User:Hatio93/Sarah

Sarah "Sass" Warner (also Burton, Connelly, and Coutts) was born onscreen on 11 October 1993.

Creation and casting
The character of Sass was introduced in 1993 during a plot in which "robo nurse" Carrie Burton (Lisa Crittenden) fell pregnant after receiving 3 different sperm donations from central characters. This was billed as a "whodunit" with nurse Steve Mills (Andrew Binns), Guy Warner (Craig Parker), Dr. Hone Ropata (Temuera Morrison) and Dr. Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) all potentially being the father. The character made her first appearance on 11 October 1993, when Carrie gave birth to him and his triplet siblings. The birth was used as a storyline to write off the character of Carrie. Australian actor, Lucy Lovegrove was cast in the role of Sass and moved to New Zealand when she was given the role. Lovegrove states it was down to the fact that she looked like Lukas Whiting who plays her on-screen triplet brother, Finn Connelly and believed the producers had done a good job with casting the triplets as she thought Whiting looked more like her than her actual brother. Lovegrove along with Whiting said they are "loving" their time on the show as Sass and Finn respectively. Of the triplets re-introduction Galvin commented "I think there's something just weird but also neat about the fact that that really was a storyline 24 years ago — that Chris was a sperm donor for these triplets, and then 24 years later they turn up..."

Storylines
Desperate to have children but with no stable partner in her life, Shortland Street clinic's head of nursing Carrie Burton (Lisa Crittenden) accepted sperm donations from nurse Steve Mills (Andrew Binns), Guy Warner (Craig Parker), Dr. Hone Ropata (Temuera Morrison) and Dr. Chris Warner (Michael Galvin); refusing to disclose whose sperm she used. She fell pregnant and married Steve's father Declan Kennedy (Kevin J. Wilson). Carrie gave birth to triplets during good friend Meredith Fleming's (Stephanie Wilkin) leaving party and named them, Finbar, Frank, and Sarah. Declan proved to be a useless father and ended up fleeing the country to escape criminal associates he had, leaving Steve to be a surrogate parent. It turned out Sarah had a hole in her heart and came close to death during surgery. Carrie decided to flee Ferndale after receiving threats from Declan's criminal past, taking her triplets with her and leaving Steve (who had decided the children were likely his) heart broken. Several months later Steve was devastated to realise Chris had discovered he was the father and had been visiting Carrie and the triplets in Australia. This caused a rivalry between the two that ultimately lead to Steve driving off the road and dying in an explosion. In November 1995 Chris visited Carrie and the triplets so that he could introduce his father Bruce (Ken Blackburn) to them before he succumbed to terminal cancer.

TK Samuels (Benjamin Mitchell) was approached by a woman identifying herself as "Sass". After being humiliated by the doctor who was not wanting a relationship so fresh off the heels of his break-up with Kylie Brown (Kerry-Lee Dewing), Sass began to act rude in regards to TK's niece, Esther Samuels (Ngahuia Piripi). Venting to Finn Connelly (Lukas Whiting), Esther made several insults about Sass, after which Finn revealed that the newcomer was in fact his sister Sarah. Eventually, Sass settled in and after the TK incident, Sass found herself involved in a brief fling with new doctor Hawks Logan (Teone Kahu). After a one-night stand, Hawks left for Fiji and left Sass behind. Sass engages Mason Coutts (Colin Moy), who later becomes Ferndale's mayor, much to TK, Finn and Harry's disgust because Mason's son, Jasper, molested Lottie, Harry and Blue Nathan's friend, and Mason is the mastermind behind the cover-up of the death of Hayden and Ben Cochrane. Sass and the evil Mason would finally wed, much to the chagrin of her brother Frank. In an attempt to control Sass, Mason would have her phone bugged and start drugging her. At the same time this happened, Hawks returned to the hospital and wished to reignite what he had with Sass. Immediately taking a disliking and a distrust to the sinister Mason, Hawks found Sarah drugged and exhausted and took her to Shortland Street. From there, Chris examined Sass and allowed her to stay at the Warner Mansion to recover, much to Mason's chagrin. However, when Mason was found to be linked to the death of Lizzie Elliott (Insert actor) after Sass found her dead body while running away from Mason, Sass decided to tell Jasper the entire story, and as Mason was arrested, Sass decided to properly become Jasper's stepmother, but he decided to live with his aunt instead. Sass briefly got back together with Hawks, but he cheated on her after Sass gave mixed signals about not wanting him to disturb the family while Chris is recovering. She also organized Frank and Kylie's initial renewal ceremony, but was pushed forward because Chris has become ill with cancer and it was not known if he would recover. He did and Sass is still very protective of him. When Chris was officially cleared of cancer Frank convinced Sass and Finn to adopt Chris' last name as a sign of solidarity. Later, however, Sass found a lump on her breast, and fearing the worst given her family's medical history with cancer, she was cleared as the lump was benign.

Later, Sass finds out that Hawks was killed in a Syrian prison bombing, which intensified Blue and Kate's feud with Jasper and Sass when she wanted Jasper to live in the Warner house as well. Sass is on a boat with Jasper Coutts when her ex husband Mason is on board, Mason kills Jasper and tries to kill her but she harpoons him in the stomach and he falls overboard then he pulls her in and eventually he drowns but Sass is stuck in the middle of the ocean alone.

Characterisation
Sass has a Bachelor of Commerce and has worked a series of different jobs and now works as a personal assistant. Out of her 3 brothers, Sarah is described as the most dominant sibling out of her and her triplet brothers Finn and Frank. It is also said that she is closest to Finn rather than Frank and have a "close" but "competitive" relationship.

Mason's revenge
Sass' ex-husband Mason Coutts (Colin Moy) "put into motion his revenge plot" on Sass and her family when a masked shooter gunned down her brother, Finn, and it later emerges that the shooter was ordered to do so by Mason. Although Mason is in jail he still has a holds a Chris as his "arch-enemy" and puts into action a revenge plot on the Warner family. Chris originally thought Masons plan was to kill him, but he then realises that Mason wants him to watch his family get punished, which to Chris is much worse. When the shooter puts the gun to Finn's head he says "Mason says Merry Christmas" shortly after the gunman is pushed out of a window to his death by Chris. Mason escapes prison and is on a boat with his son Jasper and Sass. Mason argues with Sass and he tells Jasper that she is "poison" and that "She'll get inside your heart and weaken it". Mason goes to throw Sass off the side of the boat but is interrupted when Jasper attacks him. Jasper gets injured and dies in Masons arms and Mason blames Sass for his death. Sass in a struggle with Mason manages to put a speargun through his throat. The pair struggle and Mason manages to pull Sass into the water where he reveals he has sent a gunman to kill her family. Mason drowns and the boat sails away, leaving Sass treading water in the ocean.

Reception
Lovegrove commented that she often gets approached and asked if she is on the show, stating that when most people meet her – most people like her character. Womens Day described the trio as "Ferndale’s favourite triplets". Galvin named the triplet's returns in 2016 as his favourite storyline. He also aspired for the triplet's to remain on the show for a "long time to come".