General Hospital (GH) spoilers recap for Monday, August 17, reveal that Ava Jerome Cassadine (Maura West) was horrified as she took in the painting that Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth) unveiled at Wyndemere.
“This is not my painting! It’s been vandalized!” Franco wailed. Viewers then saw the portrait, which used to be of Ava but now had a monkey’s face drawn over Ava’s face.
Elizabeth Baldwin (Rebecca Herbst) stepped forward and said that she could guess who was responsible, as she looked in Ava’s direction. Ava was incensed that Elizabeth was accusing her of ruining her own portrait.
Franco insisted that Ava wouldn’t stoop to doing something like this, but Elizabeth went on, saying that after everything that Ava did to Kiki Jerome (Hayley Erin), she probably would.
Ava got emotional and upset, and she asked everyone to leave Wyndemere immediately. Franco tried to figure out what happened, and he explained that just three hours ago, the portrait had been perfect.
Off to the side, Lulu Spencer (Emme Rylan) told Dustin Phillips (Mark Lawson) that perhaps Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Coloma) was the one who defaced the portrait.
A bit later, on the parapet, Elizabeth was alone with Nikolas came along. Nikolas didn’t think that Ava would have defaced her own portrait, but Elizabeth said that Ava is dangerous and that she destroyed the good in things.
Nikolas wondered why Elizabeth hadn’t arrived with Franco earlier, and she explained that they disagreed about Ava’s focus on Franco’s past.
Talk then turned to Nikolas’ marriage to Ava, and Elizabeth urged Nikolas to get out of the marriage before Ava did something awful to him. Nikolas insisted that he had a plan, and Elizabeth said that the last plan kept him away from his family for three years.
Elizabeth said that everyone missed Nikolas, including her, and Nikolas tried to lean in for a kiss, but Elizabeth said that she needed to go find Franco.
Back inside, Ava happened to lurk around a corner just as Lulu was describing Nikolas’ plot with Spencer Cassadine (Nicolas Bechtel) to Dustin. Ava overheard the whole thing – namely that Nikolas and Spencer have teamed up to protect Spencer’s inheritance from Ava. Ava silently fumed, then she went looking for Nikolas.
Ava wound up back in the living room, unable to find Nikolas, but she did find Franco there. Franco apologized for everything that happened, and he said that he was pretty sure that he could restore the painting. Ava said that she didn’t care about the painting, and that she just wanted to find her lying husband. Ava told Franco about Nikolas and Spencer’s plot.
Franco told Ava that she needed to get out of her marriage to Nikolas immediately, and that she had other people in her life who cared about her. Ava wasn’t convinced, and she refused to let Nikolas win this thing.
Later, Elizabeth was in the living room alone looking at the portrait when Franco found her. After some bickering about Ava exploiting Franco’s past, Franco and Elizabeth decided to call a truce for the evening, and Franco stayed behind to restore the painting.
Up in Nikolas’ room, Ava walked in and blasted Nikolas for his sinister plan with Spencer. Ava told Nikolas that she hated him, and he said he hated her back and that Spencer hated her.
Ava said she wasn’t ever going to walk away, and as they bickered, they moved closer and kissed. Afterwards, Ava fumed that Nikolas wasn’t going to manipulate her, and she left in a huff.
At the Metro Court, Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Briana Lane) talked with Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright) at the bar and unhappily shared that Michael Corinthos (Chad Duell) was out as CEO of ELQ and that she was partly to blame.
Brook Lynn told Carly all about how Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) now had 50% of ELQ and pushed Michael out.
Soon, Valentin materialized, and he and Brook Lynn went off to a table, where Brook Lynn lashed out at him for leaving the door open for a drug lord to take over the hospital. “He was exonerated,” Valentin said innocently. “So were you, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t guilty,” Brook Lynn fired back.
Valentin figured that Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) would take care of that situation, and he promised Brook Lynn that she’d get her big break at the Nurses’ Ball.
Jasper “Jax” Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) and Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) walked in and shared with Carly what happened at Ava’s portrait unveiling. Carly told Jax and Nina all about the custody ruling in Michael and Willow Corinthos’ (Katelyn MacMullen) favor.
Carly brought champagne to Jax and Nina’s table, and Nina got uncomfortable with how chummy Carly and Jax were. Soon, Jax took a call from his jeweler, asking if she had found any information about Nina’s necklace.
Next, Dustin and Lulu arrived for a drink, and Lulu told Dustin that she had been one of Franco’s targets back in the day. Dustin was shocked. Suddenly Brook Lynn walked up and blasted Dustin for not returning her calls.
Brook Lynn shared what happened with the ELQ stock and how she got kicked out of the Q mansion. Lulu got some digs in about how Brook Lynn betrayed her family, and Dustin thought Brook Lynn had made a bad choice but wasn’t a bad person.
Valentin sat at the bar nursing a drink when Carly came up and wondered if she could settle out his bill. Carly and Valentin bickered about Michael a little bit, then Carly needled Valentin about Jax and Nina being a happy couple.
And back at Jax and Nina’s table, Jax told Nina that the jeweler thought she could trace the necklace. Nina was flabbergasted.
Over at the Floating Rib, Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) pestered Hamilton Finn (Michael Easton) about inviting his dad Gregory Chase (James Read) to their wedding.
Soon, Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard) arrived, and he got involved in that discussion as well. Anna stepped away, and Chase suggested that Finn invite their dad for Violet Finn’s (Jophielle Love) sake.
Talk soon turned to Chase’s romantic situation, and Chase admitted that he hadn’t told Gregory about his breakup with Willow yet.
Finn suggested that Chase tell Gregory the truth, but Chase said he couldn’t do that, and that the fewer people who knew about his and Sasha Gilmore’s (Sofia Mattsson) fake affair, the better. Finn wondered how long Chase would keep this lie going.
Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) and Peter August (Wes Ramsey) walked in, and Peter noted that tomorrow was a big day for Maxie with the Nurses’ Ball coming up.
Maxie gushed about how her job at Deception was so great, then she realized that she needed to tell Peter about her pregnancy. “I have something to tell you,” Maxie said.
Just then, Anna walked up and interrupted. Peter went to the bar for drinks, and Anna wondered if Maxie was ok. Maxie admitted to being overwhelmed and scared that she’d let someone down.
Anna opined that she shouldn’t worry about that, and that she was only human, and that whatever worked for her was ok. Maxie seemed to take that to heart.
As Peter was getting drinks at the bar, he overheard Chase say to Finn that he refused to break up a family. Finn said that the longer Chase keeps the secret, the better the chance that he’ll destroy his relationship for good.
Peter absorbed all of that, then he went back to Maxie and asked what Maxie wanted to tell him. “No, I’ve changed my mind,” Maxie said.
That was a terrific episode of General Hospital, and there’s plenty more coming tomorrow, so stay tuned! Stick with GH and don’t forget to check CDL frequently for the latest soap news, spoilers, and updates.
