What Happened to Esme on GENERAL HOSPITAL
Esme Prince started out on GENERAL HOSPITAL as an eavesdropping nurse and turned into so much more! Avery Kristen Pohl made her debut in the Aug. 16, 2021, episode but it wasn’t until the Aug. 19 episode when she revealed her name and things really took off! Viewers might recognize the actress from the Lifetime movies My Daughter’s Psycho Friend and Expecting Amish or her appearances in TV series like CRIMINAL MINDS and DIRTY JOHN. And while Pohl’s run came to an end in January 2024, who knows what the future might hold?
A young woman in scrubs followed Laura Collins as she entered Kevin Collins’ office, but stopped just outside the door to listen as they talked with Ava Jerome about Nikolas Cassadine’s scheme to pretend to leave Port Charles while actually staying behind to trick Spencer Cassadine into confessing that he was the stalker. Then, she continued eavesdropping on Ava as she chatted with Portia Robinson and smirked as her target headed to the parking garage… where she found her car on fire! (And Kiki’s hospital ID badge nearby, just to add to the fear factor…)
The nurse then showed up in a lovely party dress at Wyndemere where she interrupted a moment between Spencer and Trina Robinson to introduce herself as his girlfriend, Esme Prince! After Trina had left, Esme revealed to Spencer that she’d been trailing Ava and set fire to her car to take the heat off of him! Spencer was irritated that she’d gone so far, but she thought he wanted Ava and his father to pay.
Esme joined Spencer for a visit to Spring Ridge to visit his aunt, Alexis Davis, and while there, seemed unusually intrigued with another inmate/patient — Ryan Chamberlin! She even tried to communicate with Ryan with Harmony’s help! Trina was naturally suspicious of Esme and enlisted Cameron Webber and Josslyn Jacks‘ help in setting a trap to prove she was up to no good. But when the truth came out, Spencer took the blame for stalking Ava and kept Esme’s name out of it. She also got a job at Spring Ridge and spent more time with Ryan.
Esme continued to be jealous of Spencer’s closeness with Trina and attempted to sabotage her big night at the gallery, but it backfired. So she suggested that they all enjoy a ski weekend away before Spencer had to serve his sentence. But at the cabin, Esme drugged Trina’s hot toddy and instigated a drinking game to humiliate her rival. Worse, she set up a camera to record Cameron and Josslyn’s first time and later leaked the sex tape online, framing Trina for the crime!
After being blocked from seeing Ryan, Esme finally made it back to his side and began calling him “Daddy” as she reaffirmed her loyalty to him and he reminded her of their mission to drive Nikolas and Ava apart. Esme began manipulating Nikolas into defending her when she was accused of framing Trina, and even convinced him to let her move into Wyndemere with Spencer. Things got complicated when Spencer found a pregnancy test, but when she finally took it, it was negative.
Esme continued cozying up to Nikolas, opening up about her difficult childhood and her adoptive parents and siblings who became distant after the parents died. She also mentioned a nanny named Maggie, but claimed they lost touch when Esme went to boarding school. However, they were still exchanging letters and Maggie warned her to stay away from her father!
Esme appreciated Nikolas continuing to defend her, unaware that Spencer was onto her and digging up dirt to prove she’d framed Trina. She continued wedging her way in between Nik and Ava, eventually getting the Cassadine to succumb to temptation and sleep with her! When Kevin ordered her to stay away from Ryan, Esme refused and was furious when he had her fired from Spring Ridge. When Oz approached Esme and demanded money for his silence about selling her the burner phone she’d used to set up Trina, she drugged the guy and put him in a coma! Spencer concocted a plan to offer Esme the name of her birth mother in exchange for exonerating Trina, but she argued that she couldn’t do that without ending up in Jail herself. Having used Nikolas to use his connections to get her back into Spring Ridge, Esme visited Ryan, who told her he was never able to find the real name of her mother so he doubted Spencer had.
