Dallas - Season 9 [DVD] [Dual Disc Format]*

I have to say I love Dallas but found this season a bit hard going at times,Patrick Duffy's Bobby is sorely missed,the glances between Bobby and his ex wife Pam(Victoria Principal)were what kept fans glued to Dallas over the years,yearning for them to get togethor again.
Barbara Bel Geddes makes a welcome return as Miss Ellie,its interesting to find out in the documentary on this DVD,"Dallas:Seasons of Change" that when Barbara Bel Geddes after qutting over a pay deal,asked for her role back,when Donna Reed was announced as her replacement,was told it was too late.
This turned into a disaster for Dallas,Donna Reed was so different from the orginal Miss Ellie,more glamarous and not as Mumsy as the orginal,that Miss Reed was dropped after one season,BBG was brought back and Lorimar had to pay Miss Reed a lot of money after she won a court case against them and then sadly died.
Special praise belongs to Linda Gray's Sue-Ellen who goes to hell and back,literally ending up on skid row,Sue-Ellens's role really is increased to make up for Patrick Duffy's absence and Linda Gray raises to the occassion.
Susan Howard also excels as Donna Krebbs,she discovers,she is carrying a Down Syndrome child,which she miscarries,she and Ray(Steve Kanaly)then adopt a deaf boy,only for all this to be wiped clean,when its all revealed as a bad dream by Pam.
Victoria Principal as Pam,is great throughout,she has a way of looking at J.R. with hatred,no-one else in the show can match,her loss at the end of the following season,a real blow to Dallas and to me,it wasn't the same without Pam around.
Dallas does turn into sort of Dynasty with the arrival of evil superbitch Angelica Nero,(Barbara Carrera)whose OTT outfits make Joan Colins'Alexis look tame!
The storyline of Jack(Dack Rambo)set to impersonate a Greek shipping tycoon,goes on and on,and the sight of Larry Hagman in another OTT carnival outfit,must have been the time Larry Hagman said "Bring Back Bobby!"
The picture quality of this season isn't very good compared to the previous two seasons and that is one reason I've not given this season five stars,also the OTT Angelica storyline.
Highlights though are Mark Graison(John Beck)returning form the dead and the welcome reappearance of Sue-Ellen's mother Patrica Shepherd,veteran actress Martha Scott,playing against type as the scheming,power hungry,mother from hell,unlike her sweet character as Steve Austens' mother,Helen,on "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman".
One storyline that reappears next season is the mysterious old man working on the ranch,Ben in the dream season Wes in the next season,is it Jock?
I wasn't a fan of the dream season first time round,but I welcome Bobby's return next season,hey this can only be Dallas!

This is the hardest season of Dallas to review - the fact that it is all a dream can't be ignored and a star has to be sacrificed for this reason. But this isn't such a problem now all these years later with the DVDs as it was at the time Dallas was on - after all you can choose to ignore this season altogether and wait for season 10 or you can have fun just watching it in isolation without spoiling your enjoyment of the seasons after it.
But even judged on its own merits this season is hard to summarise, the first half of the series is very good and would easily deserve 4 stars - the aftermath of Bobby's death and a more sympathetic side to JR ( although he is certainly not a wimp this season ) as he struggles to preserve Ewing Oil; an excellent season for Sue Ellen, she really gets the alcoholism out of her system in a believable way and she and JR have a custody fight over John Ross in which Sue Ellen makes a selfless decision and finally the pair reconcile, JR giving Mandy Winger the elbow.
Also Pam deciding to take over Bobby's share of Ewing Oil and moving into his office next to JR is an interesting storyline. A good season too for Miss Ellie ( a welcome return for Barbara Bel Geddes) who is an absolute rock for the rest of the Ewing family. Even the Anjelica Nero storyline is intriguing up to a point.
However from about half way through things start to go pear shaped - not sure if the writers had already decided this whole season was going to be a dream and lost interest, but first of all Pam is sent on another wild goosechase to Columbia - some nonsense to do with an emerald - on top of which Victoria Principal herself isn't actually present during much of this due to a back injury.
Worst of all is the increasingly ridiculous Marinos Shipping plot, this results in probably the silliest episode of dallas I have ever seen involving JR and Jack at a fancy dress masquerade and will make all true Dallas fans cringe in embarassment.
Other flaws in this season, Jenna spends most of the time in denial over Bobby's death and has a tedious storyline which sees her sulking or sloping off to sit at Bobby's grave and the Downs Syndrome child that Ray and Donna adopt, although a worthy storyline in some ways seems ill fitted to Dallas and the far fetched tone of this season in particular.
However all things considered I would recommend buying this series for the many good things in it and for curiosity value alone.

The title above pretty much sums up the so-called "dream" season. In almost every episode the name of Bobby Ewing," formerly played by Patrick Duffy since the show's debut, is mentioned. It seems that from the start, the producers did not want viewers to forget the character, hoping that the actor associated with the part would change his mind and return to the fold.

Even though the events of Season Nine - actually the EIGHTH full season -apparently didn't happen, it is still an entertaining one... well, at least the first half is.

It heralds the return of Barbara Bel Geddes as beloved "Miss Ellie." It is obvious that the writers would ecstatic about the actress's return and they saddled her with some delicious dialogue and scenes that demonstrated the character, as well as the actress's, strength and compassion. Her return is most welcome, bringing a bit of "normalcy" to a rather "abnormal" season.

The "abnormal" comes in the form of Barbara Carrera as the mysterious "Angelica Nero." Obviously, trying to emulate "Dynasty" with its over-the-top "Alexis Carrington" (played with relish by Joan Collins), "Dallas" introduces Carrera, an international beauty and actress, as a woman with a plot of deception and murder that involves J.R. (Larry Hagman) and Jack Ewing (Dack Rambo). During the run of the season, Carrera gets to wear some of the most outlandish - but stylish - clothes in the history of the medium which add to the character's personality. It's like the writers are saying to the audience that this women deserves to be noticed 'cause - as the season develops - she's not one that needs to be ignored.

The season also sees the departure of Martha Scott's recurring role as Sue Ellen's (Linda Gray) mother, Patricia, along with the assumed "riding-off-into-the-sunset" departure of female viewer's favorite "Dusty Farlow," played by Jared Martin. Scott, an actress with a long career in film and television, gets to shine in the episodes "Mothers" and "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen." Martin is there most to provide support for Gray's "Sue Ellen" as that character battles - and ultimately conquers - her alcohol demons.

Besides Carrera, the season also boasts some "drop-bys" by other notable actors. Oscar winner George Chakiris ("West Side Story"), character actor Raymond St. Jacques, and Russell Johnson, forever engrained in TV audiences as "The Professor" on "Gilligan's Island," make an appearance or two on the long-running drama.

Marc Singer joins the cast as "Matt Cantrall," a friend of Bobby's that concocts a plan the leads Pam (Victoria Principal) to the jungles of South America to find emeralds. Because Singer's height and build, along with 80's haircut, is similar to fellow castmate John Beck ("Mark Graison"), their scenes together seem almost mirrorlike, with the exception of Beck's trademark mustache.

As mentioned earlier, the first half of the season is the best. The second suffers with the Angelica Nero storyline being dragged out too long and the "How-crazy-is-she-going-to-get" one dealing with Jenna Wade, played by Priscilla Presley.

But, even with those two elongated plots, the season still shows that there's still life left in the show, even with the "death" of Bobby one year earlier. Even though it's a television drama, the writers manage to interject some responsible commentary on adoption, animal rights, alcohol abuse, and blood donation.

'Not bad for a show with "oil" in its veins.