History of General Hospital

History of General Hospital refers to the long-running American soap opera General Hospital.

Contents

The early years (1963–1969)

The first stories were mainly set at General Hospital in an unnamed mid-sized Eastern city (the name of the city, Port Charles, would not be mentioned until the 1970s), revolving around Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradino) and his friend, nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin). Steve was Chief Of Internal Medicine on the hospital's seventh floor and dedicated his life to healing and caring for the sick, ably assisted by Nurse Jessie. Jessie's turbulent marriage to the much-younger Dr. Phil Brewer (originally portrayed by Roy Thinnes, lastly by Martin West) was the center of many early storylines. Over the years, Phil became renowned for his philandering, with Jessie, constantly forgiving her errant husband for his affairs. The seemingly never-ending cycle of separation and reconciliation between the two finally ended in 1974, when Dr. Phil Brewer was murdered.

Another nurse, Lucille March (Lucille Wall), brought her sister, flight attendant Audrey March (Rachel Ames) to town; slowly but surely, she romanced Dr. Hardy, eventually marrying him three times. While there was no overt tension, Jessie was disappointed as there had always been an air of sexual tension between her and Steve. It was never acted upon, as they remained close friends until Jessie (and actress Emily McLaughlin) died in 1991. Steve Hardy himself died five years later when his portrayer, John Beradino, died in 1996.

The stagnant years (1970–1979)

General Hospital (GH) was glacially paced and low-rated in the earlier years, except for one relatively high-rated and fast-paced plot in 1971. In this storyline, Audrey was accused of murdering her son's babysitter and General Hospital was briefly elevated to the number one position, beating longtime ratings giant As the World Turns. However, the success was short-lived. Due to relatively easygoing choices in storyline, the show almost always lost out to rival medical soap The Doctors, which was considered by many to be more daring. TIME magazine panned General Hospital in 1976, and said that the acting performances were unremarkable and "antiseptic." The article went on to chide the show for its minimal budget for settings and props, calling it "not unlike a high school production," and noted that the serial's only saving grace was in the form of Dr. Lesley Williams (Denise Alexander).

When Douglas Marland objected to a planned storyline that had called for the virtuous Dr. Lesley Webber to cheat on her husband with David Hamilton, Marland was challenged to come up with an even better idea. As a result, Lesley rejected David's advances and the enraged suitor began sleeping with her sixteen-year-old daughter Laura Webber (Genie Francis) instead. This torrid affair culminated in Laura killing her older lover after discovering that he was only using her to get back at her mother. This storyline was successful and as a result, Laura became a major focus of the show. Laura's subsequent storyline, a love triangle involving her, Scott Baldwin, and Bobbie Spencer, was also a success, but soon the success of both stories would be overshadowed by a phenomenon that very few expected, when Laura crossed paths with Bobbie's brother Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary).

Faced with threats of cancellation in 1978 after several years of stagnant ratings, ABC Daytime executives gave GH six months to increase ratings and brought on Gloria Monty as Executive Producer. Monty had much experience in the genre from directing The Secret Storm for years. Under her tutelage, and the headwriting stints of Douglas Marland (who created longtime staples the Quartermaine and the Spencer family) and Pat Falken Smith, General Hospital bounced back from the brink and subsequently became the highest-rated American soap opera from 1979 to 1988. Monty stayed as Executive Producer until 1987, only to return briefly from 1991 to 1992, in a widely panned tenure during which she was accused of no longer being in touch with the daytime audience. Monty was fired in late 1991, then the equally controversial Wendy Riche came aboard.

Cultural phenomenon and supercouple pairings (1980–1989)

The supercouple pairing of Luke Spencer and Laura Webber would eventually become the most popular storyline in soap opera history. Their November 16/17, 1981 wedding was watched by about 30 million people, making it the highest-rated episode of a soap opera in American television history. They were so popular that even Elizabeth Taylor wanted in on the action; she guest-starred as Helena Cassadine and adorned People Weekly magazine with Francis and Geary. Luke and Laura's relationship was not without some controversy, as Luke had raped her in 1979. Laura was traumatized and went to counseling, but after her popularity with Luke flourished, she claimed the rape was "seduction." In 1998, the issue was revisited and Laura finally admitted to herself that Luke had raped her.

The success of Luke and Laura led General Hospital (and other soap operas) to try and emulate the formula. GH was very successful in creating pairings, and after Luke and Laura, other 80s pairings were popular:

Ex-head writer Pat Falken Smith and her team of six other scribes angrily quit the show in August 1981 after repeated battles with Gloria Monty and jumped to NBC's Days of our Lives. "Gloria's a genius—who runs a Gestapo operation," sniped Falken Smith in a 1981 People Weekly interview. It should be noted that during summer 1981, GH was averaging 14 million viewers per episode. The show's focus began to drift away from the original hospital setting onto a series of action/adventure plots, most of which were highly successful with the show's audience. The introduction of the WSB spy agent Robert Scorpio (and later fellow agents Sean Donely John Reilly and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes)) led to several popular spy mysteries involving secret formulas, hidden treasures and world domination schemes. A few of these plots were widely considered preposterous, such as the 1981 storyline in which Luke, Laura and Robert saved the town of Port Charles from being placed under a deep freeze by maniacal Mikkos Cassadine. Another far-fetched storyline occurred in 1990 when Robin Scorpio (Robert Scorpio and Anna Devane's daughter) befriended Casey Rogers, an alien from the planet Lumina.

The series also launched the media career of fitness instructor Richard Simmons, who frequently appeared as himself.

The transition (1990–1999)

In the 1990s, General Hospital entered a transitional phase as the action/adventure storylines of the 1980s became less popular. During this period, the show lost major stars such as Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) and Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio), and the much-heralded return of Anthony Geary as Luke Spencer's lookalike cousin Bill Eckert in 1991 was seen as a failure.

Eventually, in 1993, Anthony Geary would reprise his famous role of Luke Spencer, along with Genie Francis who reprised her role as Luke's wife Laura Spencer. Along with the reprisal of Luke and Laura came the addition of their ten-year-old son, Lucky Spencer, played by newcomer Jonathan Jackson.

In 1994, Anthony Geary and Genie Francis were invited to appear on an episode of Roseanne, as Luke and Laura. The couple would race through her house 'on the run', as Roseanne was a huge fan of General Hospital. In return, (Roseanne Arnold) and her then husband, (Tom Arnold) were invited to a storyline on General Hospital. Roseanne portraying Jennifer Smith, Luke's ex-love interest and daughter of mob boss Frank Smith.

The return of Luke and Laura marked the beginning of a creative renaissance for the show. Through the efforts of executive producer Wendy Riche and Head Writer Claire Labine, the show gained critical acclaim for its sensitive handling of social issues, most notable of which were the heart transplant storyline which involved the death of eight-year-old BJ Jones (daughter of Dr. Tony Jones and RN Bobbie Spencer) in a bus crash and the subsequent donation of her heart to her dying cousin Maxie Jones. Shortly afterward, Dr. Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson) began a long battle with breast cancer, which led to her adopting Emily Bowen, a young girl who had been orphaned when her mother died of breast cancer.

GH was also praised for yet another storyline in the form of the beautiful but tragic love story of teenagers Stone Cates (Michael Sutton) and Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough). After a struggle that lasted throughout most of 1995, Stone died from AIDS at the age of 19 and his death was followed by storylines in which 17-year-old Robin had to deal with being HIV-positive as a result of her and Stone's relationship. The storyline got Sutton a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor and won McCullough an Outstanding Younger Actress award.

