Hey everybody. I know we're all familiar with the "Facts" episode "Breaking Point," which is what I consider to be one of the most, if not the most poignant episode in "Facts" history. Mrs. Garrett says close to the end that we'll probably never know why Cynthia killed herself. I think we can all conclude that it had a lot to do with her parents' upcoming divorce and being left behind with no family at Eastland while her parents go their separate ways, but of course, the episode never tells us for sure the actual reason for her depression being so severe that she would end her life. Why do you guys think Cynthia committed suicide?

Hey everybody. I know we're all familiar with the "Facts" episode "Breaking Point," which is what I consider to be one of the most, if not the most poignant episode in "Facts" history. Mrs. Garrett says close to the end that we'll probably never know why Cynthia killed herself. I think we can all conclude that it had a lot to do with her parents' upcoming divorce and being left behind with no family at Eastland while her parents go their separate ways, but of course, the episode never tells us for sure the actual reason for her depression being so severe that she would end her life. Why do you guys think Cynthia committed suicide?

I think that you probably hit the nail on the head when you said that it had to do with her parents' upcoming divorce. Being that my late father was a social work professor, I have learned a lot about how those types of things happen. A lot of children feel that their parent's divorce was their fault. I would also say that there was another good point that was raised from the secondary plot of this episode. When Blair lost the election for whatever office she was seeking, Joe told her that sometimes she has to be a good sport. Blair said that she is a good sport. Joe said "no. You're a good winner. I good sport is what you have to be when you loose." In my opinion, Joe said a very sensible thing in that event!

Wow! That's a very good insight, Smartboy. Although my parents' marriage stunk, they remained married until my mother passed away so I don't know what it's like to go through a divorce. Perhaps Cynthia committed suicide because she felt guilty over her parents getting a divorce for some reason. Do any of you think that Blair is to blame for any of this, that some of her cutting remarks towards Cynthia might have contributed to pushing her over the edge, or do you think that Cynthia had been planning to do this for a long time and that she had already made up her mind about it before the student council election and that Blair's remarks had nothing at all to do with it?

I think Cynthia killed herself because she was so deeply depressed and felt she had nowhere else to turn and no one to help her...so she ended her pain the only way she knew how.

I think the point of the episode was to inform the audience of warning signs of suicide and to show people what it is like when you lose someone to suicide.

I do not at all think Blair's comments pushed her over the edge. Nor do I think her parent's divorce actually caused her suicide. Both probably contributed to the depression, but Cynthia had been planning to kill herself for a long time. She was depressed and depression is a medical condition that when left undiagnosed and/or untreated can lead to tragedy.

However, Blair's cruel remarks made Blair question whether she had contributed to Cynthia's death and I think that is a reaction all survivors of a suicide victim experience. "What did I do?" or "If I hadn't said that she would still be here." I think the writers wanted the audience to see how tragic suicide is to everyone involved and the episode was very well done. I will admit I haven't seen it in years...it is very hard for me to watch. But I think it was an important episode in the series and for being so young at the time, the actresses did an amazing job with such intense material.

I pretty much agree. I was just wondering what everybody else thought. I don't know if clinical depression, like you say, was Cynthia's problem or if it had anything to do with her parents' divorce. Maybe it was a combination of both. I think that Blair probably blamed herself for a long time, and like you said, playing the blame game is natural in an event like this. We all wonder if it was somebody's fault and if so, whose fault it was and if there was anything we should have done or said differently. Anyway, I was just wondering how other FOL fans felt about this too. Thanks, FactsFan and Smartboy. :)

I think Cynthia killed herself because she was so deeply depressed and felt she had nowhere else to turn and no one to help her...so she ended her pain the only way she knew how.

I think the point of the episode was to inform the audience of warning signs of suicide and to show people what it is like when you lose someone to suicide.

I do not at all think Blair's comments pushed her over the edge. Nor do I think her parent's divorce actually caused her suicide. Both probably contributed to the depression, but Cynthia had been planning to kill herself for a long time. She was depressed and depression is a medical condition that when left undiagnosed and/or untreated can lead to tragedy.

