Alistair Crane
Encyclopedia
Alistair Ephraim Crane is a fictional character
on the NBC
/DirecTV
soap opera
Passions
. Alistair is portrayed by John Reilly
on a recurring basis from August 20, 2007 to May 20, 2008; before Reilly's contract run from January 21, 2005 to July 17, 2006, Alistair was also portrayed by David Bailey
from September 27, 2004 to January 13, 2005, and by the duo of voice actor Alan Oppenheimer
(August 23, 1999 to September 24, 2004) and body double Bill Dempsey (November 11, 1999 to September 24, 2004). Alistair was also played by Jordan Baker (April 7 to November 13, 2003) when he was disguised as a woman named Charlie.
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 the soap's primary villain, expanding his focus from daughter Sheridan
and her lover, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
, to all of Harmony
's citizens. Upon this transformation, many of the most nefarious non-magical schemes in Harmony - such as the omega plot in 2006 and the Blackmailer
's reign of terror in 2007 - are written as being Alistair's handiwork. Alistair is frequently regarded as being pure evil
; he expresses racist
, sexist
, and homophobic
beliefs, and all of his known relationships are based on a megalomania
cal need to control his family members and sexual partners.
of Harmony
, New England
. Alistair's parents were cold and unloving, and he grew up to be a bitter and harsh man himself. As a young man, he became engaged to fellow socialite
Rachel Barrett, whom he loved deeply, but when she discovered his true nature, she broke off their engagement. Unable to let her go, Alistair kidnapped
Rachel and faked her death in a boating
accident.
After Rachel's apparent death, Alistair married her younger sister, Katherine, who was blind to Alistair's dominating nature until after they had married. Early in their marriage, Katherine gave birth to the couple's son, Julian Linus Crane
, whom Alistair raised and molded in his own image to ensure that the Crane empire would live on. Several years later, when Julian was a teenager, Katherine gave birth to the couple's second child, a daughter named Sheridan Crane
.
Alistair never loved Katherine and regularly abused her — physically
, verbally
, emotionally
, and sexually
. He also regularly cheated on her with other women, and one such liaison in the 1970s with Edna Wallace resulted in the birth of a daughter, Beth Wallace
. Not all of Alistair's extramarital affairs were consensual, however — while visiting Julian in Boston
, he rape
d Julian's girlfriend's fourteen-year-old sister, Liz Sanbourne
, resulting in the birth of a son, Chad Harris (later Harris-Crane), whom Liz gave up for adoption.
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 African American
woman, Eve Johnson, Alistair ordered Julian to leave her and marry Ivy Winthrop
, daughter of the state's former governor, and then had Julian and Eve's son
kidnapped at birth; he later faked the baby's death, blaming it on Eve's drug and alcohol abuse early in her pregnancy.
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 letter opener
, allowing Alistair to spirit Rachel away to Hawaii
under the care of Otto Krause. There, Rachel escaped and threw herself off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean
; her body was never recovered, and she was presumed deceased. Also during that decade, Katherine ran off with Crane employee Martin Fitzgerald to Mexico
; Alistair, to save himself and his empire from the humiliation and scandal of Katherine's actions, faked his wife's death and secretly had their marriage annulled
.
, are shown, though the back of Alistair's head is occasionally seen. Alistair's villainous plots usually only pertain to the protection of Crane empire in these years and he spends a great deal of energy trying to keep Julian and grandson Ethan
under his control. After Julian repeatedly fails in carrying out his requests, Alistair disinherits him in favor of Ethan in 2000, and then disinherits Ethan later that year when he breaks off his engagement to Gwen Hotchkiss
in favor of marrying Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald
.
During this time, however, Alistair considers the greatest threat to his empire to be Sheridan's relationship with Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
. Alistair fears that Luis, a police officer
with a deep hatred for the Cranes, will use his position as Sheridan's husband to discover Alistair's secrets and conspires with Julian in 2000 to make Sheridan believe that Luis is using her by fitting an actor with a mask of Luis's face; Luis and Sheridan eventually uncover the plot, but are unable to prove that Alistair is involved. Luis and Sheridan become engaged, and Alistair, desperate to keep the two apart, resorts to murdering his own daughter in order to keep the two apart. First, he has Julian and Rebecca poison Sheridan's wedding ring
, but when Ivy Crane
drives her car into St. Margaret Mary's in an attempt to stop Ethan and Theresa's nuptials, the double wedding is called off, and Sheridan is temporarily saved. Luis and Sheridan choose to go on their honeymoon
to Bermuda
anyway, and while they are out in the Atlantic
on a boat, they discover that Alistair has planted a bomb
on board; it explodes, and Sheridan is presumably killed in the blast.
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 elder 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 lesbian
with a grudge against blond
es named Charlie and teams up with Luis's ex-fiancée, Beth Wallace
, to kidnap Sheridan and hold her prisoner in a pit in Beth's basement until she gives birth. Sheridan bears a son, whom Beth later names Marty, in September 2003, and mother and baby are quickly separated from one another. Beth throws Sheridan into the ocean attached to an anchor
, and Alistair drives off a cliff with an empty infant car seat
in the back seat; both "Charlie" and Luis and Sheridan's baby are presumed dead, and Beth passes Marty off as her child with Luis.
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 psychiatric ward in 2004. There, Alistair arranges for Sheridan to be administered electric shock therapy until she forgets her love for Luis; when she finally does remember, Antonio kidnaps her and forces her onto the Crane jet in hopes of leaving Harmony, and Alistair has the plane blown up, unaware that Antonio experiences a change of heart and lets Sheridan leave. As a result, only Antonio is killed.