Problems began to arise again around 1995 and 1996, when the show lost more than a million viewers. All the soaps lost ground at this time, but particular scrutiny was placed upon GH for the succession of grim stories involving BJ, Monica, and Stone. As a result, they dropped plans to give Audrey Hardy Alzheimer's Disease. However, the show remained popular and a long-rumored spin-off (which was tentatively titled GH2) materialized in 1997 into the half-hour soap Port Charles.

From 1993 to 1997, the show produced what many consider the last major supercouple (in terms of popularity) on daytime television, in the form of mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil). The hot couple's passion and heartbreak kept viewers glued to every episode like Luke and Laura did a decade before. Later, Brenda's relationship with corporate raider Jasper/Jax Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) gave General Hospital one of the hottest love triangles in the show's history. However, the departure of Vanessa Marcil in 1998 dealt the creative team at General Hospital a major blow.

The last major storyline of the 1990s occurred in 1998, with the revisit of Luke's (Anthony Geary) long ago rape of his now-wife Laura (Genie Francis). Head Writer Robert Guza Jr. decided that Luke and his son, Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson), needed to have a major wedge driven between them, and out of this came the idea that Lucky would find out that his father had raped his mother. The storyline also featured what many consider the last great young love story on the show in the form of Lucky Spencer and Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst). Lucky found Elizabeth, a victim of rape, beaten and bruised in a park on February 14, 1998. Their close friendship eventually blossomed into a romance.

Meanwhile, Lucky wanted nothing to do with his parents when his half-brother, Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher), revealed that Luke had raped his mother. The ensuing storyline won Daytime Emmys for Jackson, Geary, the writers, the directors, and the show. The nine-minute monologue Luke delivers to Lucky telling him about the night of Laura's rape, without commercial interruption, is considered one of the greatest moments in soap opera history.

Robert Guza Jr., a former GH script writer, returned and became Head Writer in 1996, and zeroed in on the mob and the popularity of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). Guza came and went several times during December 1997 through December 2000, then returned for good on June 13, 2002.

New millennium, Mob era (2000–2009)

2000–2001

At the beginning of the new millennium, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) would gain a new love interest in the form of Carly Benson Jacks (Sarah Brown) after previous efforts to pair him up after the departure of his longtime love interest Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil) who supposedly died in 1998, failed. The popularity of the Sonny and Carly coupling remained even after Carly's original portrayer, Sarah Brown left the show in 2001 and was replaced by Tamara Braun. Eventually though, the enormous amount of airtime that the duo (along with those in their immediate circle) received only served to polarize the audience. In particular, criticism was leveled at the amount of airtime that was devoted to the various mob storylines that these characters were involved in.

In 2001, Wendy Riche left the program after nine years as executive producer and was replaced by Jill Farren Phelps. During the first few months of her run as executive producer, a number of increasingly dark and violent storylines began to take place which earned an increasingly negative critical reaction. One of these storylines involved the culmination of the feud between the Spencer and Cassadine families, a storyline which had begun in 1981 when Luke and Laura infamously defeated Mikkos Cassadine's weather machine and had been revived in 1996. The storyline (dubbed as 'Endgame'), called for Mikkos's widow, Helena to revive her dead son Stavros (who had been frozen through the use of cryogenics, and threaten the Spencers and the rest of Port Charles with a bio-toxin. Unfortunately the September 11 terrorist attacks forced a quick end to the story, with the results being unsatisfactory.[1] 2001 saw the finalization of Luke and Laura's divorce.

2001 also saw an onscreen bus accident disrupting the Nurses Ball, an annual event for AIDS research that had been running since 1994. The event has yet to return to GH.[2]

2002–2003

GH aired its 10,000th episode on April 17, 2002, with an episode that revolved around the show's longest-running cast member, Audrey Hardy (Rachel Ames), celebrating her 10,000th shift as a nurse at the hospital. The episode was notable for showcasing much of GH's long history in a series of clips and montages, but shortly afterward, the show would soon be accused of forgetting its history and veteran characters.

Trouble had been brewing for quite some time (due to the increasing amount of focus on Sonny and the mob and the failure of 'Endgame'), but it really became apparent after the abrupt departure of Genie Francis (Laura Spencer) in 2002 under controversial circumstances, and the re-writing of history that angered many viewers to facilitate Ms. Francis's exit. However, ratings remained stable after Francis's departure and even climbed because Vanessa Marcil returned as Brenda Barrett in a five-month stint which lasted into the early months of 2003. Later in 2003, the love-to-hate character of Tracy Quartermaine returned with her now teenage son Dillon Quartermaine in tow.

After more than 35 years, Rachel Ames, who played Audrey Hardy, was taken off contract and removed from the opening credits, angering many longtime viewers. Around the same time, Brad Maule (Tony Jones) and Shell Kepler (Amy Vining) were also taken off contract. In 2004 Anna Lee was moved to recurring status after 25 years as Lila Quartermaine (Lee died soon after and some fans held the show responsible). At the same time, John Ingle, who had played Lila's husband, was fired from the show after landing the role of Mickey Horton on Days of our Lives, and he was replaced by Jed Allan. Kin Shriner was also let go, despite the fact that he had been with the show on and off since 1977. Other characters, such as Bobbie Spencer (Jacklyn Zeman) and Felicia Jones (Kristina Wagner) became little more than extras, in spite of their years of popularity with fans.

2004

Since 2004, General Hospital has been known for doing month-long sweeps storylines that involve the ensemble cast in some sort of dangerous situation. Each February and November, General Hospital creates a storyline that brings the entire cast together into one setting which allows for the various character's storylines to intersect.

Two important but sensationalized storylines took place that many fans had divided opinions on. The first was the Port Charles Hotel Fire, which saw the majority of the cast trapped in a burning inferno during February sweeps. The Port Charles Hotel fire would be the first of two "events" that happened at the locale. This story served as the climax to the "Dead Man's Hand" story that facilitated (Kelly Monaco) Sam McCall's entrance onto the show (after the cancellation of Port Charles). Many stunts and a location shoot served to entertain the audience. The location shoot involved a helicopter that would rescue the townsfolk from the burning building. In the story, the citizens needed to draw numbers, like a raffle, in order to be flighted out. Edward suffered a heart attack, Courtney received money for her help in rescuing a lady and her dog, and Scott Baldwin was believed to be dead. The second event involved a masked serial killer terrorizing the Quartermaine mansion for five episodes. The serial killer storyline took place while the Olympic Games were screening on rival channel NBC and was widely seen as an attempt to lure NBC soap fans who were not interested in the Olympics to watch General Hospital, particularly as the serial killer storyline on General Hospital lampooned the recent serial killer storyline that had taken place on rival NBC soap Days of our Lives.

The serial killer storyline was in fact the climax to another storyline involving Nikolas Cassadine's being involved in a car accident. After suffering a serious head injury he wandered away from the accident and found himself on the doorstep of a heartbroken war widow, Mary Bishop. Mary's husband Connor, a marine who was serving in Iraq, had been reported dead; when the amnesiac Nikolas literally showed up on her doorstep, the emotionally fragile Mary took advantage of the memory loss and convinced him that he was her husband. Mary and Nikolas lived together for months while most of the town still thought him dead. When Emily learned that Nikolas was alive, she tried to make him see the truth. This caused Mary to don a mask and try and kill Emily at the Quartermaine mansion. Though Mary failed to kill Emily, she did manage to kill two others, Sage Alcazar and her friend Trent. Eventually this led to a confrontation between Emily, Nikolas and Mary that resulted in Nikolas shooting Mary. Although the wound was not fatal, Mary later died in the hospital when her medications were switched by Lorenzo Alcazar, who wanted revenge for the death of his niece, Sage. The year ended with the wedding of Emily and Nikolas, a marriage that was short-lived.

