General Hospital Recap: Jason Corners Britt, Maxie Collapses and Sonny Shuts Down Drew’s Blackmail!

The August 18 episode of General Hospital was packed with drama, as Sonny (Maurice Benard) shut down Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) attempt to extort him, Maxie (Kirsten Storms) collapsed during a taping of Home & Heart, and after Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) pretended not to know Jason (Steve Burton), he went to her room in search of answers. Plus, Josslyn (Eden McCoy) was traumatized after shooting Vaughn’s attacker, Stella’s (Vernee Watson) loved ones rallied around her when she became the subject of a fraud investigation and more. Read on to find out how it all went down!

Dirty Politics

At Sonny’s, Drew told Sonny he had proof that Michael had assaulted him. As Justine eavesdropped, Drew threatened to send Michael to prison if Sonny didn’t do as he said — and added, “We’ll see about Willow getting her kids back once Michael’s locked up.” Drew laid out his terms: He wanted Michael to petition the court to allow Willow generous visitation with Wiley and Amelia; he wanted Sonny to sell the piers to Jenz Sidwell; and he wanted Sonny to take “an extended vacation” from Port Charles.

Sonny scoffed that Michael was not going to allow Willow to see the kids. “You used Wiley to get to his father?” fumed Sonny. Drew denied it, but Sonny called him out on trying to blackmail him to be a hero to Willow. Sonny insisted that ship had sailed, telling Drew, “She knows what a loser you are.” He emphatically stated that Drew would never get Willow back. Before leaving, Drew warned Sonny that if he didn’t play along with Drew’s demands, whatever happened to Michael was on him.

Once Drew was gone, Justine emerged from her hiding place. She was floored by Drew’s efforts to extort Sonny. Sonny noted that she had just met “the real Drew Cain.” Justine felt that as a credible witness, she could get Drew tossed in jail, but Sonny reminded her that her credibility would be tarnished if it got out that she’d had dinner at Sonny’s. “If you come forward, you’re gonna kill your career,” he cautioned. Justine realized her hands were tied and implored Sonny to promise her that he wouldn’t take the law into his own hands. She marveled at all the op-eds about him that pegged him as a menace to society, while all the while, he was being menaced by a congressman. “Life is not black and white like you want it to be sometimes,” he responded. Justine headed out after vowing to find a way to bring Drew to justice.

Down For The Count

On the Wyndemere turret, Lucy thanked Sidwell for dinner but noted that she had to cut the night short as she and Maxie were about to launch Deception’s newest product live on Home & Heart. Sidwell was understanding and reiterated how pleased he was that the Deception crew had not gone to the police about Sonny possibly using the company as a means of money-laundering. Sidwell sent Lucy off with a kiss for good luck.

Brook Lynn went to the Home & Heart studio and discussed her estrangement from Lois with Flora. Meanwhile, Martin approached Maxie, who shared that she was considering going against the express wishes of her Deception partners (regarding Sonny’s investment) and wondered if she could get kicked out of the company as a result. Martin opined that she would be protected by whistleblower laws if she went to the cops, but cautioned her about burning bridges with her colleagues, who she also has personal relationships with. “Be sure, because I highly doubt any of those would survive,” he warned.

Maxie said she had given the matter a lot of thought and was ready to meet with the DA. Martin said he would arrange it and discouraged her from warning Lucy or Brook Lynn. When Lucy arrived, she and Brook Lynn asked Maxie why she’d been huddling with Martin. Maxie was saved by a makeup artist who interrupted to snag Lucy and tried to hide her guilt as Brook Lynn bubbled about what a good friend she was.

Once Home & Heart was on air, Brook Lynn watched from the sidelines as Lucy and Maxie talked up Deception’s new release, a Youth Truth Night Mask. As the cameras rolled, Maxie dabbed a dollop of the mask onto her cheek and began to look ill. Moments later, she collapsed to the ground!

More Questions Than Answers

Stella was shocked to be approached by two state officials investigating insurance fraud. Felicia, Isaiah and Jordan leapt to Stella’s defense, but Stella insisted that she had nothing to hide and was willing to speak to the men without an attorney present.