Luis and Sheridan flee to Puerto Arena, Mexico
, in part to escape Alistair's wrath and in part to bring Luis's youngest sister, Paloma
, home to Harmony. While watching Luis and Sheridan, Alistair realizes that Katherine is living in Puerto Arena with Martin Fitzgerald under the aliases of Ellen and Bob Wheeler. Alistair attempts several times to murder the five, but to no avail.
s Gwen
and Jane Winthrop and would-be rescuer grandson Fox Crane
, captive, and both rapes Katherine and physically assaults Gwen. Later, when DNA
testing proves Sheridan, and not Beth, to be Marty's biological mother, Alistair assists Beth, who is revealed to be the product of his one-night stand
with former Harmony harlot Edna Wallace, in escaping the country with his grandson. Sheridan is furious with Luis for refusing to believe her unfounded claims about Marty's maternity, and Luis sets off to find Marty on his own. While he is in Tangier
, Alistair has Luis attacked and kidnapped, and holds him prisoner in the same Hawaii
an compound that he had once used to house Rachel; Alistair then fakes Luis's death in October 2005.
Alistair's softer side is only seen around his beloved granddaughter, Julian's eldest daughter Fancy
, whom he considers to be his favorite family member and the only "true Crane" of the bunch. When Fancy complains to her "grampy" of the treatment to which she had been subjected at Noah Bennett
's hands, Alistair declares war on the Bennett family
; he first has Sam Bennett fired from his position as chief of police
, which he had held since July 1999, and then has his henchman
, Spike
, lead Sam's troubled daughter Jessica into a life of drugs and prostitution
. When he witnesses Fancy having sex with Noah on the beach, Alistair becomes enraged and has Sam's youngest son arrested on false drug and weapon charges.
In mid-2005, Alistair also enters into an alliance with Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, promising to help her retain her ex-fiancé and daughter, Ethan
and Jane Winthrop, from her archrival, Gwen, in exchange for her services as his mistress
; when Theresa refuses to fulfill her end of the bargain, Alistair rapes her. Still, Theresa's determination to win back Ethan is so great that she marries Alistair on October 3, 2005. In their prenup, Alistair includes provisions that allow him to adopt Theresa and Julian's nine-year-old son, Little Ethan, and make him his heir, disinheriting the rest of his family. Alistair takes great pleasure in sexually abusing his young wife and flaunts his efforts to turn their son into a "true Crane" in her face. After learning of her brother Luis's death, Theresa's thoughts toward her husband become murderous, and she attempts several times to kill Alistair, most notably with a batch of poisoned guacamole
that Ethan ingests instead.
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 and April 13, 2006. 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.
With everyone believing him to be in a coma, Alistair disguises himself as a monk
and convinces novice
Whitney Russell
that he is God
. Eager to atone for committing incest
with Chad
, Whitney follows Alistair to Rome
and helps him to come into possession of a chalice
belonging to the Pope
that will allow whomever unlocks its secrets to become omnipotent
. Though Alistair is able to gain some of the chalice's powers, tabloid editor JT Cornell steals the chalice, and Chad later recovers and returns it to the Vatican
.
While scheming to become omnipotent, several of Alistair's other plots are also revealed. In June, Noah discovers that Alistair ordered terrorist
Lena and his ex-girlfriend, Maya Chinn, to convince him that Fancy's life was in danger in order to tear the two apart; though Noah tries to convince Fancy that he only pretended to cheat on her for her protection, a storm that Alistair unleashes over Rome takes Lena and Maya's lives, leaving Noah without anyone to back up his story. In Alistair's subterranean Roman office, JT Cornell also discovers proof that Alistair and Liz, and not Julian and Eve, are Chad Harris's parents. Furthermore, because Eve's mother adopted Liz, Chad and Whitney are only adoptive half-cousins, removing the stigma
of incest from their relationship and allowing them to be together once more.
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, 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.
; it is quickly revealed that Alistair warped Vincent's already fragile psyche
and was behind Vincent's actions as Harmony's mysterious masked Blackmailer. Vincent tells Alistair of the secret that he learned — that Little Ethan was fathered by Ethan, not Julian — and Alistair is enraged that Theresa duped him. In revenge, Alistair sends poisoned strawberries
to her honeymoon suite, but Ethan mistakenly eats them instead and falls into a coma. Theresa, along with Chad, Whitney, Rebecca
, and Gwen, beg Alistair to allow them to dial 9-1-1
, but he refuse, and he and Chad engage in a struggle for his gun; Alistair then shoots Chad in the chest, murdering his own son on August 28. Ethan eventually pulls through, but Alistair reminds Theresa that he is her legal husband and, fearful of being made a laughingstock for making a non-Crane his heir, threatens to harm her if she tells anyone about Little Ethan's paternity.
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", Alistair has a mind-control
device implanted into his eldest granddaughter's nose; with a special remote controller, Alistair forces Fancy to violently lash out at Luis. Furthermore, he tells Luis that he must impregnate his other granddaughter, Pretty
, if he ever wants to see Marty, who is revealed to be alive, again, driving another wedge between Luis and Fancy. When Luis and Fancy reunite, Alistair returns Marty to his mother and orders Sheridan to use the boy to create friction between her ex-fiancé and niece.
