A familiar face to ABC daytime fans is about to make a return to the broadcast television network, when Alimi Ballard makes his debut as new character William Baines on the Thursday, September 3 episode of General Hospital.

Early in his career, Ballard played Frankie Hubbard, the grown-up son of legendary All My Children super couple, Angie (Debbi Morgan) and Jessie Hubbard (Darnell Williams). Alimi played the part starting on Loving in 1993 which later was rebranded The City in 1995.

The GH casting news came from TV Insider, and while no other casting details were made immediately available about the character of William Baines, he enters the canvas hot on the heels of a murder mystery after Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) was found dead in the Metro Court pool. Could William Baines be a detective, a WSB agent, or something else? Stay tuned!

If Ballard also looks very familiar to you, he has an impressive list of TV and film credits including: Quizmaster in Sabrina the Teenage Witch and FBI agent David Sinclair on Numb3rs, and starred with Vivica A. Fox (Stephanie, Y&R) on the sitcom, Arsenio, plus roles in numerous episodic dramas including: Criminal Minds, Queen Sugar, Queen of the South, Law & Order and The Rookie. He also appeared in the 1998 film Deep Impact.

Photo: JPI

DEBBI MORGAN HELPED ALIMI BALLARD PREPARE AS AN ACTOR

Alimi took part in a sit-down interview with the Theater Corner in 2020 where he opened up about his beginnings on a soap opera and working with Debbi Morgan. You can see that below. During the conversation Ballard shared, “I got a chance to work along alongside one of the greatest actors I’ve ever seen lace up her boots — Debbi Morgan.”

He added,”She taught me everything I needed to know to get started as an artist — how to prepare you for the level of intensity, the level of dedication required to make these fictional circumstances connect with the audience.”

So, when William Baines hits Port Charles on tomorrow’s Thursday September 3 episode of GH, how do you think the character will fit into the storyline? Looking forward to seeing Alimi Ballard back on the soaps after more than 30 years? Let us know via the comment section.

The Tuesday, September 1 episode of General Hospital confirmed that the body floating in the Metro Court pool was indeed WSB Port Charles bureau chief, Jack Brennan, thus ending the run of Chris McKenna, who debuted on GH back in February of 2025.

In story, Charlotte (Bluesy Burke) screamed and Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) had a major freak out, when they were the ones to find Brennan’s body lifeless in the pool. Being in fear that Drew (Cameron Mathison) would use this against him, Danny told Charlotte they need to flee the scene.

Elsewhere in Jack’s hotel room, a panic-stricken Ava (Maura West) was trying to convince Drew to get out of Brennan’s room asap since she thinks the sleeping pill she spiked his drink with only made him head back to his room. Eventually, Ava was able to convince Drew to leave, and the two headed to the pool deck and were in for the shock of their lives when they saw Jack’s body floating face up in the pool!

Courtesy/ABC

THIS DOESN’T FLOAT AVA AND DREW’S BOAT

Ava went into cover-up mode in fear Jack’s death would be traced back to her since Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) saw her with Brennan at the Gardens. Next, Ava threatens to take down Drew with her if she goes down for a crime he put her up to in the first place.

Then, the pair decide to move Brennan’s body out of the pool and place him in a laundry cart. They are going to use the service elevator to bring the body down to the garage and dump Brennan somewhere.

At the Quartermaine boathouse, Charlotte and Danny arrive and Danny realizes he put a dent into Chase’s (Josh Swickard) truck that he “borrowed” without Chase’s permission. Suddenly, Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) and Rocco (Finn Carr) were on the scene and four got into heated words when Danny insulted Drew which brought Scout to tears that she doesn’t want to have to choose sides between her brother and her father.

SECURITY BREACH

After Rocco and Scout left, Charlotte had a new freak out when she realized the bracelet she had on is missing. Cut to: Jack’s wrist and sleeve in the laundry cart with Charlotte’s bracelet around it.

Jason (Steve Burton) helped Carly (Laura Wright) with figuring out how the hotel’s security system was disabled and the alarm was deactivated. Suspecting foul play to a VIP guest, Carly and Jason go up to to Jack’s room. However, once they were inside, Brennan was nowhere to be found. Just then, Jason looked around and realized someone was in the room doing a search.

So, it looks like plenty of people will need to cover their actions including: Danny, Charlotte, Ava and Drew. But if none of them caused the direct death of Brennan, who did? Chief among the suspects would have to be Willow Cain, then we had Nina leveling a threat against Jack overheard by Carly and others, or are they only red-herrings and the real killer is someone you wouldn’t expect? Also, what will Jack’s autopsy report reveal? Stay tuned, and share your theories via the comment section.

On the Tuesday, September 1 episode of General Hospital, the body shown floating in the Metro Court pool was identified as Jack Brennan, ending the run of daytime veteran, Chris McKenna, in the role of the WSB Port Charles bureau chief.

McKenna began his time on the ABC soap opera back in February 2025, after replacing Charles Mesure who decided to leave the show. As it turned out, McKenna actually wrapped almost three months ago in June and has been keeping mum, even though reports surfaced that he was exiting the show come fall and Brennan would be killed-off.

Now as a murder mystery begins, McKenna took to his X account on Tuesday, and shared these heartfelt words and clarification, starting with, “Hey, everyone. Just want to say how moved I’ve been by the support you’ve shown me and Jack. As you now know, I left the show months ago, wrapped in June. I’ll say more once my exit interview runs. Until then, from the bottom of my heart- Thank You.”

Courtesy/ABC

THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN THE WATER

Then, in said “exit interview” with TV Insider, Chris confirmed,  I did my last episode in June, so I’ve had a few months to adjust.” He also added how bittersweet it was when he found out it was the end of the line for Jack.

“It’s disappointing how it’s ending right now, but this was a gift,” expressed McKenna. “Between my son being born and having this place to go to work for the past couple of years, this has been just a fantastic time, and it’s been so much fun. I got to be introduced to an entire new legion of soap fans who weren’t familiar with me, got back into the daytime world and did some powerful work I’m really proud of, so it’s been a great experience. I have no complaints.”

Previously, Chris played a young Joey Buchanan on One Life to Live where he got his first big break from 1990-1993. Decades later, he took on the role of Mark Harding on The Young and the Restless from 2014-2015.

Photo: CMcKennaIG

CHRIS MCKENNA AND PAIGE HERSCHELL LEARNED THE SAME DAY THEY WERE BEING WRITTEN OFF

While Chris did not get a major exit scene with lots of emotion or dialog, he still appreciated a departure by water! “I would have loved to have had a big, heroic martyrdom or a big grand speech. Unfortunately, I just played my dead body floating in a pool for two days,” joked Chris.

As it turned out, Chris wasn’t alone in finding out he was being pink-slipped from the soap. He learned the news the same day as Paige Herschell found out they were writing Jacinda out as well.

McKenna had one hope for the story in the months to come adding, “Though it’s not the end I woulda chosen for Jack, I hope this generates months of riveting television around ‘Who killed Brennan?’ And I hope that Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) killed him. It’s time she graduates to full-on murder.”

So, what do you think of the events that transpired of when and how Chris McKenna learned he was exiting General Hospital as Brennan? Who do you think murdered Jack?  Are you sad to know that today marked his final episode (unless there may be flashbacks?) of Chris’s GH run? Weigh-in via the comment section below.