Russell family (Passions)
The family was created by the soap's founder and head writer James E. Reilly; it originally consisted of four characters—the married couple Eve and T. C. Russell, and their children Whitney and Simone.
Most of the characters left during the show's transition from NBC to DirecTV, leaving Eve and Vincent as the only representatives of the Russell family in the series finale.
Despite the criticism, the cast was frequently nominated for NAACP Image Awards and featured prominently in a series of public service announcements for Black History Month in 2003.
[2] Amelia Marshall, who portrayed Liz Sanbourne, felt that the creation of seven African-American roles allowed each character to be unique: It's an awful lot of fun to be going to all these dark and extreme places.
[3]During the soap opera's final years, Johnson expressed disappointment when the show began "taking out the people of color", such as Amelia Marshall, Brook Kerr (who played Whitney Russell), and himself; he also said it was an obvious sign that "this thing is going down."
[4] Following the departures of Johnson, Kerr, and Cathy Jenéen Doe (Simone) in 2007 the Russells' only representatives in the series finale were Tracey Ross (Eve) and Phillip Jeanmarie (Vincent).
Her early storylines focus on her attempts to keep her past alcohol and drug abuse, and her relationship and child with Julian Crane, secret from her family and the rest of Harmony.
[1] Ross's portrayal of the character was warmly received by viewers, who frequently rated her their favorite Passions actress in Soap Opera Digest polls.
[11] TV Guide listed Eve and Julian as one of the best soap-opera supercouples, praising the chemistry between Ross and co-star Ben Masters,[12] Soap Opera Weekly referred to the pairing as "the Odd Couple of Passions".
He is characterized by his violent temper and hatred of Julian Crane for supposedly injuring him in a hit-and-run attack, and destroying his chances of becoming a professional tennis player.
[14] T. C. is initially portrayed as a harsh and unforgiving parent; he pushes Whitney to train to be a tennis champion, as he once wanted to be, and disapproves of her relationship with Chad Harris-Crane, feeling it is a distraction.
After learning about Eve's past relationship with Julian and her responsibility for the car crash that ended his tennis career, T. C. files for divorce and has a brief romance and engagement to her adoptive sister Liz Sanbourne.
The show humanizes T. C. and softens his temper during his recovery from a stroke; his final storylines focus on his attempts to rebuild his relationship with his ex-wife and children.
[15] Once T. C. was developed beyond the role of "the angry black man" and it became clear that the contents of his secret shed were not important to the plot, Johnson felt that his presence in the show was dramatically reduced.
African newspaper Mmegi said Johnson was invited to the 2005 Miss Culture and Heritage contest in Botswana due to his performance of T. C. as a "husband and father in the soap that warms the hearts of many in different countries".
"[23] The storyline about Simone's lesbianism, and the representation of her sexuality, received mixed feedback from critics and media outlets, as did Cathy Jenéen Doe's performance.
Sarah Warn, former editor of entertainment website AfterEllen.com, criticized the lesbian reveal as having "reduced Simone to a one-dimensional character who happened to sleep with a girl".
Whitney's confusion about her relationship with Chad, and her shame at possibly committing incest, escalates after she becomes pregnant and gives birth to their son, Miles Harris-Crane.
[24] Passions' casting director Jacklynn Briskey originally rejected 26-year-old Brook Kerr for the role of Whitney, believing she would look too mature to play a teenager.
[28] Vincent Clarkson, also known as Valerie Davis, is Eve and Julian's child; he is later revealed to be the blackmailer and serial rapist of the show's 2007 summertime extravaganza.
After the program moved to DirecTV, Vincent's storylines focused on his plan to torment Eve out of revenge for failing to prevent his abduction at birth, his sexual relationship with Julian, and his pregnancy with his father's child.
[31] On the other hand, Tracey Ross said the storyline of Vincent giving birth to his father's child made her "physically nauseous" and she could complete the delivery scenes only after the show's acting coach Maria O'Brien convinced her of "the comedic possibilities".
[32] Jamey Giddens of Daytime Confidential felt that Jeanmarie deserved an Emmy for making Vincent's outlandish situations believable.
After catching Chad having sex with Vincent, Whitney files for divorce; they later begin to reconcile through helping Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald and Ethan Winthrop reunite as a couple.
[36] Despite the controversy, and negative reception of Chad's sexual encounters with Vincent, Divins noted "the characters and their relationship [are] important aspects of the show.
[39] Divins praised the show for its inclusion of a black, gay character on daytime television,[39] while Swaby was disappointed by the direction Chad's storyline took.
"[44] She has commented that her decision to take on the role of Liz came from wanting to play characters that were different from her past appearances as Belinda Keffers in All My Children, and Gilly Grant Speakes in Guiding Light.
[46] The Russell family received further attention when the actors participated in public service announcements (PSAs) to celebrate the achievements of African-Americans in commemoration of Black History Month.
[52] Several items related to the Russell family were offered for sale, including Vincent's disguise as the "Blackmailer" (without the mask)[53] and Eve's medical coat splattered with blood from her botched surgery on Julian.
[55] The Russells were described as having received less screen time than other characters by The Baltimore Sun's Tamara Ikenberg, who commented that the series appeared to revolve around three families as opposed to four.