Curtis and Portia basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking. They agreed that from here on out, they were moving forward — together — and committed to putting their marriage first. Their romantic reunion was cut short by a call from Jordan, who urgently needed to speak to Curtis. Portia handed the phone to him, clearly irritated by his ex’s intrusion. Jordan told Curtis that fraud investigators were at the hospital to interview Stella.

Curtis and Jordan quickly headed to G.H. Soon, Martin arrived to represent Stella. Martin and Stella’s eyes widened when the investigators told Martin he couldn’t serve as Stella’s attorney because he was a person of interest in their investigation. “We have questions for you too,” one of them told Martin.

After the meeting, Stella updated Felicia, Jordan, Curtis and Portia. Martin asked her if she’d ever been under such scrutiny before. She said she hadn’t. “So why now?” wondered Curtis. When the investigators emerged from the conference room, Portia demanded to know what gave them the right to question her employee without going through proper protocols. “This is coming from higher up,” one of the men reported, piquing everyone’s curiosity.

Cross Purposes

At Wyndemere, Marco was surprised that his dad planned to watch Lucy’s segment on Home & Heart. Sidwell told Marco he wasn’t sure how serious he was about Lucy, but thought their connection was worth exploring. Marco told Sidwell his relationship with Lucas was going well, also.

Drew showed up to boast to Sidwell about the new leverage he had over Sonny. Drew described his altercation with Michael, pointing out that assaulting a congressman is a federal offense and he now had the means to send Michael to jail. Marco was less confident that such a case would be a slam dunk, and Sidwell offered that annihilating Michael “might be counterproductive”  as it removed Sonny’s incentive for cooperating with them. Plus, Sonny would likely retaliate. Sidwell seemed taken aback as Drew continued to crow about how he was going to get Willow’s kids back for her.

After promising to be in touch, Drew left. “It would appear that Congressman Cain’s interests are diverging from our own,” observed Marco. “He may not be of use to us much longer.” Sidwell agreed that Drew might become a liability.

Pillow Talk

Josslyn fired her gun at the man trying to strangle Vaughn. As her target dropped to the floor, Joss rushed to tend to Vaughn. “Nice shot, wife,” he told her, his voice raspy. Joss was disturbed by the sight of the man she had shot bleeding out as Vaughn tried to get him to reveal who had sent him. Vaughn then used a pillow and began smothering the man.

Once his assailant was dead, Vaughn groused to Joss that their cover was blown. Joss thought it was because of Pascal, which proved that Britt was involved with whoever Dalton was working with on the cold fusion research. Vaughn was eager for them to get out while they still could. Joss was convinced that Britt would come clean with her if she was able to speak with the doc. “Faison’s daughter is not going to talk,” Vaughn countered. Joss defended Britt, noting that she had risked her life to save Joss’s. Vaughn agreed to give Joss 24 hours and they set about disposing of the body.

When they returned to the bungalow, Vaughn encouraged Joss to go get cleaned up while he dealt with the bloody mess in the room. “I owe you for saving my life,” he grinned, adding that he would inform Brennan that they’d “hit an obstacle but were continuing on.”

Still in her clothes, an anguished Joss sat on the shower floor, letting the water wash over her as she flashed back to the violent events she’d just participated in. Vaughn knocked on the door and asked if she was okay. When she didn’t respond, he told her he was coming in. Once he saw the state Joss was in, he sat down next to her and took her hand in his, then kissed it. Joss settled into his comforting embrace.

Room Service

At the Five Poppies, Britt was understandably rattled by Jason’s presence. Suddenly, she crossed over to Pascal, who was chatting with Jason. Pretending not to recognize or know Jason, she told Pascal she needed him to come with her. “Now!” snapped Britt. Pascal protested that he was with a guest. “It’s no problem,” said Jason, staring pointedly at Britt. “I’m not going anywhere.” Britt averted his gaze. Jason excused himself and Britt told Pascal there was an issue with the air conditioning in the lab, noting that their boss wouldn’t like it if the computers got overheated and she would have to begin her research from scratch. She retreated to her room until it was fixed. A fraught Jason watched her leave.

Britt arrived at her room, overcome with emotion in the wake of laying eyes on Jason. Later, she lay on her bed, lost in thought, when her door opened. Britt sat up, startled by the sight of her visitor: Jason!