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GENERAL HOSPITAL: Mike’s Family Says Their Goodbyes in Emotional Episode Filled With Touching Performances

Photo: ABC

For anyone who has been watching the emotional Alzheimer’s storyline play out on General Hospital, Wednesday’s episode was a key moment in the storytelling and for the Corinthos family.  To say that the cast delivered in this episode is an understatement; everyone had their moments, and of course, chief among them, Maurice Benard (Sonny).

Mike’s (Max Gail) life is coming to an end as his body is shutting down from the disease.  Stella (Vernee Watson) comes to Mike’s room at Turning Woods and tells Sonny that Mike is waiting for permission to let go.  She explains to Sonny that Mike is torn between this world and the afterlife.   Stella helps Sonny prepare for the final moments of Mike’s life, dimming the lights, giving Sonny ice chips to put on his father’s lips, and for Sonny to put on some of Mike’s favorite music – jazz.   She also gets Mike a blanket because he is getting cold.  Then in a touching moment played to perfection by Vernee Watson, Stella says her own goodbye to Mike and hugs Sonny and tells him how grateful she was to know Mike.

Carly (Laura Wright) had been by Sonny’s side every step of the way in the final days of Mike’s life.  At one point in Mike’s room with Sonny, she has a dream where Mike tells her she is his daughter.  It was another heartbreaking moment – this time played beautifully by Laura Wright.  Earlier, Michael (Chad Duell) said goodbye to his grandfather and Josslyn (Eden McCoy) had also come to Turning Woods, as has Brando (Johnny Wactor) to be there for the end of Mike’s life and to support Sonny

Sonny tells Mike, (who can hear, but cannot truly respond as the disease continues to shut down his body), that he has made peace with what went down between them when he was a child.  He tells Mike, “I just want you to go in peace and go with love.”  Later, Sonny had a recollection seeing his father pray in the back of the church when he was a child, which sparked an idea for him.   Jason (Steve Burton) and Sonny know that Mike wants to be forgiven for his sins.

Then in the tearjerker, Father Ramos arrives to bless Mike and cleanse him from all of his sins, as Sonny, Carly, Michael and Josslyn witness it.

Afterwards, Jason realizes that Mike probably does not want to die in front of Sonny and tells Sonny to take a break, but Sonny does not want to – so Jason whispers to Mike that he should not worry that he will take care of Sonny. The two hope Mike will meet up with Morgan in heaven.

At the end of the episode, alone with his father, Sonny tells Mike not to be afraid, or to worry about him, and then remembers the night Mike walked out on him and his mother when he was a kid.  He says he knows his father always loved him … maybe too much.  We fade to black.  Maurice Benard’s work was again outstanding throughout these moments, making Sonny’s life-long pain, and love for this father, palpable.

As someone who went through this horrible disease with his mother, I can say, that GH played the beats of the story to perfection, honoring those afflicted with Alzheimer’s and the family members they leave behind.

So, what did you think of this emotional episode of GH and the performances by the cast? Comment below.

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Well done GH. Sorry to hear of your mother as well Michael.

It’s time for Mike to pass and the family to mourn quickly. They’ve done a good job with the disease, but there’s been so much changed history in order to just create this storyline with MG as Mike. Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s episodes were too much. All these “dreams”. No one had a relationship close to this with Mike. Had they not killed off most of the Quartermaines this would have been a great Alan Q story. But they created this story for a man who was not a good father and was an absent grandfather. And I’m not a Sonny hater, but they can spread the storyline love. He didn’t need this story. He has plenty of story.

Buzz was that GH was planning to do an Alzheimer’s story with Audrey in the late 90s. This was after BJ’s death and Monica’s breast cancer. Either the producers or network thought their were too many consecutive sad stories and pulled the brakes.

When you have a recast, as in the case of Max Gail, they couldn’t use real flashbacks. That led to the peculiar flash forwards.

Really odd that no one even mentioned Kristina. Will she become the new Chuck Cunningham or Judy Winslow?

