Bobby chooses his stepdaughter to save over his wife, but promises Luis that he will behave similarly to John Wayne in The Searchers-type if the two women are harmed. The plan then goes as arranged: Bobby babysits some gas leak drill in his capacity of railroad commissioner. Somehow, this shuts down the border security patrols, making the Rio Grande as porous as the prophylactics in Nicolas Trevino’s wallet. This allows the trains carrying the yayo from the cartel to slip into the Lone Star State over the rails, unimpeded, and into waiting Ryland trucks. Bobby, waiting three miles out from the border, gets the call to open a trunk of a nearby car. He opens it but is surprised to find a sobbing Annie, who tells him that Luis has reneged on the deal and is still holding Emma.
The Ewings and Rylands, still in tenuous team-up mode, await the news of Luis’ treachery back at Southfork. Bub reveals to John Ross the contents of Harris Ryland’s thumb drive: Ryland’s CIA pal George has been taking money and using it to fund, Ollie North-style, various black ops overseas. Armed with this knowledge and a Big Sack o’ Cash that he picked up from Villain Depot en route, Junior has a powwow with a shady Blackwater type to hatch a plan to rescue Emma.
Nicolas and Elena’s love lodge on the lake gets raided by the U. S. Marshal Service, who let Christopher along for the ride. Nicolas cuts an immunity deal to deliver cartel head Don Orestes, the notorious El Pozolero, into CIA hands and manages to set up a meeting with him. Meanwhile, John Ross tells the family assembled his plan to save Emma: using the money provided by their business partners, he will offer to buy back the outstanding shares of Ewing Global in return for Emma’s safe escort back to Southfork. When all is good, he’ll have a victory smoke … lit by a Zippo with a GPS that will allow the mercenaries to pinpoint his location. They’ll swarm in all Zero Dark Thirty-like and extract the offending parties.
What could possibly go wrong, class? Can somebody besides Mr. Carter raise their hand?
Here’s how:
Nicolas meets with Don Orestes in a drone-proof Mexican parking garage, where they get into one of five identical SUVs that depart at the same time in different directions, which leaves their CIA tails shaking their fists in frustration. Down in Tamaulipas, John Ross manages to use Luis’ jealousy of Nicolas’ golden boy status to bring home to the cartel a better deal to the boss by letting Emma go and accepting Junior’s offer to buy back Ewing Global. Luis says yes and sends Emma back to Big D. But before Junior can have that Marlboro, Orestes and Nicolas arrive. The boss isn’t happy with either of his lieutenants and soon the two begin sucking up in earnest to show the other’s incompetence to the old man. Luis gets the upper hand and browner nose as he pulls his gun on Junior, willing to show he’s bloodthirsty enough to kill himself a yanqui. To prove his mettle, Trevino takes the gun from Luis and aims it at Junior’s belly … but whispers to him to drop to the floor when he gives the signal.
Either Luis could hear me groan or Nicolas really needs to work on his whispering. He cocks back the hammer on another gun and puts it to Nicolas’ head. We’re waiting…
This episode was called Endgame, but is it really? I guess we’ll find out in next week’s finale. Here’s are a couple of tidbits of grade-A Southfork beef to tide you over:
- Judith Ryland greeting George the CIA guy: “It’s so nice to meet one of my son’s work friends.” Stay bitchy, Ma.
- Has anyone else noticed a similarity between Mendez-Ochoa cartel boss, Don Orestes and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recipient, Peter Gabriel? I’m still a Phil Collins man, myself.
- Pop quiz, Annie: You’re back from being a hostage in some Mexican hovel and your fresh-from-rehab sister-in-law offers to get you something. What do you say? I’m sorry. . .the answer was “sweet tea,” but we would have accepted “Anything but the stuff that put you in rehab, Sue Ellen!” Congrats, Annie! You managed to stoop lower than John Ross, who ended up pouring the drink instead of his poor mom.
See y’all next week.
