When you combine superb direction, writing, production, and acting in a special episode of a daytime drama, viewers can see and understand the thought and care that went into it.
This was more than on display during Thursday’s highly-anticipated ‘Alexis-Centric’ episode honoring the 25th anniversary of Alexis’ portrayer, two-time Daytime Emmy winner, Nancy Lee Grahn, on General Hospital.

Courtesy/ABC
In the story, symbolism was apparent and used for dramatic impact and it worked beautifully throughout, and best of all, Nancy received a script worthy of her immeasurable talents, and showed us once again why she remains one of the gold standards of our genre. If you have not seen the episode DO NOT read any further as it contains spoilers.
It begins with an emotional Alexis looking at her mother’s watch which was still frozen from the time of her death. While playing one of her mother’s records very loudly, she recalls Mikkos Cassadine kissing and dancing with her mom as a young Alexis (Natasha) looked on from the staircase. When Sam asks her about it, Alexis shares that she sees the watch as sort of a representation for her own life being frozen over the last three years; which has included Alexis’ battle with booze taking over her life and her being disbarred, when being a lawyer was the way she identified herself and what gave her purpose.
Overwhelmed and anxiety-ridden, Alexis hightails it to Kevin’s office for a therapy session knowing she is going to Pentonville in the morning to serve her sentence. She says she does not know who she is anymore. Then, Kevin asks her how she spent her day thus far. She flashes back to lunch with the good men in her life, Finn, Valentin, Jax and Ned. Valentin tells Alexis she is proud of her for honing up to her mistakes.
Back at the therapy session, Alexis she was an attorney who stood for something and her life has derailed, and that she was a fighter, an idealist, and an advocate. She knows she has to find a purpose in prison to make it through the three-year term and asks Kevin to help her find one.
Kevin wants to go back to when she was a little girl and her memories that are flooding back to her of Mikkos and her mother. Just then, the younger version of Alexis is huddled in the corner of Kevin’s office, an image of her from the past. Alexis tries to come to terms with her father and the choice of dangerous men and relationships that have marred her own happiness … recalling Julian holding a knife to her throat like Mikkos did to her mother. She says he was one of the toxic men in her life, but Kevin reminds her all of the men in her life were not toxic.
Alexis starts with Ned as one who was good for her saying he was always stable, but she ruined that by recently sleeping with him and putting a wedge in his marriage to her long-time friend, Olivia.
We then flashback to earlier in the day, where Alexis ends up in an almost confrontation with Olivia. However, Olivia tells her she misses the Alexis Davis she used to be and to get her back.
Now back with Kevin, a guilt-ridden Alexis relays she feels responsible for Neil’s death. Kevin interjects she is not, nor what happened with Julian. When Kevin attempts to bring up Mikkos again, Alexis rejects it and is angry that he is making her problem about daddy issues; like so many other women. She vehemently shouts that the men in her life do not define who she is.
Then, Alexis flashes back to hurtful memories she has buried of a young Natasha witnessing Mikkos calling her mother a “greedy little bitch”. She recalls it was on Christmas Eve and that Mikkos stopped by to give them gifts. That is when he presented her mother with the watch. However, things took an ugly turn when he tried to leave, and she threatened to tell Helena all about her and Natasha. Next, Mikkos slapped her and that is when the watch shattered. As all this was going down, a young Natasha watched from the stairs and was horrified that she couldn’t stop her father from beating her mother and remembers how helpless she felt.
However, Alexis reveals to Kevin she thought this would be the last of Mikkos coming by, but he returned on New Year’s Eve and her mother took him back into their lives. Alexis is beside herself that she could not protect her mother, but Kevin reassures her to remember she was just a child.

Courtesy/ABC
It is then we come to the crux of the story. Alexis looks over in the corner and sees her younger self crying. She goes to her younger self and tells her nothing that happened was her fault, and that their father was damaged and cruel. She tells the young Natasha this shouldn’t have been her burden to carry alone, and that she deserves to be happy. Then in the moment of strength and coming full circle, Alexis introduces herself to the young Natasha, “I’m Alexis Davis, a fighter, an advocate, and an idealist … and I will take care of everything from her on out.” In that moment, Alexis embraced herself, and forgave herself, so she could move on with her life.
