Holly Harwood's Memorably Graceful Exit from "Dallas"

A few months ago I commented on the wrong way to write a character out of a TV show, but now I want to comment on the appropriate way to close out a character that had made a strong impact and impression upon a series.  Throughout the 1982-83 season of "Dallas," Lois Chiles gave a marvelous performance as intially-naive, but ultimately strong-willed oil heiress Holly Harwood.  After having inherited her father's oil company, Harwood Oil, after his death, she foolishly hires JR Ewing (Larry Hagman) to help her run it.  Rather than asking for traditional remuneration, JR asks for 25% ownership of Harwood Oil, which Holly agrees to give to him.  Holly would later regret this decision after she realizes that JR is using Harwood Oil assets to help give him an edge in his competition against his brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) to win Ewing Oil.  Throughout the season, Holly often consulted with Bobby, who she found herself falling in love with.  After JR gets her involved in an illegal deal to sell oil to Cuba, Holly decides to manipulate JR's wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) into believing that they are having an affair in order to force Sue Ellen to issue an ultimatum with JR for him to cut all ties with Holly.

When Sue Ellen catches Holly and JR in bed, she goes on a bender that eventually leads to a tragic car accident that leaves Sue Ellen facing criminal charges and Ray Krebbs' cousin Mickey Trotter (Timothy Patrick Murphy) paralyzed from the neck down.  JR agrees to return his 25% share of Harwood Oil to Holly, but only if she pays him $20 million.  Bobby urges Holly not to pay JR for fear that the payment would put JR far ahead in the competition.  In the finale of that season, Holly attempts to stall JR by suggesting to him that she stagger the payments over a period of time.  JR at first refuses, but eventually relents, warning her not to take too long with the payments because "Holly Harwood is not on my list of all-time favorites."  It would have been easy to assume that that was the end of Holly Harwood on "Dallas," but in the next season the writers and producers of the show gave her a proper exit that also laid the groundwork for the long-term impact the character would have on the show.

When the show returned in the Fall, Holly was nowhere to be seen in the first four episodes.  It appeared as if her storyline was over and done with.  But Holly reappeared in the fifth episode of the season entitled "The Quality of Mercy," which aired October 28, 1983.  It would be the first of three appearances in the new season spread across three consecutive episodes.  In the first scene, Holly reappears when she interrupts a luncheon between Bobby and his ex-sister-in-law Katharine Wentworth (Morgran Brittany), who conspired with JR to break up Bobby's marriage with her half-sister Pam (Victoria Principal), and is scheming to win his affections now that he and Pam have divorced.  We learn that Holly left town for awhile to try and regain perspective on what has happened to her life in the last year.  Holly expresses condolences to Bobby for his divorce from Pam and apologizes to him for paying JR $20 million to leave her company.  Holly is surprised when Bobby informs her that he and JR have decide to call off the competition and split the company 50/50.  Lois Chiles expresses the right air of self-reflection and regret as she reacts to the news "That battle was so bitter!  I mean, I'm an outsider and look at the things that I did.  I suppose it changed all of us.  It's taken me quite awhile to start liking myself again."

Bobby admits how he understands the way Holly feels--and that it's taking him a long time to like himself again after all the scheming and manipulative things he did the previous season to try and win Ewing Oil.  In so doing, Bobby expresses a level of empathy for Holly's regrets and mistakes that puts the two characters on a level playing field.  After Bobby comments that he's glad to see Holly again, she breathes a sigh of relief and says, "Thank goodness.  It took all the courage I had to come talk to you....well because I know that I've done things that you don't approve of.  But you know how I always felt about you Bobby.  And I just wanted us to be friends again."  After Bobby assures Holly that "right now I could use all the friends that I can get," an irritated Katharine Wentworth attempts to interrupt this conversation by asking Bobby to order her another drink.

A wise and perceptive Holly immediately picks up on Katharine's personal interest in Bobby and refuses Bobby's offer to get her a drink as well.  The two women, both carrying an unreciprocated romantic interest in the same man, eye one another competitively across the table.  Both Lois Chiles and Morgan Brittany are marvelous in articulating the different modus operandi of these two women.  Chiles projects a directness and honesty in Holly's dealings with Bobby that strikes an interesting contrast with the devious manipulation that is Katharine's hallmark on the show.  I particularly like the way Holly evokes Katharine's quietly seething animosity when Holly asks Bobby out to dinner some night.  When Bobby tells Holly that he "wouldn't be very good company," Holly responds, "I'm willing to risk it if you are...I just thought that, for once, the two of us could sit down and have a civilized meal.  No business.  Just kind of get to know who we are.  Not Harwood Oil, not Ewing Oil, just us."

