j swift

I agree with how distasteful Eden's rape was handled. Least we forget the recasting of Leigh McCloskey as Ethan Asher. During the introduction of the character, Eden was treated that as though she was nuts for thinking that Ethan reminded her of Zach; which just further victimized her character. Also, not to minimize the cause, but sexual assault was awards-bait for soaps in the late 80's so every woman on daytime was assaulted. Five years later every leading lady would have to shave her head for a cancer story in the mid-90's.

Did you ever notice that characters rarely get an exit scene in Santa Barbara? Pearl, Janice Harrison, Greg Hughes, Casandra Benedict and Nick Hartley; all major characters, from different writers, with storylines that just disappeared. Maybe Santa Barbara really was like the Twilight Zone? A place where people don't leave town they just are never spoken about again...

I'm re-watched the first 200 as they are posted and I really empathize with the Dobsons. It's February 1985, they are more than 6 months into production, and the producers still can't get it right. The storyline is interesting. The scripts allow for every beat of Sofia's re-introduction in town. From Rosa to Augusta everyone got their scene with Sofia and they were complex and interesting. BUT CC, as interpreted by Charles Bateman, is bizarre. He lacks charm, charisma and, sex appeal. He yells his way through scenes with his kids and the bedroom episode with Gina was not a turn on. Maggie the cop and Brick are also examples that the early casting was not good at finding talented unknown actors. There is tons of attention to the main homes but, anytime they go to new places (State Street Bar) it is a plain set and poorly lit. Also, it is notable that the time of day in every episode seems incoherent from scene to scene. So, I feel for the Dobson's having written a unique bible for totally contemporary show only to see it being poorly interpreted by a mediocre cast with some highly notable exceptions (Mason, Sofia, Lionel, Augusta, Warren and, Minx). I can imagine how having actors playing Gina and CC who didn't fit their vision really hampered the storytelling. There is no sense of Sofia yerning for CC, or being torn by Lionel or even threatened by Gina because CC is a fire-breathing-villain and Gina is a quivering-little-pipsqueak. In retrospect, I know that CC and Gina will become great but those characters have a very rough start given how integral they became to the show.

The Cavanaugh family has always confused me as I began watching in 1983. Miles and April are siblings and he wound up with her cool penthouse. But Denise and Margo confuse me. Was Margo only mother to April? Was it Denise or Margo who originally own the penthouse? Was Geraldine's apartment, where she shot Logan, in the same building? I remember that Raven lived in April's building during the puppet murders when April moved into Margo's after leaving the cottage she shared with Draper. If anyone could clarify the ownership of the Cavanaugh penthouse, site of the final scene, as well as Margo and Denise's branches of the family tree; I would appreciate it.

My first tv memories are of the special 60-minute wedding episode with the crane shot from the roof of Steve's house (that Robert Delany had designed) to the backyard wedding with Alice being upstaged by Iris's organza hat. I went back to AW during the 25th anniversary and watched until Sally died. I now admire the intricacy of the Jason Frame murder and how it intersected with Iris's return. It was worthy of lasting as long as it did. Watching it now, I also note that use of pop music in soaps that got repeated as themes for different stories. GL's mirror maze murder with Rita & Roger and AW's with Jason & Felicia were both really helped by the use of pop songs from the era that got repeated in flashbacks.

I agree that Warren was wasted early on. Although, I wonder if John Allen Nelson's film career interrupted the growth of the Warren character? He was filming the magnum opus known as Hunk during the first year of SB and it may have gotten in the way. I found Warren's relationship with his parents to be refreshing and appropriate for the 80's. Warren and Augusta were close because Lionel traveled. There are interesting scenes after everyone knows that Channing Jr was gay and Augusta inquires about why Warren was wearing Channing's tuxedo jacket at the time of the murder. Warren knows that Augusta has slept with Joe and they silently agree to keep their secrets. I also liked Warren's admiration of his father and that his desire for adventure was based on Lionel. Finally, I adore any scene with Warren and his grandmother. Early on, he is putting on tanning oil and she makes fun of him for being a lifeguard; it sets the tone that Warren is motivated to please his grandmother. I feel like those relationships got lost with the recast. On the other hand, CC and Mason's distrust is a constant but, the other Capwell parental relationships seem to have no consistency during the course of the show. Eden is at times complicit with CC, or she is burdened by his expectations, or she is happy being a princess. There is no explanation of how/why CC projected all of his hopes and wishes for Channing on to Eden. Kelly and Ted are never encouraged to have any ambition from their father. Sofia's relationships with her children are only differentiated by the fact that Eden calls her Momma, Kelly calls her Mommy and Ted calls her Mom. Yet oddly, my two favorite SB scenes of all time are Capwell parent scenes. First, Mason introduces CC is Channing's lover and CC tells Mason that he loved Channing anyway and would always cherish him more than Mason. Second, during the OG Dinner Party from Hell, when Mason puts CC on trial during supper with Pamela, Sofia gets a monologue about how she tried to care for Mason but he rejected her attempts at mothering. Such good stuff that I am grateful is still available to watch.

I am watching episodes 144-151 as posted on Youtube. It is around the time of Peter being caught as the Carnation Killer. In ep.144 Warren wakes up shirtless in a barn with a Britsh woman. They have some witty banter and discuss trying to free Lionel who had been accused of killing Channing. Then in 150 he meets Maggie, (the cop who had sweaty fantasies about Warren fixing her tires), as they discuss Summer and the Carnation killer. I know a lot of SB characters came and went but, what happened to the British lady from the barn? Was she connected to the dropped storyline about the treasures from the Lockridge boat?