Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI, Sean Smith/JPI, Jill Johnson/JPI
When General Hospital needed a powerhouse to succeed Julie Marie Berman as the daughter of iconic supercouple Luke and Laura Spencer in 2013, the ABC soap wisely picked Emme Rylan, not only a daytime vet but the rare one who was already used to playing the offspring of legends. On Guiding Light, she’d been Lizzie, the daughter of Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines, and on The Young and the Restless, she’d been Abby Newman, the daughter of Ashley Abbott and Victor Newman. Credentials don’t come any more impressive than that!
Twice as Ice
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You could say that Rylan got a “chilly” reception at General Hospital. But that would only be because shortly after her debut, Lulu was abducted and cryogenically frozen by mom Laura’s onetime “husband,” Stavros Cassadine. Afterwards, she did what any sensible person would and forgot all about it. Except that she went a step too far and forgot all about husband Dante Falconeri and their life together, too. So, for a while, the beautiful amnesiac chilled at the apartment of sometime Mob flunky/sometime stripper Milo Giambetti… who also did what any sensible person would and fell for her. Futilely — her memory eventually returned, as did she to Dante — but ya could hardly blame the guy.
… and Baby Makes… Trouble
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When BFF Maxie Jones went into labor, Lulu and Dante were right there by her side with ice chips and encouraging words as she ushered into the world their daughter, Connie. Sorry, the baby that they thought was their daughter but actually turned out to be the product of a one-night stand between Maxie and non-husband Damian Spinelli. (Fun fact — well, except for Lulu and Dante: You now know the moppet in question as Georgie.)
With Friends Like These
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Oh, sure, it looks like fun and games in this photo, doesn’t it? But it was anything but a good time when the matter of Connie’s custody was thrown into question. When Maxie decided that she wanted to quote Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” and declare, “I’m keeping my baby,” she and Lulu took turns slandering one another in court. In the end, Dante’s missus got herself busted for committing perjury, and Spinelli won the right to all those diaper changes.
It’s a Boy!
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As Lulu and Dante’s marriage frayed, they discovered that — who’d have thunk it? — Britt Westbourne’s son Ben was actually their son, Rocco. Actually, probably anyone would’ve thunk it if they’d known how keen the Britch had been on stitching fellow doctor Patrick Drake to her side before she got imvolved with Lulu’s half brother, Nikolas (then Tyler Christopher).
… and Cut!
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No. Neither Lulu nor Maxie was responsible for the trim that turned the latter’s scheming fiancé Levi Dunkleman into a presentable fellow. And even after he was presentable, he was still an awful rat bastard. So the real Peter Harrell Jr. kidnapped the gal pals — a lot — until finally, his reign of terror was ended, and Maxie was freed to move on to the love of her life, sometime roommate Nathan West. But this story is about Lulu…
Chip Off the Ol’ Block
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In the summer of 2015, Lulu reteamed with old flame Dillon Quartermaine to rescue her brothers, Ethan Lovett and Lucky Spencer, from Frank Smith, the mobster who’d long held a grudge against her parents, Luke and Laura. Got all that? (This caption really should have come in the form of a PowerPoint presentation; that is some dense plotting right there.)
‘Will You Accept This Coat?’
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Though Dillon was eager to rekindle a romance with Lulu, she was… how to put it? Not. Unfortunately, there was one individual who didn’t believe that their adventure together hadn’t made the friends lovers once again: Dante.
Tabling the Discussion
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Blockheadedly, Dante reacted to Lulu’s imagined betrayal by betraying her with her own cousin, Valerie Spencer (then Brytni Sarpy, now The Young and the Restless’ Elena). As you can imagine, this did not usher in one of the happier eras in the Falconeris’ relationship. On the plus side, Lulu was able to take up a new hobby: staring daggers at Val.
We’ll Drink to That
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Obviously, Lulu couldn’t stay mad at Dante forever. (The champagne probably helped.) Also, these two signed documents as quickly as actors do autographs, so almost as fast as their divorce papers had been John and Jane Hancocked, they were placing their names on the dotted line of a remarriage certificate.
Overboard to Death
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Who knew running the Haunted Star could be so dangerous? In 2016, Lulu made the mistake of renting the boat to Raj Patel, who turned out to be the kind of arms dealer that would have made her walk the plank if the ship had had one. But since it didn’t, he just had her take a flying leap off the side.
Wait, Wait, What… ?
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After Lulu met Valentin Cassadine’s daughter, Charlotte, in late 2016, she was all like, “She seems like she could be mine.” But how could that be? Good question. Better answer: After his Mommie Dearest Helena discovered that golden boy Stavros was firing blanks, she had Valentin seduced, he got a One Life to Live alum to carry the baby, and boom! Claudette Beaulieu wound up cuing Lulu’s little girl to make her entrance into the world. (CliffsNotes version to follow… )
Adieu or Die
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In June of 2018, two years after Raj tried to send Lulu to a watery grave, Dante took off to pursue the baddie who would’ve made him a widower. In Dante’s absence, his better half began working as a reporter for The Invader. Her first hit? A series of articles commemorating Ryan Chamberlain’s murder spree a quarter of a century earlier. You know, light reading.
Bad Decision Alert
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After Dante’s experience in Turkey, he was… well… not the same. So while he got his head together, or tried to, Lulu dug ever deeper into her new career, putting her trust in her boss — Maxie’s new beau and the late Nathan’s half brother, Peter August. That was not a fantastic idea. Heck, her expression here suggests that even she knows it!
Yours, Wine and Ours
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Lulu knew that she’d crossed paths with a winner when her investigation into a series of burglaries led her to go on a date with a guy named Dustin Phillips who we all called Hot Dustin. He was honest, forthright and — did we not make it clear? — hot. Oh, and he had zilch to do with the robberies. Bonus!
‘Ew‘ Have No Idea
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Lulu didn’t mean to make trouble. She really didn’t. But having overheard that Sasha Gilmore was only pretending to be Nina Reeves’ daughter because Valentin was instructing her to, Lulu couldn’t help but interrupt the would-be marrieds’ wedding. There was also this scene, which might have been excuse enough.
She’s da Bomb
Image Credit: ABC screenshot
After Dustin’s proposal of marriage at the Floating Rib in November of 2020, Lulu slipped into a coma from which she might never emerge. Oh, also, a ginormous bomb went off. That probably contributed more to her catatonic state than her boyfriend’s desire to marry her even as she was being drawn back to former husband Dante.