Refusing to take Spencer’s deal, Esme found herself confronted by Oz, who demanded money for selling her the burner phone she used to record the video and frame Trina. But Esme drugged him and left him for dead as she beat a hasty retreat. However, Ava intercepted the schemer and their confrontation turned violent leading to a struggle that sent Esme sailing over the parapet at Wyndemere like so many before her! Nikolas searched for her body but came up empty, so he and Ava agreed to keep their mouths shut and make it look like Esme had left town as planned.
In October, Esme resurfaced, lurking around Port Charles in a hoodie, and recorded Victor and Valentin threatening Nikolas. She then paid a visit to Ryan and told her father that she had a new plan to destroy the Cassadines and push Ava into his waiting arms. While he liked her new scheme, Ryan blasted Esme for attacking Ava with a hook. She denied being The Hook, but after she left to take care of another obstacle, Oz was murdered by the serial killer! When Nikolas caught Esme in Wyndemere, he was stunned to discover she was pregnant with his baby and locked her away in an abandoned wing of the estate until she gave birth.
During an escape attempt, Esme was caught by Elizabeth Webber and forced to knock her out. But Nikolas brought her back inside and that got Liz wrapped up in the whole scheme. Esme attempted to trick them into bringing her to the hospital, but the nurse saw through her lies. Eventually, she tricked Nikolas’ henchman, Demetrius, into setting up a candlelight dinner so she could swipe a match and set fire to her artificial Christmas tree. When Nikolas tried to thwart her latest escape attempt, she jumped off the parapet!
Esme eventually resurfaced on The Haunted Star, startling Spencer and Trina. She was brought to the hospital suffering from hypothermia, and when she woke up, was stunned to learn she was pregnant, as she was also suffering from amnesia! While some suspected Esme of faking her memory loss, she was horrified by what people were accusing her of.
Esme was sent to Spring Ridge until her trial where Heather Webber tried to strike up a friendship. She also stopped Esme from signing over custody of the child to its father, Nikolas. When Ryan and Heather broke out of Spring Ridge, they took Esme along, and she was horrified to learn that they were her parents. On Spoon Island, Heather was revealed as The Hook, Ryan was shot dead by Mac, and Esme gave birth to a baby boy she named Ace.
After Trina dropped the charges, Esme was released and she and Ace moved in with Laura and Kevin… and also Spencer. Victor Cassadine had Esme assaulted and Ace abducted as part of his master plan. Once the villain was defeated, Esme was overjoyed to be reunited with her son. She also got a job working for Alexis Davis at The Invader. She and Spencer attended parenting classes together and she began having feelings for him. But with Nikolas missing, Spencer tried to take over as Ace’s father which caused clashes with Esme. Especially when she decided it would be best for everyone if she and Ace got a place of their own!
Eventually, Spencer was convinced to let Esme move into an apartment with Baby Ace and act more like his brother than his father. Esme attempted to make nice with Trina, who wasn’t really having it, and was stunned to later have a flash of memory from last Christmas when she was kidnapped. Leaving Ace with Spencer, Esme sneaked into Wyndemere and nosed around, eventually recovering all of her memories! At first horrified, Esme then visited Heather, who was delighted to finally meet her real daughter, and urged her not to tell anyone she remembered everything.
At Laura’s urging, Esme confessed to breaking into Wyndemere, and Ava insisted on pressing charges. She was relieved to get off with a slap on the wrist but then furious to discover that Spencer had figured out she’d gotten her memories back and given Ace to Nikolas for the kid’s own safety. Esme knocked out Kevin and made a run for it, leading everyone on a wild goose chase to Canada while she followed Spencer and Trina to Paris, confronting them on a cruise ship. She’d hoped to drug Spencer and trade him to Nikolas for Ace, but in the struggle, Spencer pushed her overboard and they were both presumed dead.
Stay tuned to GH to see if that’s really the last we see of Esme!
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