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# 040 <2.22> Climax
 
 
(revised 12/04/2024)
 
 


 
 
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Script | Credits | Filming Locations
 
 

 
 
Audio commentary for this episode
by DFCF President THOMAS J. PUCHER
for the 41st anniversary of the series première (12/04/2022):
 
Download the audio file and listen to it while you are playing the episode from your official WARNER HOME VIDEO DVD at the same time (turning down the volume of the disc is recommended):
Start playing the episode when you are advised to do so after the introduction to the commentary.
If the DVD in your region does not contain the teaser before the main title (German, Spanish and Australian configurations), start playing, when after the reference about Jacqueline in the sneak preview and a short pause, you hear "season 2" in the commentary.
 
 

 
 
ROBERT FOXWORTH was originally the designated director for this episode. It was directed by HARRY HARRIS in the end, however.
 
Season time frame:
The episode opens one week after the end of # 039 — Maggie was in the hospital for a week.
It must be around the end of February / beginning of March 1983 (compare characters' clothes and the information on the time frame in # 037 and 039).
 
Mistake: When Maggie is discharged from the hospital, Cole touches the door of the Mercedes-Benz 300 TD station wagon in the wide angle shot, which he does not, however, in the subsequent close-up.
This is a mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 
The scene with Lance and Melissa riding in the Falcon Crest meadows was originally staged on the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion veranda and also included Apollo in early script drafts.
 
The filming location for the Falcon Crest grounds (meadows and hills) is the southern end of Bartholomaus Canyon in Sylmar, CA. The exact place is the meadows a little northwest of the corner of Terra Vista Way and Terra Bella Street.
 
Deleted scene: After Phillip's conversation with Andrea in the anteroom of Richard's New Globe office, Emma enters the reception area, suspiciously asking the secretary if it was Phillip she just saw out by the elevators. That segment was filmed, but cut in post-production.
 
Mistake: In their embrace in the Gioberti House, Maggie's arm is not on Chase's shoulder first, whereas it is in the subsequent frame filmed from across.
This is a mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 
The establishing clips of the New York building where Richard was taken show a building that is different from the Whitewood Industries headquarters (compare # 019). It is the one where Denault had a personal office (compare # 038). Obviously, Jacqueline has her secret office — maybe in a different floor — in the River House (a luxurious apartment building in Manhattan), too.
The highrises seen through the window in the interior set of Jacqueline's office do not match the real surroundings of the River House though.
 
The scene in which Angela learns through a phone call that Julia is in San Francisco was originally staged in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion study in the script; it also included Chao-Li at the beginning of the scene, clearing a tea service from Angie's desk. It was only while filming that, for unknown reasons, Chao-Li was dropped from the scene and the segment restaged in the living room.
 

The establishing shot of San Francisco (stock footage from a film library) features a view of The Embarcadero with piers 27, 23, 19 and 17 (from left) in northern direction. Yerba Buena Island and the Oakland Bay Bridge are in the distance. The shot is from the steps at the corner of Lombard Street and Kearny Street.

 

The filming location for the waterfront bar near The Embarcadero in San Francisco where Julia is picked up by the family is what used to be the Alpine Haus Restaurant in San Fernando, CA. Its exteriors were used for a different purpose in # 032 (compare there).

 

Deleted scene: The initial version of this episode included an act 2 scene with Lance and Melissa coming down the stairway in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion after Julia's return (see scene still). Angie asks them what the reason for Julia's desperation might be. Having secretly orchestrated Julia's disappointment in Tony, Lance and Melissa share a conspiratorial look. This scene was omitted in order to stay in the one-hour timeslot on CBS (including commercials).

 

License plate number of Vickie's burgundy 1982 Dodge 400 Coupé: 762 XUJ.
 
Nick drives a white / blue 1973 Chevrolet El Camino SS Pickup with a camper cover.