Bobby finally agrees, which further irritates Katharine, as he promises to contact Holly and set a date soon.  As Holly departs, I believe she is sincere when she says, "Nice meeting you Katharine.  I hope you'll forgive me for monopolizing Bobby like that."  Katharine leans forward, possessively marking her territory as Bobby's companion for this meal, and responds, "Oh that's all right.  We have plenty of time."  Amused and challenged by Katharine's maneuver, Holly lightly chuckles under her breath, rises from her seat and delivers another blow back at Katharine as she pointedly remarks, "And I think it's...admirable, you're helping Bobby get over your sister."  Recognizing how Holly has seen right through her underhandedness, Katharine smirks and says "Thank you," as an oblivious Bobby kisses Holly goodbye as she departs back to her office.  Bobby is so naive as to what's just transpired between these two women to such a degree that, after he comments, "Nice lady, isn't she?," he fails to recognize the sarcasm in Katharine's voice when she responds, "Wonderful."

This beautifully written, acted, and naunced scene is notable because it demonstrates the different tactics of two women who are clearly interested in Bobby and who hope that he might reciprocate their feelings now that he is divorced from Pam.  Despite Holly's manipulation of Sue Ellen, seducing JR so that his wife will catch them in bed together, she's essentially a straight-forward, honest individual who was driven to setting JR up out of desperation.  In all of her dealings with Bobby, she has been completely honest about her emotions and motives.  The previous season, when she attempted to seduce Bobby while dressed in a bathing suit at her pool, she is direct about her longings and desires for him.  Once Bobby makes it clear that he is a faithful husband, Holly stops trying to seduce him and instead forges a genuine friendship with him.  Even though she and Pam only encountered each other in one scene at the Ewing barbecue, I always had the impression that Holly, after being rejected by Bobby, genuinely respected, as well as envied, Pam's role as Bobby's wife.  She only waited until Bobby and Pam were divorced before making another effort to make her feelings to Bobby known.

In contrast, Katharine has no such respect for Pam's role as Bobby's wife, even though they are half-sisters.  She schemed with JR to break them up, and even forges a fake letter, purportedly from Pam to her attorney, that she shares with Bobby in order to make him believe that Pam no longer wanted to be married to him.  In contrast to Holly's directness and honesty where Bobby was concerned, Katharine continually operated in a state of deception and subterfuge.  She initially did not reveal to Bobby, until later, her own romantic feelings for him.  By not being honest with Bobby from the beginning, Katharine continued to allow herself to believe in a fantasy she had created in her mind that Bobby would eventually fall in love with her.  For all of her villainy, there was a delusional quality to Katharine that just seemed desperate.

The next time we see Holly is in the following episode "Check and Mate," which originally aired November 4, 1983.  Bobby and Holly are seen walking together at an outdoor shopping area, alongside an elaborate waterway, as they come from a distance and walk closer to a bridge, where the camera filming this scene is situated, so they can stop and confront each others feelings once and for all.  The first section of the scene is shot in one long, unbroken take, where we see both characters from a distance as they walk closer to us, the audience, until both characters have reached and stepped onto the bridge, upon which time the remainder of the vignette is dramatized in long shots and close-ups that underscore the divide that has come between them.  They chit chat about the end of the Battle for Ewing Oil competition, which is due to end the next day, and the wounds and damage that the competition has caused.  Holly attempts to be cheerful and hopeful as she reassures Bobby that "Wounds heal after awhile, at least mine do.  I'm not even so angry at JR anymore."  She then pointedly asks, "What about you Bobby?  Can you forget what happened?...with me and JR?"

