Soap Hub Performer of the Week for GH: Rebecca Herbst

As the plot thickens with whatever is going on with General Hospital’s Elizabeth Webber, her portrayer, Rebecca Herbst, continues to bring new levels to her character. For her compelling performance in this ongoing storyline, Soap Hub bestows Performer of the Week for GH honors upon Herbst.

Rebecca Herbst – Performer of the Week

A stint at Spring Ridge didn’t help Elizabeth as much as she — or we — had hoped but now that the good nurse is back at General Hospital, she’s been having flashbacks to something that occurred in her past likely involving her father, Dr. Jeff Webber.

At one point, Elizabeth zoned out and, while her mind drifted, she grasped a test tube so tightly that it shattered in her hands. (Kudos to GH’s makeup team for the realistic-looking mess Liz made of her hand.) Dr. TJ Ashford (Tajh Bellow) insisted on tending to his colleague’s wound despite her efforts to downplay. Herbst infuses her character with a need to keep it all together even when those around her can see she clearly needs some help.

At the nurses’ station, Liz wandered over to the stairs and went into the stairwell closing the door behind her. Director Gary Tomlin shot her cross at an angle giving the move an almost Hitchcockian vibe. A dazed Liz looked down at the stairs and then fainted. The camera cut back to reality — Liz was still by the nurses station and had never gone into the stairwell. She lied to a concerned TJ that she was just fine.

Finn dropped by the hospital to check on Liz, trying to hide how deeply concerned he is. Instead of lying a second time, as she had to TJ about how the vial broke causing injury to her hand, Liz decided to tell Finn that he deserved to know the truth.

Back in the examination room, Finn (the always solid Michael Easton), gently pressed Liz to tell him what’s going on with the woman he loves. “You’re right, it wasn’t just an accident,” Liz admitted to Finn with her back turned to him. We saw Herbst make the choice of ‘How much can I tell Finn that will sound like the truth so he leaves me alone?’

“Well, I was thinking about all the time you’ve wasted worrying about me, time we’ll never get back and I just got so angry I crushed the tube without realizing it,” Liz maintained. Her statement sounded both like a lie and the truth simultaneously. Finn continued to probe, prompting Liz to charmingly reply, “Stick to the infectious diseases, doctor. Leave the psychology to Kevin [Collins; Jon Lindstrom].”

However, the more Elizabeth tries to appear light and casual about her condition, the more Finn grows concerned. Rebecca Herbst is playing Elizabeth Webber Baldwin as a woman on a ledge. We’re looking forward to this story developing and watching how the actress tackles the challenging material.

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.