 

Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion veranda set — inconsistency: Compared to the real Villa (photos 1 and 2), the set has only two instead of three steps from the driveway up to the veranda (picture 3). The single step from the veranda to the front entranceway, however, was rebuilt correctly. But the tiles on the floor of the entranceway (on the last step) are missing. Compare the second photo of these tiles on the floor in the real Villa's entranceway. The tiles were replicated later though (compare # 088).
A sectional elevation drawing of the Victorian Mansion's set (veranda and foyer) illustrating the steps is available in # 001.
 
The elaborate tiles at Villa Miravalle's entrance are from MINTONS, a British company from Staffordshire, which was known as Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era. It was active between 1793 and 1968 and was sold a few times after that. The brand is now defunct.
 



The interior set of Jacqueline's Whitewood Industries office (screen captures 5 through 8) is the same set that usually serves as Richard's executive office at the New Globe (screen grabs 1 through 4 from approximately the same angles). The anteroom was redressed with different furniture, but is otherwise the same. The office itself was revamped: From the perspective of entering, the area on the right (where Richard's desk would be) was considerably shortened with movable walls to cover both the bar and the panoramic window; the area on the left was modified with the addition of a column near the double doors and a new big window with a New York backdrop behind Jacqueline's desk.
 
The guest armchairs in Jacqueline's office are the same props as the ones in Henri's office in # 038; one of these chairs was also used in Richard's Whitewood Industries office in # 019.
For LORIMAR's further use of Jacqueline's desk, check out the Beyond the Show – Props – Set Dressing – Tables & Desks section.
 
Wilson Fong died at Mercy Hospital in San Francisco — a hospital that is never seen in the series and will never be mentioned again either.
 
Deleted scene: A scene in the Hogan house bedroom was filmed for act 3, in which Nick wakes up at around 10:00 AM after spending the night with Sheila. It is his wedding day with Vickie. This segment was removed in post-production.
 
Post-production error: The NTSC version contains a faulty film position of the establishing shot of the Gioberti House, which is evident on the upper frame of the picture, particularly on the left side.
This error is visible primarily in the original North American TV airing and the NTSC DVDs. In the PAL version, the picture negative was in a different position in the film transfer (compare right screen grab); the problem was not eliminated entirely and is still visible in the upper left corner of the frame.
For more information about differences in the visible frame, consult the post-production section in the Show – Production Office – Making of information.
 
Alternate version of the scene with Melissa, Lance and Angela in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion study: The segment with Angela forcing Melissa into selling the Agretti crop to her was filmed multiple times. ANA ALICIA had a different hairdo in the earlier takes, which included a flower in her hair (screen grab 1). There is no documentation available at this time why her hairdo was changed and the scene reshot.
 
The Falcon Crest Rose Garden where Vickie and Nick's wedding ceremony is held is actually the Rose Garden at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia, CA.
 
The Arboretum is a habitat of peacocks. When LORIMAR started shooting Vickie and Nick's wedding ceremony, the peacocks living there made some incredible noise that frustrated the cast and crew and later caused the scene to be looped in post-production in certain places to remove the peacock sounds from the finished scene.
 
Original script drafts called for Father Bob to marry Vickie and Nick. But fortunately, the writers realized early enough that Nick could not marry in the Roman-Catholic church a second time because of his marriage to Sheila. The Catholic church does not acknowledge the (civil) divorce of marriage and still regards Nick and Sheila to be married.
 

In this episode, Joseph is played by the HERSHBERGER twins, as usual. In the parts of the scene when primarily the baby towel is visible (like in this screen capture), he is portrayed by a baby doll though. For general information about the rubber baby as a prop, compare # 026.

 
The license plate number of Richard's blue-gray Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit I (see # 025 for the original plate and # 039 for a different number) is now 762 XUJ — the same number as on Vickie's burgundy Chrysler earlier this episode. The prop guys were not very careful.
 
Product placement: Richard hands Vickie a wedding present from Tiffany.
 
