Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[Marissa Gallant]

I really like all of these ideas. They would have made it a more relatable show. I mean, Mason can only be on so many plane wrecks before it becomes ridiculous. Oh wait- I forgot, I was in 3 plane crashes last weekend. I needed to make up for lost time...

[dc11786]

I've often considered trying to figure out a way to make Kirk Cranston and Peter Flint a single character. For several years, I've reimagined a version of "Santa Barbara" where Peter's entrance to the world of the Capwells was through Channing Capwell, Jr. Upon learning Santana was pregnant, and discovering Sophia's diary which revealed he was Lionel's son, a very shaken Channing flees from Santa Barbara and finds refuge in Miami with a hustler named Antonio Fiore. Channing confides all his secrets to Antonio. It would be very clear that Channing was also paying Antonio for sex. Channing would have shared enough details about the Capwells and the denizens of "Santa Barbara" that when Antonio learned of Channing's passing, he made his way to Santa Barbara with the intention of capitalizing on the Capwell's grief to integrate himself into a family he had come deeply, obsessively connected to. 

Antonio/Peter's desire to be a Capwell wouldn't necessarily be driven by greed, but having grown up in poverty, the elegant trappings wouldn't hurt. Never having known his father, Antonio/Peter would be drawn to C.C.'s strenght and power. Peter would literally fashion himself after Channing with the intention of filling the dead man's spot in the family. He would dress like him, dye his hair blond to be like him, and even, at times, attempt to recreate Channing's relationships with Santana, as well as Lindsay. With this goal in mind, Peter arrives in Santa Barbara claiming to be a friend of Channing's from his Miami days, a fellow playboy heir who had fallen out with his family prior to their untimely death. By retelling Channing's story, he built immediate bonds with C.C. (out of grief) and Kelly (out of guilt) while something more intensely sexual, but unrequited would happen with Eden. The tension between Eden and Peter would cause Eden to flee to Europe when Peter and Kelly announced their engagement. 

Peter would be deeply ill from the beginning. A Ted Bundy type who had wormed his way into the Capwell family. The suggestion would be fairly early on that Peter may be Channing's killer as he would be in possession of Channing's diary as he was reliving the young man's life to pattern himself off the dead boy. During at least one of his schemes to maintain power, he would pass himself off as Channing. Peter's attempts to be Channing would amp the power struggle between Mason and Peter and with Peter's occasional flirtation with Santana things would only continue to percolate. Peter would emerge as a surprising ally for Santana, offering to help Santana locate the child she was looking for.

In exchange, Peter would ask Santana to keep tabs on Mason for him as Mason had started digging into Peter's past when it emerge that Peter wasn't as he claimed when an old client of Antonio recognized him at a Capwell society function leading to Peter murdering the society matron, who Mason had been pumping for information about Peter. When Peter murdered Geraldine Wentworth, Mason was on his way to meet with her and is on the scene when the body is found. Mason is accused of murder, but quickly released when it becomes clear that it was not possible for Mason to be the murderer. Mason would instantly blame Peter, but Peter's alibi ends up leaving Mason shook; Santana vowages for him. It is at this point that Santana begins to wonder what she has gotten herself into. 

Kelly is still doing a push and pull with Joe, but is drawn to Peter's strength. Furthermore, I think, at least initially, Joe's pursuit of Kelly would be purely based on his need to clear his name by giving him access to the Capwell resources, but Joe's feelings would never truly go away. The abuse of Kelly's trust would be revealed just as Eden was returning from Europe determined to get Peter for herself. To that extent, Eden would suggest to Kelly that Peter and Santana's friendship ran much deeper having spotted them in a rather tender, intimate moment. Kelly, mad at Joe still and unable to cope with her feelings, would lash out at Peter calling off the wedding. Meanwhile, Eden would suggest to Peter that Kelly was still in love with Joe. Eden would worm her way into Capwell in a department working closely with Peter and the groundwork for a 80s power couple would be in the making until more and more bodies would start piling up as the Carnation Killer struck. 

Cruz would discover Lindsay and realize that Channing was bisexual. Mason would also discover the connection between Lindsay and Channing and have Lindsay join him in a law practice. Lindsay's arrival on the scene would be a threat to Peter because Channing had shared with Lindsay details of his experience in Miami. How much Lindsay knew would be unknown to Peter but he wouldn't let that stop him from trying to kill Lindsay as well. On the night he intended to kill Lindsay, Peter proposed to Eden that they flee to the islands to get married much to Eden's delight. While they drank the bottle of champagne on the runway, Eden slowly passed out. Peter rushed over and attempted to gain Lindsay's confidence to let him get close enough to kill him. 

When Eden awoke, she and Peter were in the Dominican Republic where they married before returning to "Santa Barbara." Eden calls home to announce she is returning and receives shocking news: Lindsay Cunningham was attacked and remains in a coma. Peter doesn't like the loose end and plans to resolve the issue. Kelly, in the meantime, has put some things together when she and Santana compare notes. As Kelly prepares to confront her former fiancee, Peter and Eden arrive to announce their marriage leaving Kelly looking like a scorned woman when she accuses Peter of being little more than a con artist and suggesting he may in fact be a murderer. 

