As General Hospital Fans Mourn, There’s One Huge Reason Why Gregory Harrison *Shouldn’t* Return

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Well, that was a gut punch of a death. From Gregory’s montage through life to Finn discovering his dad’s body the next day, General Hospital hit us in all the feels. And, as we discovered wading through social media and fan comments, we weren’t alone. And the fallout, from Finn trying to drown his sorrows, to Brook Lynn comforting a devastated Chase has been just as powerful.

Somewhere along the line, the show managed to put together a powerful, heartbreaking sendoff that’s gotten a lot of folks wishing it didn’t have to happen. As Steve made clear on Twitter/X, “I wish Gregory didn’t have to die. The actor and character had such great chemistry with Jane Elliot. Would’ve liked to see a romance and even marriage happen with these two.”

And it’s a sentiment that many echoed. For a time, folks seemed resistant to Gregory’s addition, but then they paired him with Elliot’s Tracy and it was almost like night and day.

Paula certainly agreed when she tweeted, “Tracy and Gregory had nice chemistry and a fun banter together. I was really liking them as a couple.”

Unfortunately, though, it’s a couple that never got to take off, as the two themselves alluded to at the wedding, wishing, maybe just a little, that they’d met decades earlier. But for some fans like Alara Fair, that wish isn’t enough. “They should bring Gregory Harrison back/reincarnate him as another character,” they tweeted. “Like they did countless times for Michael Easton and Roger Howarth.”

Actually, it would be kind of amusing to have Harrison come back as the dad of one of Easton’s other characters… But no, while Alara wasn’t alone (Mary and a few other fans on X/Twitter still think he’d make a great Jeff Webber), there’s a very good reason why the actor should not come back.

At the end of the day, characters should be allowed to die and we should be allowed to mourn them. That’s OK. It’s a part of life and it’s a part of storytelling — especially when dealing with as heartbreakingly real a disease as ALS. But if they’re never actually put to rest, it cheapens the death, and that includes keeping the actor around in a new role. Because then we don’t really have to say goodbye.

Instead, we’ve got the actor back, either being paired up with the same characters as before to keep interest going, or off doing something new with folks lamenting  how they wish the other character was back. Too often soaps rely on either character resurrections or actor renewals to keep milking everything they can out of whichever one is popular. They need to learn that it’s OK to let go.

Because you know what really makes for powerful moments? When we lose actors and characters who we love, knowing that it’s likely for good. Against the odds, Gregory won over a lot of viewers and his death was heartfelt and wrenching. And now it’s time to say goodbye and move on to wherever life (at least in Port Charles) takes us next.