'All My Children' final episode: Who did JR shoot?

"All My Children" wrapped on ABC today after 40 years -- but the show didn't give the satisfaction of complete closure.

With JR (Jacob Young) lurking out in the shadows, as the festivities were winding down, and -- frankly -- getting a little weird, the series went to black, and then ... bang!

JR had, of course, pocketed a gun before he went to the party, and who he shot will remain the buzz of die-hard "AMC" fans until the new show arises from the dead on the Internet.

Rising from the dead: No, this was not a plot skein from "The Walking Dead," even if a lot of people like Stuart (David Canary) presumed deceased were in fact not. 

 Partly fueling JR's tsuris -- besides the fact that he'd lost his fortune and his kid had been taken away by his ex, who had become gay and moved in with another woman, was his incredulity over the various resurrections. Was  Babe (Alexa Havins) -- killed by a tornado -- one of those brought back from the dead?!

In a way, this was a big wink by "AMC," which will also rise from the dead when it moves over to the Internet. But it was also pragmatic, and there is no form of TV more pragmatic than the soap opera. 

Viewers and fans will long be left wondering who JR shot and that will do wonders for the Internet launch. But if "AMC's" new owners can't come to financial terms with a specific member of the cast, then I think I can safely assure you that is the person who will have been shot.

It's instructive to note  that Susan Lucci -- Erica Kane, of course -- has yet to come to terms with the producers.

How did Erica make her exit? As dramatically as she made her entrance. As Jackson turned around with his spiteful, "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," snippy Opal Courtland (Jill Larson) said something to the effect: Now you've gone and done it, honey. "You'll never get him back." 

 "JUST WATCH ME!" said La Lucci with a soap-operatic flourish, and Scarlett O'Hara charged after her man ...