Back at number 1 for the year in the Nielsen's (and for the last time), and with good reason, Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season was unquestionably the best drama of the 1983-1984 season, with an intricate web of plotting worthy of ten Dickens' novels (please read my reviews for Seasons Five and Six for more detailed background on the series' pop culture influence). Even though viewers may have expected the show to coast by this time, the producers, particularly frequent writer/director/producer Leonard Katzman, offer up a dizzying array of financial double-dealings, sexual blackmails, emotional power plays, and cold, remorseless deaths, making Season Seven one of the last hurrahs of the long-running series.

It's an especially melancholy and mean-spirited season, as well, creating a preoccupation with death and failed romance that cuts down a notch or two the outright fun of previous seasons. Don't get me wrong; for sheer audacity in bold storylines and juicy, purple prose, Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season had few equals on the other channels in 1983-1984. But it's obvious that the producers were looking over their shoulders at the rapidly gaining Dynasty, ABC's dumber, glitzier knock-off that was muscling in on top-dog's Dallas' nighttime soap opera territory (third for this season, Dynasty would take over the number one spot the following season, knocking Dallas to second place). And with this increased pressure, it's apparent that the production was tweaked to compete with the dopey (but enjoyable) upstart.

The very first difference you notice with Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season is the actual look of the series. Some serious money was poured into making each set-up look like something out of a theatrical movie. Gone are the rather garishly lit interiors, replaced with movie-quality lighting, with the producers even indulging in "arty" shadows and chiaroscuro effects. And exteriors have a patina of gloss that finally brings Dallas into the realm of its original theatrical inspiration: Giant. However, as great as the new look is, I couldn't help but miss the cruder look of previous seasons. The immediacy seems gone from the sequences; the pulpy cartoon look of the interiors are replaced with "respectable" movie lighting that distances us somewhat from the larger-than-life proceedings. And frankly, who the hell wants Dallas to be or look "respectable."

Additionally, some concessions to Dynasty's obvious success were made in the stories plotting. While the macho head games between Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and J.R. (Larry Hagman, brilliant as ever) remain, along with the oil schemes so vital to the central plot thread that always runs through Dallas, romance for the ladies are put on an equal footing this season, with four major romances highlighted: Sue Ellen and Peter Richards; Pam (Victoria Principal) and Mark Graison (John Beck); Bobby and first love Jenna Wade (Priscilla Presley); and Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Clayton Farlow (Howard Keel). The most time is devoted to Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) December/May romance with Peter Richards (The Blue Lagoon's Christopher Atkins). While the storyline is frequently ridiculous (why is Lucy (Charlene Tilton) the only one to think it's weird that Sue Ellen wants Peter, a twenty-year-old, to hang out with a child?), and Atkins' thesping less-than-stellar, Gray frequently steals the show. Vulnerable, sexually frustrated (the scene where Gray watches sweaty men playing football in the park is hilariously over-the-top), tender, and vengeful, Gray is the equal of Hagman this season.

Of course, fans of the show remember this season as the one where Bobby divorces Pam, and meets up with first love Jenna Wade. Presley, a relative novice to acting at this point, is quite a surprise, making an impression as the sweet, adorable (but with a spine of steel) Jenna. Pam's rebound relationship with wealthy polo playing, nude skydiver (I kid you not) Mark Graison ends on a tragic note this season, while Clayton Farlow has his hands full not only dealing with Miss Ellie's trepidation at getting married, but also fighting off the efforts of scheming J.R. to break up the couple before the wedding.

This particular subplot also shows signs of gradual "Dynasty-creep," with the introduction of Clayton's long-gone (in the head) sister Lady Jessica Montfort, played to the hilt by grand dame Alexis Smith. A silly character, obviously meant to trick the viewers into thinking she was going to be another Joan Collins' Alexis Colby, Jessica quickly descends into madness and kidnaps Miss Ellie, with homicidal intent. It just doesn't come off, particularly during the last episode of the season where the producers botch the hurried ending to her storyline. But it's clear that melodramatic romantic failures, aimed squarely at the women in the audience, were pushed to the forefront in an effort to attract Dynasty fans.

