Richard's disappearance because she believes he killed Ciji.  Baines attempts to explain to a hysterical Laura, "I'm just a cop.  I don't call the shots in a homicide investigation, the District Attorney does.  I just gather facts and try not to form an opinion until the facts are in.  In this case, I didn't have much time to gather facts, much less evaluate them."  When Laura continues to insist that Richard murdered Ciji, Baines tries to make Laura realize that she has misplaced her anger against Richard's abandonment of her by blaming him for a crime he didn't commit, to no avail.  Meanwhile, after it comes to light that Chip is the guilty party, Val's mother Lilimae  attempts to convince Baines that she is the only one who can convince Chip to confess.  Lilimae is wracked with guilt over allowing Chip to enter the lives of all of her family and friends, by allowing him to live with her and Val, that she feels responsible for what happened and wants to salve her conscience.  She insists to Baines that "if you let me talk to him again, I might be able to help...by lookin' him straight in the eye and tellin' him to come clean."  Baines impatiently asks Lilimae, "Mrs. Clements, has Chip ever looked you straight in the eye and lied?" to which Lilimae responds, "All the time, that's why I can recognize his lies!"  An exasperated Baines tries to remain polite as she urges Lilimae to "please go home."

Baines finds herself in the unenvialbe position of having to play unofficial therapist for the insecurities, unhappiness, and neuroses of the characters on "Knots Landing," a role that is further exemplified when she must witness, and almost play referee, to several violent arguments and confrontations among the main characters: between Lilimae and Abby when the two of them get into an argument at the police station; between Gary and Val when they run into each other while giving testimony to the police at Ciji's apartment; and between Diana and Karen after Diana learns that Karen has told Baines that Chip confessed to Diana that he killed Ciji.  Baines has had no prior contact with these characters and, as such, has not developed tolerance for their overwrought emotions.  Throughout Janet Baines' time on "Knots Landing," you sense that she doesn't find these characters as endearing as fans of the show do, and that their actions and behavior have made this the most difficult homicide investigation she has ever undertaken.  In one scene, Baines walks a handcuffed Gary, accompanied by his attorney and other police officers, through the beach area where he woke up near Ciji's body in an effort to try and piece together a chronology of the events that night.  As Gary explains to Baines that he does not remember anything that occurred the night Ciji died due to his inebriation, Baines asks him "Have you ever had this serious a blackout before?"  As Gary silently nods, an incredulous Baines asks, "And you still drink?" which demonstrates the extent Baines disapproves of how Gary is an individual unable to learn from his mistakes.  Moreover, when Baines gets around to questioning Diana about Chip's confession to her, the foolish and spiteful girl insists that marital privilege precludes her from having to testify against her husband because she married Chip in Las Vegas, "just like my mother" married Mack, Baines' old flame.  Baines has pretty much had it with these people when it gets to the point where Diana rubs it in her face that her old boyfriend has married someone else.

As such, it's no surprise when Janet Baines finally expresses her negative opinions about the people she has encountered during her time on the case.  In the 4th season finale, an episode appropriately titled "Willing Victims," Mack confronts Baines outside the police station concerning her opinions as to whether the judge will throw the case against Gary out of court.  She tells Mack, "You say I think he's innocent.  So, am I the jury?  Listen, Mack, if the judge doesn't throw this case out, if this case goes to trial, what do you think the jury's gonna see, huh?  They're gonna see a guy who's a millionaire--a Texas Ewing!--who's a drunk.  A guy who two years ago got involved in a case with gangsters that cost his boss, you're wife's first husband, his life.  Wait a minute, let me finish, I'm being the jury now, OK?  All right, I see a drunk, who left his wife for one lady, then got involved with another lady who's now dead.  I see a guy who got arrested two weeks ago for being drunk.  And then I'm gonna listen to the arresting officer tell me how violent he was.  Violent enough to kill!  Now, face it, Mack, this case goes to trial, the jury's gonna love putting him away!...You may think it's a weak case, but the defense is even weaker!"

