Alistair Crane
Alistair Crane | |
---|---|
Passions character | |
Thaddeus Crane | |
Other relatives | Unnamed great-grandson |
Alistair Crane is a fictional character on the
An extremely powerful and wealthy businessman, Alistair is, for the first five years of the program, a mysterious character whose face is never directly seen by the audience. Upon the recasting of the role with Bailey in 2004, Alistair becomes one of the soap's primary
Character history
Life before 1999
Alistair Ephraim Crane was born into the wealthy, prestigious
After Rachel's apparent death, Alistair married her younger sister,
Alistair never loved Katherine and regularly abused her—
Alistair was an emotionally distant father; he tolerated Julian as his heir and paid little attention to Sheridan when she was young. Alistair strove to ready Julian to take over the Crane empire some day in the future and felt that he needed a "socially acceptable" wife. When he learned that Julian had bedded and impregnated an
Sometime in the 1980s, Rachel escaped from Alistair's clutches and confronted him at the mansion, preparing to kill him. A young Sheridan, however, stabbed Rachel with a
The faceless years, 1999–2004
For the soap's first five years, Alistair is a mysterious character whose face is never revealed to the audience; only his torso and hands, usually holding a
During this time, however, Alistair considers the greatest threat to his empire to be Sheridan's relationship with
Much to Alistair's chagrin, Sheridan returns to Harmony alive and well in 2002—but, in the intervening time, she has become engaged to Luis's long-missing older brother, Antonio. Sheridan and Antonio are married in January 2003, but Sheridan continues sleeping with Luis and eventually becomes pregnant with his child.
Alistair then disguises himself as a
Sheridan is an emotional wreck after the presumed death of her baby, and Alistair convinces the weak-minded Antonio to place his wife in a
Luis and Sheridan flee to Puerto Arena,
Reign of terror, 2004–06
The Crane patriarch's reign of terror over Harmony's citizens truly begins on September 27, 2004, when viewers glimpse Alistair's face for the first time. Alistair takes great joy in tormenting his newly returned wife and eventually sends Katherine to a Crane compound in the
Alistair's softer side is only seen around his beloved granddaughter, Julian's eldest daughter
In mid-2005, Alistair also enters into an alliance with
Alistair seems to have finally been put out of commission at his New Year's Eve party, appropriately themed "A Murder Is Announced", when Liz Sanbourne, in retaliation for her rape and subsequent pregnancy at his hands, stabs him in the neck. He lapses into a coma and is placed into Lyndon Hill Nursing Home sometime between February 27[5] and April 13, 2006.[6] At some point during this time, Alistair emerges from his coma and pays the director of the nursing home to keep his recovery quiet; he then has another comatose man fitted with a latex mask of his face in order to convince his enemies that he is still unconscious so that he can carry out his omega plot.[7]
With everyone believing him to be in a coma, Alistair disguises himself as a
While scheming to become omnipotent, several of Alistair's other plots are also revealed. In June, Noah discovers that Alistair ordered
After his plots are revealed and foiled, Alistair focuses his energy on escaping Rome with Beth and Marty. Luis and Fancy pursue the three, and Alistair becomes so enraged by the aid that his beloved granddaughter lends Luis that he sets lions loose on the pair,[9] forcing Fancy to accept her grandfather's true nature. Alistair then commandeers a train and flees the city with Beth and Marty; Luis, Fancy, and Noah are in pursuit in an Interpol helicopter when a drone plane fires missiles at a bridge, destroying it. The train then plunges into the ravine below, presumably killing Alistair, Beth, and Marty on July 17, 2006.
Return to Harmony, 2007–08
Alistair is first glimpsed again on August 20, 2007, more than a year after his apparent death, in the mental institution housing his disturbed grandson,
Alistair is also horrified to learn that his beloved Fancy is in a relationship with Luis. In order to break the couple up and return Fancy to her "old self",
Meanwhile,
In May 2008,
Personality
Fancy and Alistair Crane, August 22, 2007[14]
Alistair is frequently described by the other characters as being brilliant, yet ruthless and evil:
Alistair is also very much a megalomaniac and a control freak; most of his actions are driven by a need to control his family members. For many years, he uses the threat of disinheritance to force Julian and Ethan to do his bidding and attempts to murder his own daughter, Sheridan, when she disobeys him and accepts Luis's proposal. Alistair's frequent use of rape, against his three main "romantic" interests – Rachel, Katherine, and Theresa – also indicates his love of power over his sexual partners.
Of all of his descendants, the only person that Alistair has ever loved is his eldest granddaughter,
Legacy
Alistair's position as the head of a multibillion-dollar corporation and the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in the world has led the contents of Alistair's
As of the series finale in August 2008, Alistair has ten living biological and adoptive descendants—children Julian Crane and
Upon his October 2005 wedding to Theresa, Alistair disinherits all of his relatives—then including Julian, Sheridan,
Alistair's will becomes especially important once it is revealed that Little Ethan, whom Alistair adopted on the belief that he was a Crane, was fathered by
See also
- Crane family
- Lopez-Fitzgerald family
- Passions Vendetta
References and footnotes
- ^ Passions. Season 7. 2005-07-14. NBC. July 14, 2005, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 7. 2005-07-15. NBC. July 15, 2005, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 8. Episode 22. 2006-01-31. NBC. January 31, 2006, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 7. 2005-09-21. NBC. September 21, 2005, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 8. Episode 40. 2006-02-27. NBC. February 27, 2006, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 8. Episode 73. 2006-04-13. NBC. April 13, 2006, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 8. 2006-06-16. NBC. June 16, 2006, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 8. Episode 40. 2006-06-14. NBC. June 14, 2006, episode.
- ^ a b Passions. Season 8. 2006-07-05. NBC. July 5, 2006, episode.
- ^ a b Passions. Season 8. 2007-08-20. NBC. August 20, 2007, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 8. 2007-08-28. NBC. August 28, 2007, episode.
- ^ a b Passions. Season 8. 2007-09-05. NBC. September 5, 2007, episode.
- ^ Alistair's last words on the May 20, 2008, episode before his death.
- ^ a b Passions. Season 8. 2007-08-22. NBC. August 22, 2007, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 7. 2005-07-06. NBC. July 6, 2005, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 7. 2005-07-12. NBC. July 12, 2005, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 7. 2005-07-15. NBC. July 14, 2005, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 7. 2005-10-03. NBC. October 3, 2005, episode.
- ^ Passions. Season 8. 2007-06-05. NBC. June 5, 2007, episode.
External links
- David Bailey at IMDb
- John Reilly at IMDb
- soapcentral.com|PS Online
- Alistair at Soap Central