General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: An Attacker Is Loose at the Q’s and the Cassadines Play Cover-Up (Promo)
Monday’s highly-anticipated episode of General Hospital, will pick-up where Friday’s major cliffhanger left off with Ava Jerome (Maura West) being stabbed with a hook, but the question is, who is responsible?
Many fans are feeling it’s going to be revealed to be a very much alive, Esme Prince (Avery Pohl), since we never found evil Esme’s body after she went over the parapet in her fight with Ava. Still others are betting that the culprit is Ryan Chamberlain (Jon Lindstrom)!
Courtesy/ABC
Now, in the latest promo for the ABC daytime drama series, whoever attacked Ava is on the loose, and PCPD are on the scene to investigate.
In the preview, all of the Cassadine men are looking guilty, and certainly that they know something about the crime, especially given that Spencer (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) just found out his father, Nikolas (Marcus Coloma) had slept with Esme.
Then, there is the matter of the confrontation between Austin (Roger Howarth) and Mason (Nathanyael Grey) that Ava witnessed. Did Mason try to silence her?
Watch the promo below. Then weigh-in, who do you think is the one trying to end Ava’s life? Share your theories in the comment section.
Suspects include Nicholas, Spenser, and Austin’s hometown buddy but we all know it was Esme that gave the hook to Ava!
I was very impressed with this week of GH. It reminded me somewhat of the Jill Farren Phelps Era.
Now say what you will about JFP, but her 11 year reign as EP of GH was remarkably successful. And some of the sweeps stories (call them stunts if you will) were epic in a time when soap budgets were more generous.
The bus crashes, the disease outbreaks, the Black and White Ball, the Carnival … etc
They were riveting displays of entertainment.
This week was obviously not as lushly produced, no big budgets or new sets. But, veterans were used in a meaningful way, many stories were propelled forward, and it had that “Can’t wait for Monday!” element that soaps rarely produce anymore!
And poor Ava! This chick has been shot, thrown off a bridge, battled cancer, thought she was taken off life support, was horrifically disfigured in a fire she caused, had her daughter murdered by the man she was sleeping with, and now she gets a hook to the gut!! Not to mention dealing with years of sanctimonious nattering from Snarly Carly!!!
I think she has done due penance for killing Connie!
I think it is Ryan. Iam sure he’s blaming Ava for Esme’s absence in his miserable life right now.
Violet…I tend to think Ryan right now, too. At least a guy. If Spencer can sneak out of jail for a few hours, I’m sure Ryan could find a way out of his facility for a while as well. Something about this attack seems really personal. While Nellie and Esme are devious, I think it takes a kind of ruthlessness they don’t have. Or the physical strength. So for now Ryan.
Spencer got out of jail on a “day pass” easily because he had Uncle Victor pulling some strings to make it happen. It would be more difficult for Ryan as he’s locked in a solitary cell, is supposed to be a catatonic vegetable, and has no allies working with him (at least that we know of) now that Esme is AWOL. Ryan’s a smart psycho, so I’m not saying it’s impossible that he could have broken out, but it would have been far more difficult than what Spencer did. And I suspect if Ryan had gone to that much trouble to get out of Spring Ridge, he probably would have stayed out, possibly to search for his missing daughter himself. Because it probably would have been just as difficult for him to sneak back IN to Spring Ridge & his solitary locked cell without being seen.
Satan…Yes Ryan was probably a stretch. Could be Victor orchestrated the whole ting because Ava was becoming a liability to the Cassadines.
If it was Victor, I think his motive might be slightly different. Since he believes in some twisted version of “Cassadine Family Unity” (with him in charge, of course) then he would consider hurting Ava as a means to that end. He’s already kidnapped his own granddaughter to keep his son in line, so it would be consistent with his previous behavior.
So by putting Ava in the hospital, he gets Nikolas by her side in the hospital (though Ava herself decided she didn’t want him hanging around) and because Trina was close to Ava, that brings Spencer into the mix, causing him to put his own bad feelings about Ava aside, temporarily.
