The Brit Perspective Hosted By: Ian Hopkins
*The following does not reflect the views of Sunset Central or Sunset Beach. This column is a humorous account of the happenings on Sunset Beach. All views are mine and mine alone. I do not mean to offend or hurt anyone's feelings. This page is meant for fun. Remember, I am also a fan of Sunset Beach, so I do not have any ill intent.*
30th May 1999
Here We Go...
The Eurovision song contest has been and gone for another year and this time in a nail biting finish Sweden won with, "Take me to your heaven." I wonder whether Franchesca's going to be singing that or not. For there have been a lot of loose ends with her death that need to be followed up.
But you don't care about the Eurovision you want to know what is going on in Britain with SB. Well, it has almost been as nail biting and for my first coloumn I'm going to bring you up to speed on where we are rather than talking on a topic. So here goes :
Two weeks ago Francesca was shot.
For the past couple of months SB has never been so exciting. Almost every plot running came to some kind of climax if not a total resolution. Baby Trey's true mother was revealed and Caitlin and Cole went their separate ways. Micheal proved he was not as dum as ever as he put together the truth about Vanessa and the baby. Virginia was then remanded in Cedar Oaks. Finally Francesca's nice manner from the Rossario Jewels story line was completely forgotten in favour of scheming and plotting, something she is eminently good at. It is nice to actually see the SB writers taking some care to set up their plot.
So now Francesca's shot what happened?
SB seemed to move along at high speed as accusations flew between each of the suspects while they were staying in the hospital. Then it all seemed to come to a dead stop. At first I found myself not liking what was happening. Here was the exciting pace of the previous few weeks abandoned in favour of Gabi and Antonio sneaking about all over the place trying to cover their tracks. The only problem was Francesca never kept the tape at the hotel, she kept it elsewhere. Anyway, after thinking about it the slower pace allowed consequences to be dealt with. The show has turned into a tense character drama. SB can not all be exciting shootings and murder mystery.
Speaking of the investigation, it was a nice touch with the films which Francesca owned. Scream, The Posidon Adventure and Earthquake. I was half expecting another tape with a famous murder mystery film on it.
This was also the week which saw Cole brought in for questioning. At least the writers are going through sensible logical motions before hitting us with the unexpected shocks over the next few weeks. It was nice to see Ricardo following up sensible and logical courses of investigation. I especially liked when he told Gabi off for being in Francesca's hotel room. For once it seems as though Ricardo has a brain which can only be a good thing. It has been a noticeable occurrence that characters seem to have been growing brains recently (with the exception of Tim, Sara and Gabi) and this can only mean good things. For a long time I have moaned that several of the characters have been really badly treated but now times are a changing.
Except one, and there is always one, Tim. Today, Tim could be seen moaning to Sara that unless she helped him break up Meg and Ben he would tell Casey what she has been up to. Tim, get a life. Tim could be a good character if he could only stop chasing after Meg. Think of the time when he and Annie went to Kansas, I was really rooting for those two to get it together. Alas it never came to pass.
Also this week we bid adieu to Jimmy and Leo. Two characters with vast story potential which were never exploited. We will always miss you (maybe).
So what do we have to look forward to. More plots with Gabi and Antonio, More Francesca and more Ben, Meg Maria and Benjy. Roll on the next omnibus.
5th June 1999
Feel It Hot, Hot, Hot...
So what happened? Why was SB so good? Well...
Ben found out that Benjy really is his son.
This weeks SB was perhaps the most funny collection of episodes that we have ever seen. Apart from Jerry Springer there were some fantastic lines, such as when Caitlin and Annie were fighting it out. Caitlin said, "this isn't Melrose Place." Annie replied with, "no, this is Sunset Beach." It was a classic. Unusually for Hank he also had a funny line. When speaking about the paternity test for Benjy he said to Tess, "now if we can just find a test to see if Mary Poppins here is legit." What a cracker!
