When the series returned for a second season, many storylines had reached their climax- the series even would create a spin-off series, South Beach Memorial. At the height of activity in South Beach, the series would see a cast of nearly 40 and it was then realized that the series would be best served under the umbrella of two different serials.
The spin-off series, South Beach Memorial , would run for nearly seven months (May 2001-December 2001) and produced nearly twenty episodes during the series run. The show focused on the lives of those involved in the Medical field as well as their friends and loved ones. The series brought on the arrival of many new faces in South Beach, while slowly easing characters into its canvas from the original series. The show would introduce two new gay characters Brian Hart, a young R.N., and Noah Locke, a dashing young doctor. The series would also feature SB regulars Adam Crawford and Tony Maravalli who were also thrown into the mix.
The series also introduced Penny Crawford, the strong and eccentric eldest daughter of Eugene Crawford. Penny was serving as SBM's Chief-of-Staff at the time, while the series introduced her two children, Chris and Sophie to the canvas. The African-american family, the Vernons, also found their way onto the series as the show focused many storylines on Dr. Melody Vernon and her husband, Richard. Their eldest daughter, Veronica, meanwhile was only shown on the original South Beach series.
In retrospect, SBM probably had one of the most diverse canvases of any online series at the time. The show would unfortunately cease production by the end of the year and only a handful of the characters would find their way back onto the original series canvas.
At the start of the second season of South Beach, Karen and the Colesons were reeling from the tragedy of Drakes disappearance on his wedding day. Karen would fall into a deep depression as she feared her husband and Father of her unborn baby was in fact dead. Karen would soon give birth to their child, Brianna, in the summer of 2001. Barbara, Drakes mother, would play a big part in helping raise Brianna and also getting Karen out of her deep depression.
Meanwhile, throughout the second season, we are shown many scenes that elude to Drakes current situation in captivity under Dinahs control, of course. It turned out that the shooting and hostage situation was all Dinahs master plan as she would basically play with the Coleson family for a year as she went into hiding and kept Drake under her close watch. On the one year anniversary of Drake's disappearance, Dinah would release Drake back to his wife and the Colesons. Just as the Colesons began to lose hope that Drake would ever return, it was revealed that Drake was indeed alive- only he couldn't remember a thing from the past year.
It has seemed that Drakes memory had been entirely wiped out- while he remembered Karen and other members of his family, his memories from even the last few years prior to his disappearance were wiped out. Therefore, Drake had no recollection of the wedding, nor was he aware that he had a child on the way before his disappearance. Drake would soon feel the mounting stress and frustration of not remembering his past and soon he felt himself slipping away into an unstable state. To the shock of his family, Drake would soon disappear once again as he went on a search for his own answers. There was, of course, only one person who could answer such questions- that being Dinah Maravalli.
Meanwhile, Bo Coleson and District Attorney, Mel Tannenburg, went on their own crusade to lock away any last ties to the Maravalli Mob. Certain that Dinah and her thugs were responsible for Drakes disappearance and current state, they sought the best revenge they could- putting Dinah's own son behind bars. The day of victory would soon come as they eventually compiled enough dirt to put Benito Maravalli away for good. To the horror of Dinah, her son was sentenced to a life term and she would soon devise her next plan to attack the Coleson family.
While all of the drama continued in the Coleson family, things were certainly still brewing in the Crawford home. After the spin-off ended, Penny Crawford would make her first appearance onto the original series and instantly clashed with Sam, Monica and others. Eugene, who was nearing ninety and dealing with her own health issues, was seen less on the series.
Sam
was also dealing with his own frustration and embarrassment when it came to light that Monica had delivered Bo's child. Having a deep hatred for the Coleson family (for a reason still undisclosed to this day), Sam was livid that a member of that family would be brought up in the home. As much as he wanted to divorce from Monica, he knew that such would surely send Eugene to an early grave. For months he boiled inside as he watched Monica raise Sarah in their home. Sam did have a change of heart in the second season though as he eventually warmed back up to Adam. His son, who had come out of the closet a year earlier, would eventually be seen on the original series more after SBM ended. The two would share many heartfelt scenes that showed that Sam was coming to an understanding that he never thought possible.
The Crawford family would soon experience tragedy as Stephanie Crawford met an eerie end when her plane went down and crashed after a hurricane hit the community. In complete shock over their daughters death, Brock and Sally fell into a complete depression as they realized their only child was gone forever and that they would have to be the ones to inform her son that she was no longer with them. The Crawford family came together in the wake of tragedy and, if anything, they remembered that no matter how much they bickered, they could always stand as one.
As the second season came to a close, it was revealed that Eugene Crawford had died in her sleep. The Crawfords would soon join together for the reading of her will...
South Beach has a rich history that spans nearly ten years. First premiering in February 2000, the series has seen many changes that include the production of a mini-series in 2000, a spin-off series in 2001, and an extended hiatus that lasted for quite some time.
Make sure to check out the yearly summaries to your left to catchup on many storylines and learn about your favorite characters.
We are also pleased to release a special timeline that details the changes the series has seen over the years!