It’s a shame that GH passed on the Alzheimer’s storyline with Audrey, as Rachel Ames was an outstanding actress in that iconic role, and she was given so little to do after the 1980s.

Mr. Fairman, first, my empathy for what you went through with your mother. I had the same thing happen with my favorite uncle who was like a father to me.

I totally agree that GH has done a wonderful job playing the beats in this story from start to finish. I shed so many tears along the way and it has been cathartic.

My hat’s off to the cast, crew, writers; everyone at GH for this emotionally charged and beautifully executed story. It will be one for the books.

Of course it was Courtney who came to escort Mike upstairs. Because Morgan ain’t up there… and he’s not down here either.

And they pretty much confirmed that…. just like they confirmed Jason wasn’t dead when all the Quartermaine ghosts assembled to usher AJ out of his mortal coil a few years back.

AJ didn’t go the same direction Mike did, but that’s a discussion for another time.

This story was well done all the way through, even if it was painful to watch, and that’s coming from an immortal cranky old bastard like the Devil himself.

Great work by all the actors, but is anyone else finding it hard to empathize with Sonny having this profound pain about his elderly father dying when we have seen him pull out a gun and shoot someone across the table for looking at him the wrong way? I think it would be a great plot point to acknowledge Sonny’s hypocrisy, since he doesn’t think twice about the suffering families of the people he’s killed, including his own son Michael’s real father, AJ’s. I’m finding the focus on Sonny’s pain (without any insight about the irony) to be a hard sell.

That’s it in a nutshell, Francine. Everyone should find it hard to empathize with Sonny, given his abundant history of crime, abuse, and murder. The powers that be have tried so hard over many years to humanize this murderer, to get the viewer to like him, to cheer for him, to feel his pain. And it’s a hard sell, given the reasons you’ve outlined.

The GH braintrust have repeatedly pushed other great characters (actors) aside, rewritten history, and thrown away any moral compass to focus on the despicable character of Sonny. The Alzheimer’s disease storyline was fabricated solely for the purpose of glorifying Sonny and netting Emmy gold for his portrayer.

Francine…you and James make really good points. Many are probably the reason I muted most of Sonny and Carly during the Mike saga.

Thank you, Rose. I concur with your moments of mutings!

From beginning to end, this has been the best storyline GH has done in many years. As someone that has lost several close family members to Alzheimer’s Disease, they told it as raw and real as it gets. The acting, the writing, everything has been top notch. Mike’s death today, having Courtney be the one to come get him, was the perfect ending. Much like when they had Lila come to get Edward when he passed.

Just give Max Gail another Emmy. His portrayal of Mike over the past couple of years, playing the realty of Alzheimer’s Disease, has been one of the finest performances I’ve ever seen, not just in soaps but in television period. I wish he could stay on the show forever. But unfortunately, this was the way the story was always going to end from the day they started it, because there are no happy, miracle soap endings when it comes to Alzheimer’s.

Max will have more gold to put on his mantle above the fireplace, for sure! And my friend CC, I hope you can tip your hat to the wonderful job Maurice has down!

My father died from this,,,

The biggest flaw in how this story was presented in the final stretches was the absence of most of Mike’s grandchildren. Yeah, Michael & Josslyn were there. Ironically neither of whom are bio-related to Mike.

Morgan is still presumed dead. We all know he isn’t, but it’s a valid excuse since he’s probably got amnesia or whatever.

Dante’s out of the country, but somebody could have told him what was going on with Mike a little earlier than they did. Why didn’t Olivia mention this in her emotional plea to him through the locked door, for example? Maybe he’ll make it home for the funeral, since he was last seen asking about that “new assignment” the WSB wanted for him back in Port Charles.

Avery?? Yeah, she might be too young yet to really understand what’s going on, but I think she should have had a chance to say goodbye to Grandpa. And of course, baby Donna… who they seem to have forgotten about entirely. At least she’s excused, probably not having any memories of Mike at all.

