Best and worst 1988
By Ellen Howard, Soap Opera Digest, 1989	Home   Cette page en Français

Another year has come to an end and, as usual, there was a whirlwind of activity on the soaps. What was 1988's best show ? How about, worst love triangle and most pointless storyline ? 1988 saw it all, from tortured love stories to travelling back in time. Coming up, a look back at the best and the worst of the past year.

Most entertaining couple : Keith and Gina Timmons

Gina and Keith were never slaves to convention, nor to taste. No invited to a party ? They'd show up anyway, to try and ruin it. Bored at home ? Gina and Keith dressed up as cowboy and Indian and chased each other, whooping around the living room. Strapped for cash ? The greedy Timmonses arranged for Gina to appear on Wheel of Fortune, where Keith attacked Vanna White. Next they kidnapped an amnesiac Mason, in order to collect the reward money. Whatever they attempted backfired, of course, but never for lack of imagination. Their tackiness knew no boundaries; nothing was below them. It was a sad day when the prospect of a harsh prison sentence forced Keith to skip town. Keith and Gina's outrageous, larger-than-life antics, were so wittily scripted and superbly performed that they could have gotten away with murder... and sometimes came close.

Best Love story : Cruz and Eden Castillo

Sturm und drang is the hallmark of Cruz and Eden's relationship. Luckily, the tragedy is interspersed with healthy doses of loving, so balance is achieved. 1988 will be remembered as the year these oft-separated lovers finally tied the knot. The wedding, set in picturesque Carmel, California, was spectacular, romantic and a just reward for all they had endured during the past four years.

The greatest thing about Cruz and Eden is that you believe them. No matter how melodramatic or way-out their situation (remember when a transmitter was implanted in Cruz's brain to track his whereabouts ?). A Martinez and Marcy Walker make their characters love, fear, despair, and joy something that is real and alive.

Best Split personality : Mason Capwell / Sonny Sprocket

Viewers have been watching uptight, sardonic, world-weary Mason Capwell carp about life since Santa Barbara's inception, and actor Lane Davies has always turned in believable performances. So believable that one wondered, "is it acting or is it Lane ?" Until last summer. Mason returned from the dead as an amnesiac who had assumed another personality. He was Sonny Sprocket, a hard-drinking, hard-gambling, hard-loving, good old boy... the antithesis of Mason. In an effort to collect reward money, Gina had to teach Sonny to be Mason and their scenes were hysterical. Sonny viewed a videotape of Mason and muttered that the guy had "an attitude problem". Next, Gina acquainted Sonny with Mason's relatives. It went sort of like this :
Gina : "This is your mother, Pamela."
Sonny : "Where is she ?"
Gina : "In jail for trying to murder your sister. Now, this is your brother, Jeffrey. He's married to your sister, Kelly."
Sonny : My brother is married to my sister ?"
The storyline has been a tour de force for Lane Davies. Robin Mattson, as Gina, has never been better. If you're still wondering : "Is Lane really like Mason ?", we advise you to ask him.

Best story line : Eden's rape

Victimized women are a dime a dozen on the soaps. Occasionally, however, a story comes along that leaps out at the viewers because it is so compelling. This was the case with the story of Eden Castillo's rape on Santa Barbara, and that is why we feel it is the best storyline in 1988.

Eden suffered through a brutal attack that demonstrated the fact that rape is a crime of violence. The realism of the scene was unnerving. But Santa Barbara didn't stop there. The aftermath was carefully written to show what a rape victim must endure. The medical examination, the intimate questions, the invasion of privacy of a person who has already been violated, it was a painful, step-by-step journey for victim and viewer.

From the point on, it was up to Eden to try to overcome the trauma and find out if life would ever be "normal" again. Even with the support of a devoted husband, it was a struggle. Watching Cruz and Eden pick up the pieces of their lives and move forward was poignant without ever being maudlin.

Best daytime show : Santa Barbara

In 1988, Santa Barbara was given the Emmy for Best Show and we understand why. Its assortment of stories - most of which border on the outrageous - and willingness to take risk make the four-year-old soap a lot of fun to watch. The show's strength lies in its excellent acting ensemble, fast pace, and acerbic humor. The latter, more than anything, has become Santa Barbara's signature. Scenes like Sonny and C.C. getting drunk in the Capwell wine cellar; Gina appearing on Wheel of Fortune; Gina getting blown out of a cannon at a circus; Keith fantasizing about what life would be like married to a "nag" like Gina, and Sonny's fantasy on his wedding to Julia - complete with Father Michael as an Elvis lookalike - has us in stiches.

Santa Barbara is also adept at raising viewers' consciousness, which they proved with the story of Eden's rape - portraying it as an act of violence, and even going so far as to point out the responsibility of other soaps (General Hospital in particular) for their past handling of the subject. Particular mention must go to A Martinez (Cruz) and Marcy Walker (Eden), who were just brilliant as they displayed a range of emotion - from their torment over Eden's rape, to their joy at the prospect of parenthood, to their anxiety over the identity of their baby's father. Other highlights of the year include Cruz finding out he was Chip's natural father; Tori's drug addiction; and the hilarious wedding of Gina and Keith in which all the Capwells grudgingly agreed to attend. (We could just see C.C. cringe when he was forced to give the bride a congratulatory peck on the cheek.) And, of course, who could forget the romantic long-awaited nuptials of Cruz and Eden ?

Put simply, Santa Barbara does not subscribe to "typical" soap melodrama. It attempts to be different and it succeeds. Not many shows could give viewers a cross-dresser named Bunny, and a serial rapist who goes to confession, and get away with it.