When Mack reminds Baines that that's not how the criminal justice system is supposed to work, that innocence is presumed until a defendant is proven guilty, she indignantly replies, "The system!  I'm not sure Gary Ewing belongs on the streets because whether he killed Ciji or not, he's dangerous!  Yeah, if they let him out it won't be long before he gets drunk again and maybe kills somebody else.  Maybe not with a gun or a knife, maybe just with his Rolls Royce!  So if the system puts him away, then good for the system!  It works!" before she storms away from Mack.  At this point, Baines is so repulsed by what she has witnessed and learned about Gary that she has rationalized in her mind that putting him away for Ciji's murder, even if he is innocent of that particular crime, would be justified if it ensured that he would be unable to hurt others.  While regular viewers of "Knots Landing" realize that Gary has redeeming qualities, his actions in Season 4 ensured that an objective outsider like Janet Baines would be unable to recognize those qualities.

Ultimately, Janet Baines acknowledged her own flaws in both her reactions to the people she was encountering and her own mistakes while conducting the investigation.  While testifying in the evidentiary hearing on whether to proceed with the case against Gary, Baines falls on her own sword and admits while testifying on the stand that Gary's statement--where he accidentally says "Yes" to Baines' question as to whether he killed Ciji--was the reason why he was arrested and that, without the statement, there would have been no case against Gary.  Baines allows her professional reputation to be potentially be tarnished in order to ensure that Gary is released from custody.  She further redeems herself when she decides to remove herself from the case because, "I'm too close this, Mack.  I hate this case.  I hate that lousy schlub (Chip) we're letting go, guilty as sin.  And I hate that Laura Avery for hanging on to that sick story of hers, practically hoping that her husband was a murderer.  He was just a poor, unloved guy who just couldn't cope.  And you know what else, Mack?  I hated what happened to Gary Ewing.  And I hated myself for feeling sorry for him.  A millionaire drunk, a millionaire drunk!  And I hated hating that smart little lady who'll probably put him right back where he started before he...before this whole case began...You know, I hated watching your family fall apart.  And I hated myself for, deep down inside, feeling a twinge of satisfaction, you know?"  When Mack expresses surprise at Baines' admission and asks her why she felt satisfaction from seeing how this case affected his family and marriage, she responds "You really have to ask?  Mack, what do you do with your feelings when you're through with them, huh?  You just toss 'em out?  I don't.  You know, once I care I always care."  When Mack says that they were never really right for each other, she smiles and says "I know that.  But we weren't all that wrong.  Oh I guess just some stupid part of me thought that it was OK for us not to be right as long as you weren't right with someone else, you know what I mean?"  When Mack reassures Baines it's OK for her to react that way because she's human, she self-deprecatingly responds, "No, I'm not.  I'm a cop."  Baines and Mack admit that they'll miss each other before she kisses him on the cheek and walks out of "Knots Landing" forever.

Janet Baines' exit scene is remarkable because it allowed her an opportunity to verbally call out the regular characters on the show for their character flaws and shortcomings.  She was never a passive bystander during the investigation to what was going on around her.  Instead, she took it all in and didn't like what she saw in the main characters.  For instance, it might surprise some that she had more sympathy for Richard than she had for Laura but, in her dealings with Richard, Baines found that he didn't do anything to interfere with, or muddle, the investigation the way Laura did.  Baines' quiet contempt and slowly mounting exasperation throughout her time on the series attempted to hold a mirror up to the main characters on the show, only they were usually too preoccupied to notice what she was recognizing about them.  No scene exemplifies this moment better than the one where Val, after being released from custody, returns to Baines' office to ask for permission to speak to Gary so she can try and convince him to take a more active role in his legal defense.  When Baines explains that she is completing a report that, in essence, closes the police investigation and hands the case over to the District Attorney, Val has a conniption and screams "Well that is wrong and I'm telling you you are wrong!"  Baines urges Val to calm down and reminds Val that "You are wearing out your welcome."  When Val insists that she be allowed to see Gary, Baines rhetorically asks, "For him, or for you?  Just make sure you know the difference," which causes Val to have a brief epiphany that suggests she realizes her motives for trying to help Gary defend himself is due to her lingering fantasy that she and Gary may someday reconcile.  Because the characters on "Knots Landing" are presumed to have more substance and depth than the characters on other 1980s prime time soaps, it was fascinating to see how Baines didn't agree with this perspective and that, to her, Gary was just another "Texas Ewing," and that the rest of his cohorts were shallow, narcissistic, and malevolent individuals.  Unlike die-hard fans of the show, Janet Baines simply didn't enjoy being around these people.

