SoapLand - The Battle Of The Fires & Explosions - The Result

Willie Oleson

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Inspired by a discussion on the Falcon Crest forum I decided to do one for all our soaps.
So...well, what was your favourite fire and/or explosion scene?



Do you have a top 5 hottest soap moments?​
 

Richard Channing

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Inspired by a discussion on the Falcon Crest forum I decided to do one for all our soaps.
So...well, what was your favourite fire and/or explosion scene?



Do you have a top 5 hottest soap moments?​
As we've already done crashes do crashes that resulted in an explosion count, or is just bombs and fires?
 

Sarah

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1. No question - Inferno - The Southfork Fire - I was only a child but remember it vividly because Sue Ellen was trapped :(
2. In the final episode of Pam's dream, when the explosion takes Jamie outside Jack's house - so sad :( I've blanked out Sue Ellen arriving at JR's office and what happened there...
3. The explosion on the yacht in Martinique which was meant to kill JR and Jack
4. The big fire at the Ewing fields where Bobby is working
5. Although not a fan of the Range War, the scene where Bobby and Ray blow McKay's dam to bits. Yeowwwwwwwwwwww!
 

Daniel Avery

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1. When Gary Ewing intentionally blew up the Empire Valley underground complex, Knots Landing. The "solution to the problem" was not what I expected; it reminded me of that scene in Indiana Jones where Indy was confronted by a villain waving his sword menacingly. Indy simply pulled out his gun and shot the guy dead, then moved on with his life. Similarly, rather than calling the government or taking multiple episodes to puzzle over a solution, Gary just blew it all up and made the bad guys go away.

2. When Meg managed to kill Wayne Wilson with an ill-timed phone call, KL. Jeff had gifted the MacKenzies with a new-fangled cellular car phone (IKR? A phone in your CAR??? :eek:), and when Meg dialed Jeff's apartment while innocently playing with the phone, we saw the apartment explode. Everyone thought Jeff had died, but in fact he had locked nerdy Wayne in the apartment with a bomb rigged to explode when the phone rang. Jeff was Karen's stalker and needed to be assumed dead in order to finish his plan to kill Karen.

3. When Phil burned down the farmhouse where he had been holding Karen, KL. I liked that they wrote Karen taking matters into her own hands rather than waiting for "the men" to come save "the damsel in distress". She found a way to escape the burning house. She evaded Phil as he pursued her in that tacky station wagon. She threw ammonia in his face to escape him the next morning. Even when Greg showed up to put a stop to the whole thing, he didn't "save" her so much as just order Phil to put a stop to the nonsense and leave Karen alone.

4. When Claudia burned down La Garbage...er La Mirage, Dynasty.

5. When Melissa burned down Falcon Crest. Or at least did a number on the studio sets.
 

Jimmy Todd

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1. Southfork on fire. Everything built up to the fight between JR and Ray masterfully. Nothing felt forced or contrived. JR is alone downstairs after a vicious confrontation with Sue Ellen and Ray comes in as poor Mickey"s avenging angel. JR wins by fighting dirty, and the last scene is him running deeper into the house calling, "John Ross! Sue Ellen!" The immoral, villainous Ewing is now risking his life for his family, not running for the nearest exit. Perfect finale for my favorite season that exposed the bad in the heroes and the good in the villain. Dallas

2. Krystle and Alexis trapped in a burning cabin. This finale aired in the same year as the above mentioned Dallas inferno, yet it was the opposite in that it was completely contrived, came pretty much out of left field, and had plot holes Fallon could drive her Clenet through. Yet, I still love it(just nowhere near as much as the fire over in Texas). Linda Evans and Collins are still so great together that even the kind of soapy dialogue doesn't dampen their sparks. It also has one of my favorite Alexis lines, "This is all your fault! Every time you come into my life something terrible happens!" Joan utters it in such a way that it shows Alexis really believes that, which conveys how she views herself and the world. Mow we understand how such a woman can do the things she does and still sleep at night. The music and the cutting between the dialogue and mysterious figure pouring and lighting the gasoline add to the flammable fun. Oh, and that fire above Krystle as she holds an unconscious Mrs. Colby looked seriously intense. Dynasty

3. Alexis lights a cigarette in her first scene with Krystle. The two here are sublime, and the way Alexis lights it so casually after being slapped down with just a look from Krystle shows how quick she is to regain her composure. Alexis is tough and will be a formidable opponent for the lady of the manor. All conveyed by simply lighting, smoking, and pausing at the right moments with her European cigarettes. Dynasty.

4. Mary Robison walks into her apartment and finds Greg there, smoking a cigar. This little scene was perfectly placed at the end of the episode, and I loved how calm, cool, collected Greg said, "Mar, we gotta talk" as he lights one of his stogies. It added the right amount of urgency to the plot of Mary trying to take Meg from Mack and Karen. It was also nice that Laura may have been gone, but her legacy still hangs over those she left behind. Knots Landing

5. Valene watches as Laura lets a man light her cigarette in last scene of "The Lie." Everything is conveyed through the looks they give each other: Laura's infidelity, the serial rapist cover-up story, the unhappy Avery marriage, and Val knowing about it. This is also a reference to Laura's cigarette being lit by that artist she met in the bar earlier in the episode. Knots knows how to do scenes without dialogue so well, and these two actresses are excellent in that area. I wish Knots had done an entire episode without dialogue. Seriously, just once. Knots Landing.
 

