I have mixed feelings in review of the final episode.

I cried at the opening scenes with the all of the children being born, it was beautiful and one of the best montages that I've ever seen on a soap.

On the other hand, I take offense at the final Jack and Erica scene. Beyond the question of why Jack can't stand beside Erica and allow her to pursue her dreams - I hated the idea that the final vision of Erica is her being humiliated at a party - rather than triumphant.

I liked the finale, remember guys this was a cliffhanger, and that's what we got.

Tad's speech was beautiful, I started to tear up. You can tell everyone was feeling it, love Brooke and Adam being engaged, I actually liked Jack telling Erica where to go, Jesse and David calling a truce, who else was it that David was hiding, and for all we know JR may not have shot anyone at all, kind of like that last episode of Dallas when JR had a loaded gun and it went off camera and it went off.

Can't wait for January!!

Loved the opening and Tad's speech but I agree that this was not a great final ep.

oh and thanks to ABC for the big EFF-YOU for the scroll about the Chew. It was bad enough promoting the new show to death (heaven forbid you actually promoted the soaps) but that was insulting to everyone to loves AMC and OLTL

"...perhaps you should take time to remember that none of us put AMC in a premature grave. I think we all know who is to blame for what happened to this soap. Perspective is EVERYTHING right now."

One more thing before I go...I think some of us did put AMC in a premature grave. I include myself in this. Remember when abc.com did their "Shop The Soaps" thing? They were pimping out all sorts of products (many of them lame) and we laughed at them for doing it. (I did, however, buy my late mother a Christmas Ornament from the Crystal Ball, which was a memorial for the now-no-longer-dead Maria Grey.

Then, remember when they did the Campbell Soup Heart Healthy Month cross-promotion? Again, we in the blogosphere (myself included) scoffed at the crass product placement and how they were making our beloved characters hawk soup!

Well, the reality is that the ABC executives were trying to tell us something. If we played along and BOUGHT some damn tomato soup, we might have kept our shows on the air. What we did, though, was laugh in their faces to even try to mix their commercialism into our shows. Well, that worked out well for US, didn't it?

At least THEY were trying! They may have given up on soaps by NOW, but they seemed to be actually trying to make them work THEN! If you stop and think about it, I'm making a valid point here. We are NOT completely blameless in the sad situation we are in today.

Okay, I've gotten that off of my chest. And with that, I wish you all well. I hear when The Chew is inevitably cancelled, they'll be giving Snooki a talk show! No one to blame but ourselves...

Ihavent watched but I cant believe they didnt tell us who the other patient is that David has. The ONLY person I could realistically seeing at this point is Julia Santos unless JR imagining babe telling him its NOT her ends up just being his imagination and oops its babe after all. Of course that means the B is wrong that Dixie remembers and if the B is wrong then maybe the person being female is bull too. Technically I guess Stuart is someone Erica loved so that takes that aspect out of the equation.

I agree with the previous poster - they cant wait past Jan. Even January is pushing it.

I imagine the only way to move forward if they lose as many cast members as has been rumored is to pick up 3 months later and not actually at the party. The can recast JR and they might be able to recast angie but they obviously cant recast erica.

I disagree with Jamey's assessment...I think this may have been the worst ending of a soap I have ever seen. And even though it is moving to the Internet I still think there should have been more of an ending to things than what we got which was a week full of insanely insufferable characters behaving insufferable as hell. I can't be the only person who wanted to hurl their TV out the window every time the show returned to Kendall and Zach's living room.
After seeing the nonsense with Erica Kane this week I almost hope she doesn't sign on with Prospect Park...I love Susan Lucci and she is holding up spectacularly for her age but she's still a lot closer to 70 than 30. Its time for Erica to stop behaving like a ingenue because it just comes off as sad now. JR roaming around the town acting like a douche wasn't entertaining at all and instead of having this silly cliffhanger (that really won't be much of a cliffhanger since JY is not coming back)there could have been really emotional, resonant scenes that dealt with his many problems with both parents and sent the character off the canvass instead of this plot driven hackery.
The only bright spots were Julia Barr and David Canary coming back (even my cold, black heart was warmed by Stuart's return from the great beyond) and seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar in Pine Valley (even though her not having one scene with Lucci seems like a waste) but everything else felt rushed and sloppy and wholly unsatisfying.