2005

This would end up being a year of change for General Hospital. After Tamara Braun left the series, the role of Carly was recast with former One Life to Live star, Jennifer Bransford. This move was not met well by fans. In May 2005, Kristina Wagner opted to leave the role of Felicia Jones because of scheduling conflicts with producers. She was replaced with former Another World star Sandra Ferguson. Maxie Jones was also recast with former Days of our Lives star Kirsten Storms taking over for Robyn Richards. These recasts led to the mediocre response to the storyline revisiting Maxie's heart transplant, which viewers felt would have been more meaningful had it been done by Wagner and Richards, the actors from the original storyline. Also, these changes, as well as a succession of violent storylines that included Emily's rape by Connor and young Michael Corinthos apparently murdering his own father, sent the ratings falling, so more changes were made. Just as she was becoming more popular with viewers, Jennifer Bransford was let go and replaced by former Guiding Light actress Laura Wright.

Jax started to date Sonny's half-sister Courtney Matthews, recently removed from a relationship with Jason Morgan. They have a sex bet where if Courtney could resist sleeping with Jax she would win $10 million. Courtney won the bet but soon afterward they did have sex. Since Courtney felt Jax wasn't paying enough attention to her, she started a friendship with Nikolas Cassadine which started to bloom into a relationship. Courtney insisted to Jax she was not unfaithful, however later she did sleep with Nikolas. Courtney learned that she was pregnant with the child of either Jax or Nikolas. Unbeknownst to Courtney, Jax managed to change the paternity tests twice. Jax decided he wanted Courtney back but was unsuccessful; she wanted to be with Nikolas. Following Courtney's death, Carly and Jax started to bond. Carly felt it was her duty to keep Courtney's memory alive for her baby. Carly and Jax started dating. Nikolas later learns the child is his.

November sweeps saw a train wreck storyline and Reese Marshall (Kari Wührer) was the only major character to die in this storyline. Wührer, a relative newcomer to the show, having only joined in February 2005, was let go due to lacking storyline between stars Maurice Benard and Rick Hearst. Wührer later decided to sue for discrimination, claiming that her pregnancy was the cause of her dismissal. On a brighter note, the popular Kimberly McCullough returned as Robin Scorpio, and a guest appearance by former star Rick Springfield as Dr Noah Drake, quickly turned into a recurring role. The show later attempted its first gay storyline as Lucas Jones, played by Ben Hogestyn began to come out to his friends and family, but the storyline was ultimately dropped when Lucas faded into the background of GH.

2006

February sweeps saw another major ensemble cast storyline as the entire town was once again gathered in one central location. This time, the setting was at General Hospital as many of the main cast fell victim to an encephalitis virus that began to afflict many major characters, causing them to be admitted to GH. Luke had caught this from a chimp. Robert Scorpio returned to the show for this storyline, reuniting with Robin and Luke, after years of being thought dead. In the end, it was revealed that former character Holly Sutton Scorpio was responsible for the virus as part of a revenge scheme. Still, two major characters were killed off: Tony Jones and Courtney Matthews both died as a result of the virus, as well as minor characters such as Sam McCall's mentally handicapped brother Danny. The storyline also served as a catalyst for several other storylines, including a romance between Emily Quartermaine and Sonny Corinthos as well as the revelation that Alexis Davis is Sam McCall's mother.

Finola Hughes returned in May, reuniting with Robert (she previously reunited with Robin on "All My Children" in 2001). Her entrance, jumping out of a helicopter, was a nod to her history of action/adventure on GH. This return was short.

In November, Genie Francis returned to her role as Laura Spencer in a sweeps storyline in which Laura was given a drug which would temporarily allow her to wake from her vegetative state and re-marry Luke Spencer on their 25th Anniversary. The storyline was hailed by critics and viewers as an outstanding success and Genie Francis later won her first Emmy for Best Supporting Actress.

2007

February marked another ensemble sweeps event as most of the town was held hostage at the Metro Court, the hotel that was built by Jasper Jacks and named after his then-wife Courtney Matthews following the Port Charles hotel fire of 2004. Now owned by both Jasper Jacks and Carly Corinthos, the Metro Court served as the scene for a 24 (tv show)-style theme where viewers saw the ending of the storyline and then went back in time 14 hours as each episode accounted for one hour's time leading up to the ending that viewers saw on the first day of sweeps. Jerry Jacks returned to the United States under ominous circumstances. Under the alias of James Craig, he returned to Port Charles in January 2007 as a mysterious man with ties to Lorenzo Alcazar. In February 2007, he and a team of masked gunmen invaded the Metro Court Hotel and held numerous employees, guests, and visitors hostage. This was supposedly in an effort to steal a briefcase placed in the hotel's vault by Alcazar. Their plan to get the briefcase and go failed when Sam McCall activated a silent alarm, locking the vault with Maxie Jones and a masked gunman inside for 12 hours. The silent alarm also notified police, who arrived within a matter of minutes.

During this time, Jerry (as Mr. Craig) brutally tormented all of his hostages especially his ex Bobbie Spencer's daughter, Carly, playing tormenting mind tricks, with a series of deadly games. He shot Robin Scorpio to show that he was serious and refused requests by other hostages for Carly to be evacuated. He instead forced medical intern Emily Quartermaine and nursing school drop-out Carly Corinthos to perform crude surgery on her in the hotel's lobby, while Robin's boyfriend, Dr. Patrick Drake dictated instructions by phone. Craig also forced Dr. Alan Quartermaine to suffer through an untreated heart attack (from which he later died). Craig had the lobby rigged with explosives to prevent any of the hostages from trying to overtake the gunmen, as the gunmen secretly rotated control of the detonator.

With the aid of Jason, Sam McCall managed to escape and told the police about the explosives. A rescue attempt was launched, and after a scuffle for the detonator switch, Craig pressed the button and triggered the explosives, then managing to escape in the confusion. Jason was caught in an elevator with Elizabeth Webber and learned he was the father of her unborn baby, a fact only a few characters know to this day. A few hours later, Jason tracked Jerry down and they engaged in a shootout. Craig was wounded, but Jason had to let him go in order to rush to the side of his dying father, Alan. However, Alan died before Jason arrived. The storyline resulted in the death of Alan Quartermaine, a beloved fan favorite who later appeared as his sister Tracy's conscience for doctoring his will to give her and her husband Luke Spencer his money.

In September 2007, a serial killer began feasting on the citizens of Port Charles. The Text Message Killer killed Leticia Juarez, Emily Quartermaine, and Georgie Jones for revenge on past acts as well as attacking Carly due to her prior relationship with Lorenzo Alcazar and Maxie Jones. In light of Georgie Jones' funeral a devastated Robin seeks comfort from on and off again boyfriend Patrick Drake.

