Here’s an interesting “General Hospital” spoilers about the mob war in Port Charles that may result in the exit of a favorite character – TJ Ashford (Tequan Richmond). With Ava Jerome (Maura West) now the publicly acknowledged head of the Jerome syndicate, and Michael Quartermaine (Chad Duell) stepping up to head up the Corinthos syndicate, the mob war is going to get much uglier much sooner.
We already saw TJ have a close brush with death when he was kidnapped, resulting in the shooting of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). This means anyone associated with the Corinthos family is fair game for a mob shootout. But TJ is a likelier candidate since Tequan Richmond may soon be very busy with a new Showtime project.
Richmond has been cast in a lead role in a new, yet unnamed, one hour Showtime drama which rumors indicate will be set in Chicago as that’s where filming is slated to start in late Fall. Richmond will play Emmett, a hotsie tootsie teen who the ladies love, so much so that he has fathered three children by three different women while still in high school.
His bachelor life changes when he ends up raising one of his three children full-time. Richmond will star alongside Aisha Hinds from Under the Dome who will play Emmett’s single mom Jada. Alex Henderson from Empire will play Kevin, an angry middle schooler. Rapper Common is one of the co-writers of the project set in Chicago’s troubled Southside neighborhood.
If the show takes off – and Showtime has an amazing track record of hits – this could mean that Richmond has little time left for GH. That could lead to his character being written off in a variety of ways.
If General Hospital showrunner Frank Valentini wants to leave the door open for TJ to return at some point, TJ could be sent out of town for safety’s sake by mom Jordan Ashford (Vinessa Antoine).
Alternately, TJ could be gunned down in the mob war and could end up in a coma where they could revive him at any time. The worst case scenario would be for TJ to be killed off, but it seems like Valentini and co-head writers Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante would prefer to leave the door open for Richmond in case the Showtime project doesn’t work out.
Moving TJ out of Port Charles one way or another will free up Molly Lansing-Davis (Haley Pullos) for another romantic interest and, if TJ was harmed in a mob incident, we would inevitably see Jordan go off the rails and really go after Port Charles mob interests. With new DA Paul Hornsby (Richard Burgi) running the prosecutor’s office and the Jerome mob, that would be insane.
Because Richmond will need time off to shoot the pilot, we will likely see less of TJ starting soon but showrunners may wait to see if the Showtime gig takes off before deciding TJ’s fate – unless Richmond resigns from the soap to pursue his other interests. More on this from CDL as info becomes available – be sure to check “General Hospital” spoilers for updates on TJ’s fate and other spoilers and gossip.
