Characters (Part I)

The heart of a successful soap (or fan fiction site) is its cast of characters. Even the strongest of stories can be rendered flat without a roster of fascinating personalities to draw in a reader's attention.

Return to Southfork boasts one of the strongest character lineups on any fan fiction site. In fact, I must confess that I have had trouble choosing just one winner for each category- the RTS roster is that strong. Nevertheless, I have managed to make my calls in each category for your perusal.

In the first of two installments focused on characters, I will be presenting my picks on outstanding male and female character (a most daunting task, to be sure), heroes and villains. Scroll on down to see how your favorites fared.

Outstanding Male Character: Christopher Ewing

This category was almost too close to call. RTS has a generous number of candidates for this category- including many other members of Christopher's family. In fact, that is why I renamed this category- and its female counterpart- as "Outstanding", rather than "Best".

Under the watchful eyes of the RTS writing team, Christopher has developed into a complex young man. As the adopted son of Bobby and Pam, one would expect Chris to always be striving to do the right thing- and for the most part, he doesn't disappoint you in that regard. Once he discovered that Megan was his daughter, he fought Pamela Rebecca tooth and nail to gain access to her life. He stood by Karen's side during her trial for kidnapping the boy she'd given up for adoption, and joined with Karen to adopt the child. Indeed, Christopher's moral character seems so strong nowadays, it's easy to forget that he's only in his early twenties.

He isn't perfect all of the time, though. His surprising indiscretion with Carla in the early stages of his marriage to Karen nearly destroyed the union. He nearly lost Karen again after arguing with her about his decision to give his Weststar stock to J. R. (Now there, I see her point...) He has resorted to blackmail (he threatened to expose J. R.'s role in Ray and Donna's breakup to Miss Ellie to extract Ewing Oil shares from J. R.) and bribery (he paid off the adoptive mother of Austin, Karen's biological son, to decline custody of the child) to get his way.

Of course, one of his greatest flaws is actually a disease. His indiscretion with Carla was the result of a drunken binge; besides providing several episodes of story in its own right, the incident served to foreshadow a painful struggle with alcoholism. While difficult to read, I found myself absorbed by his struggle to abandon the bottle- a struggle which he frequently lost. It nearly cost him his marriage to Karen yet again, as he confronted former rival Eric at the hospital in a drunken state- in her presence. Worse, it nearly cost him his life; after finishing a bottle, he left his room to get more alcohol- but lost his balance and fell down the winding Southfork staircase.

Things are looking better for Chris right now. He hasn't craved alcohol for some time now; he has placed his focus on his new instant family with Karen, which includes his daughter, Megan, and her son, Austin. His future may include the adoption of terminally ill child Cole- or a confrontation with potential stalker Eve. Whatever the future may hold for Chris, though, you know it will never be boring- and neither will he.

Outstanding Female Character: Sue Ellen Ewing

Heroine or witch? That's the main choice to make when trying to describe Sue Ellen. It's a tribute to the RTS writers that she defies such a simple classification of her character.

Certainly, there's a lot of good in Sue Ellen. She has always been a devoted mother to her son, John Ross, even while her marriage to J. R. was at its most tense, and continues to do so now. She is fiercely loyal to her friends, which includes a majority of the Ewing family. She believed in Cally, for instance, when everyone else was convinced that Cally was succumbing to insanity (courtesy of J. R.). She also overpaid Gary for his interest in Ewing Oil, after one of J. R.'s schemes left him on the verge of bankruptcy.

Like her nephew, Christopher, Sue Ellen is a recovering alcoholic. Her battle with the bottle was well-documented on the TV series, and RTS has continued to refer to it in their storytelling; in fact, she fell off the wagon briefly after John Ross was left comatose after a severe car wreck. Of course, as I've stated earlier, alcoholism is a disease, so we can hardly hold Sue Ellen's bout with the disease against her.

