When Ken Tucker, critic at large for Entertainment Weekly, reviewed
this show last summer and could come up with no better than an F, let's just say that I for one was ecstatic. Coming from an area of Canada where Another World (the show Passions replaced) was one of the top rated shows- daytime or primetime- there was widespread anti-Passions sentiment. In short, everybody hated it even before it aired.

    So when it premiered last July 5th (yes, it's been a year already-
how time flies), and I actually gave it a shot, I was thoroughly unimpressed. From what I gathered, the show revolved around a witch named Tabitha (Juliet Mills), the come-to-life doll she created named Timmy (Josh Evans) and the people whom Tabitha was out to destroy; Charity (Molly Stanton) and her mother Faith (Dana Sparks). See, Faith was an angel almost capable of destroying Tabitha, and Tabitha in turn was out to destroy Faith before she could meet up with her long-lost twin sister Grace (also Sparks), with whom Faith had to connect with in order to destroy "the evil." And if that sounds confusing- it was. But the topper was the location of the action: a fair ground where the "fun" never stopped.

    Fortunately, the same couldn't be said for viewership. People just
didn't watch. The show seemed disjointed- most characters had no connections to each other, and the storylines were boring at best. But- amazingly- what proceeded to happen over the next year was no less than a miracle. The show re-invented itself.

    Smartly putting the witchcraft to the side, the writers of the show
started to put the pieces of the "Harmony" puzzle together. Viewers learned
that the four families of the show, the Lopez-Fitzgeralds, the Russells,
the Bennetts, and the rich Cranes (whom all seem to hate, each for their
own good reasons), all had their dirty secrets. For viewers of the show,
the "secrets" are really not secrets anymore: it's not necessary to go into them because they are not what binds the show together.

    No, what binds this show together are the interactions between the
characters. Unlike when the show began last July, everybody in Harmony
is connected to each other in some way. The two most fringe characters
at the onset, Ivy Crane (Kim Ulrich) & Eve Russell (Tracey Ross) are gold together. Thing is, Ivy, matriarch of the loveless Crane brood, wants to set her hooks into high school love Sam Bennett (James Hyde), husband to Grace (yes- that Grace). Only she dumped him oh so many years ago to marry Julian Crane's money. So what does Eve have to do with this? This is where it gets really fun. Turns out saintly do-no wrong doctor Eve had an affair with Julian many years ago, and Ivy has the pictures. Now she's blackmailing Eve into telling her wherever Sam & Grace go, so she can step in and try to scoop up her one-time man (Eve is Grace's best friend and tells her everything).

    Sounds a bit complicated, but that's what makes it so much fun.
One particular nightmare had Eve in bed with Julian once again- only this
time the whole town of Harmony was watching. The reactions were hilarious, in particular that of Charity, which escapes me at the moment. But take my word for it, please.

    Even better, this whole situation gives Eve many chances to look
pained. Her past could come back to bite her in the ass. Ivy even went as far as to send Eve's husband TC (Rodney Van Johnson) the pic of Julian and her in bed together- only Ivy blacked out the faces. When TC said, "I'm glad I'm not married to a slut like that," I nearly busted a gut laughing.

    Then there's Ivy family, the infamous Cranes. While husband Julian
(the great, slimy Masters) frets with "father" over who's gonna find
out the family's dirty little secrets, son Ethan (Travis Shuldt) (who just may in fact be Sam's son- see the fun?), is in a little predicament of his own. He's supposed to be marrying Gwen (played by Susan Lucci's daughter Liza Huber), but thinks he may love Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald (Lindsay Korman). She is really one of the most interesting characters on this show. A good actress who can put real emotion into her lines, she's a teen girl who has loved clueless Ethan for most of her life. She's dumped fish guts and fries on him, not to even mention stalking him, but finally got to get close when she took a part-time job for Ivy last fall. Slowly, she pushed her way into Ethan's life, under the guise of helping him plan is wedding with Gwen. But all Ms. L-P really wanted was Ethan beside her. This has led to so many heart-felt moments, and although I sometimes find the whole storyline sometimes corny, I can really feel for Theresa. She believes her and Ethan are meant to be together, it's F-A-T-E (as she often tells best friend Whitney- Eve's eldest daughter). And she may be right. As a thank you gift for all the wedding planning, Gwen is letting Ethan take Theresa to the prom, where she swears she's gonna tell him the truth about how she feels. Can't wait.

