Pretty Crane

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Pretty Crane

Melinda Sward as Pretty Crane
Passions character
Portrayed by Melinda Sward
Duration 2007–08
First appearance July 30, 2007
Last appearance June 30, 2008
Created by James E. Reilly
Profile
Residence Crane Mansion
14 Raven Hill Road
Harmony, New England

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.[1]

Character history

Early life

Pretty Crane[2] is the youngest daughter of Julian Crane and Ivy Winthrop, and the granddaughter of the Crane patriarch Alistair Crane and his first wife Katherine Crane. She was born sometime in the early 1980s, and conceived in Sri Lanka as her parents desperately sought to find a way to love one another.[3] Julian chose to name their daughter Pretty, feeling the name to be fitting, since she was such a beautiful baby. She was the youngest of four children: Ethan, Fancy, and Fox are her older siblings.[4] Pretty, like her siblings, spent much of her youth away from home attending boarding schools.

Throughout the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Passions gave the impression that Fancy and Pretty had a good relationship; when Fancy returned home to Harmony on June 16, 2005, she mentioned that she and her sister had been traveling together in Italy, where Pretty had fallen in love with an Italian count or prince,[5] and Fancy was seen talking with an off-screen Pretty on December 1, 2005, when Ethan was set to be taken off of life support.[6]

However, beginning on January 8, 2007,[7] Pretty's history was retconned such that Fancy and Pretty were said to have had a very competitive relationship. Sheridan commented that Fancy once stole one of Pretty's dates one Labor Day simply because she could, dumping the boy a week later. Even though Fancy protested that events had not unfolded as her aunt had claimed, she did not give her own viewpoint of the event.[8]

Pool-side accident

Pretty's recollection of Fancy throwing acid on her face

As teenagers, a fight between the two sisters left Pretty badly scarred on the right side of her face. In the aftermath, the two sisters provided contradicting stories: Pretty claimed that Fancy, jealous that a new boy in town, Harrison, had eyes only for Pretty, intentionally scarred her younger sister by pouring a bottle labeled "Pool Clear Cyanuric Acid" on her face; Fancy claimed that Pretty had been choking her, and, desperate to escape, she had grabbed something with which to defend herself, unaware that the bottle contained acid.[9]

After the accident, Pretty left Harmony and cut herself off from her family. Though she saw many plastic surgeons, none were able to fix her scars; they were only able to minimize it to its current state.[10] As a result, Pretty harbors deep resentment against her sister, believing that Fancy intentionally scarred her, thus eliminating Pretty's chances of ever having a normal life, marrying, and having children. She also blames her parents for wanting her gone, to protect the Crane family's image.

Return to Harmony

At her half-brother Vincent Clarkson's request, Pretty returned to Harmony on July 30, 2007,[9] with the intent of preventing her sister's impending nuptials to the soon-to-be-executed Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald. Eager to destroy her sister's happiness, Pretty told her sister that she would reveal her version of their fight to Luis if Fancy didn't cancel the wedding; Fancy eventually complied. Ivy bumped into Pretty, and even though Ivy was happy to see her, Pretty only showed anger and resentment towards her. When Pretty tried to tell Luis what had happened all those years ago as he was walking to the execution chamber, Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious; Ivy, Pilar and Fancy left her unconscious on the floor of a jail cell, with Ivy stating that she'll have someone come and check on her later. Father Lonigan brought out a softer side of Pretty, even convincing her to let Luis die in peace.

Pretty's mercy was short-lived, however, because, soon after Luis was cleared of all charges, she told him of the accident involving herself and her sister, and was incensed when Luis did not leave Fancy. Eager for revenge, Pretty joined forces with her grandfather, Alistair, despite his earlier cruelty to her (he'd spurned her and called her "Ugly Crane"),[10] and drugged her sister so that Alistair could have a special mind-control device implanted into Fancy's brain.

When the device backfired multiple times Alistair chose a more conniving plan and he and Pretty took Luis captive in order to impregnate her. When the plan was foiled, Alistair ordered Spike Lester, a Crane lackey to kill Luis and, if she got in the way, Pretty as well.[11] During the melee Pretty was shot in the side, but it was only a flesh wound. Pretty had fallen in love with Luis, and she tormented her aunt and sister with the possibility that she may be pregnant with his child.

After months of Pretty faking a pregnancy, on June 17, 2008, Juanita Vasquez "accidentally" tripped over Pretty, causing her fake pregnant stomach to fall off. Luis and Fancy furiously yelled at Pretty. Pretty cried and even tried to apologize to Fancy but Luis was much devastated and betrayed, while her sister Fancy said that her accident in the pool-side causing Pretty's face to scar was nothing compared to what she had just done to Fancy. In tears, Fancy said, "I hate you!" and that she never wanted to see Pretty again.

After an attempt to throw acid in Fancy's face failed on June 26, 2008, Pretty's dark secret was finally revealed - she had been suffering from a mental illness for many years, and in addition her facial scar was actually fake. Luis proceeded to contact a mental institution, and men in white jackets arrived to take Pretty away. According to Sheridan and Eve, Crane women suffer a hereditary case of mental illness going down to Alistair's grandmother who went insane because of losing a loved one. Pretty went crazy because of prolonged anger and, according to Eve, would be in the mental institution for a long time.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Daniel R. Coleridge (2007-06-25). "Passions Sneak Peek: Meet Pretty Crane". TV Guide Soaps News. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  2. ↑ Pretty's first name wasn't revealed to viewers until January 8, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Passions Transcript Tuesday 5/1/07 -- Canada; Wednesday 5/2/07 -- USA". The TV Megasite Inc. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  4. ↑ "Dear Tabby", March 21, 2008
  5. ↑ "Passions Transcript Wednesday 6/15/05--Canada; Thursday 6/16/05--USA". The TV Megasite Inc. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  6. ↑ "Passions Transcript from Thursday 12/01/05". The TV Megasite Inc. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  7. ↑ "Passions Transcript Friday 1/5/07 -- Canada; Monday 1/8/07 -- USA". The TV Megasite Inc. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  8. ↑ Dustin Cushman. "Passions 4th Week of January 2007 Daily Summaries". Soapoperafan.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Dustin Cushman. "Passions 1st Week of August 2007 Daily Summaries". Soapoperafan.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Dustin Cushman. "Passions 4th Week of August 2007 Daily Summaries". Soapoperafan.com. Retrieved 2007-12-30. 
  11. ↑ Dustin Cushman. "Passions 2nd Week of December 2007 Daily Summaries". Soapoperafan.com. Retrieved 2007-12-31. 

See also

  • Crane family

External links

Major characters
Secondary characters
Core families
Important crew
Related topics
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