Falcon Crest (1981)

Charley hires his brother Ian and his young, child-like wife, Sidney, to help run the winery. Since the new arrivals put Charley at odds with Lance, the two fight. After Lance soundly beats Charley, Charley immediately fires him. After rescuing his sons, Richard learns that they liked Lauren and returns them to Lauren's care, despite the fact that she is Sharpe's sister. After Pilar and Lance confront Emma about Charley, he throws a bacchanal party, which is crashed by bikers. Ned Vogel, who has taped evidence of Pilar securing his distribution contract through sexual favors, blackmails her. At Angela's bedside, Emma thinks she hears her comatose mother command her to get rid of Charley, but Emma isn't sure whether or not she imagined it.

As Michael Sharpe arranges for Richard to be killed, the contract eventually goes to Sal, Richard's acquaintance from prison. Instead of killing Richard, Sal offers to help him get back at Sharpe, but later pays with his life when Sharpe learns that Sal double-crossed him. After Sydney defies her husband and befriends Emma, Ian beats her. In order to get rid of Lance, Charley shows him a videotape of Pilar's liaison with Ned Vogel. Despite Pilar's pleas, Lance leaves enraged, just as Charley had hoped.

Michael Sharpe convinces Ian and Charley to sell Falcon Crest to him, but Emma backs out. When Sharpe informs Ian and Charley that he has information on them that could put them in jail, Charley agrees to kill Emma and forge her signature. Charley is stopped in his tracks, however, when an unsuspecting Emma informs him that she is pregnant. Lance becomes embroiled in a deadly game of Russian roulette involving scorpions.

Charley keeps the pressure on Emma to sell to Sharpe, despite the fact that she is pregnant. After Charley tells Ian about Sydney's affair with Chris Agretti at the winery, the two brothers agree to kill their wives for deceiving them. Richard lets Lauren know how much she means to him. After Frank sees Sydney and Ian in a struggle, he tries to help, but when Ian gets the upper hand, Sydney saves Frank by killing Ian with a letter opener. Charley chases after Emma, but Emma shoots him in the chest.

With a bullet wound in the chest, Charley disappears from Falcon Crest. Because Chris Agretti is missing, Sydney worries that Ian and Charley might have killed him. Sharpe gains control of Falcon Crest by threatening to press criminal charges against Emma for authorizing the release of tainted wine. Sharpe's son Danny provides his father with crucial evidence, which he found while on a date with Sydney. Richard suspects that Lauren's marital situation is worsening, while Lance resists renewing a sexual relationship with Pilar.

As payback for Jace Sampson's cooperation in Sharpe's takeover of Falcon Crest, Richard talks Jace into making an investment after which Jace loses all his money. Pilar and Lance's estrangement worsens. After Walker catches Richard and Lauren kissing, he confronts them with dynamite strapped to his chest, which is set to go off when the timer runs out. Rather than kill Lauren and the boys along with Richard, Walker runs outside just as the dynamite explodes.

When Genele forces Frank out of his own home in order to entertain her lover Sharpe, Frank delivers the remains of Genele's sister and Frank's ex-wife Renee to the police, informing them that Genele killed her ten years before. Sydney tries to push Pilar and Lance back together. Sharpe is displeased when Lauren moves in with Richard after her ordeal with Walker. Sharpe tries to act as a business mentor for Danny.

Haunted by the memory of her husband's death, Lauren moves out of Richard's place and in with Genele. When Danny invites Sydney for a romantic night on his father's yacht, Sydney maneuvers to put Lance and Pilar on the boat together instead. When Sharpe uses sensitive information about Richard's business dealings, he makes $300 million and Richard loses $52 million. Richard wrongfully accuses Lauren of leaking the information. After showing up at Richard's door, Genele removes her clothes.

Danny fights Sharpe's attempts to control his life and to make him break up with Sydney. After Sydney brings them back together, Lance and Pilar make plans to retake control of Falcon Crest. When Richard learns through Pilar that Genele was responsible for delivering his business secrets to Sharpe, he throws Genele out and attempts to reconcile with Lauren. Realizing that her brother's affection for her is more than just brotherly, Lauren decides she has to leave Sharpe's house.

Richard and Sharpe search for Lauren, who had grown tired of their fighting and ran off to work as a waitress in a diner. Sharpe attempts to convince Danny to drop Sydney, who wants Falcon Crest to return to the Channing's. When Lance and Pilar ask Sharpe what it would take for him to sell them Falcon Crest, Sharpe tells them to break up Sydney and Danny. When Lauren returns to Richard and the boys, she has to deal with Richard's continuing obsession with his dead wife Maggie.

After Genele intercepts stolen bonds that Sharpe is trafficking, she arranges for Richard to cash them. Lance, Pilar and Danny believe that things are finally turning around for the winery. Genele has to pay hush money to a witness, but Richard has decided to keep all the money as revenge for Genele's past deceit. When Richard has the bonds cashed under the name Sharpe, Sharpe assumes his son Danny did it under Sydney's influence. After Sharpe tampers with Sydney's car, Danny happens to borrow her car and ends up in an accident.