If you were sitting in front of a wood-encased Zenith television in the fall of 1986, you knew the drill. The sun would set over the Mayacamas Mountains, the sweeping orchestral theme by Bill Conti would swell, and for sixty minutes, the internal politics of the Gioberti and Agretti families felt more important than your own mortgage. Honestly, Falcon Crest season 6 was a massive pivot point for the series. It was the year the show decided to stop being a "wine country drama" and started being a full-blown, high-stakes thriller.
Some fans hated it. Others couldn't look away.
By the time we hit the 1986-1987 television season, the "Big Three" soaps—Dallas, Dynasty, and Falcon Crest—were facing a bit of an identity crisis. The glitz of the early eighties was starting to feel a little too familiar. To counter the fatigue, the writers of Falcon Crest season 6 leaned hard into the "mystery" element. They brought in Kim Novak. Yes, that Kim Novak, the Hitchcock blonde from Vertigo. She played Skylar Kimball, a woman hiding under a pseudonym with a past that felt like it belonged in a film noir rather than a vineyard in Northern California.
The Chaos of the San Stefano Earthquake
You can't talk about Falcon Crest season 6 without talking about the literal ground shifting. The season five finale ended with a massive earthquake that leveled parts of the valley. It was a classic 80s trope, sure, but it served a very specific purpose: it cleared the deck.
Jeff Freilich, the executive producer who took over around this time, wanted to inject more "edge." The earthquake meant that when we returned for season 6, the stakes weren't just about who owned the harvest; they were about survival. Chase Gioberti (Robert Foxworth) spent the early episodes dealing with the physical and emotional wreckage of his home. Angela Channing, played with a terrifying, razor-sharp precision by Jane Wyman, used the disaster as just another opportunity to consolidate power. She was basically the Machiavelli of the Napa Valley.
The pacing of these early episodes is frantic. It’s a stark contrast to the slower, more atmospheric build-up of the first two seasons. If you go back and watch them now, the transition is jarring. The lighting got darker. The shadows got longer. The show started looking less like a postcard and more like a crime drama.
The Skylar Kimball Enigma
Bringing Kim Novak onto the show was a huge get for CBS. She hadn't done a TV series in years. Her character, Skylar, was classic soap opera fodder—a woman on the run from a mysterious, powerful man (played by Robert Stack, no less).
Her arc wasn't perfect. Honestly, it felt a little detached from the main viticulture plotlines. But she brought a level of cinematic gravity that the show desperately needed as it competed against the campiness of Dynasty. Novak only stayed for one season, but her presence defined the aesthetic of Falcon Crest season 6. She was ethereal, nervous, and carried a secret that felt heavier than the usual "who's the father" plots we were used to seeing.
Why the Chase Gioberti Exit Changed Everything
Robert Foxworth was the moral compass of the show. Or at least, he was supposed to be. By the time Falcon Crest season 6 rolled around, the tension between Foxworth and Jane Wyman was legendary. It wasn't just on-screen friction; reports from the set suggested the two didn't exactly grab lunch together.
Chase Gioberti’s character arc in season 6 is actually quite tragic if you look at it objectively. He’s a man constantly trying to do the right thing in a valley that rewards the wicked. His marriage to Maggie (Susan Sullivan) starts to fray under the pressure of new arrivals and old secrets.
Then there was the lake.
The season 6 finale is infamous. Chase dives into the San Francisco Bay to save his family (and Richard Channing, ironically) from a sinking car. He never comes up. Well, he "never comes up" because Foxworth was leaving the show. This wasn't just a cliffhanger; it was the removal of the show's heart. Without Chase to balance out Angela’s pure, unadulterated greed, the show lost its fundamental "good vs. evil" tension. The later seasons felt lopsided because of the void left at the end of this specific year.
Richard Channing: From Villain to Anti-Hero
If Chase was the hero we lost, Richard Channing (David Selby) was the villain we learned to love. In Falcon Crest season 6, Richard’s transformation into a complex anti-hero really solidified. He was no longer just the guy trying to take over the newspaper or the vineyard.
His relationship with Maggie Gioberti—which started to sizzle during this season—is one of the most controversial pivots in the show’s history. Fans of "Chase and Maggie" were livid. But you can't deny the chemistry. Selby played Richard with a mix of vulnerability and lethal intelligence that made him the most interesting person in any room. Season 6 forced him to confront his own fatherhood and his place in the Channing dynasty, moving him away from the cartoonish "Step One: Take Over the World" vibes of his early appearances.
