Home > General Hospital > Commentary GH

Soap Hub Performer Of The Week For GH: Maura West

Maura West played Ava Jerome Cassadine to the hilt after Nikolas delivered shocking news.

Soap Hub Performer Of The Week For GH: Maura West
 Comments

Just when we thought Ava Jerome Cassadine’s reaction to hubby Nikolas Cassadine’s extramarital romp with Esme Prince couldn’t be topped, Maura West, who plays Ava, learned that Nik’s the father of Elizabeth Webber Baldwin’s baby. While Liz isn’t truly pregnant and Nik didn’t actually sleep with her, West’s all-too-real performance has earned her Performer of the Week for GH honors.

Maura West – Performer of the Week

Nikolas (Marcus Coloma) went to visit Ava at her gallery. The two exchanged, what Ava may have felt, was flirtatious banter. However, she was stunned to discover that Nik handed his wife not an early holiday gift but rather divorce papers! “You’re divorcing me?” an incredulous Ava asked. She couldn’t believe that Nikolas was following through with the legal severing of their marriage.

Ava demanded to know the real reason Nik wanted to end their life together as man and wife. We don’t often see Ava beg but that’s just what she started to do as she reminded Nikolas that previously, he’d been the one begging for another chance. Nik lied that he’d had a fling with Liz Webber (Rebecca Herbst), leaving Ava silent — but not for long.

Ava (Maura West) demanded to know how and when the affair with Liz started. “Did she catch you in her bottomless pit of need that so many fools are too weak to resist? What were you getting from Elizabeth that you didn’t get from me?” Ava could blame Nik being trapped by Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) on the manipulative teen but him turning to an old flame and impregnating her? That cut Ava to the bone.

Speaking of cutting, Ava turned her back as Nikolas tried to rationalize his behavior. She spied a letter opener on her desk and her mind raced to a very dark place. Have you ever been angry enough at someone to want them dead? Ava was feeling exactly that at this moment. We saw her decide to pick the opener up and thrust it toward Nikolas. The blade connected not with human flesh but rather with the wall behind him. She picked up the opener and thrust it toward Nikolas. But instead of impaling him, she used the blade to post the legal papers on the gallery wall.

What do you think? Post a comment!

Nik grimly noted to his wife that she could have killed him. “Remember that,” she coldly replied before telling him he could go and be with Elizabeth. “Be a daddy. Good luck with your do-over.” Nikolas said that he hated what was happening to which Ava stated with a deadness in her voice, “You don’t know what hate is. Maybe I’ll teach you. God have mercy on you, Nikolas. You’ll get none from me.”

What we get from Maura West, as evidenced in the following day’s scenes with Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy), is one show-stopping performance after another as she continues to make Ava Jerome Cassadine one of TV’s most fascinating characters.

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

The best place for true soap fans to be is our Facebook groups. Have you joined? If you love soap spoilers, gossip, and fans as dedicated as yourself, check out Days of our Lives Fans, General Hospital Exclusive, The Young and the Restless Fans, and The Bold and the Beautiful Fans.

Subscribe Now

Get spoilers, news and recaps in your inbox daily.

Subscribe Now

Get spoilers, news and recaps in your inbox daily.