Michael Bourne

Michael Bourne
Jason George as Michael Bourne (1997)
Sunset Beach character
Portrayed by	Jason Winston George
First appearance	January 6, 1997
Last appearance	December 31, 1999
Created by	Robert Guza Jr.
Profile
Occupation	Lifeguard
Residence	Sunset Beach, California
Family Spouse Vanessa Hart (wed on December 31, 1999)

Michael Bourne was a fictional character in the American soap opera Sunset Beach portrayed by American actor Jason Winston George during the show's entire run.

Controversy

Michael and Vanessa's storyline was often isolated from other characters, focusing mainly on either the two of them or Virginia, but not branching out the storyline to mix with others.

I'm mixed on it. On the one hand, I'm glad that the story represents the good, the bad and the ugly. For a while, African Americans always showed up as thugs, and then for a while, they only showed up as perfectly good people who do no wrong. And now, we have representation across the board. That's cool. But at the same time, we lost any interaction with anybody else on the show. But that's changing, and I'm happy about it because I think the interaction needs to be there.

— Jason George (about story isolation) ^[1]

Character history

Michael was always a good person. He was a town lifeguard, who had Casey Mitchum as a friend and many others. His story began when he met a young journalist Vanessa Hart and saved her from a sure death. Vanessa had a lot of trouble due to an article she was writing, trying to save RaShonda and Jaleen Muhammad from Jo-Jo Muhammad, who turned out to be Michael's friend. Vanessa found herself hiding from them, and Michael was always there to save her. When the situation had resolved itself, Vanessa decided to leave to Hong Kong. Michael was sad about it. Days later, Vanessa returned home, but a chance for love with Michael was a bit challenged. Michael's friend from past, Virginia Harrison, was in love with Michael and she often used her son Jimmy Harrison to get what she wanted. Virginia did everything she could to break up the happy couple. It was later revealed that Michael had accidentally murdered Virginia's husband.

During the Terror Island storyline, Virginia tried to kill Vanessa several times, but she didn't do it, because they had to worry about the serial killer on the loose. Virginia researched Vanessa's past and realized that Vanessa had a mother that suffered from Martin's Syndrome, and she decided to use it to her advantage. She used help from Mrs. Moreau to get a potion that could make Vanessa think she got the syndrome too. Vanessa was frightened and decided to leave Sunset Beach to avoid Michael. Michael was in despair when Vanessa left. Meanwhile, Vanessa was hiding at Tyus Robinson's place. Tyus fell in love with Vanessa, but she didn't have the same feelings for him. Tyus was working on a cure for Vanessa, and everyone was surprised when Vanessa's illness disappeared. Vanessa and Michael finally reunited, but their happiness didn't last long. Virginia made another plot, a sick and crazy plan.

On the night of Meg Cummings and Ben Evans' wedding, Virginia used a turkey baster to insert Tyus' sperm (which she stole) into Vanessa and impregnated her. Vanessa soon learned she was pregnant. Virginia also staged another scene. She took a photo of Vanessa and Tyus together on the bed, and therefore, they thought that they had sex. Michael soon learned the truth about Vanessa's pregnancy and he was definitely shocked. Vanessa and Michael broke up, and Tyus comforted Vanessa. A few weeks later, Vanessa miscarried. When it seemed like Vanessa and Michael were coming closer again, Virginia had finally lost it. She ended up in a mental institution, and she confessed all of her crimes. Vanessa and Michael were both shocked. A few months later, after making up and breaking up, on the final episode, Vanessa and Michael finally got married.

References