In November 2007, Nikolas Cassadine threw a lavish Black and White Ball at Wyndemere on Spoon Island as an engagement announcement party for his fiance Emily Quartermaine. Once again, the entire cast found themselves in one 24 (tv show)-style solid-sweeps storyline in which each episode spanned one full hour in time leading up to the ending. During the Ball, the characters once again found themselves in danger as a murder spree began to take place. Emily ended up being strangled to death by the murderer known to fans as the Text Message Killer. This also introduced the characters of mob-boss Anthony and his son Johnny Zacchara.

2008

The Text Message Killer storyline carried on into 2008 as the killer feasted on more residents. His first victim of the new year was Alexis Davis, who previously killed Luis Alcazar, but she became the second to survive the attack by TMK. TMK then hung Cooper Barrett who had evidence of the TMK's whereabouts but he believed it was Lorenzo Alcazar.

In February sweeps, the TMK went on to pursue Sam McCall who shot him in the back in 2006. She became the third victim to survive the TMK's attacks. Kristina Davis became the ninth victim of the TMK as she saw the killer's face but fell into a silence. The Text Message Killer went on to attack Max Giambetti, Lucky Spencer, Jason Morgan, Nadine Crowell and Nikolas Cassadine. In February it was revealed that Diego Alcazar was indeed the Text Message Killer.

Another major storyline involved Michael Corinthos. Due to the violence facing his family, Michael purchased a gun, and accidentally shot Kate Howard, Sonny's girlfriend. Michael runs away, and when Carly retrieves him the two are caught in a warehouse explosion that causes Carly to lose her baby. Sonny tries to show Michael a life without mob violence, but Michael is shot by Ian Devlin in a plan orchestrated by Claudia Zacchara, with a bullet meant for Sonny. Carly learns Michael is in a permanent coma, and she agonizes over her decision to put him into a long-term care facility outside of town. The fallout of the tragedy causes Sonny to leave the mob organization in May. After putting Michael in the facility, Carly and Sonny have sex, and Carly convinces him to give up parental rights to Morgan. Jax quells his doubts about his relationship with Carly who is angry to learn her husband shared a kiss with her rival Kate Howard. When a photo falsely implying that Kate performed oral sex on Jax in a limo surfaces, Carly steps up her campaign against Kate by giving the media access to Kate's office and by anonymously implying that the fashionista slept her way to the top. In retaliation, Kate pretends that Carly has been keeping Jax away from business meetings. Jax, believing Kate, decides to separate from his wife, despite Carly's insistence that she is innocent.

The second storyline involves a murder pact involving Lulu Spencer and Johnny Zacchara. Logan Hayes attacks Maxie Jones in Kate Howard's office after being rejected by Lulu. After he knocks her out cold, Logan looks up and spots Lulu, who had been watching everything from Johnny's apartment balcony across the street. He leaves Maxie and rushes over to Johnny's penthouse, determined to get her back. Lulu freaks and tries to call Lucky, but he doesn't answer. Lulu freezes when Logan starts pounding on the door. Lulu tries to get a weapon and keeps Logan talking behind the locked door. Logan knocks the door in with an axe as Lulu rushes into the kitchen and gets a knife. Lulu tries to lie as well to keep him from doing anything violent, but Logan realizes her act, disarms Lulu, and tries to hurt her, knocking her to the floor. She scrambles after the knife and stabs Logan in self-defense. He dies about 30 seconds later, and Lulu stands over his body in shock. Johnny and Maxie come over at that moment with Claudia following soon after. Johnny immediately takes the rap for Logan's death and Claudia buys it. They immediately start to cover up the crime. Johnny and Claudia dump Logan's body in front of the clinic and not long after, Johnny is arrested for murder.

Lulu attempted to bust Johnny out of jail by bringing a gun into the PCPD. The plan backfired, and Johnny ended up staging taking Lulu hostage at gunpoint. Detectives tried to shoot Johnny, but Jason Morgan blocked the shot with Lulu and Johnny stealing Mayor Floyd's car and running away. Once in Manhattan, Johnny took Lulu to the fire escape of his old piano teacher's apartment. Upon arrival, they find that the professor had died, and the place was now owned by a gang member. They hid there, and Johnny gave the owner, Sal's sister Lourdes piano lessons. Lourdes soon has a huge crush on Johnny, but panicked when she saw John and Lulu on the news, being hunted on a murder charge. When he realized that she was on to them, he agreed to be kind in order for her silence. But when Lulu runs back to Port Charles to see Laura, Johnny soon follows. She gets treatment, and soon recovers. They soon find that Laura is actually awake, and Scott kidnaps her to Los Angeles, back to the places where they went when they got married. Luke, Tracy, Nikolas, Lucky, and Lulu fly there too, and they soon end up in a chase across the LA freeways. Scott ends up swerving onto a scenic road, and the car crashes, dangling on a rocky cliff. Luke has to pull Scott out of the car to get to Laura, and as he climbs in, it plummets over the edge. They survive, and soon after returning to Port Charles, Laura returns to a hospital in France. Later, Sonny marries Claudia for the mob power, Jax buys Wyndemere out from under Nikolas, Robin and Patrick welcome daughter Emma Scorpio-Drake at General Hospitial during their first wedding.They have a second wedding without Emma in attendence, and the citizens of Port Charles share a fairly happy Christmas and New Years with families spending it together.

2009

Natalia Livingston (who had played Emily Quartermaine) returned to the show as Rebecca Shaw. After a long mystery storyline as to Rebecca's identity, it turned out that she was actually Emily's twin sister. Their parents had sold Rebecca at birth. Residents later learn that Rebecca and Ethan were working together to get money from Nikolas Cassadine and the Quartermaines, knowing that Rebecca and Emily were twins but not that Ethan had family in Port Charles. Rebecca left on Christmas Eve for Paris, meeting a lookalike of Zander Smith on the airplane.

Also, on January 15, the hospital, was plagued by poison gasses, due to five toxic spheres which were in the stomach of a patient named Earl Bragg. Bragg had been illegally transporting them for a company called the Equinox Corporation. The spheres detonated during surgery. The hospital was quarantined. During the quarantine, several citizens of Port Charles died, including Andy Archer, Trevor Lansing, Leyla Mir, Earl Bragg. An unattended anasthesia tank exploded and caused a fire that raged throughout the hospital.

In January a young man named Ethan Lovett arrived in Port Charles, and was later proven to be the son of Holly Sutton and Luke Spencer, (a storyline which brought back Emma Samms, and has reminded viewers of Lucky's hate for Nikolas when he first arrived).

On March 19, Jasper Jacks and Carly Corinthos renewed their vows at Rice Manor. On the 20th, Jax discovered the tape of Claudia ordering the hit on Sonny, resulting in Michael's coma. On April 14, the grand re-opening celebration of the "new" hospital was interrupted by the return of Helena Cassadine, and April also saw Robin Scorpio suffering from postpartum depression as Carly Corinthos Jacks did after having Michael. On May 18, Michael Corinthos woke up from his year-long coma, and lived with the Quartermaines for a short time.

The death of Mayor Garrett Floyd's mistress Brianna Hughes became a mystery in town involving Robin and Patrick Drake, as well as other citizens. It turns out Mayor Floyd's wife Andrea (played by As the World Turns star Martha Byrne) caused her death after the girl had already slipped in the shower. During the hospital carnival for the Michael Corinthos foundation, a car driven by Edward Quartermaine crashed after Andrea Floyd tried to hill him by giving him poison; he knew a fact that could prove she killed Brianna Hughes. The medication caused him to have a heart attack and drive through the carnival midway injuring several people. Ironically, the only person who was killed was Andrea Floyd herself.