And then there was Annie's "Murderer For A Day" hosted by Jerry Springer. I had begun to wonder where all the fantasies had gone of late but here, it has all been made up for in a big way. Olivia as Cruella De Ville, Caitlin as Cher from "Clueless", Gregory as a devil, AJ as some sleazy person, Francesca as a beauty queen and Cole as a hero. It was brilliant right down to the ending where Annie punched the census man played by Jerry Springer. The fantasy also gave rise to the best scene ever in SB. Annie was looking at the video screen she saw a clip of the old Caitlin and said, "my Caitlin you have changed a lot." I found that scene odd though. SB has never shown anyone who is not still with the cast in a flashback or clip ever before. But here we see the old Caitlin. How odd.
It was good to see Olivia bringing Gregory down a peg or two with the name of the lawyer that Olivia has hired. For far too long Gregory has also been smug in his position as the "best" lawyer in the country. Finally we see him being brought down a little.
Talking of the baby Trey plot, what is Caitlin up to. She should know that her dad is up to no good, so why is she threatening Olivia this way. I do not want to sound harsh but I am with Olivia on this one. She should get the baby and Caitlin should just get over it.
A point of interest. Has anyone noticed that Gabi is looking more like Paula with every passing day. Her make up, her hair style and her entire look is more like Ricardo's ex girlfriend with each episode.
And now to Maria, why was she so scared to let Ben know she was pregnant? Based on Britain's current episodes, which are a couple of months behind America, I have formulated a theory about Maria. I reckon that Benjy's real Dad is actually Derek, conceived the night that Maria slept with Derek. Maria was too scared to let Ben know that she was alive since she had a son conceived by Derek. Well it could happen.
Finally, Casey admitted to Sara that he is jealous of Tim and of all the time she is spending with him. Come on Casey, get with it. How can you be jealous of the town idiot, some one so obsessed with getting back with Meg that he has not even taken a second look at Sara - let alone a first look.
So that was this week. Now, what is this list you spy before your very eyes. Well, what follows is a list of nicknames which most of the characters have been given in Britain. They are affectonate names used on the Channel 5 SB text page and by the Channel 5 continuity announcers. All right so some of them are out of date and refer to old plots but that does not matter. It is just for fun.
And no, before you say anything, I am not going to be using those names in my coloumn (everyone breaths sigh of relief).
So what do we have to look forward to. More comment on a weeks worth of British plots, a talk on BIG storylines and a comment on love triangles/squares/pentagons/hexagons! In the absence of a singing fat lady I suppose I will have to draw this column to a close myself. Here goes...
12th June 1999
Hair Today Gone Tomorrow...
A week in SB - UK style :
Olivia and Bette had their house searched by Ricardo.
Oh, the tension, the drama, the excitement. The scenes between Olivia and Bette were charged with an energy which has been missing the last couple of weeks. The tension as Ricardo was banging on the door was unbearable. Mind you what was even better about these scenes were how they so easily changed from drama to comedy and back to drama. When Emily walked in and asked if she could miss the turkey dinner, Bette and Olivia were like a finely tuned comedy duo. The shock revelation that Bette was there and could have killed Francesca was disturbing. Although we know that Bette probably did not kill Francesca.
The two fantasies showcased this week were great also. Finally Annie realised that she talks to herself. Trapped in a prison cell Cole tells her that he found out the truth because Annie talks to her self. If this is not SB taking the mickey out of itself I do not know what is. As for the other fantasy with Sara walking in on Casey and Meg in the shower - amazing. I like Sara sometimes and today she was on top form (more on that later), the look on her face when she saw the two in the shower was amazing and then her scream to cap it off was hysterical. the best thing was, until Sara pulled back the shower curtain I had no idea it was a fantasy. Then we had the final comment from Sara, "I have got to stop taking naps." I could not stop laughing.
As for Sara well she was great today. Finally she told Ben that he has no idea of how she works. It is finally good to have somebody tell Ben that he is acting like an idiot. Recently Ben has been running round accusing people of causing chaos between him and Meg when in fact Ben is the worst offender. However, Ben was not dressed down once but twice, Meg shouted at him and told him to leave her family alone. How cool can you get.
