Harmony (Passions)

Harmony
An aerial view of Harmony (as seen in the Passions closing credits)
Passions location
Creator	James E. Reilly
Genre	Soap opera
Type	City

Harmony, New England 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. The shots of the town shown on screen are filmed in the real town of Camden, Maine.

Location

Throughout the show's run, Harmony has only ever been identified as being in New England, which is traditionally made up of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island; and on the Atlantic coast, thus eliminating the land-locked Vermont. Though early episodes implied that Harmony is in Maine, this was never established. Characters also frequently take trips to Boston, which is implied to be a manageable distance away.

In 2002 and 2007, Theresa Crane and Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, respectively, are sentenced to death by the state; only New Hampshire and Connecticut still allow capital punishment. However, during Luis and Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald's double trial, the jury foreman declares their case names as The Commonwealth v. Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald and The Commonwealth v. Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald,^[1] and, of the four US states that are also US commonwealths, the only commonwealth in New England is Massachusetts.

Castleton is a fictional town near Harmony where Faith and Charity Standish briefly live in 1999; it is noted to be a thirty-minute drive away from Harmony.^[2]

Nearby locations

• Castleton - a neighboring town, and formerly the home to Faith and Charity Standish
• Dansville - nearby town
• Bridgeton - nearby town
• Richville - nearby town and the location of Norma and Edna's asylum
• Aimville - nearby town
• North 22 and North 137 are highways near Harmony.

Demographics

Harmony is home to the affluent Crane family, which has long thrived on the rest of Harmony's citizens' wealth. The majority of Harmony's families, such as the Bennett family and the Russell family, appear to be middle class, though some families, like the Lopez-Fitzgerald family, are decidedly poorer.

Crime, in recent years, seems to have dramatically risen. Beginning in December 2006 and lasting through August 2007, Harmony was terrorized by a mysterious masked person known primarily as the Blackmailer; he was later revealed to be Vincent Clarkson. As the Blackmailer, Vincent was seemingly untraceable, caught only after he revealed his identity to his mother, Eve Russell. Vincent murdered Rae Thomas, Simone Russell's girlfriend, and Dylan Flood, a bartender at the Blue Note; he also raped half-sister Fancy Crane twice and set fire to Dylan's apartment. Aside from Vincent, Alistair Crane is widely known to have murdered his son, Chad Harris-Crane, raped ex-wife Katherine Crane and last wife Theresa Crane, and kidnapped his grandson, Marty Lopez-Fitzgerald, until his murder in May 2008.

All of the characters featured on the program are Roman Catholic. Though most of Harmony is primarily Caucasian, there is a significant Latino and African American population.

Administration

The chief executive of Harmony is Mayor Anawalt,^[3] who frequently allows himself to be influenced by Alistair Crane and his family members for personal gain. Anawalt, as Harmony's mayor, holds a significant amount of power over the Harmony Police Department and its chief, Sam Bennett, and Bennett's subordinates, including Detective Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, Officer Fancy Crane, Officer Hank Bennett and Officer Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald. Though Anawalt is on the Cranes' payroll, along with several officers, Chief Bennett and the Lopez-Fitzgeralds all spurn such bribery, and Officer Crane is not involved in her grandfather's and father's dealings.

Harmony also has a court system, and its most prominent judge is JE Reilly, who delivers verdicts according to the will of the highest bidder.