It’s some Grade A manipulation, if that’s what’s going on. Machiavelli would be proud!
Been thinking about my theory and others that Ryan might be the attacker, but I’d forgotten that he only has one arm and I don’t know if he’d have the strength to slam that big hook into someone the way that person did with only one hand.
She didn’t have her daughter murdered, he did it thinking that’s what she wanted. Now who done it. Nicolas, Spencer, victor, Elizabeth, Esme, nelle,Ryan, Mason,and since their bringing back the dead, Morgan. I read an article about this and they talked about how shocked we’re going to be when it’s revealed who the person is that did it. So if we’re to be shocked I’d say Nicolas or Morgan the others wouldn’t shock me. By the way send Nina and wimpy Mike back to Nixon falls permanently, his acting has really went downhill. When you’re with a talented actress you give good acting. I think the lady playing Nina is ok but Laura has much more talent and it brings out his talent even more so
Peggy
BOLOGNA!
The success of the Jill Fred Phelps era wasn’t so much about Phelps as it was about Bob Guza, who was an excellent writer. All those storylines you referenced were his doing. There has been nothing since February 2012 which remotely compares with that quality of writing.
Did Guza have his favorite characters? Sure. What writer doesn’t? Hell, look at the current writers and their attempt to make Nina the center of EVERYTHING, for example.
Because I’m the Devil, and it’s in my unholy nature to think of bizarre coalitions working, I’d actually like to bring Guza back as head writer and see what happens when he works with Frank Valentini. And does that mean they would correct the huge mistake they made right around last Thanksgiving?? Yeah, you can bet your soul on that!!
I am so sick of the old bastard uncle and what he’s doing to and not for his family. I never thought I’d feel pity for Valentin but keeping his own son’s daughter away from him, just forcing him to do his bidding is unforgivable. I hope someday we’ll see his old grey head hanging off the parapet at Windemer.
And Uncle may have had something to do with almost killing Ava. Do really like Actor Charles Shaughnessy though. He was so nice on Franny show.
Initially I thought that Victor might have had Ava “hooked” as a bizzare means of getting to his idea of “Cassadine Family Unity” with everybody circling their wagons around the wounded Ava, rhetorically speaking.
But Victor would have no reason to go after Joss or Brando, so he’s not looking like a viable suspect anymore. I’m thinking it has to be the AWOL (and definitely not in Hell, yet) Esme. She has motive to attack both Ava & Joss, and – not being very mentally stable – would have attacked Brando in a panic, if she thought he saw her stalking Joss.
Satan…GH just had bad girl Nelle drift in and out during a dreamland hour, so it seems reasonable time to resurrect Esme. But something in me just doesn’t see her as the “hooker.” She has a small frame so it would be too big and unwieldy for her to use in a physical attack. And physical isn’t her m.o. especially if she might be pregnant. But I can’t think of any of the “other usual suspects.” Ohhhhh, the mystery continues.
I love Victor! Not because he’s a good guy, but the Cassadines have always had a dangerous element which has been sorely missing since the show lost Helena. And, I love Charles Shaughnessy. He brings an air of class and sophistication to a menacing character. I just wish they’d do more with the role. The old cat and mouse that Helena and Luke used to play comes to mind. I think he and Anna play well off each other…Either way, I hope they don’t kill him off. Too few Cassadines as it is.
By the way, Helena used Spencer as a way to control Nikolas. I think she once kidnapped him, too. Also not unlike Carly who disgustingly used Cyrus’s mother as leverage.
At Sonny’s bar today, who better to have a hook like that, than a one armed man?
Except this is a typical “hay bailing hook” with a handle, as we saw when it was hanging on the wall in the Q’s boathouse (should have been in the horse stables really)
So it’s not a “Captain Hook” prosthetic type of thing that an amputee like Ryan could slip over his stump arm.
