General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: The Ryan and Esme Connection Revealed
Putting the ‘creep’ into some scenes with a big revelation had soap fans chatting on the Twitterverse yesterday and today. On Wednesday’s episode of General Hospital, viewers learned what some had suspected that it appears that evil Esme (Avery Pohl) is actually evil Ryan’s (Jon Lindstrom) daughter.
It call came out when Esme, while at Spring Ridge, sneaks into Ryan’s room and sort of admonishes him for speaking out loud where people could hear him, when for months he has been feigning locked-in syndrome, unable to talk, and blew all their months of plotting,
Then, Ryan says, “Actually, I was thinking about you and how you’ve failed me.” Ryan reveals the plot was about breaking up Nikolas (Marcus Coloma) and Ava (Maura West), and she’s been wasting time on Spencer (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and the teen scene drama. Esme drops to her knees and begs ‘daddy’ to believe in her and she adds, “that he likes it when she calls him ‘daddy”. Ryan responds, “Be careful what you wish for.”
Esme goes on the offensive and threatens to tell Ryan’s twin, Kevin, that he’s been able to talk for months. Next, Ryan grabs Esme arms and reminds her that he is the one in control here and calling the shots … not her.
Ryan insists it’s time for them to go back to the objective, Ava. He tells Esme she needs to get on the good side of Spencer’s parents, especially Spencer’s dad, Nikolas.
“You know what they say, like father like son,” Ryan gloats. Esme is at first not sure where this is going, but then seems to smirk.
In the end, Ryan tells Esme she will get everything her heart desires. Next, Ryan stands up out of his wheelchair and tells her that what’s his is hers … and then adds, “My beautiful, gifted daughter.” We fade to black.
So, if Esme is Ryan’s bio-daughter who is Esme’s mother … or is Ryan lying to Esme to get her to do more of his dirty work? Share your thoughts on the scenes via the comment section below.
I wasn’t one bit surprised by this “revelation” other than that it seemed to be dropped in order to bring us the play-once-a-week teens going to the cabin and sex tape story that’s taken forever to come to light.
Something about the exposition sounded like the writers changed their minds on some of the details. I’d be interested in finding out.
GH seems to have a history of writing story for 13-week cycles and then dropping them for another 13 weeks, much like “Port Charles” used to do. I hope this doesn’t continue to happen, as I want to invest for the long term.
Now, let’s see where Esme and Ryan’s relationship goes.
Rodd, I felt the same way about the shortening of the sex tape tale and I’m happy for it. Trina is one of the best defined characters; only a complete idiot would believe she’d betray a friend like that.
I predict there will be quite a few complete idiots running around.
I think Esme will turn out to be Kevin and Lucy’s daughter, somehow.
You don’t think Kevin would recognize his own daughter, especially since she’s been living in his house for months now. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t noticed the family resemblance enough to realize she’s his niece. Or that Laura hasn’t figured it out, for that matter… though she seems a little more focused on the Cassadines lately.
I don’t know about what Kevin would recognize, but after yesterday’s show with Lucy on talking to Brando’s mom about not meddling in her son’s life, I realized Esme reminds me of a young Lucy Coe. She looks like her and acts like her.
Esme was never a mousy librarian, but the resemblance is definitely there.
Lucy was a rascal back in the day, but I don’t recall her killing anyone, which I suspect Esme did regarding her adoptive parents.
Don’t recall Lucy killing anyone, but she’s covered up a crime or two. She and Alan did hide Victor Jerome’s body after he choked on the necklace after she rejected him.
I believe Kevin knows more than he admits too. I never trusted Kevin because he covers up for his bro
If what I read on another site is true of who Esme’s mother is, we may have to temper our hate and disgust for this girl with a lot of pity.
I like spoilers but do not like revealing them to others who don’t,and sometimes they aren’t true as I sure hope this one isnt.
The Devil called this one months ago, of course. Now they just have to reveal who her mother is. And I’m still saying it’s Harmony… though I’ll be eternally damned if I can imagine a plausible story to explain how she would have known Ryan some 20 years ago when Esme would have been conceived
I’m wondering if they’ll play with timelines somehow and make Felicia Esme’s bio mom.
There was some pretty funky chemistry between Ryan and Esme, so I’m not 100% convinced she’s his daughter.
Regardless, glad to see this storyline moving along and Lindstrom will be getting major screen time again.