Alexis then flashes back to earlier that night, as the Davis girls gather for a faux graduation ceremony so Alexis could see Molly in her cap and gown and they hug. Back in her session, Kevin remarks that Alexis has repeatedly defined herself as a fighter, an idealist, and an advocate, and reminds her she has three daughters who have those qualities, and that all she needs to be is Alexis Davis.
Then, we get a heart-warming montage of Alexis though the years in honor of Nancy’s 25th anniversary with GH.

Courtesy/ABC
As the episode concludes, it is the next morning, and Alexis enters Pentonville and enters her jail cell. There she meets her fellow inmate, who is studying law books to prep for her upcoming parole hearing. Alexis introduces herself as “Alexis Davis” and as someone who can help her. We then go back to her mother’s watch which now begins ticking at Alexis’ home. The show fades to black.
Kudos to Daytime Emmy winner, Phideaux Xavier for his outstanding direction, head writers: Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor and script writer, Scott Sickles for the thoughtful episode, EP Frank Valentini and his production crew for putting it all together, and the one and only Nancy Lee Grahn for a performance that will be remembered as a classic.
Share your thoughts on today’s on Nancy’s ‘Alexis-Centric’ episode via the comment section below.
Great scenes, I am so happy that Lexi is back as Kristina Davis. She is a wonderful actress. Welcome back Lexi.
Cute girl. I guess Sonny needs more cheerleaders…..
ugh! I could almost take more Sonny… if, it would mean, less of, NLG’ Alexis
Rah Rah!!!!! Yeah, that’s exactly what Sonny needs, CeeCee, another cheerleader! NOT! Bringing back this character was so unnecessary….as if we need any other reasons to feature more of Alexis and her 3×3 brood! As far as I’m concerned, Sam is the only offspring that is actually relevant to the show….the rest of the Davis bunch could leave–immediately!–and not be missed. (Most particularly, Alexis and her omnipresent cleavage! Hey, speaking of, check out the UK’s Katie Hopkins and her latest comments on Helen Mirren….they will sound VERY familiar! LOL…..) At any rate, I would be thrilled beyond words if Alexis… Read more »
Here, here, Patrick!
I’m so glad Kristina is back it’s good to have Davis Girls back together as well as the Conrithos Family and I’m very glad Lexi is back as Kristina Davis.
Agreed, I thought she knocked those scenes with Sonny out of the park. The dialogue was perfect and she delivered. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for her.
I’m so glad to see her she was meant for that role I’m glad she’s back and stays I hope she stirs up some stuff!
wonderful, just when we didn’t have enough Sonny worshipers.
Seriously!!!!! WTF is with all the Sonny love, and admiration??? Im going to gag if I hear anymore of it!!! We have heard he is loving, kind, honourable, wonderful father, great person, loyal, etc etc etc. I have been watching this greasy vile narcissistic murderer for 22 years, and he has NEVER displayed any of those qualities!! As recently as two years ago, he threatened to murder Carly because he thought she shot Olivia! Now there’s foreplay for you!!! Carly gets off on that crap though! Simply put….ENOUGH Sonny adoration!!!! If it was leading to his death, I could stomach… Read more »
there was a moment… when I thought he was dead… on that gurney… he looks mummified ancient and ghastly… his menacing mob stance… just has me rolling ( LOL ) his scenes of late… with Morgan ( who is the only actor, he has any real chemistry with, and the writers decided to can that… with the, like father like son, bi-polar… now their will be too many “comparisons” made… is he on right? i’ll digress… he also has great chemistry with Avery I’ve stated a million times… if the show figures out a way to get Maura West’ Ava,… Read more »
You’re so right, Dylan. This latest canonization of “St. Sonny” is beyond the pale. I simply want to gag…..just like when AG “passed the torch” to MB on that foggy dock when he departed. That telling scene should have foreshadowed exactly what sort of storylines we were in for.
