| "Who Done It" | |||
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| Dallas episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 4 Episode 4 | ||
| Directed by | Leonard Katzman | ||
| Written by | Loraine Despres | ||
| Production code | 58 | ||
| Original air date | November 21, 1980 (1980-11-21) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Dallas(1978 TV series, season 4) | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Who Done It" is the fourth episode of thefourth season (1980–81 season) and 58th overall of the American television seriesDallas. The episode aired onCBS on November 21, 1980. The episode was written byLoraine Despres, and revealed who had shotJ.R. Ewing (played byLarry Hagman) in thethird season finale "A House Divided".[1] The perpetrator's fate was revealed in the subsequent episode one week later.[2]
For an eight-month-long period ofmedia frenzy after the broadcast of "A House Divided" episode (whereinDallas archvillain J.R. Ewing was shot by an unidentifiedperpetrator outside his office), oddsmakers created a set of odds for the possibleculprits. The favorite was Dusty Farlow, who was Sue Ellen Ewing's lover (Sue Ellen being J.R.'s wife), with odds installed at 6:4. Sue Ellen herself was given 25:1 odds, as was J.R.'s mother Miss Ellie Ewing. At 4:1 were Sue Ellen's sister and her husband's mistress, Kristin Shepard and banker Vaughn Leland, who fell victim to a J.R. swindle.[3] After Sue Ellen'sfingerprints were found on the gun in subsequent episodes she became the favorite at 3 to 1 according to some oddsmakers,[4] while others listed Kristin andCliff Barnes as favorites (Cliff being J.R.'s rival from childhood).[5]
J.R. Ewing is a fictional character that William K. Stevens ofThe New York Times described as "the nastiest man on television, theIago of Texas oilmen, the smiling snake of a star of Friday night TV'sDallas, a man so venal, so low, so mean, so diabolical that he has become an absolute delight to an estimated quarter of a billion viewers around the globe."[6] HisNew York Times colleague John J. O'Connor described him as "the eldest son of the oil-rich Ewing family..." who is "...a sadistic bully and a swindler" that "captured the public's imagination".[7] Prior to the episode, there were numerous people to suspect for the attempted murder:
Although generally regarded as somewhat rivals of J.R. in the fictional world ofDallas,Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and his wifeValene (Joan Van Ark) were not suspects due to their activity in the relatedKnots Landing world. Similarly, their daughterLucy (Charlene Tilton) had an alibi provided by liaisons with a married college professor.[12]
In order to preserve secrecy before the episode aired, multiple endings were filmed, including the aforementioned characters each firing the gun.[13]
After a considerable number of suspects have been identified, Sue Ellen deduces that it was Kristin who shot J.R. At her psychiatrist's office, as she is discussing the gun and how it made its way to her bedroom, she remembers that the last time it was in her possession was when she was at Kristin's condo. She finds J.R. at home, when Kristin shows up and Sue Ellen reveals all.
When Sue Ellen earlier showed up at her sister's apartment with the gun (looking for J.R.), Kristin calmly offered her a drink, with the knowledge that she was drunk and would most likely pass out. Once that happened, after placing Sue Ellen back in her car, unconscious, Kristin took the gun and shot J.R. and planted the gun in Sue Ellen's closet the next day in order to frame her.
After J.R. hears everything and is about to notify the police, Kristin reveals she is pregnant with J.R.'s baby and threatens to reveal everything if the police are brought in. Facing the prospect of another scandal should his child be born in prison, J.R. decides the matter should be handled quietly.
'"Who Done It'" resolved the "Who shot J.R.?"cliffhanger from the previous season, entitled "A House Divided". Some suggest that the resolution of the whodunit was delayed until the November "sweep" period as a ratings ploy by networkCBS for the1980–81 television season.[14] Between 83 million and 90 million American viewers (or 76% of all U.S. television viewers in the United States in November 1980) watched the episode; the 53.3 Nielsen rating[15] was the highest rating of any television episode in U.S. history, a record broken in February 1983 when thefinal episode ofM*A*S*H aired (on the same network). "Who Done It" still attained the second highest Nielsen rating for a single television broadcast in U.S. history, and remains second on the list of all-time most watched U.S. television episodes (behind the 1983M.A.S.H. final episode).
Dallas went on to finish at #1 in theNielsen ratings for three of the next four seasons as a result of the publicity this episode generated, although since the final episode ofM.A.S.H. in 1983, the resolution episode ofDallas 1980 cliffhanger fell into the second most internationally watched single U.S. television episode in history (watched by about 98 million international viewers in more than 8 countries[vague] worldwide during the November 1980 broadcast). The episode also marked the start of widespread usage ofcliffhangers[16] as a core element of television season finales in the United States since the 1980s, and also remained as the highest ratedFriday primetime broadcast in U.S. television history (at the time when Friday nights experienced a steep decline in viewership by the end of the 20th century).[17][18]
No, J.R.'s beautiful wife did not do it. She was too obvious a suspect. The real culprit was her conniving sister, Kristin, the only other character in Dallas capable of equalling J.R. at viciousness. At 10:54 last night, Kristin, played by Mary Crosby, daughter of the late Bing, stepped forward to admit the dirty deed.
Few characters escape the scriptwriters' calculated finger of suspicion. Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) was presumably in the clear because he was in California busy with the spinoff seriesKnots Landing. His promiscuous daughter Lucy (Charlene Tilton) appeared to have spent the night in bed with a married college professor.
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