General Hospital’s depiction of the battle of Alzheimer’s disease and how it affects the dying, and the loved ones they leave behind, came to its heartbreaking conclusion this past week on the ABC daytime drama series.

Led by storyline standouts: Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Max Gail (Mike), who once again acted their hearts out in their final scenes together, the entire ensemble of actors who were part of this storyline each had their moments and each delivered that made Mike’s passing all the more poignant.

In a first since we started giving out our weekly kudos several years ago, Michael Fairman TV is giving our Power Performance of the Week to the cast of GH who participated in last week’s scenes for their work as an ensemble.

From Laura Wright’s beautiful goodbye scene as Carly with Mike, where she dreams of him telling her she is a ‘daughter to him”, to Steve Burton’s all-knowing Jason, who tells Mike he will take Sonny and not to worry, to Michael (Chad Duell) and Josslyn (Eden McCoy) picturing how key moments of their life would look with Mike being witness to it, and the advice he would give his grandchildren, to Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) finding out that Mike is dying while being so far away from his family – each of these beats brought even more heart-tugging moments to the ending of Mike’s journey.

Even the actors who played a part in Mike’s care-giving were touching as Vernee Watson’s Stella prepares Sonny on how to help Mike pass before saying her final goodbye to her friend.  Then there was Felix (Marc Anthony Samuel), who helped Carly and Sonny through Mike’s last moments at Turning Woods, who was also trying to keep it together through his sadness. Brando (Johnny Wactor) showed up at Turning Woods too, trying to make peace with the death he saw in the war in Afghanistan and now losing Mike.

Of course, there was the surprise moment where Mike is met by his late daughter Courtney and escorted to heaven that both Alicia Leigh Willis and Max Gail played so beautifully without saying hardly any words.

But in the end, it was Maurice Benard who showed us the devastation and acceptance of a son having to let his father go, while trying to make peace with their troubled past that was acting at its best, and perhaps some of the finest in his storied daytime career  – and there was Max Gail – the centerpiece of the storyline – who’s emotional heart was seen in all the scenes last week with the actors as the characters visualized moments with Mike.  Throughout the entire story, Gail played the tragedy of a human being trapped within this horrific disease with brilliance.  He will be missed.

So, what do you think of our choice of the cast of General Hospital for this week’s Power Performance of the Week?  Share your comments below.

Friday’s cliffhanger ending of General Hospital revealed that Holly is indeed alive and being held captive, but by whom?  Who ever is behind this has her locked away and being watched on a surveillance system.

Viewers saw a hand of someone that is behind the kidnapping, and that Emma Samms made a return to GH in her signature role of Holly Sutton.

Samms, debuted on GH back in 1982, and has come and gone, and come back again to the ABC daytime drama series.  She last appeared back on it in 2015.

Nighttime soap fans remember her fondly as Fallon on ABC’s Dynasty and its spin-off, The Colbys.

Courtesy/ABC

Once the secret was out on her appearance at the end of Friday’s episode,  Samms shared on Twitter: “She’s alive…!”

So what do you think of the twist? That Holly is alive and that Samms was on-screen? Who do you think has Holly? Share your theories below.

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While you loved them together on-screen on General Hospital as Hayden and Finn, off-screen. Rebecca Budig and Michael Easton came together for a stirring collaboration that just won them accolades at this year’s Best Shorts competition.

Best Shorts is an avant-garde worldwide competition that strives to give talented directors, producers, actors, creative teams and new media creators the positive exposure they deserve. It discovers and honors the achievements of filmmakers who produce high quality shorts and new media.  This film festival receives thousands of submissions from around the world.

About a Girl is directed by Easton while Budig wrote and starred in the short film. lt was honored with the Outstanding Achievement award, which is one of the top two most prestigious given out in the competition.

The story features Budig as a woman struggling with post-partum depression.  The festival said in a review of About A Girl: “Deft direction, beautiful craft, achingly authentic performance by Budig.”

Rebecca shared on Twitter after receiving the accolade: “I am so humbled and honored to be included and awarded by @bestshortsand thank everyone involved.”

Two of Easton’s former OLTL co-stars, who have appeared his other short films, Trevor St. John (Ex-Todd later Victor Lord Jr.) and Sherri Saum (Ex-Keri) also appear in About a Girl.

Congratulations to Michael and Rebecca on their winning short  film! Share your kudos via the comment below.