I guess I would’ve felt more emotion had she not had a happy reunion with her sisters first. Made her scenes with Sonny fall flat for me-if she was so concerned about her Dad she would’ve gone to see him first.
JMO of course everyone is entitled to theirs
I was so happy to see Kristina back n interacting w all of her family!!! I hope the TPTB saw how much Kristina was needed back on GH!!! Lexi did a fantastic job n her scenes w Maurice Benard made me tear up!!!
I would have preferred Lindsey Morgan instead. Lexi still looks too young. Her and Molly seem to be the same age and thats not historically correct! She is a good actress though. When the four girls were all together they certainly could all pass for mother and sisters. I bet all of them are close off screen and are probably happy Lexi returned?
I agree, I liked Morgan too. Unfortunately, she won’t be remembered well because of the awful reality-show story that she was stuck in. If she got to work with Nathan Parsons (Ethan) instead of what’s-his-name Trey, then she’d still be here.
THAT would be a hell of a couple!
Lindsey Morgan was a horrible actress, Lexi is a better actress. She fits in the role as Kristina.
Lindsey has gone on to have success and like Erick said, her story line was horrible when she was on GH.
I’m with you. Lindsey was HORRIBLE!!! That girl needed to be axed faster than Kiki needs to be. Lexie fit right in, looks comfortable, and not forced; shows she can act. Lindsey was a flatline.
I agree and thought that right away.. I did not ever watch gh when she was on previously.. she is a good actress from what I have seen so far though…. lets hope she gets a good storyline..
I don’t care for this actress in the role of Kristina. She always seems to be too young for the character.
She’s actually older than the character should really be, lol….
I think to say that it was an emotional highlight is overstatement but she was good at what she had to do. I have to wait to see what stories develop for her before I make a complete decision. So far, so good is all I can say now.
It’s great having Lexi back but I heard it’s a brief return so unless she’s sticking around to answer your question, who would I like to see her paired with, there really isn’t any one on the canvas currently, all the young guys are related to her and all the old guys are too old..
She’s already in the opening montge,which means she’s under contract and will probably be around for awhile.
that’s what I thought… who could she be paired with? Dillan? we already know.. that , his tempestuous scenes with Lulu… are DOA…
it’s Lulu and Dante… and no story… even a pregnant Valerie is going to come between
I really liked Lindsey Morgan… she is much more mature looking… sexier, and more appealing
ugh! just don’t force any more scenes than necessary with NLG’ Alexis
@Patrick…I second your emotion on Lindsey Morgan. She was much more convincing as Sonny’s daughter in both appearance and temperament….a real “chip off the old Corinthos,” so to speak!
I thought, General Hospital uses a Xerox Machine: Kristina and Molly look like twins. I have started watching General Hospital for the last years, that’s why I do not know Kristina and I don’t really care about her. It’s such a tragedy to watch the rapid decline of the serie!
I wasn’t watching when she was first on, but my first thought was she looks younger than Molly, but they look very much a like that it is believable they are sisters with the same mother and cousins, since their dads are brothers.
She was actually quite good when she was on before she had the storyline where she was getting beat up by her boyfriend and would not tell anyone. But JFP at the time did not think she was sexy enough Nancy Grahn and several others were furious over her firing as they should have been. Good little actress .
Loved having LA back as Kristina and loved the Davis girls stuff. GH should be promoting/focusing on characters and moments like this instead of Sonny & mob wars. Seeing Sonny’s kids tell him how amazing he is for two straight weeks has not endured me to Sonny or his portrayer.
