Falcon Crest 1.12

The first season of Falcon Crest is a very different beast to...

The first season of Falcon Crest is a very different beast to the show I remember watching/loving in the ’80s. I’m enjoying it, but I eagerly await the arrival of Richard Channing. And Melissa Agretti.

Falcon Crest 1.11

Cindy Morgan .

• Better than the previous episode. Both storylines are good. And both are bleak and quite sad.


• The Lance storyline is completely predictable, but it nonetheless offers fascinating into the Lance/Angela relationship.


• The Chase storyline is good by any standards. The hidden room is pure soap opera, of course, but the emotions and the mystery are real and compelling. Robert Foxworth does his best work in the series so far. The ending is very downbeat.


• The character of Melissa Agretti makes her first appearance in this episode. But it is merely a cameo appearance, and she is played by Delores Cantu.


• The character of Angela Channing towers over both storylines. Jane Wyman is magnificent in the part, and often quite funny.

8/10

Falcon Crest 1.10

A Martinez. Two storylines, one pedestrian and one rather good.

• Great performance from Margaret Ladd in the Emma storyline, which is a real treat: giving us fascinating insight into the characters of Angela and Lance. Complex, flawed, compelling… All of the Lance/Angela scenes are superb, and are where the show comes alive as an intelligent soap opera.


• The other storyline (about an extortionist threatening Falcon Crest workers) offers little beyond a good car chase and a chance for Chase Gioberti to play the hero in a fight at the end. It’s fun to see FC do a story like this, but it’s still an ordinary story.

7/10