John Ross schemes with J.R. to stop Bobby from selling Southfork. He attempts to nullify Miss Ellie's will on the basis of her diminished mental capacity after Jock's death. J.R. manages to gain the deed to Southfork through a deal with a Venezuelan cartel led by Vicente Cano. After spending time in jail and nearly dying as a result of being beaten up by fellow inmates on Cano's orders for having failed to deliver the terms of their deal, John Ross decides to turn over a new leaf. He and Christopher agree to start a new company called Ewing Energies, combining oil and methane. He convinces J.R. to give Bobby back the deed to Southfork. John Ross proposes to Elena and she accepts. The family's new found peace is short-lived. Elena discovers his manipulations, dumps him, and reunites with Christopher. A heartbroken John Ross swears revenge on them, despite their new partnership. He promises to steal the company out from under them and brings J.R. on as a partner. Being outnumbered on the Ewing Energies board, John Ross gets Elena's troublesome brother and business partner Drew (Kuno Becker) arrested for unknowingly smuggling stolen goods, allowing Sue Ellen to claim her shares. John Ross begins a romance and a business deal with Christopher's ex-wife and Cliff Barnes' daughter Pamela. It ends due to their fathers' disapproval and Pamela's decision to keep the shares of Ewing Energies she received upon her divorce, instead of turning them over to him. John Ross attempted to disprove Christopher's methane patent, but his sabotage backfires. J.R. calls him, telling him that he has a plan which he claims will be his "masterpiece", but doesn't tell him what it is. Just after J.R. tells his son he's proud of him, he is shot and killed. John Ross is devastated by his father's death and vows revenge against the person responsible. He resorts to drugs, alcohol and sex with Bobby's stepdaughter, Emma (Emma Bell) to cope. On the day J.R. is buried, Bum shows up with a package, explaining that J.R.'s "masterpiece" was to take down the Ewings' enemies Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) and Harris Ryland (Mitch Pileggi). J.R. correctly suspected that Barnes and Ryland would join forces to destroy the Ewing family. At J.R.'s will reading, John Ross receives half of J.R.'s mineral rights, with the other half going to Sue Ellen.