Over the past years I always got hooked, when "Dallas" is on the air again. But I must admit, that my interest frequently cools down when the stage is reached, where "Pam" left the series and the filmmakers start bringing in more and more new characters. I feel, there is no storyline anymore to follow and the sterile exchangeable faces they bring in only add to the confusion. Already the changing faces of Miss Ellie and the episodes after Bobby died, only to come back later, declaring all episodes in-between to a dream, was hard to swallow. I guess, the reason of this was, that actors and producers could not agree on the salary until one side complied. Still I was happy about it and you could notice, that they always tried their best to keep the logical thread in it. But later-on I always got the feeling, that the filmmakers were not really committed anymore and only did a halfhearted job.
The more I enjoyed this early episode "Royal Marriage". I only saw it on a DVD, after DVD-boxes with "Dallas" are sold in shops now. In fact, this episode was never broad-casted in Germany as the comment on the box states. We missed a very warm, emotional part of "Dallas" so far. This is one of the early episodes, were Lucy falls in love with the son of another oil magnate. She even has the consent of J.R. But no warm feelings for the young couple is his reason, no, he only has business connections with the Mainwaring company in mind. As the story unfolds, you can notice, how the groom-to-be gets more and more uneasy, but the reason is still in the dark. I got a notion, when his friend(!) Sam meets them in the restaurant for a short "Hello". One can notice how the man fights with himself until he reveals his secret to Bobby (who of course is as understanding as usual). You may have guessed by now, that the young man is an homosexual. And nobody knows - not even his family. They only wonder, why he still has not "settled down". In this situation, I guess, many homosexuals put themselves under pressure, to "proof" themselves and others, that they are "normal". This is the reason, why he even agrees to marry Lucy, whom he really cares for. But in the end he has to confess to poor Lucy, who of course is shattered. This brings a line of Jessica Lange in "Tootsie" to mind, which she says to "Dorothy" (Dustin Hoffman as a woman), when she thinks, she found out, that "Dorothy" is a lesbian: "I love you, but I can't love you." J.R. with his ears all around Dallas already knows about Kit's problem, but - hiding it from Lucy - STILL presses the two young towards marriage having only the business union of the Ewings and the Mainwarings in mind. I believe, this episode has more reality of life in it than usual and it depicts the character of Kit sensitively. I guess, this subject might not even be easy to bring up in the United States, and it might have been scorned off by some viewers, but the "Dallas" crew handles it with balance and empathy.
The more I enjoyed this early episode "Royal Marriage". I only saw it on a DVD, after DVD-boxes with "Dallas" are sold in shops now. In fact, this episode was never broad-casted in Germany as the comment on the box states. We missed a very warm, emotional part of "Dallas" so far. This is one of the early episodes, were Lucy falls in love with the son of another oil magnate. She even has the consent of J.R. But no warm feelings for the young couple is his reason, no, he only has business connections with the Mainwaring company in mind. As the story unfolds, you can notice, how the groom-to-be gets more and more uneasy, but the reason is still in the dark. I got a notion, when his friend(!) Sam meets them in the restaurant for a short "Hello". One can notice how the man fights with himself until he reveals his secret to Bobby (who of course is as understanding as usual). You may have guessed by now, that the young man is an homosexual. And nobody knows - not even his family. They only wonder, why he still has not "settled down". In this situation, I guess, many homosexuals put themselves under pressure, to "proof" themselves and others, that they are "normal". This is the reason, why he even agrees to marry Lucy, whom he really cares for. But in the end he has to confess to poor Lucy, who of course is shattered. This brings a line of Jessica Lange in "Tootsie" to mind, which she says to "Dorothy" (Dustin Hoffman as a woman), when she thinks, she found out, that "Dorothy" is a lesbian: "I love you, but I can't love you." J.R. with his ears all around Dallas already knows about Kit's problem, but - hiding it from Lucy - STILL presses the two young towards marriage having only the business union of the Ewings and the Mainwarings in mind. I believe, this episode has more reality of life in it than usual and it depicts the character of Kit sensitively. I guess, this subject might not even be easy to bring up in the United States, and it might have been scorned off by some viewers, but the "Dallas" crew handles it with balance and empathy.
