Meg Cummings

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Meg Cummings

Susan Ward as Meg Cummings (1997)
Sunset Beach
Portrayed by Susan Ward
First appearance Episode 1
January 6, 1997
Last appearance Episode 755
December 31, 1999
Created by Robert Guza Jr.
Profile
Gender Female
Date of birth November 24, 1974
Occupation Waitress at Java Web and The Deep
Executive Assistant at Liberty Corporation
Co-Owner of the store Sunset Sisters
Residence Sunset Beach, California

Sydney Penny as Meg Cummings (1999)

Meg Cummings Evans was a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American soap opera Sunset Beach. She was portrayed by Susan Ward during the show's entire run, from January 6, 1997[1] to December 31, 1999[2]. Sydney Penny temporarily assumed the role from September 20[3] to November 4, 1999[4] while Ward was filming The In Crowd.

Contents

[edit] Character History

[edit] The Arrival

In Ludlow, Kansas, on her wedding day, Meg Cummings realized that her fiancé Tim Truman was having an affair with her best friend Connie.[5] She jumped into Tim's car and drove away to the airport, and flew to Sunset Beach, to find her Internet soul mate, a man known to her only as SB.[6] When she arrived in the beautiful coastal town, Tiffany Thorne stole her backpack and while chasing her, Meg fell from a pier to the sea[7], where she was rescued by a handsome lifeguard Casey Mitchum. Meg spent the next few months trying to figure out who the mysterious SB was, suspecting that it might be Casey or someone else.

She thought she would meet her handsome friend and immediately ride off into the sunset. Yet as soon as she walked on the beach, she had her backpack stolen. She began to realize things were not as easy as she expected.

– Susan Ward[8]

She developed friendships with Casey, Michael, Vanessa Hart, Mark Wolper and many other people, but also gained enemies. She got a job at The Deep,[9] a club owned by Ben Evans, a man who was living alone after his wife Maria died years earlier. Meg started pursuing Ben, who was still very traumatized by his wife's death, and who initially was not interested in her, even breaking into his house and stealing his late wife's diary and dressing up in her clothes, an act which led Ben to set fire to the house.[10]

[edit] Memorable Rivalry

Meg also discovered Ben was the mysterious 'SB,' although it took Ben longer to discover Meg was the woman he'd been talking to online. Eventually, Ben started to reciprocate, and they started to fall in love, but their happiness was limited by Annie Douglas Richards, Meg's head-arch-nemesis, who also loved Ben and who stopped at nothing to achieve what she wanted. Annie always plotted to prevent them from being a couple, and to break them up when they did get together. She was helped in many of her plans by Meg's ex-fiancé Tim,[11] including trapping Meg in a cave-in,[12] which backfired on her when Ben went to rescue her, and Annie witnessed the two having sex. It was the first time the two had been intimate, but happened after Ben had suffered a head injury and was amnesiac and believed he was with his late wife, Maria. Afterwards Ben had no memory of sleeping with Meg, a fact Annie used by blackmailing Ben's psychiatrist into implanting a hypnotic suggestion, making Ben call Meg "Maria" every time Meg said his name.[13] This upset Meg so much she fled back to Kansas, and eventually Ben flew to Kansas in an attempt to win her back. Although he returned home alone, Meg soon returned to him and the two were reconciled and happy.[14]

Ben and Meg were now together and happy, but they became more haunted by Ben's late wife Maria. During the time when Meg was first beginning to be interested in Ben, Annie forged entries in Maria's diary which Meg had stolen, making it appear Maria had been afraid of Ben. Later on, Meg found bloody sheets and scissors in a box in Ben's closet (it was eventually revealed these were from the night Maria had stabbed Derek, see below). Meg at first suspected Annie of having planted them, but discovered she didn't, and started to investigate Ben, questioning Maria's friends (one of whom claimed Ben murdered Maria) and sending a sample of the bloody sheet for lab analysis. Ben started having headaches and behaving erratically.

[edit] The Evil Twin

For Christmas 1997, Ben surprised Meg with her own private island. Meg and her friends decided to spend New Year's Eve there, but Ben canceled at the last minute, saying he had urgent business. They enjoyed the trip, until a masked stranger started killing people.[15] Meg faced the killer on various occasions, but always escaped without seeing his face. Ben and Meg's friend Mark was killed, but he managed to see and identify the killer as Ben before dying. Once back in Sunset Beach, Meg was plagued by doubts about Ben whose strange behavior had continued. Ben then received a strange note asking to meet him in a warehouse, where he was met by Derek, his evil identical twin, who he believed had died and who had been impersonating him (the reason for his strange behavior) and killed everyone on the island. The twins fought and Derek took Ben prisoner, and continued to impersonate him. Derek planned to kill Ben and escape with all his money, but Ben refused to give Derek access to his bank accounts.[16]

