I Want to Be Best Friends with Alexis

General Hospital Recap: August 24-28, 2026

https://youtu.be/YlxAgGviHhk

Alexis finally confronted Willow face to face; Nina made a scene in front of half of Port Charles; Curtis is settling into life at Pentonville; Joss made a decision that Carly is seeing right through. Here is what happened in Port Charles this week.

Willow, Alexis, and Kai

Tracy barged into the gatehouse and warned Willow to stay away from Chase. She reminded Willow that Michael holds all the leverage in their arrangement and could use it to take the kids away for good. Willow argued Monica would have wanted the kids with their mother; Tracy said she felt they deserved better.

Kai came to Alexis this week and told her Willow was threatening him. Alexis had already known since the trial that Willow shot Drew, so she went straight to Willow's office to finally deal with it. She hung up Willow's phone mid-call and told her she was done letting her talk over her.

Alexis said the only reason she never told the judge was that Drew had used Scout as leverage against her at the time. She warned Willow that if Kai or Trina were pulled into her mess in any way, she would go public with everything, costing Willow her kids and her career. She also revealed she had gone back over the phone records herself and found a missed call from Wiley that backed up Kai and Trina's account of what they overheard that night.

Willow broke down, insisting she had been out of her mind with fear of losing her kids. Alexis was not moved. She told Willow that anyone can be a mother, even Helena Cassadine, and that her kids need a good one. She told Willow to go fight whatever she needed to fight, but to remember she was a monster too, and walked out.

Nina, Willow, and Brennan

Willow skipped a WSB appropriations meeting this week, infuriating Brennan. He reminded her that missing it was not helping their arrangement, since her job is to secure funding for the bureau in exchange for what he did to keep her out of prison.

Nina originally stopped by Willow's office hoping to plan a Hamptons weekend for her and the kids. That is when Willow played her a recording she had secretly made of Brennan admitting he erased the traffic camera footage from the night Drew was shot. Nina begged her to delete it, but Willow refused, saying she needed the leverage.

At the Metro Court Gardens, Nina confronted Brennan directly in public, in front of Carly, Drew, Jordan, and Anna. She told him a smart man would work with Willow rather than threaten her. Brennan pushed back that he was only reminding Willow what she owed him.

Chase, Brook Lynn, and the Gatehouse

Michael and Brook Lynn argued at Sonny's barbecue over Willow living at the gatehouse. Michael suggested the real issue was whether Brook Lynn trusted Chase. Gio and Emma overheard the fight, and Gio spoke up in his mother's defense, telling Michael the hostility needed to stop.

Earlier in the week, Hudson spent time with Brook Lynn at the boathouse while waiting for Joss. She told him she and Chase had already been working with a lawyer to adopt when Phoebe came into their lives, and that Phoebe's birth mother had died giving birth to her and asked Brook Lynn to look after the baby.

Later, Willow was at the boathouse looking for Wiley's goggles when she knocked over a croquet set. Chase helped her clean it up and asked what was really going on. Willow admitted she still felt judged over the shooting despite her acquittal. Chase pointed to everything she had already survived: Shiloh, Harmony, Michael, and Drew, and told her that on top of it all, she is someone who is always looking out for other people.

Sonny's Barbecue

Donna made the invitations for the barbecue herself and was thrilled when Michael showed up early. Michael told Sonny that Wiley and Amelia could not attend since the day fell under Willow's custody time, and it felt too fragile to ask for an exception this soon.

Ava came by with Avery's backpack, since Avery had been asking her to see the new vanity Sonny had bought for her room. Ava questioned whether a vanity and makeup were appropriate for Avery just yet. The conversation turned tense, and Sonny told her she was a cancer that needed to be cut out of Avery's life.

Donna had also invited Justine without telling Sonny. Justine showed up with a box of mini cupcakes, thinking it would just be the three of them, and the misunderstanding made for an awkward entrance. She later teamed up with Donna for a game of cornhole against Dante and Gio and won.

Ric kept his composure twice this week, once after seeing Dante and Liz together at the hospital, and again at the barbecue after watching Liz wipe ketchup off Dante's cheek.

Curtis, Jordan, and the Search for Answers

At the pool, Trina, still on vocal rest after a recording session with Gio, told him she is writing a new song about her father and has not fully let it sink in that he is in prison.

Drew and Jordan met to discuss him working more closely with Aurora. He checked in on how she was holding up with Curtis gone. Jordan told him she is choosing to believe his intentions for now, but reminded him things need to stay strictly professional between them.

Chase met with Molly, working on his own time, to see if there was a way to give the Ashford family closure about who else was on the road the night of the crash. Molly told him it would be difficult, but walked him through the evidence anyway. The guardrail paint could not be tied specifically to Isaiah's car since roughly eight hundred vehicles use that stretch of Route 91 daily. She also revealed Willow's GPS had placed her near the scene, and that Drew had changed his testimony about her whereabouts that night. Chase ultimately told her he does not think real closure is possible here.

The warden at Pentonville sat down with Curtis this week about settling in, and warned him that his law enforcement and DEA background will make him a target. To limit the risk, the warden moved him into a shared cell with another high-profile inmate. Curtis reacted with visible shock at who it was, but the show did not reveal the identity on screen.

Ric, Liz, Dante, and Lulu

Dante went to the hospital for his knee, and Liz got him a wheelchair while his MRI was set up. Ric walked in on the two of them together and left without a word. Dante admitted to Liz that his real worry was being benched, since it might undo the progress he had just made getting Rocco to commit to softball with him.