Institutions

• Crane Industries is a global corporation, it is the main employer of the town of Harmony and is headed by Theresa Crane. Divisions include fisheries, music production, and fashion design. Besides Alistair Crane, Theresa Crane, Julian Crane, Sheridan Crane, Valerie Davis, and Ethan Winthrop are all employed by Crane Industries, and Chad Harris-Crane, Fancy Crane, Fox Crane, Sheridan Crane, Kay Bennett, and Jared Casey were at one time employed there.
• Harmony Hospital is the main hospital in Harmony. Eve Russell is the most prominent physician there.
• The Crane Cannery, owned by the Crane family, deals with the canning of fish products. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald worked there briefly in 1999, Kay Bennett has been employed there since 2004, and Julian Crane was believed to have been murdered there in 2002.
• Daily Private Lives is a tabloid magazine based in Harmony that revealed Ethan Winthrop's true paternity in 2001. Vincent Clarkson was a reporter there before his supposed death; JT Cornell was the editor before his death in 2006.
• The Book Café is a café owned by the Crane family; Beth Wallace had owned and run it for many years herself before financial difficulties forced her to sell it to the Cranes.
• The Blue Note is a jazz club built by Julian Crane and formerly managed by Liz Sanbourne. Noah Bennett is a bartender there.
• The Bennett Bed & Breakfast is owned by Sam Bennett and was run and co-owned by Grace Bennett before she moved to Italy in 2004. David and John Hastings; Chris and James Boothe and Sheridan Crane; and Ethan, Gwen, and Jane Winthrop were all one-time residents of the B&B.
• St. Margaret Mary's is the local Roman Catholic parish. Father Lonigan is the priest.
• The Burger Hut is the local fast food joint.
• The Lobster Shack is the local seafood joint. Fred Barnes runs the Lobster Shack, but later it was changed to Fred Ferguson.
• The Harmony Country Club was established in 1900.
• Lighthouse Park is a teen hangout in the summer.
• The Harmony Free Clinic is run by Dr. Eve Russell.
• The Harmony High School team is the Harmony Hellcats. Their rivals are the Vineyard Vipers.
• The Chicken Coup is a restaurant which went up where Burger Hut was. The waiters and waitresses are required to wear chicken hats.
• Jack's is the local pool hall.
• Seascape Restaurant is an expensive restaurant.
• The Revival House is a local theater in Harmony. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, Whitney Russell, Ethan Crane, and Gwen Hotchkiss go and see a rivial of Gone With The Wind
• Harmony Hills is a nursing home in Harmony.
• The funeral home in Harmony is called the Will Meet Again Crematorium and is run by Henry Deblanch.
• Potter's Field is where people who have no family are buried.
• Lowell's is the department store where Luis bought Sheridan's compact.
• The Harmony Herald, Harmony's newspaper, costs 35 cents.
• McFarland's was an ice cream shop Sheridan and Luis went to as children.
• Hank went to Dairy Delight, an ice cream shop, as a child.
• Nell's is a clothes shop in Harmony.
• Even Keel is the name of a coffee shop in Harmony.
• Sally Chin's House of Noodles is a Chinese restaurant in Harmony that has a love noodle test.
• National Media is the name of a tabloid in Harmony.
• The Radio Barn is an electronics store in Harmony.
• Sheridan books vacations through Diana's Travel Agency
• Harmony High school's colors are purple, white, and grey.
• The Cranes have a skybox at Fenway Park.
• Quahog Car Rental was a place David rented a car from.
• "Grace's Treasures" is the name of Grace's antique shop.
• There is a parking garage at Evergreen and Ravenhill road
• The Munsens where the original owners of the Seacliff Inn, which Fox was looking to purchase.
• South Side Homeless Shelter is the homeless shelter in HArmony.
• WJER is the talk radio station in Harmony
• WHMM is the news channel in Harmony
• Shady Elms and Shenandoah Village are communities in Harmony
• There is a rest stop on Route Nine in Harmony.
• The Route 7 Bridge is the bridge Charlie drove off of supposedly with Sheridan and Luis' baby in her car.

Al's Movers are who Kay called when she wanted to move out of her parents house.

• The Cliffside Inn was where Sheridan and & Antonio, and Pilar & Brian (the name of her husband at the time, Martin being his first name?) also spent there Honeymoons.
• Greystone Inn is a place outside of Harmony where people stay in the fall to see the leaves.
• Safari Motel is a cheap motel in Harmony where Chad went to have his affairs.
• Fluff-n-Fold is the name of the Laundromat in Harmony.
• Lyndon Hill Nursing Home is where Alistair was taken after his supposed stroke and when he was in a coma, thought it was an imposter.
• Polters Oyster Bar is a restaurant in Harmony.
• Falcon Bridge Psychiatric Hospital is where Norma was often held.
• The Bayside Arms is a classy hotel in Harmony and is where Esme stayed while in town.
• The Starlight Hotel was a hotel where Jessica killed John at.
• Nancy's Bottle Shop is a wine and basket shop in town.
• Couture De Jour is the clothing store Enda went shopping at after Tabitha gave her a new body.
• Chatnum and Penn Adoption Agency is the agency Whitney used to give her baby up for adoption.