The part of Janet Baines was the last good and meaty role of Joanna Pettet's career.  She started out promisingly in the 1960s on Broadway and with meaty roles in Sidney Lumet's "The Group" (1966) and as Mata Bond in the James Bond spoof "Casino Royale" (1967).  She built a comfortable career for herself in the 1970s as one of the most prolific actresses starring in TV movies and episodic guest appearances.  Her roles became more infrequent as she entered the 1980s before calling it quits entirely by the end of that decade.  Janet Baines was one of the best roles in Pettet's career.  It made good use of Pettet's earthy intelligence as an actress as well as effectively utilized her trademark deep and husky speaking voice (why director Howard Hawks never hired her for his later films remains a mystery) that went a long ways toward giving the character gravitas and authority as a homicide detective with the police force.  It's too bad that Janet Baines only appeared for eight episodes of "Knots Landing" because she had genuine chemistry with the cast and blended in well with them.  She should have remained with the show at least until the Ciji case was finally closed when a fugitive Chip fell on the pitchfork at Gary's ranch and was killed.  Moreover, I would have welcomed having Janet Baines back as the show's resident homicide cop in later seasons of the show when there were other murder mystery storylines (such as the ones involving Peter Hollister, Jill Bennett, and Danny Waleska) for the show to solve, rather than bringing in a new group of uninspired detectives to fill up the screen.  Baines' history with the show, as well as her feelings towards the regular characters, would have helped heighten the dramatic tension during those investigations.  Joanna Pettet's Detective Lt. Janet Baines ranks as a noteworthy recurring/supporting character who made her mark in the 1980s prime time soap genre. 

The Legacy of Jock Ewing's Last Will and Testament on "Dallas" and "Knots Landing"

This week, the new "Dallas" on TNT killed Larry Hagman's iconic JR Ewing character off the series as a result of Hagman's death due to complications of throat cancer treatment back in November.  In the next, upcoming episode of "Dallas," the series will pay tribute to JR and to Hagman with an episode concerning JR's funeral.  My understanding is that the remainder of the series will focus on JR Ewing's legacy and how it affects his family.  All of this reminds me of what happened back in 1981 on the original "Dallas" series on CBS when actor Jim Davis, who played patriarch Jock Ewing, died of multiple myeloma.  The producers dealt with Davis' death by sending Jock off-screen to South America for several episodes where Jock was wildcatting oil.  They didn't actually kill off Jock on the series until the January 8, 1982 episode titled "The Search," which involved JR, Bobby and Ray on a desperate search for Jock after a helicopter he was riding in crashes into a South American lake.  In the aftermath of that development, the theme for the remainder of the original "Dallas" changed and became a story about a family attempting to live under the legacy set for them by their now-lost patriarch.  I imagine that the remainder of the new TNT "Dallas" will follow a similar path as the new generation of Ewings react to the legacy that JR has left for them.  What's interesting about Jim Davis' death, and the death of the Jock Ewing character on the original "Dallas," is how it affected not just one television series, but two, during the 1982-83 television season.  During that season both "Dallas," and its sister spin-off series "Knots Landing," engineered storylines whose lynchpin was largely tied to Jock Ewing's final will and testament, and its affect upon his immediate family and the people surrounding them.

In the appropriately titled episode "Jock's Will" that aired just over 30 years ago on October 29, 1982, Ewing family attorney Harve Smithfield (George O. Petrie), lays out the terms of Jock's will.  Jock leaves Southfork, any income to be derived from it, as well as $50 million of community property holdings to Miss Ellie.  Jock also set up a trust fund for his four sons JR, Gary (Ted Shackelford), Ray (Steve Kanaly), and Bobby (Patrick Duffy) where he leaves each of them $10 million.  Granddaughter Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton) receives $5 million.  However, Gary's share of this trust fund is limited to the use of the interest alone for four years.  As JR cruelly jokes, "I guess Daddy was trying to help you, Gary, to keep you from squandering your capital on one of your weaker weekends...Sorry Mama."  Jock also sets up a trust fund for all of his grandchildren to receive an equal portion on their 21st birthday divisible by the number of grandchildren at that time.

