Soap Opera Weekly Reviews Sunset Beach

I was--and remain--totally enamored with Sunset's talented veterans, especially Kathleen Noone, Sam Behrens, and Lesley-Anne Down (Bette, Gregory, Olivia). Although, in their enthusiasm, these powerhouse performers sometimes go a little over the top, they bring polish, intelligence, and infectious energy to everything they do.

The pretty young things that make up the balance of the cast began as do many pretty young things: with more promise than acting ability. But most have improved steadily, and...they grew on me. Right from the start, Clive Robertson, Hank Cheyne, and Sarah Buxton (Ben, Ricardo, Annie) were impressive.

Hunks extraordinaire Timothy Adams and Jason George (Casey, Michael) were always believable as longtime pals and quintessential good guys. I'm still waiting, however, for Adams to be paired with a woman with whom he has chemistry.

The show's biggest casting error--lackluster Ashley Hamilton as dashing Cole--was thankfully corrected. Eddie Cibrian has proved you don't have to be an award-winning caliber actor to be effective and totally winning in a role. But Cibrian, who generated a firestorm of heat in his brief dalliance with Olivia, produced nary a spark with the first Caitlin (Vanessa Doraman) or her wan replacement, Kam Heskin. Find this man a suitable love match! The show's best find could be its newest Adonis, Nick Kiriazis, as (oh, no!) Father Antonio, a priest with a past. Not only is he lovely to look at, but he's a very good actor.

Unfortunately, after an impressive beginning, the show lost momentum and became mired in a few plots that seemed to drag on forever but go nowhere. Repercussions from these storylines continue to reverberate, and as many wend their way toward a denouement, I became interested again--just in time for SHOCKWAVE. Guess what? I love it.

Terror Island was aimed at the Scream crowd, and they probably enjoyed it a lot more than I did. I'm much more drawn to the earthquake/tsunami, mostly because the plots involve the entire cast and are cleverly driving existing stories while introducing new ones... I like Sunset a great deal. In spite of its gloss, it really is an old-fashioned, relationship-driven soap. I admire many of the actors, and the stories, while classics, have original twists.

The biggest story misstep is the tacky ripoff of the Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. It's a cheap, attention-grabbing stunt mirroring a national embarrassment that could conceivably bring down a presidency. It's an unfortunate introduction for a new character (Sara)... Women who sleep with other women's husbands aren't particularly nice, even if they are young and stupid.

I really love Sunset's generous use of locations. A show called Sunset Beach that's set in California is wise to take advantage of the natural setting. OK, so Sunset ain't Shakespeare. But Shakespeare was really a purveyor of popular drama. If he were alive today, he might very well be writing for Sunset.