General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sam’s Killer is Revealed! But What Was the Motive?
Since the airing of yesterday’s Monday, December 9th episode of General Hospital, online chatter, speculation and theories have been bandied about, now that it was revealed who actually was behind the death of Sam McCall, which provided the on-screen exit story for longtime fan favorite, Kelly Monaco, agains protest from her fans.
But, what is the rationale? What was the motive? As viewers learned, Dex (Evan Hofer) ran into Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober) while shopping for a Christmas tree at Rice Plaza with Gio (Giovanni Mazza), Josslyn (Eden McCoy) and Trina (Tabyana Ali). When he went to get a coffee, he saw a donations box for a charity, and ran into Cyrus.
Dex reminds Cyrus to stay away from Lulu Spencer (Alexa Havins) as he has restraining order against him, especially since previously, he ignored his sister, Laura’s (Genie Francis) wishes on the matter, given what went down at Turning Woods. The young cop (unfortunately) spills that he has already spotted Cyrus at the hospital on Halloween on Lulu’s floor while she was recovering from her surgery. However, Cyrus tells Dex he firmly was not at the hospital on Halloween to see Lulu.
Courtesy/ABC
Then, Cyrus flashes back to sneaking into Sam’s hospital room dressed as a doctor, complete with a vial of, you guessed it, Digitalis. He injects her IV bag with the drug, and next removes a portion of his surgical mask. The next shot confirms it’s none other than (as has been predicted and rumored for months) Cyrus. Next, he puts his hand on her head as Sam sleeps and slinks out of her room.
The episode also featured some moments between Dex and Josslyn were they end up hitting the sheets. From the looks of it, Dex is next! Next to go that is, now that Cyrus knows he can place him at Sam and Lulu’s hospital floor on the night Sam died. Could it be that Josslyn will wind up pregnant, and Dex will wind up dead? The GH weekly promo would indicate, Dex is about to get stabbed with something.
Courtesy/ABC
Meanwhile, the bigger questions looms. Why did Cyrus Renault want Sam McCall dead? The person that could connect him to the Floating Rib bombing over four years ago would be Lulu. That is why it has appeared that he has been constantly monitoring her progress, sitting by her bedside, trying to seize control of her care, all in an effort to keep her quiet in the long run and hoping she would never wake up.
In story, Cyrus gave orders to Julian Jerome to plant the bomb at the Floating Rib while it was full of customers, which included Lulu. The bomb explosion caused the deaths of Dev Cerci and Dustin Phillips (who had proposed to Lulu that night) and eventually landed Lulu in a coma for four years.
So, what is Cyrus Renault’s motive in killing Sam McCall? What do you think is going on here? Is Sam truly dead after all of this or is she somehow alive? And is Dex next? Share your theories via the comment section below.
but everyone knew Cyrus was responsible for the explosion,was looking forward to getting Dex backstory in the future, waste of another good character and actor. Where the heck is GH heading?
He did it to reunite Lulu and Dante
Well I guess this finally lays to rest that idea that Cyrus actually “found” my Former Employer, right??
I think Gloria is requesting your help with Cyrus! See her comment below.
Oh I’m sure we will be seeing Cyrus down here before too long. My dragons could use another Xmas present, though they just got a Redneck Clyde from Salem.
I think Ric Lansing is Gio’s biological father. Brooklyn or Lois may have given away her biological baby a long time ago.
That would be a good twist. It looks like they’re leaning towards Brook Lynn and Dante being Gio’s parents, but I’m hoping that’s a red herring. Anybody else is better than that. Lois and Ric would actually be a good story, since Ric and Sonny hate each other. It’s bad enough they’ve shoehorned in a fling between Brook Lynn and Dante when they were kids, considering they’ve always said nothing ever happened between them.
Dante has enough on his plate between Sam’s death and Lulu waking up. He doesn’t need a secret child to deal with on top of it. Neither do Chase and Brook Lynn, who just got married six months ago, haven’t even gone on their honeymoon yet and are trying to have a baby of their own. Why are we manufacturing drama between them already, and what’s the point of manufacturing drama between Chase and Dante?
That makes absolutely no sense. Might have well just picked Audrey Hardy and Casey the Alien as his parents.
This was the most hilarious comment ever!!! LOL. Awesome!!
GH does have a habit of killing people off with no reason or punishment for their killers…
But like everyone else…I keep watching.
Cyrus is disgusting. He makes me sick to my stomach and always has. I detest him. I wish he would go the hell away in the worst way possible. I actually had to look up his history the other day because I’d forgotten the dissention between him & Lulu. He is the worst of the worst & why he would kill Sam & then have the (I want to cuss so bad) nerve to touch her face. . . I hope he fries. There is no reason on earth for him to have killed Sam. And God, to think you can be that vulnerable in a hospital & have that thug come in & kill you while you sleep??????
I agree. I would like to see Cyrus brought to justice once and for all. He’s probably also the one who tampered with Lulu’s respirator, right? He’ll probably try to go after Felicia next. I hope Dex makes it out of surgery and recovery.
I agree. He is a despicable character and adds nothing to story except all soaps need a bad guy. I still believe that killing off Sam was a big mistake on the part of the GH writers.
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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