Bobby curtly asks "Holly, what are you really saying?" A frustrated Holly admits, "It's hard to fall out of love."  Bobby becomes uncomfortable and attempts to deflect her statement by saying "Please, Holly," as she continues saying "And I was just wondering if I was gonna get another chance with you now that you're a free man."  Bobby's tone of voice becomes slightly impatient as he says "Look, Holly, we can be friends, we can help each other, but I can't see havin' the kind of relationship that you want to have."  A disappointed Holly continues pressing Bobby as she asks him "Tell me somethin'...is it because I set JR up that time?"  Bobby says, "I don't know, maybe."  Holly continues, "Is it because I set him up, or because I slept with him to do it?"  Bobby responds, "I don't know.  Maybe both."  A perceptive and slightly annoyed and frustrated Holly observes how "Men have such fragile egos.  If this conversation were reversed, and you'd done the sleeping and the setting up, you'd expect me to just forget about it.  You wouldn't care how I felt."  After having witnessed the way Bobby expected Pam to accept the scheming and blackmailing and manipulation that he resorted to in order to win Ewing Oil, we're not surprised how Bobby realizes the truth of Holly's statement and the hypocrisy of his perspective.  He acknowledges to Holly, "You know something, you might be right.  But I don't see myself changing, Holly."

A disappointed Holly accepts Bobby's rejection and says, "Guess that's the end of the road then.  Not that there ever really was a road for you and me."  In saying that, Holly reveals that she is not only direct and honest, she's also a realist, a point which is further emphasized a moment later, after Bobby tries to reassure her that they can remain friends.  A slightly bemused Holly scoffs, "Friends?  No, we won't.  I could never be comfortable being just your friend."  In so doing, Holly demonstrates how she is unwilling to live a fantasy, the way Katharine has, where she can accept crumbs and remain second-best by being just platonic friends with Bobby.  Holly appears to understand that remaining Bobby's friend will perpetuate a fantasy that he might some day become romantically interested in her.  In the previous episode, when she interrupted his lunch with Katharine, Holly expressed an interest in being friends with Bobby, which this scene later contradicts.  I believe Holly has changed her mind because, after witnessing Katharine's obvious interest in Bobby, and sensing how Bobby has no interest in his own ex-sister-in-law, Holly has seen for herself how desperate and fruitless it would be to cling to Bobby forever.  If Katharine is the dangerous delusional, then Holly remains the healthy realist who knows what she needs, and doesn't need, for herself.  She's willing to say goodbye to Bobby in order to retain her dignity. 

For her final scene with Bobby, the writers gave Lois Chiles a killer exit line.  Holly kisses Bobby on the cheek and, looking straight into his eyes, tells him "You know what really kills me?  There's someone out there, somewhere, who's gonna end up with you.  And it won't be me."  She then turns and walks away from Bobby forever, never looking back at him.  She leaves a dumbfounded Bobby speechless on the bridge, too stupid to understand how he has allowed this terrific lady to slip from his life.  Considering how the lady Bobby does end up with, the incredibly bland Ann Ewing (Brenda Strong) on TNT's new "Dallas," is not nearly as compelling or interesting a character as Holly Harwood was, it's not hard to understand Holly's frustration with the situation.

We might be forgiven in believing that Holly was over and done with, but in the following episode, "Ray's Trial," which aired November 11, 1983, the writers gave Holly an additional exit scene to tie up her character and storyline once and for all.  Having resolved her dangling, unrequited relationship with Bobby, the writers now focus on tying up her contentious dealings with his brother JR, who she has not encountered in about 6 episodes.  At the end of the previous episode, as the executor of Jock's estate, Punk Anderson, and the accountants and attorneys wrap up the last details of the competition for Ewing Oil that Bobby and JR's father has set up for them, JR attempts to break the deal that Bobby made with JR to stop the competition and split the company 50/50 by asking for a full audit of both their earnings that year.  It looks as if JR will end up the majority owner of Ewing Oil, if not for the last minute arrival of Bobby's Canadian business partners, who has shown up to bring Bobby a check for $26 million for his share of investing in drilling for oil in ice covered Canadian oil fields.  This puts Bobby far ahead of JR in the competition, making him the winner and majority owner of Ewing Oil.

At the start of the episode in "Ray's Trial," we find a grieving JR in a bar, drinking away his anger and frustration at losing the competition to Bobby and having to share in the company with him.  After telling his waitress to keep the drinks coming, a gloating Holly, grinning from ear-to-ear like a Cheshire cat, shows up to gloat about JR's failure.  Lois Chiles plays the scene with the right air of schadenfreude as she tells JR, "I just heard the most astounding news!  That you and Bobby are gonna run Ewing Oil side-by-side.  Share and share alike."  In contrast to the scene where Holly interrupted Bobby and Katharine's lunch, and Bobby graciously asked Holly if she would like a drink, when the waitress in this scene returns to JR's table, and asks Holly what she would like to drink, JR curtly remarks, "The lady's leavin'...aren't you?"  Holly continues gloating as she observes how "Looks like the only friend you've got left is in that glass.  I just think it's wonderful!  That despite all your manipulations, despite all your crooked deals, despite your hitting me up for $20 million bucks to get you out of my company, despite all that you still couldn't beat Bobby!"

