General Hospital Viewers Welcome Back Roger Howarth as New Character, Doctor Austin — Plus Is Peter Actually Dead?

Credit: ABC screenshot

It was an exciting week as General Hospital begins wrapping up May Sweeps. Not only are viewers wondering if the ABC soap has finally killed off Peter, but Roger Howarth returned in a surprising new role. For fans of Jason and Britt, there was a mix of happiness and sadness, and Cyrus is becoming increasingly unhinged. Friday’s episode nicely ended with some intense drama and cliffhangers before Memorial Day weekend.

Is He or Isn’t He?

It’s been interesting with each episode beginning with Peter’s body shown at the bottom of a staircase, with a caption detailing what happened hours earlier. Every day the hour count gets shorter, and we get more information on Peter’s condition, such as seeing blood pouring out of his head and what appears to be a nurse rushing to tend to him. Of course, everyone is wondering, is Peter dead?

We wish! If it’s the hospital stairwell, he’ll be fine in a day. Ugh!

— Leslie B (@L_Barr) May 24, 2021

How long they going keep Peter alive kill him already https://t.co/i8R1sFkmsB

— Maria Costantino (@dovey2316) May 27, 2021

The saga of Peter has been going on for so long that it’s hard to imagine it might finally be coming to an end. I’ve written before that I just can’t see the writers killing him off permanently, and nobody ever truly dies on a soap opera. What we do need, which we got with Nelle’s “demise,” is a very long break from everything Peter. Dead or not, it’s time for him to get off our screens one way or another.

Hello, Again!

Maxie and Britt’s plan was upended when Chloe drugged and kidnapped Maxie. Fortunately, Maxie was able to escape from the psycho nurse and ran into the woods, where she naturally went into labor. Does anyone give birth in the hospital anymore? This is the second time poor Maxie has given birth in nature! Thankfully for her Doctor Austin, played by Roger Howarth, stumbled upon her during his hike and was able to deliver her child.

It was such a nice surprise to see Howarth back. The fact that the day of his return and character details weren’t spoiled ahead of time made it all that much more exhilarating. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to relish it, because Chloe appeared and clocked Austin with a tire iron to take Maxie and the baby back into her custody.

oh now you’ve done it crazy lady nurse.. there’s a line up of fans who are willing to drop you.. #GH WE just got Roger back…

— 🇨🇦 CdnGirl_7 🇨🇦☘☀😎🌤 (@MadreneBoyle) May 28, 2021

Fortunately, Chloe, who turned out to be a poor man’s imitation of Heather Webber, fell down an old mine shaft of sorts in the woods that Maxie tricked her into stepping on. Now we wait for Brook Lynn to get to Maxie and the baby, and wonder who Austin is. We really didn’t get much time with him, but he seems to already be some type of free-spirited back-to-nature doctor. They made sure to cover Howarth’s tattoos, which I gather is why the show introduced him shirtless, so there would be no mistake that he wasn’t Franco with amnesia.

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Bad News Results in Romance

In last week’s soapbox, while I couldn’t fathom the show actually giving Britt the deadly Huntington’s Disease, I also noted General Hospital loves giving their characters the most awful of diseases. So it was no shock when Britt found out she had the marker. However, the scenes that followed between Jason and Britt were well written, acted, and really hot and romantic! Jason reminded Britt that she could have 30 good years left, and treatment for the disease could be found in that time.

It was very odd watching Jason be optimistic about the future, and as Britt noted, actually show he has feelings when everyone thinks he’s devoid of them. Even watching Jason admit he isn’t happy to have the killer instincts he does, but thankful they’ve kept his family safe, was a nice touch in showing the character’s softer side. Of course, them kissing and making love was one of the highlights. Even though she is facing a possible death sentence, I look forward to seeing where things will go for these two. I just have a stinking suspicion that Cyrus’ drug is going to play a big part in Britt’s treatment plan, and somehow his freedom.

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Meanwhile, poor Dante and Sam have been reduced to the old rivalry-turned-romance storyline. Unfortunately, they’ve become as much fun to watch as Willow and Michael.

Carly’s Losing Control and Cyrus is Just Losing It

The battle between Carly and Cyrus continued to escalate, with Cyrus kidnapping Gladys and forcing Brando to shoot her. Naturally, he couldn’t kill his own mother, and Cyrus knew he’d fail the test. All the while Gladys sat there bound, gagged and whimpering. I think it’s safe to say she finally has realized she trusted the wrong person, but does anyone care? I’m sure a number of viewers out there were secretly thinking, “Someone just do it, just shoot her!” I know I was!

After Carly’s team rescued Brando and Gladys, who in fact was shot in the process, Cyrus took Spinelli hostage to trade for Gladys. I was really thrilled to see Ava step up to help Carly by playing a decoy Gladys during the hostage negotiation. They’ll never be friends, but it’s just been great to watch these two powerful women working together against Cyrus. Therefore it was a bit of a drag when Jason had to predictably arrive and save the day during Cyrus and Carly’s stand-off. For once can someone other than Jason save the day? That’s what in part makes Britt and Jason so refreshing, as she let him know she’s not used to playing the damsel in distress or relying on a man.

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In the end, Jason and Carly at least came out on top, with Cyrus taking a bullet to the shoulder and fleeing. Brando’s statement to Jordan also gave her all she needed to put out an APB for Cyrus’ arrest. Wait a minute, did this show just set up the end of both Peter and Cyrus in the same week? This must be a trick and my eyes must be deceiving me! Cyrus managed to flee to Portia’s house and waited for her to come home and patch him up. We finally got a glimpse of Cyrus out of his ponytail, and he looks a heck of a lot more intimidating without it. Cyrus is down, but not yet out.

As I was just about to do my happy dance, the end of Friday’s show brought me back to reality. Dudley Do-Right Dante took Jason into custody, and it appears Brando is about to get bad news about his mother. As Jordan pointed out, if Gladys dies, much of their case against Cyrus does too. We’ll just ignore the fact that he tried to have Britt killed, just took two hostages, planned to kill one, and was shot during a hostage negotiation. No, none of that matters, it all comes down to having to hope that awful woman Gladys pulls through.

Oh No, “Mike” Didn’t!

Over in Nixon Falls, “Mike” and Nina finally brought Elijah down, and after saving Nina from an aggressive Elijah, “Mike” predictably pulled Nina into a kiss. Well, we’ve been expecting this, and yes the writers went there. Nina at least seemed dumbfounded after the smooch and appeared to realize what a mess she’d made of things. Maybe this will force her to finally do what she should have done from the beginning and tell “Mike” who he is.

These are just my opinions. Join the conversation by leaving yours in the comments.

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