When Peter attempts to locate Lindsay, he learns that Mason has moved him to a private facility and is unable to locate him. Santana and Kelly have found Channing's diary and learn that Channing's last entries, dating from Miami, make it clear that many of things Peter has claimed were not accurate. Now convinced that Peter is Channing's killer, Kelly becomes very frightened for Eden. C.C. agrees to host a party to celebrate the marriage, and Peter decides to confront Kelly once and for all. Realizing how deranged Peter is, a frightened Kelly attempts to flee before Peter attacks her. Santana is there for Kelly when she begins to process all her pain. 

Ginger Jones has arrived and is blackmailing Peter. Eden reveals to Peter that Lindsay has awaken and his location and Peter rushes off to murder Lindsay once and for all only to learn it is a ruse. Cruz has him arrested. Eden remains in denial and blames Kelly and Mason for their duplicity in railroading her husband. Joe and Kelly, who have reunited, are a constant reminder of Eden's own unhappiness. Eden hires an attorney for Peter, which infuriates the Capwell clan, but things escalate when Peter ends up on bail as Eden has used her father's name to find a sympathetic judge. An unhinged Peter corners Santana and reveals that he believes he is the real Channing Capwell. This all occurs during a dinner party where the Lockridges and the Capwells are gathered at the Capwell mansion to build a truce in order to support their children Laken and Ted. Peter goes on and on about how the Channing they knew and loved was an imposter, unnerving Minx who was among the crowd. C.C. embraces Peter as the prodigal son returning home only to struggle with the gun, the same gun that killed Channing, leaving both C.C. and Peter shot. Peter dies, while C.C.'s fate is left up in the air for a bit before he starts to recover. 

Eden holds a sparsely attended funeral for her late husband. Ginger Jones arrives and reveals to Eden what she knew about Peter/Antonio. Eden, with Mason's help, is able to track down Peter's mother in New Jersey living in a rundown tenement. From the woman's landlady, Mason and Eden learn of Antonio's unhappy childhood of abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother. When they finally meet the woman, both Mason and Eden decide not to tell her the truth and instead say they were just looking to find them. Eden is more enraged to learn that her husband was not the monster people made him out to be. 

Eventually, once the truth about Kelly's child came out, Eden would vow she would get Peter's child away from her sister even if it cost her everything else.

[DRW50]

The story about Caroline and her racial bias regarding her children seems very heavy for a glossy soap like this. I wonder if that's one of the reasons the family was sent packing so quickly.

[Keri]

@Marissa Gallant  Louise Sorel is doing one of the Alan Locher interviews coming up. Just FYI.

I wish he would interview Robin Mattson. 

[chrisml]

The Caroline storyline confused me when I first watched it on youtube. It felt like another SB story where they had no idea where they wanted to take it, and then it was decided just to get rid of the characters. So odd. I really wish there has been someone at the network or production company who would root for consistency in storylines. 

[Marissa Gallant]

I saw that this morning. I am definitely watching that one. 

[Liberty City]

I always saw it as the Dobsons' way of trying to create a "auto fix" for losing Louise Sorel the first time, and that magic never struck.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Liberty City

[Marissa Gallant]

To me it came across as the fanbase hating them all. Jane's RIDICULOUS Roxanne bs did nothing to endear her to the audience. Caroline commited the sin of not being Augusta. I've seen complaints of them being "boring". Alice's dad was so one dimensionally ANGRY all of the time that he was hard to take. I mean seriously that is not fun to watch. Let him be not pissed once a week to make him sympathetic. I get why he was mad, but I felt bashed over the head by it. I think they were dropped because they weren't working for a lot of audience members. 

I adored Alice. And I liked Caroline. I enjoyed the growth shown as she and Lionel became close because both characters grew and changed for the better because of each other. 

[Sapounopera]

Caroline was Rita Stapleton 2.0. I loved the actress, she was gorgeous... and that voice! Lenore Karsdorf was fine with Coster and the Lockridge household dynamic was ok as well. On another soap they would have lasted years, but Santa Barbara was all about the Capwells, Cruz and Eden, rape, death and hiring popular soap actors for 6 month characters. 

[Ryan Mason]

I can't say for certain that this had anything to do with it, but I do remember that right around the time Roberta Bizeau was replaced, Soap Opera Digest had a blind item to the effect of "A soap told an actress to make a choice--a new haircut or a new storyline. The actress happily opted for the former and split." It was a blind item so I can't say for certain that it was about Roberta Bizeau, but I do remember something about Flame going undercover in disguise on some sort of a sting operation and when it was over, she took off the wig she'd been using and her hair was suddenly short and spiky; I remember it reminding me of Marie Fredricksson of Roxette. Then she was gone shortly after and Marguerite Hickey took over long enough for Warren to send her out of town on a news assignment, if I remember right. So I always wondered if maybe TPTB nixed her chopping her hair off and then let her go when she did it anyway? Stranger things have happened in the world of soaps!

Edited November 5, 2022 by Ryan Mason

[Sapounopera]

What was the point of Kelly getting involved with a pianist who was married to Deborah Adair?

He died in bed with her, the story was similar to the one Dobsons wrote for Dee Stewart and Peter Simon's Ian. 

Everything started and ended within a few weeks.

[Marissa Gallant]

When did THAT happen?

[Sapounopera]

In 1991 and it was a very short story written by the Dobsons.

[Beach Climber]

I guess so Robert could save her? I didn’t like that storyline either. Wasn’t he a friend of the family (or CC’s friend anyway) and the wife could clearly tell something was brewing between them? Kelly had so many LOs or potential LOs during that period that it got a bit exhausting. 

[Joseph]

What can be said About Madeline Capwell Laurent played by The Gorgeous Terry Davis???