Guest Author - Alice Rienzo
September 7th marked the last day of the shows’ run on NBC. As we all know, it will be airing exclusively on DirecTV’s 101 beginning September 17, 2007. For many of us, this marks the end of an era … a final good-bye.
Passions was a soap opera that was unique. No other soap has ever come close to the supernatural storylines dished up by Tabby and the residents of Harmony. Passions was quirky, disjointed, and unbelievable and is now terribly missed! It is on that note, that the end was somewhat dismal.
An immediate exit strategy was required of those characters and actors not making the move to DirecTV. Jared just simply faded into the supernova and Chad was gunned down. I will admit it: I cried. I liked Chad. Even though he was a complete idiot in the end, I have always liked Chad. Whitney’s instance that he be resuscitated even though he was clearly dead was heart wrenching. Again, I cried. And then, I cried some more … All the way to the point where Whitney walks into the hospital alone and Theresa asks her where Chad is. Whitney blurts out, “Oh, he’s dead.” No transitional thinking … nothing. Ummm … Help me, here.
Fans of Ethan and Theresa have waited eight long years to see them finally unite. It lasted less than five hours before Alistair showed up making Ethan and Theresa’s marriage invalid. Gwen’s appearance with Ethan’s son was obvious. There was so surprise factor in that ending. It is no wonder Lisa Hartley gives a stellar performance in every scene because she has only one line to repeat over and over: “Ethan, I have something to tell you.” Fans will be treated to another umpteen months of this same line until someone else finally tells Ethan or he reads it in the tabloids.
The most enjoyable scenes were the heartfelt good-bye between Whitney and Theresa. I thoroughly enjoyed the flashback, the tears, and the background music. That moment was a truly believable scene, very timely and overall, it was well done.
Phillip Jeanmarie is an amazing and versatile actor. I am pleased they decided to keep him on the payroll. It never occurred to me that Valerie and Vincent could have been one in the same. Vincent’s scenes in the last two weeks were the only true cliffhangers. I never saw the split personality coming – at least not from that angle.
The love affair between Esme and Fox seemed contrived and rushed. The viewers were not given enough time to develop a relationship with these two as a couple. Hence the reason why I did not care that Fox was shot, because, in my opinion, they were not in love. They had a roll in the hay. Still, it was a ‘whodunnit’ moment.
Finally, whatever happened in Tabitha’s house was just … well … I dunno. As most everyone knows, Tabitha was the only one I ‘wanted’ to watch on most days. The final scenes were a huge letdown. She deserved something bigger.
Overall, I felt that the final episodes left me feeling that something was amiss. It all seemed to be a weak effort to tie up loose ends and left me feeling, quite frankly, befuddled. I will continue to follow along as the story continues, because inquiring minds have a need to know. However, for my purpose here at BellaOnline, if it ain’t on NBC, then it ain’t for me!