Meanwhile, Esme Vanderheusen
, whose recent lovers, with the exception of Julian, have all been murdered by an unseen culprit, decides to use her "curse" to rid Harmony of Alistair. Alistair quickly realizes Esme's intentions, however; when he tries to rape her, he is stabbed in the back and sees that his assailant is none other than Esme's fifteen-year-old niece, Viki
. Alistair is taken to the hospital and arrested for Chad's murder, but he refuses to name Viki as his attempted murderer, preferring to use the seemingly innocent young girl as an assassin
; Viki's attempts to murder Ethan Winthrop, however, fail, and Alistair is sent to prison pending his trial.
In May 2008, Eve Russell is driven to the breaking point regarding Alistair's treatment of her son, Vincent, and decides to kill the Crane patriarch. However, Julian intervenes, seeking to prevent his love from a prison sentence and shoots his father at point blank range in the chest. Fatally wounded, Alistair moans for Eve's help, but the wound is too deep. As Alistair dies, Julian recalls all of his victims. Alistair's last words are to his son: "I gave you life; it's not fair that you should take mine." Alistair's death fulfills the prophecy of witch Tabitha Lenox
that this is the first of the signs of the destruction of Harmony
. As Julian was getting arrested it was revealed the gun he shot Alistair with was full of blanks and someone else killed him, not Julian. It was shown, to the audience only, Viki really shot him at the same time Julian did from afar.
Alistair is also very much a megalomania
c 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
, itself a crime characterized as being of power and control, against his three main "romantic" interests — Rachel, Katherine, and Theresa — also indicates his love of power.
Of all of his descendants, the only person that Alistair has ever loved is his eldest granddaughter, Fancy Crane
. Believing her to be the only "true Crane" of all of his relatives and admiring her spirit and ability to stand up to him, Alistair served as a father figure
to the young girl, who was largely ignored by her parents, and indulged and encouraged her nonchalant, fun-seeking attitude, telling her that she was born to "enjoy [herself and] have fun". It is not until Alistair turns on her and sets lions loose on her and Luis in Rome that Fancy finally sees the true Alistair. When Alistair is revealed to be alive in 2007, Fancy rebels against him, refusing to conform to his wishes and denying him control. Instead of marking her for death as he did to other descendants who had stood up to him, Alistair has a mind-control device implanted into Fancy's nose, seeking to regain "his" Fancy.
to play significantly into several of the program's storylines. From 1999—2000, Julian
, as Alistair's eldest child and only known son, is the heir apparent
to the Crane empire. Alistair eventually grows disgusted by Julian's behavior, however, and disinherits Julian in favor of Julian's firstborn child and son, Ethan Crane
, in 2000; after Ethan breaks his engagement to Gwen Hotchkiss in order to marry Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald later that year, Alistair also disinherits Ethan, leaving the title of heir apparent up for grabs.
As of the series finale in August 2008, Alistair has ten living biological and adoptive descendants — children Julian Crane and Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald
and grandchildren Vincent Clarkson
, Fancy Crane
, Pretty Crane
, Julian and Vincent's unnamed son, Miles Harris-Crane, Endora Lenox, James Boothe, and Marty Lopez-Fitzgerald. Vincent fakes his death in 2007, and, despite the fact that the tradition of primogeniture
would make him, Alistair's eldest son's eldest son, the heir apparent, the fact that Vincent is African American
, a hermaphrodite
, and a confessed murder
er, rapist
, and arson
ist (although these crimes were at Alistair's behest) would all likely persuade Alistair to bypass Vincent when selecting an heir. Race also prejudiced Alistair against Chad
, and Alistair never seriously considers him, nor his son, Miles, as a possibility for heir. Furthermore, Julian is not publicly known to be Endora's father, though Alistair is aware of the girl's paternity and status as a half-witch, and it is therefore highly unlikely that Alistair has included her in his will.
Upon his October 2005 wedding to Theresa, Alistair disinherits all of his relatives — then including Julian, Sheridan, Beth
, Chad, Fancy, Pretty, Fox
, Endora, Marty, and Miles — aside from Julian and Theresa's son Little Ethan, whom he adopts, and makes Little Ethan his sole heir; his other descendants are only to receive money from their trust funds and from working at Crane Industries. A year later, Sheridan adopts a son, James, and it is assumed that James meets the same fate as his mother and is not included in Alistair's will.
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 Ethan Winthrop
and not Julian. Should Little Ethan's paternity ever be made public, Alistair's will states that Fancy will become the sole Crane heir. However, only Alistair, Theresa, and Julian know of the will's special provisions. It is assumed that Julian becomes head of the Crane Empire with Fancy and her unborn child as heirs presumptive based on Julian's statements in the series finale.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
/DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Passions
Passions
Passions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008....
. Alistair is portrayed by John Reilly
John Reilly (soap opera actor)
For the notable actor of the same name, see John C. ReillyJohn Reilly is an American television and film actor. Reilly has appeared on several soap operas including General Hospital, Sunset Beach, and Passions....
on a recurring basis from August 20, 2007 to May 20, 2008; before Reilly's contract run from January 21, 2005 to July 17, 2006, Alistair was also portrayed by David Bailey
David Bailey (actor)
David Bailey was an American actor. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he went on to have a lengthy career in theater and television, perhaps his best known role being Dr...
from September 27, 2004 to January 13, 2005, and by the duo of voice actor Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
(August 23, 1999 to September 24, 2004) and body double Bill Dempsey (November 11, 1999 to September 24, 2004). Alistair was also played by Jordan Baker (April 7 to November 13, 2003) when he was disguised as a woman named Charlie.
