...and just like that our beloved Pam mysteriously disappeared. I know at the time fans (including me) were screaming out for closure on the character but all these years later I could have lived with the fact the mystery surrounding Pam was never answered.
Yes, but many of us were never for "closure" on Pam, then or now, but simply more acknowledgement. Sure, there was Jeanne O'Brien and all that, but the show got the balance wrong in how they handled Pam's exit and disappearance. It often
felt like they were ignoring Pam and her memory, even though -- technically -- they did address it here-and-there. But it seemed grudging and somehow just not enough.
I also agree (as I've said on other threads) that I also prefer that Pam's disappearance be turned into an unresolved mystery, one which slowly developed in the background, where certain red herring are tossed out there so the audience are allowed to construct a scenario that makes sense, based on bits and pieces of information, but is never concretely wrapped up. (Again, it's getting the balance right that could make that work).
Two of the things I liked that nuDALLAS did were in the last-half of Season 2, "JR's masterpiece" and "oldPam's death" -- yes, I would quibble about some of the details, but it was the closest the sequel series ever came to living up to its monumental potential in reviving the old chestnut.
And, yes, I defend my "she may have died of neurofibromatosis, so she was really Digger's daughter after all" idea. That's the only real closure we need.
