“Presumed Dead” Characters Actually Alive But Audience Knows the Whole Time

[Faulkner]

I was thinking about Phyllis faking her death on Y&R and how bad the story had turned out. What are some good (and bad) examples of stories in which a character is believed to be dead by the other characters (or at least most of them), but the audience immediately knows that the character is still alive and living a different life elsewhere? This could be due to the character faking their death, being kidnapped, or suffering from amnesia.

I'm looking for a different type of story than the ones where an actor leaves the show and the character is presumed dead but later revealed to be alive, like Reva's story on GL or Phillip’s and Adam’s returns on Y&R. In the type of story I'm interested in, the character doesn't actually leave the show and is featured continuously.

I’m thinking of Victor and his summer with Hope on Y&R, Katharine being presumed dead when Marge was killed on Y&R, or Sonny on GH having amnesia and living a life as bartender Mike, discovered by Nina. Which ones had the best or worst reveals? (Sonny being alive on GH was so meh, but Victor’s return after his time in Kansas was so great, especially Jack’s reaction.)

Edited May 14, 2023 by Faulkner

[heffos]

Tad on AMC is a good example of this, having been shown to fall off a bridge and still being alive with no memory of his life. Everyone presumed him dead until his return a few years later.

[soapfave06]

OLTL 1987: Tina was shown alive after her tumble over the falls when the Palupe (?) drive discovered her at the base of the Iguazu Falls, and her return with baby Al as CJ was great soap. 

[Franko]

Mickey Horton's life as Marty Hansen, DAYS.

I initially also wrote down Trisha as Crystal, LOVING, but in that case, it was done as Noelle Beck left.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Franko

[Faulkner]

That return was iconic. Did the audience know she’d survived the plunge or was it revealed later?

[Liberty City]

• Nikolas Cassadine
• Robin Scorpio-Drake
• Holly Sutton

[Soaplovers]

Sharon on Y & R had that where she was living at a ranch/farm.. and had darker hair.

 

[heffos]

Roman's original "death" on DOOL when his "corpse's" hand moved in Stefano's hideout.

[Efulton]

When Elena threw Eden out of the plane on Santa Barbara.  The characters thought Eden was dead but the audience knew she was alive and with Cain.

 

 

[Dion]

Regulars of the Classic GH thread are currently learning about Phil Brewer's "death" thanks to @depboy - Phil was presumed dead in a plane crash in South America in November 1969, but in same episode where Lee announced his death, the audience saw him comatose in a hospital under an assumed name. He woke up shortly afterwards and in March 1970 he snuck back in to the States using the alias Harold Williamson. It shouldn't be long before the summaries start to cover Phil's meeting with Diana Maynard, later better known as Diana Taylor.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Dion

[Liberty City]

She wasn't believed to be dead, though.

[kalbir]

Y&R Victor had five "deaths": 1983, 1993, 1999, 2012, 2020.

[bboy875]

Funny you should mention Reva and Philip. Yes, she was presumed dead when Zimmer left in 1990, and we were told Philip died with the who killed Philip story, but in 1990, we saw Philip, Beth and Rick fake his death when he was accused of killing Beth's ex Neil. I actually thought the story was fun when he ran into India and she returned to Springfield, and Mallet was introduced on to them. There was a hilarious scene where Beth snuck out of the house to see Philip dressed as India, and India put a basketball under her shirt pretending to be pregnant Beth, only to hear Mallet say, "that's not Beth!" But there was the complication with Mindy as she felt Beth and Rick were shutting her out of grieving the 4th musketeer with them, I believe they got married, and it pushed Mindy further into Roger's arms. And with Reva, remember the clone.

To clarify about Reva and the clone, Josh really believed Reva had died, and the clone was created to trick everyone to believe she was alive, as he didn't want to tell his kids that their mother died again. So he and Michael thought she was dead but we saw her on the island with Sean 

[watson71]

Back in 1984, Carl Hutchins had his henchmen tamper with the Cory jet.  The jet crashed in the Canadian tundra, and for weeks everyone assumed that Mac was dead.  The episode below heavily features this storyline only to find out that Mac is very much alive in the Friday cliffhanger.

 

 

[MichaelGL]

I remember watching some of this story on YouTube (not most of it, don't believe we have Mallet's introduction) and it was such good writing on behalf of Long/Jones/Curlee.