Lulu met with Ric afterward and talked him through his jealousy, pointing out he had been pushing too hard, up to and including almost proposing. She told him to slow down and just enjoy simple time with Liz. Ric called Liz and invited her to Sonny's barbecue. Liz agreed, and invited him in turn to a new exhibit at the Chuck she had been wanting to see.

Ric later told Sonny he had decided not to propose after all, taking Lulu's advice to heart.

Anna, Valentin, and the WSB

At the Metro Court pool, Anna was talking with Jason, Carly, and Valentin when something in the conversation triggered a flashback. She grew visibly unsettled, knocked over the drinks on the table, and left abruptly, telling Carly she felt a headache coming on.

Valentin went after her and found her in an elevator, where the flashback turned into a full panic attack. He stayed with her while she relived being held captive under Wyndemere and the certainty she had felt that Faison was still alive and coming for her.

Valentin gently suggested she might be dealing with PTSD and could use time away from work. Anna refused, afraid any sign of struggle would give the WSB an excuse to have her recommitted. She agreed instead to see a therapist, and asked Valentin to go back to Carly rather than drive her home.

Elsewhere, Liesl told Britt she intended to go straight to Anna for answers about Cassius. Britt stopped her, letting her know she was already working an angle of her own. Liesl backed off, but warned Britt not to let the WSB gain any more control over her life than it already has.

Separately, in a moment brought on by her spiral, Anna hallucinated a voice resembling Peter August telling her that killing Britt was the only way she would find peace, and to kill anyone who tried to stop her.

Joss, Brennan, and JJE

Brennan told Joss the WSB had ordered her to take over Jasper Jacks Enterprises. She pushed back that her father is not a criminal like Sidwell. Brennan offered two theories: that the fallout from the Cullum situation had drawn the bureau's attention, or that the WSB is actually targeting one of her father's subsidiary companies and using her as a way in.

Carly confronted Joss directly, pointing out she had never been willing to walk away from the WSB before, not even after being shot, and worked out that the timing had to be tied to a WSB assignment. Jason, meanwhile, gave Carly a pep talk, telling her Joss has something Anna never had: a mother who will not let her go through it alone.

Joss publicly framed her decision as honoring her father's wishes. Brennan told her the rules were the same as The Dalton Case: no one in her life could know the real reason, not even her family.

Valentin's Pitch to Get Back Into ELQ

Valentin asked Jason and Carly to meet so he could make his case for returning to ELQ, though not as CEO. He argued the company's numbers were strong under him before and that a fresh outside perspective could increase profits, which would benefit Danny and Jake through their stake in the company. Jason did not commit either way, telling Valentin it is ultimately his family's call.

Drew, Ava, and the Plan Against Brennan

Drew had to cancel dinner plans with his daughter Scout at the last minute for a work meeting. Scout met up with Rocco at the boathouse instead, and the two played a game of cornhole.

The work meeting that Drew had was with Ava. He asked her to keep Brennan occupied on Friday so he could search his hotel room. He gave her a script about seeing something suspicious at Wyndemere, and handed her a pill to crush into Brennan's drink, telling her it was only a sleeping pill.

Lucas and Joe's Apartment

Lucas and Joe discovered they had both signed leases on the same apartment. Joe had gone through Lucy Coe as his real estate agent, while Lucas booked his directly through the leasing office downstairs. After a confrontation that ended with Lucas swinging a mop at him, they agreed Joe's furniture stays, and Lucas gets a roommate, at least until Joe finds his own place.

Quick Notes

Felicia and Brennan. Brennan asked Felicia for information about Anna, and she refused, telling him he is a good agent but a terrible person. Carly later told Felicia the real reason she and Brennan split: he had recruited Joss for the WSB.

Laura's leave of absence. Laura told Anna and Justine she is taking personal time to visit Kevin and Ace in Ireland, and that Ezra Boyle will help cover her mayoral duties. Both were wary. Ezra later thanked Laura privately for never releasing footage of him drunk at the Brown Dog.

Nina, Michael, and Serena. At the Metro Court pool, Nina saw Michael with a woman in a swimsuit and accused him of being with a sex worker before the woman introduced herself as Serena Baldwin, VP of Product Development at Deception.

Port Charles Pipeline

Shannon shared some real life news she had come across on the actor who plays Isaiah, Sawandi Wilson's social media: he just became a father, and his daughter spent a few days in the NICU before coming home with a clean bill of health.

An unsigned message came in from a listener who said they have watched General Hospital since the very first episode. Shannon and Amanda would love to talk to a day-one viewer for the fan spotlight.

A listener named Mary Ellen wrote in with a thank-you note, saying the Reality Check portion of the show has come to mean as much to her as the recap itself.

Send your messages to pier54podcast@gmail.com and you might hear yours on a future episode.

Reality Check

Shannon's kitchen got new custom cabinets this week, including a converted pocket door for spices. Her daughter was also named employee of the week.

Amanda took her daughter Madeline shopping over the weekend with a set budget, and Madeline ended up spending less than half of it. Amanda also had dinner with her son Matt and his fiancée Julie, who updated her on their wedding planning.

This Thursday on Pier 54

Thursday's episode kicks off a rewatch of Night Shift season two. Shannon and Amanda are breaking the season into four parts and inviting listeners to watch along.

New episodes every Monday and Thursday at GeneralHospitalPodcast.com, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.