Nostalgia Nook: Passions

Soap Operas. You know I watch them. And I think it all started with Passions.

My Nana started watching Passions first. And she told my sister and I about it. My sister didn’t really give it much thought until she watched it with my grandmother one day. Then I volunteered at my school’s convent for a week one summer. There was a TV in the room but it only got the broadcast channels. So I decided to give Passions a try.

Breathe In, Breathe Out, SPOILERS!

Let’s start with how Passions came to be. It was created by writer James E. Reilly, who had worked on Days of our Lives. He had been responsible for some creative storylines which brought in new viewers to the venerable soap but also tended to alienate older fans.  He enjoyed Passions because it was a brand new slate with no fans to try and please. And it soon became one of the most popular soap operas on TV.
“Passions” was set in the fictional town of Harmony, Maine. Like most soap operas, it revolves around several families in the town, from different social circles.

Working class:

The Lopez-Fitzgeralds: Matriarch Pilar, sons Luis and Miguel, daughter Theresa. Father Martin and son Antonio were believed dead and daughter Paloma was sent to live with relatives in Mexico.

The Bennetts: Patriarch Sam, Matriarch Grace, daughters Kay and Jessica, uncle Hank, cousin Charity Standish. A son, Noah, was away at college and Charity’s mother Faith died in the first few episodes.

Middle class:

The Russells: Patriarch TC, matriarch Eve, daughters Whitney and Simone.

Upper class:

The Cranes: Heard-but-never-seen (at first) patriarch Alistair, daughter Sheridan, son Julian, Julian’s wife Ivy, their son Ethan, his fiancée Gwen and Gwen’s mother Rebecca. Julian and Ivy have children away at boarding school: Fox, Fancy and Pretty.

Not sure how to classify: Tabitha Lennox. She’s what really causes the soap to stand out: She’s a centuries old witch who escaped execution and has vowed vengeance on the people of Harmony. She doesn’t have a job but based on her house, she seems to maintain a middle class life style. With her and her living doll, Timmy.

Yes, the supernatural. This really set the soap apart from the others. And I checked—while Port Charles debuted before Passions, it didn’t take on a supernatural bent until around 2000. Passions had a supernatural bent from the beginning. Besides Tabitha, Charity had powers as well as Grace. Eventually, Kay developed them as well. 

But like other soap operas, Passions had its share of romances and secrets. At the start we have the following triangles:

Theresa-Ethan-Gwen: As noted above, Ethan and Gwen started the show engaged. They had been dating since boarding school and it seemed like a good match. But Theresa had idolized him from afar her whole life. She dreamed of marrying him and secured a job in the Crane household to be closer to him. And it worked. Ethan eventually left Gwen for Theresa. Ethan would oscillate between the two women throughout the series and both would do underhanded things to keep him.

Kay-Miguel-Charity: Kay and Miguel grew up as best friends but now they were teenagers, she started to care for him as more than a friend. But he didn’t notice. (Boys!) He ends up falling for Charity, her long lost cousin. Which doesn’t sit well with Kay. So she does some underhanded things (and trains as a witch) in order to win him back. Charity, for her part, is pretty much a Mary Sue. No, seriously, she was perfect. Her only flaw may have been her trustful nature. She never thought her cousin was out to get her until it was too late. Meanwhile, Tabitha was willing to help Kay steal her cousin’s boyfriend because if Charity slept with Miguel, she’d have the power to vanquish Tabitha forever.

There was another romance which pushed the show at the start, but it wasn’t a triangle. Sheridan Crane didn’t meet Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald under the greatest conditions. She was pulled over for a traffic stop by him. They enjoyed a Slap-Slap-Kiss-Kiss relationship. And their share of mishaps, including kidnappings and amnesia (all to Sheridan. Woman couldn’t catch a break!).

