'Til death do us part: Buzz must learn to go on without his beloved Jenna.
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In their golden days, soap operas were full of wonderful stories, character-driven tales of intrigue that intricately tied in the entire canvas a show, where a simple mistake by one character had a domino effect that had implications for the entire town. Except for The Young and the Restless , such sweeping stories are reare these days, as daytime tries to be more like nighttime instead of playing to the strengths that made soap opera the insitution it is. So it was a treat to see a story like this back on Guiding Light - even though the occasion was Jenna's tragic death. The trouble started when Jenna learned that Holly was the Nursery Rhyme Stalker. The two women had an emotional confrontation, during which Holly blurted out that she knew Jenna was lying about Rocky being Buzz's son. Unfortuently that was the exact moment that Jeffrey, the baby's real father walked into the room. Jeffrey demanded that Jenna get "their boys," Rocky and Coop (whom he'd helped raise and still considered his son), and leave town with him. While Holly ran for help, Jenna tried to stall for time by seeming to go along with Jeffrey's request. But he soon caught on to the fact that she was driving aimlessly and tried to gain control of the vehicle, sending it spiraling out of control. Jeffrey was killed instantly in the crash, but Jenna hung on until Buzz found her, then died in the arms of her true love.  Unlike many soap characters who blithely move on with their lives just after losing a loved one, Buzz felt his pain the way we do in real life, with every ounce of his being, certain that the pain could get no worse and then learning just how much more hurt there could be. Even a contrivance such as Jenna appearing to her loved ones after her death was handled without cliche. No one seemed surprised by her visits, instead taking from them the comfort they were meant to bring. And rather than have Jenna be just a vision, GL wisely decided to let her interact physically with her loved ones, sipping a brandy with Alex, kissing her boys one last time and rocking a devastated Buzz as she urged him to find a way to go on without her and be the father that Coop and Rocky needed him to be. Vanessa clug tightly to Jenna, lamenting how she'd already lost one best friend and would now have to deal with the loss of another. She also asked Jenna to kiss Henry for her. Jenna assured Vanessa that she already had, and that "Daddy" was doing wonderfully in his new world. These touching scenes allowed the characters to have the closure they needed to move on with their lives, while also giving viewers the chance to say a final fond farewell to a beloved character. For all that, both Guiding Light - and it's talented cast- earn our accolades.
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