- Awards
- 7
I can't wait to hear what you think of the rest of FC.
- Awards
- 11
Ok, so I finally finished Season 7 of FALCON CREST. It took me a little longer than I had planned, but we had so much going on after Christmas and going into 2025. I had to watch it when I could.
But, alas, I finally got it in the can. My write-up this time might be part critique, part rant, part gushing, part anything in between.
I'll do my best to refrain from too many spoilers.
It's been almost a year since I began watching Season 7 of FALCON CREST, but I decided not to start over with it, but instead just pick-up where I left off.
I'll get this out of the way right at the beginning. I feel like this season changes the tone of the show. It's very goofy, silly, and in some areas, goes for slapstick. FALCON CREST has always employed humor with one-liners from Angela, Richard, and others, but this season takes it to another level. In some scenes, I was quite surprised I didn't hear a laugh track. I don't mind the soaps relaxing and poking fun at themselves, but this season did it a little too much for my liking.
This season has a lot of well-known faces showing up for short-term guest spots: Leslie Caron, Eddie Albert, Eve Arden, Ursula Andress, and Lauren Hutton all appear throughout this Season 7 in anything from one to maybe four episodes. This must've been the season the producers pushed a rotating guest star policy, and while it's fun to see different faces pop-up, it can be a little distracting from the story. In saying that, I'm partial to Leslie Caron as Nicole Sauget at the start of Season 7, even if I don't like how her character arc changes the backstory for the now-deceased Chase. I liked how they spun Eddie Albert's well-known nice guy image on its head, and Ursula Andress provided a good, Old Hollywood sizzle to her storyline.
I like that Maggie and Richard finally get married this season, although I'm divided on how I feel about Chase's will and how he takes shots at Maggie from the grave. It erases a lot of the happiness and chemistry the two had in their marriage. That being said, I like Maggie and Richard as a couple. Despite all their flaws and personal trials, they do seem to genuinely care about one another.
Melissa has an ongoing romance with Dan Fixx, and I'm alright with them as a pair. They go through so many troubles, though. The most unforgivable is Melissa hiding Dan's first wife from him. He gets mad and forgives her in the next episode. But then their relationship hits the rocks later because they argue too much. Like what? Hiding your wife didn't make you throw in the towel, but this does?
One of my favorite additions this season is a pre-fame Mariska Hargitay as Dan's younger sister Carly. She's spunky, quirky, and a very archetypical late-80s chick. I like her friendship with Angela, even if it kind of flutters out as if it never even existed, and how she butts heads with Melissa. I'm unsure how I feel about the late-season revelation of Dan and Carly not being siblings. Is the show flirting with some kind of incest storyline?
I could've skipped everything dealing with Eric and Vickie this season, and I almost did in some spots. Eric has turned into a total jerk, and Vickie is an entitled cry-baby and doormat. The episode where Eric beats a pregnant Vickie outside did it for me. I haven't any use for Eric as a character after that, and the fact that they had the two reconcile made my stomach curl. I'm glad they pulled them apart again by the end of the season.
Angela, as usual, has her own schemes and ongoing stories. Her mind never stops twirling with ways to get exactly what it is she wants. I do like her friendship with Frank Agretti (played by Rod Taylor), Melissa's long-lost uncle, even if their history together comes out of nowhere. Jane Wyman, no matter the material she is given, is always a delight to watch as Angela. She gives the show her all, and whether the story is believable or not on paper, Wyman does her due diligence to make us believe it on camera.
Poor Emma can't catch a break. She's such a lovely character and an interesting one, too. But this season she gets arrested for working in a prostitution service and suffers yet another heartache when her friend Curtis is killed. Again, poor Emma.
I guess that brings us to The Thirteen, one of the major plotlines for Season 7, especially for the last fifteen or so episodes. I'm divided on how I feel about this arc overall. I do like how everyone (in one way or another) gets involved with these corrupt, wealthy, and power-hungry group of businessmen, even if the story structure gets a little bloated and hard to follow. Richard, of course, gets in over his head with them, and Maggie and Angela follow right along with him. I enjoy Roscoe Lee Browne as the apparent leader of The Thirteen named Rosemont.
Season 7 was an alright season, but it has too much going on. The stories change so fast and with little method to all the madness. I mean, if memory serves, Lance had three different love interest storylines this season. And then there's all the twists and turns with The Thirteen, while at least somewhat intriguing, clutters the episodes and sidelines a lot of other story.
