Sue Ellen Still Likes the Sauce

Sue Ellen ponders a new cocktail on midseason premiere of TNT's Dallas

While Elaine Liner is in Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I'm taking up her recapping mantle until she returns. Take a swig of after shave, kids, and let's get through this together.

The title of tonight's episode, "Denial, Anger, Acceptance," refers to three of the five stages of grief. Thanks to the actors' blank stares and unlined faces, I couldn't tell if anyone was actually grieving, but there sure was a lot of loss.

Most significantly, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) lost Southfork, which burned spectacularly during the April midseason finale. From what I can gather, that leaves a lot of folks homeless now, but that's a problem for another time.

In desperation, Sue Ellen snatches up a bottle of after shave, finds the most important ingredient (sweet, sweet alcohol!) and pockets it.

Who set the fire? Was it Heather's (AnnaLynne McCord's) ex-husband Bo (Donny Boaz), as everyone assumes, who's now undergoing surgery to "put his spinal column back together?" (By the way, excellent scienc-ing, writers!) Or was it a soused Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), who's eyeing the pitcher of water in her hospital room like she wishes it were vodka? Only time — and some wavy, Lifetime movie-looking flashbacks — will tell.

While Southfork burned (with what I'm assuming was a highly flammable Sue Ellen inside), John Ross (Josh Henderson) was having what he thought were sexy times with both his wife Pamela (Julie Gonzalo) and his mistress Emma (Emma Bell). Before watching, a friend gave me a primer on who's-related-to-whom vs. who's-sleeping-with-whom. This, I have learned, is a case of both related-to and knocking-boots-with, as Emma is John Ross' cousin by marriage. But just when things start getting hot and heavy, Pamela passes out and begins vomiting white goo.

Seems the jilted wife wanted to exact a little revenge, so she downed a bunch of pills before slipping on her negligee and crashing the Omni Dallas suite. There are many references to a video Pam received of John Ross and Emma in bed, and everyone assumes it was Emma who pressed "send."

"She's crazy," my friend offered when Emma first popped onscreen. Really? This timid, washed-out blonde is the evil seductress, the homewrecker of the Ewings? Emma spends the majority of this episode looking spooked, whether it's when stepdad Bobby is forbidding her to return home or when wicked grandma Judith (Judith Light) is coaching her on how to "nurture the hurt, feed the hurt."

Judith Light should have more screen time. Let's just rename this show Judy Does Dallas and set it in her Swiss Avenue brothel. I'd watch.

Ah, Judith Light. Elaine wasn't kidding when she said this scenery-chewer should have more screen time. In fact, let's just rename this show Judy Does Dallas and set it in her Swiss Avenue brothel. I'd watch.

Her best line this week is when she's scolding Ann (Brenda Strong) for not mothering Emma properly. "At least this time she didn't leave my granddaughter at the fair," Judith sniffs, shooting Ann a melting glare before protectively steering Emma away.

While sifting through the charred ruins, Bobby confronts his wife, Ann, about an illicit kiss shared between her and her ex, the wry and dry Harris Ryland (Mitch Pileggi). "Thank goodness you weren't in the house," Bobby says, before adding suspiciously, "Where were you?" The length of that pause before Ann answers is comically incriminating.

Maybe it's because I didn't see this smooch, but the whole confrontation felt like weak sauce. Oh well. Perhaps we'll grieve more for this fractured pair next week.

Meanwhile, sinister-seeming Nicolas (Juan Pablo Di Pace) is pacing around an abandoned warehouse, being sinister. Not kidding — even his voicemail greeting portends bad deeds. I'm still not entirely clear who he is, but the writers made sure to clue me into the fact that he's using Elena (Jordana Brewster). He's also lying to her, saying that her missing brother Drew (Kuno Becker) is almost certainly in Mexico when in fact he's right in front of Nicolas, confined to a room with a one-way mirror. That never ends well.

As John Ross is attempting to apologize to his wife with a sentimental gift — a melted plastic ring, which she promptly drops in the trash — and Heather's creepy little son is bringing his daddy a stuffed bull (there would have been cookies too, but the little bugger ate them all), Sue Ellen is wandering around the hospital gift shop in her waffle robe.

In desperation, she snatches up a bottle of after shave, finds the most important ingredient (sweet, sweet alcohol!) and pockets it before guiltily exiting the gift shop. Though she can't bring herself to down the bright blue liquid, the petty theft does prompt her to stroll down to the waiting room and confess her guilt. In a drunken stupor, she set fire to John Ross' wedding invitation.

Mystery solved, right?

