Lucy Coe

She came in as a mousy librarian. She was as a vampire slayer. And somehow that is the least interesting thing about her. This week we covered Lucy Coe's entire arc from 1986 to the present day, courtesy of a write-up submitted by Pier 54 listener Kim Hudson, who tracked every husband, every scheme, every magic candle, and every Nurses' Ball wardrobe malfunction. Kim cited her sources as The List, Soap Central, Wikipedia, and, in her words, her own body memory. She is our kind of fan.

1986: The Alibi

Lucy Coe arrived in Port Charles in 1986 as exactly what she appeared to be: a modest, bespectacled librarian with her hair pinned up and no apparent designs on anyone. That lasted about a year.

Her first major storyline had her testifying in a murder case involving Kevin O'Connor, accused of killing a woman for her inheritance. Lucy took the stand and confirmed that Kevin had been in her library at the time of the murder. What came out later was that she had also been sleeping with him. The alibi was technically accurate. The motive for giving it was personal. Kevin fell off a cliff before anything more could develop.

Tony Jones and the Quartermaine Years

After a one-night stand with Jake Meyer, then Bobbie Spencer's husband, that produced an unplanned pregnancy and a miscarriage, Lucy set her sights on Tony Jones. With help from her Aunt Charlene, she worked her way into the widower's life. She tried to be a good stepmother to little BJ Jones. One day BJ got into Lucy's nail polish remover while Lucy was supposed to be watching her. Tony was furious. The marriage unraveled anyway when Tony overheard Lucy telling Aunt Charlene that she was glad his brother Briscoe was dead. Briscoe had been considered a fallen hero after being believed killed on a WSB mission. Tony filed for divorce.

Next came Alan Quartermaine. Lucy used Scott Baldwin to make Alan jealous, blew up the Quartermaine marriage very publicly, and walked down the aisle in a red dress. The happily ever after did not follow. She kept drifting back toward Scott, tried to pass a pregnancy off as Alan's, suffered another miscarriage, and was eventually divorced. During this stretch, a mob boss named Victor Jerome developed an obsessive fixation on Lucy and died after swallowing a heart-shaped pendant he had made as a gift for her. That shared ordeal did not bring Lucy and Alan closer. She left for New York City and an advertising executive named Greg Bennett. He fired and dumped her. She came home to find Scott had moved on with Dominique Stanton.

Dominique and the Surrogate

The expected rivalry never developed. Dominique was warm and genuinely good, and Lucy could recognize that. The two became real friends. Together with Scott and Julia Barrett, they founded Deception Cosmetics, with Dominique as its first face.

Then Dominique was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Lucy offered to carry Scott and Dominique's baby as a surrogate. She sat with Dominique and shared the sound of baby Serena's heartbeat before Dominique passed. Serena was born in a cabin during a snowstorm. Lucy became her mother in every meaningful sense. This is, without question, one of the most generous things Lucy Coe has ever done. It does not cancel out everything that comes next. It just makes her more complicated.

The First Nurses' Ball (1994)

After Scott left town, Lucy fell in with Damian Smith and spent some time in moral territory she is not proud of, including a bet involving Bobbie Jones that she would rather not discuss. What came out of it was actually lasting: Damian's suggestion and funding launched the first Nurses' Ball in 1994. Lucy co-chaired it with Bobbie, raised five hundred thousand dollars for the pediatric AIDS unit, and ended the evening in her underwear on stage. She has been ending Nurses' Ball evenings in her underwear ever since. Tradition is tradition.

Kevin Collins

Kevin Collins arrived in Port Charles in the wake of his identical twin Ryan Chamberlain's killing spree, and Lucy fell for him almost immediately. In 1997, she convinced Kevin that the best way to understand Ryan was to impersonate him. Kevin had a psychological break, became fixated on Felicia Jones, and eventually trapped her in a secluded cabin. Lucy ignored the objections of Commissioner Mac Scorpio and broke in, freed Felicia, and talked Kevin down herself. She stood by him through his trial and recovery even when he had given up on himself. They settled into life together at the Port Charles lighthouse, sharing it with their pet duck, Sigmund.

Port Charles the Spinoff (1997–2003)

From 1997 through 2003, Lucy and Kevin were essentially living in a different genre than the rest of Port Charles. General Hospital carried on without them while the spinoff Port Charles introduced vampires, angels, a copycat killer inspired by Kevin's novel General Homicide, and a mystical realm that operated something like Brigadoon.

In the middle of all of it: a double wedding planned and then cancelled after Lucy miscarried again, Serena kidnapped by Dominique's uncle Rex Stanton and half-sister Danielle over the trust fund, Lucy marrying Rex to stay close to Serena, Rex and Danielle eventually stopped, and Serena returned to Scott.

"How much stuff is under Port Charles? Is it stable?"

— Kim Hudson, listener write-up

Hear Shannon and Amanda react to the full Port Charles spinoff era in this week's episode.