As for Benjy, can somebody please kidnap the little brat permanently. He is so annoying. "Mommy," said in horrible whining voice at most inconvenient time. AAAAHHHHH!!! Personally I think this whole affair is Derek's fault. I am probably wrong because Britain is a few months behind but here is my theory again :
Maria went to Seattle to get over the incident with Ben and Derek and while she was there Derek confronted her and told her that she was pregnant with his child. five years on and Maria finally decides to tell Ben about her being alive even though Derek has told her not to. Finding Maria gone Derek forces Tess to take Benjy down to Sunset Beach and cause chaos. All though I think my theory is currently being disproved in America.
The final thing of note this week was that Sean started acting normal to Emily again. I was not a big fan of his acting weird with her as it just seemed to come out of the blue. Another thing I just realised was that Tim was not in any episodes this week. No wonder I really enjoyed SB this week.
Anyway, after all that lets change the subject completely. A few weeks ago one of my favourite television shows came to an end. Star Trek DS9 finished with their final episode "What You Leave Behind" and after seven years it was sad to finally have to say goodbye. Although, I have to do it all over again when the video is released in Britain or it airs on television (whatever comes first). You are probably wondering what this has to do with SB, well let me explain. Seven years ago DS9 aired it's first episode. Two years after that it uttered two little words which would change the face of sci-fi television forever, "The Dominion." So, from then on DS9 was a complex twisting story which refused to compromise and was all the more engrossing for it. Big action, big story lines and big wars. It was big, Big, BIG! Sunset Beach also falls into this category.
First off was Terror Island, a small visit to an island, or was it. At this time I did not know of SB spoilers so I had no idea what was coming up and I was gripped. Who was the mystery murderer? What was going on? I was excited and scared at the same time by the action and drama which was flowing out of the TV. Then Mark was killed and Ben was revealed as the killer. Very rarely does a program ever evoke an intense reaction from me, but this was different. I gasped then at the revelation then screamed at the credits for coming so soon.
By the time Shock Wave came around I was a little wiser and knew it was coming although having read the spoilers did not prepare me for the full shock of the sets collapsing. It was the most exhilarating that SB has ever been. Then the ship went over. All right I hated the ship until it went 180° up side down. WOW! I sat there and replayed that scene for my family again and again. They are not SB fans - yet! My only annoyance was that Ricardo managed to cut through the hull of a boat with an acetylene torch. Believe me that is not possible, but who cares it was exciting.
Anyway, my point in talking about this was it was big, bold and exciting. It's about time that SB did something like this again. Murders pah, ten a penny. But earthquakes and serial killers are different. Not many soaps have quite had the bottle to do something so bold. I admit, Brookside (British soap) did hold the entire close hostage and then had a killer virus break out then after that it had a gas explosion. And I admit that Family Affairs (another British soap) did kill off ALL their main characters by blowing up a boat they were on. And yes, Emmerdale (another British soap) did have a plane crash which wrecked the entire community and that takes the biscuit. None of them, however, had the panache that SB did, and still does.
The tradition is currently going on with Francesca's murder plot and hopefully something big is just around the corner. I would like to know what BIG plots you would like to see. They can be as fantastical or down to Earth as you want. Just send your suggestions to the address at the bottom of the page.
In the mean time we have got to suffice ourselves with love triangles. Something SB does eminently well. However, why does every person in SB want some one else? I'll list the triangles (or squares) to show you. Tim/Meg/Ben/Maria; Emily/Sean/Amy; Caitlin/Cole/Francesca; Ricardo/Gabi/Antonio. Are these people desperate or what? And then we've got the Sara/Casey/Meg/Tim/Ben/Maria hexagon - try saying that fast! Love triangles appear to be a recurring theme on SB. In the past we've had Meg/Ben/Annie; Olivia/Gregory/Annie; Gregory/Olivia/AJ; Gregory/Olivia/Del; Eddie/Paula/Ricardo/Gabi; Tyus/Vanessa/Micheal/Virginia; Caitlin/Cole/Insert Anyone to name but a few!