The Production Shift and the "New" Napa
Behind the scenes, the show was getting more expensive. They were filming more in San Francisco and less at the actual Spring Mountain Vineyard in St. Helena. You can tell. The "feel" of Falcon Crest season 6 is more urban.
We saw more of the "The Cartel"—that shadowy group of businessmen who seemed to control everything from wine prices to international politics. This is where some fans felt the show jumped the shark. Falcon Crest was always at its best when it was about family members screaming at each other over a dinner table. When it became about international conspiracies and arms dealers, it lost some of that "prestige" flavor that set it apart from Dallas.
However, the ratings were still solid. People wanted to see what Angela Channing would do next. They wanted to see if Lance Cumson (Lorenzo Lamas) would ever grow a backbone.
Lance spent most of season 6 caught between his loyalty to his grandmother and his own chaotic impulses. Lamas was the show's heartthrob, but in season 6, the writers actually gave him some meatier material. He wasn't just the guy in the convertible; he was a man realizing that the "empire" he was set to inherit was built on quicksand.
The Musical Chairs of the Cast
It's sort of wild to look at the cast list for this season. You had:
- Jane Wyman (The Matriarch)
- Robert Foxworth (The Rival)
- Susan Sullivan (The Soul)
- David Selby (The Wildcard)
- Ana-Alicia (The Schemer)
- William R. Moses (The Son)
And that’s not even mentioning the guest stars. Besides Kim Novak and Robert Stack, we had Cesar Romero continuing his role as Peter Stavros. The show was top-heavy with talent. Sometimes, it felt like there wasn't enough screen time to go around. This led to certain subplots—like the various business dealings of the Agretti family—feeling a bit rushed or undercooked.
Falcon Crest Season 6: A Critical Retrospective
So, how does it hold up? Honestly, it's better than people remember. While it marked the transition into the "over-the-top" era of the show, the acting remained remarkably grounded. Jane Wyman never phoned it in. Even when the scripts asked her to do something absurd, she played it with the gravity of a Shakespearean tragedy.
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The cinematography in season 6 also took a leap forward. They used more handheld cameras and experimental angles during the "suspense" sequences. It felt modern for 1986.
The biggest flaw was probably the departure of several key characters toward the end. When you lose the central conflict that started the series (Chase vs. Angela), the foundation starts to crumble. Season 6 was the last time the show felt like it was part of the cultural zeitgeist before it began its slow slide into the niche territory of seasons 7, 8, and the bizarre soft-reboot of season 9.
What to Look for on a Re-watch
If you're diving back into these episodes, pay attention to the costume design. This was the peak of 80s power dressing. The shoulder pads were immense, the sequins were blinding, and the hair was a structural marvel. But look deeper at the dialogue. There are still flashes of that sharp, biting wit that defined the early years.
- Watch the Maggie/Richard scenes. You can see the groundwork being laid for one of the most complex relationships in soap history.
- Observe Angela’s silence. Wyman was a master of the reaction shot. She could say more with a slight tilt of her head than most actors could with a three-page monologue.
- Notice the San Francisco locations. The show did a great job of making the city feel like a character in its own right during the "Skylar Kimball" mystery.
Falcon Crest season 6 isn't just a piece of nostalgia; it’s a masterclass in how a long-running show tries to reinvent itself under pressure. It didn't always succeed, but it was never boring.
Actionable Steps for Falcon Crest Fans
If you want to experience the best of this era without slogging through every single episode, here is how you should approach it:
- Focus on the "San Stefano" Arc: Watch the first five episodes of the season. They handle the aftermath of the earthquake and set up the tone shift perfectly.
- Track the Kim Novak Episodes: If you're a film buff, watch her episodes specifically to see how a Golden Age Hollywood star adapts to the 80s soap format. It’s a fascinating collision of styles.
- Analyze the Finale: "Abandoned" (the season 6 finale) is essential viewing. It’s one of the best-constructed cliffhangers of the decade, even if the resolutions in season 7 were a bit of a letdown.
- Check the Credits: Look at the writing and directing credits. You'll see names that went on to shape television for the next twenty years.
The legacy of this season is complicated. It gave us some of the show's most iconic moments while simultaneously breaking the formula that made it work in the first place. But in the world of the Channings and the Giobertis, nothing was ever simple. That was exactly the point.