JR attempts to save face by trying to make it appear that he and Bobby agreed to split up the company long before the final audit for the competition.  Holly slyly responds, "Maybe you did, but the way I heard it, you were gonna double cross Bobby.  It was Bobby who agreed to share Ewing Oil with you, not the other way around."  JR attempts to demean Holly by insinuating that she got the information as to what actually happened in the final audit room by having slept with one of the auditors, "or all of them as the case may be."  A sanguine Holly remarks, "Same old JR.  Losin' has done nothin' for your soul.  But I'm happy that you lost because you cost me the one thing in the whole world that I ever really wanted."  JR realizes that she is referring to his younger brother Bobby and encourages her to pursue him because "he's free now, honey.  You can go after him, free as a bird."

 A bitter Holly responds, "You made that impossible."  JR seems truly surprised at Holly's revelation "I did?  You mean because of that one night that I spent in your bed?  Oh, my saintly brother."  A disgusted Holly gets up from the table, as JR grabs her by the arm to finish his thought, "Darlin' I'd like to make a little toast...to the fact that you will never, ever be my sister-in-law.  And I want to thank you too, for reminding me how, how ethical my brother is.  It's a flaw in his character that eventually will cause his downfall in the oil industry.  I'm not finished yet, honey.  Not by a long shot.  Thank you, I'm feelin' better."  Holly wrests her arm out of JR's grasp as she turns and walks out of "Dallas" forever.

In so doing, the scene establishes several themes that will continue to dominate "Dallas" in seasons to come.  One is how Bobby will continue to have an aversion to any women who were romantically involved with his older brother.  In Bobby's eyes, they have become "tainted" for having been with JR.  JR uses this to make Katharine believe that Bobby will reject her once he finds out that she has been sleeping with his brother.  JR later causes Katharine to believe that he has played Bobby an audio tape of him and Katharine in bed together, which leads to Katharine to confess all of her sins to Bobby and destroys their friendship forever.  In later seasons, when Bobby is dating April Stevens (Sheree J. Wilson), JR attempts to blackmail April into doing his bidding or else he will tell Bobby about their previous romantic relationship.  He refers to Holly Harwood as an example of what April has to look forward to if she does not comply with JR.  April admits her relationship with JR to Bobby, which causes their breakup.  It's only later, when Bobby gets over his prudishness and realizes how much he loves April, that he can stop seeing women who were involved with JR as "fallen women."  In the 1988-89 season of "Dallas," Holly Harwood is once again mentioned when Sue Ellen is planning to produce a film about her life with JR and she tells Don Lockwood (Ian McShane), the writer/director she has hired, about Holly's scheme to have Sue Ellen catch her and JR in bed together.  Later, we see a scene being filmed where Sue Ellen and JR quarrel over his sexual involvement with "Molly Woodward."

The final scenes of Holly Harwood are notable in the prime time soap genre because they not only provided an appropriate finish for her character, but also established how she would continue to have a long term impact on the show.  She was not a character who came and left without a trace after she was gone.  Her specter continued to haunt "Dallas" for years to come.  What's great about Holly Harwood is that she never wore out her welcome on the show, the way other characters like Jenna Wade (Priscilla Presley) did.  In so doing, Holly left fans with good feelings for her character, rather than impatience and contempt.  After all these years, fans of "Dallas" continue to discuss Holly on fan message boards, and wonder whatever became of her.  I think this helps demonstrate how she was such a memorable and compelling presence on the show, which is why I imagine they would welcome an appearance from her character in the new TNT "Dallas" at some point.  Throughout her time on "Dallas," Lois Chiles admirably underplayed her scenes as Holly so that the humanity of the character continued to shine through.  She never overacted, the way others in the prime time soap genre are capable of doing, and the character never degenerated into camp.  Chiles' sincerity in her work ensured that that would never happen.  As with all great TV characters, Lois Chiles' Holly Harwood makes such a strong impact that she leaves you wanting even more from her. 

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.