Mistake: After Vickie and Nick exchanged their wedding vows in the Falcon Crest Rose Garden, the positions of Maggie and Phillip's hands are slightly different in two subsequent frames.
This is a mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 
Original plans for this episode staged the whole wedding reception (right after exchanging the wedding vows) inside the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion. In the final version, however, only the final part of the reception was set inside the house.
 
The differences between JANE WYMAN and LANA TURNER were so strong that the producers tried to find a way to write LANA off the show. Therefore, Jacqueline was only a last-minute addition to the confession scene to open up the possibility for her being shot to death in the cliffhanger. None of the earlier script drafts had suggested Jacqueline's presence during the wedding reception with the revelation of Carlo's killer and the gunshots. She was only added in the very last revision of the script dated 02/07/1983. Filming of the reception and the confession scenes had already concluded that day; the additional segments with LANA TURNER were filmed separately the following day (02/08/1983; with ROBERT FOXWORTH, SUSAN SULLIVAN, JOE LAMBIE and JAMES HONG) and were the final parts to be shot for that season — also to avoid JANE and LANA seeing each other again on the set, as writer and story editor GARNER SIMMONS pointed out in an exclusive DFCF interview in volume 5 of FALCON CRESTers Tell It All!).
Since the actual confession had already been filmed in the living room set of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion the day before, the scenes with Jacqueline had to be staged in the foyer. SUSAN SULLIVAN was placed beside LANA TURNER to make it more plausible that Jacqueline does not mingle with the family in the living room. The script had not defined a specific position for Maggie anyway, so it was no problem to film SUSAN and LANA together.
 
There were eight different versions of the confession scene filmed for the cliffhanger (re: Carlo Agretti's murder; details below).
Instead of Julia's confession, the various drafts of the script of # 040 contain alternate confession scenes with Lance (b & w scene still above), Richard, Diana, Phillip and Angela as well as Melissa and Chao-Li (the two latter aforementioned characters were not in the shooting schedule though, but filmed spontaneously). The idea to have Cole confess, too, was not filmed.
The various confession scenes were kept strictly confidential by the writers and producers because LORIMAR feared the finale might be leaked to the media. The cast members did not get a full script, but were provided with shortened copies that did not contain the confession segments. Only department heads and crew members who needed to prepare the scene were given a full script, but it was "disguised" with a complete black cover with no lettering instead of the usual cover page with the show's name and the episode title.
The cast members were not even provided with printed sheets of their confessions, but were surprised that they had to play the scene without any preparation and with no rehearsal — by reading each character's confession from a teleprompter. LORIMAR wanted to make sure they did not have a copy of their lines of dialog from the cliffhanger in order to prevent any leaking to the press. For details about the teleprompter, check out our 2024 interview with CHIP CORBIN from the crew.
 