I like the season-end twist of Melissa and the Agretti family being proven as the rightful owners of Falcon Crest, even if we all know Angela won't be gone for long. She's going to find some way to get back to her home, sooner rather than later.
You can definitely feel some major cracks beginning to show in FALCON CREST. The show has lost its identity and foundation, and one predicts it'll only spiral more out of control from here.
I'll start Season 8 in a couple of days.
If there's anything about Season 7 I didn't mention, but you want me to talk about, just let me know.
Happy viewing!
But, alas, I finally got it in the can. My write-up this time might be part critique, part rant, part gushing, part anything in between.
I'll do my best to refrain from too many spoilers.
It's been almost a year since I began watching Season 7 of FALCON CREST, but I decided not to start over with it, but instead just pick-up where I left off.
I'll get this out of the way right at the beginning. I feel like this season changes the tone of the show. It's very goofy, silly, and in some areas, goes for slapstick. FALCON CREST has always employed humor with one-liners from Angela, Richard, and others, but this season takes it to another level. In some scenes, I was quite surprised I didn't hear a laugh track. I don't mind the soaps relaxing and poking fun at themselves, but this season did it a little too much for my liking.
This season has a lot of well-known faces showing up for short-term guest spots: Leslie Caron, Eddie Albert, Eve Arden, Ursula Andress, and Lauren Hutton all appear throughout this Season 7 in anything from one to maybe four episodes. This must've been the season the producers pushed a rotating guest star policy, and while it's fun to see different faces pop-up, it can be a little distracting from the story. In saying that, I'm partial to Leslie Caron as Nicole Sauget at the start of Season 7, even if I don't like how her character arc changes the backstory for the now-deceased Chase. I liked how they spun Eddie Albert's well-known nice guy image on its head, and Ursula Andress provided a good, Old Hollywood sizzle to her storyline.
I like that Maggie and Richard finally get married this season, although I'm divided on how I feel about Chase's will and how he takes shots at Maggie from the grave. It erases a lot of the happiness and chemistry the two had in their marriage. That being said, I like Maggie and Richard as a couple. Despite all their flaws and personal trials, they do seem to genuinely care about one another.
Melissa has an ongoing romance with Dan Fixx, and I'm alright with them as a pair. They go through so many troubles, though. The most unforgivable is Melissa hiding Dan's first wife from him. He gets mad and forgives her in the next episode. But then their relationship hits the rocks later because they argue too much. Like what? Hiding your wife didn't make you throw in the towel, but this does?
One of my favorite additions this season is a pre-fame Mariska Hargitay as Dan's younger sister Carly. She's spunky, quirky, and a very archetypical late-80s chick. I like her friendship with Angela, even if it kind of flutters out as if it never even existed, and how she butts heads with Melissa. I'm unsure how I feel about the late-season revelation of Dan and Carly not being siblings. Is the show flirting with some kind of incest storyline?
I could've skipped everything dealing with Eric and Vickie this season, and I almost did in some spots. Eric has turned into a total jerk, and Vickie is an entitled cry-baby and doormat. The episode where Eric beats a pregnant Vickie outside did it for me. I haven't any use for Eric as a character after that, and the fact that they had the two reconcile made my stomach curl. I'm glad they pulled them apart again by the end of the season.
Angela, as usual, has her own schemes and ongoing stories. Her mind never stops twirling with ways to get exactly what it is she wants. I do like her friendship with Frank Agretti (played by Rod Taylor), Melissa's long-lost uncle, even if their history together comes out of nowhere. Jane Wyman, no matter the material she is given, is always a delight to watch as Angela. She gives the show her all, and whether the story is believable or not on paper, Wyman does her due diligence to make us believe it on camera.
Poor Emma can't catch a break. She's such a lovely character and an interesting one, too. But this season she gets arrested for working in a prostitution service and suffers yet another heartache when her friend Curtis is killed. Again, poor Emma.
I guess that brings us to The Thirteen, one of the major plotlines for Season 7, especially for the last fifteen or so episodes. I'm divided on how I feel about this arc overall. I do like how everyone (in one way or another) gets involved with these corrupt, wealthy, and power-hungry group of businessmen, even if the story structure gets a little bloated and hard to follow. Richard, of course, gets in over his head with them, and Maggie and Angela follow right along with him. I enjoy Roscoe Lee Browne as the apparent leader of The Thirteen named Rosemont.
