If General Hospital’s Drew (Cameron Mathison) is the most infuriating person in all of daytime TV, then Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and Nina (Cynthia Watros) were trailing behind him, competing for the second-most infuriating person in all the soap universe. Well, after giving it some thought, it looks like Nina edges out her daughter for the title.
Not to sound too harsh, but Nina’s parenting has left me wanting to bang my head on the wall. I just don’t understand why Nina hasn’t come clean to Willow about sleeping with Drew. The magazine editor has had chance after chance to tell it all, and yet she has refused to share with her daughter that Drew is the sleazy man who first cozied up to her before turning to Willow.
Let’s really unpack this. Nina could have told Willow this information back when Willow first came to her and said she had a crush on Drew, before #Drillow even became a thing. Had Nina told her, I’d argue Willow would have put her school-girl crush aside and realized her love for Michael. Willow may not have risked it all for Drew that fateful night in the Quartermaine nursery.
And hey, if not then, Nina could have told Willow about her romps in the hay with Drew before Willow decided to leave the Quatermaine mansion. After all, Michael was still willing to fix things with Willow at that point. However, Nina continued to remain quiet, just believing that Willow would somehow wake up to all of Drew’s manipulative ways.
Oh, and how great of a moment would it have been if Nina confessed to Willow before this custody hearing? Upon hearing the truth, Willow might have come to realize that everyone is right about Drew being a creep, and she could have come to an equitable custody agreement with Michael. Instead, Willow is still in the dark and without her kids (well, this is in part because of Sidwell [Carlo Rota] too, but we digress).
Fast forward to post-custody hearing, and now Willow is gearing up to marry the loathsome congressman. This is another poor decision being made by Willow, and all Nina hopes to do is stall her daughter, again hoping Willow will eventually see Drew for who he really is. Attention Nina, your strategy for getting Willow to leave Drew stinks.
Look, I understand that Nina doesn’t want to lose Willow in her life. She didn’t get the chance to raise Willow, and Willow is her only living child. However, Carly (Laura Wright) was right.
If Nina wants to be this great mother, she has to be brave enough to tell Willow what she needs to hear and stop placating her. Clearly, Willow is incapable of making great decisions right now, in part because she’s ill-informed. Nina should have just done what needed to be done.
When the whole truth is revealed, which it will be because it’s daytime TV, Willow is likely to be outraged with Nina and Drew. Willow may cut Nina out of her life for good (well, for an extended period of time, because again, this is the soap world). So not only will Nina be without her daughter, but her daughter may be without her kids.
On a final note, when this all hits the fan, I can’t say I’ll feel bad for Nina. She really would have brought it all on herself.
New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.