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 the soap's primary villain, expanding his focus from daughter Sheridan
Sheridan Crane
Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She has been portrayed by McKenzie Westmore since the series began in 1999, and was briefly portrayed by Shannon Sturges when Westmore was out sick in 2005 and by Kam Heskin in 2006 when Westmore was out on...
and her lover, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions, portrayed from 1999 to 2008 by original cast member Galen Gering. Debuting in the series' premiere episode, Luis is introduced as an honest, hard-working Irish-Mexican police officer who bitterly blames the...
, to all of Harmony
Harmony (passions)
Harmony is a fictional town and the setting for the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions, which ran from 1999 through 2008. A coastal New England town founded in 1646 with a small population, Harmony features a large fishing industry...
's citizens. Upon this transformation, many of the most nefarious non-magical schemes in Harmony - such as the omega plot in 2006 and the Blackmailer
Vincent Clarkson
Vincent Clarkson is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. The role has been portrayed by Phillip Jeanmarie from December 26, 2006—July 18, 2008...
's reign of terror in 2007 - are written as being Alistair's handiwork. Alistair is frequently regarded as being pure evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
; he expresses racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, sexist
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
, and homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
beliefs, and all of his known relationships are based on a megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
cal need to control his family members and sexual partners.
Life before 1999
Alistair Ephraim Crane was born into the wealthy, prestigious Crane familyCrane family
The Crane family is a fictional family on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Seated at 14 Raven Hill Road atop Raven Hill in Harmony, New England, the wealthy Crane family amassed its fortune during the eighteenth century via the slave trade, amongst other things...
of Harmony
Harmony (passions)
Harmony is a fictional town and the setting for the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions, which ran from 1999 through 2008. A coastal New England town founded in 1646 with a small population, Harmony features a large fishing industry...
, New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Alistair's parents were cold and unloving, and he grew up to be a bitter and harsh man himself. As a young man, he became engaged to fellow socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
Rachel Barrett, whom he loved deeply, but when she discovered his true nature, she broke off their engagement. Unable to let her go, Alistair kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
Rachel and faked her death in a boating
Boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...
accident.
After Rachel's apparent death, Alistair married her younger sister, Katherine, who was blind to Alistair's dominating nature until after they had married. Early in their marriage, Katherine gave birth to the couple's son, Julian Linus Crane
Julian Crane
Julian Linus Crane is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions. Throughout the show's nine-year run, Julian is portrayed by original cast member Ben Masters, and the character debuted on July 8, 1999....
, whom Alistair raised and molded in his own image to ensure that the Crane empire would live on. Several years later, when Julian was a teenager, Katherine gave birth to the couple's second child, a daughter named Sheridan Crane
Sheridan Crane
Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She has been portrayed by McKenzie Westmore since the series began in 1999, and was briefly portrayed by Shannon Sturges when Westmore was out sick in 2005 and by Kam Heskin in 2006 when Westmore was out on...
.
Alistair never loved Katherine and regularly abused her — physically
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
, verbally
Verbal abuse
Verbal abuse is best described as a negative defining statement told to you or about you; or by withholding any response thus defining the target as non-existant...
, emotionally
Psychological abuse
Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder...
, and sexually
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
. He also regularly cheated on her with other women, and one such liaison in the 1970s with Edna Wallace resulted in the birth of a daughter, Beth Wallace
Beth Wallace
Beth Wallace was a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Beth was played by Kelli McCarty from August 23, 1999 until July 18, 2005 and from May 12 to July 14, 2006. The role was contract from October 14, 2002 until May 12, 2004....
. Not all of Alistair's extramarital affairs were consensual, however — while visiting Julian in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, he rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d Julian's girlfriend's fourteen-year-old sister, Liz Sanbourne
Liz Sanbourne
Elizabeth "Liz" Sanbourne is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions. She was portrayed by Amelia Marshall from October 2001 to February 2006.-Character's background:...
, resulting in the birth of a son, Chad Harris (later Harris-Crane), whom Liz gave up for adoption.
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 African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
woman, Eve Johnson, Alistair ordered Julian to leave her and marry Ivy Winthrop
Ivy Winthrop
Ivy Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Ivy has been portrayed by original cast member Kim Johnston Ulrich since the soap's premiere episode in July 1999...
, daughter of the state's former governor, and then had Julian and Eve's son
Vincent Clarkson
Vincent Clarkson is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. The role has been portrayed by Phillip Jeanmarie from December 26, 2006—July 18, 2008...
kidnapped at birth; he later faked the baby's death, blaming it on Eve's drug and alcohol abuse early in her pregnancy.
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 letter opener
Letter opener
A paper knife or letter opener is a knife-like object used to open envelopes or to slit uncut pages of books. Electric versions are also available, which work by using motors to slide the envelopes across a blade...
, allowing Alistair to spirit Rachel away to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
under the care of Otto Krause. There, Rachel escaped and threw herself off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
; her body was never recovered, and she was presumed deceased. Also during that decade, Katherine ran off with Crane employee Martin Fitzgerald to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
; Alistair, to save himself and his empire from the humiliation and scandal of Katherine's actions, faked his wife's death and secretly had their marriage annulled
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
.
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 cigarCigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
, are shown, though the back of Alistair's head is occasionally seen. Alistair's villainous plots usually only pertain to the protection of Crane empire in these years and he spends a great deal of energy trying to keep Julian and grandson Ethan
Ethan Winthrop
Ethan Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Ethan is played by both Travis Schuldt and Eric Martsolf...
under his control. After Julian repeatedly fails in carrying out his requests, Alistair disinherits him in favor of Ethan in 2000, and then disinherits Ethan later that year when he breaks off his engagement to Gwen Hotchkiss
Gwen Winthrop
Gwendolyn' "Gwen" Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Introduced in the soap's debut episode, Gwen is portrayed by both Liza Huber and Natalie Zea...
in favor of marrying Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald
Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald Crane
Theresa Crane Winthrop is a fictional character and the main protagonist on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She is portrayed by Lindsay Hartley throughout the program's tenure, with Priscilla Garita temporarily assuming the role from August 30–September 28, 2004, while Hartley was on...
