Despite TNT’s nearly un-ending hype of Dallas revival, the characters that originally made the show the pop-culture phenomenon it became—Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), and J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman)—feel more like bookends than actual fleshed out characters, well-known personalities who appear long enough to remind you “oh, it’s those characters from that TV-show your mom used to watch.” It’s clear that the focus here is on the next-generation as two new characters are thrust under the spot light: Bobby Ewing’s adoptive son Christopher Ewing (Jesse Metcalfe), and J.R.’s son John Ross Ewing (Josh Henderson). Considering that each son is a carbon copy of his father, it’s safe to assume that TNT looks to be replicating the original family feud—to a less effective extent.
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The most glaring problem is that the conflict between John Ross and Christopher is rather boring. Renewable energy is the main source of contempt for the Ewing family this time around; Christopher wishes to move SouthFork into the new age via methane, an alternative energy that he feels is far more profitable than oil. John Ross, on the other hand, believes that SouthFork belongs to the Ewing name, and that oil is the only way to go. What follows is nearly two hours of hum-drum nonsense: arguments, sabotages, fights, and good-old backstabbing, and Dallas piles it on to such an absurd degree that a drinking game could be made for every single moment someone decides to screw someone else over.
No one will deny that the original Dallas was trashy—heck; part of the fun was that the show embraced its sleaze. But the key to the success of the original show was in its cast, and most importantly, it knew when to have fun. In the two episodes that TNT aired last night, there has yet to be a character interesting enough to care about; even the veteran actors don’t really have all that much to do. Most disappointing of all is Henderson’s portrayal of John Ross, a character with all of the malice of his father, but none of the charisma. While there is plenty of room for the character, Ross seems more like a whining parasite than any sort of legitimate threat.
This new iteration of Dallas clearly wants it both ways: pandering towards fans of the original while also attempting to embrace modernity. However, there isn’t enough here of what made the original Dallas such a ratings behemoth and it doesn’t differentiate itself enough to stand out among the crowd of newer shows.
SumOlogy: A mediocre soap that may tickle a nostalgic bone or two, but fails to provide the entertainment demanded by contemporary television.
Grade: C
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