As for Ewing Oil, Harve reads from a codicil to the will that was written by Jock while he was still in South America witnessed by his best friend Punk Anderson (Morgan Woodward).  In the codicil, Jock admits that he agonized over who he should leave the controlling interest in Ewing Oil.  Because neither Gary nor Ray ever showed any inclination or aptitude for business, Jock's choice of successor is narrowed to Bobby and JR.  Even though Jock admits that he always hoped JR and Bobby would someday run Ewing Oil as a team, Jock realizes that Ewing Oil can have only one man at the helm.  Jock determines that that man has got to be the one that wants it the most.  Jock orders an independent audit of Ewing Oil's assets so that Bobby and JR each get a 50% share.  After one year, Punk Anderson (who Jock names as the Administrator of his estate) will conduct a second independent audit of the company.  Whichever son manages to create the greatest gain for his half-share of Ewing Oil will win 51% of the stock of the entire company and can run it anyway he sees fit.  The loser in the contest will get 19% of the stock.  The remaining 30% will be divided equally among Ray, Gary, and Miss Ellie, to ensure that they will never be without the profits from the company he created, which must never be owned by anyone other than an Ewing.  If either Bobby or JR dies during the year, the remaining son will take over the shares and run the company.  And, with that, Jock sets the course for the lives of his family members over the next 30 years and also shapes the storylines of both "Dallas" and "Knots Landing" for that season, and all subsequent seasons to follow.

Throughout the 1982-83 season of "Dallas," a majority of the storylines on the series centered on Bobby and JR's battle for control of Ewing Oil.  Bobby becomes so ruthless in his determination to beat JR that his wife Pamela (Victoria Principal) separates from him and starts dating millionaire playboy Mark Graison (John Beck).  Meanwhile, JR uses every dirty trick in the book to help increase his assets.  Earlier that season, before Jock's will was read, JR was briefly kicked out of Ewing Oil for helping to perpetuate Cliff Barnes' (Ken Kercheval) suicide attempt.  As a result, Bobby, JR, Miss Ellie and Lucy voted him out of the company.  In the meantime, JR is hired by naive oil heiress Holly Harwood (Lois Chiles) to help her run her late father's company, Harwood Oil.  In lieu of a salary, JR insists on 25% ownership of Harwood Oil, a decision Holly will soon regret when she realizes that he is using her company's assets and influence as a tool to help give him a competitive edge over Bobby.

Ray aligns himself with Bobby to help him win the company.  Meanwhile his wife Donna (Susan Howard) becomes involved with helping to run a new Texas Energy Commission.  The new Commission was formed when it was discovered that Walt Driscoll (Ben Piazza) the head of the previous oversight agency, the Office of Land Management, was illegally granting JR a variance allowing him to pump more oil than regulations allowed.  JR needed the additional crude oil to supply gasoline to his low-cost service stations which was part of his strategy to beat Bobby.  Donna worked to rescind the variance, which hindered JR's efforts, but which also gratified the other independent oil companies, including Barnes-Wentworth Oil, run by JR's arch enemy Cliff Barnes.  Cliff and the other independents were afraid that the competition from JR's low-cost gas stations would put the other companies out of business.  Cliff, and his mother Rebecca (Priscilla Pointer) became determined to stop JR's efforts at all costs.  Rebecca is even killed when her private plane collides with another on the runway, while she is on her way to Houston on Cliff's behalf, to convince the owner of a refinery (that JR desperately needed for his gas stations) to sell to Cliff instead.  Meanwhile, Miss Ellie goes to court to try and break Jock's will so that she can sell Ewing Oil, but eventually drops the suit when she finds herself unable to declare in court that Jock was not of sound mind and body when he drew up the will.  The stress from the Ewing Oil battle brings her closer to Clayton Farlow (Howard Keel) who will eventually become her second husband.