It seems that the writers should just let people settle down a little bit as it's getting a little out of hand what next Hank/Ricardo/Ben? Gabi/Gregory/Joan?
Oh well at least it keeps the show head and shoulders above the competition.
So, what do we have to look forward to. Susan Ward, we love you. Yes, next week I'm going to tell you why Meg is a brilliant character.
19th June 1999
Before I start my column I would just like to take a moment to say that Saturday 19th June 1999 is the royal wedding day of Sophie and Edward. May their marriage not be plagued with dead wives, turkey basters or annoying reappearing children.
Grecian Urns?...
So, what has been going on?
Caitlin signed the divorce papers and found the gun in Cole's jacket.
Wow! what an exciting week this was. It is almost enough to make you forget that there is currently torrential rain ruining my Channel 5 reception. Where do I start, well let us consider Gabi and Antonio. Today Antonio posed an interesting question to Gabi. Do you want to marry Ricardo out of love or obligation. It is something I never considered up till now but thinking about it it becomes so obvious. Gabi is in love with Antonio and really is only marrying Ricardo because she feels that she owes him for all the hassles she caused in his life.
Gabi spends more time with Antonio that anyone else. I know that they are currently looking for the tape and that is why they are together but it is getting ridiculous the amount of screen time that these two characters share. In one of the funniest lines today Antonio said, "we're becoming really good liars." It proves Antonio loves Gabi back. He would not spend all this time breaking his vows to God if he were not completely in love with this woman.
Sticking with the same family and with Ricardo. What seemed like a minor sub-plot turned into something a whole lot greater. The shooting of Ricardo. It really gave Maria and Annie a chance to act like real friends as they tried to keep Ricardo alive. the one thing that bugged me was the fact that it was women who flocked to save Ricardo. Where were all the men? There looked to me like a bloke in the background just sitting around drinking coffee. Also what happened to all the computers in the Java Web, they seemed strangely absent. Has Ben been moving things around here.
Talking of the Java Web and Ben's businesses. Why have we not seen the Deep of late. Does nobody go there. Is it not the "hip and happening" club that it used to be. Maybe it is because Ben does not work there anymore so The Deep has gone down the tubes.
Something I forgot to mention last week was the fact that Meg went back to work. Finally, she realises that she has responsibilities and can not just sit around hoping her husband does not run off with Dumbo (sorry Maria). What was it this week with Meg finding out that the Liberty Corporation has been polluting the bay. Is this plot going to be followed up? Is it going to turn into something major?
Talking of Maria, why was she defending Tess today and giving Meg a hard time when clearly Maria still has her doubts over Tess. I tell you Maria drives me nuts, one day she seems to be a fairly decent woman who seems to actually understand her situation. The next moment and Maria is the most insensitive person you could ever meet. This leads me to believe that Benjy really is her son, he is just as rude and insensitive.
And as for Tim, come on I have to have my weekly moan about him. What does he think he is doing going to Tess and pretending to be friends with Maria. Has he not learnt his lesson from every other scheme that went wrong.
This weeks best lines came from the robber, "Hopefully we'll all live long enough to see the new Star Wars movie."
And after all that I am going to move onto the first episode of SB. Yes cast your minds back or just sit tight if you don't remember what happened. It was a Meg-fest. Meg running out on Tim and heading to SB where she saw Ben on the beach and instantly fell in love. Actually I only picked that up from endless flash backs and the previously on SB which used to come up at the beginning. Here is where I make my confession - I never watched the first episode of SB - I missed it!
Anyway, where was I - ah yes, Meg. Episode 2. Meg was a great way to introduce the audience to SB, a total stranger in a foreign land is an old writers technique (the writers are not old, just the technique) of introducing a new cast of characters. Call me a romantic but after "Who Shot Del Douglas", Ben and Meg was my favourite storyline. I loved the way that the writers toyed with us, it was cute, it was romantic and it was pleasant and lovely.