And with this preoccupation to keep Dallas evolving towards a sudsier, glossier Dynasty mold, some hallmarks of previous seasons are left to wander somewhat. The highlight of previous seasons, the Ewing barbeque, is knocked off with almost no effect in this seventh season, not even occupying a full episode of its own (previous seasons played it over two). Usually a time for the boys to mix it up, it turns out here to be a most uneventful story convention (although there are some great post-BBQ scenes in this episode between J.R. and Sue Ellen, where Sue Ellen uses J.R. as her personal "stud service"). The previous Oil Baron's Ball episode tries to take on some the traditional BBQ events - there's the standard confrontation between J.R. and weasel Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), and then a fistfight - but it's thrown away without consequence (we learn later that Cliff actually bit J.R. on the leg, like the rodent he is, but criminally, the producers deny us seeing what could have been an all-time highlight of the series).

Still, there's a density and seriousness to this season that, although not as pulpy fun as previous seasons, comes as a welcome surprise. Death is everywhere in Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season. Jock Ewing, the patriarch who died the previous season, hangs over the show like a Freudian bad dream, his memory still influencing the actions of Miss Ellie, Bobby, and especially J.R., as his portrait is lingered on at least once in almost every episode. Mickey Trotter (Timothy Patrick Murphy), the young relative of Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), paralyzed from the previous season, is euthanized by Ray. Sue Ellen miscarries a baby. Mark Graison comes to a violent end, a victim of one of J.R.'s blackmailing schemes tries to commit suicide, and of course, the season-ending cliffhanger that has Bobby shot and left for dead in J.R.'s office. With the mystery behind the death of Clayton's wife twenty years before also in the background, it's a dark, dark season with all this death, for Dallas.

So thank god for scheming sonafabitching J.R. Ewing, providing almost all the lurid thrills we've come to expect (and love) from a typical Dallas season. I know I've asked this before in a review, but what is it about Hagman that makes his J.R. one of the all-time greatest villains - not just in television, but in pop culture in general? There's a combination of giddiness and icy gravity to his scenes that creates a situation for the audience not unlike watching a deadly cobra mesmerize its victim right before the strike. The shenanigans J.R. gets up to in Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season are on par with his worst acts, including blackmailing Pam's equally duplicitous sister Katherine Wentworth (the gorgeous, cobalt blue-eyed minx Morgan Brittany) repeatedly into bed (the script very subtly suggests that J.R. demands on Katherine are even more perverted than usual for J.R.), blackmailing a government official to the point of suicide (the official was once a child molester), setting up Peter for a drug bust when he learns that he bedded Sue Ellen, blackmailing Sue Ellen back into his bed -- to take her whenever he chooses, and of course, setting up Cliff Barnes for a massive personal and financial fall, as par for the course. People love to point to the inventiveness that Coppola and Puzo conjured up for Michael Corleone's "tying up business" in The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II, but seriously, J.R. pulls off that kind of intricate double and triple crosses almost every other episode - and there's 30 here this season (can you imagine young whelp dramatic series today, who whine that they can't finish 18 or 22 episodes?). Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season might show signs that the series was evolving away from conventions that audiences expected, but it still packs a jolting wallop.

Here are the 30, one-hour episodes of the five-disc box set Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season, as described on their slimcases:

DISC ONE: SIDE A

The Road Back
Bobby saves J.R. and his family from the fire. Seems like thanks are in order, but J.R. and gratitude have never said howdy.

The Long Goodbye
Go away...come back. Sue Ellen tells J.R. she wants separate bedrooms. Bobby tries to woo Pam home to Southfork.

The Letter
Signed, sealed and delivered. Katherine tricks Pam into signing a letter that may destroy her marriage.

DISC ONE: SIDE B

My Brother's Keeper
Bobby and Pam's divorce leaves the ex-Mr. & Mrs. grieving, but many of their "friends" and relations grinning.

The Quality of Mercy
Cliff recruits a pretty young thing (appropriately named Sly) to spy on J.R.. Mickey's ordeal comes to a shocking end.

Check and Mate
More twists than a Texas switchback: Ray is arrested, Cliff steals a deal from J.R. and Jock's will has a stinger in its tail.

DISC TWO: SIDE A

Ray's Trial
With Ray facing the death penalty, Bobby testifies for the defense...and Lucy testifies for the prosecution.

The Oil Baron's Ball
Shuffling the deck: Bobby attends the annual ball with Jenna Wade, and Lucy is with Peter Richards.

