General Hospital Fans Have A Bone To Pick With Esme's 'Redemption' Story
In certain instances, soap opera villains can be redeemed. On "General Hospital," Esme Prince (Avery Pohl) has often been described as evil for her litany of crimes. But since she got amnesia while escaping imprisonment at the hands of Nikolas Cassadine (first Marcus Coloma, then Adam Huss), her punishment has been in question. Esme gave birth to Nikolas' baby, naming them Ace, and while some characters still doubt the veracity of her memory loss, others feel she's telling the truth. In a stroke of brilliance, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) — whom Esme had previously framed for a crime she didn't commit — realized that Esme raising a baby in jail was not good for the child. She and her friends, who were also victims of Esme's crimes, agreed that it was better to drop the charges, freeing Esme and Ace and waiting until she regains her memory in order to prosecute her.
One of the said victims, Cameron Webber (William Lipton), was honest with Esme about their plan, and she was glad he didn't mince words. He then told her the story of how his late step-father, Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth), had done some awful deeds but managed to redeem himself. Cameron is leaving to pursue college at Stanford University in California, and invited Esme and Ace to his going away party — much to the chagrin of nearly everyone there.
The fans shared some strong opinions about Esme stepping onto the path of redemption.
Most fans still aren't on team Esme
"Esme's presence at Cameron's going away party isn't exactly a welcome one. Can he get his friends and family to play nice?" was the caption on a "General Hospital" Tweet account of a picture of Esme Prince holding baby Ace. "This party should have been a great emotional send-off for Cameron instead of more coddling of Esme and this crazy redemption story. My only hope is that this is some sort of misdirection and she's been playing everyone this entire time!" replied one fan, while another indignantly responded, "Esme hasn't even sincerely apologized to anyone. Her excuse is 'I don't remember.' That doesn't make her sympathetic."
An irritated viewer replied, "I'm not trusting Cameron's motives as he shared the plan to get her back in prison with her. This came out of nowhere. I didn't like the whole scene involving him and Esme! If this was his final move on GH it could have been much better than this. Bored to tears!" One fan felt going to Cam's party was an important step forward on Esme's road to redemption, stating, "Cam being more like his Grandma Laura [Collins, played by Genie Francis] than Spencer [Cassadine, played by Nicholas Chavez], Esme's presence was awkward & intrusive BUT TO ME a necessary move."
And a viewer who saw potential chemistry between Cam and Esme wrote, "I always thought Esme and Cameron would make a cute couple. I Love this."