GENERAL HOSPITAL: 2023 Best & Worst

This was the year “Sprina” finally got together and — despite being saddled with a post-Greenland over-emphasis on Ace (and by extension, Esme) — 2023 was bursting with top moments for their fans to savor. From Trina taking a running leap into Spencer’s arms after The Haunted Star exploded to their magical New York trip (where they consummated their romance with an A-plus love scene), devotees got the payoff they’d been hoping for with romance, adventure and even some growing pains that only made their coupledom stronger as Trina refused to compromise her beliefs, family or schooling for Spencer, or to accept ranking lower on his priority list than his baby brother. It’s been a joy watching Tabyana Ali (Trina) and Nicholas Chavez (Spencer) ushering “Sprina” into their couple era.

They were “rebooted” this year with a too-cutesy courtship ill-suited to two middle-aged professionals with four children between them. (“Check yes or no,” wrote Finn in a note passed to Liz at the hospital inviting her to dinner.) The show faced an uphill battle winning over the wide swath of viewers who never saw romantic sparks between the characters and cheered the prospect of them going their separate ways — and we’ve seen little evidence that their efforts have converted many Liz/Finn detractors into believers. Playing them with Violet so often when Liz has three rarely-seen sons we’ve cared about since their births only underscores how Finn is favored in this duo’s writing — as does her cheerleading-from-the-sidelines role in his current malpractice yarn. The show's determination to keep "Fiz" intact after two-plus underwhelming years is baffling, especially given how much more popular Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) and Michael Easton (Finn) have been in other pairings.

Jane Elliot came back for GH’s 60th last spring and luckily for all of us, she was here to stay. You just can’t put a price on the history and gravitas Tracy — one of the best-drawn characters in all of daytime — brings to the Quartermaine sphere (Elliot created the role back in 1978), not to mention the heart or the humor. Her zingers are as sharp as ever; whether making trouble in Ned and Olivia’s marriage by insinuating that Lois had designs on “Eddie”, infuriating long-time rival Lucy (Lynn Herring, l.) by orchestrating a takeover of Deception or berating Chase for not proposing to Brook Lynn sooner, Tracy gets away with dialogue no one else could — and often, the brilliant Elliot says even more with a look than with her deliciously scripted words. Honorable mention goes to comeback of Rena Sofer’s Lois — she (and her nails!) have, like Tracy, have brought welcome color and pizazz to the mansion.

It’s always hard to say good-bye to a beloved character, but when the loss comes as the result of the actor’s real-life death, it’s doubly difficult. Such was the case with Sonya Eddy’s Epiphany Johnson, a no-nonsense but loving nurse who joined the show in 2006 and had just been given her own story (becoming a doctor) and a new love interest (musician Marshall Ashford). Eddy’s tragic passing begat the show’s decision to script a demise for Epiphany, whose life was celebrated with a special episode crafted with reverence and love, packed with poignant eulogies and touching flashbacks, and featured the returns of Piph’s ex, Milo, and “Drake, Jr.’s” daughter, Emma. Monica calling in to read Epiphany’s letter recommending Liz as her successor as head nurse was an inspired touch, the perfect passing of the baton to honor Epiphany's legacy as a devoted caretaker. This poignant farewell was like a balm to soothe our broken hearts.

GH — a show set in a hospital with a rich history of telling some of daytime’s finest medical stories (Monica’s cancer, Stone’s AIDS, Mike’s Alzheimer’s) — got the tale of Willow’s cancer off to a rocky start in 2022 when the pregnant character learned her leukemia had progressed to Stage 4 and opted to delay treatment for the sake of her unborn child. In 2023, her baby was born healthy, she underwent chemo without losing a single strand of hair, and then she bounced back from the brink of death via a bone marrow donation from her great aunt Liesl. (Was there ever any doubt she’d survive?) The takeaway here is that telling a story about an actual disease in such an unrealistic way, when so much of the audience has experienced or witnessed its ravages firsthand, is bound to ruffle viewers’ feathers — and, worse, ring emotionally false.

The premise that Drew and Carly were both successful in business but lacked a basic understanding of what constitutes insider trading was thin at best — and Nina deciding to turn them into the SEC made even less sense. After all, she of all people knows that secrets always come out. (Nixon Falls, anyone?) Thanks to Nina’s impulsive decision, Drew and Carly landed in legal hot water, sending half the town into a tizzy over who could have implicated them, with a level of outrage that suggested turning them in was worse than the actual crime they committed. Nina immediately regretted her subterfuge, having apparently not thought through the ramifications of sending the mother of Sonny’s children to prison. Drew entered a guilty plea to “save” his new girlfriend and promptly got beat up in prison, which was also somehow the fault of the unknown whistleblower (Nina). This secret has percolated since April; we’re more than ready to move on to the fallout caused by its exposure.

After a long build, we finally found out why Victor was so hell-bent on acquiring the Ice Princess: He wanted to “save” the world and reunite his family via a diabolical scheme involving a deadly pathogen capable of wiping out 80% of the planet’s population. The quest to stop him involved many fan faves — Anna, Valentin and Lucy at the safehouse was a hoot (especially Lucy going nuts at being kept from the Nurses’ Ball) and the inclusion of Emma Samms’s Holly is always a welcome treat. The drama culminated in an action-packed journey to Greenland that featured imperiled lovebirds (“Vanna”, Spencer and Trina), crafty hostages (Liesl), conquering heroes (Drew and Curtis) and a satisfying nod to history as Laura took center stage, disabled a surprise second weather machine and triumphed over Victor — the last surviving member of the OG Cassadines, who had been torturing her since the early 1980s — who died for real this time … at least, we think he did!

After Sasha’s baby and husband died and she relapsed into drug addiction, GH continued the relentless onslaught of misery in 2023 as her mother-in-law Gladys took advantage of her position as Sasha’s guardian to drain her bank account and protected her secret by getting a shrink to drug her (despite Sasha’s history of narcotics abuse). An unhinged Sasha shoplifted, stabbed quasi love interest Cody, and wound up at Ferncliff, where she was medicated into a stupor and nearly died. Damsels in distress are a tried-and-true daytime formula, but there’s little entertainment in watching a character tortured 90% of the time they’re on screen. Cody rescued her (natch) and Sasha seemed to be on an upswing, but her first foray back into modeling for Deception devolved into amateur Cody getting a prime spot next to her while an alpaca stole the show. How much must this poor woman endure?!