Rebecca's death brings her manipulative daughter Katharine (Morgan Brittany) back to Dallas.  Katharine, in love with Bobby, conspires with JR to ensure that Bobby and Pam divorce for good.  Cliff's girlfriend Afton Cooper (Audrey Landers) attempts to warn Pam about Katharine's true intentions, to no avail.  Throughout the season, Afton urges Cliff to stop obsessing about JR and to not interfere in the battle for Ewing Oil, as she fears his obsession will eat him up and destroy their relationship.  Holly Harwood, desperate to get JR out of her company after he gets her involved with an illegal deal selling crude oil to Cuba, starts dropping hints with Sue Ellen that she is having an affair with JR.  Holly believes that, if Sue Ellen thinks JR is having an affair with her, she will insist that JR cut all ties with Holly if he wants to save their marriage and retain custody of their son John Ross.  When Bobby and Ray learn that JR is trying to sell oil to Cuba, they sabotage Walt Driscoll's efforts to help negotiate the deal on JR's behalf by arranging to have him arrested.  When Driscoll calls JR to help bail him out, JR leaves him to rot in jail.  Meanwhile, Holly sets Sue Ellen up to catch her and JR in bed.  The shock of seeing her husband back to his philandering ways drives Sue Ellen back to the bottle.

After an argument with JR, Sue Ellen attempts to flee Southfork in his car.  Lucy's boyfriend, and Ray's cousin, Mickey Trotter (Timothy Patrick Murphy), a troubled-but-reformed youth from Kansas, jumps into the car to stop Sue Ellen.  They are side-swiped on the road by a vehicle driven by Walt Driscoll, who believed JR was driving the car and was seeking revenge on JR for ruining his life.  Mickey is paralyzed by the accident from the neck-down.  Meanwhile, Katharine attempts to get into Bobby's good graces by allowing him to use an experimental drill bit developed by Wentworth Tool & Die in order to help him drill for oil in ice and snow-covered Canada.  Cliff opposes this, but Pamela casts the deciding vote in Bobby's favor, but not before telling him that she's filing for divorce.  When Ray learns that Walt Driscoll, who committed suicide because of his shame over causing Mickey's paralysis, ran Sue Ellen and Mickey off the road to get revenge against JR, he confronts his half-brother at Southfork about it.  The fighting between the two accidentally starts a fire that quickly engulfs Southfork and traps JR, Ray, Sue Ellen and John Ross inside.

This is only a thumbnail overview of the season, but it demonstrates how all the characters, and storylines, on "Dallas" that season were tied to JR and Bobby's battle for Ewing Oil because of the terms set by Jock's will.  Both Bobby and JR fight vigorously to win the contest because they believe they must live up to the expectations set for them by Jock and this determination has terrible consequences for all involved.  What I thought made this season of "Dallas" so beautifully constructed was how every member of the ensemble, even the most unlikely individual, would have their lives adversely affected by the contest between the Ewing brothers.  Even a character like Mickey Trotter, whose storyline appeared to be disconnected with the corporate aspect of the series, ends up as collateral damage.  What's interesting is how the battle for Ewing Oil brought out the worst in most of the characters on "Dallas" that season.  JR was worse than ever; Bobby realized he could be as ruthless as JR and that he wasn't any better than him (just more sanctimonious); Pam became whiny and sniveling as she witnessed her husband's moral disintegration; Sue Ellen became condescending again as she blindly followed JR's lead; Ray and Bobby thoughtlessly put the hapless Walt Driscoll in jail; Holly Harwood seduced JR so that Sue Ellen could catch them in bed, only to have it drive Sue Ellen back to the bottle; Cliff became even more insufferable than ever in his efforts to interfere with JR and Bobby's business dealings, and so on and so on.  The only characters who don't lose their moral compass are Donna, who remained conscientious with her work on the Texas Energy Commission; Miss Ellie, who was dismayed at how the contest was tearing her family apart; Clayton, who remained as strong-willed and supportive of the others as ever; and Lucy, who showed genuine concern and caring for Mickey after he had been paralyzed in the car crash caused by Sue Ellen and Walt Driscoll.

Over on "Knots Landing," Jock's will would also have significant ramifications that would shape its 1982-83 season and alter the course of that series forever.  When Gary inherits the $10 million in the trust fund set up for Jock, he uses the interests on it to invest in his neighbors' business ventures.  Richard Avery (John Pleshette), an overly ambitious, but emotionally insecure, attorney who suffered a nervous breakdown the season before, opens a new French restaurant that season rather than return to practicing law.  Gary gives him money to invest in the business, unaware that his manipulative lover Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills) has drawn up the terms of the gift more as a loan with strings attached to it.  She forces Richard to sign a note that hands over the restaurant to her if he does not make his monthly payments.  Meanwhile, Gary also invests his money to help produce a record album for a young rock singer he has befriended, Ciji Dunne (Lisa Hartman).  Gary goes into business with his other neighbor Kenny Ward (James Houghton) to open their own independent record label, with Ciji as their first artist.  This does not sit well with Kenny's wife Ginger (Kim Lankford), who had been trying to get Kenny to help promote her fledgling singing career and resents Kenny and Gary's enthusiasm for Ciji.

