Knots Landing - The Complete Second Season

Written by Senora Bicho

Knots Landing, a drama centered on the lives of four marriages in a small suburb of Southern California, was created as a spin-off for the hit show Dallas. It started off slow in the ratings and not as popular as Dallas, but it ended up being on the air longer, and running from 1979 to 1993, and received more critical acclaim. As time went on it became much more of a soap opera and season two started this trend with the addition of Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills).

Starting off with a bang, Sid Fairgate (Don Murray) is arrested for raping a hitchhiker. While in the midst of fighting the charges, Sid discovers that his younger sister Abby is divorcing her husband and is considering moving to San Diego. Sid’s wife Karen (Michele Lee) hosts a dinner for Abby and invites all of their neighbors, although it is very obvious Abby is much more interested in the husbands in attendance and flirts openly with all of them. Val Ewing (Joan Van Ark) is drawn to Abby’s daughter and spends most of the evening reading to her while her husband Gary (Ted Shackelford) ignores Abby’s advances. Kenny Ward (James Houghton) invites himself to the party in an attempt to make up with his wife, Ginger (Kim Lankford), after she caught him cheating at the end of the first season. Laura Avery (Constance McCashin) is excitedly telling everyone about her new real estate job her corporate attorney husband Richard (John Pleshette) allowed her to take after he wanted to borrow money from her father. This party was a very ingenious way to provide new viewers with an opportunity to meet all of the main players at once while giving returning viewers a recap.

Abby stays in town to help fight Sid’s rape charges and in the process becomes fond of Knots Landing and the inhabitants, deciding to make it her home instead of San Diego. Initially, everyone gets along great but soon Abby’s conniving ways come to the surface and trouble ensues. The rest of the season includes Gary’s battle with alcoholism along with his involvement in organized crime, Richard losing his job, Ginger ending up pregnant, and Val’s fight with cancer. There are also relationship struggles that include plenty of adultery and an overabundance of lying and scheming.

Season Two also includes some visits from members of the Dallas cast. J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) and Kristin Sheppard (Mary Crosby), infamous for being the culprit who shot J.R., show up to cause some mayhem, and Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) also comes to town to support his brother Gary.

Knots Landing is exactly what you would expect: melodramatic moments, beautiful women in tight clothes, and outrageous storylines. There is nothing particularly exciting or engaging in this season. Abby adds an interesting dynamic to the show and is the highlight. I am looking forward to the release of the later, more popular seasons, especially once William Devane joins the cast. Season Two definitely has some soap-opera moments but it isn’t nearly as much of a guilty pleasure as what is to come.

Dallas: The Complete Ninth Season

Written by Senora Bicho

The ninth season of Dallas is one of the most controversial in soap opera history. Even if you never watched the show, you more than likely have heard about one of television’s most infamous cliffhangers, and I don't mean “Who shot J.R.?”

Dallas is the story of the Ewing family and all of those who are lucky or unlucky enough to come into contact with them. Ellie Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes) is the matriarch and her sons John Ross “J.R.” Jr. (Larry Hagman) and Bobby (Patrick Duffy) managed their oil empire. J.R. and Bobby were always battling with J.R. being the ruthless businessman who only cared about success at the expense of everyone else’s failures.

Season Nine starts with the Ewing family mourning the death of Bobby who, after reuniting with his ex-wife Pamela (Victoria Principal), was run down at the end of season eight. There is instant scheming to take over Bobby’s position at Ewing Oil that carries on for several episodes, and a rival oil company looks to take over the business.

In addition to the aftermath of Bobby’s death, there are other interesting storylines throughout the season. J.R. becomes the target by a mysterious and beautiful femme fatale and an excursion to Colombia results in a kidnapping. Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) is J.R.’s wife and their relationship is one heck of a rollercoaster ride. In addition to battling J.R., she battles a serious drinking problem. Pam finds a new romance and weds. Jenna (Priscilla Beaulieu Presley) who had an on-and-off relationship with Bobby tries to move on with a new beau. Ray and Donna Krebbs (played by Steve Kanaly and Susan Howard) have to make a decision about their unborn baby and suffer a tragedy.

While this season involves lots of drama, scheming, and mayhem, in the end what happens to the characters really doesn’t matter. Why? Because it was all a dream. In the last episode of the season Pam wakes up and finds Bobby in the shower, which startled all of its viewers. The following season opener revealed Pam had been having a bad dream.

In addition to the 31 complete episodes, there is also one special feature “Seasons of Change.” This featurette discusses the departure and return of Bel Geddes, the changes that were needed in order to compete with Dynasty, and the reason behind making the season a dream. The show had lost its central conflict with the loss of the good brother Bobby battling the bad J.R., so they needed a way to bring him back after killing him.

Even though this season’s storylines aren’t part of the series’ continuity, the episodes are still entertaining and worth watching if you are a soap fan. J.R. is fun to watch and can always be counted on for good one-liners. Since soap operas are always so over the top and mostly ridiculous, it all being a dream doesn’t make this season any worse than other shows. It can just be viewed as a standalone season and enjoyed for what it is.