I watched the finale live in the U.S.' eastern time zone, and I didn't hear the bang. I don't recall clearly hearing a gunshot. Maybe I thought it was part of the music. I'm glad there wasn't a more heartbreaking ending, such as seeing who got shot, J.R. shooting himself, or a disaster that could've killed everyone. I expected a cliffhanger, and that is exactly what we got. It's interesting that David still has someone else alive. But if not Babe, then who? Something I just thought of... If we're suppose to believe that someone or multiple someones die once the online version is here, how can we knowing that David could do his magic and resurrect them? Killing people off on this show is hard to accept anymore. Anyway... I loved Tad's speech, the kids reciting the "you are all my children" poem, the fact that there was one last lavish Chandler party, the Stuart/Marian scenes, Adam's proposal, and the way Jack left Erica. The party was suppose to be for Stuart as well, but we never saw him & Marian arrive. I thought that was weird. The beginning of the episode - showing the different births & seeing how the families have grown - brought tears to my eyes. That and the party showed what All My Children is all about: family and community. AMC was my first soap. I've been a loyal viewer for about 15 years, though I remember seeing it farther back when I was just a little kid. My mom got me hooked on it. AMC has a place in my heart. Pine Valley will always be my TV home.

Nice article... and the mention of ICQ!!!! Ah, memories!

Harley, are you in Canada? CTVtwo faded just as the shot happened. i was really annoyed by that, because I had to find out from my board-buddies that I missed the gunshot, too! I listened again to the ABC Seattle west coast feed and the shot was fired and they went to black. (Luckily, if you watch outside your timezone, you don't get the Canadian feed substituted over ABC.)

With what he said to Dixie about it being better she didn't know, I'm guessing it's his mother, Vanessa Bennett.

I enjoyed the ABC finale and Tad's speech. They have plot going forward, so I think it worked, especailly when coupled with the entire week's episodes.

i didn't like it either

I really enjoyed the finale! Just a thought...I'm wondering if JR didn't turn the gun on himself? He isn't returning, so I think it's a possible twist.

David's "other" mystery patient is something they can work on for the reboot, I personally don't think its Babe but could be maybe Vanessa his mother, Julia is good guess, or maybe Trevor?

I thought AMC's finale on ABC was solid, especially considering how much sh** Lorraine and Agnes had to clean up from the last few years. I hold on to hope that when AMC returns in January, it will have more than just a few familiar faces and will stay true to who AMC is.. Michael E. Knight was perfect with Tad's speech and Debbi Morgan never looked better. Bravo, AMC!

I AM DISTRAUGHT!

i wish they had done a 10 second montage of all the opening credits like Guiding Light did before their final episode began.

WHO IS DAVID'S MYSTERY PATIENT!?!

He told Dixie "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."!!!

is it Jenny, Vanessa, Mona, Laura, Phoebe?!?

They could use that cliffhanger, David's Mystery Patient, as a way to bring back a core character. It will be interesting to see what the cast list looks like for PP's AMC. I'd love Erica, but I think Brooke, Tad, or Opal could easily become the central character of the show.

Canadian viewers who missed the final clip can try going to Ctv.ca under on line section of shows listing to see if the on line episode will have the complete final AMC show this is the best bet. I was actually taping the Canadian earlier feed to avoid having to see the tacky promo for the icky food show which will remain nameless. AMC rocks!!! the show even got People magazine to do a special issue!!!

