'Dallas' recap: The Long Goodbye

At the funeral, many people spoke about J.R.: Half-brother Ray expressed how it feels to be related to J.R. Ewing -- you don't whether to celebrate or shoot yourself -- which was the general theme of Gary's speech as well (every step he'd taken forward or back had been because of J.R.). Niece Lucy put it nicely when she said in the end, J.R.'s horrible deeds just seemed honest; he never pretended to be anything but himself. Elena told how J.R. encouraged her to make her father proud after he died when she was nine. And Christopher recounted the only time J.R. had let him inside the inner circle was when he was seven: J.R. sat him down and said he didn’t know why Pam left when she had a good, smart little boy like him, and that Christopher was a Ewing now -- so he had to stop crying and behave like one.

I held it together until Sue Ellen spoke. She talked about meeting J.R. when she was Miss Texas. She fell madly, passionately, hopefully in love with the most infuriating, charming scoundrel she's ever know. It was enough to drive a girl to drink, she said. And then she admitted she'd spent the night in J.R.’s room drinking liquid courage to read the letter he'd sent her. Everyone looked so sad, for multiple reasons. “I’m a bit drunk now," she said. "And I wanted to share the letter that J.R. wrote to me.” In it, J.R. said apologizing for everything he needed to would take all the time he had left. He said he was never worthy of her, but he loved her from the moment he saw her -- and today, he loves her more than he ever did. His greatest hope was to earn a second chance with her. “So what do you say? When I get back to Dallas, will you have dinner with me?" she read. That's when Sue Ellen and I both lost it. “Yes, yes, J.R., the answer is yes. You were the love of my life,” she said, touching his American flag-cloaked coffin. She broke down, and Bobby rose to bring her back to her seat as John Ross sat teary-eyed. It was Bobby's turn now. Throughout his life, Bobby said, it'd been easy for him to do good because he could count on J.R. to do bad. A lot of times, the bad things J.R. did were necessary -- more often than he cares to admit. His brother is dead, and now he has to figure out what he’s supposed to do. I was surprised I didn't cry then, but that's just because they were saving Bobby's moment for later.

John Ross didn't speak at the service. He was the last one there though, sitting with the American flag on his lap. It was a beautiful shot, with Christopher standing nearby. When Christopher finally approached John Ross and put his hand on John Ross’ shoulder, John Ross again didn't want to be comforted. He got up and went closer to the grave, which was now piled high with dirt and flowers. Bum showed up at the cemetery and said he brought a message from J.R. -- a box marked Fragile.

NEXT: J.R. may get the last laugh yet

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