Santa Barbara 25 - Jade

One of my favorite characters during the early years of Santa Barbara was Jade Perkins.

It wasn't because her character was particularly interesting or a part of an interesting storyline; it was because of the actress portraying Jade - Melissa Brennan (Reeves).

Melissa Brennan, despite her brief time on Santa Barbara, demonstrated a lot of promise. While she seemed really green, in terms of her acting, her energy and sparkling personality shined through. She made Jade into a starry-eyed, flirty, ambitious, social climbing, wannabe movie star. Although she feigned sophistication and worldliness, at her heart, she was a girl desperate for validation and an exit from the stigma of being a Perkins.

I remember being heartbroken when Melissa Brennan left Santa Barbara; but imagine my surprise when she resurfaced on Days of Our Lives as Jennifer Horton fairly quickly. Cast as a part of a Days core family? That was truly a major vote of confidence and Brennan lived up to and exceeded expectations, especially when she was eventually paired with Matthew Ashford's Jack Devereaux.

But back to Santa Barbara...

In my post regarding Ted, I mistakenly wrote that he was in Jade's romantic crosshairs. And while Jade was pretty flirty, it turned out that Warren Lockridge was the one she was trying to hook, while dangling Danny Andrade along. Here's a clip of Jade, giving Laken Lockridge a pep talk about her potential deflowering at the hands of Ted. We also get a whiff of the Warren/Danny rivalry for Jade's affections.