From the alternate versions, here is each confessing character's motive for the murder of Carlo Agretti (unused segments):
  • Lance: "He [Carlo] kept pushing me. First the marriage. Then he threatened to cut Melissa out of his will. He was pushing me around... You [Chase] were pushing me around... She [Melissa] was even pushing me around. Then, at the baby shower, he [Carlo] threatened me. I wasn't going to stand for that. Not after what I'd already put up with..."
  • Richard: "Carlo Agretti was a hypocrite who spurned me in public while privately trying to bleed me dry. I offered him double the market value for his property. But he resented that and threatened to expose my own father as a Nazi. I couldn't let him do that."
  • Diana: "It was my only option. I had orders to get the Agretti Vineyards at any cost, and 'the company' has never recognized any limits. Results are all that count. There was an agreement... Richard had to deliver the entire California wine industry to 'the company' or give up any hope of independence. I wanted him to survive out here... to succeed. I was in love with him. I wanted him free... for me..."
  • Phillip: "It was the only thing left to do. Agretti had fought Angela for years. He was preparing to sell out to Richard. That would've been disastrous for Falcon Crest. With Carlo and Richard both clawing away at her, there was no time for the niceties of legal maneuvering or negotiating. I had to expedite matters. Angela has given her life to Falcon Crest, and... you see... I love her..."
  • Angela: "Carlo got exactly what he deserved. He sealed his own fate when he threatened to cut Melissa out of his will. I have no regrets. He would've done the same to me. You [Chase] don't understand anything, do you? From the time I sat on my grandfather's knee... until now, I was the chosen one to care for and enhance the legacy of Falcon Crest. Your father had no aptitude for that challenge. My strength, my dedication covered for his weakness. And then you came here to change all that? You're nothing but an opportunist who still has his head in the clouds at thirty thousand feet. You don't have the faintest idea what it takes to maintain the greatness of Falcon Crest!"
  • Melissa: "He was no father. I was nothing more than another bargaining tool to him. He wanted Falcon Crest so badly that he traded me in marriage to Lance. Then he threatened to cut me out of his will. That didn't give me much choice. With him gone, I controlled the Agretti Vineyards, I finally had my own source of power."
  • Chao-Li: "Mrs. Channing took me in when I was a young man with no place else to turn. She made me a part of this family. I owe her everything. Carlo Agretti... he fought her at every turn. There is nothing he would not have done to win control of Falcon Crest."
  • Cole (an idea from an early stage; neither scripted in detail nor photographed): "I did it all along because he would not let me prove to Melissa how much I loved her — and she was carrying my child."
A compendium of the confession versions from various scripts drafts is available in the Chao-Li Chi Memorial Library.
 
Even the cast members themselves did not know which version the producers would choose until the episode was broadcast — except ABBY DALTON, who was called by supervising producer BOB McCULLOUGH the day it was scheduled to air. The killer was chosen on input from CBS, but the network did not dictate that it had to be Julia. So CBS did not know for certain who the producers chose as Carlo Agretti's killer until just minutes before it aired. LORIMAR delivered the final print of the season finale to the network, CBS Television City on Beverly Boulevard in Hollywood, the night it aired. CBS, of course, sent the episode to New York via satellite at the last minute, where it aired first due to the different time zones in the U.S.
 
In this episode's sneak preview, there is a camera spot which is not a clip from the final version of the confession scene, but from one of the alternate scenes showing each character's reaction: Julia is standing next to Diana and staring at the murderer, who is unseen from the camera point of view. But in the final version of the cliffhanger ("Julia version"), Lance is standing next to Diana. Using that trick, the producers made sure not to spoil the surprise in the cliffhanger.
 
Mistake: The shots of Fong entering the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion living room are from different takes combined in the editing process. First, Chase is close behind Fong near the door frame. In the reverse angle featuring the whole reception, Chase is much farther away from the door frame; both of them have gone farther into the living room than before, which is coherent with the few footsteps they made into that direction. In the later close-up of Chase (without Dan Robbins), he is suddenly farther back again, standing in the doorway of the double pocket doors (only his left arm is visible on screen capture 3). When, in a later segment, Dan Robbins heads towards Chase, Chase is very close to the door frame again, the horizontal part of the casing being almost centered behind Chase's back. As the scene progresses, the close-ups of Fong, in which nothing more but Chase's left sleeve is visible, are intercut with shots of Chase and Sheriff Robbins several times; in these shots, Chase is standing quite close to the door frame again.
Chase and Sheriff Robbins' different positions are caused by the long shots into the living room being from shooting day 02/07/1983 whereas the closer shots of Chase, Sheriff Robbins and Fong from the living room towards the foyer were replaced by new footage filmed the following day (02/08/1983). The reason for filming on two different shooting days was the decision to fire LANA TURNER from the series (compare above).
 
Post-production mistake: One close-up of Cole was accidentally flip-flopped whereas the other close-ups of him are the right way round.
 
Post-production mistakes: There are several inconsistencies in the confession scene. Some of the shots from the alternate versions are used for the final version; in those sequences, some characters are standing in different places — different from the ones in the final "Julia version".
 

