Today’s General Hospital recap for December 26, 2023, details Esme’s decision to hide a very memorable truth, as well as Nina’s confession to the wrong person.

Esme Wants Her Charmed Life To Continue

Out on the parapet, Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) continued to remember every despicable thing she did in 2021 and 2022, before amnesia so peskily took up the entirety of her 2023. As each flash hit, she became hysterical knowing that she was indeed a horrible human being AND that Spencer (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) never really wanted her. (She needs to remember locking a very pregnant Sasha in a store room, too.)

Little did she know that Ava (Maura West) was in the living room downstairs. She saw a shattered window before getting a call from her security service that there was an intruder. Ava breathed a sigh of relief when Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) arrived.

When Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Laura (Genie Francis) made their way to Wyndemere, Ava had a full house, but none of them suspected that Esme was the one who broke in.

Spencer and Trina (Tabyana Ali) put Ace to bed for the night and continued with their Christmas Eve together. Spencer was curious as to what Esme was doing without Ace on Christmas Eve, so Trina suggested she might have had a date.

Strangely enough, Esme soon called for a chat. She seemed to want to tell the truth, but couldn’t bring herself to do it — especially when she heard Trina in the background. Instead of telling him all about her memories, she informed Spencer that Ace could spend the night.

She later broke down crying as she realized that Spencer would never truly care about her and always put Trina first. Before she could get out of the castle, she heard Dante and Laura, so Esme lured them onto the parapet before making a run for it while leaving a red glove behind. Dante found the glove and assured Laura that a tiny woman’s glove did not belong to Nikolas.

Downstairs, Sonny told Ava he was sure whoever broke in may have been after him, just like the Metro Court pool shooter was likely gunning for him — or so Sonny believed. Still, he wanted to protect Ava and even informed her Ava she’d be moving in with him for the foreseeable future.

Later, as Spencer and Trina said good night on Christmas Eve, Esme found herself alone at Ryan’s (Jon Lindstrom) grave, confessing that she got her memories back and Ryan and Heather would be the only people who understood why she was keeping it a secret. She wondered if she even had it in her to be a good person.

Nina Tries To Confess…And Fails

Nina (Cynthia Watros) sat in a Catholic church confessional ready to bare her soul, not realizing that Cyrus (Jeff Kober), and not the priest, was on the other side listening. She admitted she acted out of spite when she had Marty (MIchael E. Knight) turn Carly (Laura Wright) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) into the SEC, but she had no idea it would end up hurting so many people.

Cyrus played the part well and told Nina that God wanted to hear everything so she spilled everything. She wished she could turn back the clock and undo her mistakes. While it didn’t cost someone their life, she admitted someone went to prison because she reported their crime when she didn’t have to.

She also admitted she let an innocent man take the blame for reporting the crime because she was a coward. Cyrus advised her to confess so the guilt would stop eating away at her conscience but Nina said she couldn’t because she stood to lose too much. Cyrus assured Nina that God would be with her and that the truth would set her free.

When confession time was over, Nina quickly made her way to the hospital and a waiting Sonny. Before Nina got a chance to tell Sonny about her enlightening time in church, Ava texted him about the break-in on Spoon Island. Sonny and Laura immediately headed out there, leaving Nina alone with Carly.

Nina tried to tell Carly the truth, but instead just told her she was sorry for everything and wanted her forgiveness. She admitted she kept the Nixon Falls secret because she blamed Carly (who indeed hesitated at the top of the cliff) for Nelle’s death. She just wanted to be a better person but realized there was a part of her that was broken and still wanted revenge.

Carly stopped her before she said anymore, telling Nina that she didn’t deserve forgiveness and wasn’t going to get it. Welp, Nina tried, just as she did when she first saw Sonny in Nixon Falls, called Carly to tell her to come fetch her husband, and got berated for her troubles.

In the end, Carly refused to offer Nina forgiveness, which was her right. Just as it is Nina’s right to not forgive Carly for her lies and tricks. Hopefully, they can just stop trying to one-up each other in the petty revenge department once this secret comes to light.

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