The friendship between Maxie and Spinelli since the death of Georgie Jones became a love for one another. Since July 10 Jake's bar had karaoke nights which brought together many main characters. Lisa Niles, Patrick's ex and resident crazy, came to town and was quite friendly at first.Dr. Lisa Niles slept with Patrick (cheating scum). A SORAS'd Kristina Davis shows up (now 16 years old) and manages to spawn a teen dating abuse storyline. Her boyfriend Kiefer Bauer (Christian Alexander) becomes abusive to Kristina and pressures her to have sex.

Claudia Zacchara becomes pregnant but it is not known whether the father is Sonny Corinthos or his brother Ric Lansing. The baby turns out to be Sonny's. While driving on Harborview Road, Claudia is run off the road and loses the baby. Both Michael and Kristina think they did it (it is later revealed to be Kristina although her mother Alexis Davis takes the blame) and they run off to Mexico. While on the run they meet up with Jerry Jacks who attempts to kill them. They manage to escape Jerry but then he shoots Jason. They are soon brought home safely by Sam McCall and Jason Morgan, which starts their relationship again. Sonny found out Claudia shot Michael, so he threw a birthday party for her with many citizens in attendance but then yelled at her and belittled her, and told his guards to take her away. She pulled out a gun and kidnapped Carly Corinthos while Carly is in labor with her and Jax's daughter Josslyn. In the end Carly gave birth and in saving Carly and his newborn sister Michael killed Claudia.

Artist and murderer Robert 'Franco' Frank (played by actor James Franco), who is obsessed with Jason Morgan terrorizes Port Charles, kidnapping Sam and Lulu. Jason confronts Franco, before saving Sam, while Lulu is saved by Dante.

The end of 2009 brought back fan favorite and original portrayer Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer. With this return the darkness of the character over a number of years, and hatred of his father Luke and brother Ethan as well as Jason Morgan, calmed and he became quite close with all of them again.

Twenty tens—Family era (2010–present)

2010

While Robin is in Africa, Patrick and Lisa sleep together after a night at Jake's. When Robin returns, Lisa tries to get rid of Robin several times. Eventually Patrick tells Robin what happened while she was gone. The Lisa storyline continues as she hatches more plots against Robin, including trapping her in a well where Robin has a vision of her first love Stone Cates. Lisa almost shoots herself before being saved by Patrick. Lisa is then sent to Shadybrook.

Sonny shoots his son, undercover cop Dante, whom he believed to be mob thug Dominic Perelli; this is a son he never knew he had with high school girlfriend Olivia Falconeri.

Elizabeth starts cheating on Lucky Spencer with his brother Nikolas Cassadine and becomes pregnant with Lucky's son but Helena Cassadine (Nikolas's grandmother) changes the paternity results to say that it is Nikolas's son Aiden. Helena kidnaps Tracy to stop her from revealing the truth, but she is saved by Luke.

Kristina's abuse storyline continues as she is attacked twice by her abusive boyfriend Kiefer, but Kristina lies and says it was Ethan Lovett (Luke's son), who found her after her first beating and took her to the hospital. Believing her story, many residents turn on Ethan and he is arrested. After the second time Kristina is beaten, Alexis finds out it's Kiefer. While driving Kristina to the hospital, she hits Kiefer with her car, but doesn't realize it and keeps driving. Kiefer dies from his injuries, but not before his abusive nature and the truth about Kristina's attacks become public knowledge.

Sonny goes on trial for Claudia's murder, concluding with Dante learning the truth and telling the court, thinking both Michael and Sonny would be cleared of charges. But the truth of Michael actually killing Claudia is revealed and Michael is sent to prison for manslaughter. Jason has Claire Walsh get him sent to prison to protect Michael. Jason gets into a fight with Carter, another prisoner who is terrorizing Michael, and ends up killing him. He dies just after letting Jason know that Franco said hi. Michael is released from prison, and Jason soon after. But Michael is on parole and must live with his brother Dante. Carly vows to get revenge against Dante for sending her son to prison, so she tries to break up Dante and Lulu by hiring Brook Lynn Ashton who is in need of cash. Brook reunites with Dante, Olivia and various family when she returns. Brook drugs Dante, and begins to make out with him, only to have Lulu walk in. Eventually Brook tells Lulu about how Carly hired her.

Franco returns and is hunted by Jason and Dante. He kidnaps Elizabeth's new born son, Aiden, to give to his mother Karen, causing the hospital to be locked down. Kiefer's father tries to take revenge for his son's death, shooting Mac and Ethan before he attempts to shoot Kristina. Mac shoots and kills Mr. Bauer. Lucky saves the baby and returns him to Liz, and Franco escapes.

Sonny tries to car bomb Johnny when Johnny and Kristina pretend that they are dating, but Kristina was with Johnny when it went off. When Sonny found out he went to Johnny's as the bomb goes off, and Johnny saved her life. Johnny tries to kill Sonny but Sonny defends himself and shoots Johnny. Ronnie Domestico finds Johnny lying in the street with a gun in his hand, and gets rid of the gun. Sonny is arrested, and the truth is revealed when Ronnie gets a taping of a phone call he had saying that Sonny set the car bomb. However, the evidence is thrown out by Claire Walsh due to breaking an amendment.

While in Africa, Robin runs into Brenda. She gives Brenda Sonny's number, and does the same for Sonny when she gets home. Brenda Barrett, who is living in Rome, is being stalked by a criminal called the Balkan. He tries to kidnap or hurt her several times, failing each time. Sonny flies to Rome while he was arrested for the car bomb case, where he encounters Brenda. She convinces him to go back home. Later Jason arrives in Rome to protect Brenda. Lucky is hired by Interpol to take the identity of Ronan O'Reily, a hit man working for the Balkan. Dante and Lulu go to help Lucky and his new girlfriend Siobhan, but are sent back to America while Lucky goes to jail for murder, and he later escapes thanks to the help of Luke, who disappeared for a few months.

Brenda and Jason arrive in Port Charles along with Suzanne, a friend of Brenda's. Lucky is ordered by the Balkan to kidnap Brenda, so he also returns to Port Charles with Siobhan. A man working for the Balkan reveals that Lucky is not Ronan. Dante and Brenda encounter each other, and it is revealed that they know each other when Dante helped her cover up the murder of the Balkan's son in 2007. Brenda is almost kidnapped and kills a man working for the Balkan. Jason finds out the truth about the Balkan's son. Sam is kidnapped by a man working for Jerry Jacks, but Jason saves her. Jason asks the man who kidnapped Sam if Jerry Jacks is the Balkan, but the man is shot by someone in the tree. Jason shoots in that direction, and then leaves with Sam. Johnny stumbles into his home with a bullet in his side, where Ethan was hanging out. Johnny asks Ethan to call Lisa, and he gets Lisa to help him. He blackmails her with a syringe that Lisa used to put into Robin's IV. She ran after being caught by Maxie, and while running she put the syringe into Johnny's hands. Jason, Lucky and Dante believe that Jerry Jacks is the Balkan, but he is just working for him, as well as his own plans. He returns and holds Carly hostage in front of Jax. Jerry threatens to shoot Carly unless Jax lets him leave. Jax lets Jerry leave. It is revealed that Siobhan is working for the Balkan. At the same time, the hospital is sued for malpractice by Theo Hoffman, who is revealed to be the Balkan. He has his men shoot Jerry before making Siobhan his second in command.

