Soap Hub Performer of the Week for GH: Avery Kristen Pohl

From early Bobbie Spencer to evil Helena Cassadine, General Hospital has always had its share of mean girls. Now, Avery Kristen Pohl’s Esme Prince is being added to the list of Port Charles antagonists. Soap Hub is bestowing Performer of the Week for GH honors on Pohl for her delightfully wicked interpretation of Ms. Prince.

Avery Kristen Pohl – Performer of the Week

You’d think that being tag-teamed by mother/daughter duo Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright) and Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) at the Metro Court (Carly’s home turf, no less) would have Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) shaking in her boots. Not at all. The cool, calm, and calculating young woman stayed firm in insisting that she had nothing to do with the sex video of Joss and Cameron Webber (William Lipton) being leaked.

Pohl brings unlimited confidence to Esme, who doesn’t drop her guard for a second despite being guilty of so many things. Carly tried to reason with Esme, sharing that she knows a hurt girl when she sees one but Esme wasn’t taking the bait. “Mrs. Corinthos,” Esme said with faux respect when addressing Joss’s mom, hastening to add, “It is still ‘Corinthos,’ isn’t it?” (Ouch!) Esme knew she’d be rubbing salt in Carly’s wounds given how painful her split from Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) has been.

Carly threatened Esme and informed her she had ways to prove that Esme was behind the sex tape being leaked. Spying Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Coloma) across the room, Esme seized an opportunity. She goaded Carly with more hurtful words prompting her to grab Esme’s arm. Next, Ms. Prince pretended that Carly was gripping her limb with such intensity that it hurt and she cried out in mock pain, prompting Nikolas to intervene.

“I didn’t do anything I swear,” cried Esme as Avery Kristen Pohl upped her character’s performance to make Carly look like an aggressor (well, more of an aggressor). While Carly and Joss can see right through Esme’s act, Esme knows that men are more susceptible to tears and her damsel in distress routine. At General Hospital, Esme told Nikolas that she takes full responsibility for her actions — even though Spencer Cassadine’s pals won’t give her a break. “When I apologize they tell me I’m insincere,” Esme lamented. “When I try to make peace, I’m being manipulative.”

Esme cozied up to Nikolas and told him she wanted to give him something he wanted more than anything — an improved relationship with his son. Next, Esme visited an incarcerated Spencer and argued her case that it was Trina Robinson (Sydney Mikayla) who shot and leaked the sex video. She made good on her promise to Nikolas and did her best to sweet talk Spencer into attending Nikolas and Ava Jerome Cassadine’s (Maura West) vow renewal ceremony. Esme continued her performance by sharing the story of Carly’s ‘attack’ on Esme by showing him her bruised arm.

Esme laid it on thick by telling Spence that everything she did was for him. While many see right through Esme (especially Carly and Joss), Avery Kristen Pohl’s performances reminded us that Ms. Prince has far more control when it comes to snowing the men in her life. She’s a skilled manipulator. We saw her filing away the tidbit of information that Trina knows Spencer snuck out of Spring Ridge. Esme is calculating and despite being pegged by many as a clear manipulator, she is showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to conniving. Brava to Avery Kristen Pohl for creating such an intense antagonist!

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.