Derek beat Ben and had sex with Meg in front of him (Ben watching from behind a two-way mirror). Meg felt something was wrong, but, not knowing Ben had a twin, did not suspect this was not Ben. During his imprisonment Ben learned some of what had happened the night Maria was lost at sea: Derek had tried to seduce her by pretending to be Ben, but Ben had walked in on them (and run out, assuming they were having an affair) before they were intimate. Derek had then tried to force Maria, leading her to stab him (which Ben believed had killed him) before Maria fell into the sea while trying to talk to Ben. Ben eventually escaped and was taken to the hospital, where Derek injected him with poison and again took his place. Ben survived but became the prisoner of a mortician who fell in love with him. Meg discovered a photo of Ben and Derek and realized she was with Derek, not Ben. Ben managed to escape again and rescued Meg, facing off with Derek. Their fight ended with Derek falling off a cliff to his presumed death.

[edit] Another obstacle

Meg running away from Kansas on her wedding day
Meg running away from Kansas on her wedding day

Meg and Ben finally reunited and decided to tie the knot. Meanwhile, Meg's parents Joan and Hank, and her sister Sara had arrived in town. Meg and Ben were finally happy, but they didn't know that a terrible truth was about to be revealed. Meg befriended an amnesiac hospital patient known as Dana, and helped rescued her when Sunset Beach was hit by an earthquake. Meanwhile, Annie and Tim discovered Dana's true identity and decided to use it against Meg.[17] On Meg and Ben's wedding day, everything was going fine. Ben and Meg were married and the celebration started. Then Dana entered and shocked everyone ... it was revealed that Dana was actually Maria![18]

The next few months were hard for Meg because Ben was struggling to decide between Maria (who still had amnesia) and Meg.[19] Things got even worse when a strange woman, Tess Marin turned up with 5-year old Benjy Evans, claiming the child was Ben and Maria's. A paternity test showed this was true, and Ben, Meg, Maria, Tess and Benjy all started living together. Maria eventually got her memory back after a physical fight with Meg that ended with Maria falling down a stone staircase. Maria also remembered her love for Ben and decided to fight for him. This, and Tess's plotting against Meg, led to them parting, and Meg moved out and found comfort in her sister's boyfriend, Casey. Ben saw Meg and Casey kissing, and was so upset he slept with Maria, Meg walking in on them and being upset. Soon after, Ben started to act strange again, telling Maria he loved her and was committed to his marriage with her, while secretly telling Meg he was in love with her and trying to kiss her.[20]

[edit] The Twin Returns

It was revealed that Derek was alive, and had been impersonating Ben (who was again a prisoner) for some time. Tess was revealed to be Derek's lover and partner in crime.[21] They plotted to steal Ben's money and to kill Ben and Meg, and eventually killed Tim and took Casey and Sara prisoner. Meg discovered what was happening and went to Derek's lair, where he was keeping the others, but was also taken prisoner. Maria managed to free Ben, who fought with and accidentally shot and killed Derek. Tess revealed to Maria that Benjy was her and Derek's son, but she was eventually jailed and agreed to sign over parental rights to Maria. Ben and Maria became closer and decided to raise Benjy together, and Maria gave Ben a divorce. Meg and Ben were finally happy again. They organized a double wedding with their friends Vanessa and Michael, and the show ended with them happily married.[22]

She's so sweet. That's why people are attracted to her. Yet she's smart and knows how to size up people without judging them. That's how she was able to wedge her foot in the door at Sunset Beach.

– Susan Ward (About Meg)[23]

The final scene involved Meg and Ben lying in bed. Meg woke up and realized she was in Ludlow again. She went down to the living room and found all of her friends and enemies in a different role. She was convinced that everything that happened in Sunset Beach was only a dream, but a minute later, she woke up again to find herself with Ben, in Sunset Beach, and he assured her that it's all real.[24] [25]

[edit] References

  1. ^ First Episode, The Premiere
  2. ^ Final episode, Series Finale
  3. ^ Sydney joins, Penny joins
  4. ^ Sydney leaves, Penny leaves
  5. ^ First promo
  6. ^ Meg arrives
  7. ^ First Episode, The Premiere
  8. ^ Susan, Ward. "Kansas Girl", Soap Opera Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-05-05. 
  9. ^ Meg gets a job
  10. ^ The Fire
  11. ^ Annie and Tim plot
  12. ^ The Cave In
  13. ^ Annie works the therapist
  14. ^ Ben in Kansas
  15. ^ Terror Island
  16. ^ Derek fantasizes
  17. ^ Maria at the wedding
  18. ^ Meg and Annie fight over Maria
  19. ^ Maria moves in
  20. ^ Annie and Meg fight again
  21. ^ Tess tricks Meg
  22. ^ Wedding Promo
  23. ^ Susan, Ward. "Fear Not", Soaps in Depth Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-05-05. 
  24. ^ Final scene
  25. ^ Final episode, Series Finale
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