However, Blair's cruel remarks made Blair question whether she had contributed to Cynthia's death and I think that is a reaction all survivors of a suicide victim experience. "What did I do?" or "If I hadn't said that she would still be here." I think the writers wanted the audience to see how tragic suicide is to everyone involved and the episode was very well done. I will admit I haven't seen it in years...it is very hard for me to watch. But I think it was an important episode in the series and for being so young at the time, the actresses did an amazing job with such intense material.

I don't think that I can put it any better than this.

I really don't think the episode showed or really discussed the warning signs of suicide. The only thing they did you couldn't even know til after which was that she gave Tootie the necklace that was hers. I know people tend to give away the things that are importatant to them to people they care about when they're about to kill themselves but it wasn't that obvious when she did it. I don't think people committ suicide just because of one thing that upsets them but rather due to a mental illness that could possibly have bothered them for awhile or be triggered by any specific traumatic event or a sequence of traumatic experiences. I really don't remember Blair saying anything that terrible to her but I could be wrong

I agree. I don't think it did such a good job of educating people on the warning signs of suicide either. The only real "sign" that is seen is the fact that Cynthia gives Tootie the necklace, and like you said, it's not even seen as a potential warning sign she gave until after she died. I think that what it did do was encourage and inspire people to talk about suicide more than anything.

I think the episode really encouraged people to look for other avenues of help. Talking to friends or counselors or whatever instead of turning to something so drastic.

I agree. I don't think it did such a good job of educating people on the warning signs of suicide either. The only real "sign" that is seen is the fact that Cynthia gives Tootie the necklace, and like you said, it's not even seen as a potential warning sign she gave until after she died. I think that what it did do was encourage and inspire people to talk about suicide more than anything.
We can only hope...I agree that Cynthia's suicide happened for a variety of reasons. In any case, it's one of the saddest episodes in FOL's run. :(

Not to mention, the episode later in syndication tended to be skipped over by many stations and/or Nick at nite, perhaps due to the subject matter.

Not to mention, the episode later in syndication tended to be skipped over by many stations and/or Nick at nite, perhaps due to the subject matter.
I don't remember that, but it wouldn't surprise me. It reminds me of another popular show having an episode skipped over in syndication. This episode wasn't sad but it dealt with another serious subject matter - Alex losing his virginity in an early Family Ties episode. That was very rarely shown until the DVD came out.

If I remember correctly, Alex having lost his virginity was only briefly mentioned in an episode that was mainly about whether his sister was ready to lose of virginity. That is, if we are thinking about the same episode. The main theme of that episode was a boy that the sister was dating putting preasure of her to go all of the way. Furthermore, one show that is, very much, of the same generation as both "Facts of Life" and "Family Ties" is "Gimme a Break!" This show had a lot of controversial episodes. One that sticks out in my mind is called "The Emergency". This was from the first season. It dealt was the character of Katie being quite sexuality active by age seventeen. I watched this show quite a bit in syndication and I do not remember this episode ever being skipped over.

^ Alex lost his virginity in the fourth episode, entitled "Summer of '82". At the time, he was a delivery boy for a grocery store and met this college girl when he made a delivery at her apartment. The scene faded to black before anything really happened, and later Alex and his dad have a heart to heart talk about it. The subject matter was handled very delicately, and it was a pretty big risk to do so early in the show's run.

In the episode that I was referring to, the fact that Alex was sexually active was mentioned in an entirely different context. The girl who he was with was never seen and we know virtually nothing about her. All we really know about the circumstances is that Alex was seventeen years old at the time.

This is one of my favorite episodes too-very well done-acting and writing. It certainly didn't help Cynthia any when Blair made those remarks. Giving the necklace to Tootie was a classic sign of suicide-giving away prized possessions. It was a nice touch that they didn't clap at the end of the episode-instead they just had a moment of silence.

that was the sadness episode for me when cynthia killed herslf by taking pills but i loive Mrs G says move your body Natatlie buit she meant her seckleton

From season 2 through season 5-6, that clapping you heard at the end of almost every episode was a recording of one studio audience used over and over--it is almost always the same , about two single claps, followed by the rest. I always found it annoying because it was inserted and not a real reaction of the studio audience for the taping of any particular episode of the day.

Kim Fields did good dramatic acting in this episode.