I am not a regular viewer of AMC but I caught the ep today and have been watching here and there for the last few weeks. I think that it would have been better to open the show with the party already starting and all the action taking place at the party. The first part didn't exactly do alot that we hadn't already seen on The view or could not have looked up on UTUBE. Especially the kiddies reading the same poem that we saw Agnes reading at the cast wrap on the view. Her reading and the cast repeating it had way more emotional value and almost church like spiritiality. The kiddie thing was like going to first grade play. They could have had all the catching up and the reveals at the party jumping from one group to the next. Maybe having JR seperated and going crazy with memories of Babe and other things. Then catching up with the family at the party and having a big condemnation pity party in front of everyone and pulling the gun out and shooting. fade to black. Overall it is better than some soap endings I have watched. Not as good as others. For the very best one, Texas might have ended better than any soap ever(I have watched alot of NBC shows so I have seen alot of endings lol) Lovers and Friends ended well too!. Funny enough the worst ending was on the same day and the same network thirty minutes before on The Doctors.
I hope that AMC lands on its feet on the internet. I might try to watch the show if Agnes stays with it.

lame... The whole week was amazing with montages about the main Pine Valley families, I cried in every episode EXCEPT todays. It wasn't as dramatic as I had hoped it would be and seriously can I just ask wtf were the promo photos of Leo in ConFusion?! I thought for sure he would be back in todays episode but no...completely cheated.

from what understand, the Leo at ConFusion pics were scenes that were shot before the show was bought up by the new company taking it online.

I also read that there was going to be future look into everyone's lives.

I think Leo was going to be with Greenlee at ConFusion in their future.

Why did the show end without Stuart ever getting to the party? Wasn't he a big reason for the party in the first place?

@TVGord: Thank you for addressing the naysayers. I watched the finale at Carolyn Hinsey's NYC party. She did a great job of keeping people positive (i.e., asking what we thought during commercials, helping us to "Boo The Spew", etc.). As many times as her column has mocked AMC, she has a genuine love for Agnes and Lorraine and really believes in their visions for the show moving forward.

I want people to remember that we had no show on April 14th; PP stepped in to save the show (and OLTL, which I don't watch, but want to go on for its fans). My only regret is that this is a licensing deal in which ABC still gets to make money from. That truly sucks, but anything that will keep it alive is great.

I thoroughly enjoyed the finale, but I have watched the show since the very beginning (I came home from kindergarten and sat with my mom and/or grandma to watch). The only times I could not watch were when I was in college in the 80s and then when I didn't have a VCR. In any case, everyone who knows me knows this soap is my passion and there is no way I would not follow it online. There are some boards with so much negativity; people who say they won't be able to see it online. This computer is 10 years old and I have no trouble watching things online, so hopefully enough people who say they can't watch will at least try (plus there are cheap enough ways to make it happen if you feel you have a bad connection).

I do feel the finale had elements to make people come back - who was shot?, will Jack and Erica ever end up together?, who is the last patient?. Agnes and Lorraine did a great job and as I said before, I'm holding on until the next chapter begins.

I loved it, mostly. I have only watched for a couple years, but I thought they did an amazing job. I liked all of the cliffhangers, and I think it will lead to some good stuff with Prospect Park. My only issue was the gunshot. It should not have been the end. You should have heard the gunshot, then a gasp. I had to watch it three times, because I wasn't sure if it was a gunshot or Jackson slamming the door. I just wish that the shot was more defined, and that people were genuinely shocked at who got shot. But overall, I thought the whole final week was tremendous.

I LOVED the finale. I started tearing up before the opening credits. The whole episode was pretty emotional for me. I’ll go so far as to say that if this episode is submitted for next year’s Daytime Emmys, AMC deserves to be awarded for best written and all around best show. Seriously! Compared to the other more recent soap finales, this one was the best. Everyone was in character, including the usual troublemakers, who I just chalked it up as having a great day. Pine Valley can do that to you. This show has always been about the community putting most differences aside to celebrate life and considering that Stuart Chandler is the heart of Pine Valley, hence the party; this episode greatly spoke to that.

Erica was being Erica Kane to the end and I love it. Granted, I agree that I wished they had matured her character within the last several years to more of a sassy and more mature matriarch of sorts rather than having her dress and act like she’s two years removed from her super model days but hey, too late. They went with who she is now and it worked. I actually found myself laughing at her entrance to the party because it’s so Erica Kane. The line my man Jackson said to her at the end was perfect because I always thought of Erica as the modern day Scarlett O’Hara.