Her temper is another matter. Sue Ellen holds nothing back when she feels she's been wronged by somebody. She was livid with Cliff after he traded a portion of the Clifford Group to Jack in return for the oil-rich land near Southfork instead of his share of Ewing Oil, as they had planned. She fought with Jack over his shares of Ewing Oil- then cut him out of her life after hearing proof that he had cheated on him, without hearing his side of the story (see Worst Breakup for details).

Of course, over the course of Return to Southfork's run, she has reserved most of her fury for J. R. Her post-divorce relationship with J. R. was barely civil- but after J. R.'s role in the accident which nearly killed John Ross was exposed, Sue Ellen unleashed all of her fury at her son's father. She swore that she would steal Ewing Oil away from J. R., since she knew that would distress him more than anything else she could think of. By the end of the fourth season, she had partly accomplished her goal: she was now J. R.'s unwilling partner.

Her determination in any project is quite admirable- but in this case, it also showcases one of Sue Ellen's bigger flaws: tunnel vision. In her relentless pursuit of her goal- be it the removal of a romantic rival from Dallas (think Mandy Winger) or the acquisition of Ewing Oil stock- she doesn't always realize the consequences of her actions for other people until it's too late. Her success in acquiring Ewing Oil stock from Gary and John Ross left Lucy out in the cold; this severely strained the relationship between the two women.

Currently, Sue Ellen is fighting her attraction to J. R.- and losing the battle. Could another remarriage be in the cards for her? And if she does remarry J. R., will she be able to handle being stepmother to the daughter of Mandy Winger, one of J. R.'s former mistresses? (EEK!) I have no idea- but I'll certainly look forward to finding out...

Best Hero: Bobby Ewing

Bobby is the archetypal soap opera hero. Strong, handsome and masculine, yet vulnerable and accessible, Bobby's white cowboy hat shines like a beacon in the night.

Bobby is more than capable of handling any crisis. It's a good thing, too, since he encounters more than his fair share of them. I could rattle off a list of Bobby Ewing crises longer than my arm- and again, I'm just referring to the RTS run. From the plane crash in Switzerland to the spy dilemma at Wentworth Tool and Dye, Bobby always manages to remain cool, calm and collected.

Of course, on occasion, the glow on that cowboy hat can dim slightly. He fought with Pam- his own wife!- after discovering Katherine had survived a car crash in Paris- but remembered nothing of her past. She was determined to smuggle her out of Paris to care for her; Bobby was adamant about seeing her arrested for her crimes. More recently- and less drastically- he fought Pam on her desire to return to the workforce at Wentworth Tool and Die. (She had just discovered that she was pregnant again- with twins.)

Even when he doesn't agree with Pam on an issue, though, Bobby- often guided by his mother, Miss Ellie- will try to see Pam's viewpoint on the matter. Having seen how much it meant to Pam to work at her mother's company, Bobby backed off of the issue and made up with Pam.

Generally, of course- as I have noted in earlier articles- Bobby fights his battles on the same side with Pam, not against her. After Pam fainted at the office, Bobby knew that Pam would agree that she needed to rest for the sake of their unborn twins- but would still be worried about the state of WT&D. To ease his wife's mind- as any hero would- Bobby offered to run the place in her absence. It's occasions such as this that typifies Bobby's character; never has that white cowboy hat gleamed so brightly...

Worst Hero: John Ross Ewing

Considering that he comes from a family of generally strong character, you would expect John Ross to be prime hero material. Indeed, I get the sense that somewhere, deep down, is a hero lurking within his heart. Unfortunately, you'd never know it from the way he often treats people, especially the women in his life.

He lost his fiancee, Karen- during their wedding, no less- after his one-night stand with Pamela Rebecca was revealed during the ceremony. He promised not to divulge the details of Christopher's one-night stand with a stripper- then almost immediately broke that promise. (Worse, he shared the dirt with one Eric Stone, who would become one of Chris's greatest enemies.) He agreed to stand by Pamela Rebecca as Megan's father- then almost immediately embarked on a steamy affair with Melissa McSween. Then, his interest in Melissa cooled off after she informed him of her pregnancy.

