What were your favorite cliffhangers from the 80s prime time serials?

My top 4: 1. Falcon Crest season 2, in which doormat Julia is revealed as Carlo Agretti's killer, and then goes shooting in Angela's house. I remember being totally shocked by this when watching it originally. We have to wait until September to find out whom Julia killed. 2. Dallas season 4, in which Cliff arrives at Southfork to find a body of a woman wearing white floating in the pool with JR standing at the balcony above. We're left to wonder if the woman was Kristin, Sue Ellen or Pam, who were all wearing white in that season finale episode. 3. Knots Landing season 4, in which Gary lingers in jail as a suspect in Ciji's murder, and Karen learns that Diana has run off with Chip. Not the most exciting cliffhanger in terms of plot development. It wasn't so much plot-based as it was character-based, which sometimes creates for more emotionally satisfying viewing. 4. Knots Landing season 5, in which Karen is shot and Abby is kidnapped during the climax to the convoluted Wolfbridge story (which I confess I still don't understand). It was a really exciting bite-your-nails cliffhanger that grew organically through the entire season. What are your faves?

John Pleshette's back hair
• Loved your Number 1, OP. I haven't seen it since it first aired but I remember seeing people graveside from the waist down, as they watched the casket beibng lowered into the ground.

• The Moldavian Massacre, hands down.

  http%3A//youtu.be/L7KOvzLSFKI

• Who shot JR - Dallas season 3.

• When Sable Colby slapped Alexis two full seasons ahead!

• Loved your number 1 and 2, OP, for sure. Gotta nominate the end of Season 1, Dynasty...

  http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Df8mMyJSwFoQ

• Never liked the Moldavian massacre because by that time we'd had so many red herring cliffhangers you knew nobody important was going wind up dead. Falcon Crest, to its credit, was far better with deadly.

• 1. Who Shot JR? At the time, it was new, and very surprising. It caused a sensation. After this, the cliffhanger became de rigueur for nighttime soaps. 2. Agree with OP's choice of Falcon Crest Season 2, Julia revealed as Carlo Agretti's killer. This completely took me by surprise. 3. Also agree with Knots Landing Season 4. It was the culmination of a few very good plots. 4. Knots Landing Season 6. Val comes close to getting her babies back. 5. Knots Landing Season 3. Val finds out about Gary's affair with Abby and leaves him. Broke my heart at the time and I always longed for Val and Gary to get back together. 7. Dallas Season 7. Bobby is killed after Katherine Wentworth runs him over the day after he and Pam had make up sex and decided to get back together. Too bad the it-was-all-a-dream plot ruined this cliffhanger's legacy or I'd place it second. At the time, it was really effective. I thought I was saying goodbye to a beloved character. Bobby was the knight in shining armor and I always loved him and Pam together.

• A much better [italic]Dynasty[/italic] cliffhanger was Cecil's mid-coital heart attack. So trashy in the best possible way. Alexis's wig is a character all its own.

  http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DhWpqqkhP5a0

• Oh my God, R8, thank you for posting that! I completely forgot about this. Love the porn music playing while Alexis wears poor Cecil out. Classic!

• My God, yeah, I forgot about Coitus Alexis. That was fucking hilarious!

• Another vote for KNOTS LANDING: Valene finally getting to her kidnapped babies - only to have one of them kidnapped AGAIN right before her eyes.

• The season 9 finale of Dynasty left Blake shot, Krystle in a coma, Fallon and Krystina tied up in a bunker with a madman, Sable knocked up by Dex, and Dex and Alexis in midair, falling from a balcony.

• It does kind of capture the best and worst of Dynasty....

  http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DrK1f4KtCwzk

• I loved the Knots season 9 cliffhanger when psycho Jill Bennett forced Valene to swallow a bottle of sleeping pills and made it look like a suicide attempt. That was a very creepy episode.

• Off soap, but the Star Trek TNG cliffhanger with Picard appearing on screen as Locutus was pretty cool too.

• OK I'm breaking the time warp but last year when Deb caught Dexter with the Ginsu knife... holy fuck, Dex.

• I'm with R14. That was some of the best writing and acting in all of TV. I came on here to post that but you beat me to it.

  https%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Drqpvt7SFfJg

• It wasn't a season ending cliffhanger, but the episode of Knots Landing when Ciji never shows up to perform her song at Richard's restaurant. So Ginger fills in, and as they're showing all the characters during Ginger's performance, and the tension between so many of them, they cut to Ciji's body washing up on the beach at night. At the time, we didn't have spoilers, so that was so unexpected.