Then Annie came on the scene and we were shown how Annie wished Ben for herself. Annie's Master Plan? was to split Ben and Meg up by using Maria. (I always wondered who played Maria in those drowning water flashbacks that Ben used to have) All this time Susan Ward kept Meg believable and you cared for her, it had the effect that you wanted Ben and Meg to get together. Alas it never came to pass (and I'm a poet but probably don't know it) and Meg returned to Kansas.
In one of my favourite scenes ever Ben came charging up to the house in that white car. Meg saw the car coming and looked in awe. It was lovely.
Meg and Annie used to have such great cat fights. I miss them. I'll never forget the time Annie opened the door to her house only to find Meg standing there and with one wallop Meg decked Annie. I was thrilled. It was actually good to see Annie and Meg playing off each other this week in the hospital. It is something which has not been done in a while.
Lately Meg has been under going a bit out of character, actually everyone who comes in contact with the Ben/Meg/Maria story line has been doing this. Ben, Maria even Sara and Casey have all been acting odd. The wonderful thing is even though the writers are making this story line blander than bland Susan Ward is eminently watchable. She brings emotion and realism to every scene. One moment she can be in intense drama the next she can make a wise crack and light the screen up.
Who could forget the wedding. Remember the scene when Meg burst into tears in Casey's arms. That was some acting, if that had been a film Susan Ward would have been up for an Oscar (well maybe not, but one can hope).
Well now that Susan Ward is leaving SB for 10 weeks, the show wont be the same without her. If they are recasting her with who I have heard, no matter how good an actress they are, it just wont be the same. All I can say is hurry back.
Susan Ward we salute you.
So what do we have to look forward to. Aside from the weekly commentary, you will just have to wait and find out what I have planned. Any suggestions for future topics can be emailed to me at the address below.
26th June 1999
Throw Down the Gauntlet...
Anyway, What has been going on across the pond in Britain. Well...
Gabi and Carmen slapped each other around.
This week's SB was so exciting that I actually fell asleep. Well after working all morning, coming home and undertaking two and a half hours of SB is a mammoth task. Anyway, today Gabi and Antonio decided to tell Ricardo what they have been up to. They did not unfortunately because it would have been really exciting. This plot between Gabi, Antonio and Ricardo is so boring. I really wish that the writers would move it along because I feel that we have been stuck in the same place with this story line for ages.
This is where the crux of this weeks problem lies and the secondary reason why I fell asleep. Yes, I was tired but also SB did nothing to grab me. For the past few MONTHS SB have had the same three plots centre stage. The Ben/Meg/Maria plot, the Ricardo/Gabi/Antonio plot and finally the who killed Francesca plot. That is not to say that the Francesca murder plot is not exciting but it just seems that these three plots are the be all and end all of Sunset Beach.
I remember when, and this was not long ago, SB used to rotate major plots weekly. One week you would have one major plot dominating the foreground, the next week you would have another major plot and all the time the writers would be keeping things fresh by thinking up new plots for new characters.
All right, so Caitlin confessed to murder, Gabi said she would tell Ricardo the truth and Benjy said he thought Meg was mean. I know that I could go away for three weeks and the plots would not be any further on. My friend Paulina, went away to Sweden for 5 weeks and apart from missing Francesca actually being shot and Benjy's arrival, she fitted back into the story just fine.
My problem is I can not stay mad at this show for long because I love it too much so let us have a look at what was good. It was nice to see Gregory say to Caitlin, "I know you did not do the murder." I am glad he is standing up for his daughter even if he is only just thinking of himself. Mind you considering where the show is in America, it is even more prophetic and makes you wonder whether the writers knew how the Francesca story line would play out before it began.
I wish Micheal and Vanessa would hurry up and do something, their constant dawdling about each other unsure of what to do, while realistic, is getting annoying. It is annoying because these two characters never needed to be so thoroughly wrenched apart in the first place.