Then Lucy staged a car accident to play hero for Serena. Instead Serena was injured in the crash and temporarily lost her sight. Dr. Eve Lambert figured out what Lucy had done and told Kevin. Kevin called off their wedding. He and Eve dated.

Lucy and Scott reconnected, married, and at the Nurses' Ball received a baby whose mother, Julie, immediately reconsidered. The custody fight that followed revealed Scott had adopted the baby under his name only, leaving Lucy with no legal rights. When Julie took the baby and left town, Lucy blamed Scott. That chapter closed.

Lucy then became a vampire slayer. After a trip to Transylvania, she learned she had slayer blood and spent the remaining Port Charles years helping rid the town of supernatural evil while still running the Nurses' Ball. There was also an angel who moved into the lighthouse, some magic candles, Kevin being transported to a Brigadoon-type realm, and Lucy using psychic powers to bring him back. Port Charles was cancelled in 2003. Lucy and Kevin made a brief appearance at

Lila Quartermaine's funeral in 2004 and then were off the canvas for nearly a decade.

2012: The Return

Nurses Sabrina Santiago and Felix DuBois tracked Lucy down while trying to revive the Nurses'

Ball. She was running a cosmetics company called CoeCoe Cosmetics that turned out to be a pyramid scheme. She came to Port Charles to help raise funds, and promptly spotted John McBain in the middle of Kelly's Diner. McBain bore an uncanny resemblance to vampire Caleb Morley. Lucy grabbed a broken chair leg and went for him. She was committed to Ferncliff.

She broke out alongside Heather Webber and Franco. They wound up at Wyndemere. Eventually Caleb Morley was revealed to be the persona of a deranged rock star named Stephen Clay. Lucy was not crazy. She was just operating on Port Charles logic in a General Hospital setting. She returned to Port Charles full time.

The Nurses' Ball Kiss and Its Aftermath

With Kevin often away, Lucy threw herself into supporting Scott's 2013 campaign for district attorney. The predictable thing happened. She felt guilty about it and could not stop herself. Scott pressed her to leave her marriage. She refused. At the Nurses' Ball, Lucy and Scott were caught in a passionate kiss on stage in front of everyone in Port Charles. It was not subtle.

Lucy tried to rebuild with Kevin. Then she found out Scott had moved on to Bobbie Spencer. Scott was forced to choose between them. Bobbie won that round.

In 2017, Lucy discovered that Ava Jerome had switched Morgan Corinthos's medication, triggering a breakdown that contributed to his death. Instead of going to the police, Lucy went to Ava with a donation demand for the Nurses' Ball. She has gotten a lot of mileage out of that event. This particular use of it is harder to defend.

Deception, Victor Cassadine, and Martin Grey

Lucy's 2019 relaunch of Deception brought in Sasha Gilmore as the new face of the brand and Nina Reeves as a partner, until Nina accused Lucy of poaching Maxie Jones and walked away. Valentin Cassadine became the financial backer. Sasha developed a cocaine addiction. Brooke Lynn Quartermaine's throat was injured by Nelle Benson. Lucy fired Brooke Lynn after she was caught lip-syncing during a client presentation. Sasha stabilized and was eventually joined by Cody Bell, Dominique Stanton's son, as co-face of the brand.

In 2022, Anna Devane enlisted Lucy to gather intelligence on Victor Cassadine. Victor figured it out. Holly Sutton, disguised as Anna, shot Lucy on the docks. Lucy, Anna, and Valentin were all believed dead by Port Charles while hiding together in a safe house. Lucy revealed the location of the safe house to Victor. The cover was blown. Lucy is not built for hiding.

Martin Grey entered her life at a holiday event where Lucy had been flirting with a Santa she

assumed was Kevin. The beard came off and Martin was underneath it. They fell for each other. Valentin pushed Martin to keep the relationship quiet; Lucy went public at roughly the same time Deception did. Felicia, investigating Martin at Lucy's request, found he had been concealing significant alimony payments from an ex-wife. That ex-wife turned out to be Blair Cramer, who teamed up with Tracy Quartermaine to claim a large stake in Deception. Lucy and Scott hatched a revenge plan against Tracy. Tracy is smarter than both of them. The plan ended on the set of a barnyard-themed photo shoot, with Martin walking in on exactly what it looked like. That was the end of Lucy and Martin.

Jenz Sidwell recently arrived in Port Charles and moved into Wyndemere with Lucy's help as his

real estate agent. He has been generous with his attention and his diamonds. Ava Jerome is circling the same territory. The situation is still developing, and Shannon and Amanda have some strong opinions about where it is headed.

Lucy Coe is a schemer, a scoundrel, and someone who has kept the Nurses' Ball running through marriages, vampires, safe houses, and at least one roll in the hay. She has been her own worst enemy more times than can be counted. She is almost always worth watching. This week's write-up was a gift from Pier 54 listener Kim Hudson, and we are grateful for it.

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