Other romances came and went and secrets were revealed along the way. Eve and Julian had been lovers at one point as had Sam and Ivy. In fact, Ethan was Sam’s son, not Julian’s. And Grace may have had another family she forgot about. (They never really settled that, did they? Ivy was blackmailing her “husband” and it seemed like he was lying).

But what really drew the audiences in was the wacky stuff that happened on a regular basis in Harmony. To start, there was Timmy—Tabitha’s doll which came to life only around her. He though wasn’t evil like his owner and often spoke out against Tabitha’s plans. And he was in love with Charity. He also made something call a Martimmy. Did they ever post a recipe for that? Cause I’d like to try one and I’m sure I’m not alone.

There was more. Ally McBeal-esque dancing babies. A tsunami. A Wizard of Oz storyline with Julian and Timmy. Meta jokes, like TC making a comment about “that soap which follows Days of our Lives” (Passions aired after the venerable soap in many markets). Or how Theresa, Gwen and Ethan broke into an impromptu rendition of the show’s theme song (though Theresa was delirious from childbirth during that scene). And then there was the time the forces of hell tried to swallow the town.

But my favorite moment which showed how different this soap was is one where they break the fourth wall. Theresa is about to be executed for killing Julian, who is really alive in Oz. The viewers of course know this as do Tabitha and Evil!Charity (long story there). Tabitha and Evil!Charity talk about it and at one point, Evil!Charity faces the camera.

EC: For those of you who think Julian is going to arrive in the knick of time to save Theresa, you’re wrong!
(Tabitha comes into view)
T: Who are you talking to?
EC: Oh, nobody.
(She walks off screen and Tabitha remains behind to continue looking in the camera, confused)

That’s probably slightly paraphrased but close to the scene in question.

And there was so much more wacky hijinks. So what happened? I’m not sure. I went to college and fell away from my soap operas. My main way of knowing about it was from clips on The Soup and when I decided to pick up a Soap Opera Digest every now and then. It seemed to be that it had become more like a mainstream soap opera than in its earlier days. Though it still had a few odd things, like a hermaphrodite who gave birth to his own father’s child. (Yeah, I didn’t make that up. The Soup loved the storyline…and by loved, I mean it gave them something to mock on a regular basis).

I did manage to watch the final episode of Passions. There were different faces and new characters but things were wrapped up. Gwen and Rebecca’s scheming was revealed to everyone and her relationship with Ethan was through once and for all. He married Theresa, capping off a slew of marriages. Kay finally won Miguel—though it seems some of her underhanded dealings were never addressed. The not-seen-at-the-start Paloma married the not-seen-at-the-start Noah. And Luis ends up marrying the not-seen-at-the-start Pretty Crane.

But fear not for Sheridan! She ends up finding Antonio, the Lopez-Fitzgerald brother presumed dead. She had first found him on an island going by the name Brian when she had amnesia and believed her name Diana. They also were on the island with a woman who turned out to be Eve’s long lost sister. Isle de Coincidence, it would seem. Brian and Diana fell in love and married, even after they returned to being Antonio and Sheridan. And after Sheridan remembered she loved Luis. But then Antonio ended up dying again.

Except he didn’t! So Sheridan gets a happy ending too. Yay? Oh, and Tabitha finally renounces evil, gets baptized and saves the town from a volcano. And gets a Martimmy as a reward!

Oh, and Fr. Lonegan got his eyesight back.

Passions was a cultural phenomenon. Why? Timing, probably. Buffy was popular at the same time. People liked the paranormal. And I also think it was different. It took the conventional soap tropes and twisted them around. The show both revered and mocked them. And the young viewing audience liked it.

Could another Passions happen? Maybe, depending on the set up and the medium. Yes, All My Children and One Life to Live regrettably had difficulty pulling in the same audience size from their TV days when they went online. But perhaps starting from scratch would be better for an online soap. And a smaller budget because the soap may not necessarily have the paranormal bent. It just has to feel…different.

Because that’s what set Passions apart—it was wacky and fresh and fun. And maybe we need another soap like that.

Next month: Love, Actually