.
During this time, however, Alistair considers the greatest threat to his empire to be Sheridan's relationship with Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions, portrayed from 1999 to 2008 by original cast member Galen Gering. Debuting in the series' premiere episode, Luis is introduced as an honest, hard-working Irish-Mexican police officer who bitterly blames the...
. Alistair fears that Luis, a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
with a deep hatred for the Cranes, will use his position as Sheridan's husband to discover Alistair's secrets and conspires with Julian in 2000 to make Sheridan believe that Luis is using her by fitting an actor with a mask of Luis's face; Luis and Sheridan eventually uncover the plot, but are unable to prove that Alistair is involved. Luis and Sheridan become engaged, and Alistair, desperate to keep the two apart, resorts to murdering his own daughter in order to keep the two apart. First, he has Julian and Rebecca poison Sheridan's wedding ring
Wedding ring
A wedding ring or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married. Depending on the local culture, it is worn on the base of the right or the left ring finger. The custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond its origin in Europe...
, but when Ivy Crane
Ivy Winthrop
Ivy Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Ivy has been portrayed by original cast member Kim Johnston Ulrich since the soap's premiere episode in July 1999...
drives her car into St. Margaret Mary's in an attempt to stop Ethan and Theresa's nuptials, the double wedding is called off, and Sheridan is temporarily saved. Luis and Sheridan choose to go on their honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
to Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
anyway, and while they are out in the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
on a boat, they discover that Alistair has planted a bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
on board; it explodes, and Sheridan is presumably killed in the blast.
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 elder brother, Antonio
Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald
Antonio Brian Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Antonio is played by Christopher Douglas from October 1, 2001 to June 24, 2004...
. Sheridan and Antonio are married in January 2003, but Sheridan continues sleeping with
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
Luis and eventually becomes pregnant with his child.
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
with a grudge against blond
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
es named Charlie and teams up with Luis's ex-fiancée, Beth Wallace
Beth Wallace
Beth Wallace was a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Beth was played by Kelli McCarty from August 23, 1999 until July 18, 2005 and from May 12 to July 14, 2006. The role was contract from October 14, 2002 until May 12, 2004....
, to kidnap Sheridan and hold her prisoner in a pit in Beth's basement until she gives birth. Sheridan bears a son, whom Beth later names Marty, in September 2003, and mother and baby are quickly separated from one another. Beth throws Sheridan into the ocean attached to an anchor
Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...
, and Alistair drives off a cliff with an empty infant car seat
Infant car seat
An infant safety seat, also known as a child safety seat, a child restraint system, a restraint car seat, and, ambiguously, commonly known as a car seat, is a restraint which is secured to the seat of an automobile equipped with safety harnesses to hold an infant or small stature people in the...
in the back seat; both "Charlie" and Luis and Sheridan's baby are presumed dead, and Beth passes Marty off as her child with Luis.
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 psychiatric ward in 2004. There, Alistair arranges for Sheridan to be administered electric shock therapy until she forgets her love for Luis; when she finally does remember, Antonio kidnaps her and forces her onto the Crane jet in hopes of leaving Harmony, and Alistair has the plane blown up, unaware that Antonio experiences a change of heart and lets Sheridan leave. As a result, only Antonio is killed.
Luis and Sheridan flee to Puerto Arena, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, in part to escape Alistair's wrath and in part to bring Luis's youngest sister, Paloma
Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald
Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald Bennett was a fictional character on daytime drama Passions. She was portrayed by Silvana Arias from May 17, 2004 to August 15, 2007...
, home to Harmony. While watching Luis and Sheridan, Alistair realizes that Katherine is living in Puerto Arena with Martin Fitzgerald under the aliases of Ellen and Bob Wheeler. Alistair attempts several times to murder the five, but to no avail.
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 North Atlantic in early 2005; there, he holds Katherine, along with stowawayStowaway
A stowaway is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as an aircraft, bus, ship, cargo truck or train, to travel without paying and without being detected....
s Gwen
Gwen Winthrop
Gwendolyn' "Gwen" Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Introduced in the soap's debut episode, Gwen is portrayed by both Liza Huber and Natalie Zea...
and Jane Winthrop and would-be rescuer grandson Fox Crane
Fox Crane
Nicholas Foxworth "Fox" Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions and was portrayed by Justin Hartley from December 17, 2002—February 10, 2006, and Mark Cameron Wystrach from February 14, 2006—September 7, 2007...
, captive, and both rapes Katherine and physically assaults Gwen. Later, when DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
testing proves Sheridan, and not Beth, to be Marty's biological mother, Alistair assists Beth, who is revealed to be the product of his one-night stand
One-night stand
Originally, a one-night stand was a single theatre performance, usually by a guest performer on tour, as opposed to an ongoing engagement. Today, however, the term is more commonly defined as a single sexual encounter, in which neither participant has any intention or expectation of a relationship...
with former Harmony harlot Edna Wallace, in escaping the country with his grandson. Sheridan is furious with Luis for refusing to believe her unfounded claims about Marty's maternity, and Luis sets off to find Marty on his own. While he is in Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
, Alistair has Luis attacked and kidnapped, and holds him prisoner in the same Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an compound that he had once used to house Rachel; Alistair then fakes Luis's death in October 2005.