Morning After
The Oil Baron of the Year (no, it's not J.R. or Bobby) makes a surprise announcement - and the ball turns into a brawl, y'all.

DISC TWO: SIDE B

The Buck Stops Here
Ride 'em cowgirl: Pam and Jenna compete in a mechanical bull contest. And J.R. realizes there's a spy in his organization.

To Catch a Sly
J.R. uncovers the identity of the Ewing Oil spy. But hey, why get mad when you can get even?

Barbecue Four
Miss Ellie and Clayton have a surprise for the family, and J.R.'s just plum tickled. Or is he just plum ticked off?

DISC THREE: SIDE A

Past Imperfect
Digging in the dirt: J.R. looks for skeletons in Clayton's closet and Katherine goes to Rome to check out Jenna's past.

Peter's Principles
Sue Ellen and Peter sashay into bed. More undercovers work: Afton accuses Cliff of sleeping with Marilee Stone.

Offshore Crude
Clayton's reticent about his sister Jessica. But Lucy's all girlish gushing about Peter, much to Sue Ellen's discomfort.

DISC THREE: SIDE B

Some Do...Some Don't
Life is purty nice for ol' J.R.: he has two blackmail schemes going, plus a plot to stir up trouble for Bobby.

Eye of the Beholder
Miss Ellie does the Texas two-step out of her engagement to Clayton, but he's not ready to change partners.

Twelve Mile Limit
Depressed by Miss Ellie and Clayton's reconciliation, J.R. cheers himself up by driving Edgar Randolph to suicide.

DISC FOUR: SIDE A

Where is Poppa?
A traffic accident sends Sue Ellen to the hospital...and leads to stunning news for both J.R. and Peter.

When the Bough Breaks
Who is Charlie's father? Who is the father of the baby Sue Ellen lost? Inquiring minds want to know.

True Confessions
Out of the past: Ray and Donna discover Edgar's secret, and Jenna reveals the story behind Charlie's birth certificate.

DISC FOUR: SIDE B

And the Winner Is...
Don't tell J.R. that cheaters never prosper. His scheming pays off when he tricks Cliff into bidding too high for an oil lease.

Fools Rush In
Cliff Barnes has only 12 days to save his company from ruin - and doesn't that just make J.R. day.

The Unexpected
Clayton's sister Jessica arrives, giving J.R. competition for the title of the sneakiest snake at Southfork.

DISC FIVE: SIDE A

Strange Alliance
One down, one to go. With Cliff Barnes on the ropes, J.R. sets his sights on bringing down another rival: Peter.

Blow Up
J.R. engineers an ugly fight between Peter and Lucy and schemes with Jessica to stop his mama's wedding.

Turning Point
Brother, can you spare $100 million? Cliff is desperate for cash. J.R. gets Peter arrested on a phony drug rap.

DISC FIVE: SIDE B

Love Stories
Three weddings and a funeral. While three couples plan their nuptials, tragedy strikes close to Southfork.

Hush, Hush Sweet Jessie
Missing Miss Ellie. A crazed Jessica kidnaps her future sister-in-law just days before the wedding.

End Game
The season ends with amazing revelations, threats, gunfire and one moment of joy. Miss Ellie and Clayton marry.

The DVD:

The Video:
While the producers of Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season wanted to up the glossy quotient for this season, Warner Bros., the producer of this disc set, have done nothing to make Dallas look any better than it looked in reruns over the past two decades. I was frankly astounded at the number of big dirt specs and scratches that regularly appear in the episodes. It's really a shame. At least Warner Bros. should be congratulated for only putting three full episodes (which time out correctly, so there's no apparent post-DVD editing going on -- are you listening, Paramount?) per disc side (although I hate flipper discs).

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono track accurately reflects the original broadcast presentation.

The Extras:
There's a new 14 minute featurette, The Music of Dallas, looking at Bruce Broughton's scores for the show, as well as Jerrold Immel's iconic theme. It's informative and well produced.

Final Thoughts:
Although "Dynasty-creep" is evident in some questionable subplots, Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season still nails it as the best drama of the 1983-1984 season. The plotting is intricate, marvelously coincidental, and perfectly pitched, while the performances are rock solid within their established conventions. And Larry Hagman is Satan as the wonderfully perverse Dark Lord of the Dallas oil fields. There's just no one else like him on TV - then or now. I highly recommend Dallas: The Complete Seventh Season