What Happened on the Final Episode of ‘Edge of Night’?
The Edge of Night debuted the same day as fellow Procter & Gamble Production As the World Turns, on April 2, 1956. But the 30-minute CBS serials didn’t have much else in common. Instead of focusing on stories about families, as ATWT and so many other shows did, The Edge of Night — which was created by Irving Vendig, a writer for Perry Mason on radio — told legal/mystery stories, based in the fictional Midwestern city of Monticello. The show ran for 28 years, becoming the first soap to pick up an award from the Mystery Writers of America in the process — but do you remember how it ended?
A Mystery Classic
Though it may not have the same level of instant name recognition that other major soaps do, Edge attracted many viewers and top-tier talent in its decades on the air. Well-known actors who appeared on Edge include Conrad Bain (Dr. Charles Weldon), Dixie Carter (Brandy Henderson), Kate Capshaw (Jinx Avery), Marcia Cross (Beth Correll), Frances Fisher (Deborah Saxon), Larry Hagman (Ed Gibson), Lori Loughlin (Jody Travis), Julianne Moore (Carmen Engler), and Holland Taylor (Denise Cavanaugh).
Henry Slesar was Edge’s head writer from 1967 to 1983. The scribe is known for inventing some of the most unique character names on daytime drama, including Winter Austen, Jinx Avery, Poppy Johnson, Raven Alexander, Harry Constable, Martine Duval, Preacher Emerson, Damian Tyler, and Logan Swift. Slesar won the Daytime Emmy for Writing in 1974.
Edge switched networks, moving from CBS to ABC on December 1, 1975. The show kicked off its new home with a 90-minute special. Unlike other serials, Edge (which dropped the “The” in its title in the 1980s) never expanded to the hour format as others had done.
On the Edge
Edge featured plenty of good guys. Mike Karr (Laurence Hugo; Forrest Compton) began his career as a police officer who was studying law, and later became Monticello’s district attorney. Mike’s marriage to Sara Lane (Teal Ames) was cut short after she died saving their daughter Laurie from an on-coming car.
Mike found love a second time with Nancy Pollock (Ann Flood), whose role as a journalist aided him in many of his cases.
Other key characters in Edge’s earlier days include police chief Bill Marceau (Mandel Kramer) and his wife Martha (Teri Keane), as well as attorney Adam Drake (Donald May) and his client, Nicole Travis (Maeve McGuire; Jayne Bentzen; Lisa Sloan), who later became his secretary – and then, his wife!
Adam and Nicole’s happy life as husband and wife was cut short after he was murdered. Nicole found love again with Dr. Miles Cavanaugh, a medical examiner, but tragically, Nicole, a TV news anchor, was murdered by poisoned makeup.
Raven and Sky
Arguably, the show’s most popular character was Charlotte “Raven” Alexander (Sharon Gabet). She and Sky (Larkin Malloy) became Daytime TV’s own Nick and Nora Charles, but they didn’t get there overnight.
Raven fell in love with Sky Whitney, and they wed in the Whitney mansion. But Raven soon discovered that her groom wasn’t Sky at all — rather, he was Jefferson Brown, an opportunistic pal of Sky’s. The two men were in a plane crash and Sky was killed (or so we thought). Jeff, who had a similar build and coloring to Sky, had plastic surgery to look just like Sky.
Jeff decided that he couldn’t trust Raven not to come clean, and hired hitman Romeo Slade (Martin Kove) to kill Raven while he was on a business trip. Jeff had a change of heart at the last minute, however, returned home, and shot and killed Romeo before he could murder Raven.
Jeff and Raven later went on a trip to Switzerland when he decided yet again that he had to do away with his bride. Just as Jeff was going to throw Raven to her death, a sniper took his life! Widowed Raven returned to Monticello, ready to spend the Whitney millions her husband left her.
Her plan to live the high life came to an end when the real Sky turned up alive and well. He reclaimed his life and tossed Raven out of his home, but eventually, the two fell in love and Raven and the real Sky married.
Another suspense-filled story in the early 1980s was Nancy’s investigation of The Rexford Clinic, a plastic surgery hospital where Dr. Kenneth Bryson (James Hawthorne), who loved Nancy, worked with his second wife Beth (Doris Belak), and Matt Sharkey (Christopher Goutman).
They kept Nancy prisoner in the clinic after she discovered their illegal activities. Later, Draper (Tony Craig) and a pregnant April (Terry Davis) were also held captive. Just as Sharkey and Beth were about to kill them, Gideon, one of the criminals at the clinic, turned on Sharkey and Beth. Gideon removed his plastic surgery bandages only to reveal that he was, in reality, Mike Karr! He’d infiltrated the clinic and rescued everyone just in time!
The End of Night
Despite following the highly popular General Hospital, Edge began losing its, well, edge in the early ‘80s, when both affiliates and fans began to drop the show. On October 26, 1984, Procter & Gamble and ABC jointly announced Edge of Night would air its finale on December 28, 1984.
Edge’s last show began with Monticello residents celebrating the marriage of Miles (Joel Crothers) and Beth (Sandy Faison), which had occurred in the penultimate episode.
Miles and Beth’s wedding party was a time celebration and reconciliation. The reception was held at the penthouse Miles had shared with his late wife, Nicole. Out on the balcony, Beth and her sister Liz (Marcia Cross) made peace with their past and their mother as the snow fell.
“I was glad I got to say goodbye,” Beth told her groom. The line of dialogue was perhaps a nod to the show being able to say farewell to its viewers with this emotional and suspenseful issue.
