3+ stars to “Falcon Crest,” a 1980s drama about a family running a vineyard in California. What a hoot! With the normal television cycle winding down next month, I decided to look for a “classic” TV series to watch via Apple TV and stumbled across this one… I was too young to watch this when it first aired, but I thought I’d give it a chance.
My mom watched it and thought it was pretty good at the time. It hasn’t held up too well in my opinion, as many of the scenes are just so cheesy — no better word. It’s typical acting of the drama category and time period; nothing to dash in that capacity. But the ending camera scenes and the facial expressions… oh my! I’ve seen some bad ones on daytime soaps, but this took the prize.
That said, I’ve only watched 1/2 the first season – about 8 episodes. The story is good… a man dies under suspicious circumstances (but his sister makes it look like an accident) and his son, Chase, comes back to California to close on the estate. But Chase falls in love with the vineyard and moves his wife and two teenage children from NYC to claim his small stake in the family vineyard. His father’s sister, Aunt Angela, runs the entire vineyard and is anxious to get rid of Chase before he figures out that if his father died under suspicious circumstances, the whole vineyard goes to Chase. She’s got a kooky daughter, Emma, who is the one who accidentally pushed her uncle to his death. And another one, Julia, who seems smart but trapped. Meanwhile, Julia’s son, Lance, is the hot young stud who gets away with everything (or almost everything).
I’m excited to see where it will go, but not sure how much of the over-play I can take! Anyone out there watch it when it first aired and have thoughts?
The show gets better. The first season sets the foundation. I think seasons 2-5 are the best. I like how you described Julia (Abby Dalton’s character). I won’t spoil what happens, but that character changes the most dramatically of any other on the show. I’d say ‘smart but trapped’ is accurate and she becomes too smart and gets even more trapped by circumstances that spiral out of control. Don’t give up on the show until you’ve at least made it through season 2, and my guess is you’ll want to continue up through 4 or 5 at least.
I like Julia. Sounds intriguing. Two episodes left in his season. Excited for the cliffhanger. Thanks for the heads up.
Maybe you’ll continue to post your observations about the later seasons, or about specific episodes. I think the show starts to fall apart in season 6, and at that point, it’s kind of easy to see why Robert Foxworth (Chase) quit. Season 7 is barely watchable, 8 is horrible (a change in producers and mass firings of established actors), and 9 they were trying to reformat and fix the mistakes of 8 but it was too late.