THUMBS DOWN: Adriana's kidnapping Storyline

- Soap Opera Digest, May 1989 - 

SANTA BARBARA is a soap that knows how to keep us fishies on the hook. But in the case of baby Adriana Castillo’s disappearance, the truly Byzantine plot machinations have left me feeling nothing but confusion and frustration. I haven’t missed an episode since Cruz and Eden’s baby was kidnapped. I raged against the fates with them and, like Cruz, refused to believe the infant was dead. At this point, however, I’m so hopelessly confused that I’m losing patience. Does SB really expect me to believe that rapist Zack Kelton just happened to kidnap Adriana before cop Ramon Ramirez – who was originally hired by someone else to do the dastardly deed – was able to? And how did Zack hook up with nanny Katherine, who was part of the other conspiracy (I think)? I’m still fuzzy as to why Ramon killed Katherine – or even if he really did kill her. What was that blackmail scam all about anyway? And Kirk Cranston’s involvement, while plausible, only added to the confusion.

Instead of feeling anxious about whether or not the Castillo baby will be returned safely to the sheltering arms of her parents – which is what viewers should be concerned about – I’m feeling anxious about whether or not I’m going to be able to follow the story. Watching a soap should never be this much work. 

In this video we can see the end of this controversial storyline: after Adriana was found, she was baptized in Paris. Listen to the bells' melody  at the end of the clip: does it reminds you something?