Harmony (Passions)
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Harmony is a fictional town and the setting for NBC and DirecTV's soap opera Passions. A coastal town founded in 1646 in New England with a small population, Harmony features a large fishing industry. The shots of the town shown on screen are filmed in the real town of Camden, Maine.
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[edit] Location
Throughout the show's run, Harmony has only ever been identified as being in New England, which is traditionally made up of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and on the Atlantic coast, eliminating the land-locked Vermont. Though early episodes implied that Harmony is in Maine, this has never been stated as fact. Characters also frequently take trips to Boston, which is implied to be a manageable distance away.
In 2002 and 2007, Theresa Crane and Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, respectively, were sentenced to death by the state; only New Hampshire and Connecticut still allow capital punishment. However, during Luis and Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald's double trial, the jury foreman declared their case names as The Commonwealth v. Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald and The Commonwealth v. Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald,[1] and, of the four US states that are also US commonwealths, the only commonwealth in New England is Massachusetts.
Castleton is a fictional town near Harmony where Faith and Charity Standish briefly lived in 1999; it has been said to be a thirty-minute drive away from Harmony.[2]
[edit] Demographics
Harmony is home to the affluent Crane family, which has long thrived on the rest of Harmony's citizens' wealth. The majority of Harmony's families, such as the Bennett family and the Russell family, appear to be middle class, though some families, like the Lopez-Fitzgerald family, are decidedly poorer.
Crime, in recent years, seems to have dramatically risen. Beginning in December 2006 and lasting through August 2007, Harmony was terrorized by a mysterious masked person known primarily as the Blackmailer; he was later revealed to be Vincent Clarkson. As the Blackmailer, Vincent was seemingly untraceable, caught only after he revealed his identity to his mother, Eve Russell. Vincent murdered Rae Thomas, Simone Russell's girlfriend, and Dylan Flood, a bartender at the Blue Note; he also raped half-sister Fancy Crane twice and set fire to Dylan's apartment. Aside from Vincent, Alistair Crane is widely known to have murdered his son, Chad Harris-Crane, raped ex-wife Katherine Crane and current wife Theresa Crane, and kidnapped his grandson, Marty Lopez-Fitzgerald, though he has yet to be arrested.
All of the characters featured on the program are Roman Catholic. Though most of Harmony is primarily Caucasian, there is a significant Latino and African American population.
[edit] Administration
The chief executive of Harmony is Mayor Anawalt,[3] who frequently allows himself to be influenced by Alistair Crane and his family members for personal gain. Anawalt, as Harmony's mayor, holds a significant amount of power over the Harmony Police Department and its chief, Sam Bennett, and Bennett's subordinates, including Detective Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, Officer Fancy Crane, and Officer Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald. Though Anawalt is on the Cranes' payroll, along with several officers, Chief Bennett and the Lopez-Fitzgeralds all spurn such bribery, and Officer Crane is not involved in her grandfather's and father's dealings.
Harmony also has a court system, and its most prominent judge is JE Reilly, who delivers verdicts according to the will of the highest bidder.
[edit] Institutions
- Crane Industries is a global corporation, it is the main employer of the town of Harmony and is headed by Alistair Crane. Divisions include fisheries, music production, and fashion design. Besides Alistair Crane, Theresa Crane, Julian Crane, Sheridan Crane, Valerie Davis, and Ethan Winthrop are all employed by Crane Industries, and Chad Harris-Crane, Fancy Crane, Fox Crane, Sheridan Crane, Kay Bennett, and Jared Casey were at one time employed there.
- Harmony Hospital is the main hospital in Harmony. Eve Russell is the most prominent physician there.
- The Crane Cannery, owned by the Crane family, deals with the canning of fish products. Kay Bennett has been employed there since 2004, and Julian Crane was believed to have been murdered there in 2002.
- Daily Private Lives is a tabloid magazine based in Harmony that revealed Ethan Winthrop's true paternity in 2001. Vincent Clarkson was a reporter there before his supposed death; JT Cornell was the editor before his death in 2006.
- The Book Café is a café owned by the Crane family; Beth Wallace had owned and run it for many years herself before financial difficulties forced her to sell it to the Cranes.
- The Blue Note is a jazz club built by Julian Crane and formerly managed by Liz Sanbourne. Noah Bennett is a bartender there.
- The Bennett Bed & Breakfast is owned by Sam Bennett and was run and co-owned by Grace Bennett before she moved to Italy in 2004. David and John Hastings; Chris and James Boothe and Sheridan Crane; and Ethan, Gwen, and Jane Winthrop were all one-time residents of the B&B.
- St. Margaret Mary's is the local Roman Catholic parish. Father Lonigan is the priest.
[edit] Families
The main four families in Harmony are:
- the Crane family, which is the wealthiest family in town. Headed by Alistair Crane, they are a well-known family worldwide comparable with the Kennedy family. Other notable living members include Julian Crane, Sheridan Crane, Fancy Crane, and Pretty Crane.