Wrong. Turns out Drew snuck into John Ross' room, plugged in an evil air freshener, then spritzed the walls with what appeared to be alcohol. I'm going to assume this is what attracted Sue Ellen to the room (although she stopped short of licking the curtains), but setting that invite aflame certainly didn't help matters.

With Drew's usefulness now over, and as payback for some business with a drug cartel (sure, why not), he gets a gun to the temple. See? I told you Nicolas was bad news.

Sue Ellen: Still liking the booze.

Photo courtesy of TNT

Sue Ellen: Still liking the booze.

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The grass will be greener

AT&T Stadium glows pretty in pink as World Cup field takes root

Dallas Stadium pitch for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Photo courtesy of FIFA

Grass grow-lights suspended from the ceiling at AT&T Stadium are turning the pitch pink.

FIFA officials unveiled the soccer pitch taking shape at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for 2026 World Cup matches, and the most noticeable feature is that it's ... pink. At least for now.

Much like pink-hued LED lights that make indoor gardens grow at home, giant grow lights have been suspended from the ceiling to promote photosynthesis, as the stadium's retractable roof does not allow enough sunlight for grass to grow.

The innovative roof-suspended light system (which allows for lights to be raised or lowered) is the first of its kind for FIFA, says Ewen Hodge, FIFA World Cup 2026 head of pitch infrastructure. AT&T Stadium is the only 2026 World Cup venue employing the technology.

FIFA pitch, Dallas Stadium The lights are suspended on 18 rigs, which can be raised and lowered over the field.Photo courtesy of FIFA

"They've never been hung from the ceiling before," Hodge says. "Typically these systems have a set of wheels that they're wheeled in and out of the facility and these are able to be lifted up, and that means that we have one less thing on the field."

For soccer newbies, the "pitch" is the official term for the rectangular field where a match is played. And in FIFA World Cup world, that field is real grass - not the artificial turf that the Cowboys play on. It is 105 meters by 68 meters, which roughly converts to 115 yards by 75 yards.

Pitch prep at "Dallas Stadium," which AT&T Stadium will be called during World Cup, started about two months ago, Hodge says.

They started by installing ventilation and irrigations systems above the stadium's concrete floor, then laid down several inches of sand to support the natural grass surface - a mix of Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass grown and shipped from Colorado, he says.

Dallas Stadium, World Cup pitch The pitch is a mix of Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass, and there's a layer of sand underneath.Photo courtesy of FIFA

Nylon fibers are being stitched into the grass using specialized machinery to help reinforce the field.

A team of about 25 workers is mowing and irrigating daily, Hodge says, to ensure the grass will be ready and healthy for the first game (Netherlands vs Japan) on June 14. During matches, the grow-lights will be taken up 290 feet into the ceiling so they will not create sight lines, says Tod Martin, general manager of AT&T Stadium.

Between the nine matches that will be played at the stadium, the grow-lights will come back down from the ceiling, and grass will be fertilized, monitored for diseases, and adjustments will be made.

"We always say that our days from the pitch management side are busier than a match day," Hodge says. "On a match day, we're doing a mow and getting the line marks out there, so it's the final touches so we're ready for the game."

Dallas Stadium, World Cup pitch Nylon fibers are being stitched into the grass using specialized machinery to help reinforce the field. Photo courtesy of FIFA

Maintaining a grass standard across all venues for the World Cup tournament is a major challenge due to the climate differences between each city, he says.

Hodge, a New Zealand native, first visited AT&T Stadium in March 2023 to begin planning how the venue would accommodate a World Cup-caliber pitch. To gather ideas, AT&T Stadium's Martin traveled to Wembley Stadium in England, where he met with officials to learn firsthand how they manage one of the world's most famous soccer fields.

"They're impressive. It was a sight to see for sure," Martin says.

"Test games" at AT&T Stadium have been used to evaluate things like how the field feels under the players' feet and how fast the ball travels, Hodge says.

World Cup pitch, Dallas Stadium The field is longer and wider than it would be for an NFL game to allow for things like corner kicks.Photo courtesy of FIFA

By the numbers, Martin offered, the pitch at the stadium has involved 10 contractors, 45,000 man hours, 15,000 tons of materials hauled in, and 24 refrigerated trucks to transport the pitch from Colorado; the grass came in four-foot-wide rolls, 50 feet long.

The biggest installation challenges, Martin says, involved structural modifications to the stadium, including extending the field into the patio suites. "We had to take out roughly three feet in our corners to get a little bit more room for those corner kicks," he says.

After the tournament, Martin says, the grass will be taken out and recycled by a contractor for other projects.

pitch world cup arlington stadium at&t stadium fifa world cup 2026 soccer sports