Reminding Richard that Gary's money is invested in the restaurant, Abby manipulates him into allowing his restaurant to be used as a cabaret venue to help promote Ciji's singing career.  Richard resents Ciji's presence at his restaurant, particularly since she has struck up a close friendship with his wife Laura (Constance McCashin).  Ciji becomes romantically involved with a two-bit hustler named Chip Roberts (Michael Sabatino) who becomes her self-annointed manager.  Chip is freeloading by living with Gary's estranged wife Val (Joan Van Ark) and her mother Lilimae (Julie Harris), who he has been manipulating because she is enamored of him.  Chip's presence in the "Knots Landing" cul-de-sac upsets the life of Karen Fairgate (Michele Lee) whose young daughter Diana (Claudia Lonow) falls hopelessly in love with this shifty character.  Only Karen's new husband Mack MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson) senses from the beginning the potential danger of Chip.  Behind everyone's back, Gary and Abby sell Ciji's record contract to established music mogul Jeff Munson (Jon Cyper), a move that leaves Kenny out in the cold and which causes Ginger to angrily confront Gary, telling him that nothing in the three or four years she's known Gary would have prepared her for his betrayal of her husband.  When Gary tries to explain his position to Kenny, the usually mild mannered record producer responds with a tirade that succinctly demonstrates how Gary is no better than his brothers back in Texas: "Gary you dangled a dream right in front of my face and then you snatched it away!...No misunderstanding man.  You cut me out pure and simple.  Why don't you live with it?  You know, at first I thought maybe this was Abby's doing.  I know how her mind works.  I thought maybe she put you up to it.  But then I remembered who you really are, some of the things you've done.  I realized I should've expected this from you all along!...Hey, you got Sid Fairgate involved in selling stolen auto parts, and now he's dead.  He gave you a break, you betrayed his trust in you.  Val stands by you but, no, you run out on her.  Well, now you're just doing the same thing to me.  You're damn right it isn't (fair)...You had your chance, Gary, but you blew it, so don't come around here with any phony excuses.  You know it's time somebody told you the truth about yourself...No, no, you're the one caught up in himself.  You don't realize what you do to other people.  You're a weak, spoiled coward who never stands up for anyone or anything.  You take the easy way out and you don't care who you step on to do it.  Well, congratulations, Gary, you finally learned to be a true Ewing!"

Meanwhile, Chip leaks pages of a manuscript Val has written based on the breakup of her marriage, due to Gary's affair with Abby that started the previous season, in order to impress a public relations executive he is trying to land a position with.  The publication of the manuscript in a tabloid drives recovering alcoholic Gary to drink again, which is exacerbated when he learns of the severe terms Abby has placed on Richard for the money he invested in his restaurant.  Gary goes on a bender, with Ciji the only person conscientiously looking out for his well-being.  Meanwhile, Ciji learns she's pregnant with Chip's baby, as well as the fact that he is a wanted criminal named Tony Fenice.  She fires Chip as her manager and warns him to stay away from her and her baby or else she'll tell the whole world his true identity.  Meanwhile, because of a casual comment made by a spiteful Chip, Richard starts to believe that his wife Laura and Ciji might be having a lesbian relationship.  As Richard's mental state deteriorates, so does his marriage to Laura as he begins to lash out at her and Ciji for the failure of their marriage.

As Ciji's album nears completion, the entire cul-de-sac are at odds with one another over Ciji.  Because Ciji has befriended Gary while he is dealing with his alcoholism, Abby warns her to stay away from him.  The night of Ciji's album launch party, both Ciji and Gary are missing.  Ginger is put on stage by Jeff Munson to entertain the audience in Ciji's absence.  Gary wakes up the next morning on the beach, just yards from Ciji's body, which has washed ashore.  Mack's ex-girlfriend police detective Janet Baines (Joanna Pettet) arrests Gary for Ciji's murder.  Val confesses to killing Ciji because she had an argument with her earlier the night she died where she struck Ciji and knocked her to the ground.  She's later released due to lack of evidence.  At the end of the season, Gary sits in jail accused of murder; Richard leaves Laura in the middle of the night because he realizes their marriage is irreparable; Kenny and Ginger accept a job offer from Jeff Munson and decide to move to Nashville; and Karen learns that Diana has left town with Chip, moments after learning that he's a wanted criminal named Tony Fenice.