Luke and Tracy try to get married in Vegas in November, but due to being drunk and a screw up by the minister Ethan and Maya are married instead, and are then offered 1 million dollars by Edward to stay married, and live together for a year. Luke and Tracy get married legitimately on December 21st as their first wedding was fake. After Tracy tries to leave the ceremony a few times, stopped by Lulu and Brook Lynn they finally say I Do. During the reception, Spinelli shows up to tell Carly that Dante and Brenda had a baby together and Dante gave Brenda the parental rights. Also during the reception, Brenda and Sonny go outside and Sonny proposes to Brenda. Brenda is hesitant at first, since Sonny once left her at the alter, but she agrees.

2011

On December 28, 2010 (and continuing into the new year), a bus going on the hospital ski trip crashes due to icy roads. People on the bus include: Michael Corinthos, Kristina Corinthos-Davis, Morgan Corinthos, Cameron Webber, Molly Davis, Steven Webber, Maxie Jones, Olivia Falconeri, and Matt Hunter as well as other teens. Carly heard the crash while on the phone with Morgan. The survivors are scattered around in the wilderness. Matt has a broken arm and Morgan a broken leg. Olivia has internal bleeding. Michael and Molly are able to flag down Brenda and Dante, and Carly and Jason arrive moments later. Kristina suffered from hypothermia and the group are taken to the hospital where they are treated. Olivia is in very critical condition. Ali, a friend of Kristina's, suffers from brain trauma and dies in surgery. Jason bonds with Jake, while Lucky and Siobhan bond with Cameron. Sonny meets Michael's friend, Abby, a dancer. He doesn't like their relationship, but Carly despises it. Carly later sees Michael and Abby reuniting after the crash.

Carly has Diane get a legal document of the baby between Dante and Brenda. Abby breaks up with Michael to protect him when he almost attacks a cop for insulting Abby. Siobhan's sister Meghan was kidnapped by the Balkan, so she breaks up with Lucky to protect them both. He later confronts her and finds out why she is working for the Balkan, as their feelings for each other had been real. Theo is Brenda and Dante's lawyer in a civil suit case because of the man she killed. Theo tricks her in to revealing about the murder of Alexander (the Balkan's son) as well. Theo questions Lulu about this, which she didn't know about. She breaks up with Dante because he lied to her about his past with Brenda. Brenda later tells Dante about losing the baby.

Terrel Jackson, joins the GH staff as a pediatric surgeon after helping with Morgan's broken leg. He is also a fiend of Lisa's, and she tries to get him to seduce Robin, although he still likes Lisa.

Molly starts to think she is bipolar when she snaps at Kristina. She later sees a car accident and has a panic attack, but is comforted by an ex-marine, Shawn Butler, who helps her realize she probably has post-traumatic stress disorder. Shawn later talks with Theo, who hired him as a mercenary. Abby starts being harassed by her ex Brandon, but Jason saves her. She is later attacked by him again, and he tries to rape her. Michael saves Abby, and later admits to Jason he was raped by Carter in prison.

Carly breaks up with Jacks when she finds out he went to England to help Brenda. She goes to Jason's house, and finds out about Michael's rape. Michael tells Abby and Dante, and Dante blames himself. Carly later goes to Dante's house and aims a gun at him.

Siobhan and Lucky plan to find out who the Balkan is by Lucky disguising himself when Siobhan next meets with the Balkan. Shawn knocks out Lucky. Lucky and Siobhan go to Ireland to rescue Siobhan's sister. They discover her location from spying on the Balkan's men. They rescue Meghan and Lucky helps her hide from the Balkan's men. Siobhan and Lucky head back to the states, planning for a green card marriage.

Carly is framed for destroying Brenda's wedding dress. It is revealed Suzanne is trying to stop the wedding to save Brenda, and Brenda forgives her. Theo uses Michael to get at Jason and goes to announce his victory to his wife, who also is part of the plan to kill Brenda. Its revealed that Theo's wife is Suzanne.

On the wedding day, Molly finds out Theo is the Balkan. She reveals this to Jason and Sam, who try to find him. At the wedding, Carly threatens Brenda that she will reveal that she had a baby with Dante. Brenda goes along with the wedding. Carly plans on exposing her, when Brenda admits the truth. Dante reveals the baby was really Alexanders. Jason confronts Shawn, who had kidnapped Sam. Shawn decides to work with them.

Shawn and Jason set up an ambush on the Balkan. Shawn is shot and Jason gets away. Theo kidnaps Sam. Carly finds a dying Shawn. He forces her to help him. She takes him back to her house,and Jason shows up to save her. As the wedding comes to an end, Brenda gets into the limo, which blows up moments later. Ethan comforts Molly, Kristina and Morgan while Patrick comforts Robin. Jason leaves Carly holding Shawn at gunpoint to comfort Sonny. Jax blames Sonny for Brenda's death. Jason gets a call from Franco saying that they will see each other soon. Franco ends the call by telling Jason that he hopes he enjoyed the fireworks. When they pull the body out of the limo, Sonny asks to see his wife, and it was revealed that Sam was the one inside the limo and not Brenda. Sam was able to recover at the hospital thanks to the limo being bomb proof, but she can not hear. Sonny believes Shawn is holding information back and desperate to find his wife tracked down Shawn with Carly demanding to know where Brenda is. A small scene showed Brenda waking up from being unconscious, unknown where she is Theo is next to her and he reveals to her he is the father of Alexander and the grandpa of her baby.

Dante arrives and saves Shawn, taking him to the hospital, where he is attacked by a Balkan assassin. Shawn survives, and later flees the hospital. Jason confronts him and has Shawn go through documents relating to Theo. Sam's conditions gets worse as she collapses after trying to get up. Its revealed that Sam just fainted and she gets her hearing back. The man that tried to kill Shawn is caught by Molly, and chased by Michael until he pulls a gun on him. Dante arrives and saves him, arresting the man. Dante then lets Sonny interrogate him. Shawn arrives at Carly's house with info. With the help of one of the Balkan's men, Brenda escapes her cave prison and flees in to the forest. Theo finds out Suzanne was with Brenda when she got sick with the baby and believes he is still alive. Jewls, a man working for the Balkan, is convinced by Brenda to tell Sonny where she is. Jason and Spinelli figure out Suzanne is Theo's wife, and confront her. Sonny gets information from Jewls, who dies from a stab wound. Sonny and Dante arrive at Jason, and plan to attack Theo. Theo has Brenda injected with a poison that will kill her. Suzanne betrays Theo, telling him to surrender. Jason kills Theo's men, but Theo flees in a helicopter. Jason finds out that a friend of Sonny is connected to the Balkan. The man gives up Johnny. Jason confronts Johnny, who admits he shot the thug of the Balkan that was going to give info on Jerry Jax. Jason returns home to find out Michael is trying to supervise a shipment. Dante and Ronnie arrive during the shipment, and Dante catches Michael. Jason saves Michael, but Dante plans on arresting Jason.

Jax plans on gaining full custody of his kids, so Carly and Luke attempt to set him up for a diamond theft, which fails. Josslyn seems to be getting sicker each day.

