The ninth and final season of Falcon Crest marks another hasty exit of a longtime series regular, as Maggie Channing (Susan Sullivan), widow of vintner Chase Gioberti and later the wife of ruthless newspaperman Richard Channing (David Selby), drowns in her family's swimming pool. If this wasn't bad enough news for Richard as he is released from prison, Richard must also contend with homicidal financier Michael Sharpe (Gregory Harrison), who has gained control of Falcon Crest and claimed Richard's two sons as his own. In league with his partner in crime Genele Ericson (Andrea Thompson), Michael also plays sinister minds games with his own sister Lauren (Wendy Phillips), and with his own son Danny (David Sheinkopf)--who, in time-honored Falcon Crest fashion, is revealed to actually be Richard's son! Meanwhile, Emma Channing (Margaret Ladd), daughter of Richard's longtime bete noire (and mother!) Angela Channing (Jane Wyman), becomes the wife of one Charley St. James (Mark Lindsay Chapman), a certifiable nutcase with an equally deranged brother named Ian. In concert, the St. James boys not only lay waste to Falcon Crest, but also assault Angela and send her into a coma, capping their deviltry by scheming to bump off their own wives. No sooner have Charley and Ian exited the scene than Angela awakens, picking up precisely where she left off. In the series' now-notorious finale, the entire cast is seized by a sudden epiphany, represented by a Light From Above, whereupon all the bad characters turn "good" literally overnight--and of course, everyone lives happily ever after!
