Angela Jaqueline and Douglas

Let's remember at the end of the sixth season Angela learns that her husband Douglas and her sister-in-law Jaqueline made their first-born appear dead, robbed him and sent him to Europe
Richard is his son
Taking into account that in episode 14 House of cards of the first season we are informed that Angela married Douglas for money,,the story does not make sense
Because Douglas remained married to Angela and had Angela and Julia with her.
Some explanation of the incomprehensible behavior of Douglas Channing
Douglas
You know... there has been an ulterior motive in everything you've ever done... In the beginning, I was truly in love with you -- but all you saw in me was a young publisher with a bright future and lots of money...
Angela
I did love you, Douglas —
Douglas
Maybe -- but that wasn't enough,was it? Without my money, it would have been impossible to put Falcon Crest on its feet again after Prohibición.

Ana said:

Let's remember at the end of the sixth season Angela learns that her husband Douglas and her sister-in-law Jaqueline made their first-born appear dead, robbed him and sent him to Europe
Richard is his son
Taking into account that in episode 14 House of cards of the first season we are informed that Angela married Douglas for money,,the story does not make sense
Because Douglas remained married to Angela and had Angela and Julia with her.
Some explanation of the incomprehensible behavior of Douglas Channing
Douglas
You know... there has been an ulterior motive in everything you've ever done... In the beginning, I was truly in love with you -- but all you saw in me was a young publisher with a bright future and lots of money...
Angela
I did love you, Douglas —
Douglas
Maybe -- but that wasn't enough,was it? Without my money, it would have been impossible to put Falcon Crest on its feet again after Prohibición.

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It makes me wish there was a Falcon Crest: The Early Years television movie set during Prohibition. I'd love to see the interaction between young Angela, Douglass, Jason and Jacqueline.

Jaqueline would have gotten Douglas to divorce Angela and marry her. After all, he was rich
The thing about the theft of Angela's son is illogical, it is normal that she had stolen her husband

If nothing else the bombshell that an enemy of Angelas' was actually her son provided a shocking twist, of a cliffhanger. More backstory should have been filled out, rather than just stealing a baby. As it were the viewers had to read between the lines.

The hate that Douglas and Jacqueline had towards Angela seem slightly manufactured to make the "Richard Channing is you son" storyline work. Angela and her ex-husband previously seemed to have a cordial relationship and she showed genuine concern when he had a heart attack and grief when he died.

Kidnapping Richard and telling Angela he was dead was disproportionately cruel compared with anything that Angela may have done to either Jacqueline and Douglas.

I've said before that when they decided in Season 6/7 that Douglas and "Jacklyn Perawlt" were infant snatchers they needed to explain why Douglas would have participated in such a bitchy scheme back in the '40s. I want to know what vile story she told Douglas, ideally that the baby wasn't his because Angela was having a affair with Carlo Agretti -- a useful lie, of course, and that might explain a few things.

If Douglas suspected that Angela was unfaithful to him, the most logical thing was to divorce and not continue married to her and have two more children.
Douglas was superfluous in this story.
And then the story was not used at all, Angela neither cared nor cared if her son had an unhappy childhood and if she was raised by a person as evil as Henry Denault
Did she really, did she ever show affection to Richard?

Jacqueline turned 100 Monday (she's supposedly dead, if Julia's bullet "took" and Mengele's surgeon son was unable to save her in that nazi clinic in Venezuela).

The deep evil of the beautiful...

I had no problem with the story. I thought Douglas and Angela had a difficult marriage. Despite being cordial in Season 1 it was obvious that both were not on the same page regarding Emma.

It's possible that Douglas had an affair with Jaqueline in the 1940's and during that time was about to divorce Angela and really hated her. Maybe he regretted the baby switch and discovered more of Jaqueline's nasty side. So they separated.

Jaqueline went to Europe and Henri Denault fits in her and Richard's backstory, Jaqueline got him back from the catholic school where Richard was raised to have later the unknowing Denault adopt him.

Douglas stayed in San Francisco. Douglas also may felt guilt and returned to Angela to give her more children. It's not complete absurd.

Snarky's Ghost said:

I've said before that when they decided in Season 6/7 that Douglas and "Jacklyn Perawlt" were infant snatchers they needed to explain why Douglas would have participated in such a bitchy scheme back in the '40s. I want to know what vile story she told Douglas, ideally that the baby wasn't his because Angela was having a affair with Carlo Agretti -- a useful lie, of course, and that might explain a few things.