Steve
You said “funky chemestry”, well I felt that way about Esme and Nicolas today after he saved her from Carly grabbing her arm. Gosh Esme “acted” like she was getting killed. Do you think that was a self inflicted bruise? Anyway, knowing how devoted Nicolas is to Ava, something was off today as he acted (maybe the right word?) too solicitous of her feelings.
Esme’s bruise likely came from Ryan grabbing her in their cell scene at Spring Ridge the other day.
The implication of attraction between Nikolas and Esme furthers the dumbing down of his character. Call it a flirtation, attraction or whatever, this seems more plot point drivers than true to character.
Under Tyler Christopher, Nik always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone (whether he was doing good or bad things). Marcus Coloma (with the writings taking some responsibility) plays Nik as more reactionary and never appears to really see what’s going on.
Ryan did give her that bruise and she barely flinched while getting it.
It doesn’t matter who plays Nic, the character won’t see it coming. This s/l is purely plot driven.
No, Violet, Miss Esme would never hurt herself. Ryan roughed her up the day before (?) when he was railing at her for disappointing him. Talk about dysfunctional. These two make the Jerome and Cassadine clans seem normal.
The bruise was either self inflicted (we have seen Esme digging her nails into her hands as a “coping mechanism”) or might have been from Daddy Ryan grabbing her, as he suddenly seemed to show a lot of strength for a guy who had been a vegetable for several months. Either way, the bruises were obviously there before Carly grabbed her, and that whole crying performance was obviously staged by Esme to get sympathy from Nikolas.
I have an unholy suspicion here that they’re going to recycle some old Psycho Nelle scripts here and Esme’s going to try to get Nikolas into bed (we already know she likes drugging people) as a way to either blackmail him, or to piss off Ava, or both. And when Spencer finds out about it, she’ll play innocent and claim Nikolas forced her or something. Because (like her daddy) she’s that twisted.
STEVE,SOAPHOUND and SATAN
Thank you all for setting me straight with my very senior moments. I did read elsewhere that Ryan sent Esme to PC with the very purpose of breaking up Nik and Ava, even as far as seducing Nickolas if need be. I just thought dummy Nic was falling for her touchy,feely act but I now think he knew what was really going on. I had totally forgotten about Ryan grabbing her arm the day before. Thanks, guys.
I don’t think she (or Willow) could be Nina’s. Nina’s kid was stolen by her mother more than 20 years ago and Nina’s been on GH for years now. Both girls are just too young.
Nina would have been a complete vegetable at the time Esme was born. I’m a Devil, not a doctor, but I’d be surprised if a woman in that state could even conceive a child… not to mention the borderline necrophilia that would be required to make such a thing possible. That’s a line even Ryan probably wouldn’t cross!
It’s true that Nina gave birth to Psycho Nelle while she was in veggie land, but she was already well into that pregnancy when her mama drugged her, so it was more a matter of things being on “auto pilot” for the last trimester or so.
You’re right, Satan. Though I would also contend that Nina’s current lust for Sonny requalifies her for “vegetable” status. I still think Willow is somehow Nelle’s fraternal twin, like Mariah and Cassie on Y&R.. some kind of delivery room shenanigans.
Fraternal twins really wouldn’t make sense because Phyllis was supposedly present when Nina had her coma baby. And certainly would have known if there were two of them.
I don’t think Willow had anything to do with Nina. The revelation that Harmony isn’t Willow’s real mother probably has less to do with Willow and more to do with who Harmony’s biological child actually is…. and that would be a child born several years later, named Esme.
Willow’s mother can be the anonymous hippie commune member named “Joan”. It’s really not relevant either way. Psycho Nina doesn’t need any more kids. Past or future (Hell help us if the “Sonny Super Sperm” have already got to her)
No, Phyllis was not present when Nina had her baby (or babies). That point has been make specifically on air — likely for the very reason that it opens up the possibility she unknowingly had twins.
Yes, I kinda figured it out with Esme being Ryan‘s supposed daughter. Her mother? Maybe Heather Weber… Or maybe Olivia Jerome, if Ryan and Olivia J. had ever crossed paths.
On a separate note, has anybody done the math about Courtney Matthews death? She passed away in 2006, so wouldn’t that make Nicolas too young to be around the college age?
Interesting thoughts on Heather and Olivia.