Alistair's softer side is only seen around his beloved granddaughter, Julian's eldest daughter Fancy
Fancy Crane
Fancy Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions and is portrayed by actress Emily Harper from the May 13, 2005 episode through the series finale...
, whom he considers to be his favorite family member and the only "true Crane" of the bunch. When Fancy complains to her "grampy" of the treatment to which she had been subjected at Noah Bennett
Noah Bennett
Noah Bennett is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions, portrayed by Dylan Fergus from May 13, 2005 to August 7, 2008.-Character's background:...
's hands, Alistair declares war on the Bennett family
Bennett family
The Bennett family is a middle class family of Irish descent living in the fictional town of Harmony on NBC's daytime drama Passions. The Bennetts were on the ruthless Alistair Crane's bad side for years, but they earned Alistair's full wrath in the summer of 2005 when Alistair's granddaughter,...
; he first has Sam Bennett fired from his position as chief of police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
, which he had held since July 1999, and then has his henchman
Henchman
Henchman referred originally to one who attended on a horse for his employer, that is, a horse groom. Hence, like constable and marshal, also originally stable staff, henchman became the title of a subordinate official in a royal court or noble household...
, Spike
Spike Lester
Herbert "Spike" Lester is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. He was played by Christopher Maleki from March 10, 2005 to January 7, 2008.-Character history:...
, lead Sam's troubled daughter Jessica into a life of drugs and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. When he witnesses Fancy having sex with Noah on the beach, Alistair becomes enraged and has Sam's youngest son arrested on false drug and weapon charges.
In mid-2005, Alistair also enters into an alliance with Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, promising to help her retain her ex-fiancé and daughter, Ethan
Ethan Winthrop
Ethan Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Ethan is played by both Travis Schuldt and Eric Martsolf...
and Jane Winthrop, from her archrival, Gwen, in exchange for her services as his mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
; when Theresa refuses to fulfill her end of the bargain, Alistair rapes her. Still, Theresa's determination to win back Ethan is so great that she marries Alistair on October 3, 2005. In their prenup, Alistair includes provisions that allow him to adopt Theresa and Julian's nine-year-old son, Little Ethan, and make him his heir, disinheriting the rest of his family. Alistair takes great pleasure in sexually abusing his young wife and flaunts his efforts to turn their son into a "true Crane" in her face. After learning of her brother Luis's death, Theresa's thoughts toward her husband become murderous, and she attempts several times to kill Alistair, most notably with a batch of poisoned guacamole
Guacamole
Guacamole , is an avocado-based dip that originated in Mexico. It is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados with a molcajete with sea salt. Some recipes call for limited tomato, spicy Asian spices such as white onion, lime juice, and/or additional seasonings.-History:Guacamole was made by...
that Ethan ingests instead.
Alistair seems to have finally been put out of commission at his New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
party, appropriately themed "A Murder Is Announced", when Liz Sanbourne
Liz Sanbourne
Elizabeth "Liz" Sanbourne is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions. She was portrayed by Amelia Marshall from October 2001 to February 2006.-Character's background:...
, in retaliation for her rape and subsequent pregnancy
Chad Harris-Crane
Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. He was portrayed by Charles Divins from September 2002 until August 28, 2007, but was previously portrayed by Donn Swaby from September 23, 1999 to September 9, 2002, and August 2008.-Biography:Chad Harris-Crane was...
at his hands, stabs him in the neck. He lapses into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
and is placed into Lyndon Hill Nursing Home sometime between February 27 and April 13, 2006. 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.
With everyone believing him to be in a coma, Alistair disguises himself as a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
and convinces novice
Novice
A novice is a person or creature who is new to a field or activity. The term is most commonly applied in religion and sports.-Buddhism:In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and...
Whitney Russell
Whitney Russell
Whitney Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She is played by Brook Kerr from the series' debut in July 1999 and departed in September 2007 when Whitney moves to New Orleans...
that he is God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Eager to atone for committing incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
with Chad
Chad Harris-Crane
Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. He was portrayed by Charles Divins from September 2002 until August 28, 2007, but was previously portrayed by Donn Swaby from September 23, 1999 to September 9, 2002, and August 2008.-Biography:Chad Harris-Crane was...
, Whitney follows Alistair to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and helps him to come into possession of a chalice
Chalice (cup)
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
belonging to the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
that will allow whomever unlocks its secrets to become omnipotent
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...
. Though Alistair is able to gain some of the chalice's powers, tabloid editor JT Cornell steals the chalice, and Chad later recovers and returns it to the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
.
While scheming to become omnipotent, several of Alistair's other plots are also revealed. In June, Noah discovers that Alistair ordered terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
Lena and his ex-girlfriend, Maya Chinn, to convince him that Fancy's life was in danger in order to tear the two apart; though Noah tries to convince Fancy that he only pretended to cheat on her for her protection, a storm that Alistair unleashes over Rome takes Lena and Maya's lives, leaving Noah without anyone to back up his story. In Alistair's subterranean Roman office, JT Cornell also discovers proof that Alistair and Liz, and not Julian and Eve, are Chad Harris's parents. Furthermore, because Eve's mother adopted Liz, Chad and Whitney are only adoptive half-cousins, removing the stigma
Social stigma
Social stigma is the severe disapproval of or discontent with a person on the grounds of characteristics that distinguish them from other members of a society.Almost all stigma is based on a person differing from social or cultural norms...
of incest from their relationship and allowing them to be together once more.