Families

The main four families in Harmony are:

• the Crane family, which is the wealthiest family in town. Headed by Alistair Crane, they are a well-known family worldwide comparable with the Kennedy family. Other notable living members include Julian Crane, Sheridan Crane, Fancy Crane, and Pretty Crane.
• the Bennett family, most prominently represented by Sam Bennett, the chief of police. After over twenty-five years, it was revealed that Sam is the father of Ethan Winthrop, once believed to be the heir to the Crane family fortune. Sam also has children Kay Bennett, Jessica Bennett, and Noah Bennett.
• the Lopez-Fitzgerald family, a working-class Mexican-Irish family. Headed by matriarch Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald, they fell into poverty after patriarch Martin Fitzgerald ran away with Katherine Barrett in the 1980s, though many of their children have fared well as adults: Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald and Theresa Crane (née Lopez-Fitzgerald) both married into the Crane family, while Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald has been engaged to two Cranes.
• the Russell Family, a middle-class African-American family in town. When Passions moved to DirecTV in September 2007, member Whitney Russell was written out by moving to New Orleans following her husband's murder and taking her toddler son along with her; when her father and sister also joined her there, the Russell family was left containing only doctor Eve Russell and her intersexed child Vincent Clarkson.

Harmony residences

• Crane Mansion (14 Raven Hill Road) - The home of the Crane family.
• Lopez-Fitzegerald Residence (462 Railroad Street) - The home of the Lopez-Fitzgerald family. The home burned down in 2002; Theresa had it rebuilt with Crane money as Julian Crane's wife. After Theresa and Julian's marriage was revealed to be invalid, Julian married Rebecca, who forced Julian to repossess the house, though Julian later returned the house to the Lopez-Fitzgeralds in December 2004.
• The Bennett residence - The home of the Bennett family. The original home was sucked into Hell in April 2001 and was later rebuilt.
• The Crane Studios apartment - Chad Harris-Crane lived there until his death; it is currently unoccupied.
• The Lenox residence.
• The Lester apartment - Where Spike and Jessica once lived.
• The Russell residence (422 Swallow Lane) - The home of the Russell family.
• The Wallace home - Which was formerly occupied by Edna, Beth, and Marty; it is assumed abandoned as of mid-2005.

Major events

• October 2000-April 2001 - A bizarre string of events caused by Hecuba results in the Bennett family home being sucked into hell in April 2001.
• September 2001 - Hurricane Peggy hit town as the Harmony High School class of 2001 was enjoying their senior trip on Warlock Island. The storm resulting from the hurricane left Ivy Crane paralyzed from the waist down for two and a half years.
• January 2002 - Julian Crane was presumed murdered, leaving a pool of suspects for the crime.
• July 2002 - Theresa Crane was executed for the murder of her husband, Julian Crane. Both were later revealed to be alive.
• June 24, 2004 - the Crane-owned jet carrying Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald exploded after take-off from the airport, supposedly killing Antonio.
• July 2005 - an earthquake hit Harmony, causing a tsunami and leaving James Boothe an orphan.
• December 2006-August 2007 - many of Harmony's citizens were tormented by a figure known only as "the Blackmailer"; he was later revealed to be Vincent Clarkson. The Blackmailer is responsible for the murders of Rae Thomas and Dylan Flood, the two rapes of Fancy Crane, the arson of Flood's apartment, and framing Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald for the acts.
• August 2007 - Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald was executed for two counts of murder, two counts of rape, and one count of arson. Endora Lenox later turned back time so that Eve Russell was able to clear Luis's name.
• May 20, 2008 - After decades of terrorizing the people of Harmony, Alistair Crane is murdered in cold blood by Viki Chatsworth. This also resulted in an earthquake because it was a prophesized portent of doom for the town.

References

1. April 13, 2007 transcript
2. Passions. Season 9. March 10, 2008 episode. 2008-03-10. DirecTV.
3. February 2, 2007 transcript

External links

• soapcentral.com