An alternate exit for Pam...?

[tommie]

I'm kind of surprised that Patrick Dempsey would do it TBH.

Well, they're all adults and apparently Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo go hiking together, so they've resolved any hard feelings.

 

[TJames03]

Dempsey left the show on bad terms. I guess everything is fine now.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

That's because we weren't invested as much in the characters as they had fleeting appearances when Dallas began. Replacing Victoria as Pam would have had the same disastrous effect as Donna Reed replacing Barbara Bel as Miss Ellie. The roles had become iconic, thanks in large part to the talents of the actors. Producers even hinted at replacing Jock (Jim Davis) and fans didn't take to kindly to it.

Childish to get possessive like that. The show suffered for it. Margret Michaels emerging from the bandages would have been fine. The burns would have changed her appearance so it would have been a natural progression instead of the cowardly ambiguity.