General Hospital Recap: Ava Gets Some Bad News, Nina And Franco Team Up With Fluke, #Naxie Vs. #Spixie

General Hospital tapped right back into that same emotional vein from last week, giving us a good amount of family drama with Ava Jerome’s memorial service as well as giving us laughter in the form of Franco and Nina Reeves’ comedic plays. These strong storylines were on the front burner this week so the week passed by smoothly, showing that there doesn’t always have to be bullets flying to keep things exciting in Port Charles. Let’s check out what went down last week!

Resurrected and it feels so good

For a show that constantly brings on complaints of its bloated cast, there’s no denying that there is a wealth of talent there that we may forget from time to time in the midst of our complaints. Maura West starring as Ava Jerome hit every single ball out of the park – and in most scenes, she didn’t even have lines! Just a few months ago, some viewers had felt that Ava was being written into an unlikable corner, that her constant pot stirring hand in every storyline would be her downfall; I truly hope that this last week on General Hospital made the naysayers eat their words. Unless you’re dead or undead, not feeling even an ounce of sympathy for the once vile Ava Jerome this last week has to be impossible!

For all intents and purposes, Ava Jerome had been dead for the last few weeks. After a botched prison escape, mob shootout and topple over a bridge, no one back in Port Charles had any hope for her survival. Her few family members had resigned themselves with the fact that she was dead and were planning a memorial only for her to appear again in New York City, unbeknownst to them, after being rescued by Silas Clay. Call her whatever you want but there’s no denying that Ava is a survivor in every sense of the word. Silas seems to be the only one who remembers that as he watches over her from her hospital bed, worrying that she may try to escape to see her family – especially when she learns Kiki Jerome is in the city for her memorial at her mother, Delia Ryan’s bar. Using that good old Ava Jerome charm, she manages to convince Silas that she won’t act up but as soon as he has to slip away, she’s making a move to head out especially after finding out that Avery too has come to the city. The opportunist in her strikes and Ava makes a quick exit, slipping away to Ryan’s Bar to ironically watch her family mourn her death and even more ironically profess their love for her in death though in life those emotions leaned more toward hatred. Still, these were probably the most gripping scenes this entire week as you really felt for Ava as she had to watch and listen in on her family’s tear-filled speeches in her honor. Even Morgan Corinthos stood up to speak, recounting their tumultuous affair from two years ago with an almost fond tone (can we please have more of them?). There was no dialogue on Ava’s end but it was evidently unnecessary when every bit of heartache and pain was conveyed through expression. It was taking all Ava had in her to not spring forth from the shadows to announce her resurrection, so she waited for the most opportune moment to make her move – as usual.

With mother Delia and daughter Avery alone in the cleared out bar, Ava makes her reappearance much to her mother’s surprise. She has to explain everything her former lover Silas has done to help her to keep her mother from thinking she’s hallucinating, and after a bit of a disagreement with Silas who shows up at the right time, Delia begins to understand. Both Silas and Ava are sorry for making her an accomplice in their plan but Delia doesn’t mind thus proving her ride or die mother status. Like there was any question to that! The reunion is sweet up until Ava tries to leave with baby Avery in her arms. She thinks it’s the perfect time for her to slip away with her daughter as long as her mother comes up with a good lie to tell Kiki and Morgan. But no one is having that, even as Ava begins to dissolve into tears about not being able to be with her daughter since she’s been born. It takes some time but her two loved ones manage to console Ava enough to get Avery back just as Morgan and Kiki return. By then, Silas and Ava have returned to the hospital where she laments over not being able to be in her youngest daughter’s life at all. The more Silas tells her of the impossible nature of her situation, the more fire up Ava is, pulling strength from the powerful eulogies from her memorial service. She vows to find a way to be with her family, to come out ahead as always only to be informed by Silas that she’s dying!

What a kick in the gut! If this was the Silas Clay from last year, I wouldn’t even imagine he’d be the type to crank out a fake diagnosis but with his latest dealings in harboring convicts, one could only hope this morally gray Silas is only telling Ava this to keep her in line. There’s no way we could really be losing her for real this time, right? Do you think that an illness will be the true downfall of Ava Jerome? Or is Silas Clay misdiagnosing his baby’s mother to keep her in check?