But where in Hell’s name were Kristina & Spencer? Krissy seems to have dropped off the planet entirely since the COVID hiatus. Spencer’s mom can pop in as a ghost to lead Mike “upstairs” but he can’t bother to show up himself??

Overall, a very well written story. But those are some big holes in how it was presented.

The cast was absolutely amazing!

Max Gail : Mike Corbin’ February, 2018 – September, 2020.

had it not been for – you –

you are a stand alone act.. you could be any one’ : dad, grandpa, uncle, friend,

I stress : ANY ONE

thereby: you made the Corinthos’

all of the Corinthos’ family benefited… you were milked for their advantage

You are a riveting Man

struck by your presence

STANDING OVATION

Jason: dumb

Patrick…It wasn’t always an easy story to watch, especially since you knew what the final outcome would be. So I agree Standing Ovation to Max for making it feel real, personal and even healing to viewers. And as I write this sadness for Ruth Bader Ginsberg who also died today and will be missed as an example of an incredible life well lived despite many health problems through out her life.

The acting was awesome.
The writing stunk.
It was an overkill of a slow death.
Mikes death was a soapy campy tear-jerker=a 7.
Max/Mike– 0ooh lordy he is a treasure..
Too sad he was brought into GH to die.
He would have been a loved character for years.
Perhaps we’ll be seeing him again in ghost form.
Max=gold– I will miss him 🙁

General Hospital

THIS WEEK on GENERAL HOSPITAL: Dex and Josslyn’s Relationship at a Crossroad, Jason Contacts Diane For Help

Previews for the week of March 18-22nd on General Hospital, plus the latest promo for the daytime drama series, share that Jason’s (Steve Burton) return has already affected so many lives, especially given the fact that several key people aka Michael (Chad Duell), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and Danny (Asher Antonyzn) know his location at this moment.

Eventually, Jason (Steve Burton) will get in touch with Diane (Carolyn Hennesy), from what one can only assume is legal help. However, John (Adam J. Harrington) seems hot on Jason’s trail, but the question remains, if Jason was working for John as seemingly revealed in a flashback to keep out of prison, are the two working together … or are they mortal enemies?

Meanwhile, it looks like its curtain for now in the relationship between Dex (Evan Hofer) and Josslyn (Eden McCoy). After Nina (Cynthia Watros) dropped a bombshell about Cyrus (Jeff Kober), Joss gets an earful of information from Dex, when he admits that he was in Cyrus’s hospital room to kill him on orders from Sonny (Maurice Benard).

Photo: ABC

According to Soap Opera Digest, Eden McCoy shared, ” I think what’s different about this situation, and what pushes her over the edge, is that it wasn’t, like, a self-defense situation. It wasn’t at a shoot-out. He wasn’t protecting Sonny. Cyrus wasn’t doing anything! And I think that really scares her, to see him in the light of voluntarily killing someone in their sleep. That is very different from, like, shooting someone that’s shooting at Sonny. She is just in shock, like she can’t actually believe it.” As told by McCoy, “At that point, Josslyn says.’I can’t do this anymore,’ and makes her exit.”

Take a look below at the rest of the official teasers for the week.

MONDAY, MARCH 18

Dex makes a confession to Josslyn. Tracy shares a moment with Sonny. Diane offers encouragement to Alexis. Kevin explains what might have led to Marshall’s misdiagnosis. Stella has an unlikely encounter. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

Josslyn opens up to Carly. Dex confides in Anna. Sonny offers Natalia some valuable insights. Jason gets a visitor. Brook Lynn lays into John.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

Tracy sees a new side of Cody. Alexis informs Molly about her plans. Natalia has a revelation. Anna makes an admission to John over drinks.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

Drew has a proposition for Nina. A photo shoot at Deception goes wrong. Laura and Heather find some common ground. Willow is worried by her actions.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

Jason reaches out to Diane for help. Maxie calls Lucy out. Cody and Olivia comfort each other. Sasha makes a huge decision. Chase and Brook Lynn are stunned.