Raven (Sharon Gabet) asked Geraldine (Lois Kibbee) if she and Del (Robert Gerringer) were going to announce their wedding plans, but Gerladine had something to attend to first.
The action cut to a coffee shop, where Det. Chris Egan (Jennifer Taylor) was lamenting the end of her relationship with Chief Derek Mallory (Dennis Parker). She spied Alicia Van Dine (Chris Weatherhead) and followed her to the mysterious and unfamiliar Wonderland Lane. Alicia ducked into a shop called “M. Hatter Antiques” and Chris went inside.
If these two Alice in Wonderland references weren’t enough of a nod to the Lewis Carroll book, Chris also spotted a stuffed rabbit out in the snow.
A Jody (Karrie Emerson) and Preacher (Charles Flohe) reunion was not in the cards, as he left town with Liz, and she continued her relationship with Jeremy (Michael Conforti). Jody and Preacher did share a kiss goodbye, though.
Mitzi (Lela Ivey) not only caught Beth’s bouquet but she shared a smooch with Gunther (David Froman).
Edge was no stranger to violence over the years and this finale included a particularly gruesome moment.
“Off with her head,” Alicia told Chris as she collapsed on the floor of M. Hatter Antiques; she had a knife in her back and appeared dead. Her presumed assailant was her diabolical brother, Louis Van Dine (Jerry Zaks), who wasn’t in jail after all!
Next, Chris was grabbed from behind by Donald Hext (Ralph Byers) — the man Sky Whitney (Larkin Malloy) was believed to have killed in a sword fight. Chris made a valiant effort to win her freedom and managed to get away, with Hext in fast pursuit. In her haste to escape, she dropped her purse in the snow.
Back at the penthouse, Nancy (Ann Flood) informed Jody that her and Mike’s (Forrest Compton) daughter Laurie (Linda Cook) was home. “There’s a fitting completeness to this day,” Mike said. “I can’t really describe it. It’s very special.”
Then, the action shifted over to the Whitney mansion with Raven, Sky, Jamey Swift (Jason Zimbler), Geraldine, Del, Gunther and Mitzi. A messenger, who received a generous tip from Sky, delivered papers to Geraldine. She asked for a moment alone with Del so she could present him with a prenuptial agreement. “Just in case you get another attack of ‘Emerson wanderlust,’” Geraldine remarked, referring to the last time he went away.
Meanwhile, Miles carried Beth over the threshold to their hotel room. “Time to get ready for bed,” Beth said. As viewers may have recalled, Beth was a virgin so the couple’s wedding night was extra special.
Chris returned to Wonderland Lane with two officers, hoping to bring Van Dine and Hext into custody. She was shocked to find a cement wall with an iron gate on it. Had she gone past the entrance? The two policemen said they’d never heard of a Wonderland Lane. It was indeed gone, but the rabbit and Chris’s missing purse were there. “I saw a murder in an antique shop – it was owned by an M. Hatter…Mad Hatter,” Chris said, realizing the Alice in Wonderland connection.
Doubting Chris’s story, one officer quipped, “Was the rabbit…late for a very important date?”
Back at the Whitney mansion, as the final moments of the episode slipped away, Sky made a toast, asking everyone to contribute. “To baby sisters,” little Jamey said, referring to Sky and Raven’s recently born daughter, Charlotte.
“Yeah, and family,” Raven added.
“To laughter,” Mitzi offered.
“To adventure,” said Gunther.
“To moments past and moments yet to come,” offered Gerladine.
“To love,” said Del.
“To life,” concluded Sky.
Gunther began singing “The First Noel” with everyone joining in. The group back at that penthouse, which included Didi (Mariann Aalda), Matthew (Randy Mullins), and Marty Stillwater (Derek Evans), were singing the same holiday tune.
Meanwhile, Beth and Miles consummated their love. “This is going to last forever,” Beth lovingly told Miles. “Yes, it is,” he responded as the two kissed one another.
We saw hitchhiking Liz and Preacher get a lift from a couple. They drove by a sign that read YOU ARE NOW LEAVING MONTICELLO.
Fortunately, Chris safely made her way back to the penthouse and was calmed by Mike. Ever the effective district attorney, he asked the detective to give details of her ordeal. Chris explained that not only was Alicia killed by her brother Louis, who was supposed to be in prison, but that Donald Hext — killed by Sky in a duel — was there, too.
Mike had heard enough to know what he should do. He ordered Calvin (Irving Allen Lee) to take Chris back out into the field, presumably to get some more information and to let the villains of this developing new story known that they’d be brought to justice!
As the Edge of Night theme music played over silent dialogue, Mike got on the phone to rally forces. Nancy, as always, was by his side.
The final scene cut back to the Whitney mansion as Sky grabbed Raven into a passionate embrace and kissed her. They answered the mansion’s door but found on the ground only a foil – similar to the one Sky used in the duel with Hecht.
As finales go, executive producer Erwin Nicholson and head writer Lee Sheldon hit a home run. Not everything was wrapped up in a neat little bow (Preacher and Jody not together – really?). And just what happened to the mysterious Wonderland Lane, Van Dyne, and Hext? We were left knowing that Mike, Nancy, Raven, Sky, and their friends, families, and foes would never not be embroiled in a mystery.
Edge of Night found new audiences when episodes from June 1981 to the 1984 series finale were rebroadcast on the USA Network from August 1985 to January 1989. Episodes of Edge were made available via AOL Video Service from August 2006 to January 2009. But as of today, it isn’t streaming anywhere, and lives on only in our memories.
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