By far his biggest lapse, though, was sleeping with Angela McSween, Melissa's mother. Even though he felt justified at the time- he was desperate to connect with his son, T. J., after his birth, and needed Angela's help in swaying Melissa- this was a horrible display of judgment on Master Ewing's part. You have to ask yourself: what was he thinking?

Part of the problem, of course, stems from the fact that while he is surrounded by good people in his life, John Ross's male role model was his father, J. R.- hardly a paragon of chivalry. (Or fidelity, for that matter...) With J. R. as a father figure, it's no wonder that John Ross has made so many awful choices in his young life.

I still hold hope for this young man, though. He has shown promise in his relationships with most of his relatives in the past; for instance, when his Uncle Gary was faced with the loss of his new construction project, John Ross offered to step in as a partner. Also, his confession to Melissa regarding his indiscretion with Angela showed an imminent maturity on his part, even though doing so cost him a life with Melissa and their son. Here's hoping he can learn from his mistakes and build a new, improved life for himself.

Best Heroine: Pamela Barnes Ewing

The soap heroine of today is a far cry from where she stood in the early days of soaps. The "damsel-in-distress" syndrome so typical of the early soap heroine is all but nonexistent today. Today's best soap heroines mix strength and self-reliance with femininity and vulnerability.

No female character from RTS personifies today's soap heroine better than Pamela Barnes Ewing. Banished from Dallas for a decade of imprisonment (courtesy of Katherine Wentworth and Jenna Wade Krebbs)- with a brief period of marriage to Mark Graison thrown in- Pam returned with a fire never seen on the TV series. Her conviction that J. R. was responsible for her exile from Dallas- and her determination to see him pay for the crime- took her family, and me, by surprise.

Whatever crisis is thrown her way- and admittedly, she has had more than her fair share of them during the RTS run, like her husband, Bobby (see Best Hero, above)- Pam always manages to face it with a quiet dignity. (Well, all right- I suppose there's nothing dignified about throwing champagne into someone's face- but you'll admit that Jenna Krebbs had it coming...) No matter what life throws her way, Pam never gives up hope. She may lean on Bobby in particularly trying times (how would you react to being arrested for a crime you didn't commit?), but she has also shown a surprising resilience in her personality, which comes out when you least expect it.

Consider Pam's almost-kidnapping by Katherine after she regained her memories. Wouldn't you have expected Pam to become Katherine's involuntary guest for several episodes while her shining knight, Bobby, pieced together what must have happened? So would I- twelve years ago. The Pam Ewing of RTS, though, is too strong to tolerate such a situation- especially having already been through it once in her life. Katherine's jaw must have been dropping as Pam started to pump lead into her body, in self-defense.

Indeed, twelve years ago, Pam might have waited by the phone to hear news about Bobby after his plane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean. After J. R.'s detectives located the wreckage of the plane off the South Carolina coast, though, Pam was on the first plane she could find in order to investigate personally. When this stronger Pam- admittedly buoyed up by her close friend, Ryanne- received an anonymous tip as to Bobby's actual whereabouts, she made her way back to the Myrtle Beach hospital- just in time to foil a hit on her man orchestrated by one of Rex Wentworth's henchmen. (Saving the day- it's not just a guy thing anymore...)

Regardless of the stage in which Pam finds her personality at any given moment, she possesses the one other quality essential to any soap heroine: rooting value. Whether she's taking on Jenna Krebbs, Rex Wentworth- or even her own husband (as has happened before)- you always care how things are going to work out for her. Currently, Pam is awaiting the birth of her twins, so I'm thrilled to predict she'll get a breather from any major crises in her life for the time being. (At least until she finds out that her nephew has been stealing corporate secrets from her...)

Worst Heroine: Iris Wentworth

I had high hopes for Iris when she first appeared on the RTS landscape. She seemed like a person of genuine warmth, particularly while spending the holidays at Southfork with her husband, Rex, at Pam's invitation. The revelation of her previous affair with J. R. in Europe years ago intrigued me; I had visions of Iris being the woman who could finally tame J. R. into a man his family could respect.

So what happened?