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Very good point. There was a goldmine of backstory there, yet I don't recall if any of it was brought up at all. Wouldn't Angela and Richard want to know why Douglas would go to such lengths? Even Jacqueline's motives are questionable. I know she hated Angela, but that's an extreme form of revenge.

Brian Kinney said:

No tuve ningún problema con la historia. Pensé que Douglas y Angela tenían un matrimonio difícil. A pesar de ser cordial en la temporada 1, era obvio que ambos no estaban en la misma página con respecto a Emma.

Es posible que Douglas tuvo un romance con Jaqueline en la década de 1940 y durante ese tiempo estuvo a punto de divorciarse de Angela y realmente la odió. Tal vez se arrepintió del cambio de bebé y descubrió más del lado desagradable de Jaqueline. Entonces se separaron.

Jaqueline fue a Europa y Henri Denault encaja en la historia de fondo de ella y Richard, Jaqueline lo recuperó de la escuela católica donde Richard se crió para que más tarde el desconocido Denault lo adoptara.

Douglas se quedó en San Francisco. Douglas también puede sentirse culpable y regresó con Angela para darle más hijos. No es del todo absurdo.

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t makes no sense, the thing about stealing children reminds me of the bad nineteenth-century serials.
For Jacqueline to do it alone if it would make any sense, but what about Douglas is silly

Douglas died too early in the series run to really learn about every nut and bolt we needed to know, about him. He seemed during season 1 to be a generally pleasant chap, who was frank though fair. In all possibility before Angela had any children she was strengthening FC come hell or high water, manipulated her father Jasper and then the sidelining of her brother Jason; "he is just too weak to be a vineyardist" that she was just completely unbearable to live with, forcing Doug elsewhere. Jacqueline as Angela's nemesis sister in law was only too happy to oblige, waiting in the wings watching every move.

The 'love child' we were told about didn't come out of the woodwork until the final season 1 show, so the affair had a firm lid unbeknown to the Agrettis, the Capronis, the Gianninis and the main family comprised of Giobertis, Cumsons and Channings. Any sightings could always have been passed off as legitimate business. So it was an all or nothing scenario with Douglas having the Perrault woman's claws firmly into him, 40 years prior to the series launch.

Jacqueline's hands would be more powerful compared to Angelas', who was deprived of a heir because of the 'love child' porky pie and ultimately depending on what way the wind blew Richard could be conditioned into damaging FC. Jacqueline didn't have the vision down to road to realise her true son Chase would one day return from flying planes and come back to the Valley of grapes, to become a partner in his aunt's lucrative business. All very murky but we really had to put the pieces of the puzzle together for ourselves, however logical or illogical those pieces were leading to the evil kidnapping of a new born.


Angela and Douglas are having dinner, in one of their favourite old restaurants, (a scene from season 1, 1981-'82):

Angela: "Be my friend Doug."

Douglas: "Have I ever let you down?"

Angela replies after sipping her Pinot Noir: "Only once!"

Dear oh dear how many occasions have we talked about this. I suppose being that it is one of the more memorable storylines that in itself deserves a topic, once in awhile to hear what new members think. Yes Jacqueline hated Angela but did she really hate her that much. It really stretched the realms of imagination. Not to mention the hand Douglas had in the bizarre turn of events. Though Jane's old film footage provided authenticity in a way.

After going through this forum bit by bit, I have been thinking about this particular storyline a lot.
I liked the dynamic we got through Richard being Angela’s son. The two were so similar, and I liked seeing their struggle in coming to terms with the shocking news. Also, in another thread it was discussed that after Chase and Jacqueline had died, the plot served to tie Richard, and through him Michael and Maggie, to Angela in the later seasons. So it worked for me on the one hand.
but
On the other hand, I hate plot holes (of which we have plenty on shows like these, of course). And I have a really hard time believing the baby snatching story w/out being given a real reason. Some posters provided interesting ideas. I thought maybe Jacqueline at the time blackmailed Douglas into stealing the baby, threatening she’d reveal their affair to Angela if he didn’t comply. Maybe Jacqueline had only seduced Doug to get back at Angela due to something happening in the past, or because she had wanted to marry Doug herself.
Anyways. In case of Jacqueline blackmailing Douglas, he would have needed something big to lose. I didn’t buy the explanation that he hated Angela. Because it was his own son, too. Why give the baby up completely then?

On a completely unrelated note, I always wonder why Richard speaks with his particular thick accent when he was supposed to have been raised in Europe. I know, it’s David Selby’s accent, and as a non-native speaker I am not much into other actors’ accents, but this is something I keep wondering about.

