Sally and Shane

[FlossAndNeville]

On both the episode when Shane dies and the episode when his ashes are scattered,  the montages of different people In Summer Bay dealing with things include Sally.

Shane dies, Sally cries in the bushes outside the house. Shane gets poured into ocean, Sally sits on the stairs quietly pondering. 

My question is... why?

There never seemed to be any particular friendship between the two characters, and they travelled in different circles. 

Did I miss something that would explain this?

[harrietjames]

Given Shane worked in the Caravan Park, and was a few years older than her at school (a small school) , she would have had a relationship with him.

[Shannon Found Skeletons]

Yeah, we're supposed to assume all the characters in the show are friends, even though we don't always see it. Plus as harrietjames said, Shane worked at the caravan park so they must have been friends. But you are right, we never really saw them together so it did look a bit jarring seeing Sally crying her eyes out.

[harrietjames]

Summer bay is a small community. Every one in town would feel the loss.

[Skylover]

Sally's whole character is plagued with loss and I think the point is that she finds it hard when someone dies - simply because of how much she's lost already. She craves stability and eveytime someone dies it reminds her of her mortality and I think she finds it threatening - essentially right up to her late 20s when she leaves the Bay she's a lost kid craving a sense of safety and belonging.

[c120701]

1 hour ago, Skylover said:

Sally's whole character is plagued with loss and I think the point is that she finds it hard when someone dies - simply because of how much she's lost already. She craves stability and eveytime someone dies it reminds her of her mortality and I think she finds it threatening - essentially right up to her late 20s when she leaves the Bay she's a lost kid craving a sense of safety and belonging.

Exactly, and remember that Shane was the best friend of her foster brother, Damien, so he was at the house a lot - possibly more so in what we didn't see onscreen.

[Red Ranger 1]

She knew him and she's a sensitive enough soul to have been upset by his death.I seem to recall Shane actually stayed with the Rosses for a brief period around the time Nick and Lou broke up.Throw in everything other people have brought up and they probably count as friends in the broadest sense.Whether they were close enough for the show to make a point of showing her reaction...Maybe they figure that Sally's an important enough character to include.Or maybe she was just rostered on for those episodes.

[Blaxland 89]

Plus her cry acting is one of the best ever. 

[Skylover]

3 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Maybe they figure that Sally's an important enough character to include.Or maybe she was just rostered on for those episodes.

Love the contrasts here  Could have been by luck or could have been because they put a lot of thought into it  

[Shannon Found Skeletons]

4 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

She knew him and she's a sensitive enough soul to have been upset by his death.I seem to recall Shane actually stayed with the Rosses for a brief period around the time Nick and Lou broke up.Throw in everything other people have broke up and they probably count as friends in the broadest sense.Whether they were close enough for the show to make a point of showing her reaction...Maybe they figure that Sally's an important enough character to include.Or maybe she was just rostered on for those episodes.

Or they knew that the actress is kick-ass at crying scenes.