Trama

J.R. Ewing finally meets his end. The family strives to set aside their differences and mourn together. Accompanied by many characters from J.R.'s past, the Ewings bury their own.

The Ewings are stunned to hear that JR, assumed still on business trip in Abu Dhabi, was fatally shot in a rather sleazy Mexican drug town hotel, apparently shot by a common thief while biding with an 'escort lady'. His legacy and last letters arouse surprising eulogies while Sue Ellen relapses in alcoholism, John Ross is consumed by the lust for revenge, Bobby plans to get it with JR's detective once things have cooled down. The oil barons club wake gets out of hand when Cliff Barnes barges in vindictively, only to be dragged out by Pamela, whom John Ross now completely rejects. To Harlan's horror, Emma decides to stay indefinitely on Southfork, Bobby spoils Anne's joy by bitterly scolding she had no right to withhold the truth from him so long and completely.—KGF Vissers

A stunned Ewing family, including John Ross, Christopher, Bobby and Sue Ellen, helicopters to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. They're greeted by Marisa Ruiz with the federal police, and told JR arrived from Abu Dhabi two nights ago. They think he was shot during the commission of a robbery. They struggle to understand what JR was doing in Mexico. The customs declaration listed the reason for JR's visit as "quail hunting."

The family is ushered into the heavily guarded Hotel Colon, which Sue Ellen immediately sees as not up to JR's standards. Bobby isn't even ready to believe JR is really dead, but Ruiz explains they found his cell phone. They all stare at the blood stained chalk outline on the floor. John Ross asks to see the body.

They're ushered into the morgue, where the coroner shows them it's really JR.

(Special somber music credits roll. And a bright shining Larry Hagman close-up closes them out.)

At the police station, Bobby talks to Mr. Gilchrist with the consulate to see about bringing JR's body home. It could take a couple of days.

Bobby turns to John Ross for answers, but all he knows is that JR said he was in Abu Dhabi and had a plan that was going to be his "masterpiece."

Bobby sees his old friend Carlos, who promises to help them cut through the red tape and personally escort JR's body home.

Back at Southfork, Harris Ryland pays a visit to Emma, who's staying there. He apologizes and asks her to come home, saying he'll "let" her visit Ann as much as she wants. Ann comes out and asks Harris to leave. Then Drew shows up and flashes a gun to make his point. Emma runs off. "Tell your husband that he has no idea what he's started," Harris tells Ann as he leaves. The family comes back from Dallas. Bobby's distracted and makes excuses to get to work, saying he knows if anything goes wrong with the funeral planning he knows JR will haunt him.

Christopher assures Ann that Bobby just needs space.

Sue Ellen finds John Ross going through JR's room looking for answers. Sue Ellen warns him that he might have to prepare himself for the irony that JR was just shot by a petty criminal. She's ready to start in on Gary to get the oil drilling on Southfork turned back on. John Ross is appalled, asking her to "at least pretend to mourn him."

Sue Ellen takes out the still unopened letter JR sent her. She contemplates the nearby decanter of booze.

At JR's boozy wake, the gang's all there, including JR's half-brother Ray Krebbs and Lucy Ewing, the mayor of Dallas, Maverick's owner Mark Cuban and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who all have JR stories.

Sue Ellen commiserates with JR's past loves, Cally (Cathy Podewell) and Mandy (Deborah Shelton).

Elena and Christopher try to console John Ross, but he's too angry to talk and drinks his way through the service. He accosts Pamela Barnes, still angry that she sided with Christopher over selling the methane patent. He thinks she only cares about herself.

John Ross gets angrier as he walks through the gathering and hears people speculating on how JR died.

He finds Emma in the wine cellar about to pop a pill and takes one. She does, too.

Sue Ellen sidles up to Gary, saying she needs him more than ever. They both struggle to avoid all the booze, including JR's favorite, bourbon and branch. "JR always wanted everyone to get drunk at his funeral, thought it would make them honest," Sue Ellen says.

There's a ruckus when Cliff Barnes comes in, wishing JR good riddance. Without their "junkyard dog," he warns Bobby, there's nothing stopping him from taking down the Ewings. Pamela interrupts her father, telling him it's enough. "Look who's dancing on whose grave now!" Cliff says.

