Vincent Irizarry
as Scott Clark in

Santa Barbara

1987-1989

- Page 2 -

Review of Scott on Santa Barbara
by DandEfan

Click for larger picture

And then there is Ben, Scott's father. Ben, who didn't want his son to become a doctor but was in fact very proud of "his son, the doctor." Ben, who can ignite Scott to fury in an instant. Ben, who dies of cancer from toxic carcinogens at the oil refinery. Scott has several scenes where he is trying to come to terms with his father's death, one especially touching one where he's holding the box containing his father's ashes and crying. "I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to you, Dad, so I'm saying it now." Then, so softly that it's barely audible, he whispers, "Goodbye. I love you."

Interestingly, the love relationship per se between Scott and Heather brings out her demons--big time. Heather is the one terrified of commitment, or "the M word," as Scott says at one point; Scott is completely ready to commit to her and is stunned when she doesn't instantly accept his marriage proposal. The other real terror that Heather has is whether she would be able to be a good mother. She sees Scott as a completely natural father which only intensifies her feelings of inadequacy. There are numerous lovely scenes throughout the tape where Scott is playing with babies. In one, Scott is humming Brahms' "Lullaby" as he closes the door to let the baby sleep. This conflict over commitment and having children becomes increasingly important in the story between Scott and Heather.

And finally, we have Scott and Celeste. Celeste is his high school sweetheart who has come back to town ten years later. It turns out that her father had withheld a letter that Scott had written to her when he was at medical school, one where he virtually proposed to her. After confronting her father, he gives her the box of letters. Celeste is sitting reading the one with the marriage proposal aloud and Scott walks in the door reciting the lines from the letter that he had memorized ten years before. Scott is now engaged to Heather. Ostensibly, Celeste has had a job as a model for all this time; in reality, she was a call girl. Their romance begins long before they realize it begins.

Celeste is working at the clinic that Scott and Heather run. She comes in one night in a flashy outfit; unbeknownst to Scott, she has acted as a decoy that night to try to flush out the rapist who is running through most of the women in Santa Barbara. The attempt to capture the rapist has failed, but Celeste has been injured, and she comes on Father Michael's arm (Heather's brother) to the clinic. Scott tapes her ribs, the song "Slow Dancing" plays (this becomes Celeste and Scott's song) and they have a gentle scene together. He persuades her to stay at the clinic on a cot for the night. She's asleep later and Scott covers her with a blanket. He fingers a strand of her hair for a second, then looks at his hand as if he has just burn ed it. Over the next while, they become closer, rekindling memories of the old neighborhood and their earlier love. Heather, meanwhile, is becoming more and more aware of what is going on.

After Scott had researched his father's death and found that other people also died of cancer who worked on the Capwell oil wells, he sued Capwell. He and others from the neighborhood (surviving relatives of the cancer victims) win a huge settlement and Scott, Heather and Celeste plan a big party in celebration. The night of the party, C.C. Capwell appears uninvited with everyone's check. Scott is numb, doesn't in any way feel like a millionaire, and goes to his father's grave. Celeste follows him and tells him that she still loves him. A bunch of scenes are missing here (including this one) that I wish I could have seen. But what follows is Scott going away to think things over, and in Heather and Celeste's mind, to decide which one to choose. His decision is that there is something unfinished between him and Celeste. He has a wrenching break-up scene with Heather, then goes to the hospital where Celeste is recovering from pneumonia. One of the most touching scenes on this tape. He gently strokes her hair. "I'm here, Celeste," he says, and kisses her hand. "And this is where I'm going to stay."

But there are two things standing in the way of this being a "happily ever after" story: Celeste's past and Heather's pregnancy. Heather became pregnant near the end of the relationship and was in the hospital to abort the baby. Celeste stumbles into her room (not sure how this happens exactly) and urges Scott to go see Heather. Scott is clueless as to why Heather is there and when she tells him, he is enraged. More scenes I didn't see. But later, Heather is still pregnant, though Scott believed she had had an abortion that night. Celeste had also been guilty of keeping the truth from Scott. Once Scott finds that Heather is carrying their child, he sues for joint custody. Angry scenes, but also some nice ones, as they struggle to find a way to be decent to one another. Meantime, Celeste is eaten up with guilt at not telling Scott about her previous life as a call girl. She tries to tell him, over and over, at his urging. "There's nothing you can't tell me," he says, but at the same time he recounts his coldness to a prostitute he had treated at the clinic and tells her about his mother. More missing scenes again. From a website, I learned that Celeste did finally tell Scott and that he broke up with her. Heather had a baby boy that they named Michael and Heather and Scott left town after the baby's birth.

Huge thanks to Sandy Strider for asking me to do this write-up! It was a true privilege to look at some of Vincent's work "before David." [Huge thanks back for doing an excellent job of putting the words to this page!!  Thanks, Leslie]

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Many  thanks to:

ABC Television
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for carrying stories and pictures of Vincent Irizarry
 in the many roles he has played throughout the years.

Most importantly, I would like to thank Vincent Irizarry
for giving us hours of entertainment.