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, 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
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
helicopter when a drone
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
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, Vincent ClarksonVincent Clarkson
Vincent Clarkson is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. The role has been portrayed by Phillip Jeanmarie from December 26, 2006—July 18, 2008...
; it is quickly revealed that Alistair warped Vincent's already fragile psyche
Psyche (psychology)
The word psyche has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older...
and was behind Vincent's actions as Harmony's mysterious masked Blackmailer. Vincent tells Alistair of the secret that he learned — that Little Ethan was fathered by Ethan, not Julian — and Alistair is enraged that Theresa duped him. In revenge, Alistair sends poisoned strawberries
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
to her honeymoon suite, but Ethan mistakenly eats them instead and falls into a coma. Theresa, along with Chad, Whitney, Rebecca
Rebecca Hotchkiss
Rebecca Hotchkiss is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Rebecca has been played by both Maureen McCormick and Andrea Evans , neither of whom was ever on contract...
, and Gwen, beg Alistair to allow them to dial 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
, but he refuse, and he and Chad engage in a struggle for his gun; Alistair then shoots Chad in the chest, murdering his own son on August 28. Ethan eventually pulls through, but Alistair reminds Theresa that he is her legal husband and, fearful of being made a laughingstock for making a non-Crane his heir, threatens to harm her if she tells anyone about Little Ethan's paternity.
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", Alistair has a mind-control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
device implanted into his eldest granddaughter's nose; with a special remote controller, Alistair forces Fancy to violently lash out at Luis. Furthermore, he tells Luis that he must impregnate his other granddaughter, Pretty
Pretty Crane
Pretty Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She is portrayed by Melinda Sward on a recurring basis from July 30, 2007 on NBC and became a contract cast when NBC continued the series on DirecTV on September 17, 2007....
, if he ever wants to see Marty, who is revealed to be alive, again, driving another wedge between Luis and Fancy. When Luis and Fancy reunite, Alistair returns Marty to his mother and orders Sheridan to use the boy to create friction between her ex-fiancé and niece.
Meanwhile, Esme Vanderheusen
Esme Vanderheusen
Esme Vanderheusen is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Esme is portrayed by actress Erin Cardillo, who joined the cast in a recurring capacity on November 2005; Cardillo later went on to make appearances in 2006 and 2007 before becoming a contract cast member upon the...
, whose recent lovers, with the exception of Julian, have all been murdered by an unseen culprit, decides to use her "curse" to rid Harmony of Alistair. Alistair quickly realizes Esme's intentions, however; when he tries to rape her, he is stabbed in the back and sees that his assailant is none other than Esme's fifteen-year-old niece, Viki
Viki (Passions character)
Victoria "Viki" Anne Marie Michelle Vanderheusen Chatsworth is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Amy Castle portrayed the character on a recurring basis from August 20, 2007—July 14, 2008.-Background:...
. Alistair is taken to the hospital and arrested for Chad's murder, but he refuses to name Viki as his attempted murderer, preferring to use the seemingly innocent young girl as an assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
; Viki's attempts to murder Ethan Winthrop, however, fail, and Alistair is sent to prison pending his trial.
In May 2008, Eve Russell is driven to the breaking point regarding Alistair's treatment of her son, Vincent, and decides to kill the Crane patriarch. However, Julian intervenes, seeking to prevent his love from a prison sentence and shoots his father at point blank range in the chest. Fatally wounded, Alistair moans for Eve's help, but the wound is too deep. As Alistair dies, Julian recalls all of his victims. Alistair's last words are to his son: "I gave you life; it's not fair that you should take mine." Alistair's death fulfills the prophecy of witch Tabitha Lenox
Tabitha Lenox
Tabitha Lenox is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists from the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Tabitha has been played by Juliet Mills since the show's debut in 1999. Mills continued in the role when the show moved from NBC to DirecTV's The 101 in September 2007...
that this is the first of the signs of the destruction of Harmony
Harmony (passions)
Harmony is a fictional town and the setting for the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions, which ran from 1999 through 2008. A coastal New England town founded in 1646 with a small population, Harmony features a large fishing industry...
. As Julian was getting arrested it was revealed the gun he shot Alistair with was full of blanks and someone else killed him, not Julian. It was shown, to the audience only, Viki really shot him at the same time Julian did from afar.
Personality
Alistair is frequently described by the other characters as being brilliant, yet ruthless and evil: Eve Russell claims that "Mentally, maybe [he was brilliant]. But emotionally he was demented, deranged. There was nothing evil that was beyond his capabilities." He is often portrayed as a larger-than-life force with surveillance cameras all over town, as well as in strategic locations around the world; an immense staff of henchmen ready to do his bidding; and control of a global, billion-dollar company.Alistair is also very much a megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
c and a control freak
Control freak
In psychology-related slang, control freak is a derogatory term for a person who attempts to dictate how everything around them is done — "a control freak. Scared to let us have differences"...
; 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
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, itself a crime characterized as being of power and control, against his three main "romantic" interests — Rachel, Katherine, and Theresa — also indicates his love of power.
Of all of his descendants, the only person that Alistair has ever loved is his eldest granddaughter, Fancy Crane
Fancy Crane
Fancy Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions and is portrayed by actress Emily Harper from the May 13, 2005 episode through the series finale...
