“Really? So THAT’S how it happened?! What a letdown.” At least this was my first line of thought. Moments later my second mental train departed, leaving me reassuring myself: “Oh, ok. Maybe this really was the right way to do it after all. I suppose this season finale does make sense when you think about it.”
And now– dare I say– it makes even more sense to call it quits. While certainly the last person to want to say this, I must be realistic, as too should any true series follower. Larry Hagman is dead, and so now is J.R. Ewing. The villains have been rounded up if not eliminated. Points of peace have been reached, at least among the principal players. And speaking of Principal, Victoria will not be stopping by. J.R. executed his masterpiece while voluntarily extinguishing himself. Ultimately slipping past any killer’s hands, he dictated the manner of his death– and with justifiable reason. While a disappointment this long-in-coming revelation initially seemed, the most fitting sendoff it settled in to be.
After 35 years, it’s time now for “Dallas” to be done, for good. J.R. and all that comes with him have been laid to rest, so it seems. How could it– and why should it– go on? There’s only so much nostalgia to be milked, which could soon wear painfully thin. Unfortunate as it is to have to say, I believe we best lay all the Ewings to rest on this momentary high note.
Ryan R. Sanderson 