I think there are four types of cliffhangers: 1) the imperilment of (a) character(s) as in, literally hanging on a cliff, 2) the shocking event, with most of its momentum in the episode itself, 3) the shocking information that turns everything upside down, and 4) the teaser that is about to inform the viewer of a new plot twist.
My Gawd & Gasp top ten is a potpourri of the above.
1. Wayne confronts the Hansens with their secret: Terry is Fiona's son (#292)
Whaaaat??
I've been re-reading a few episodes that happened before this one, trying to find something (no matter how seemingly insignificant) that hints at the possibility of Terry being Fiona's son.
Well I couldn't find it, but if any of you remembers a spoilerish titbit that diminishes the impact of this cliffhanger then I'll remove it from my list.
2. Patricia left in the bush fire by Margaret (#370)
The most impressive and most chilling one of all the physical cliffhangers.
3. Craig tells Beryl that she's his mother (#374)
We've been there before with Mary and Patricia (remember Mary? No?) but this is
Beryl - the mumsiest of mums - for God's sake!
But if something like this happens in the soapiest of soaps then you can't be sure of anything. I found it delightfully bewildering.
4. Rosie tells Gordon that amnesiac Angela is about to remember something she shouldn't (#258)
The conversation hints at something very devastating - but what could it
be ?
5. Shooting at Woombai (#352)
It's a proper who-got-it, Falcon Crest style.
Somehow I thought that the episode before that ended with Joe Parker hiding in David's truck, but it turned out to be a fake memory.
If it had happened in the last scene then I would have voted for the pre-cliffhanger cliffhanger.
6. Dee Morell's introduction of her video will (#366)
Drenched in Agatha Christie-esque suspense, the conniving matriarch is about to reveal her last gifts...or punishments?
But..oh, it
stops! No no no no, this can't be happening, and certainly not on Friday!
7. Beryl tumbles into the old mineshaft (#540)
For that brilliant editing that created a (literally) last-second surprise.
8. Karen Fox's dead body under the Hamilton bridge (#561)
Oh my God! Is that Karen Fox's dead body? What happened?
9. Leigh sneaks baby Robert from under Beryl's very nose (#566)
♪So near, yet so far away♫. "Frustrating" doesn't even begin to describe this super-twisty cliffhanger.
10. A mysterious old document must be destroyed! (#663)
Otherwise it will
destroy Gordon. Good grief, what now!
Honourable mention: amnesiac Angela "remembers" that John....is her husband!
On the surface, it looks like one of those sexy "mistakes" in a sitcom à la Man About The House.
But, considering their previous/kind of ongoing semi-incestuous relationship, this cliffhanger twist had a wickedly inappropriate undertone.