Cynthia Watros was handed the moment that General Hospital fans have been waiting for since last year — her character Nina Reeves finding out that Willow Tait is her daughter. Daytime Emmy-winner Watros delivered beautifully and is the recipient of Soap Hub’s Performer of the Week for GH.
Cynthia Watros – Performer of the Week
Viewers saw the pieces of the puzzle falling together that at last led to Nina being told the truth about giving birth to twins. Once Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) and Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) shared their information — Willow’s (Katelyn MacMullen) illness and maternity — it was only a matter of time before Nina learned everything. Sure, Carly’s calculating but she wouldn’t let any ulterior motives she may have keep Willow from getting much-needed potential life-saving bone marrow from her birth mother.
Carly tracked Nina down at the General Hospital chapel to give her the news. At first, Nina rebuffed Carly’s declaration, saying she did not have twins and that her lone daughter — Nelle (Chloe Lanier) — was given to the Benson family in Florida. Carly explained that there was a twin — Willow — and that baby was given to Harmony (Lena Cadranel).
The GH writers carefully constructed this reveal, ending each act/scene break with Nina slowly opening herself up to the fact that Carly’s statements had some merit and that she wasn’t just playing a game with her. As Nina began to realize Willow was her daughter, Watros escalated her character’s emotional reaction to this huge news.
There were times Carly relentlessly blasted Nina over her staying silent about Sonny (Maurice Benard) being alive as an amnesiac in Nixon Falls. (Nina, at least, tried to call Carly with the news about Sonny but she hung up the phone on her.) This time, it was Nina who rightfully played the wounded and uninformed party.
Nina stayed mostly in denial until Carly proclaimed that she had proof of Willow’s maternity. This statement kept Nina, who was on her way out, from leaving the chapel. “You stole my DNA and then you conducted an illegal DNA test without my knowledge or consent?” Nina stoically marveled.
Carly asked Nina why would she be lying about this given the gravitas of Willow’s medical predicament. “I don’t know Carly,” an angry Nina rhetorically responded. “I don’t know why you do the things that you do. Maybe because you’re a liar? Or maybe because you hate me? Or this is some bizarre revenge because I fell in love with Sonny?”
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Next, Nina flashbacked to a series of encounters with Willow that showed the highs and lows of their relationship, many of their conversations, ironically, dealt with motherhood and family. In the past, Nina let loose her fury towards Willow as they disagreed over Nina’s visiting her grandson Wiley (Viron Weaver, who, by the way, is proving himself to be a fine child actor). However, once Nina gave in to the fact that Carly was likely telling her the truth, she knew where to direct her anger. “You’re a monster,” a gasping Nina told Carly as she started to exit.
Before leaving, Nina had one more thing to say. “You made me feel like the scum of the earth for a year,” Nina reminded her nemesis. “You kept saying over and over again how I was wrecking your family! What about my family? How could you keep me away from my child?”
A genuinely remorseful Carly said that Nina could yell at her all that she wanted to after she got tested. Her words were of little solace to a devastated Nina. “Go to hell, you selfish bitch!” Nina shouted. “I’m going to save my daughter!”
Kudos must also go to Cynthia Watros for diving into a nightmare/fantasy scene in an earlier episode last week in which Willow envisioned losing both Wiley and her daughter to Nina. Watros got to play the version of Nina that Willow sees — selfish and controlling — the things that Nina, ironically, is not, which is good news for Willow right now.
General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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