A Young and the Restless clarification

I made the mistake of inferring that The Young and the Restless takes death pretty lightly; I was absolutely wrong about that. What I should've said was that American soaps typically take death lightly via 'killing' people and bringing them back when the writers write themselves into a corner. Despite the revelation that Phillip C. is really alive, Y & R has among the better reputations of treating death and the ensuing mourning and grieving period with the gravity that it deserves. Y & R even treats miscarriages and stillborns with the same respect, making it a realistic process that affects families and their friends. Sadly, Y & R is the exception rather than the rule. I can't tell you how many times Days of Our Lives' John, Roman, Marlena, Hope, or Stefano came back from the dead. Soaps have to support their talent when they opt out of the show and yet, please long-term fans, but killing off characters, especially when they know that their portrayers rarely leaves a soap and stay gone leave them in a quandary.

Meanwhile Univision's telanovellas and Britain's Coronation Street kill off characters and their deaths leave a profound resonance that can be jarring when you're used to American soaps; but it's a jarring that I like and appreciate. Alma's death on Coronation Street was devastating because she was such a lovely soul (and her death was preventable if only she followed through with her doctor's visits) but it also brought about the introduction of her 'relative', Richard Hillman who went on to marry Gayle; attempted to gaslight her mother, Audrey; stole the Duckworths' nestegg; murdered one of his exes and dumped her body in the foundation of a house that Steve was preparing; scaring the $h*t out of busybody Norris; bludgeoned Emily and Maxine with a crowbar, leaving Maxine dead; and his failed attempt at murder-suicide of his and his family by driving Gayle, her children and grandchild into a canal.

So again, I regret pinning that label on the Young and the Restless.

Now, on to the Mary Jane storyline... I've been listening to it and am wondering if Mary Jane is really Paul's sister, Patty? I remember that storyline - it was probably my first soap memory. I remember Jack (played by Terry Lester) 'rolling around and kissing some woman in bed' on the day of his wedding to Patty. For the longest time, I thought that Lauren was the woman, but maybe it was Diana Coville. Anyway, given what went down with Jack's brother Billy i.e. sleeping with Sharon on the morning of his wedding with Chloe, it would be amazing if the writers is mining Jack's past in this way. But given how much I hate women dwelling on past heartaches, I would hate to think that Patty has allowed her feelings to fester for this long. I mean, this happened at least 30 years ago in real life time because I was in preschool/kindergarten when I saw it. Nevertheless, good for Y & R if they are taking that route.

Talk about mining history!