Even though Jock's will had less of an influence on "Knots Landing" than it did on "Dallas," it still had significant ramifications on the residents of Seaview Circle.  Gary's newfound wealth, and his initially well-meaning efforts to share it with his neighbors, moved the characters of "Knots Landing" to a more upscale income level than they were previously accustomed to.  It created conflicts because they proved to be unprepared for the negative effects of it.  Abby, who had previously been a manipulative neighborhood trouble-maker, begins her climb as a ruthless, unethical business mogul this season.  Because of the lack of proper oversight on Gary's behalf, Abby is allowed to run rampant that season controlling Gary's finances, which has adverse affects on Richard's restaurant and Kenny's efforts to produce Ciji's album.  Even though Richard would have opened his restaurant anyway, because of his wife Laura and his best friend Karen's investment in it, it is Gary's financial involvement with the restaurant that leads to Ciji's employment there as a singer, and to Ciji's friendship with Laura.  Insecure Richard feels so threatened by Ciji's presence that he actually throws her out of his house when he finds his wife in an innocent embrace with her.  Richard's restaurant and marriage suffer as a consequence of Gary's investment in his establishment.

Also, if not for Gary's discovery of Ciji, introducing her to Kenny, and pledge to financially subsidize an independent record label, Kenny would not have quit his job at the record company to try and be his own boss.  The money and attention lavish on Ciji lead to Ginger's open resentment of her, and her marriage to Kenny suffered as a result of it.  Ginger and Laura, who had been good friends up to that point, even have an argument over Ciji as both women have decidedly different views on her as an individual.  Even though Gary's inheritance had nothing to do with Chip's arrival on the scene (since Chip was originally introduced as someone working for the PR company promoting Val's novel) Gary's investment in Richard's restaurant and in his independent record label with Kenny, with Ciji as its sole artist, created a dysfunctional environment of already simmering resentment among the residents of Seaview Circle ripe for Chip to easily take advantage of.  Chip planted the seeds of resentment in Richard's mind that his wife was having an affair with Ciji, manipulated Diana Fairgate to his advantage, and repeatedly used Ciji as a scapegoat to cover up his own nefarious deeds.  It would be safe to say that none of this would have occurred as extensively as it did if Gary never inherited that money from Jock.  Just as it did simultaneously during the concurrent 1982-83 season on "Dallas," Jock's will has serious ramifications on the lives of the residents of the "Knots Landing" Seaview Circle cul-de-sac.  Like the Ewings on "Dallas," Gary's inheritance as a result of Jock's will brings out the worst in the neighbors on "Knots Landing."

Because of the storylines inspired by the ramifications of Jock Ewing's will on both "Dallas" and "Knots Landing," the directions of both series were radically altered for the remainder of their run.  "Dallas" became a series where the Ewing family wrestled with the consequences of living their lives in the shadow of the standards and legacy that Jock set for them.  Countless storylines in subsequent seasons of "Dallas" revolved around JR, or his siblings, working hard to conduct their lives in a manner that they believe Jock would have approved of.  JR, in particularly, is driven by a desire to ensure that he can leave his son John Ross with a legacy of running Ewing Oil someday--a theme which heavily influences the new "Dallas" on TNT.  Any divergence from Jock's expectations formed the backbone of enormous amounts of conflict on the original show.  I think that's why I began to appreciate Howard Keel's Clayton Farlow a great deal on "Dallas."  In many ways, as exemplified by JR's contempt for him, Clayton was the "anti-Jock" of "Dallas"--a hard working, successful oil man in his own right, Clayton was humble whereas Jock was egotistical.  Clayton had a compassion and humanity about him that all the characters, except JR, responded to.  I think the Ewings, subconsciously, were glad to have Clayton in their family even though they missed Jock terribly.  Clayton allowed them to relax and blossom as individuals, whereas Jock continually kept them on their toes.  I think the Ewings, underneath it all, were frightened of Jock as much as they loved him, particularly JR.  Jock had such high expectations of them that, in many ways, he was as despotic a ruler over his family as Angela Channing (Jane Wyman) of "Falcon Crest" was with her family.  It's just that Angela was never as idealized by the other characters on her show the way Jock eventually became idealized.  (There's even a storyline in the 1989-90 season of "Dallas" which revealed that Jock had saved a Jewish family from perishing in the Holocaust and they named themselves Ewing when they settled in the United States in honor of him.  By then, sainthood had clearly been bestowed upon Jock.)  I think the different levels of respect accorded to Jock and Clayton underscores how the open-hearted nice guy is never bestowed the same level of respect as the person who withholds his affection and approval.

