Why General Hospital Killed Sabrina

It’s been a week, and General Hospital fans are still reeling over the death of Sabrina, a beloved nurse and character who only just returned to the Port Charles canvas in May.

We still don’t understand the exact motives behind this controversial decision, but GH Head Writers Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman did their best to explain their line of thinking in the October 3 issue of Soap Opera Digest.

“We thought it would be important to give what Paul is doing a more emotional foundation for our audience, to have him kill someone who was literally in the wrong place at the wrong time and is somebody we care about,” Passanante told Digest. “There was also a surprise element, and for Michael, it creates an emotional point of view that will propel him into the next phase of his story.”

While it certainly does that, many feel Michael (Chad Duell) could have gone onto a new phase in his life with Sabrina (Teresa Castillo) along for the ride. Plus, where does that leave Joe? It seemed like the writers were originally trying to create a love triangle between Joe, Sabrina, and Michael. After all, Sabrina shared a past with Joe, just like she did with his brother, Carlos. Why else create a new character for Jeffrey Vincent Parise if they weren’t going to do anything with him?

According to Altman, we “will soon see a resolution with the situation with Joe.”

Something tells us Parise will be gone again soon (and what a shame), and Joe is being used as nothing but a prop to tell the Teddy story. Does that mean the baby is Michael’s after all–or will poor Teddy end up a distant memory like so many other children in Port Charles?