Episode list

The Ewings are gathering at Southfork Ranch for the upcoming wedding of Bobby's adopted son, Christopher, to Rebecca Sutter. Although the occasion is joyous, an old family rivalry crosses generations after secret oil drilling on Southfork results in a major gusher. Everyone has his or her own agenda when the fight over oil and land threatens to tear the Ewings apart once again.

Christopher is relieved when Rebecca proposes to postpone their honeymoon until after the Southfork and gas deals are closed, ignoring that she and her brother Tommy have been hatching a plot for years. Trusted lawyer Mitch Lobell blackmails John Ross to quadruple his bribe not to tell J.R. about his plans to steal Southfork, but the impatient fox, having reentered the public stage at the cattle barons ball, consults his old Mexican friend Mr. Del Sol and discovers the 'paperwork delay' is a scam worthy of a son of his, who is meanwhile drugged by Elena. Bobby gets wife Anne to keep his cancer secret from the others, hoping for complete remission after laparoscopic surgery.

Just as John Ross sets out to claim his birthright and make his father proud, J.R. decides to move back to Southfork, much to Ann's dismay. Bitter Ewing family enemy Cliff Barnes returns and tries to reconnect with his nephew, Christopher. A startling family announcement offers an opportunity to heal old wounds.

John Ross seeks to gain an upper hand on a family member and resorts to blackmail, but J.R. decides to handle the situation his own way. Meanwhile, Christopher opens up to Bobby about his difficulty in choosing between the two women he loves.

With tension mounting between the newly married Christopher and Rebecca, family ties begin to unravel when the deed to Southfork is revealed. In order to thwart J.R.'s schemes, Ann seeks help from someone in her past, and Christopher decides it is time to fight dirty.

John Ross is bothered by the weight of having to do his father's dirty work and decides to move into Southfork. Strife continues to grow between Ann and Bobby when it is revealed she went to her ex for help with a family problem. Rebecca approaches Bobby and Christopher with information that she believes might help save the ranch.

Christopher suspects another ploy and demands a paternity test when told, after Elena guessed, that Rebecca is pregnant. Desperate for oil he can't drill on Southfork but already sold to ruthless Venezuelans, John Ross tries in vain to win Ray's vote trough Lucy. Sue Ellen forces Elena to help him out temporarily during an extension which Vicente Cano grants after John Ross betrays Veronica, the false Martha, who admitted having stolen from them while offering in vain to team up with John Ross in bed and business again. Threatened with a nasty lawsuit, Bobby grudgingly apologizes to Ann's ex Harris Ryland for slapping him as 'wife-stalker', is handed a file on her darkest secret but burns it unread before her eyes. Bum's research suggest to J.R. Cliff's ambitious, quasi-adopted Pakistani 'driver', in fact chief henchman with a Harvard degree, may be his arch-rival's Achilles heel.

After Veronica, the false Marta, falls to her death, presumably a staged suicide, from her hotel John Ross is arrested as sole murder suspect, having been seen leaving there, while her video camera there has disappeared. Vicente Cano, whose goons probably did it after John Ross told him she stole from them, repeats during a jail visit his threat to foreclose on Southfork unless the contractual oil delivery is made in time and has a Latino prison gang beat John Ross into the infirmary. JR interrupts his Vegas operation to visit John Ross secretly. Desperate to save her son, Sue Ellen blackmail the medical examiner to falsely rule Veronica's death a suicide. Alas unaware of that, Christopher made a deal with the Venezuelans, who get the South American rights to his inestimable hydrates extraction technique, which he refused to sell for a fortune to Exxon. The cousins feel buddies again. The baby's ultrasound and Rebecca's clean criminal record motivate Chris to give his marriage another chance. Tommy is back, demanding more then the rings she gave him. Anne promises him a job on her sister's ranch, ignoring he threatens to reveal Becca isn't his sister but an ex.

After Bobby has another tumor crisis, operated successfully but within an inch of his life, J.R. laughs away the women's moral appeal for the family to stand united, yet ends up signing over the Southfork deed to Bobby. John Ross now doubts the point in trying to please or at least impress his father enough to accept Christopher's offer to form a partnership, Ewing Energies, with Elena. J.R. believes Cliff Barnes's 'undervalued' right hand 'Smiling' Frank his weak point, but Bum finds no angle. Meanwhile Tommy tries in vain threatening Rebecca, who is winning Christopher back, with exposure as his college days lover, not sibling, and is told the deal concerning Chistopher's methane technology is lapsed by Smiling Frank. Harris Ryland expects Sue Ellen to be at his call or be exposed before the governor election.

Family bonds bring the Ewings together as a loved one faces a medical crisis. Christopher and Elena begin to learn that not everyone is who they appear to be, including the people closest to them. Long buried secrets are revealed as the past rears its ugly head.