Satan
Your idea of the hay bailing hook which ordinarily would be found in a horse stable equals our boy Cody Bell , but what motives would he have for him to becoming a Serial Killer? Also the idea of Esme wielding that big hook with the strength we saw it took, as Rose says, I still can’t accept her being an attempted murderers, yet. Any more ideas?
Psychopaths like Esme can be stronger than they might appear, especially when the insanity overrides the normal mental impulse to not attack somebody bigger & stronger than yourself, that most mortals have.
As far as these attacks go… the killer got Ava from behind, so she didn’t have time to react. Brando on the other horn, is ex military and obviously capable of responding to a physical attacker…. so why did he not do so here? I’m guessing the sudden rainstorm was made up as a convenient plot point, so they can say Brando slipped on wet pavement in the alley and couldn’t keep his footing to fight off the killer.
I didn’t know where else to put this comment, but what is happening at GH? One story after another unfinished and then another started…Trina/Rory…Esme…the “hook” killer…Lucy…Ava/ Nickolas…Spencer…Victor/Anna…Holly back…Joss/Cameron/Dex…Sasha…Willow/Michael…Brittany/Cody/Peter…Elizabeth…and now Heather Webber.
Everything seems all over the place. Not very satisfying to me.
There was never any doubt that in watching the riveting and emotional scenes on General Hospital which featured Finola Hughes as a PTSD-driven and mentally tortured Anna Devane, that when the climatic moments in Anna’s story aired, that we would not be singing the praises of Hughes. Once again, Finola showcased why she is one of the soap opera genres greatest assets and actresses.
In the key scenes, Anna has had a complete breakdown as she has lured and cornered Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) on Mount Emerson, and even thought through how she would kill her and cover it up, all thanks to hearing the voice and seeing a dead man, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). It’s visions of Peter that keeps egging Anna on to pull the trigger on Britt while in her delusional state.
Before Britt realizes that Anna trapped her in meeting her in Mount Emerson, she is very confused as to why she was all the way out in the boondocks to talk about what happened to her brother, Cassius Faison. However, Britt soon learned that what Anna was about to do is personal, and not professional, as she pulls the gun on her.
Courtesy/ABC
ANNA FIRES HER GUN IN GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
When Jason (Steve Burton) shows up to save the say, he tries to talk Anna off the ledge, begging her to not shoot Britt and make one of the greatest mistakes of his life. When Jason figured out Anna felt she needed to kill anyone related to Cesar Faison, he made her think twice, because that would mean, she also would need to end the lives of two of Maxie’s children, James and Bailey Lu.
Anna can’t stop seeing hallucinations of Peter pushing her to shoot Britt. Suddenly and completely overcome, Anna fires bullets straight in the direction of where she sees Peter as she declares this all must end tonight.
After the shots are fired, Anna realized what she had done and just sobbed and shook. It was a devastating and heartbreaking moment for longtime General Hospital fans to see the beloved Anna Devane, super spy, so lost. Anna explained to Jason, after he was able to disarm her, how she was being pushed to kill Britt by her visions of Peter.
EMMY-WORTHY SCENES FOR 2027
In another hankie-inducing moment, Anna just grabs Jason and breaks down in his arms. If these weren’t Emmy-worthy scenes, we don’t know what is, and it must be remembered by Hughes, General Hospital, and hopefully the voting body of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) when Emmy submissions and voting get underway in 2027 for the 54th annual Daytime Emmys.
From everything we noted above, to the sheer brilliance of her work, Michael Fairman TV names Finola Hughes, this week’s Power Performance of the Week.
Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Finola? Were you moved to tears during the gut-wrenching scenes? Should Finola include these scenes in an Emmy submission in 2027, should she decide to compete for Lead Actress gold? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.
According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.
Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.
The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.
Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.
In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.
Photo: JPI
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.
The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.
In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!
Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.
In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.