    Theresa's brother is Luis (Galen Gering), who would have a fit if he found out she was working for the Cranes. He believes the Cranes are responsible for the disappearance of his father Martin, who once worked for them. He really doesn't want anything to do with the family at all- except for Julian's much much younger sister Sheridan (the very hot McKenzie Westmore). Luis just can't admit that he loves Sheridan, and she just can't admit that she loves him either. Which is music to Julian's ears, since he wants to keep police officer Luis off the Crane property and away from finding out the truth about what happened to Martin. But uh-oh- because Sheridan knows the truth about some Paris drug lords who are trying to kill her, Luis has been assigned as her body guard. But that is music to the ears of the viewers for sure- these two have a sexual chemistry as strong as anybody on tv- daytime or primetime. To me, this will-they-or-won't-they is best since Sam & Diane, and that's saying alot. Then again, I was only
five when S&D were around.

    Moving across town, the plot only thickens with sisters Whitney (Brooke
Kerr) & Simone (Lena Cardwell), daughters to Eve & TC. They're both in love with the same guy- Chad (Donn Swaby), a rough and tumble who stumbled into Harmony while looking for his real parents. Whitney loves Chad and can't admit it, while Simone loves Chad and drools all over him. But Simone's not the one who Chad has feelings for. Kerr is really good at playing a prissy person who couldn't love "somebody" like Chad, while Cardwell is really good at playing a horny teenage girl looking to stake a claim with an older guy. Plus at only 14, she's really toned. In today's episodes she was wearing a halter top and actually had a six-pack going on! But oh-no- the plot thickens. Remember mom Eve & evil Julian's affair? They had a child together. A boy.Eve thought the child died. Ivy thinks it's Chad- surprise! Insta-incest.

    Meanwhile, back at the Bennetts, Simone's best friend is Kay (Taylor
Mountz), daughter to saintly Grace and chief of police Sam. Except Kay is not so saintly, and will go to no ends to sink her hooks into longtime best friend Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald (played by Jesse Metcalfe; brother to Luis & Theresa), who now just happens to be going out with Charity- yes that Charity. And when I said no-ends, I really meant no ends. When Charity was in a coma after the fire that caused her mother's death (which, in turn, was caused by witch Tabitha), Kay, through a walkman, fed her in a constant loop: "Stay away from Miguel, Miguel is bad for you." But when that didn't work, she resorted to letting Charity get hit by a train (but for the grace of Miguel saving her). Mountz as Kay is the single best young actress on this show. She never comes off as desperate, unlike Korman as Theresa. She knows that she'll end up with Miguel in the end, and plus, it's really fun to see her doing Tabitha's bidding in trying to get rid of Charity. But I only wish she'd just let boring Miguel go and go after somebody else. Maybe Ethan... a Kay/Theresa/Gwen catfight is just what this show needs. But wait a minute, it's now starting to seem that Ethan is not Julian's son, but Sam's, and two incest storylines might just be one too many for this show.

    And then there's the backbone of the show, Timmy & Tabby. While
thoroughly annoying at first, after a while it becomes apparent that they're there for comic relief. Whether they're scheming to get rid of Grace & Charity or they're just sitting back and drinking "Mar-timmy's," they're a hoot together. And a touch a poignancy was added when Timmy slowly fell in love with Charity, leaving Tabitha speechless.

    Now it all comes down to the boat-held prom, which will be the show
this week. Charity's been having bad "premonitions" for months now,
fearing that the prom will end in disaster. Not to mention that "kooky but
harmless neighbour" Tabitha gave her a pendant to take to the prom, one that glows and makes Charity tell people what's going to happen to them whenever she has it on. Charity thinks it's pretty. Tabitha thinks it will bring her "over" to the dark side. Meanwhile, Kay has plans to dump fish-guts all over Charity at the prom, sending her loony and leaving Miguel to fall right in Kay's lap. Ivy showed up too, touched Charity's pendant, and is now determined to make Sam hers by the end of the boat trip, even if it means telling him whose son Ethan really is. Whitney & Simone will probably end up in a catfight over DJ (and brother) Chad, while Theresa will hang off Ethan's every word, maybe even telling him that she's in love- right before Gwen walks in. Oh yeah, and little Timmy is even going to try and sneak a dance with Charity, even though as far as she knows, Timmy's only a creepy doll that Tabitha carries around where ever she goes.
 
    As confusing as this review reads, trust me, just watch the show;
there is no better way to explain it. You'll laugh, cry, and come back for
seconds, thirds, and four-hundred-thirty-seconds. Happy first anniversary
Passions. Cheers!
 

                Grade: A