General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Alexis and Jason Say Their Heartbreaking Goodbyes to Sam
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after GH fans watched today’s October 31st episode which featured the pick-up of Sam (Kelly Monaco) dying unexpectedly.
As the scenes begin to play out, Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) and Jason (Steve Burton) are together awaiting news on Sam. Just then, Portia (Brook Kerr), Lucas (Van Hansis) and Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) come to talk to them. Portia tells Alexis and Jason that Sam did not it make it and has died.
In complete shock and despair, Alexis doesn’t buy what they are saying, as Jason is fighting back tears. Alexis says a mother would know if her daughter had died. Next, she heads to Sam’s hospital room, and tells Portia to get her a blanket because her daughter is so cold. Then, to be next to her daughter, Alexis crawls under the covers with her and holds her child, one last time.
Courtesy/ABC
Alexis is in pieces as she recounts the history between the two and how Sam found Alexis later in her life and the two were reunited as mother and daughter. She calls Sam her miracle and cries, “Bring her back, please!” Later, Alexis screams at God, for how could God take a wonderful person who was doing a good deed and helping save the life of another human being! She says parents shouldn’t have to bury their children, and Sam was saving another mother’s daughter. She screams, “I hate you!”
Jason is gut-punched and Elizabeth comforts him. Wanting answers to what happened, Elizabeth tells him, Sam had a heart attack and they don’t understand why. Next, Jason wonders how he’ll tell Danny and Scout that their mom died. Elizabeth tells him to keep it simple and honest. Alexis shows up and tells Jason she needs to let everyone else know. Jason asks for a minute to say goodbye and he heads to Sam’s hospital room. Meanwhile, Alexis tells Elizabeth she wants answers.
When Jason arrives to Sam’s room, at first, he can’t bring himself to look at her because the reality would set it in that his beloved Sam is gone. Jason sits at her bedside and talks to Sam, and tells her all the things he loved about her. He figured she would out live him and watch their son grow up. We next get flashbacks of the JaSam love story that reminded us of the great love they shared. Jason promises Sam he will never forget her, and at the hospital room door breaks down.
Courtesy/ABC
Lucas is also having a meltdown because his sister died under his watch. He doesn’t understand what could have happened. As Alexis is talking to Portia saying that she wants answers, but in the end it doesn’t matter because her daughter is dead, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) and Rocco (Finn Carr) show up and overhear what she said.
The episode featured beautiful performances from Nancy Lee Grahn and Steve Burton that in the most difficult and controversial of subject matters (Kelly Monaco exiting the show), it left viewers reaching for the hankies multiple times over.
So, what did you think of the scenes where Alexis and Jason visited Sam’s hospital room and said their goodbyes to her? Share your thoughts in the comment section. You can watch some of the heartbreaking scenes featuring Nancy Lee Grahn below.
It’s really a sad commentary on the Frank Valentini of GH that Jason’s been back since March, and Sam had to actually DIE before the two of them got an actual scene together.
Scenes were almost too hard to watch. I only watched because, sadly, it was goodbye.
Nancy Lee Grahn did outstanding work….. Steve Burton, on the other hand, provided me nothing.
I thought Steve Burton was phenomenal. Jason’s face is so completely expressive for someone who has been said to have no expression ie “Stone Cold.” He was the epitome of grief and his scenes broke my heart. Thought it was some of Steve’s best performances. He can convey emotional agony without even raising his voice.
I completely disagree on your assessment of Burton’s work. Sorry, but he does nada for me.
Burton was okay but Mathison acted as if he was disappointed the ice cream machine at McDonald’s was broken. Others have pointed out that he showed more emotion when McConkey died than his ex-wife/mother of his child.
They both deserve Emmy’s. Incredible acting.
What about Dom( Dante) ? He was amazing and heartbreaking. His grief also felt all too real. Not a fan of Burton’s but he pulled it off beautifully too. And what can I say about NLG? Heartbreaking to the core. All three actors deserve huge accolades. But Cameron’s Drew reminded me of why his nickname was Pinocchio back when he played Ryan Lavary on AMC.
as i watch the eposode of general hospital i was crying i will not forgive frank valentini for destroying kellys charactor the way they did shame on him sam had so much chemistry with steve they should had been put back together when he came back to general hospital sam and jason forever
I hope Kelly is vindicated with an exciting new character to play on a show where she is appreciated.
Agree they were the best super couple of Gh I loved watching them together they were so in sync with each other.
I don’t understand why no one called Dante I mean gosh he’s her fiancé!!!!
The only one at the hospital who knew they were engaged is Alexis – and she just found out before Sam went into medical trauma. Once that happened, all her focus was rightfully on Sam. As an unmarried woman, Sam’s mother is the only one staff would be required to notify.
What’s even more ironic is that Dante was practically living at the hospital in recent weeks, spending a lot of time with Lulu even before Sam got involved with the transplant. And the one time he takes a break to buy his son a meal that’s presumably higher quality than hospital cafeteria food, he misses a big and profoundly sad moment.
I don’t like what they did to Kelly. But I’m hopeful another show will hire her and give her better story to work with. Please, GH writers, don’t have Alexis fall off the wagon. I’m already annoyed they had Sasha turn to alcohol this week. I know Sasha was more into pulls than alcohol, but substance is substance. I really dislike addiction stories. These writers are very disappointing.
I have a bad feeling that Sasha will either relapse into addiction or be pregnant from her drunken hookup with Mikey. Possibly both.
Neither is needed. We have already had multiple addiction stories and multiple dead babies within the last year or so. Sasha being in both of those type of stories.
I think it’s Alexis who might fall back into the bottle. Sasha will probably wind up having Michael’s baby.
I’m tired of the writers submerging Sasha into the waters of misery porn. Imagine drowning your sorrows in a bar and going to bed with Robert’s version of Michael only to wake up with an unfunny Pillsbury Dough Boy.
Funny Harry, but RA’s Michael was only shown in scenes at the gate house & Q living room. Nothing between him and Sasha.
Heart wrenching performance from Nancy Lee Grahn. She always rises to the occasion when they give her the material, and this was no exception. It wasn’t over the top, it wasn’t “scenery chewing” as I’ve seen written elsewhere, it was exactly how you would expect a mother to react when her daughter dies suddenly and unexpectedly. I’d expect her 13th Emmy nomination to be in Nancy’s future. She was amazing.
I personally haven’t cared much for Steve Burton or his acting in a very long time, but I have to give him kudos when they’re deserved. Thought he was very good in the scenes after Sam passed. I agree with what Rebecca said above about him conveying grief and emotion without needing to raise his voice. He said a thousand words just in his eyes and face alone.
Kudos also to Van Hansis who knocked it out of the park in his first major emotional story as Lucas, Dom Zamprogna was fantastic as well, also loved the simple but touching scene in the chapel with Genie Francis and Finn Carr, and the scene when Alexis told Molly and Kristina, Kristen Vaganos and Kate Mansi were both very good with their reactions, and NLG again, of course.
Leaving aside the behind the scenes drama of Kelly Monaco’s departure from the show, what Sam’s death did is result in some classic soap drama which you sometimes can only get from a beloved longtime character dying, and it led to some excellent acting performances from what is still the best cast in daytime. It’s a reminder of how good GH can still be from time to time.
I agree Steve Burton did a fine job because the Jason character has never been highly emotional. Jason’s personality is even-keeled in every scenario. He portrayed grief in line with everything else we’ve seen Jason display.
Love your post, Dan. I agree with your every word.
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”
Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”
Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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