On General Hospital, Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) didn’t just confess to Nina (Cynthia Watros). She made her mom a part of her crimes. One minute, Nina was horrified by what her daughter admitted; the next she was being dragged into complicity through a blackmail scheme she can’t control.
Nina still seems to think she can protect Willow and Charlotte (Bluesy Burke), while somehow keeping Jack (Chris McKenna) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) at bay. That’s an ambitious amount of spinning plates. Cynthia Watros suggested Nina may know it.
General Hospital has Nina trying to outmaneuver a crisis
Watros told Soap Opera Digest, “It’s a pretty big crisis,” which was putting it politely. She also said, “Nina is definitely putting herself in jeopardy, legally and morally,” and that’s the part that sticks with you. This is not Nina covering for some harmless lie at Thanksgiving. This is Nina realizing her daughter blackmailed her into helping sustain a crime, while still juggling everything else.
“I think Nina loves her daughter so much that she definitely has a huge blind spot when it comes to the things that she does,” Watros explained, adding, “and I think the amount of sacrificing that Nina will do for her child is huge.” She talked about Nina suspecting there was always more to Willow’s story, but couldn’t put her finger on it.
Then there is the traffic jam around Jack, Valentin, and Charlotte. Watros made it clear that Nina believes she can protect both girls without betraying either side. She explained that she loves her character, but also understands that Nina doesn’t always implement her plans very well, noting, “She’s not an expert at any of this, and she fumbles.”
Protecting Willow keeps widening the damage
That may be where Ric (Rick Hearst) matters more than it first seemed. Watros noted that he raises problems Nina had not fully considered, including accomplice exposure, as what new crimes could do to Willow. That was not abstract law talk. That was somebody finally describing the size of the hole Nina may already be standing in.
Still, Watros kept circling back to the same thing: Nina would do anything for Willow. She even said, “She would give her life for this girl.” That’s maternal devotion, yes, but in this story, it also starts sounding like warning language. If you will do anything, “anything” tends to get tested. Soap writers hear that word and start sharpening knives.
There was even a sly note about Ric, with Watros admitting she likes to flirt with Rick Hearst in scenes and half-hoping Nina and Ric might find their way back. But what really sits over it is Nina believing she can manage a daughter in freefall while entering legal and moral jeopardy herself. Watros did not make Nina sound doomed. She made her sound overmatched, which may be worse.
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Edited by Hope Campbell