Actually, a number of items joined together to ruin Iris as a character for me. One major issue was her surprising behavior towards Sue Ellen, once she picked up on the unresolved feelings between Sue Ellen and J. R. After an encounter with Sue Ellen and Jack in a restaurant during which J. R. and Sue Ellen traded barbs, Iris probed him about his feelings for Sue Ellen in the guise of satisfying her curiosity. J. R. finally realized where she was leading the conversation and informed her that "green isn't your color..." As it happens, he was right. Her increasingly extreme reactions to his feelings for Sue Ellen turned me off from caring for Iris; this effectively lumped her with every other woman with whom J. R. has been involved through the years. (I'd provide a list for you here- but my hard drive isn't that big...)

Stranger still was the inexplicable continued presence of Rex in her life. She and Rex divorced in the earlier part of the fifth season so that Iris could pursue a relationship with J. R., without any interference from her now ex-husband. Yet Iris continued to interact just as much with Rex after their divorce was finalized. (Iris is an intelligent woman; surely she realizes that the point of a divorce is to separate a couple...)

Ultimately, though, Iris was done in by her well-meaning duplicity. I certainly didn't mind when she tipped off Pam anonymously regarding Bobby's true whereabouts in South Carolina after his plane crashed off the coast there. I was far less forgiving, though, of her attempts to protect John Ross and Jack from Rex. (Rex had threatened to do in John Ross, J. R.'s son, as well as Jack- which would have left Sue Ellen available for J. R.) When J. R. hired a private investigator, Doug Avant, to dig up dirt on Rex, Iris found and flirted with him. She seduced her way into his home, and stole the files that Doug had collected on Rex. That effectively ended her relationship with J. R.- and any chance she may have had at being redeemed in readers' eyes...

Best Villain: J. R. Ewing

What can I say? On DALLAS, J. R. was the villain against which all other villains were measured. RTS has kept up that tradition in grand style; age has not diluted J. R.'s zest for life- or quest for power- in the slightest.

I will admit that his batting average hasn't been nearly as high during the RTS run as it was during the run of the TV series. His greatest coup to date was the acquisition of prime drilling land from April Oil. He used his connections in the Dallas judicial courts to ensure that his temporary ally, Todd Foster- April's biological child- would acquire April Oil from his aunt, Michelle.

Even though many of his plans don't work out the way he intended, I must commend him for showing unparalleled creativity in his villainy. His diabolical plans have targeted everyone from his own brother, Gary, to his half-brother, Ray and sister-in-law, Donna. J. R. set Gary up to purchase unstable land on which to build new homes; Sue Ellen gained the shares of Ewing Oil J. R. had meant to bilk from Gary after his plans were betrayed- by his newly discovered daughter, Jillian. He arranged for Ray to be seduced by a lookalike of the late Jenna Krebbs in an attempt to gain some precious stock; Ray gave the stock to Todd Foster, though, after Todd presented him with a videotape Jenna Evans had prepared for blackmail purposes on J. R.'s behalf. As for Donna, he leaked the news of her secret abortion to the press to prompt her resignation as mayor; Ray convinced her not to resign.

My personal favorite scheme, though, was his plot against ex-wife Cally. In a bid to gain full custody of his newly discovered son, Justin (yes, this seems to happen a lot to him), J. R. hired mystery woman Dominique and set a plan in motion designed to make Cally appear mentally incompetent. Ultimately, the plan was foiled after Sue Ellen obtained a tape proving J. R.'s role in Cally's behavior.

All the fancy schemes in the world do not a fascinating villain make, however. A villain needs at least one redeeming quality to successfully pull a reader into his world- and be inclined to stick around. J. R. is humanized by his devotion to his family, particularly his mother, Miss Ellie and his son, John Ross. (Yes, I know that Gary and Ray are his brothers. You've probably noticed that J. R.'s definition of family differs slightly from the rest of us...)

