2025 saw an explosive kick-off to the new year on General Hospital with Sonny’s penthouse getting blown to pieces. Joss found a new calling in life, Carly found and lost love, and Faison was back in a big way! Plus, Drew became the most hated man in Port Charles and almost got what he deserved. As the year wound down, we said a sad goodbye to Monica Quartermaine, but the family also welcomed its newest member, Brook Lynn and Dante’s son, Gio. As we ring in the New Year, we still don’t know who shot Drew, nor who Sidwell’s secret partner is, and what Faison’s final plan really is. Finally, join us for a sneak peek into what 2026 is bound to bring!

2025 Began With a Bang

The year started with a bang as a bomb sent Sonny’s penthouse up in flames, but it was his son, Michael, who was almost taken out in the explosion. After suffering severe burns all over his body, Michael was shipped off to a top-notch clinic in Germany, setting up a battle over the custody of his kids between Carly, the Quartermaines, and his cheating wife, Willow! Of course, we still haven’t gotten a clear answer on who bombed the penthouse, but all signs point to Sidwell or his mysterious partner in crime.

Special Agent Joss Jacks

One mystery solved this year was who the General Hospital digitalis killer was. It was Cyrus who took out Sam and others on a self-appointed mission from God to save their souls from pain and suffering. After he killed Dex Heller, who was onto him, Joss took the law into her own hands, with help from WSB Agent Jack Brennan. Once she took Cyrus out, Brennan had the crime scene cleaned, and he persuaded Joss that she was just the type of agent the WSB needed.

After she went through training with Agent Vaughn, whom she fell hard for, he and Joss were assigned their first case: The mystery of Professor Henry Dalton and what he’s doing in his secret PCU lab! Oh, we also got an actor swap, as Charles Mesure left the role and Chris L. Mckenna stepped in as the new Jack Brennan.

Lulu Took a Wrecking Ball to 2025!

Lulu spent much of the year burning bridges. She all but abandoned her son, Rocco, early on to chase after Valentin and Charlotte. Then, when she learned her old nemesis, Brook Lynn, had a baby in high school whom she had given up for adoption, she was determined to find out the truth, given that Dante was the father. Oh yeah, Dante didn’t know about any of this!

The truth was closer than anyone knew! Brook Lynn’s mother, Lois, and her grandmother, Gloira, who were the ones to help her secretly put her child up for adoption, wanted to keep the child close, so they gave her son to a family friend, Camilla Palmieri. Yes, Gio was her son, who had been living under the same roof as her for almost a year! The truth came out at the worst possible time, right before Gio’s big final performance at The Nurses Ball. Gio smashed his violin and exposed the truth, and the parents he felt never wanted him.

A Renewed Feud — and a Truce

Gio spent months in anger trying to deal with the truth. He felt Brook Lynn had just given him up, and even though Dante never knew about him, their relationship had become strained as Dante blamed Gio for letting Rocco get dangerously drunk at a PCU party. Of course, this was not Gio’s doing at all, but Dante needed someone to blame.

Brook Lynn set out to hurt Lulu using her son, Rocco, and planned to reveal to the boy the truth about his conception and Britt’s part in it all, which he had no clue about. Even though she opted not to go through with it, Danny and Rocco discovered her evidence folder, and the truth devastated Rocco. He began distancing himself from his parents and reached out to Dr Obrecht, who returned to Port Charles to tell Rocco about her beloved, but imperfect, Britta. Of course, things were about to get much worse for Lulu when The Britch herself returned from the dead!

But then tragedy struck when Maxie suffered a heart attack that sent her into a coma. The cause remained a mystery, but it was Sidwell who was, in fact, behind it, having poisoned a face cream product Maxie was showcasing for Deception on the Home & Heart channel. Natalia Ramirez discovered that some of Sonny’s investments in the company weren’t as clean as they appeared. Maxie was the one who wanted to go to the police, which Sidwell couldn’t allow, as it might destroy the company he was using as a front to ship all sorts of unknown materials. Maxie was sent to a special hospital in Boston, and Lulu and Brook Lynn put aside their differences to help Spinelli and Felicia care for Maxie’s children.

Affairs of the Heart

Sonny had developed a serious heart condition, which he was keeping secret so his enemies couldn’t use it against him. One person privy to his condition was Natalia, whom he had become close to. Unfortunately for him, Natalia had a secret: Sidwell. Sonny’s newest nemesis was her ex-husband. They also shared a son, Marco, who had happened to meet and fall in love with Lucas Jones. Marco was estranged from his notoriously homophobic mother because, like his half-sister Blaze, she didn’t approve of his “lifestyle.”

