1. Val's colon cancer. The actors involved gave great performances, JVA, TS, ML, and PD. It also helped enrich our understanding of the characters and their relationships, which served the show and the viewers so well as the series progressed. Things didn't have to be clarified or explained because of episodes such as this. We just knew. Also, little lines line the one from Richard about Karen: "She's probably got Val dead and buried already." Knots Landing gold.
2. Diana's kidney failure. For all the reasons posters have already stated as well as the ones I wrote for number 1. Abby was, imho, the best "villainess" on t.v. This episode showed how fascinatingly complex she is. They could have just gone with the "she's bad, but not THAT bad," but they added that wonderful "Go save a whale" exchange between her and Karen. This also conveyed the complex relationship she had with Karen and her children via Sid. A few seasons later when Karen remarks to Abby, "After all, we are family, " it's not a contrived line thrown in there for the current plot. I also liked when she tells Gary that she's scared and that she feels pressured because she has to live among these people, and face them if she decides not to give her kidney. So humanly heroic and self involved at the same time. Knots Landing.
3. Laura's brain tumor It was such an important moment on Knots. A core character was dying, and she was not coming back from the dead as so many others have done. Constance McCashin was so good that even when she didn't have a major plot, she still made her presence felt. She didn't get a dramatic death scene, but she made the most of what they did give her, and her presence was felt through the rest of the series. Knots Landing.
4. Chao-Li's heart attack. Chao-Li was such an important character to the show even if he rarely had a plot. However, he was more than a background character. I'm choosing his illness because of the lovely scenes with him and Angela. It really brought out her humanity, showing she was more than the tough as nails battle axe. One of the most memorable plots, imho. Falcon Crest.
5.The effects of the poison on Greg. Mainly because of William Devane's performance, but also for what it brought out in Paige and Claudia. With Claudia we got perhaps the darkest scene from all of the soaps. Her scheming to get him a kidney(she's not in the will, so she's got to save him), results in her finagling a kidney for him that was supposed to go to a dying man. The episode ending scene of the poor wife crying over her doomed husband as Claudia passes by triumphantly always gets to me. Abby's my favorite villian, but Claudia was always the most disturbing. Knots Landing.
