How Ava Almost Married Ryan On General Hospital
Back in 1992, Ryan Chamberlain (Jon Lindstrom) seemed like a friendly, run-of-the-mill pediatrician on "General Hospital." However, it turned out that he was actually a serial killer who became demented due to the horrific abuse he'd suffered as a youngster. Ryan terrorized Felicia Jones (Kristina Wagner) because she reminded him of his mother, who was the one to ruin his childhood. Ryan was obsessed with Felicia for decades to come.
Then, after years of playing cat and mouse with her, as well as Mac Scorpio (John J. York), and Ryan's twin brother, psychiatrist Kevin Collins (also Lindstrom), he was presumed dead in an explosion at a funhouse in 1995. As these things tend to go on soap operas, Ryan wasn't really dead, of course, and had been working for the nefarious spy organization, the DVX. But Ryan turned out to be too evil even for the sinister syndicate, and they secretly handed him over to Kevin.
In the hopes of curing his brother's psychosis, Kevin put Ryan into Ferncliff. But Ryan managed to free himself of his bonds, subdue Kevin, and take his place — leaving him bound in a padded cell. Ryan took on Kevin's life but was almost discovered when Kevin's wife, Laura Collins (Genie Francis), started noticing his behavior was off. Ryan, as Kevin, quickly divorced Laura. Meanwhile, Ava Jerome (Maura West), a former mobster who had committed a murder or two herself in the past, was seeking psychiatric help.
Ava unwittingly revealed her darkest thoughts to Ryan
Ava Jerome was upset because, shortly after she dumped her boyfriend, Dr. Griffin Munro (Matt Cohen), he had an affair with her daughter, Kiki Jerome (Hayley Erin). Despite her criminal past, this was Ava's reason for seeking counseling. Ava had no idea that Kevin Collins was really Ryan Chamberlain when she shared with him her innermost and darkest thoughts — including that she wished Kiki could be punished for her indiscretion. Ryan saw Ava's dark side and felt they were kindred spirits, and she became his new obsession.
Shortly thereafter, Kiki was found stabbed to death in her apartment — the handiwork of Ryan, who thought he was helping Ava. Around the same time, a woman named Mary Pat Ingles (Patricia Bethune) tried bribing Kevin because she knew he had Ryan tucked away at Ferncliff. However, Ryan took this opportunity to once again feed into his own dark desires. He cut Mary Pat's head off and it later, quite literally, turned up in a tub of apples for bobbing at The Floating Rib restaurant's Halloween party.
As the police attempted to find out who was running around murdering people in Port Charles, they called in whom they believed was Kevin for help. Ryan took advantage of the situation, diverting attention from himself. He even killed a documentary filmmaker who had stumbled upon his secret. Ava, still unaware that Ryan was impersonating Kevin, fell in love with her daughter's killer.
Ava was disturbed to finally learn the truth about Kevin
Eventually, "Kevin" asked Ava to marry him, and she happily agreed. Meanwhile, Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth), boasted on television that he was the one committing the murders, claiming that he was working with the police to lure the killer out. Enraged that Franco was taking credit for his work, Ryan stabbed Franco, subsequently throwing Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright) into his car's trunk. Then he took Ava to Niagara Falls so they could be wed.
Meanwhile, Ava discovered Carly tied up in the trunk, but the killer fast-talked her into going into his nearby cabin while he dealt with what he deemed was her "wedding present." Ava began to get worried that "Kevin" had some kind of mental breakdown. Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) and Laura Collins traced Ryan to his cabin and found it empty. Jason then followed Ryan to a footbridge between the US and Canada. There, he spotted Ryan dragging Ava, who struggled because she realized something wasn't right.
Jason shot Ryan in the shoulder, so the killer grabbed Ava and leaped off the bridge with her. Luckily, Jason was able to snatch Ava from the jaws of death and pulled her back up onto the bridge. Laura caught up to them, explaining to a devastated Ava that Ryan had taken Kevin's place. Ava was horrified when Laura told her it had been that way for months. Ryan was presumed dead but eventually returned to continue his evil work.