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

[bboy875]

Yes, for me the show was must see tv. I can't explain it but there was such a fun vibe at the time, even everyday life scenes that went into character development, and people's relationships with each other. That vibe left when Long left though the show became more realistic 

[P.J.]

Holden Snyder, circa 1992 and 2010. Around 1992, he went to NYC to confront Julie about Aaron being his son. He got into an accident and lost his memory. He was missing for months (and presumed dead by the NYPD). Lucinda's PIs discovered him, but she left him there, not telling anyone. Upon learning what her mother had done, Lily "divorced" her mother and nullified her adoption.

In 2010, Holden was carjacked on a trip by an escaped convict. Through Damian's shenanigans, Holden was declared dead so he could make the moves on Lily. Holden escaped and returned to Oakdale just as Lily was marrying Damian in his living room.

Jack Snyder, 2004. Violent criminal Stark attacked Molly in Jack and Carly's Milltown home. To calm a hysterical Molly, Jack took him to the PD in his own vehicle before backup arrived. Stark attacked him with a knife and the car hit a bridge abuttment. Stark was dangling from the car over the river below. Jack managed to pull him back into the car, only to wind up being pulled out and hanging on for his life. Stark tried to send him into the river, but the car ended up falling into the river. He was killed and Jack was presumed dead. He woke up in a small town Missouri hospital weeks later with no memory, latched on to a weepy nurse type and became "Jack Jackson". 

[Planet Soap]

OLTL: Asa's presumed death in 2001. Loved the funeral with all the ex-wives and the acknowledgement that Blair's actress was Asian. The show was really comedic and satirical around this time. The entire time he was on an island hoping for Gabrielle and Max to go down for his murder.

 

[edgeofnik]

Edge of Night - Draper was presumed dead in a train crash on his way to prison, but we knew he was alive as Kirk Michaels and living with Emily, her father and housekeeper Molly.

The story dragged for far too long, but the payoff reunion with April was solid and it directly led to both the Clown Puppet Murders and the reason why Nancy Karr ended up at the Rexford Clinic.

[AMCHistory]

Katherine Chancellor’s presumed death was amazing. We got her romance with Murphy, which I don’t think anyone realised how we received that pairing was going to be. 
 

We also got the best funeral in YR, or maybe soap opera, history. Cameos from vets we hadn’t seen in years (Gina, Danny, Dina). Shock and awe moments (Victor and Ashley arriving together). Resolution to long-drawn out plots (Traci and Lauren’s detente). 
 

It should be studied by writers in Soap Opera 101 - how to manage a large canvas, how to tap into long history, and push the story along 

[Khan]

ATWT's John Dixon once faked his death, I think, in order to frame James Stenbeck for murder.  Like much from that time period, the story was convoluted, and the performances were overwrought.  Nevertheless, it created quite the impression on me, lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLIS9KLhaHc

Douglas Marland and Henry Slesar were good at letting the resolution of one story feed into the beginning of another.  Stories didn't just end with characters dropping from sight.

[Paul Raven]

On Y&R in 79, Kay was thought to have died in a fire at the asylum, but she escaped and kept tabs on Suzanne, Jill and Derek, whilst revealing herself to Liz.

Later Paul faked his death and I think only Lauren and Carl knew?

[Gray Bunny]

When Deborah Adair (Kate #1) left DAYS in 1995, viewers saw she survived the plane crash and was stuck on a boat. They left us hanging for nearly a year but Salem thought she died and mourned her. 

[Darn]

 

Who can top this other Stefano DiMera or James Stenbeck? And Victor never "died" for nefarious means, he wasn't trying to deliberately hurt anyone any of those times, was he?

No one asked but I personally hate these type of stories. Mostly because they feel lazy and also because the other characters never grieve the way they would if the death was meant to stick or if the character died with the passing of an actor. They'll be sad for a few weeks and then it's back to normal so that the un-dead character can walk in as their spouse is about to marry someone else or something equally stupid.

[Faulkner]

Or, in the opposite extreme, some characters may grieve for a prolonged period of time, as Carly did for Sonny on GH. She went around for months breaking dishes and shrieking before the odd reunion with Jason that I didn’t buy. When the person returns from the dead, things can feel rather mundane. In Sonny's case, it almost felt like he had returned from a long business trip instead of being dead for months and of course we spoke ad nauseum about the anticlimax of Sonny walking in on Carly/Jason BEFORE they had sex.

[Khan]

The best example of this kind of story wasn't on any soap opera, but on a fifth-season episode of "Good Times" titled "Requiem for a Wino."

[P.J.]

Now that you mention John, David Stewart was presumed dead when Henderson Forsythe went off to do Broadway. Although I'm not sure the audience knew he was alive the entire time.

[althea-davis]

I thought she was believed to be dead in a carjacking?? They had a funeral for her.

Edited May 16, 2023 by althea-davis

[Liberty City]

Not that I can remember. She escaped jail and was concerned on-the-run, hence why she continued to hide out at the barn.

[~bl~]

The Doctors had two characters that the audience knew were alive and the others thought were dead Mike Powers and Karen Werner. They died in separate stories and came back in other plots..