Sidwell forced Natalia to tell him all about Sonny’s condition. Things went from bad to worse for Sonny when the new Acting D.A., Justine Turner, set her sights on bringing down the coffee importer, and she wanted to use the bookkeeper and the Deception CFO to expose his dirty investments. Sonny arranged for Natalia to relocate to Costa Rica with a new life and identity. Unfortunately, when she realized Sonny wasn’t coming with her, a bottle of pills and booze led to an accidental overdose. An enraged Marco has blamed Sonny for his mother’s death and still wants to see him dead to this very day.

Willow’s World Implodes

Willow was hopeful that, with Michael recovering from his burns in Germany, she’d get custody of their children and could live happily ever after with Drew. That wasn’t to be when Michael returned, fully healed, right at the conclusion of 2025’s Nurses Ball. Young & Restless vet Rory Gibson took over the role from Chad Duell, and he and Willow faced off in court.

Thanks to Sidwell bribing the judge, whom he planned to frame Sonny for doing, Michael won custody, and Willow’s increasingly disturbing antics cost her the right to see her children pending the next custody hearing. That got delayed when Sidwell had to dispose of the panicking judge, who wanted to come forward about the bribe. That’s yet another murder that has gone unsolved in Port Charles…

Drew then convinced Willow that their only shot was for her to marry him and show the world they could provide a loving, stable home for her and Michael’s kids. Desperate to stop the wedding, Nina teamed up with Carly for a hot minute, and later worked with Portia, whom Drew was blackmailing over her tampering with Heather Weber’s cobalt poisoning test results. Nina and the doctor hired an escort, Jacinda, to drug Drew with Ketamine and be discovered together in bed by Willow. Needless to say, their plan blew up in their faces, and Willow believed Drew was set up.

On her wedding day to Drew, determined to pay back the congressman for blackmailing his wife, Curtis informed Willow moments before she was to say “I do” that Drew had an affair with Nina at the same time the congressman was seducing Willow away from Michael. The wedding did not happen, as Willow confronted Drew at the altar and spiraled further out of control.

So Long Sasha

Sasha was desperate to hide the fact that the baby she was carrying was Michael’s, as she didn’t want the dangers of being a Quartermaine and a Cortinthos heaped upon her child. Michael, too, realized that the fact that he cheated on his wife (who cheated on him first) could hurt his chances in his custody battle with Willow, so Jason stepped up to pretend to be the father of the baby. The truth, however, was exposed in court during the custody battle, and Sasha also went into labor due to the stress, but safely gave birth to baby Daisy. The real shocker was that Willow helped deliver the baby!

That’s when Willow really began to lose touch with reality. Deciding if she couldn’t see her kids, Michael and Sasha, shouldn’t be able to be happy with Daisy. Willow began gaslighting Sasha, moving Daisy around the Quartermaine mansion, and changing her clothing. Eventually, Obrecht, Nina, and Michael realized what Willow was doing, but had no real proof. To keep Sasha and Daisy safe, it was decided that they would move in with her parents, Robert and Emma, who had settled in Australia. Perhaps one day, Sasha will return?

Kristina Goes Crazy!

After Ric Lansing, who was back in town, got Ava acquitted of the charges brought against her in the wrongful death of Kristina and Molly’s unborn child, Kristina was out for revenge. She thought she had cut the brakes on Ava’s SUV, only to have tampered with the brakes on Ric’s car. Ric and Elizabeth were almost killed in the subsequent accident, and when Ava and Ric figured out it was Kristina’s doing, they blackmailed Alexis to keep her daughter out of prison. Alexis was forced to embezzle from Ace Cassadine’s trust fund to pay them.

However, Ava and Ric’s greed eventually led them to turn on one another, and after Ava bludgeoned Ric in Alexis’ living room, she, Alexis and Kristina were forced to work together. They kept Ric ball-gagged and strapped to a gurney in Alexis’s basement, while also drugging him. They worked to return all the money, save for Ava’s divorce settlement, to Ace’s estate. When Ric finally managed to free himself, they all struck a deal to forget everything, as if one of them went down, they’d all go down! Oh, as for how Ric’s month-long disappearance was explained? He went on a digital detox retreat, only to find out he had been sucked into an Ayahuasca cult!

Still Un-Lucky In Love

Even though Lucky and Elizabeth tried to give their relationship another shot, Elizabeth realized it would never work out, as Lucky was a wanderer. She didn’t want him to come to resent her for making him settle down again. Lucky was able to reconnect with his mother and sister in Port Charles and eventually left in the summer of 2025 to backpack across Europe with his son, Aiden. The boy is still in Europe with his father, who we can only assume is homeschooling him, seeing as school is back in session. And even though Lucky’s return and storyline were a bust, it still earned portrayer Jonathan Jackson another Daytime Emmy.