The cliffhanger was great. It was classic AMC, which was known in its day to have the best cliffhangers on a weekly basis so again, that spoke to the history of the show. I’ll probably check out the online version but I will miss watching this show on television. It has been a big part of my life and television will not be the same for me.

And so I quote my girl Ashley Mendoza from the Pine Valley Podcast, “SUCK IT BRIAN FRONS!” I’m very curious to see how karma bites you in your fat ass.

I missed all the CBS finales so even though I am not an AMCer I was determined to catch this one. I completely agree with every thing feeling rushed, with all the house buy backs /returns from the dead /pregnancies and engagements.
They are going to have a lot of explaining to do come January, especially if La Lucci decides not to stay.
As usual ABC made sure to throw shade by pimping commercials for the Chew during the final episode of this Iconic soap. I did scream though when Susan said. "I am Erica Cane."
I guess ABC couldn't have had the class to let the final moments of the show be Agnes holding her book, encouraging viewers to continue watching the Show with Prospect Park in Jan. 2012 to see what happens, instead we get the closing cliffhanger/credits- followed by another Chew ad? WTF

CAMERON MATHISON (Ryan) don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

Oh wait, your vocal can't get any more woman-like.

Hero??? LMAO CAMERON MATHISON IS THE WORST SOAP OPERA ACTOR in the 30 years I have been watching soaps and I have watched all of them.

@Renegade - What's up with the hatred for Cameron? He's done a great job on the show and is one of the nicest guys if you've had the chance to meet him in person.

...In any case, I agree with most of the other posts, the finale was a great. I'm glad it didn't end over the top. I think the only thing that will be possibly difficult is how it will launch in January? Modern technology and flow information gives us the ability to know a lot more than we would have in the old days, i.e., we are aware of a number of cast members leaving, particularly Jacob Young. So as he fired the gun and shot someone, this whole scene would likely have to be retyped with new actors playing the role, or they would have to setup something like Prison Break did in its closing, whereby they just advanced the story by several months and told it through some flashback explanation.

As Jamie and others have said, I enjoyed the last few weeks of the show.

I don't believe ANY ending would have been satisfactory to viewers. When a show you love goes off the air, nothing can make you smile and say
"oh, it's okay .... it was a good run." However, since this was NOT a final episode, but a PAUSE, I believe it could have taken a different direction.

If I ruled the world, I would have spent the last week reviewing the history of the show. I would have had interviews with characters (both present as well as past), shown numerous historical clips, let the actors talk about them, and just go down memory lane with the audience. I would have really tugged at the heartstrings of the audience, making them salivate for more. And on Friday, I would not have pulled a Sopranos - it didn't work on HBO, and it sure didn't work on AMC.

For me, there was no reason to have a cliffhanging final because the future is unknown. Maybe one of the actors who has stated he/she will not return...will have a change of heart and sign onto AMC2. Then what? Maybe JY won't like BB and will want to return. Maybe DM will be disappointed in YR and want to return. Who knows. Maura West went to YR and was treated like garbage and then was fired. No one knows what the future will hold.

If Jack had gone to CA people would have crucified him; with his telling Erica to go to hell, some were unhappy -- can't please 'em all. Personally I was glad Jack reclaimed his dignity - Peter Pan (great description!!!) will never grow up and Jack knows it. Brook buying the mansion was predictable. Stuart/Adam reuniting was touching beyond belief. Tad and Dixie's proposal in the park on speakerphone was cute... sort of. Scott and Madison made me smile - I really liked them together.

But JR .... why was HE sacrificed, destroyed, humiliated, and spit on with such venom? He was the "chosen one" - the golden recipient of hate. I would have rather seen David finally busted, tried, convicted, and sentenced to hell, somewhere he deserves.

It's over .... for now. Wonder what's next?

I just wanted to thank the entire cast and crew of All My Children for the wonderful work they have done over the years. You all have truly touched my heart with the wonderful characters you brought to life and the interesting stories you told. I will always be grateful for that. All My Children will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you, once again.

It is inconceivable to me that if I turn on ABC tomorrow at noon that All My Children won't be on.
Fuck.....Fuck!