Season 7 was an alright season, but it has too much going on. The stories change so fast and with little method to all the madness. I mean, if memory serves, Lance had three different love interest storylines this season. And then there's all the twists and turns with The Thirteen, while at least somewhat intriguing, clutters the episodes and sidelines a lot of other story.
I like the season-end twist of Melissa and the Agretti family being proven as the rightful owners of Falcon Crest, even if we all know Angela won't be gone for long. She's going to find some way to get back to her home, sooner rather than later.
You can definitely feel some major cracks beginning to show in FALCON CREST. The show has lost its identity and foundation, and one predicts it'll only spiral more out of control from here.
I'll start Season 8 in a couple of days.
If there's anything about Season 7 I didn't mention, but you want me to talk about, just let me know.
Happy viewing!
- Awards
- 11
I forgot to talk about a few things, so here it goes:
Maggie suddenly becomes an alcoholic, which they try hard to lay at Richard's feet. The whole story is just random. Maggie gets drunk one night, and now she's an alcoholic. Like, doesn't everyone in Tuscany drink? Yeah, they do, but Maggie is the one that needs to be sent to a sanitarium and attend AA meetings. And then the story is abruptly dropped like it didn't even happen. Will it be revisited in the future as if it is still an ongoing problem?
The whole story with Lance and Dina got tiresome. I smelled a rat with Dina's nurse right away. I just didn't know how far she'd go and how bad it would bother Lance. Never fear though. Lance is googling over another woman soon enough.
The cliffhanger leaves us with the presumption that Richard has been killed by The Thirteen, which, of course, he'll be back next season. I imagine the revelation that he faked his death will cause more problems for him and Maggie.
To describe Season 7 in one word -- random. There just isn't any focal point or structure. Stories and characters are just thrown around casually, without anything solid holding them together.
I do intend on finishing FALCON CREST, but I'm not necessarily looking forward to the final two seasons. I've read some really bad things about Season 8, and fans seem divided on the quality of Season 9.
But I'll cross those bridges when I get to them.
- Awards
- 27
Let me put it this way: watching Falcon Crest beats not being able to watch Falcon Crest, as is the case for us poor suckers in Europe.
- Awards
- 11
You do have a point there. I wasn't aware Europe didn't have a streaming option for FALCON CREST. My apologies.
- Awards
- 36
Interesting thoughts @ClassyCo. Do you think the 7th was your least enjoyable of FALCON CREST thus far because this season was the 'bells and whistles' i.e. the full house and everything going on?
Lance and Chao-Li are doing martial arts training, in the garden of Falcon Crest; (a scene from season 7, 1987 - '88):
For once it is Lance who has the advantage, over his master.
Lance: "Chao-Li pay attention!"
They try another move.
Lance: "Chao-Li your body is here but your mind is somewhere else."
Chao-Li is clearly annoyed.
Chao-Li: "It's a personal matter."
Lance: "Maybe I can help. Some burdens can only be lifted if they're shared."
Chao-Li: "I have had news from my daughter."
Lance: "In China?"
Chao-Li nods and then continues, "My uncle the head of the family is very ill."
Lance: "I'm sorry!"
Chao-Li: "He has summoned me back. It is my duty to go."
Lance: "Yes, I understand."
Chao-Li: "It is the country of my ancestors Lance but it is not mine. I've never even be there. I do not wish to leave your grandmother but I have no choice."
Lance: "I know!"
Lance and Chao-Li are doing martial arts training, in the garden of Falcon Crest; (a scene from season 7, 1987 - '88):
For once it is Lance who has the advantage, over his master.
Lance: "Chao-Li pay attention!"
They try another move.
Lance: "Chao-Li your body is here but your mind is somewhere else."
Chao-Li is clearly annoyed.
Chao-Li: "It's a personal matter."
Lance: "Maybe I can help. Some burdens can only be lifted if they're shared."
Chao-Li: "I have had news from my daughter."
Lance: "In China?"
Chao-Li nods and then continues, "My uncle the head of the family is very ill."
Lance: "I'm sorry!"
Chao-Li: "He has summoned me back. It is my duty to go."
Lance: "Yes, I understand."
Chao-Li: "It is the country of my ancestors Lance but it is not mine. I've never even be there. I do not wish to leave your grandmother but I have no choice."
Lance: "I know!"