A drunk proclaims that JR died the way he deserved, in the armpit of the world. John Ross is about to deck him, when Christopher steps in swinging. They younger Ewings brawl with mourners.

Back at Southfork, Christopher assures John Ross they'll find out who killed JR and make him pay.

The doorbell rings late at night and Carlos, Sgt. Ruiz, and Dr. Garcia the medical examiner arrive. They've concluded JR was the victim of a robbery. Witnesses saw him chatting up a woman, who he went to meet at the Hotel Colon. They think it's unlikely the killer will ever be found.

John Ross leaves in a huff.

He goes off to drink alone outside, but Emma joins him. "You high?" he asks. "And you're low," she says, taking a swig of his booze. She climbs into the backseat of a parked SUV and he joins her.

Getting ready for bed, Ann tries to encourage Bobby to open up. He turns on her and starts yelling over the fact that she kept Emma from him, saying finding out make him feel insignificant. She tries to apologize, but he won't hear it.

Sue Ellen goes into JR's room and takes out his letter again. She looks at an old picture of them, sits down by the bourbon and decides she needs a glass. Then another.

The next day, everyone assembles at the graveyard to remember and bury JR. "When I found out JR was my half brother I didn't know whether to celebrate or shoot myself," Ray says. "Things I thought were so horrible that JR did, just seem honest now. He never pretended to be anything other than himself," Lucy says. "Every step forward or backward I ever took in my life was because of JR," says Gary.

Christopher remembers the only time JR ever let him feel like a real Ewing, when he told him to act like one after his mother left when he was seven. Sue Ellen remembers falling passionately in love with the most "infuriating, charming, scoundrel I think I've ever known. It's enough to drive a girl to drink."

She confesses she spent the night in JR's room last night, because she needed the courage to read the letter JR had sent. She tells everyone she had a drink to get through and kept going. "I'm a bit drunk now," she says, as she takes out the letter.

She reads: "Old age has a way of humbling men. For me to apologize now for all the wrongs I've done you would take up all the time I've got left. So I'm hoping it'll suffice for me to say that I was never worthy of you, that I loved you the moment I saw you. And that I love you today more than I ever did. It is my greatest hope in life to earn a second chance with you, so what do you say: when I get back to Dallas, will you have dinner with me?"

She breaks down crying as she tells him yes and that he was the love of her life.

Finally, it's Bobby's turn. "Throughout my life it's pretty much been easy for me to do good, since I could always count on JR to do bad," he says. He's trying to figure out where he fits now.

After the casket is lowered into the ground, John Ross sits alone, shell shocked.

Christopher tries to talk to him.

They watch as Bum pulls up. He has a message for John Ross -- from JR. It's a package.

Back at Southfork, Bum opens it in front of Bobby, John Ross and Christopher. "You all want answers. JR wanted you to have them. He really was in Abu Dhabi, closing an oil deal. But the reason he chose Abu Dhabi is because for the last several months, he's been trying to find your mother," Bum explains to Christopher.

He hands something to Christopher that presumably explains why finding Pamela now was important. Next, he explains that JR was in Mexico on Bobby behalf, following a lead on Harris Ryland. John Ross is ready to go after Ryland, but Bum tells him it really was a mugger. He hands him a case with a handgun in it.

There's a note from JR, urging him to watch out for Cliff Barnes now that he's gone. "You must crush him, before he can win.... Use what I've given you to take from them what they want to take from us. When you've done that, Bobby will know what to do," it reads. (Bobby does not look like he knows what to do.)

Bum hands a letter to Bobby. Bobby reads it wordlessly then summons Bum out of the room. "This is between my brother and me, for now," he says to the boys.

Bobby tells Bum to pay off whoever he needs to sell the mugger story. "When the time comes we'll take care of this ourselves, as a family," he says.

Bobby goes to JR's bourbon and has a glass. Then another. "I knew you'd have at least one more left up your sleeve, JR. It is a good one. I love you brother," Bobby says, mixing his bourbon with tears.