@Arlene Halloran I am a fairly recent member of this forum so my chance to opine on this topic

I really like @Pina your idea of Jacqueline blackmailing Douglas. She was a truly evil woman as Maggie uncovered in her season 3 New Globe expose so I wouldn’t put anything past her. Jacqueline knew how much Angela wanted a son so she stole him away. She later fueled the hatred between Angela and Richard in season 2 by pretending to be Richard’s mother. Convoluted perhaps? Then again every good storyline has many twists and turns. Jacqueline wanted Richard and Chase to be allied against Angela and she went to great lengths even after her death to achieve that goal.

When I first watched the big reveal during the original broadcast when I was in high school I was blown away cause Richard’s parentage was settled business for 5 seasons. The whole family dynamic was blown out of the water and the way it was sold with the film clip was magnificent. To this day that scene gives me shivers with how well done it was without Jane Wyman saying a word (just like her performance in Jonny Belinda).

Pina said:

After going through this forum bit by bit, I have been thinking about this particular storyline a lot.
I liked the dynamic we got through Richard being Angela’s son. The two were so similar, and I liked seeing their struggle in coming to terms with the shocking news. Also, in another thread it was discussed that after Chase and Jacqueline had died, the plot served to tie Richard, and through him Michael and Maggie, to Angela in the later seasons. So it worked for me on the one hand.
but
On the other hand, I hate plot holes (of which we have plenty on shows like these, of course). And I have a really hard time believing the baby snatching story w/out being given a real reason. Some posters provided interesting ideas. I thought maybe Jacqueline at the time blackmailed Douglas into stealing the baby, threatening she’d reveal their affair to Angela if he didn’t comply. Maybe Jacqueline had only seduced Doug to get back at Angela due to something happening in the past, or because she had wanted to marry Doug herself.
Anyways. In case of Jacqueline blackmailing Douglas, he would have needed something big to lose. I didn’t buy the explanation that he hated Angela. Because it was his own son, too. Why give the baby up completely then?

On a completely unrelated note, I always wonder why Richard speaks with his particular thick accent when he was supposed to have been raised in Europe. I know, it’s David Selby’s accent, and as a non-native speaker I am not much into other actors’ accents, but this is something I keep wondering about.

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People with money often send their children to Swiss boarding schools where English and other languages are spoken. For children to make good friends and learn languages, Richard was educated in English and surely also learned German and French.
But David's accent has another explanation
David's grandparents on his father's side were small farmers and his mother's were miners.
They were from West Virginia, one of the smallest and poorest states in the United States where English is very poorly pronounced. This anecdote of David portrays the situation very well
"A network television president in a conversation with my lawyer made derogatory comments about West Virginians while mocking their mountain accent. He didn't know that my very respected high-powered lawyer is from West Virginia."
The inhabitants of this state are considered hillbillies and ignorant
The two roles that made David famous Quentin Collins and Richard were wealthy East Coast sophisticates. So it is logical that he uses a strong accent to hide his
In his private life he has always been very proud of his roots and he has always had some accent that I suppose he has not wanted to completely eliminate. But his characters are something else

C Rose said:

@Arlene Halloran I am a fairly recent member of this forum so my chance to opine on this topic
When I first watched the big reveal during the original broadcast when I was in high school I was blown away cause Richard’s parentage was settled business for 5 seasons. The whole family dynamic was blown out of the water and the way it was sold with the film clip was magnificent. To this day that scene gives me shivers with how well done it was without Jane Wyman saying a word (just like her performance in Jonny Belinda).

Click to expand...

It's one of my favourite scene ever in Falcon Crest. It was a major plot twist which came completely out of the blue but was made believable by the use of the clip from the film The Blue Veil (1951).

Jimmy Todd said:

It makes me wish there was a Falcon Crest: The Early Years television movie set during Prohibition. I'd love to see the interaction between young Angela, Douglass, Jason and Jacqueline.

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They could have done this, after Lana was written off. So much potential.

Angela Channing said:

It's one of my favourite scene ever in Falcon Crest. It was a major plot twist which came completely out of the blue but was made believable by the use of the clip from the film The Blue Veil (1951).

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According to comments in the German club, it was an idea that was around in the early years but was later discarded
The scene had the problem that no one understood the theft of the child.
What was shocking?
If and if they had written that JR was the son of Digger Barnes and Ellie. And that Jock always knew that's why he always preferred Bobby. It would have been shocking too.
I think Richard and Angela worked very well as rivals as mother and son in my opinion no.