In the wide angle shots of the reception, it is obvious that Julia is standing between Nick (also visible in screen grab 3 — yellow arrow) and Angela in the final version (Julia confessing; screen captures 1 and 3).
In all alternate versions, the murderer always stands next to the bridal couple, or to be even more precise, next to Nick in front of the window in the southern wall of the Victorian Mansion. Various close-ups in this episode are actually from the alternate confession scenes:
In one close-up, Angela is next to Nick (screen grab 2 — yellow arrow); Julia is missing in that particular shot, which apparently comes from the "Angela version".
In another close-up, Lance (screen grab 4) is standing in that same position although he ought to be standing between Melissa and Richard in the "Julia version". This close-up of Lance is obviously from the alternate "Lance confessing version".
 

Some of the close-ups were obviously filmed separately. This can be concluded, for example, from the reaction shots of Melissa and Lance on the one hand and Richard and Diana on the other hand. Judging from the previous wide angle shot, Richard or Lance would have to be visible in the other close-up respectively.
 
Mistake in Chase's position during Julia's confession: In the full shot, Chase (red arrow) is considerably farther away from Melissa (yellow arrow) than in the subsequent close-up.
Again, this is the typical mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 
Some of the characters' reactions to Fong identifying the murderer are also from alternate cliffhanger versions:
Angela and Phillip do not look into Julia's direction; from their point of view, they ought to look much more to the right.
This is also the case with Chao-Li and Emma; in their close-up, there is a person in a light gray suit (screen capture 2 — yellow arrow) unexpectedly to be seen next to Chao-Li — it is Lance (by mistake!), who ought to be standing opposite Chao-Li in the "Julia version". This shot is obviously from the "Melissa confession".
In the close-up of Melissa (screen grab 3), Lance is missing by her side. Richard is standing next to her instead. This footage — used here by mistake — is apparently from the "Lance confessing version".
 
The climax of the confession scene is also a combination of footage from the various confession versions, which is why the editing is not always coherent. When Julia pulls out the gun, Angela's shoulder is visible next to her (screen capture 1). A few seconds later (screen grabs 2 and 3), Phillip is pulling Angela backward to protect her. In that shot, Julia is not visible although she should be close to Angela. In the subsequent frame, cutting back to a close-up of Julia again (screen grab 4), both women are shoulder to shoulder again.
Also, towards the end of the confession scene (screen captures 5 and 6), Phillip's hand is suddenly seen grabbing Julia's arm when his hand moves into the frame from the right in front of Angie's body; at the same time, Angela starts moving back on her own from Julia — while Phillip had already pulled her away from Julia earlier (screen grab 3).
 
In the final version, Nick, Phillip and (in the foreground from the left) Cole are grappling for the gun. The script, in contrast, suggested that usually Chase, Cole and the sheriff (sometimes together with Lance and / or Richard — depending on the confessing character) aim for the killer's pistol.
 
For DFCF members, a compendium of the characters' positions during the confession scene is available.
The overviews provide sketches of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion floor plan with the persons' basic positions at the beginning of each segment.
The screen captures in the overviews are — in parts — from later moments as the segments progress, which is why the characters' positions in the screen grabs are not necessarily identical with their basic positions anymore; the screen captures are only for illustrative purposes. Details about continuity issues concerning these pictures are already addressed in the above paragraphs on this website.
 
Oddity in the exterior shots of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion in the cliffhanger: With Chase and Sheriff Robbins having rushed to the reception, it seems awkward that neither Chase's pickup nor the Sheriff's patrol car are visible anywhere on the driveway. Post-production used generic establishing shots of the Mansion although a specific shot was filmed on sound stage 1 at THE BURBANK STUDIOS, with the camera slowly pulling back from the veranda set — and Chase's truck was even parked there. One can only guess why this shot remained unused; maybe because the "fake" veranda looked less photogenic than clips of the real Villa Miravalle.
 

The filming location for this season's final scene — the mourners standing at the graveside — is a lawn area at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Gardens in Arcadia, CA.

 
 

 
 
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