Now below, watch this week’s promo for the action in Port Charles.

What storyline are you looking forward to the most? The least? Let us know in the comment section.

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General Hospital

REPORT: General Hospital Alum, Robyn Bernard, Homeless & Battling Addiction, Before Her Passing at 64

Robyn Bernard passed away earlier this week on March 12th, when her body was found in an empty field, which is allegedly behind a 7/11, and some trailer homes, in San Jacinto, California. The actress and singer, and former General Hospital alum, played Terry Brock from 1984-1990 and was 64-years-old at the time of her death.

New reporting on the life that she led over the past year, and longtime mental health issues and struggles with addiction, paint a picture that may have led to her death. Although it should be noted, the toxicology report is currently not completed or released. However, the sheriff department stated that no foul play is suspected.

Now, according to the Daily Mail, friends of Bernard spoke on how she had become part of their homeless community, and that she she struggled with alcohol addiction, and had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia through the latter part of her life.

Photo: ABC

In their accounts, things went south for Robyn when in 2014 she moved to the community in San Jacinto, which is 84 miles from Los Angeles. At that time, she moved into a trailer park for senior citizens and was beloved for her singing by her neighbors.

The report also notes that in 2015, tragically, Bernard’s trailer park home was burned to the ground taking 7 of her 8 beloved cats and all of her possessions. After that, Robin stayed with many people of the community, but the previous management chased her off of the premises. She then broke up with her boyfriend and eventually stopped communicating with her parents.

Bernard’s final home was in a community called Parkview Estates, facilitated by Riverside County’s Adult Protective Services Department.  According to police records obtained by Daily Mail, through 2017-2019, Bernard faced numerous DUI drugs and alcohol arrests during that period.

Joni Woods, who lives opposite the space where Bernard’s trailer once was said: ‘I used to see her (Robyn) around town all the time pushing her shopping carts. She always had four or five of them, and I always felt so bad for her.” Robyn’s former boyfriend, Dan Berlin, expressed that the last time he had seen the GH alum was two years ago, “She was out there, talking to herself in a nonsense way. She was a schizophrenic.’

The friends of Bernard shared: “She used to say that Hollywood screwed her over,” adding, “They did her dirty and that’s why she ended up living in San Jacinto of all places.”

Share your thoughts on this tragic story of the last part of Robyn’s life, which again, stresses the importance of trying to find the appropriate help for those dealing with mental illness, being homeless, and addiction. 

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General Hospital

While ‘General Hospital’s’ Dante Lays in a Coma; Dominic Zamprogna Has Some Great New Portrait Headshots

On General Hospital, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) has thus far survived two bullets to the chest, and is laying in a coma. Sam (Kelly Monaco), his lady love, is by his side and beside herself after learning her ex Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) is alive and is of the belief that Jason have been the shooter who tried to take out Dante.

Sonny (Maurice Benard) has been wracked with guilt after he wasn’t so kind to his son, before the PCPD cop got shot. Meanwhile, Jason is hiding out at the Quartermaine boat house trying to recover from the gun shot wound he received.

While Dante’s life is still hanging in the balance, it appears that his portrayer, Dominic Zamprogna, took a diverse range of headshot and portrait photos under the eyes of talented photographer Jackson Davis. The photos were posted on Davis’ Instagram account.

Photo: ABC

A few former GH castmates commented on the photos including Marc Anthony Samuel (ex-Felix) who expressed: “Dante, Dante, Dante…,” and Mark Lawson (ex-Dustin) posted, “Dom!!!! Handle yo’ biz.”

Zamprogna joined General Hospital back in 2009 and has been nominated four times for a Daytime Emmy Award throughout his time thus far on the ABC daytime drama series.

So, what do you think will happen to Dante? Will he wake up and be just fine, or will he have another medical condition? What do you think of Dominic’s new headshots? Comment below.

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