Willie Oleson

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Jimmy Todd

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You've described some lovely scenes that would have been great for a Smokers Battle.
My idea was the more rampant situations, sorry about that misleading comment. But I'm not saying that you have to change your list.

Ok. I misunderstood. It's all good. I'll think of three fire scenarios and save thr cigarette ones for a future list.
 

Angela Channing

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1. The spring house fire in which Julia dies while all the main cast watch on. The scene of reconciliation between Angela and Julia that went beforehand, Lance heroically running into the spring house to attempt to rescue his mother and the grief on the faces of the family when they realise Julia has died all contribute to making this one of the most memorable and emotional scenes not just in Falcon Crest but in all of the 80s prime time soap operas. FALCON CREST



2. Annabel dies in the Weldon Mill fire. Titus and Claude conspire to burn down the mill not realising that Skipper has arranged to meet Annabel there before they run off together. Skipper arrives to see the place in on fire but the flames are overwhelming and he can't get to rescue her. In the end he just stands helpless at the entrance listening to Annabel's anguished and frightened screams for help. This was probably the most harrowing death in all the 80s prime time soap operas. FLAMINGO ROAD



3. Melissa burns down Falcon Crest but it's the pain on Angela's face as she surveys the damage to her beloved home that really makes this scene memorable. FALCON CREST



4. Val dies when the car she's in crashes and explodes. The car that Gary is chasing because he thinks Valene is in it crashes and explodes. Gary looks on helpless as he realises that the mother of his children has been killed. KNOTS LANDING



5. Claudia sets fire to La Mirage by lighting "liar" candles for the Carrington family. The first candle she lights is to declare Blake a liar and she uses it to light further candles to call Adam, Steven, Alexis, Krystle and Sammy Jo liars too. When she replaces the Blake candle in its holder it falls on a curtain which appears to have been washed in petrol or made from a very cheap man-made fibre because it goes up in flames faster than a firework. DYNASTY

 
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Willie Oleson

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1. The cabin fire - DYNASTY
Contrived or not, I absolutely love it. They're completely unaware of the mystery menace that's going on outside the cabin which allows them to continue their confrontation in an almost relaxed manner. Alexis talks about her hotel life and Krystle tries to bedazzle her nemesis with difficult words.
And even when the shit hits the fan, Alexis considers the viewers on both sides of the pond when she pronounces "water" in both an American and British accent.
There's no wadder! There's no wat-uh!
The fire itself looks very impressive, almost like burning water - and then they top it off with Krystle's off-screen, spin-chilling scream.

2. Jeb Hollister blows up his mountain ridge - THE YELLOW ROSE
To see if it's commercially viable to drill for oil. But the real reason he did it was to sabotage Roy Champion's cattle drive, and if someone would get hurt...or worse...well that's just too bad (or good!).
The chain of explosions results in a rockslide that endangers the lives of the entire cast and cattle.

3. The roast of Karen MacKenzie - KNOTS LANDING
It's all very horrific of course but it also has a touch of dark comedy because it looks like one of those Escape Room scenarios.

4. The man-bomb - FALCON CREST
A great hostage scene ends with a nasty twist when Walker Daniels, the man with the bomb strapped to his chest, has a change of heart when Richard's boys approach the cabin.
He accidentally drops the device intended for the detonation, and he's no longer able to switch it off.
To spare the others he rushes outside, says his farewell to Lauren and then...boom! A good episode from the wicked & wild season 9.

5. The smoke & mirrors fire in the Sumner Building - KNOTS LANDING
Only Knots was creative enough to do a fire storyline without actually showing the fire. I must say when I watched this episode, I had the feeling I was being lulled into a false sense of security.
 

tommie

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I dunno
Finally, I get why all flop soaps on this site prefers no competition...


WHORE!!!!!

It's not what it looks like...

OH MY GOD!
 

Willie Oleson

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Finally, I get why all flop soaps on this site prefers no competition...
From the very beginning, before we called it Soap Battle, it was decided (not by me) that we'd only cover the American prime time soaps of the 1980s.
And there were good reason to do it that way:
-it's more fun, more fair and to the point to compare the tv series of the same type and era.
-In order to crown a winner, or in this case a top 5 of winners, we need to limit the options otherwise we'd end up with hundreds of unique votes.

But of course that doesn't mean that these 80s soaps were always the best in everything, and I could think of fires and explosions from other soaps that could have dominated my personal top 5, e.g.
-the bushfire in Sons & Daughters
-CWDynasty's S1 finale
-NuAlexis' head in the fireplace
-the bomb in Number 96
-Hannah Cord setting the Peyton mansion on fire

Not to mention the bomb & fire insanity in Coronation Street
 
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