Passions Review

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Webposted: April 2, 2002
by: Kay Kellam

A Magical Place that's fun to visit... but you couldn't pay me to live there!

Harmony is supposed to be a quiet little town, the kind of place that parents would want to raise their children, but this sleepy little town only looks that way from a great distance. Once you get to Harmony you will find that detailed plots involving most of the prominent & not-so-prominent citizens are unfolding, with stories dating back a generation, or more!

I did not watch passions when it first came on the air so I can honestly say from experience this is a show you can come to after it has been running & still enjoy it. Like any soap there will be back story you don't know, but Passions is far more generous with flash back scenes, & is always quick to remind you of anything of great importance.

Harmony is a place where anything can happen, & they take that fact to the extreme in expected & unexpected ways. An actor whose character died before his contract ended has since gone through contract renegotiations & it looks like he will continue to grace the screen for some time to come. But this is also a place where a woman can tuck an envelope in her blouse & pull out a floppy disk a few minutes later! The writer's don't always remember pieces of the puzzle they have dropped along the way, & from time to time they simply change their mind about what direction they want to go & start moving in that new direction, but the actors always pull it off with such grace & ease that you have to stop & think "but wait... didn't she put an ENVELOPE in her blouse?" for which I commend the entire cast.

These trusting actors have signed on for an amazing ride, & they are taking the audience along with such... passion that if you are up for the adventure you will find you are easily swept away. Just don't expect perfect continuity (does any show have that?) & don't be surprised when faces change on you. Sometimes its recasting but other times it is as simple as a trip back in time to see one of the many past lives of our friends who have to admit their lives have been anything but harmonious!

For those tuning in to Passions for the first time the NBC website offers a fairly good recap of individual episodes -- but they also bring you up to speed on plot lines. And once you tune in you will find that a simple web search on characters that catch your eye will bring up a large number of websites where you can find timelines of relationships & transcripts of special scenes.

Here's a quick score card. Relationships the rest of the audience seems to be for: Sam & Grace, Eve & TC, Ethan & Teresa, Sheridan & Luis, Miguel & Charity. Relationships the audience doesn't want: Sheridan & Brian (he doesn't know it but the lost lover she is pining for is his own brother -- Luis), Ivy & Sam (Ivy has lied & tried every trick in the book to get Sam, but he is more of a possession she feels was stolen from her than a great love), Gwen & Ethan (Theresa is the show's sweetheart, nothing against Gwen, but she lacked the pure innocent charm in the early days, & Theresa had it in spades!) & finally Miguel & Kay (though I have to admit they make a darling couple, so I guess I'm not totally with the rest of the audience on that one!)

Well, that's the basics in a nutshell minus spoilers. Stay tuned, for in the following weeks PopArtsPlace.com will be featuring a series of articles on Passions, & they will contain pictures & photos!

I heartily recommend spending an hour a day in Harmony (or just an hour or two a week, the story moves slowly enough and with ample flashbacks to make it easy to step back in after missing a few episodes), if nothing else it will make you enjoy your own life that much more!

(C) Kay Kellam, 2001 for PopArtsPlace.com
Prior to having her first novel, A Life to Di For, published author Kay Kellam enjoyed a variety of jobs that helped to shape her outlook on the world, and her profession. more...

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