Maxie and Matt break into Johnny's apartment to find the syringe. Johnny and Lisa come back, and Matt and Maxie hide. Both Johnny and Lisa talk about the syringe. Maxie and Matt escape, and they inform Robin and Patrick. Robin and Patrick break into John's apartment when him and Lisa go on a date. Johnny goes back to get his phone, and catches and pulls a gun on the couple. He lets them both go after threatening them. He later had Robin and Lisa come to his apartment, and he plans on having them search for the syringe with a series of clues. Lisa is caught looking for a clue in Steve's office. He fires her on the spot. Carly catches Robin in her house. Robin finds the clue which leads her to the syringe. Carly rushes to the hospital when she learns Joss's fever is climbing. Sam gets a sudden and severe headache while driving.Lisa races after Robin on the road.

Another storyline begins, as Liz starts to think Helena switched the paternity test for Aiden. Liz finally learns the truth—Lucky, not Nikolas is Aiden's father. Stunned, she suddenly realizes that Jake is missing and the front door is open—and Jake is injured in a hit-and-run.

Jake is brain-dead. Josslyn is diagnosed with kidney cancer and needs a donor. Jason is forced to tell Lucky the devastating news. Carly approaches a grieving Jason, asking for his brain-dead son save her daughter. Patrick loses it, blaming himself for Jake's death.

Sam, Robin, Lisa, Carly, Theo, Sonny, and Luke are all suspects. Carly is the prime suspect. Lucky starts to go berserk, but Luke calms him down explaining he knows how it feels to lose a son, referring to when he thought Lucky had died in the fire back in 2004. It is revealed that Luke hit Jake, possibly when drunk. Carly gets a message from Franco, saying that he will be keeping an eye on her. Suzanne kills Theo right before he meets his grandson. Brandon is released from prison. Abby drops the rape charges to protect Michael, but Brandon attacks her. Michael goes after Brandon with a gun, but Jason stops him. Brandon is later found dead outside of Johnny's strip club. Suzanne arrives at Brenda's house with Brenda's son. Suzanne later makes a call to her real grandson, revealing that she lied. Lisa starts to become friends with Kristina. Lisa shows up at Patrick and Robin's house while Kristina is babysitting Emma. Kristina passes out from "herbal supplements"that Lisa gave her. Lisa bugs Patrick's house. Another time, she sneaks into the basement and messes with the boiler. Ethan sees Kristina with the pills and tells her they are very addictive. Later, Kristina confronts Lisa while Ethan talks to Johnny about her. Lisa goes completely insane, trapping Robin in the basement with the water heater sending off gas, planning to blame Patrick. Robin fakes her own death, and Lisa is arrested. She tries to get Johnny to help her by talking about Claudia, but he leaves her. Lisa breaks out of prison and goes to Johnny for help. Eventually, Anthony decides to help her get her revenge. Michael continues his hopes of joining the mob. He plans on taking a job with Johnny, ignoring Jason and Abby's warnings. He later gets a letter saying he was accepted into PCU, even though he did not apply.

Luke, filled with grief, starts to pour oil around the haunted star and set it on fire. Lucky arrives and is able to stop him. Anthony Zacchara shows up at Johnny's penthouse with plans for Michael. Ronny arrests Abby for Brandon's murder to force Jason to confess. Maxie finds out about Lucky being Aiden's father and tries to force Liz to tell the truth. Lucky goes over to Jason's house to try to get him to kill him. When he fails, Luke packs his things and leaves. Lucky gathers his family to plan an intervention for Luke. The intervention fails and Luke continues his drinking ways. Siobhan and Lucky wed. Later, Siobhan goes to talk to Liz, and finds out that Lucky is Aiden's dad. When Luke scares Lulu, he realizes he has to go to rehab, but he won't go that night. Lucky gets into an argument with Luke, and Luke ends up punching Lucky. Luke realizes he has turned into his father, and goes to rehab. 15 minutes later, Luke checks out or rehab. Lulu buys the haunted star, hoping to bring Luke back. Lucky and Siobhan figure out where Luke is hiding and head too find him. While Ethan is dealing with Luke's disappearance, he finds out Maya cheated on him. He heads to the Dominican Republic to get a divorce, and Kristina joins him to his dismay.

While Robin and Brenda are talking, Lucien is kidnapped. It is revealed it was Suzanne that kidnapped him. Brenda goes on TV and offers a reward for finding Lucien. Sonny and Dante work together to find Suzanne. Sonny, Dante and Carly track her down to Texas, where they find out a boy named Alec is Brenda's real son. They arrest Suzanne and head back to PC. Anthony hired a hitwoman to frame Abby for Brandon's murder. Abby plans on pleading guilty, upsetting Michael. Anthony later offers to help Michael with anything, when Carly arrives. She yells at Michael for talking to Anthony. Michael wants Anthony to tell him who the hitwoman is who killed Brandon. Johnny and Mike eventually catch the hitwoman and bring her to the police station. Anthony breaks her out, then kills her. He places her in Sonny's restaurant. Anthony then steals one of the shipments, and Jason retaliates by burning down his warehouse.

Jax, thinking Carly is an unfit mother, plans on taking full custody of Josslyn, planning to take the case to court. He digs up Shawn's past, revealing that Shawn had killed one of his own marines. Shawn tells Carly he was under orders. Liz starts to go insane. She messes up papers at work. She snaps at Steve for packing away Jake's stuff even though she had asked him. Lucky finds Luke in the whore house he grew up in. Luke tells Lucky that Jake's death liberated him and that he wont go back. Lucky returns to Port Charles, and torches the old Spencer house. Siobhan thinks Lucky is in the house, so she goes to rescue him only to be trapped inside. Dante and Lucky rescue her taking her to the hospital.

Lisa, dressed as a security guard, enters the hospital to get her revenge. Spinelli takes Sam to the hospital when she gets cramps. Lisa fires a shot, and Steve puts the hospital into lockdown. Lisa takes away Lucky's gun. Sam tells Jason there is a lockdown, who arrives at the hospital with the police. Spinelli and Lucky are trapped on the ninth floor, while Niklolas is trapped with Sam. Matt and Liz are working on Siobhan, and Liz gives Matt the wrong medication. Lisa takes Maxie, Steve, Robin, and Patrick into a room too "judge" them. Maxie goes off on Lisa when Spinelli come crashing through an air vent. As Lisa goes to shoot Maxie, Spinelli jumps in the way. Lisa does not let anyone help him. Jason and Dante lift the lockdown and get inside. They get into the consul room and tackle Lisa as she shoots Patrick. They go to save Spinelli. Lisa grabs Robin and holds a syringe filled with drain cleaner to her neck. Patrick tackles her, and Lisa lets him stab her with the syringe. Spinelli wakes up, but acts like the Spinelli from his book. Siobhan wakes up from her coma.

Spinelli tries to shoot Anthony Zacharra, but Jason stops him. Later Jason tells Maxie he is going to propose to Sam.He proposes and Sam excepts.

Liz tells Lucky about Aiden. Liz then tells Nikolas, who denies it Lucky tries to convince him, but he wont listen. He takes Aiden and plans to leave Port Charles forever. He visits Emily's grave, and realizes he shouldn't take Aiden. He brings him back to Liz and Lucky. Lucky and Nikolas bond for one last time while Liz heads to the hospital. Matt finds out that she caused Siobhan to go into the coma. As Nikolas and Spencer get on the plane, Helena watches from a far. Lucky arrives back at Liz's house to see Helena holding Aiden.Helena suggests that Aiden won't be Lucky's forever.

