Let’s face it: When General Hospital resurrected Nathan, most viewers began counting down to his seemingly inevitable reunion with Maxie. Sure, we knew Spinelli would be devastated if (when?) his beloved Maximista returned to Nathan upon waking up from her coma. Worse, with Steve Burton about to take an extended hiatus, Spinelli wouldn’t even have Stone Cold to lean on!

But then, things took an unexpected turn in the episode airing Monday, February 23 (recapped here): After reuniting with Nathan, Maxie went to see Spinelli to announce that he, not the resurrected hunk, was the man she loved.

After picking our jaws up off the ground, we were preparing to raise a toast to our beloved Spixie when the truth hit us like the proverbial truck: The man wandering around claiming to be Nathan isn’t the real deal. In fact, he’s probably a resurrected Peter.

The evidence was right there, staring us in the face. Let’s parse out the clues, shall we?

First, there was Nathan and Maxie’s reunion, which creepily enough took place at the site of his empty grave. What better way for the writers to not-so-subtly tell us that this man is a fake?

Then there was Maxie admitting  that she only fell for Peter because she was so devastated by Nathan’s death. Suddenly, we were more sure than ever that not only was the man to whom she confessed not Nathan, but that he is, in fact, Peter.

Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.

Something tells us that by choosing Spinelli — and dissing Peter to what we suspect is his mask-wearing face — Maxie just set in motion the next phase of this plot. Will “Nathan” find a way to dispose of Spinelli in order to reclaim Maxie? And if this really is a disguised Peter, is Nathan truly dead… or being kept alive out there somewhere, read to do exactly what his look-alike did and return from the grave yet again?