Santa Barbara Wayback: Remember Eden Capwell

In just a few, short, introductory scenes — and for most of her tenure — Santa Barbara’s Eden Capwell proved it was a fallacy that all blond-haired heiresses were merely damsels in distress. Eden was a woman capable of handling her own problems and she soon emerged as one of the most popular female characters in all of soap opera history.’

Angel From Heaven
Despite not appearing until the 45th episode, Eden’s (Marcy Walker) arrival was the immediate shot in the arm that the ailing serial needed to right its many wrongs. Eden was first seen canoodling with an airplane pilot before parachuting out of the craft.

She missed her target — the Capwell mansion — and instead found herself tangled in a hedge situated on the Lockridge estate. She didn’t take to kindly to the family’s heir apparent and his flirtatious ways, “Actually Warren, I don’t think about you at all,” and after beating a hasty retreat she made it just in time to wish her father, C.C., a very happy birthday.

Early Developments
Eden briefly enjoyed a flirtation with the much older Lionel Lockridge (Nicolas Coster) — her mother’s former lover — whom she adventured with in a bid to locate sunken treasures. However, her heart still belonged to Cruz Castillo (A Martinez) a fellow returnee to Santa Barbara who had romanced her in Europe years before.

They fought their smoldering attraction to one another — fearing that the class divide and difference in race would prove insurmountable barriers — but, it didn’t take long before they were co-habituating in Cruz’s boathouse.

Third Parties Intervene
Eden accepted Cruz’s marriage proposal but their first stab at matrimony ended when The Orient Express caught fire. Then Eden halted any further wedding plans when Cruz arrested her mother Sophia (Judith McConnell) for the accidental killing of Channing Capwell.

Eden had to wrestle with her conscience when C.C. was rendered comatose from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He had earlier elicited a promise from his daughter that she wouldn’t allow him to be kept alive by artificial means. But now that the time was upon her, Eden struggled with the idea of turning her father’s machine off.

Eden’s manipulative stepmother, Gina (Robin Mattson), took advantage of the situation and unplugged C.C.’s respirator and gaslit Eden into believing that she had done it. Fearing that she was descending into madness, Eden turned to business associate Kirk Cranston for support and wound up marrying him.

Third Parties Continue To Intervene
Eden and Cruz found …continue reading on the next page —>

Continue reading on the next page…

Eden and Cruz themselves longing to reunite and a jealous Kirk decided to off his new bride rather than lose her and to that end, he dumped her in an aquariums shark tank! Cruz rescued Eden and they eventually resumed their relationship.

They were even able to weather Cruz’s accidental infidelity with Victoria Lane — he was dazed and feverish following a shipwreck and believed he was making love to Eden — and Eden even survived the murder attempt perpetrated by her vengeful half-sister Elena — who Cruz stood accused of killing.

Magical Adventure
Cruz and Eden finally wed in 1988 and on their honeymoon they traveled back in time via a magic mirror and had to reunite Eden’s estranged parents to ensure that she would be born.

Victim
Eden became a television journalist and lead a crusade to end gang violence. Soon after she was brutally beaten and raped inside the beach house she shared with her husband. The investigation seemed to point to gang member Critter but it was eventually revealed that Eden’s rapist was her gynecologist, Dr. Zack Kelton (Leigh J. McClosky).

Shortly after her assault, Eden learned she was pregnant and feared that Zack was the father. DNA testing proved Cruz was the baby’s father. Eden gave birth to a baby girl – Adriana — but she and Cruz would have to chase after Zack when he kidnapped the infant and spirited her away to Paris.

Double Trouble
Eden and Cruz were happy for a time but an old lover from Eden’s past — Robert Barr — resurfaced in Santa Barbara and tried to win her back. However, Eden couldn’t remember him because she had blocked out that particular period of her life.

Multiples
In 1991, Eden began to exhibit signs of irrational behavior that subsequent investigation revealed was a condition known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. Eden took on a number of different personas including Lisa, a jewel thief, and Suzanne and artist.

But it was her transformation into Channing that proved dangerous.”Channing” took Sophia hostage and, in a reenactment of “his” death Channing shot her! Then “he” fled the Capwell estate in a limousine and disappeared. Despite months of searching, Eden remained a missing person.

But, Santa Barbara fans would like to believe Cruz eventually found her after the show left the airwaves and they lived happily ever after.