Lulu heads to Florida to find Luke. She arrives at the Bordello where he was. The owner, Javier will give her information if she works for him. Dante arrives to find Lulu. Dante is hired as a Bouncer. Javiar finds out that Lupe betrayed him so he kills her and has his men plan to kill Dante when they find out he is a cop. Javiar will tell Lulu about Luke if she sleeps with him.Dante breaks free and stops Javiar from killing Lulu. He forces Javiar for information, and he says that Luke is with Helena.Lulu and Dante torch the Bordello and head to Wyndmere.They confront Helena, who says Luke will be coming there soon. Nikolas arrives back at Wyndemere. He explains how he hates Lucky is always the one people care about, and he tells Helena he won't be apart in her war.

Brenda and Alec are shot at by Anthiny's men to send a message. Brenda brings this up at Jax's custody battle. The favor starts to tilt towards Jax. Sonny finds out the mediator was bribed by Jax. Sonny blackmails her and has her drug Jaxs. He starts to act violent and is arrested. Carly is given full custody of Josslyn. Brenda leaves Sonny for what he did. Jax and Brenda end up leaving together, while Sonny leaves Port Charles. Carly starts being stalked by someone.

Micheal and Abby get a job at ELQ, where a henchman of Anthony,Asher, works. Anthony wants to invest in ELQ, but Tracy won't allow it. Anthony ends up calling Skye and tells her to come back.

Lucky is assigned a case where he has too find missing prescription drugs. He asks Liz to help him. The angers Siobhan who constantly attacks Liz verbally.Lucky ends up being attacked by his drug dealer, who is paid by Anthony to inject Lucky with drugs. Liz finds him and comforts him. A recently returned Dante arrives and is put in charge of watching him while Liz gets medication. Lucky ends hitting Dante with a pipe and flees.He makes it to the church where him and Liz says there vows, seeing Liz in a vision.

Elizabeth goes looking for Lucky, only to be confronted by Siobhan. They get into a verbal fight, and Siobhan falls down stairs. Carly finds out that Jaxs is back from Skye. Carly rushes over to Jason's. At the same time, Jax breaks into the house and takes Joss. As he leaves, Shawn arrives at the house. While confronting Jaxs, Shawn's ptsd kicks in and Jaxs leaves. While Carly and Jason are driving, they crash into Liz and Siobhan's car. Liz wakes up to find Carly with a broken wrist and Jason and Siobhan in critical condition. Dante finds them and they are rushed to the hospital. Patrick convinces Robin to let him do surgery on Jason. Jason wakes up and Sam keeps him from finding Carly. While talking to Carly, Jason passes out.

Liz finds Lucky in the abandoned church, recovering from the drugs. Sonny finds out about Jaxs, and hunts after him. He goes to his plane only to find it empty. Dante arrives and arrest Sonny, only to be punched and knocked out. Jax's car breaks down, so he heads to Robin's house. Shawn arrives, convincing Jax to give Joss back. Sonny finds out where Joss is, and arrives at Robin's house. He pulls a gun on Jax, but ends up shooting Robin in the arm. Sonny and Jax both leave. Dante arrives at Sonny's restaurant and arrests him. Jax starts to take a plane out of PC when it goes down. Carly is informed and tells Sonny that he is no longer apart of her life. In truth, Skye is keeping Jax hidden away and safe. Carly refuses to allow Sonny to see Morgan after Jax's "death"

Anthony tells Asher to kill Siobhan for hearing his plan. When he fails, Anthony kills her. Lucky walks in to find her dead. Skye and Anthony find out that ELQ was started with mob money from Tracy's dead mob husband. Lucky finds a dead Siobhan. Later, Matt finds a pillow with LU written on it and show it to Lucky. Meghan, Siobhan's sister, arrives and blames Lucky for Siobhans death. Lucky ends up taking drugs again

Jason will require life and death surgery. During the procedure, the women in Jason's life, Sam, Monica,Carly and Liz fantasize how their relationships with him would be different if not for his previous car accident and head injury years prior, which led him to becoming a mobster.

Patrick races to save Jason's life when his condition deteriorates during surgery. Later, as Jason is unconscious Spinelli shares an emotional visit with him. Spinelli, aka, Jackal PI, stumbles upon the one thing Spinelli doesn't want to lose, which is Jason. So that leads to a breakthrough, which in turn leads to a change in Jason condition as well.

Lulu becomes distraught when she overhears Lucky and Dante discussing Lucky's recent drug encounter. She has an emotional fight with her brother about his addiction, and is hurt that Dante lied to her.

After blowing up at Sonny, fighting with Michael, and overhearing Ethan and Skye flirting -- Kristina falls unconscious during a walk. Minutes later, she is found by Anthony Zacchara. Michael finds her and takes her to the hospital, where it turns out the car bomb caused a problem that could cause her to become paralyzed.Sonny fhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_General_Hospital&action=edit&section=6inds out and blames Johnny. He goes to throw Johnny off a blachoney, only to be stopped by Olivia, who aims a gun at him. Ethan promises to dance with Kristiana at Sam and Jasons wedding. Later, Kristina gets feeling back in her legs.

Liz checks out Luzettas bakery, only to be kidnapped by Anthon'y men. Maxie is also kidnapped when she is stumbles upon the kidnapping. Lucky and Dante find them and Lucky shoots Asher. Unknown to the them, Johnny kills the other man who kidnapped them. Anthony goes to pay for a expermental operation for Lisa to wake her up. Later on, it seems to work.

As Jason and Sam prepare for the wedding, Franco sets up moving cameras. Sam and Jason decide to go and get married at a Chinese restaurant. On the wedding day, they decide to just have a reception. Unknown to them, Franco is watching. At the same time, Dante goes to Sonny's warehouse, while Johnny is trying to frame Sonny for a crime. Dante chases after Johnny, but is shot by Anthony.

In late October 2011, Doctor Lisa Niles wakes up from her coma and goes nuts and attacks the people of Port Charles. On October 13th she knocks out a nurse. On October 14th she stabs Anthony with a nail and kicks him into the bay. On October 16th she drugs Johnny that he has no feeling of his legs or arms and just lays there in pain. On October 17th she sneaks onto Matt's party boat where Elizabeth, Matt, Robin, Patrick, Olivia, and Steve are along with First Mate Briggs and the Caption. On October 18th she pushed First Mate Briggs down stairs, drugs her, and knocks her out and changes clothes with her. On October 19th she messes with the boat, so that they are stuck at sea. On October 20th she drugs and knocks out the caption. On October 21th she attacks Elizabeth, drugs her, knocks her out, and then throws her body over the water into the ocean and drugs and knocks out both Robin and Patrick. On the show it appears Steve Webber is keeping a secret and may have killed Lisa. But there is a mysterious doctor wearing a clown mask following Dr. Matt Hunter around. They appear to the audience as Dr. Lisa Niles (why did Patrick have to sleep with this crazy bitch).

In November Dr. Lisa Niles was discovered dead by Sonny's warehouse. Everyone on board is a suspect for killing her and covering it up. Olivia is also pregnant with hers and Dr.Steven Webber's child. She has yet to mention it to Steve but he is figuring it out (Robin and Patrick situation ring a bell just like it).

References

  1. ^ Kroll, Dan J. "Report: Kelker-Kelly out in massive GH changes", Soap Central, October 5, 2001.
  2. ^ Kroll, Dan J. "Uninvited: No Nurses Ball on GH this year", Soap Central, May 5, 2002.