Soap Opera History: Remember Carl Hutchins From Another World

If there was ever a man who truly embodied the characteristics of an antihero, it would be Carl Hutchins from Another World. As the villain, Carl kidnapped, tortured, and killed. But he also possessed the soul of a Renaissance man and when he fell madly and passionately in love with Rachel Cory – ironically one of his most frequent victims – Carl emerged as one of the most beloved characters in all of soap opera history.

Lady Killer

By the time Carl arrived in town and reignited his red-hot affair with Felicia Gallant, he had already wed and divorced two women – Barbara Hutchins and Donna Love – and engaged in a passionate affair with the very married Justine Duvalier Harrison. Carl also had a penchant for bedding his more attractive female cohorts – among his conquests were Lorna Devon and Blair Baker.

Vendetta
Carl relocated to Bay City in 1983, consumed with a barely containable rage directed at publishing magnet Mackenzie Cory. Although Carl tried to distract himself by reuniting with Felica and scheming with Reginald Love, all he could think of was revenging himself against the man he blamed for all his troubles.

Decades before, Carl – then a lay-about cad and heir to a family fortune – brokered a deal that saw his beloved father’s company folded into the Cory Publishing portfolio. When the division was later shunted and the elder Hutchins learned the business had been sold for a pittance, he committed suicide.

Criminal Enterprise 
To further his goal of the complete and total annihilation of all things Cory, Carl tried to dupe his rival into selling precious acreage in a land scam. Then he poisoned the mind – and later the body – of Mac’s son Sandy.

Later he attempted to force Mac into re-enacting his father’s suicide and when that plan failed, he kidnapped Mac’s wife Rachel and her younger sister Nancy. When Nancy was severely injured, Carl showed the girl compassion by spiriting her away to a local hospital.

His act of kindness confused Rachel, whom Carl was beginning to show a romantic interest in – probably because of her uncanny resemblance to Justine – but even that fact didn’t save Rachel from a bullet fired by Carl in the direction of Mac. She emerged unscathed but suffered amnesia.

After absconding with the Love family fortune which he swindled from an unsuspecting Donna – Carl again made his presence known as one third of the criminal consortium CLH.

The group – which also counted Reginald Love and Fredrick Chapin as members – had amassed a fortune in pilfered loot, including Egyptian relics and dirty money, which they buried in a remote spot out in the Arizona desert.

Carl made his way to the hiding place but had to contend with interference from Fredrick’s son and his lover Nancy, members of the Love family, as well as Cass Winthrop and Kathleen McKinnon. No one emerged truly victorious from the Western adventure.

Confession Is Good For The Soul

Having spent some time in prison, Carl returned to Bay City in 1991, much to the chagrin of its denizens. By that time, Mac had passed away and a more contented Carl merely amused himself by taunting a widowed Rachel, ensuring that his political puppet Grant Harrison was elected into office, and engaging in a spot of moving counterfeit plates through a business operated by Rachel’s son, Matt.

He also made plans to instigate a hostile takeover of Cory Publishing and oust Rachel, however that failed spectacularly. Angered, Carl actually hired an assassin to off Rachel! He also arranged for a bomb to silence pesky Kathleen McKinnon whom he had already tried to murder via an exploding aircraft but that plan failed as well – although it did leave Frankie Frame severely injured.

With nearly half the populace of Bay City having fallen victim to a plot or machination perpetuated by Carl, it came as no surprise when the villain found himself poisoned by an unknown assailant during a Halloween party. Desperate for the antidote, Carl confessed to his litany of sins only to discover that the drug he had ingested would not prove fatal.

Second Chances
Despite her hand in Carl’s drugging, Rachel actually found herself in need of the man’s help. Carl had managed to purchase stock in Cory Publishing and his 10% stake would prove the deciding factor on whether or not Rachel would have to submit to a hostile takeover of the company.

Carl agreed to provide Rachel with what she required but he was insistent that it was quid pro quo. Rachel wanted security and he wanted respectability. So in exchange for his vote, Carl wanted to bee seen in Rachel’s presence.

As the two began to spend more and more time together, a rather strange kinship developed and eventually they fell in love with each other. Much in the same way that Mac’s love had tamed Rachel’s wild side and curbed her selfishness, her love and acceptance of Carl made him want to be a better man. There romance led to marriage in August of 1994, and Rachel was sure she had a second chance at Happily Ever After.

Offspring
Carl fathered four children and outlived two of them. Perry – his son with Barbara – died in a fall – and Ryan Harrison – the son he shared with Justine – was accidentally shot and killed by his half-brother, Grant. With Rachel, Carl became a parent to twins Cory and Elizabeth.