The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026
So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
It was just over 13 years ago on General Hospital when Ava Jerome (Maura West) shot and killed Kate Howard/Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan) in an effort to keep her quiet from revealing that Derek Wells was actually Ava’s back-from-the-dead brother, Julian Jerome (William deVry). It’s a crime that somehow Ava never has quite paid for either.
The episode back aired on August 13, 2013 and viewers had to say goodbye to Kelly Sullivan who played Kate and her alter, Connie. In the story, just before she died, Kate/Connie scrawled the letters AJ in her own blood, initially making the PCPD and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) think that it was AJ Quatermaine (Sean Kanan) who did the deed.
Now, Sullivan recalled sharing scenes with the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning West, during a live conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel. Kelly was the special guest talking about her recent return to the soaps in her new role as The Bold and the Beautiful’s Darcy Dylan.
Photo: JPI
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MAURA WEST
Speaking of her final GH scenes and working with Maura West, Sullivan gave her then GH co-star major props. “If you’re going to be shot by somebody (on the soaps), you want to be shot by Maura West, c’mon!”
Maura West debuted back in May 2013 as Ava, and Sullivan remembered when the As the World Turns favorite began on GH. “I remember when Maura West first arrived at GH. She walked in with this cute little bob (hairdo) and she’s just delicious,” shared Sullivan.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
Kelly revealed more about Maura, adding “I think she’s amazing! I remember right before I left the show, someone suggested, and I would still love to do this with her, if she ever want to, but someone suggested that they wanted to direct the stage play A Streetcar Named Desire with Maura and I, where I would play Stella and she would play Blanche! Wouldn’t that be great?”
Speaking of the Ava/Connie showdown scenes, Sullivan expressed, “On television and on General Hospital specifically, Maura West is able to play a character who does the most horrendous things and you still care about her and that’s the mark of a really great actor. In other words, you’re able to be liked in the midst of the most horrendous things, and as a performer not shying away from that, and to just have the courage to do what’s on the page (in the script).”
Photo: JPI
KELLY SULLIVAN PARTING THOUGHTS AS SHE LEFT GENERAL HOSPITAL
Kelly also shared her sentiments when she walked off the set of General Hospital after her run back in August of 2013. “I really was honored. Every day I would go to work and I would say a little prayer, which is I want to do justice for my character, explained Kelly. “It’s between me and my character. I get to walk this path with her and to leave the show on that note, which is, I left every out there. I just gave it my all and again what an honor it was to play Kate/Connie.”
You can catch the full conversation with Kelly where she talks about her time on General Hospital, The Young and the Restless where she played Sage Warner and now The Bold and the Beautiful below.
So, do you remember the Ava and Connie scenes where Ava shot and killed her? What did you think of Kelly Sullivan’s sentiments about Maura West? Share your thoughts via the comment section. But first, watch the reveal where Ava recalls murdering Connie below!
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Preview: Kyle and Victoria, Stephanie and Nate, Sally and Billy: Do Any Couples Have a Chance at Lasting Happiness?
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)
‘General Hospital’s’ Finola Hughes Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
Vivica A. Fox Exits ‘The Young and the Restless’ For Now to Film Netflix’s ‘Women Like Us’
Jess Walton Memoir ‘The Young and the Rest of Us’ Set for Release in 2027
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
‘General Hospital’s’ Bluesy Burke Marks 1 Year as Charlotte Cassadine: ‘It’s The Best Gift I’ve Ever Received’
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Preview: Kyle and Victoria, Stephanie and Nate, Sally and Billy: Do Any Couples Have a Chance at Lasting Happiness?
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Steffy Tells Carter She’s Pregnant, But He Has a Way ‘Out of This Situation For All of Us’
‘Beyond the Gates’ vs. ‘The Young and the Restless’ in a Soap Opera Showdown on ‘Flip Side’ Season 3 Premiere
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom Talks Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and What’s Behind Katie’s Deep-Seated Issues with Dylan (Exclusive)
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