The Most Shocking Plot Twists That Have Ever Happened On General Hospital
Sometimes the most thrilling thing about watching soaps is the element of surprise that comes with it. While fans could only guess what was about to happen in any given story during the genre's early years, weekly soap opera magazines and websites that publish spoilers for your favorite daytime dramas have since taken some of the surprise out of watching plots play out. Still, that doesn't mean you won't see jaw-dropping moments that even spoilers couldn't capture.
Sometimes, if a show is careful enough to not allow its cast members to post certain things on social media, the story stays safe in the minds of the writers and with the creativity of the cast and crew, making shocking moments happen more frequently. As 2022 began, "General Hospital" was already giving us plot twists we never expected when Tracy Quartermaine showed up on Laura's doorstep to tell her Luke Spencer was dead, according to Soap Hub. This was something fans didn't see coming, as word that Jane Elliott would be returning never leaked.
Of course, there have been other shocking plot twists through the years that keep fans coming back for more.
Faison is alive -- in a Duke Lavery mask
At one time, Cesar Faison (Anders Hove), most commonly known as just Faison, was one of the most reviled villains in "General Hospital" history and his obsession with Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) was both creepy and legendary. All Faison wanted was for Anna to love him in that sick sort of way he loved her, but things didn't work out quite the way he wanted. And that wasn't for lack of trying.
In 2012, when Faison was presumed dead, he made a return to Port Charles, but he didn't even remotely look like himself. Instead, he was wearing a latex mask that made him look like Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan), a man Anna truly loved for much of her life, despite him being presumed dead frequently. At the time, Anna believed that Duke was back in her life — as did the audience — so imagine everyone's shock when 'Duke' peeled his away and revealed Faison's face (via TV Guide). That's a shock fans and poor Anna will never forget.
BJ dies and her heart goes to Maxie
There wasn't a dry eye in the house when "General Hospital" character BJ Jones was in a school bus accident early one morning and was presumed brain dead. The story was both sad and stunning because nobody saw it coming. Fans were already devastatingly sad watching BJ's cousin, Maxie Jones (then played by Robyn Richards, now Kirsten Storms as an adult), suffer from a rare heart ailment called Kawasaki's Disease, according to Soaps In Depth.
But BJ's death was not for nothing. She was declared brain dead, but her organs were fine so Maxie was able to receive her heart (via Soap Hub) and go on living into adulthood where she would be played by Kirsten Storms who took the character from manipulator to headstrong and flighty heroine who can never stop making mistakes. Although the story took place in 1994, "GH" will often harken back to the past as Maxie remembers the cousin who allowed her to live.
The most evil Cassadine of them all is...not very evil at all
For years, Port Charles residents and "General Hospital" fans heard about the infamous Valentin Cassadine, who was supposed to be the most evil Cassadine of them all, and that says a lot considering the villains and villainesses who came from this fictional family. When Valentin finally did show up on screen in mid-2016, he did indeed seem ruthless and evil as he shot Nikolas Cassadine (then played by Nick Stabile, now Marcus Coloma, per Distractify) who then fell off a balcony, presumably dead (via Soaps In Depth). But, thanks to James Patrick Stuart's nuanced and layered portrayal of the character, we slowly started seeing his good side no matter how much he tried to hide it.
In 2022, Valentin is now one of the soap's leading men who is not all good and not all bad. He can be ruthless against the right people when he wants to be, but can also be vulnerable with his daughter, Charlotte, as well as with Anna Devane (Finola Hughes), the woman Valentin has always loved (via Soaps In Depth).
Jason and Carly get married
Fans felt like they had whiplash in 2021 when longtime best friends Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) and Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright) decided to get married ostensibly to protect their mafia business after Carly's husband, Sonny (Maurice Benard) was presumed dead. But it wasn't the marriage that gave people whiplash. Instead, it was the fact that the two characters who had not had a romantic relationship with one another since the 1990s decided they were madly in love and always had been, prompting them to declare their wedding the real deal, according to TV Insider.
Carly and Jason had been BFFs who always put the other first for so long that taking them out of the friend zone and playing them as a romantic couple was quite a shock. Watching them wed with their family and friends around them like they were always a normal couple was something fans did not see coming at all because it was all so sudden. First, they were planning a marriage of convenience and then they were in love, but when Sonny turned up alive the day they wed, the wedding night was definitely ruined (via Soap Hub).