Top 10 Most Dramatic General Hospital Moments
#10: Clink-Boom
Port Charles’ resident mob boss, Sonny Corinthos, spent much of the 90s locking horns with Jasper Jacks over Brenda Barrett. Just when it seemed he may be able to get over Brenda, Sonny’s wife Lily and their unborn child are killed in a car bomb planted by a criminal rival. The moment just happened to coincide with Brenda and Jacks’ wedding. A clever and shocking match cut between the clinking of the happy couple’s champagne glasses and the deadly explosion illustrated one of “General Hospital’s” most enduring truths. Even when someone gets their fairy tale ending, it usually comes at someone else’s expense.
#9: Luke’s Hit-and-Run
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Luke Spencer has done some fairly questionable things over his tenure at “General Hospital.” When his grandson, Jake Webber, was run down in a hit-and-run accident and declared brain-dead, few could have imagined that Luke would turn out to be the hit-and-run driver. Even Luke was shocked, as he was too intoxicated to even remember. Having to face the fact that his drinking has led to the death of his own flesh and blood and ruined his son, Lucky’s life, was enough to bring even cavalier Luke Spencer to his knees. The ensuing intervention, when Luke’s loved ones literally strap him to a chair and make him face his addiction, is probably not the most professional, but it is one of the most entertaining.
#8: Tracy Quartermaine Refuses Her Father’s Medication
The Quartermaines are not exactly the warmest, most cuddly family ever put on screen. There’s a lot of money to protect, after all. In this classic “GH” moment, Tracy thought it was finally her time to control the family’s massive funds when her father suffered what seemed like a fatal heart attack. The black-hearted heiress let him lie there, refusing his requests for medication. But it turns out to be a classic Quartermaine mind game. Edward was just faking his heart attack to test her loyalty, and having exposed her treachery, disinherits his daughter instead. Tracy could be the most vindictive person on the show at times, but it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for her. After all, she comes by it honestly.
#7: Robin Comes Back
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Viewers watched Robin Scorpio grow up before their eyes, as actress Kimberly McCullough is one of the few soap opera actors not to undergo “soap opera rapid aging syndrome.” So when Robin disappeared and was thought dead, it really did feel like losing a member of the family. Even her husband, Dr. Patrick Drake had moved on by the time she reappeared, making her grand reappearance at his wedding, no less! It’s a touching moment for everyone in the room, except maybe Sabrina, Patrick’s fiancée. Like the best soap opera moments, there are lots of competing emotions in the room, and you feel for just about everyone.
#6: Metro Court Hostage Crisis
When masked gunmen held up the Metro Court Hotel in a major “Sweeps Month” storyline, it was hard to know what to expect. The incredibly sadistic Jerry Jacks led the team of criminals, taunting their hostages and nearly killing several beloved regular cast members. Leaving many of the characters either in grave danger or fighting to stop the armed gunmen, it was one of those disaster storylines that threw everyone into the mix. The strain of the event was too much for longtime character Alan Quartermaine, as he would suffer a fatal heart attack that would leave all of Port Charles reeling.
#5: Jason Loses His Memory
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Even before his drastic personality change, Jason Quartermaine was one of “GH’s” most popular characters. He was the handsome and smart Quartermaine golden boy. That is until the car accident caused by his ne’er-do-well brother, AJ. From that point on, he suffered a case of amnesia that transformed him into the stoic, hard-headed Jason Morgan. The Quartermaines were forced to watch Jason throw away his future as a doctor at the titular hospital for a life of crime and murder with mobster Sonny Corinthos. His descent into a life of crime was tragic, but it was also a popular storyline with viewers. Even when Jason reconnected with his dynastic family, he never really felt a part of them again.
#4: Elizabeth’s Attack
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One of the most heartbreaking storylines in “GH” history found young Elizabeth Webber frightened and bruised in the woods after being attacked by an unknown man. The boy she’s crushing on, Lucky Spencer, finds her. The show won awards and acclaim for how it handled the complicated and achingly relevant storyline. However, it also forced the show, and its characters, to address the most scandalous chapter of its famous supercouple’s history. When Lucky confronts his parents, Luke and Laura Spencer, about a similar event in their past, it forces everyone to reconsider one of the uglier plots the show had tried to paper over.
#3: BJ’s Heart
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Circumstances collided in this 1994 storyline involving an automobile accident and a girl in need of a heart transplant. Dr. Tony Jones and Bobbie Spencer had to come to terms with the devastating fact that their daughter, Barbara Jean, was not going to recover from her injuries. Tony must put aside his parental grief to ensure his patient, Maxie Jones, received his own daughter’s heart. The emotional rollercoaster sends shockwaves through General Hospital. The scenes where Felicia Jones learns the truth about her daughter’s new heart and Tony listens to his daughter’s heartbeat in Maxie’s chest still rank among the show’s biggest tearjerkers.
#2: Stone’s Death
Teen romance can be tragic, but this one was also incredibly timely. “General Hospital” won acclaim and respect with its incredibly impactful story about teenager Stone Cates’ death from AIDS-related illness. His romance with Robin Scorpio, who also contracted HIV, made for an especially tearful deathbed scene. Their last moments together have Stone briefly regaining his eyesight one last time before succumbing to his illness. The highly praised storyline won its actors recognition from the Daytime Emmy Awards. Robin Scorpio has been a welcome and all-too-rare example of a character able to live and thrive despite her diagnosis.
#1: Luke & Laura’s Wedding
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Luke Spencer and Laura Webber had gone through a lot in just two short years. They had spent a summer evading a mafia hitman, saved the world from an evil weather machine, and incurred the wrath of underworld figures who would dog them for decades. They practically invented the soap opera supercouple. At the end of it all, their fairy tale wedding drew millions of viewers and headlines all over the world. Things weren’t all sunshine and roses, though. Laura’s ex-husband Scotty ended up crashing the party, and Elizabeth Taylor’s eccentric villain, Helena Cassadine placed a curse on the couple at the altar. It became a defining moment not just in daytime, but in all of television.
What classic “GH” moment got you in your feels? Cry us a river in the comments.
