Wow, what an episode! Just when you think J. R. has set the standard for irredeemable evil, along comes Gil Thurman to plumb those depths and keep digging. He strikes a new vein of devil-spawned debauchery that staggered the mind. I usually watch two episodes at a time, but this episode's exercise in exploitation left me so emotionally exhausted I had to quit after one.
If Gil Thurman was the villain of the piece, Afton was the heartbreakingly tragic figure. And also a heartbreaking disappointment! I really thought she had regained her self-respect after she decisively cut ties with J. R. in the wake of his pimping her out to Vaughn Leland a season ago. And after steadfastly seeing Cliff through his suicide-attempt recovery she developed and demonstrated a strength of character that I admired. She loves Cliff, and love means laying down your life for a friend. Love does not mean spreading your legs so a friend can snag a lucrative refinery deal and impress his cartel friends and gloat over the loser! What was she thinking?
Albert Salmi plays with aplomb the sleaziest lech the show has yet featured. Salmi has played bad guy roles before, but his Gil Thurman broke new ground. This idly rich, bored, bloated, and bourbon-swilling playboy possesses this object of desire oil refinery that J. R. and Cliff want so desperately that he can demand the "fringe benefits" of the title--i.e., to put it bluntly---sex with each man's significant other! Cliff was and is as of this episode's conclusion blissfully unaware of the degrading sacrifice Afton made to seal the deal Cliff believes he won on his own merits. But J. R. ... he arranged and greenlighted the whole sordid affair (pun intended)! He knowingly and willfully agreed to allow Thurman to sleep with the mother of his child and the woman he's set to remarry in a week. It boggles the mind!
What stunned me was not Sue Ellen suffering stoically through Thurman's blundering bull-in-a-China-shop seduction attempts but her readiness to accept and believe J. R.'s explanation. Yes, Sue Ellen, J. R. was pimping you out to Gil Thurman like a hooker! Sue Ellen saw it, called J. R. out on it, but then she willfully blinded herself to the shocking reality of it. Why? She knows how mercenary J. R. can be. J. R. Slept with her sister Kristin! J. R. Used his own beloved mother Miss Ellie as a pawn in his underhanded ploy to kidnap John Ross off the Southern Cross. J. R. Has never allowed family ties to interfere with his mad quest for money and power. Sue Ellen knows all this, so what was she thinking?
In the shadow of the Gil Thurman story was a profound moment between Miss Ellie and widowed oilman Frank Crutcher. Miss Ellie breaks her first heart post-Jock. And I dare suggest it was because of J. R.'s shaming her about dating again. The woman protested too much, as the saying goes, when J. R. broached the subject (even J. R. blanched and backpedaled from Miss Ellie's sudden fury!). Had no objection been raised, I believe Miss Ellie would have gone to New York City with Frank, but... that budding romance was nipped. Should my theory be correct, J. R. can claim two more victims this episode.
Gratuitous beefcake award to Ray Krebbs, who apropos of nothing emerges shirtless to answer the phone. Bobby appears shirtless too, but he was in the pool at the time. Not really qualifying as cheesecake was Pam, lounging in the pool in a conservative one-piece. Sue Ellen's "sexy" sequined outfit looked more like something salvaged from Elton John's fire sale.
Goodbye and farewell to forlorn Frank Crutcher. Dale Robertson's too short stint on the series ended here. Goodbye and good riddance to Gil Thurman, who, alas, will rear his scuzzy-bearded face one more time later this season. Sorry, Salmi, all the good will you built up as Pete Ritter on PETROCELLI went down the tubes with this performance (a testimony to a fine and versatile actor!). I hoped in vain for Salmi and his former co-star Susan Howard to share a scene. Maybe next time.
MIA this episode was Lucy and her trepidatious return to modeling while fearfully fending off the affections of nice guy Nicholas Hammond, TV's erstwhile Peter Parker. A second no-show was the dreadful and dead-end storyline of malcontent Mickey. Finally, Donna phones in a cameo appearance, firing one across the bow to blissfully oblivious Rye (as Donna twangs it) that she's no longer resisting the gravitational pull back into politics.
A compelling and unsettling episode to be sure. I applaud the producers for sidelining the secondary stories and allowing Thurman's march of moral depravity to enjoy the spotlight (which shone a revealing light into four key characters). One of the only episodes I recall that closes with a freeze frame of J. R. utterly deflated. But not to worry (or to gloat, Cliff!). J. R. So perfectly embodies that old Sinatra song that says, "You're riding high in April, shot down in May / But I know I'm gonna change that tune / When I'm back on top, back on top in June!"