Everyone Hates Drew

Drew became Port Charles’ most hated resident this year, racking up an impressive list of dastardly deeds. To name a few, he tried to tear down the Quartermaine crypt, he framed Tracy for drugging him with Ketamine, he manipulated little Wiley into thinking his dad didn’t want him and Amelia anymore now that he had new baby Daisy, and he teamed up with Sidwell and Ezra Boyle to try and take Sonny’s piers away from him using a public vote, but also to get Ezra elected mayor over Laura. He, of course, failed in all of these.

As previously mentioned he was blackmailing Portia to force Curtis to use Aurora to give him good publicity, when that failed, he tried to have Curtis’ Aunt Stella jailed for insurance fraud. He also stole the Quartermaine family heirlooms, and after a confrontation with Ned, walked away from the Quartermaine patriarch as he suffered a heart attack and almost died. So, is it any surprise someone finally had enough and tried to kill Drew by shooting him in the back, not once, but twice?

Here’s Ronnie!

The very beginning of 2025 saw the death of beloved General Hospital actress Leslie Charleson, who played Dr. Monica Quartermaine since 1977. The show finally addressed the character’s death in the fall, which also saw One Life to Live veteran actress Erika Slezak joining the soap as Ronnie Bard, Monica’s long-lost sister. Tracy immediately accused her of being a fraud or out for a cash grab, but that wasn’t the case. However, Tracy’s treatment of Ronnie led her to join Martin Grey’s plan for revenge on Tracy.

Martin created a fraudulent will for Monica, which left the house and estate to Ronnie! And while the other Quartermaines welcomed Ronnie into the family, Tracy remained rightly skeptical. In the end, Monica’s will was found, leaving the house to Tracy, and Ronnie blew the whistle on Martin’s scheme. Ronnie and Tracy managed to part on good terms, with Ronnie departing for a new home that Monica had left her the money to purchase. Of course, the door is always open for Ronnie to return, assuming Tracy will let her into her house, which Monica left her.

Someone Call the ASPCA!

Emma Scorpio-Drake returned to Port Charles on a mission. Having been expelled from her previous university in California for trying to expose animal testing on campus, she followed Professor Henry Dalton (played by Young & Restless vet Daniel Goddard) to PCU in hopes of exposing him once and for all. Her mission hit several snags, especially when Joss Jacks thwarted her attempt at becoming Dalton’s lab assistant, taking the job for herself as part of her WSB mission to find out what Dalton was up to. Still not giving up, Emma and Gio grew close at this time, and she also helped him gradually come to terms with the revelation that Brook Lynn and Dante were his parents. In the process, the two fell in love.

Unfortunately, when Emma and Gio pulled in Danny, Rocco, and Charlotte to help them expose Dalton’s secret lab, everything fell apart, and Rocco was caught in the lab by Dalton. Dalton later attempted to frame Rocco not just for breaking into his lab but also for destroying his research, leading Rocco to face serious felony charges. However, Dalton’s lies were exposed, and he disappeared (more on that coming up), leaving Rocco to be let off with probation and community service. Sadly, the stunt only created further distance between Gio and Dante, who again blamed Gio for getting his brother in trouble. Dante and Gio’s strained relationship, however, opened the door for Gio and Brook Lynn to begin connecting.

Willow On Trial

While there was a long list of suspects who could have shot Drew, the PCPD landed on Willow as the one who had means, motive, and opportunity. Especially damning was the fact that the murder weapon was found in the room she was staying at at Elizabeth’s house, which likely was planted by Michael or Carly. Further evidence from traffic cameras put her in the vicinity of Drew’s house when the shooting took place. Drew secured Alexis as her attorney, threatening the lawyer that if she lost the case, he’d move to D.C. with Scout and none of Sam’s family would ever see the girl again.

Drew even managed to convince Willow to marry him to show the court that the victim did not believe she shot him, and was standing by her. And while Willow went through with the marriage, she also mended fences with Nina and admitted this was not for love, but to get her children back! After some significant setbacks in court, the trial was adjourned for the holidays and will resume in the New Year.

The Ashfords’ Very Bad Year

Between Portia getting herself blackmailed first by Brad, then by Drew, and keeping Curtis in the dark, the once-happy couple’s marriage began to crumble. Curtis resented Portia for lying to him again, and she was not fond of Curtis’ constant leaning on his ex, Jordan. Once they decided to call it quits, Portia learned she was pregnant. The problem is that the night Drew was shot, she slept with Dr. Isaiah Gannon!

So the baby could be either Isaiah’s or Curtis’, and this little tidbit, along with Drew’s blackmail, was revealed in court when Alexis put Portia on the stand as a potential suspect in Drew’s shooting. While she solidified her alibi, she destroyed her family for good in the process, leaving her daughter Trina feeling betrayed, and Curtis and Isaiah still wondering which one of them was the daddy.