It was not as sudden as you think. Maybe you skipped the subtle scenes before...
In # 165 <7.10> already, we see that Maggie needs a drink for the first time, and the gradual movement with her drinking alcohol (and I'm not talking of social occasions here) continues in # 166 <7.11> and # 168 <7.12>. There are many more scene where her beginning alcoholism is hinted quite subtly until it builds up to the nightly scene you described when Richard secretly watches her drink later in the season.
The storyline was, by the way, Susan's suggestion due to her own father's alcoholism.
- Awards
- 11
Yes, I'd say Season 7 is my least favorite season so far. It's far too messy and goofy. There's just too much going on and the storytelling is so rapid and random.
You're right. I do remember scenes earlier in the season laying foundation for Maggie's alcohol issues.
However, that still doesn't seem to make the storyline make sense to me. Everyone on the show drinks, but Maggie is the only alcoholic? And then the storyline just seems to stop. Yes, she goes to the sanitarium and Richard goes to an AA-type meeting, but I felt like the conclusion to the arc was underwhelming.
- Awards
- 11
I started Season 8 yesterday. I'm three episodes in so far.
I'm judging very early this season, but I get the feeling the show is a tad more focused and serious, even if I'm less interested in what's going on. The writers are at least acting like they have a goal, even if that goal is potentially way off course and steadily moving away from the heart of FALCON CREST.
They're carrying over The Thirteen storyline from Season 7, which makes sense, even though it's slowly wearing on my nerves.
I hate how Richard lied to Maggie and faked his death. Maggie has every right to be upset about the whole ordeal.
Killing off Melissa is a going to felt. She has been such a strong presence on the show, and her absence will be felt. This is going to be a big mistake.
And then there's the introduction of Pilar and the Ortegas, a family everybody seems to know, but we've never seen or heard of before (not to my knowledge anyway).
I find it interesting the scenes filmed that show Melissa looking in as Pilar moves in on Lance. Then there's the shots of Pilar there at the Falcon Crest fire and at the hospital, which literally have her moving in as Melissa is being moved out.
It seems rather calculated, which, I'm sure it was. They're pushing Pilar hard on the audience, and they're edging Melissa out.
And now Frank Agretti has a son? They've never mentioned this before. He must be a replacement for Dan or Cole.
I do like that Peter came back for a couple of episodes, and that we got goodbye scenes from Carly and Vickie.
I'll be back as I watch more.
I'm judging very early this season, but I get the feeling the show is a tad more focused and serious, even if I'm less interested in what's going on. The writers are at least acting like they have a goal, even if that goal is potentially way off course and steadily moving away from the heart of FALCON CREST.
They're carrying over The Thirteen storyline from Season 7, which makes sense, even though it's slowly wearing on my nerves.
I hate how Richard lied to Maggie and faked his death. Maggie has every right to be upset about the whole ordeal.
Killing off Melissa is a going to felt. She has been such a strong presence on the show, and her absence will be felt. This is going to be a big mistake.
And then there's the introduction of Pilar and the Ortegas, a family everybody seems to know, but we've never seen or heard of before (not to my knowledge anyway).
I find it interesting the scenes filmed that show Melissa looking in as Pilar moves in on Lance. Then there's the shots of Pilar there at the Falcon Crest fire and at the hospital, which literally have her moving in as Melissa is being moved out.
It seems rather calculated, which, I'm sure it was. They're pushing Pilar hard on the audience, and they're edging Melissa out.
And now Frank Agretti has a son? They've never mentioned this before. He must be a replacement for Dan or Cole.
I do like that Peter came back for a couple of episodes, and that we got goodbye scenes from Carly and Vickie.
I'll be back as I watch more.
- Awards
- 9
I think the issue is that it's sort of trying to be subtle, then it just goes to bang on alcoholic. I thought - for a show that wasn't well-known for long-term storyline plotting - Alison's alcoholism on Melrose Place was better developed in this sense. She had a trauma happen to her in season one and start of season two, went off the rails and started coping, but ultimately quit with the unhealthy binge-drinking until it resurfaced later on. I thought that was slightly more realistic that Maggie's subtle descent and then suddenly decided she was an alcoholic.
I agree with you with season 7 - it's like they took the flash that sort of felt fresh with season 6 and went overboard with it. It just felt like they couldn't focus on any particular story or guest star for too long until they moved on. This of course led to them trying to "ground" the show in season 8 and well...