Timeline wise, Ryan and Heather could’ve crossed paths. Kevin had Ryan locked away (presumed dead to everyone else) by the late 90s. Heather was institutionalized until shortly before returning to PC with her sudden Luke obsession and “romancing” of Jed Allan’s Edward. Robin Mattson does not appear to be acting anymore so we are unlikely to get any Heather spottings.
Olivia Jerome was presumed dead after Julian shot her around 1990. Not sure where she was in hiding, but connecting her to Ryan might be tough. Esme’s animosity towards Ava could be further explained with an Olivia connection, but it might be a stretch.
Lastly, the pure mention of Courtney this past week was painful enough. Prior to Peter, her pointless character was the last one to long overstay her purpose on the canvas (other examples being anyone Eckerdt and Dawn Winthrop). The props department failed by not updating the grave marker to March 2003 (19 years ago). Courtney died shortly after giving birth to Spencer. This revisionist history of her and Nikolas being meant for each other doesn’t fly as his true love was always Emily (and now Ava). Courtney moved from AJ to Jason to Jax to Nikolas until she bored each of them.
Courtney was always a bore, imo. As far as Esme and Ava, I think Esme’s mad because Daddy One Hand doesn’t want her.
I thought the same thing. Spencer would be 16. And what happened to the month of February? All these dates of birthdays and death dates and Valentine’s day–happening in March??? The show hasn’t been pre-empted that much.
I think that GH shut down production for a few weeks during the Omicron spike.
They delayed the start of taping at the beginning of the year by a week. That doesn’t impact air dates. They should be up-to-date with calendar timing.
Courtney’s gravestone apparently hasn’t been updated since the last SORASing of Spencer.
On the other horn, Joss is now pushing 20 (she was old enough to vote in the 2020 election) even though Jake is 14…. but when Jake allegedly died he was 4 years old, and his kidney was given to Joss who was still in diapers at the time. The fact that they rewrote all of that later so they could make an excuse for Psycho Nelle’s existence doesn’t change the fact that the ages of the kids are way off the track.
We’ve been thinking for months ever since Ryan and Esme’s first encounter that they were possibly related, especially with both being Sociopaths. When she calls him “daddy” it’s almost dirty and their whole conversation gave me the creeps. I need to see more before I can believe Ryan is her “bio daddy”.It’s too sick for me to believe yet.
I’m not at all entertained by this storyline. Especially now. There is already enough bad things happening in the real world beside covid because of another creepy man. Fast forward time for me.
rose
Another creepy man? You are too nice.
Violet…Ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!…I have other words for him/it. But I would rather try to rise above him/it with the language I put into the universe.
I really would like Esmae off the show. Period I hate what she is doing to Trista. She does not belong in jail. Esmae is a real creepy person
Not surprised, but Im thinking it’s not his daughter, but his grand niece, being that she’s Kevin granddaughter. Mother being Kevin’s daughter Livvie Locke-Clay, and father being crazy Stephen (Caleb) Clay. Many people say Esme is like a Nelle 2.0, so in my version of her family tree, she is indeed related to Nelle! Stephen Clay’s brother was Silas Clay who was Kiki Jerome’s father (with Ava), and father of Nina’s twins, Willow and Nelle.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Trina Demands Answers from Brook Lynn, Scout Questions Rocco, and Can Anna Pull the Trigger on Britt?
This week on General Hospital, the week kicks-off on Labor Day with a rebroadcast of the special episode dedicated to Anthony Geary (ex-Luke Spencer). The eight-time Daytime Emmy winning star passed away in December of 2025 and come February 2026, GH crafted a tribute in his honor with the story centering on Luke’s daughter, Lulu (Alexa Havins) mourning the loss of her father.
Then, all-new episodes begin on Tuesday, September 8 and in the video teaser for it, Trina (Tabyana Ali) continues confronting Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) at the Quartermaines, demanding to know if BLQ was behind the wheel of the other car that “caused” the accident that injured Jordan (Tanisha Harper) and her father Curtis (Donnell Turner), who is now spending jail time after being found guilty of assaulting Isaiah (Sawandi Wilson) believing he was the other driver who caused the accident.
Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarksi) questions Rocco (Finn Carr), if their first kiss together was “OK?” What will be his answer? Meanwhile, Isaiah continues to question Ava (Maura West), wanting to know where she has been in the last 24 hours that she would have had a very dangerous tick stuck in her scalp? What will she say to get out of the fact that along with Drew (Cameron Mathison), she was burying Jack Brennan’s body in the woods.