I love this more edgy portrayal that Lexi does of Christina Corinthos. You can totally see that spit fire in her that I would imagine a kingpin mobboss would have in his eldest daughter. Wow, what a perfect match! Why did you ever let her go??? She blends well with the actors who play her brothers. I love the actress who plays Carly currently. I liked Sarah Brown as Carly, but I loved her as Claudia Zacchara. Can you bring her back? And Sam as Julian Jerome’s daughter-how interesting is that!! Thanks GH. I’ve been a loyal fan since 1976.… Read more »
Oh, the family tree! It’s so hard to keep everyone straight. So Kristina’s sister’s (Molly’s) dad (Ric) is her father’s (Sonny’s) half brother. Her other sister’s (Sam) dad (Julian) is the brother of her newest sister’s (Avery) mother (Ava). Sonny has 5 kids, all by different moms. Alexis has 3 kids, all by different fathers. Elizabeth has 3 kids, all by different fathers. Carly has how many kids? Presumably all by different fathers. Julian has 3 kids, all from different moms. Olivia has 2 kids, both with different fathers. Are there no kids on this show anymore who share both… Read more »
Lucky and Lulu… that’s all I got.
True, but Lucky is not on the show. Lulu’s only brother on the show is half-brother, Nicholas. Speaking of the Spencers/Baldwins, forgot to add that Bobbi has two kids, also not biologically related and that Scotty has four kids all by different moms, too. Nothing against non-traditional families, but it just makes it hard to grasp the emotional core of the show, when you don’t have one or two families to anchor the world. That’s why I would make Robin’s next visit one where she brings a young son back. She got pregnant on her last visit. This way, Emma… Read more »
I had a good laugh as I was reading your comment, downtownla. I am not familiar with Christina. Is this the original? I only caught a few episodes with the last girl, as Christina. I liked her. This Christina could pass as a fifteen-year old; and Sam looks old enough to be mother to both girls, never mind their sister. But, all is forgiven…..literary Justice? Nah! LOL. If you can’t keep track of what child belongs to what progenitor, how do you think I feel, as a newbie? LOL. I actually FF’ed Christina’s scene with Sonny. I can’t bear it!… Read more »
Well the writing is still Ron’s so not surprised that Milo’s stupidity line was there typical of the dialogue RC would put in.
Awesome Episode, had me choking up 🙂
Glad the Ava’s blonde hair is back!!!!
I can see Sonny’s kids rallying around their dad…but you’d think he was St. Sonny and Carly was Mother Theresa. Come to think of it, they didn’t have a priest there in case Sonny needed last rites. Don’t like how Michael back-pedalled from being Avery/AJ’s champion, and tabled how his real bio-dad AJ was treated and killed by Sonny. He was actually showing some real conviction and backbone for a while. And Morgan is obviously out of control, and nobody is doing anything to help or stop him knowing full well there may be bi-polar issues. So we’re in for… Read more »
I like the actress and I thought she was good, unfortunately she is just one more member of the Sonny cheering section to raise him higher on his undeserved pedestal.
I like her, she’s good. She also looks like she could really be Molly’s sister.
I do, however, wish her return was predicated on something other than being there at Sonny’s side.
I also wish her mother would stop smirking like an embarrassed adolescent every time the subject of her bad boy to comes up in front of her daughters. It’s ridiculous, Alexis is supposed to be a smart woman but she appears to be stupid and sex driven when it comes to her dating choices.
I agree with Justin: too many Sonny worshipers. Plus, Rose and I are on the same page about Michael turning his back on A.J. by jumping on Sonny’s band wagon again. However, I don’t know what’s happening lately because I’m not watching G.H. anymore. As I stated before when the show allowed Michael to return to Sonny’s corner and forget that he killed his father, that was it for me. That’s the reason I left G.H. some years back ; the show allowed the mob to wield too much power , or should I say Sonny. The Qs were played… Read more »
I liked Lexi but , nothing could entice me to watch the Everyone loves Sonny show. Krissy use to have no illusions about her killer father. She actually knew he almost killed her putting a bomb in Johnny’s car. So my stomach could not have taken it. In one day tiic ruined the whole show. TIIC may just as well call the show Sonny’s family because all of the show is related to him.Jake takes out half the town without a gun no less. Stupid TJ tells his mother the cop he owes Sonny for saving him. gag me. He… Read more »
I love that Lexi is back as Kristina. Go Davis girls. I hope she stays.