That made his horror in the aftermath of the car wreck which left John Ross in a coma all the more poignant. J. R. had to assume responsibility for his son's plight. It was on his orders that the car which Karen Beam was supposed to be driving- but which John Ross ended up using instead- was left with sabotaged brakes. Months later, his role would be revealed to the entire family- and only his son's desire to regain the Ewing Oil stock (which J. R. had tricked out of him when John Ross was drunk) prevented a permanent estrangement between father and son. (Of course, they did end up estranged later, after J. R.'s bid to ruin Gary and John Ross's construction project was successful- but that's a long story...)

As of late, though, J. R.'s schemes have been kept to a minimum. His life right now includes trying to care for his daughter, Jillian (like father, like daughter- poetic justice, don't you think?), and attempting to preserve his other redeeming feature: his respect and love for Sue Ellen. It remains to be seen whether or not he'll be able to convince Sue Ellen to take a third trip down the aisle, but I look forward to seeing the unfolding of this storyline- and, hopefully, a few new schemes from his fertile imagination. (Hey- this is J. R. we're talking about, right?)

Worst Villain: Rex Wentworth

I hate to be unnecessarily cruel here- but I haven't missed Saturday morning cartoons at all since Rex made his way to Dallas. While RTS has featured other short-term villains to varying effect (does anyone remember Robert Stockton? Yeah, I figured as much), Rex's status as a full-time villain is perplexing, to say the least.

I understand his back story well enough- to a point. The son of Herbert Wentworth and an undisclosed Frenchwoman, Rex is the late Katherine's half-brother. Apparently, he shared a close relationship with Katherine. (I had to agree with Bobby and Pam on this one; are they sure they were talking about the same person here?) He always blamed Rebecca Wentworth, Pam and Cliff's mother, for the death of his own mother; her marriage to Herbert made it impossible for Rex's mother to marry him, and that drove her to suicide. He really started gunning for Pam, though, after discovering her role in the death of Katherine, a "sweet" woman he'd only known for a couple of years.

I have yet to get into his head sufficiently, though, to be able to care about him- or even like to hate him. His relationship with Katherine is the only humanizing element to his character ever revealed- which, besides seeming impossible (we all know about the havoc Katherine wreaked in Dallas, right?), has barely been explored. That pretty much leaves Rex as a stereotypical villain in my book- who seems to keep vowing to kill half of Dallas. (All right- so far, he's only bent on destroying Pam, Cliff and J. R.- but you get the idea...)

Worse than that, though, is the fact that Rex brags a roster of some of the most incompetent henchmen I've ever seen. While hilarious at points, the dubious quality of his henchmen makes it difficult to take Rex seriously as a villain. Some of the high points: a bomb set at a New Year's Eve thrown by Rex was designed to kill all of the guests in attendance (a Y2K glitch prevented this); he kidnapped Bobby and set him up to die in a plane crash (which Bobby survived); he sent Pam on a wild goose chase in South Carolina after Bobby was discovered to gain enough time to kill Bobby once and for all (Iris overheard Bobby's actual location and tipped Pam off); he tried to set up Neil Lancaster for Afton's murder (not only did she survive the attempt- she remembered the details of who actually tried to kill her, and used Rex's connection to the associated henchman to blackmail him into marrying her!); and he set Cliff up to enter into a complicated contract with outrageous terms, certain that Cliff would feel overconfident enough to sign (which he did- but Rex didn't count on Cliff's connection to Marilee Stone in the equation, and was able to secure the required oil from Stonehurst Oil; Cliff even managed to use the terms of the contract against Rex!).

His darkest scheme, of course, was to send a hired killer to murder J. R.- only the would-be assassin was killed himself by the hired gun who would later murder Clayton Farlow. (Is good help that hard to find?) Then again, Rex himself has trouble making up his mind about what he wants. His man, Gregor, had all but forced Pam off the road and into a car crash when Rex called him off; he wanted Pam to suffer a little more. (Look, Rex- do you want her dead or suffering? Sheesh! There's nothing worse than a wishy-washy villain...)

There may be hope on the horizon for Rex, however. His pursuit of Kaitlin Ryan's Weststar stock has led him to pursue a romantic relationship with Kristin's twin. Is he using her? Or are we actually seeing some real human emotion from this otherwise robotic personality? Stay tuned...

IT'S YOUR TURN