. Believing her to be the only "true Crane" of all of his relatives and admiring her spirit and ability to stand up to him, Alistair served as a father figure
Father Figure
"Father Figure" is the U.S. number-one song written and performed by George Michael and released on Columbia Records in 1988 as the third single from the album Faith.-History:...
to the young girl, who was largely ignored by her parents, and indulged and encouraged her nonchalant, fun-seeking attitude, telling her that she was born to "enjoy [herself and] have fun". It is not until Alistair turns on her and sets lions loose on her and Luis in Rome that Fancy finally sees the true Alistair. When Alistair is revealed to be alive in 2007, Fancy rebels against him, refusing to conform to his wishes and denying him control. Instead of marking her for death as he did to other descendants who had stood up to him, Alistair has a mind-control device implanted into Fancy's nose, seeking to regain "his" Fancy.
Legacy
Alistair's position as the head of a multi-billion dollar corporation and the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in the world has led the contents of Alistair's willWill (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
to play significantly into several of the program's storylines. From 1999—2000, Julian
Julian Crane
Julian Linus Crane is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions. Throughout the show's nine-year run, Julian is portrayed by original cast member Ben Masters, and the character debuted on July 8, 1999....
, as Alistair's eldest child and only known son, is the heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
to the Crane empire. Alistair eventually grows disgusted by Julian's behavior, however, and disinherits Julian in favor of Julian's firstborn child and son, Ethan Crane
Ethan Winthrop
Ethan Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Ethan is played by both Travis Schuldt and Eric Martsolf...
, in 2000; after Ethan breaks his engagement to Gwen Hotchkiss in order to marry Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald later that year, Alistair also disinherits Ethan, leaving the title of heir apparent up for grabs.
As of the series finale in August 2008, Alistair has ten living biological and adoptive descendants — children Julian Crane and Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald
Sheridan Crane
Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She has been portrayed by McKenzie Westmore since the series began in 1999, and was briefly portrayed by Shannon Sturges when Westmore was out sick in 2005 and by Kam Heskin in 2006 when Westmore was out on...
and grandchildren Vincent Clarkson
Vincent Clarkson
Vincent Clarkson is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. The role has been portrayed by Phillip Jeanmarie from December 26, 2006—July 18, 2008...
, Fancy Crane
Fancy Crane
Fancy Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions and is portrayed by actress Emily Harper from the May 13, 2005 episode through the series finale...
, Pretty Crane
Pretty Crane
Pretty Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She is portrayed by Melinda Sward on a recurring basis from July 30, 2007 on NBC and became a contract cast when NBC continued the series on DirecTV on September 17, 2007....
, Julian and Vincent's unnamed son, Miles Harris-Crane, Endora Lenox, James Boothe, and Marty Lopez-Fitzgerald. Vincent fakes his death in 2007, and, despite the fact that the tradition of primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
would make him, Alistair's eldest son's eldest son, the heir apparent, the fact that Vincent is African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, a hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
, and a confessed murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
er, rapist
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, and arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
ist (although these crimes were at Alistair's behest) would all likely persuade Alistair to bypass Vincent when selecting an heir. Race also prejudiced Alistair against Chad
Chad Harris-Crane
Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. He was portrayed by Charles Divins from September 2002 until August 28, 2007, but was previously portrayed by Donn Swaby from September 23, 1999 to September 9, 2002, and August 2008.-Biography:Chad Harris-Crane was...
, and Alistair never seriously considers him, nor his son, Miles, as a possibility for heir. Furthermore, Julian is not publicly known to be Endora's father, though Alistair is aware of the girl's paternity and status as a half-witch, and it is therefore highly unlikely that Alistair has included her in his will.
Upon his October 2005 wedding to Theresa, Alistair disinherits all of his relatives — then including Julian, Sheridan, Beth
Beth Wallace
Beth Wallace was a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Beth was played by Kelli McCarty from August 23, 1999 until July 18, 2005 and from May 12 to July 14, 2006. The role was contract from October 14, 2002 until May 12, 2004....
, Chad, Fancy, Pretty, Fox
Fox Crane
Nicholas Foxworth "Fox" Crane is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions and was portrayed by Justin Hartley from December 17, 2002—February 10, 2006, and Mark Cameron Wystrach from February 14, 2006—September 7, 2007...
, Endora, Marty, and Miles — aside from Julian and Theresa's son Little Ethan, whom he adopts, and makes Little Ethan his sole heir; his other descendants are only to receive money from their trust funds and from working at Crane Industries. A year later, Sheridan adopts a son, James, and it is assumed that James meets the same fate as his mother and is not included in Alistair's will.
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 Ethan Winthrop
Ethan Winthrop
Ethan Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Ethan is played by both Travis Schuldt and Eric Martsolf...
and not Julian. Should Little Ethan's paternity ever be made public, Alistair's will states that Fancy will become the sole Crane heir. However, only Alistair, Theresa, and Julian know of the will's special provisions. It is assumed that Julian becomes head of the Crane Empire with Fancy and her unborn child as heirs presumptive based on Julian's statements in the series finale.
See also
- Crane familyCrane familyThe Crane family is a fictional family on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Seated at 14 Raven Hill Road atop Raven Hill in Harmony, New England, the wealthy Crane family amassed its fortune during the eighteenth century via the slave trade, amongst other things...
- Fancy CraneFancy CraneFancy Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions and is portrayed by actress Emily Harper from the May 13, 2005 episode through the series finale...
- Katherine Crane
- Sheridan CraneSheridan CraneSheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. She has been portrayed by McKenzie Westmore since the series began in 1999, and was briefly portrayed by Shannon Sturges when Westmore was out sick in 2005 and by Kam Heskin in 2006 when Westmore was out on...
- Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald
- Passions Vendetta
- SupervillainSupervillainA supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...