Soap Hub January Powerhouse Performer: GH’s Cynthia Watros

We knew Nina, played by Cynthia Watros, getting “busted” for turning Drew and Carly in to the SEC on General Hospital was only a matter of time and in January, the truth came out. While Nina was tossed into the figurative firepit for doing something perfectly legal, the Daytime Emmy-winning Watros, through her performances, rose like a phoenix.

Powerhouse Performance

The month began with blabbermouths Lois (Rena Sofer) and Michael (Chad Duell) spilling the beans to Sonny (Maurice Benard) about the mystery caller to the SEC. Technically, we might add Nina did not call authorities to inform them of the illegal activity that Carly and Drew committed — she asked Martin (Michael E. Knight) to do it. But her detractors ignore this just as they ignore that Nina did nothing illegal.

The writers set up Nina’s actions coming out perfectly so that Watros would be able to fall the furthest emotionally. Her relationship with daughter Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) was never better. Watros played all the pathos knowing that Nina was risking her daughter’s love as she’d decided to fess up to Sonny.

Watros plays Nina as a wise woman, someone who knows her husband very well. She knew nothing she could say likely would calm him. So she chose very carefully what she said. “I regretted it immediately,” Nina tried to explain. When Sonny referred to Drew (Cameron Mathison, who confirmed his GH status here) as an “innocent man” (no, he’s not), Nina drew the line. “Hold on a second! What I did was wrong. [Editor’s note: It was not.]…but Carly and Drew did commit a crime,” Nina gingerly tried to point out.

Sonny didn’t believe Nina when she said she was on her way to tell him the truth. (He’s had trust issues ever since stepdad Deke locked him in a closet when he was just a little boy.) Still, this didn’t stop Nina from trying to help her husband beat a likely jail sentence later in the month. She visited Cyrus (Jeff Kober) at General Hospital and convinced him to drop charges against Sonny for beating the snot out of him in church.

“Leave the Lord out of this, Mr. Renault,” Nina snarked at Cyrus, not buying his “he found religion” bit. Watros made the choice to have Nina physically lean into Cyrus as she made her deal with him. The former convict couldn’t help but be swayed by Nina’s words, so Sonny escaped the law. Rather than be grateful to his wife, Sonny told her to avoid future urges to help him. A lesser actress might have gone to histrionics at this point (rightfully so!), but Nina just tenderly informed her husband, “All I’m trying to do is clean up the mess I made…Sonny, I have to do something.”

Nina has plenty of reason to cry but the one time she really had to fight back the tears was when she failed to find forgiveness from Willow. Despite her daughter’s rejection, Nina vowed to always be there for her.

At least Nina still had her job as Crimson magazine’s editor-in-chief — or so she thought — until Drew informed Nina that the new EIC of Crimson was going to Carly! “Well-played,” Nina told the two as she sarcastically slow-clapped for effect. (Insincere clapping can be over-used yet Watros elected to employ it at the perfect moment.) Carly and Drew accept little to no responsibility for their illegal actions, which puts Nina in the unenviable position of having to continuously defend herself.

Nina didn’t try to change Drew’s mind. Instead, she gathered a personal photo from her office. (Was that gesture scripted? Directed? Or did Watros herself make that choice? It was a nice, emotional touch.) With that move, Watros reminded viewers that Nina is a real person with genuine feelings — despite some not being able (or choosing not to) see that.

“We’ve got two things in common, Carly,” a stoic Nina informed her enemy as she exited her office. “We’ll do anything for our family. And we both know how to settle a score.” Watros delivered that line using a slow, controlled tone. And she wasn’t through either. “You got to see my face when you told me that I was fired…but now the fun is over,” a knowing Nina coldly delivered as she put on her sunglasses, “Because now, you actually have to run a magazine. Good luck.”

As viewers have seen, the feud between Nina and Carly is showing no signs of slowing down. There’s also no end to the talent displayed by Cynthia Watros. We can’t wait to see what Nina does next.

Honorable Mentions: Laura Wright‘s Carly and Kristina Wagner’s Felicia were standouts among the many mourners at Bobbie Spencer’s (Jacklyn Zeman) memorial. Maura West played Ava as if she were indulging in a rich, delicious dessert when she realized she could press charges against evil Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl). Adam Huss (Nikolas) delivered poignant performances (which Huss spoke about here) with TV sons Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Spencer) and Ace (Joey and Jay Clay). Lisa LoCicero hit it out of the park as Olivia emotionally mended fences with Lois (Rena Sofer) and blasted Nina over the whole SEC mess.

Over in Genoa City, Melody Thomas Scott continues to shine as Nikki struggles with her alcoholism, and Hayley Erin is making us feel for Claire Grace (AKA Eve Nicole Howard) despite her past actions.

Days of our Lives Eric Martsolf delivered a tour de force as Brady told off Kristen (Stacy Haiduk).

Bold and the Beautiful‘s Eric Forrester may be out of the woods health-wise but, his portrayer, John McCook continues to deliver strong performances as evidenced by the family patriarch lamenting that he didn’t let his loved ones know earlier he wasn’t well. Delon de Metz has been giving B&B a big boost in the bad guy department as he’s shown different sides to Zende.