- the Bennett family, most prominently represented by Sam Bennett, the chief of police. After over twenty-five years, it was revealed that Sam is the father of Ethan Winthrop, once believed to be the heir to the Crane family fortune.
- the Lopez-Fitzgerald family, a working-class Irish-Latino family. They fell into poverty after patriarch Martin Fitzgerald ran away with Katherine Barrett in the 1980s, though many of their children have faired well as adults: Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald and Theresa Crane (née Lopez-Fitzgerald) both married into the Crane family, while Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald has been engaged to two Cranes.
- the Russell Family, a middle-class African-American family in town. When Passions moved to DirecTV in September 2007, member Whitney Russell was written out by moving to New Orleans following her husband's murder and taking her toddler son along with her; when her father and sister also joined her there, the Russell family was left containing only doctor Eve Russell and her intersexed child Vincent Clarkson.
[edit] Notable citizens
- Sam Bennett, police chief
- Alistair Crane, head of Crane Industries, primary villain, and criminal
- Ethan Crane, Alistair's young adopted son and the sole heir to the Crane fortune
- Fancy Crane, a reformed celebutante
- Fox Crane, deceased reformed playboy
- Julian Crane, reformed playboy and Second in Command at Crane Industries
- Pretty Crane, once a frequent target of the tabloids before her disfiguring accident as a teenager
- Sheridan Crane, a frequent target of the tabloids
- Theresa Crane, one-time death row inmate and former acting head of Crane Industries
- Tabitha Lenox, witch
- Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, one-time death row inmate
- Eve Russell, doctor
- Ethan Winthrop, attorney and once believed to be Julian's son and the heir to the Crane empire
[edit] Harmony residences
- 14 Raven Hill Road, home of the Crane family. The Crane estate includes the mansion and Sheridan's cottage. Current residents of the mansion include Alistair, Theresa, Little Ethan, Julian, Fancy, Pretty, Ethan, Gwen, Jane, Jonathan, Rebecca, Esme Vanderheusen, and Viki; Sheridan and Marty live in the cottage.
- 462 Railroad Road, home of the Lopez-Fitzgerald family. The home burned down in 2002; Theresa had it rebuilt with Crane money as Julian Crane's wife. After Theresa and Julian's marriage was revealed to be invalid, Julian married Rebecca, who forced Julian to repossess the house, though Julian later returned the house to the Lopez-Fitzgeralds in December 2004. Current residents include Pilar and Luis.It is now a fact that Julian Crane owns the Lopez-Fitzgerald home.
- The Bennett residence, home of the Bennett family. Current residents include Sam, Noah, Jessica and baby Samuel. The original home was sucked into Hell in April 2001 and was later rebuilt.
- The Crane Studios apartment. Chad Harris-Crane lived there until his death; it is currently unoccupied.
- The Lenox residence. Current residents include Tabitha, Endora, Kay, Miguel, Maria, Piloma, Roberto and Demons! Currently bought by Juanita Vasquez in disguise.
- The Lester apartment, where Spike and Jessica once lived.
- The Russell residence, where Eve Russell, Vincent/Valarie and his/her baby currently live.
- The Wallace home, which was formerly occupied by Edna, Beth, and Marty; it is assumed abandoned.
[edit] Major events
- October 2000-April 2001 - A bizarre string of events caused by Hecuba results in the Bennett family home being sucked into hell in April 2001.
- September 2001 - Hurricane Peggy hit town as the Harmony High School class of 2001 was enjoying their senior trip on Warlock Island. The storm resulting from the hurricane left Ivy Crane paralyzed from the waist down for two and a half years.
- January 2002 - Julian Crane was presumed murdered, leaving a pool of suspects for the crime.
- July 2002 - Theresa Crane was executed for the murder of her husband, Julian Crane. Both were later revealed to be alive.
- June 24, 2004 - the Crane-owned jet carrying Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald exploded after take-off from the airport, killing Antonio.
- July 2005 - an earthquake hit Harmony, causing a tsunami and leaving James Boothe an orphan.
- December 2006 — August 2007 - many of Harmony's citizens were tormented by a figure known only as "the Blackmailer"; he was later revealed to be Vincent Clarkson. The Blackmailer is responsible for the murders of Rae Thomas and Dylan Flood, the two rapes of Fancy Crane, the arson of Flood's apartment, and framing Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald for the acts.
- August 2007 - Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald was executed for two counts of murder, two counts of rape, and one count of arson. Endora Lenox later turned back time so that Eve Russell was able to clear Luis's name.
- May 20th, 2008 - After decades of terrorizing the people of Harmony, Alistair Crane is murdered in cold blood by Viki Vanderheusen.
[edit] References
- ^ April 13, 2007 transcript
- ^ "". Passions. DirecTV. 2008-03-10. Transcript.
- ^ February 2, 2007 transcript