Photo: ABC
Then, Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) is seen talking with Sonny (Maurice Benard), where she says, “It’s time to change tactics!” Most likely, she is talking about dealing with Drew’s threats. Meanwhile, Drew is on the warpath and Ava tries to talk him down by saying, “Don’t you think calling the sheriff is a little extreme?” Why does Drew want to call the sheriff?
Finally, in the pick up from last Friday’s cliffhanger where Anna (Finola Hughes) pulled a gun on Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) in the middle of nowhere, Anna says, “I’m not going to let you stop me!” Who is she talking to? Is it Jason (Steve Burton) who found out Britt’s location … or Britt herself? Stay tuned.
Now below take a look at the official GH spoilers for the rest of the week.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER
An encore presentation of the February 20, 2026 episode honoring the late Anthony Geary as Luke Spencer as loved ones come together to share memories from Luke’s life.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Britt’s life is on the line. Jason makes a desperate plea. Trina is livid. Drew lashes out. Portia and Isaiah are caught off guard.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
Willow gets a surprise guest. Josslyn stands her ground. Gio demands answers. Hudson gets an eyeful. Emma gets startling news.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
Jason issues a warning. Chase opens up to Dante. Brook Lynn gets a reality check. Trina gets an unwelcome visitor. Emma regrets her actions.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Jason clashes with a loved one. Drew toys with Willow. Valentin fears for Nina. Tracy goes behind Brook Lynn’s back. Jordan makes a revelation.
Check out a preview for tomorrow’s September 8th episode below.
Now let us know, do you think Jason will stop Anna from shooting Britt? Is Drew going to keep Rocco and Scout apart? What will Brook Lynn’s response be to Trina about where she was the night of the accident that Jordan’s car crashed? Share your thoughts via the comment section.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards are now just a little over a month and a half away, and General Hospital’s Braedyn Bruner picked up her first nomination for her performances as Emma Drake.
Braedyn received a nod in the Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series category along with: Al Calderon (ex-Javi, DAYS) Alice Halsey (ex-Rachel, DAYS) Giovanni Mazza (Gio, GH) Ambyr Michelle (Eva, BTG) and Arielle Prepetit (Naomi, BTG). The winner will be announced in a ceremony held on October 30 in Hollywood, California.
Now, for the first time, Bruner spoke about what she chose to put on her nominated reel that landed her a chance to go for gold. The 25-year-old actress discussed it when she appeared on an all-new episode of the That’s Awesome with Steve Burton (Jason, GH) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli, GH), that dropped this Sunday, September 6.
In speaking of her nominated work, Bruner shared how she went about approaching submitting her reel, which was a conglomeration of scenes from the eligibility year and her first on GH. “The first two scenes on my reel are with Anna (Finola Hughes). The first one is in her office after she arrests Emma at the Quartermaine crypt,” explained Braedyn to her GH co-stars. “I felt like, for me as an actor, that was the first time I understood this character really well. I felt like I had become her in some sort of way, and the things that she stands for and she is willing to fight for.”
Photo: ABC
Bruner continued, “I also love doing scenes with Finola Hughes. The second scene is with Anna also, sort of a similar setting, but a different time of the year, but it was a scene about what Emma stands for, and how much she wants to be like her grandmother, and how influential and important she is to her. I also had included scenes with Gio as well from the post-Nurses’ Ball fallout. We had a lot of wonderful things that I got to choose from.”
Reflecting on now being on the legendary ABC soap opera for a year and a half, Braedyn told Steve and Bradford, “It’s so crazy looking back on where I started, to where I am now, and I think, I’m so grateful for this job. All I ever wanted to do is to tell stories, and even just saying that I have an Emmy nomination is crazy, because that just feels like a great bonus and such an honor. So, that’s really, really cool.”
Since coming to GH, Braedyn said she felt support all along the way behind the scenes. “I love the relationships that I formed on this show,” she shared. “I always tell people that when they ask me what is it like working on General Hospital, I just always say that I’ve truly never been on a set where every person that you encounter is a joy to be around, helpful and kind and supportive. and wants you to succeed.”
Photo: ABC
As for what’s ahead for Emma, viewers know that music executive Simon (Grady Eldridge) has been asking Emma’s boyfriend Gio and her friend and his musical partner, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) to play up a “relationship” when they are on stage performing to help sell them as a recording and performing duo, which may cause problems for Emma in the very near future.