- Awards
- 11
Right. There is some foreshadowing to Maggie's eventual problem with the bottle, but it is so brief and subtle. That makes the eventual full-blown alcoholic acceptance seem so random and unwarranted. It's almost like they just wanted to give Susan Sullivan something "meatier" to do. Linda Gray apparently loved her drunk scenes as Sue Ellen, so who knows. It might've fun to play, but it reads as something inevitable to happen to a character like Maggie.
Season 7 had so many guest stars. Some of them, I honestly couldn't tell you how they worked them into the story. The inclusion of Lauren Hutton and even Eddie Albert seemed to come out of nowhere, and Eve Arden is there for just an episode.
Evidently, the producers implemented a "rotating guest star policy" at one point. It just reads like what is, though -- stunt casting. As much as I like seeing Old Hollywood stars show up on shows, it's practically distracting the way FALCON CREST did it for its seventh season. It's like they had so many guest stars to scratch off their list that they hadn't any choice but to have them on for three or four episodes before shipping them off and moving on to another one.
Season 8, for better or for worse, seems to at least be trying to center in on a specific point. The only problem is I don't think I'm going to like what they're going to chose to center on (I'm still only three episodes into Season 8 so far).
The most unforgivable thing so far (as I've early said) is the removal of Ana-Alicia from the show. That alone already sours the quality of Season 8.
- Awards
- 9
Yes, exactly. You'd kind of expect she would've just, I don't know, just tried cutting back on her own? It felt like they skipped a step in the storyline. The slow build up would've been nice, but it feels like they skipped the entire middle of the story.
What's frustrating with season 8 is that I don't necessarily disagree with what they're trying to do, because in many ways it was right to try and cut back, ground it and try to center the story. But getting rid of Ana Alicia was a mistake. I thought going back to having a conflict with the working class on the yards wasn't a bad idea per se, but I think they probably introduced too many Ortegas at the same time.
Same with the Agrettis really - in hindsight, we probably should've seen more of the Agretti family at this point in the show, but introducing them as Melissa exited just made them feel further disconnected. I think Melissa obviously having a meltdown for the 300th million time would've been enough reason for them to turn up. Plus they had to pay Ana Alicia for 22 episodes either way, so if season 8 was going to be her swan song, they should've milked it for all it was worth.
- Awards
- 11
That's the best way to describe it. There were plot holes in the storyline, that's for sure. They hit fast-forward.
You can tell they are trying to do that, but I can also see signs that it isn't going to work. Too much of the core cast is gone, with only Angela, Lance, Emma, Maggie, and Chao-Li still around from Season 1.
Yes, getting rid of Ana-Alicia was a big mistake for the show. And yet they still had to pay her for the full season. Why not just keep her?
The Ortegas have come in so strong, and it's startling. Everyone knows all of them, but the audience.
The Agrettis should have been introduced or at least spoken of long ago. But bringing them in this late in the run reads as simple filler. They should have just brought a new family entirely to rattle Angela for the control of Falcon Crest.
And I agree. Melissa's death should've been the Season 8 finale. They had to pay her anyway, and they had to double pay her when she comes back as Samantha.
Last edited:
The rotating guest star policy was necessitated by the network's dictation. For some strange reason, CBS demanded that "Falcon Crest" go episodic in the 1987-88 season, which — of course — would have been ridiculous for a drama series of that kind. Showrunner Jeff Freilich, who disagreed and was not happy with the idea, negotiated with the network liaison (not sure if it was still the same difficult person who was the reason for Earl to throw in the towel though), but the only compromise they could come up with was individual story arcs for 3 to 4 episodes with celebrity guests until CBS agreed to go back to fully serialized drama mid-season.
Yes, it was a trade. It wasn't what Jeff wanted. He is usually a developer of complex storylines that span a whole season, involving as many characters as possible — like season 6 which he spun completely around the Kit Marlowe idea, involving almost anyone in it. He would have like to do something similar for season 7, but CBS thought they had too many serialized formats and felt episodic would be more commercially viable for later reruns. I always thought that was stupid. From that perspective, I think some of the short guest stints were quite good, like Nicole — while others felt forced and underdeveloped, like Carl(ton) and Liz, for instance. Also, the problem was that a writers' strike was about to happen, so Lorimar needed to get the first twelve episodes in the can as soon as possible to meet the première date CBS had dictated them. That left not much time to develop such a different approach.
Last edited: