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# 046 <3.06> The Wages of Sin
 
 
(revised 06/06/2022)
 
 


 
 
Shortcuts to this episode's
 
Script | Credits | Filming Locations
 
 

 
 
The picture hanging next to the door in Julia's bedroom in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion is a replica of the 1878 pastel "The Star" a.k.a. "Dancer on Stage" ("L'Etoile") by EDGAR DEGAS (1834 – 1917).
It is pretty obvious that it is a reproduction because the picture is cropped on the left and at the top and bottom. The original of the aforementioned artwork is located at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris / France.
 
An early script draft staged the scene with Richard and Melissa talking about Julia's trial in the New Globe press room rather than in Richard's office.
 
An early script draft suggested that Phillip steal Angela's contract for the sale of the Agretti harvest not from Angie's study, but from her safe deposit box at the Tuscany Bank vault. This idea and the rôles of a bank employee by the name of Rose and of the bank manager were abolished.
 
The Tuscany Valley road Michael and Chase drive along is actually Rutherford Road outside Rutherford, CA at the T-junction to Conn Creek Road. The first part is filmed from the junction with the camera facing west on Rutherford Road; when the camera comes to a stop after panning, it faces north on Conn Creek Road.
 
Omitted was a scene from an early script draft with Linda and Cole at a Tuscany music store in which Linda plays the piano again.
 

Lighting crew's mistake: In the scene with Phillip in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion study, reflections of the studio lights can be seen in the upper left corner of the screen twice.

 

The photographic backdrop (translight) of San Francisco in the interior set of Emma's corner office at the New Globe is different from the previous one (compare # 037). The backing behind the left window is now a view of the city from the Financial District towards Nob Hill.

 
Parts of the vineyards at Stags' Leap and Shafer in Napa pose as the Agretti Vineyards (compare # 043 for details and further references).
 
The shot of Melissa in the Agretti Vineyards in this season's main title (right screen capture) is from an unused version of the scene in this episode (compare the left screen grab for the version used this episode).
 
As in the previous season, a privately owned South Pasadena mansion poses as the McKay House. More scenes filmed at that location will be featured in # 047.
 

Uncredited extra JACK DOUGLASS appears in this episode again — this time as a patron at the restaurant at the Tate Hotel.
Compare # 130 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 032.

 
The James Oviatt Building in downtown Los Angeles is used as the filming location for the Tate Hotel in San Francisco in this episode:
First, the restaurant is featured in the scene with Richard and Osborne. It is the ground level of the actual Rex Il Ristorante in that building — nowadays the Cicada Restaurant.
The later scene with Michael and Osborne features the lobby.
Cpmpare # 043 for a previous use of Rex Il Ristorante.
 
Inside joke: When, during their meeting at the Tate Hotel, John Osborne answers Richard's demand to delay the opening of Jacqueline's will with the remark he may go to Australia under these circumstances, it is a funny reference to guest star RICHARD VENTURE's previous guest rôle as attorney Harry Gough in "The Thorn Birds" in the spring of 1983; that mini-series was set in Australia.
 
The taxi of the Bay Cab Co. Michael uses to get to the Tate Hotel to see Osborne (screen grab 2) is a 1977 Ford LTD.
 
As the comparison shot from Maggie's cab in L.A. in # 027 shows (screen capture 1 — Tower Cab Co.), the prop sign is a generic prop, which has the "Cab Co." signage in the lower part and whose upper piece is individualized by exchanging the first part of the company name.
 
The stained glass window above the main entrance to the Falcon Crest Winery Building was propped with the "Falcon Crest" name to cover the name of the real winery, Spring Mountain. In Season 1, the prop sign said "Falcon Crest Winery".
 
The scene that ultimately leads to Cole and Linda making love in the vineyards originally started in the Falcon Crest Winery Building before they go into the vineyard in early script drafts. This was changed in the final version.
Considering that original idea, it seems odd that they would want to make love so close to where Angela or any of the other residents in the Victorian Mansion might notice them.
 
The filming location is the olive grove northeast of Spring Mountain's Villa Miravalle (the Victorian Mansion). At the beginning of the scene, Cole and Linda are walking from York Creek in southern direction. Mistake: They run out of the camera frame in western direction where Villa Miravalle's garage used to be. Then, the camera cuts to their arrival in a vineyard; the closest vineyard, however, is just in the opposite direction in real life.
The whole scene, by the way, is a "day for night", i.e. a cinematographic technique to simulate a night scene while it was actually filmed in daylight; it is usually underexposed and processed through a special filter in post-production to create the illusion of darkness.
 
The night scene in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion bedroom with Lance and Melissa talking about Julia and Carlo was longer in original script drafts and ended with Melissa's mood suddenly changing from being afflicted to impulsive and high-spirited, provocatively asking Lance how they were ever going to explain to their baby about his or her grandparents.
 
Cutting costs: DAVID SELBY, as Richard, wears wardrobe from "Flamingo Road" again in this episode — this time, the exact same outfit (a dark blue V-neck sweater, a white shirt and gray slacks) that he wore as Michael Tyrone / Edwards in # 30 of "Flamingo Road" (1981-82 season; screen capture 1).
In that LORIMAR series, YON DeLINDEN also served as the men's costume supervisor, and PAUL DAFELMAIR as the set costumer for men.
 
Season time frame: One week has gone by from Julia's plea in court (# 045) to the verdict in this episode.
 
As it can be seen in detail now, the courtroom is propped with a sign saying "Tuscany Valley County Court" — very similar to the prop sign that was already used in a different courtroom in season 1 (# 017, 018).
Inconsistency: Whereas the sign in season 1 showed the year 1861, the new sign reads "since 1858". A possible explanation for the change is that, due to improved historic research, the court administration might have found out that the court was founded earlier than they assumed previously.
 
When Judge Leeds pronounces the sentence, the female spectator in the gallery marked on screen grab 1 is looking at Julia first, but towards Angela in the very next frame. After a few seconds, while the lady is still looking towards Angela, she is, right after the cut to an angle from the side, suddenly looking at Julia again or towards the judge's bench.
In the usual process of making a movie or a TV show, scenes are shot at least twice — as a wide angle shot and in close-up, which bears the risk of inconsistencies. Compare # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for the advantages and disadvantages of this shooting procedure.
 
Julia is sentenced to life imprisonment at the Women's Maximum Security State Penitentiary at Fairlawn, CA, a fictional town.
 
In early script drafts, the episode contained one more scene at the end: Julia arrives at the penitentiary, and Angie climbs out of her limousine nearby, watching her daughter react to this chamber of horrors. This scene was omitted in the final version, the cliffhanger becoming the sentence to life imprisonment.
 
 

 
 
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