When word got out that General Hospital had cast Charles Shaughnessy in a role on the show, pretty much everyone and their grandmother assumed he’d be reprising Alistair Durban, Holly’s cousin, a role Shaughnessy played on GH, albeit briefly, in 1984. Given GH’s penchant for bringing back longtime characters (Jackie Templeton! Florence Grey!), it seemed to be a natural move. That’s why it was a genuine shock to learn that Shaughnessy’s instead stepping into the expensive loafers of Victor Cassadine, the role created by Thaao Penghlis (Victor, Days of our Lives)! For his performance as the menacing but charming Cassadine patriarch, Soap Hub bestows Performer of the Week honors for GH on Shaughnessy.
In the span of a single episode, Charles Shaughnessy showed audiences that he was capable of playing the dastardly Cassadine. Viewers weren’t sure who orchestrated Dr. Obrecht’s (Kathleen Gati) and Scott Baldwin’s (Kin Shriner) plane from being hijacked and Dr. O’s subsequent kidnapping. However, it had to be someone with motive and means. Back-from-the-dead Victor revealed his presence to Leisl informing her that he had survived her shooting him and an explosion. His passion for Leisl gave him the motive. The Cassadine fortune gave him the means.
Leisl knew she was in for it since Victor is someone who’s quite capable of providing payback. Viewers know Shaughnessy primarily for his role as good guy Shane Donovan on DAYS and kindly Mr. Sheffield on The Nanny. With his first line delivery, “Hello, Leisl, as Mark Twain once said, ‘the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,'” Shaughnessy, established himself as a force with which to be reckoned.
Sure, we’re not used to Cassadine’s having British accents, but Charles Shaughnessy brings so much to the role including the Cassadine charm and air of regality. It takes a strong man to convince lethal Leisl that he has the upper hand. Shaughnessy did so with a firm panache as he offered genuine sympathy over her son Nathan West‘s (Ryan Paevey) death one minute and the next, he teased Leisl that Scott had been tossed out of the plane. He hastened to add that Scotty was strapped to a parachute when he took his fall so his chances for survival were good.
The “cell” Victor has Leisl in looks like a four-star hotel room complete with gourmet room service. But make no mistake, Dr. O’s indeed his prisoner, and Victor’s determined to keep her from getting away. “I managed to heal myself from the physical wounds you inflicted,” he firmly stated, “but I don’t think I could bear the emotional scar of losing you to another man. The sooner you accept that the better off you’ll be.”
Victor means business and as few know he’s alive, he’s got the upper hand for now. To paraphrase Oda Mae Brown from the film Ghost, “Leisl, you in danger, girl!”
Far be it from us to ever try to tell Dr. Leisl Obrecht what to not say but the look on Victor’s face when he heard her say Scott’s name after he shut the door on her has us fearing for Scotty. We’re not sure how long Victor’s going to be around this time but in Shaughnessy’s capable hands, the show has something every soap opera needs — a viable antagonist who will keep everyone on their toes.
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.
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