Faison’s Final Project

Jack Brennan sent Agents Joss and Vaughn to a resort in Croatia, The Five Poppies, to pose as a married couple and gather intel. It had been revealed that Dalton’s research was being delivered to someone at the resort, and the PCU professor’s work was on cold fusion. He was developing a weapon of some kind, and all of this was tied to Faison’s final, mysterious project.

At the same time, Anna had finally deduced that Jack had pulled Joss into the WSB and sent her on a dangerous mission. Jason, meanwhile, caught a fleeting glimpse of a woman who looked oddly like Britt in the Paris airport and began to suspect she was still alive, which led him to The Five Poppies resort. Anna pushed Jason to go after Britt, but really, she wanted him to find and help Joss.

Jason and Joss were both stunned when they found Britt Westborn, very much alive, and being forced by a twisted Frenchman named Pascal to work on Faison’s project in return for an experimental serum that was keeping her Huntington’s Disease in remission. Pascal reported to none other than Sidwell, who was working with a mysterious partner in bringing Faison’s final project to fruition. They had faked Britt’s death and were keeping her alive to finish out her father’s work.

Faison’s Children Return

Jason managed to help rescue Joss, Vaughn and Britt from the resort, and they returned to Port Charles. Jason was sworn to secrecy about Joss’ new job, but he eventually broke and told Carly everything. Carly then turned to the one and only Valentin Cassadine, who was still in Stienmauer, to help her bring Jack down.

Britt had a tense reunion with her mother, who was furious that she had let her believe she had died. Britt also reconnected with Rocco, which naturally didn’t sit well with Lulu. Finally, she and Jason have been hot and cold, as the doctor still hasn’t told Jason the entire truth about what is going on. Then things got even more bizarre when Britt’s brother, Nathan West, was found unconscious in a car accident by the side of the road.

Nathan claimed he has no memory of the past seven years he’s been gone. With both Faison’s children back and the WSB looking into his final works, Anna began to wonder: was Faison alive and calling the shots? That’s when someone abducted Anna and let everyone believe the WSB had called her in on a top-secret mission. It was eventually revealed that Pascal, and we can assume Sidwell, have been holding her hostage in some make-shift apartment-cell.

Sidwell Scores a Win

Things were not looking up for Sidwell as the year wound down. Laura won the mayoral election, Measure C failed, Sonny got to keep his piers, and Dalton had become a liability, conspiring to steal and sell Faison’s project’s highest bidder. So what was Sidwell to do? He shot Dalton dead, right in front of Britt, and then had his body placed in the trunk of Laura’s car to frame the mayor for murdering the man who put her grandson Rocco on trial. It was Sidwell’s good fortune that after she found the body, Laura contacted Sonny, who disposed of Dalton. Unfortunately for them, Sidwell had photos of all of this and used them to blackmail Sonny to hand over his piers and Laura to do, well, whatever he wanted her to do!

What’s Coming in 2026

As we ring in 2026, there are still many questions we need answered. At the top of that list, who actually shot Drew? If our theory is correct, the person on trial for shooting him is his shooter: Willow! Could Willow have psychologically blocked out shooting Drew? If so, and Willow is found not guilty, she just got away with the crime of the century! Plus, might it be Kai and Trina, who were there that night, who solve the crime? We know the PCPD won’t!

Our second-biggest question is: who is Sidwell’s partner? Is Faison really back? Is it Faison’s other estranged son, Peter? Or is Nathan, who has seven years he can’t account for, somehow embracing his father’s legacy and is working with Sidwell?

Other storylines we can look forward to are Maxie finally waking up. By the time that happens, we can’t help but wonder if Nathan and Lulu will have found love with one another, as they sure have been spending a lot of time together.

Another big question that should be answered shortly is who the father of Portia’s baby is. Here is hoping she does not use General Hospital to run that paternity test! Also, will she be barred from practicing medicine after all her secrets came out in court? Then there is Curtis and Jordan, who decided to give their relationship another try, but will they work out?

While Gio has made great strides in a relationship with Brook Lynn, can he and Dante form one, too? And after his Christmas performance at the Quartmaines, on his new violin, will Gio embrace music again?

Of course, romance is a big part of why we tune into any soap, and there are several couples in the making. Cody and Molly finally got their relationship on track by the end of the year. Still, Cody also knows the truth about Kristina, Ava, and Alexis holding Ric hostage, which Molly is in the dark about. That secret could put an end to their romance for good.

Lucas fell hard for Marco and moved in with him and his father at Wyndemere. But now that his ex-husband Brad is back, can Brad save him from Marco, who is almost as dangerous as his father?

Then there is Carly, who has been hiding the escaped Valentin out in her attic. Might she find love with the Cassadine? And after learning Joss and Vaughn had disobeyed orders and become romantically involved, Jack sent Vaughn to, well, nobody knows where! Will he make his way home, and will Anna ever escape Pascal and her apartment cell from hell?