If Gil Thurman was the villain of the piece, Afton was the heartbreakingly tragic figure. And also a heartbreaking disappointment! I really thought she had regained her self-respect after she decisively cut ties with J. R. in the wake of his pimping her out to Vaughn Leland a season ago. And after steadfastly seeing Cliff through his suicide-attempt recovery she developed and demonstrated a strength of character that I admired. She loves Cliff, and love means laying down your life for a friend. Love does not mean spreading your legs so a friend can snag a lucrative refinery deal and impress his cartel friends and gloat over the loser! What was she thinking?
Albert Salmi plays with aplomb the sleaziest lech the show has yet featured. Salmi has played bad guy roles before, but his Gil Thurman broke new ground. This idly rich, bored, bloated, and bourbon-swilling playboy possesses this object of desire oil refinery that J. R. and Cliff want so desperately that he can demand the "fringe benefits" of the title--i.e., to put it bluntly---sex with each man's significant other! Cliff was and is as of this episode's conclusion blissfully unaware of the degrading sacrifice Afton made to seal the deal Cliff believes he won on his own merits. But J. R. ... he arranged and greenlighted the whole sordid affair (pun intended)! He knowingly and willfully agreed to allow Thurman to sleep with the mother of his child and the woman he's set to remarry in a week. It boggles the mind!
What stunned me was not Sue Ellen suffering stoically through Thurman's blundering bull-in-a-China-shop seduction attempts but her readiness to accept and believe J. R.'s explanation. Yes, Sue Ellen, J. R. was pimping you out to Gil Thurman like a hooker! Sue Ellen saw it, called J. R. out on it, but then she willfully blinded herself to the shocking reality of it. Why? She knows how mercenary J. R. can be. J. R. Slept with her sister Kristin! J. R. Used his own beloved mother Miss Ellie as a pawn in his underhanded ploy to kidnap John Ross off the Southern Cross. J. R. Has never allowed family ties to interfere with his mad quest for money and power. Sue Ellen knows all this, so what was she thinking?
In the shadow of the Gil Thurman story was a profound moment between Miss Ellie and widowed oilman Frank Crutcher. Miss Ellie breaks her first heart post-Jock. And I dare suggest it was because of J. R.'s shaming her about dating again. The woman protested too much, as the saying goes, when J. R. broached the subject (even J. R. blanched and backpedaled from Miss Ellie's sudden fury!). Had no objection been raised, I believe Miss Ellie would have gone to New York City with Frank, but... that budding romance was nipped. Should my theory be correct, J. R. can claim two more victims this episode.
Gratuitous beefcake award to Ray Krebbs, who apropos of nothing emerges shirtless to answer the phone. Bobby appears shirtless too, but he was in the pool at the time. Not really qualifying as cheesecake was Pam, lounging in the pool in a conservative one-piece. Sue Ellen's "sexy" sequined outfit looked more like something salvaged from Elton John's fire sale.
Goodbye and farewell to forlorn Frank Crutcher. Dale Robertson's too short stint on the series ended here. Goodbye and good riddance to Gil Thurman, who, alas, will rear his scuzzy-bearded face one more time later this season. Sorry, Salmi, all the good will you built up as Pete Ritter on PETROCELLI went down the tubes with this performance (a testimony to a fine and versatile actor!). I hoped in vain for Salmi and his former co-star Susan Howard to share a scene. Maybe next time.
MIA this episode was Lucy and her trepidatious return to modeling while fearfully fending off the affections of nice guy Nicholas Hammond, TV's erstwhile Peter Parker. A second no-show was the dreadful and dead-end storyline of malcontent Mickey. Finally, Donna phones in a cameo appearance, firing one across the bow to blissfully oblivious Rye (as Donna twangs it) that she's no longer resisting the gravitational pull back into politics.
A compelling and unsettling episode to be sure. I applaud the producers for sidelining the secondary stories and allowing Thurman's march of moral depravity to enjoy the spotlight (which shone a revealing light into four key characters). One of the only episodes I recall that closes with a freeze frame of J. R. utterly deflated. But not to worry (or to gloat, Cliff!). J. R. So perfectly embodies that old Sinatra song that says, "You're riding high in April, shot down in May / But I know I'm gonna change that tune / When I'm back on top, back on top in June!"
