Maurice Benard may have Alzheimer’s and wants every moment with family General Hospital Spoilers
General Hospital’s depiction of the battle of Alzheimer’s disease and how it affects the dying, and the loved ones they leave behind, came to its heartbreaking conclusion this past week on the ABC daytime drama series.
Led by storyline standouts: Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Max Gail (Mike), who once again acted their hearts out in their final scenes together, the entire ensemble of actors who were part of this storyline each had their moments and each delivered which made Mike’s passing all the more poignant.
In a first since we started giving out our weekly kudos several years ago, Michael Fairman TV is giving our Power Performance of the Week to the cast of GH who participated in last week’s scenes for their riveting work.
From Laura Wright’s beautiful goodbye scene as Carly with Mike, where she dreams of him telling her she is a ‘daughter to him”,
to Steve Burton’s all-knowing Jason, who tells Mike he will take care of Sonny and not to worry, to Michael (Chad Duell) and Josslyn (Eden McCoy) picturing how key moments of their life would look with Mike being witness to it, and the advice he would give his grandchildren,
to Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) finding out that Mike is dying while being so far away from his family – each of these beats brought even more heart-tugging moments to the ending of Mike’s journey.
Even the actors who played a part in Mike’s care were touching as Vernee Watson’s Stella prepares Sonny on how to help Mike pass before saying her final goodbye to her friend.
Then there was Felix (Marc Anthony Samuel), who helped Carly and Sonny through Mike’s last moments at Turning Woods, who was also trying to keep it together through his sadness.
Brando (Johnny Wactor) showed up at Turning Woods too, trying to make peace with the death he saw in the war in Afghanistan and now losing Mike.
Of course, there was the surprise moment where Mike is met by his late daughter Courtney and escorted to heaven that both Alicia Leigh Willis and Max Gail played so beautifully without saying hardly a word.
But in the end, it was Maurice Benard who showed us the devastation and acceptance of a son having to let his father go, while trying to make peace with their troubled past that was acting at its best, and perhaps some of the finest in his storied daytime career – and there was Max Gail – the centerpiece of the storyline – who’s emotional heart was seen in all the scenes last week with the actors as the characters visualized moments with Mike.
Throughout the entire story, Gail played the tragedy of a human being trapped within this horrific disease with brilliance.