“I love that she’s (Emma) getting her edge back,” confirmed Bruner. “I feel like there had been a period where I was just being really cordial and kind. And that’s fun, but I missed the kind of attitude that she had when she came on the show as this animal rights activist and fighting for justice. I missed that. So, I’ve been really enjoying what we are shooting now. ”
You can check out Braedyn’s guest appearance on the That’s Awesome podcast below.
Now let us know, what do you think about Braedyn’s choices for her Emmy scenes that landed her an Emerging Talent nomination? Do you want Emma to have her edge back? Do you think that Gio and Trina might actually wind up together and Emma will be the one left out in the cold? Stay tuned and weigh-in via the comment section.
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ and ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ Only Soaps to Gain Total Viewers Week-Over-Week
The latest ratings are out for the week of August 17- 21, 2026. Two daytime dramas showed an uptick in total viewers week-over-week, while two did not, and General Hospital moved back into 3rd place over Beyond the Gates in the key women’s 18-49 ratings share, and tied with the CBS soap for 3rd place for the key women’s 25-54 ratings share.
According to Soap Opera Network via data supplied via Nielsen’s Live+Same Day, Big Date +Panel model, CBS’s The Bold and the Beautiful showed the most gains in total viewers adding +12,000 and bringing its year-over-year tally to +262,000. For the week of August 17, B&B had an average audience of 2,688,000 tuning-in.
The central story focused on Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Carter Walton (Lawrence Saint-Victor) bonding over their crumbling marriages while eachwas on drunken bender, they slept together. Meanwhile, Finn (Tanner Novlan) rushed back to Los Angeles from Monaco to salvage his relationship with his wife, and Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) turned around and headed back from the airport to reconcile with Carter after walking out on their marriage.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital, the ABC soap opera added +8,000 total viewers for the week with an average of 1,856,000 tuning-in from August 17 to 21. The series is still under the 2 million mark for the last few consecutive weeks. Year-over-year at this time, GH is -35,000 off the pace from 2025.
In story, there was drama across Port Charles with shifting alliances, explosive confrontations, and shocking revelations including: Jason (Steve Burton) quitting the mob and informing Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Ric (Rick Hearst) getting jealous of Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) and Elizabeth’s (Rebecca Herbst) closeness, and Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Tracy (Jane Elliot) finding out Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) moved back into the Quartermaine gatehouse.
Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
As for the top-rated The Young and the Restless, they remained the most-watched soap opera of all losing -14,000 for the week, but still up +90,000 year-over-year and averaging 3,027,000 viewers for the ratings week.
The Y&R drama centered around stories including; Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) causing chaos by declaring that Chancellor Industries belongs to the Abbotts, while the aftermath of Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Marie (Jade Harlow) night together in a seedy hotel which landed them both in rehab continues to haunt Nick.
Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Finally at Beyond the Gates, the newest soap in the line-up lost only -1,000 in total audience for the week, with 1,647,000 tuning in and the series is considerably up year-over-year with +132,000.
Beyond the Gates featured a series of showdowns and explosive secrets coming to light including: Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis) confronting a hospitalized Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) about his intentions toward Dani (Karla Mosley), while Andre’s (Sean Freeman) dark past with Heather Armstrong (Ashley Jones) came to light.
So, what do you think of the latest ratings picture and performance of your favorite soap? Which daytime drama from broadcast television is piquing your interest the most? Which is not? Let us know via the comment section.
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GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Trina Demands Answers from Brook Lynn, Scout Questions Rocco, and Can Anna Pull the Trigger on Britt?
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
Vivica A. Fox Exits ‘The Young and the Restless’ For Now to Film Netflix’s ‘Women Like Us’
‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
‘General Hospital’s’ Tabyana Ali Song ‘Pray’ Now Available on Major Streaming Platforms with Music Video Forthcoming
Suzanne Rogers Returns to ‘Days of Our Lives’ in All-New Episodes
‘General Hospital’ Icon Genie Francis to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards
Has Jasper Jacks Been Recast on ‘General Hospital?’
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Trina Demands Answers from Brook Lynn, Scout Questions Rocco, and Can Anna Pull the Trigger on Britt?
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
‘Days of our Lives’ Head Writers Give Fall 2026 Preview: Marlena and Stefano’s Chess Mystery, The Arrivals of Dante and Sydney, Romance Drama for Sarah and Others
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THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Will Nick Take the Rap for Marie’s Abusive Husband’s Death?
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General Hospital4 days ago‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
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