On Ryan's Hope, Jack's grief over Mary. They just did things slower and more realistically back then. First, we had to go through Jack's initial grief period, his anger, his lashing out, etc., then it was about trying to get at the truth about why she died. Then, when the truth was out and nothing was left to be done, he had to give in to his grief in a different, more accepting kind of way, then he basically rejected his sister-in-law's interest in him, then he eventually started to date another woman. Mary was not forgotten, though. And he didn't remarry for another decade, none of this hopping into bed with someone immediately because of being so overcome with grief...which was kind of an irony and somewhat surprising on one level, given that Jack in those first 5 years was depicted as a very virile, passionate guy who had been a ladies' man prior to his falling in love with Mary and he was one of the show's hunks....had this occurred years later, there's no way they would have left him mourning his dead wife and uncoupled as long as they did.

Don't forget the arc where Mary's spirit, played by the returning Kate Mulgrew, appeared to Jack as a sort of manifestation of his hesitancy with moving forward with Leigh Kirkland. Their last scene together, when Mary tells Jack he's ready to let go, always leaves me in tears whenever I re-watch it on YouTube.

I know this is a UO, but Kendall grieving Zach's "death" on AMC last year, great acting, and the writing actually wasn't overall completely bad. Plus Kendall was actually ALLOWED to grieve for more than 2 weeks like is the norm on soaps these days, she got to grieve for 9 months

I love that this thread was made exactly a year after Zach "died" ;-P Coincidence? I thought Kreizman & Swajeski did a fantastic job showcasing Kendall's grief especially in those first 3-4 months. The Ricky Torres S/L kind of put a damper on things for me though. I really wish he was not created. Thinking back, it dragged on way to long, though I did love the thrilling ending. It really should've happened at the end of April though

Great scenes here of Kendall grieving, especially @ 12:36

Jackie Zeman/Brad Maul were phenomenal in portraying their grief over BJ

Primetime soap, but the absolute best IMO was Karen "letting go" of her first husband, Sid, on Knots Landing. Sid's death was extremely unexpected, and Knots waited a season before they had Karen get a new man. In the mean time, they gave Karen the "letting go" speech, when she took her wedding band off for the first time after Sid's death. It's the only time in Knots Landing history when I recall the over the top Michele Lee (whom I love, but it's a wonder she doesn't gain weight chewing the scenery) giving an extremely understated performance.

That was very well done. I thought they did a good job with Bobby's "death" and Gary's breakdown, until they had to drop it. Laura's death had some very tender moments, unfortunately spoiled by some actors who decided to ham it up and overshadow the whole point.

It's the only time in Knots Landing history when I recall the over the top Michele Lee (whom I love, but it's a wonder she doesn't gain weight chewing the scenery) giving an extremely understated performance.

Oh, no. She gains weight. Remember the scene with her and Val and that sweater?