It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 10 years since General Hospital has seen Dr. Steven Webber (Scott Reeves) in Port Charles. Longtime viewers know that the good doc was last spotted onscreen being hauled off to a Memphis prison for his role in the murder of a comatose inmate whose organs Steven used to save the life of a little girl. Flash forward to today, and I think his presence is needed back on the soap.
For starters, his mother Heather Webber (Alley Mills) could certainly use a friend and support these days. Although she’s currently locked away in prison, General Hospital continues to build this big storyline that many of her past misdeeds were a result of cobalt poisoning from a hip replacement. Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) is even back in Port Charles trying to make the case to get her out of prison. If he proves successful, Heather doesn’t really have any family in town to help and support her aside from her grandson Ace who is still in diapers. So bringing Steven back to town could give Heather an ally.
Not for nothing, Steven has long wanted to see his mother make the transformation from villain to respectable citizen, so he’d likely be thrilled to see her in this changed state. Although, he’d probably maintain a healthy dose of skepticism given she has pretended to change for the better in the past.
Aside from Heather needing Steven, Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) could also use her brother around. She’s processing a lot of complicated feelings knowing that Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) could be returning to Port Charles soon. Arguably, Elizabeth and Lucky are the love of each other's lives, but they’ve just not been able to make a successful run at their relationship. While she may pretend there is no way possible that she’ll reconcile with Lucky now, we aren’t certain she even believes that. Her big brother could help her make sense of her feelings.
Additionally, Elizabeth has had a tough go of it for the past few years. She suffered the loss of Franco (Roger Howarth) and was badly hurt when Finn (Michael Easton) gave in to his alcohol addiction. So like Heather, she could use Steven’s support these days.
Finally, let’s talk about Olivia (Lisa LoCicero). Before Steven went to prison, she was madly in love with him and the duo was actually planning to wed. Their nuptials were stopped when the Memphis police showed up.
In the present, Olivia is married to Ned (Wally Kurth), but ever since Lois (Rena Sherel Sofer) returned to Port Charles, I’ve suspected that trouble would soon start brewing in paradise for the happy couple. It’s not hard to imagine Ned and Lois getting a little too comfortable in their co-parenting friendship, and they slip and have a moment of passion. Should that happen and Olivia find out, pure chaos would unfold in the Quartermaine mansion, and Olivia may be ready to call it quits on her marriage with Ned and life-long friendship with Lois.
Let’s say that scenario plays out. Wouldn’t it be nice for Steven to coincidentally arrive in Port Charles just as the fallout happens? I’ve always liked the pairing of Steven and Olivia, so it would be interesting to see them rekindle things.
With all that being said, if Steven does head back to the General Hospital canvas, I have to ask what he may do. One would think he would no longer be able to practice medicine, but it’s the soap world, so anything could happen.
New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.
