General Hospital Shocker: Franco Dies…Say It Isn’t So

Shocked, surprised, and not going to lie…Soap Hub is deeply saddened that General Hospital killed off one half of the couple known as Friz! Granted, Franco’s future didn’t look too bright given his inoperable brain tumor and all, but still, we’re devastated over the loss.

General Hospital Fans Grieve

Franco (Roger Howarth) and Liz’s (Rebecca Herbst) fans held their collective breaths as he and Peter (Wes Ramsey) fought over the gun. You knew someone was going to get shot and, admittedly, most hoped it was Peter, even though we love hating on him! But as soon as it became obvious that Franco took the bullet at point-blank range in his chest, our hearts began to break.

We knew that Jason (Steve Burton) would be the one who would find him and what would happen next. Liz ran to what she hoped would be Franco’s rescue, but she sadly was too late.  Hovering over his husband’s body was Jason, looking anything but innocent.

Thank you to the General Hospital writers for giving us a last breath of Friz’s deep connection when Franco woke up just for a moment to tell his beautiful bride how much he loved her and the boys, followed by Liz’s heartbreaking plea for her husband to please hang on. We still held onto hope that the paramedics would revive him, only for Jason to tell Jordan (Briana Nicole Henry) that Franco was indeed dead.

Too Awesome To Kill

Just as he did with Todd Manning on One Live to Life, Howarth so incredibly evolved his character, Franco, from a once feared crazy menace to one of the most beloved characters on GH. The writers, of course, along with his supporting cast, deserve a lot of praise for the evolution of Franco, but most of the credit goes to Howarth himself.

We saw a resemblance of his former dark side this week, as he methodically kidnapped Peter and then joyfully picked out his weapons of torture. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t enjoy it a little since it was so deserved. But Franco’s goodness won out again, as he revealed that his main intent was to scare Peter into a confession, which he did.

Franco’s heart beamed lighter than the darkness when he asked Peter to just leave town so no one else would get hurt, especially Maxie (Kirsten Storms) and the baby. But as he usually does, Peter chose his own gain and his version of the truth instead.

Franco showed how much he truly loved Liz and the boys when he painfully chose to move out of their house to protect them, and then of course, when he died in Liz’s arms. Now we’re bracing ourselves for Cameron’s (William Lipton) reaction to the news, especially after he brainstormed with Franco’s dad Scott (Kin Shriner) ways to keep Franco empowered to live. His bond with Cam was a major part of Franco’s evolution too.

Great Scenes To Come

We get it. It’s hard but we understand why these upcoming storylines were too intriguing to not pursue. Adding Franco’s murder to the list of reasons to nail Peter’s coffin shut is intriguing, and making it look like Jason actually kept his promise to Franco and killed him when the tumor caused his dark side to return, is frankly, genius.

Liz’s, Cameron’s, and Scott’s wrath against Jason will be painful but exciting to watch play out. So will the ongoing fight to keep the rest of Port Charles from killing off Peter in further retaliation. But still, we lost one our favorite guys on daytime, which begs the question, what’s next for Howarth and GH?

Some Ideas And Possible Returns

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Franco can come back from the “dead,” as we’ve seen it time and time again with some of our other favorite characters on GH. Hello Helena (Constance Towers), Jason, Sonny (Maurice Bernard) to come, and so many others.

If not that scenario, then we’d love to see Howarth come back as another character much like Tamara Braun did (as Kim) after she was Carly and Michael Easton as Finn. The logical answer would be a comeback as Todd Manning, but we are more than open to someone else.

And speaking of bringing a character back from the dead, we think it’s an ideal time for Drew to come back! Who would be more perfect to finally seek revenge on Peter than Franco’s brother’ and BFF? General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.