Meanwhile, even though Jock never appeared on "Knots Landing," Gary's inheritance from his Daddy's will set that series on an upscale climb that pulled it away from the middle-class, suburban milieu that allowed the early seasons of the show to distinguish itself as unique in the prime time soap genre.  Gary eventually bought a ranch that he named Westfork and began investing in the Lotus Point resort, the Empire Valley real estate development, the Pacific World Cable TV station, and the Tidal Energy project in an effort to finally make a name for himself and come out from under the shadow of his brothers.  Much of Gary's drive and ambition may have been the result of trying to prove to himself that he was worthy of being Jock Ewing's son.  It is ironic that Jock's inheritance gives Gary the resources to demonstrate to himself and others what he is capable of.  No doubt much of the upscale direction of the series after its early seasons was also due to the presence of William Devane's mercurial Greg Sumner, who joined the series in 1983, but Gary's inheritance was, in many ways, the impetus to it all.  As a result of changes made to the series, John Pleshette's Richard Avery, and James Houghton and Kim Lankford's Kenny and Ginger Ward, were phased out of the show as the series made conscious efforts to become more glamorous and larger-than-life.  It stopped becoming a show about four married couples living in a cul-de-sac and became another prime-time soap about the rich and the powerful.  Even though "Knots Landing" was still overall a good show that had good years ahead of it, for better or worse, "Knots Landing" was never the same again after Gary came into his inheritance.

The thing that I find so unique about the 1982-83 seasons of "Dallas" and "Knots Landing" is how both shows created storylines centered around one central concept or conflict.  For "Dallas," it was the battle between Bobby and JR for control of Ewing Oil.  For "Knots Landing," it was how the characters of Chip and Ciji became entrenched in the lives of the neighborhood as a result of Gary's inheritance.  Usually, on prime time soaps, there are several different storylines going on at once and, often-times, they are not directly related to one another.  On "Dallas" and "Knots Landing" that season, we saw how the actions in the storyline of one set of characters could lead to serious consequences for a whole different set of characters on the same show.  There's an ominous tone of dread that hangs over both series that season, as the stories and characters took a dark turn for the worse.  The writers and producers of both shows should be commended for the intricate manner in which they constructed their storylines during that concurrent season.  They both started out with the idea of Jock's will being read, and then each show developed a beautifully plotted and nuanced storyline that grew organically out of that idea.  Taking advantage of the already-established relationships and conflicts on both "Dallas" and "Knots Landing," the personnel in-charge of both shows built upon the backstories they had already created to devise stories and situations that challenged its characters and its viewers.  It's because of this cohesion that I consider the 1982-83 season for both "Dallas" and "Knots Landing" the best season ever for each series.  By the end of that season for both shows, relationships and friendships that were once strong had, in many instances, irreparably splintered.  Marriages, family relations and friendships involving the Ewing family on "Dallas" were all at an impasse because of the fight between JR and Bobby for control of Ewing Oil.  Meanwhile, the once friendly neighborhood of "Knots Landing" lost its suburban community atmosphere forever that season as neighbor became pitted against neighbor, with Richard, Kenny and Ginger fleeing as a consequence of the turmoil.  All of this was the result of Jim Davis' death in real-life and the subsequent death of Jock Ewing on the original "Dallas."  Based on the standard set by the death of Jim Davis/Jock Ewing, it's clear that the new "Dallas" on TNT has big shoes to fill as it charts the course for its future without Larry Hagman/JR Ewing at its helm.