I am not saying that North Shore has all of sudden vaulted itself into Emmy Nomination status, but the show has become tolerable over the last few episodes thanks to Shannon and the twists her character introduced to the storyline. On the other hand, the writers created a few more that I don't believe the viewers will give two shakes about when episodes begin to air once again.

For me, the most interesting person on the show is Tessa, played by Amanda Righetti. She has been playing both sides in the Walter Booth vs. Vincent Colville war for the Grand Waimea beautifully. The writers do take the easy route and explain her ambition and drive as part of a much more basic need to eliminate her rival, Nicole Booth, of the man of her dreams, namely Jason. But TV is always better with a love rhombus or two, so I understand why they did what they had to do. To sum it up, after Nicole broke up her marriage, she took Jason away from Tessa, and now Tessa wants him back, and does a lot to make it so.

A much less interesting part of the show was the rivalry of Vincent and Walter. If this was the age of Dallas , Falcon Crest or Knot's Landing, the feud between these two would have been enough. But fast forward to the post-90210, post-Melrose Place generation, and this whole thing was a recipe for disaster, so you need a way to get rid of these two. It was pretty easy to determine how Walter Booth was to meet his end, thanks to the ongoing crisis of Bellport. Vincent accused Walter of killing Nicole's mother, Margaret Booth (even these names are old and outdated), who Vincent just happened to have an affair with. The problem was there was nobody who could provide the evidence to put Walter in jail.

Enter Shannon Doherty, playing Alexandra Hudson, who enters the scene of the Grand Waimea at quite the uncanny moment of time. It turns out she is also Walter's daughter, thanks to Walter being unable to keep it in his pants with a former secretary. Walter expects she is simply a gold digger, and dismisses her presence almost immediately. It turns out Alexandra just happens to be friends with the person who last saw Margaret Booth alive. Jason and Nicole earlier sought out that woman, Marriett Kinney, but she was defensive at first, then turned up missing, presumed whisked away for her silence by Walter. It turns out Alexandra had been hiding her the whole time. It turns out Alexandra and Tessa have been working together ever since Alexandra made it to the island.