Anyway, that is me for this week. All that remains to be said is that it was brought to my attention that SB is getting shifted to different times on American stations to make way for the new soap Passions. If SB continues to be shunted like this then surely it will be cancelled and to top it off Passions will probably go down the tubes as well. think about it, your favourite soap is cancelled to make way for a new soap, of course you are going to feel a little resentful towards Passions.
You can help though, and so can all you folks in Britain who are secure in knowing Channel 5 will not be shunting SB until it finishes. If you live in America you can write to your local station which shows SB and thank them for showing the program. You can also write to NBC saying who much you love the show. You can write to all the soap opera magazines like SOD, I do not really know all their names, and thank them whenever they write anything about SB. You can also ask them to do more features on SB.
In Britain, you can write to NBC saying how wonderful SB is. You can also write to our soap opera magazines or magazine to be precise. You can ask them to feature SB since it is becoming one of the most watched soaps in Britain. You should see the viewing figures, SB can often pull in more viewers than BBC or ITV can at a similar time.
Everyone, make your friends take the SB challenge. Step one, find a friend or neighbour who does not watch SB. Step two, sit them down in front of three consecutive episodes. Step three, if they do not watch the fourth episode they are a lost cause. If they watch the fourth episode they have passed the SB challenge and will now be hooked.
For more details and for addresses of places to write to check out the help Sunset Beach section on Sunset Central.
Hello from Britain and welcome to the first column of the Brit Perspective.
Meg, Ben and Maria are fretting over Benjy.
Antonio and Gabi are worrying over their little home video.
THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIES
I feel like I am living in Sunset Beach at this precise moment. Warm sunshine, sweltering heat except when it is raining. It is not just the weather that is hot, SB was a scorcher this week.
Amy managed to blackmail Olivia.
Jerry Springer turned up in Annie's dreams.
SB9? NO, THIS IS SUNSET BEACH!
A long column this week I promise I will have a shorter column for next week. Anyway time for a rant. I am thinking that the people on SB should take the time to listen to the song "Everyone is free to wear sun screen" and in particular the line, "don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85." All those hair styles, all those changes. Good grief keep one hair style people and stick to it. Lately Cole changed his hair and this week Meg changed her hair. I must say that pulled back the way it was it just looked funky. However, all these different hair styles, I can not keep up, it is beginning to become too much. Anyway, that is my little rant for this week over.
Amy had to retract her alibi.
Everyone became fascinated by the insides of a turkey.
NURSE NURSE, REPORT TO WARD, SUSAN!
Oh look, it is my fourth column. I have almost got enough to hold up a Greek pantheon. Cher's song "Believe" is playing in the background as I type this. I keep mixing the line up and singing "do you believe in love after life?". Well if you do, come back Francesca, all is forgiven, we love you. Not too soon mind you, we want our characters to squirm. So what do I have in store for you lovely people this week. Ahhh, wouldn't you like to know. You would? Oh well, apart from the usual commentary on this weeks batch of episodes I am going to witter on endlessly about Susan Ward who plays Meg. Along the way I'm going to point out my favourite moments of SB, which coincidentally mostly contain Meg.
Gabi and Antonio ended up being trapped in a cabin due to snow.
Ricardo was shot while saving Annie.
After Meg said, "how's Ricardo?" Annie came back with the witty line, "he got shot."
And finally Meg, "After having your dead wife turn up, finding out you have a son. Anything else should be smooth sailing."
SUN CREAM - FACTOR TIM
You might have guessed from my columns that I do not much like the character Tim. I want to know what you think so I am throwing open a challenge. If you think you can defend Tim then please e-mail me your comments at I.E.Hopkins@dundee.ac.uk. If I do not receive any comments by the closing date of Saturday 10th July (that is two weeks you have got to send in comments), I will either assume nobody reads this column or that Tim is a lost cause. Now come on surely some one must like him. As for the current poll which is being run. You can still write in with your ideas for the next BIG SB plot. I will reveal all next week, so get writting.
Benjy said, "Meg was mean." I say, "the writers are mean," inflicting Benjy on us.
Caitlin confessed to Francesca's murder.
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