General Hospital (GH) spoilers recap for Monday, January 23, reveals that Ava Jerome (Maura West) recognized Mason Gatlin (Nathanyael Grey) from the night of her hook attack and spooked him by suggesting she should give his name to the cops.
Mason took off, so Austin Gatlin-Holt (Roger Howarth) thanked her – though he warned her not to get involved any further.
Ava reflected on being from a criminal family and how she once wanted in.
As for Austin, he was determined to stand his ground like his father would’ve wanted.
When Ava left Austin’s office at GH, Mason was still hanging around looking pensive.
At Kelly’s, Carolyn Webber (Denise Crosby) explained that she was in town to help with a psych consult, but she also hoped for a chance to make amends with Elizabeth Baldwin (Rebecca Herbst).
Liz asked why Carolyn stayed with Jeff Webber (William Moses) after all his betrayals and questioned if Carolyn loved Jeff more than her.
Carolyn was sorry for making Liz feel that way and did her best to explain.
Elizabeth admitted she could understand doing something unforgivable in extraordinary circumstances, so Carolyn wondered if Liz had done something she felt was unforgivable.
Liz was cagey, but Carolyn suggested very few things were unforgivable and added that it was often just a matter of time.
After pointing out that she was staying at the Metro Court, Carolyn was hopeful about Liz reaching out again.
At Wyndemere, Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Coloma) gave Laura Collins (Genie Francis) updates on Ava going after Wyndemere.
Laura also learned Nikolas wanted full custody of the baby and didn’t plan to allow Esme Prince (Avery Pohl) visitation at all.
However, Laura thought it was a mistake to keep the baby away from Esme and defended her chance to be a mother.
Nikolas remained against the idea despite Esme’s amnesia and worried her belief that Spencer Cassadine (Nicholas Chavez) could be the father was another scheme.
When Nikolas suggested he hoped Esme’s memories didn’t return, that left Laura confused about why.
Once Laura got a phone call, she insisted she was on her way and ultimately landed at Kelly’s.
Liz opened up about Carolyn’s visit and hinted about not trusting her.
Soon after, Carolyn showed up on Nikolas’ doorstep, so he thanked her for coming.
At Josslyn Jacks’ (Eden McCoy) dorm room, Cameron Webber (William Lipton) asked if Dex Heller (Evan Hofer) was the reason they broke up, but then he decided he should just take off.
Josslyn stopped Cam and urged him to come inside so they didn’t have to have a confrontation in the hallway.
Once Cam stepped in, he guessed Josslyn and Dex were both laughing about how clueless he’d been, but Joss wondered if he really thought she’d do that.
Cameron didn’t know what to believe anymore and seemed upset at the sight of Josslyn’s unmade bed.
After Dex left, Cam ranted about Josslyn moving on 10 minutes after their breakup, but Joss insisted over meant over and acted like she didn’t owe Cam an explanation. Josslyn stood by her claims that they truly grew apart.
However, Cameron asked if Josslyn waited until the split to sleep with Dex, so she admitted she didn’t. Josslyn explained how she was going to break up with Cameron earlier on New Year’s Eve, but he wasn’t at Kelly’s.
That led to Josslyn telling the hook attack story, so Cameron was sympathetic about that part.
Even so, the fact that Joss couldn’t wait to sleep with Dex clearly left him hurt.
Although Cameron struggled to even look at Josslyn now, she insisted he couldn’t say anything about her involvement with Dex.
At Sonny Corinthos’ (Maurice Benard) penthouse, Spencer was on the phone making plans to buy a four-bedroom house with a two-car garage.
Sonny got the news that Spencer was seeking custody of his younger sibling and wondered if he was really ready for that.
After Sonny talked about how it’d mean putting the child first, Spencer assured Sonny that he didn’t want this baby to feel betrayed or abandoned.
Sonny understood, but he warned Spencer about the fight he’d be taking on when it came to Nikolas.
Dex interrupted to discuss something important and had to wait out in the hall until Sonny finished talking to Spencer.
A little later, Sonny turned his attention to Dex and asked what he wanted to talk about.
At Spring Ridge, a dangerous inmate started ranting at Esme for stealing her seat.
Esme seemed unnerved until Heather Webber (Alley Mills) appeared and warned that Esme was special along with her kid.
The inmate was apologetic and backed off, so Heather said to spread the word.
Esme was grateful, so Heather was able to smooth things over after being a little extra during their first interaction.
Once Heather assured Esme of her protection, she asked if they could be friends and offered up the friendship bracelet she made.
Esme eventually felt the baby kick, but she was wary of letting Heather touch her bump.
When Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) found out Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) was headed to Spring Ridge, she tagged along to maybe jog Esme’s memory about her former nanny.
Once Sam approached Esme, she admitted she didn’t think Esme was “The Hook.”
Sam also mentioned that Esme was raised by a nanny named Maggie Fitzgerald, who had previously written letters to her and hinted about her biological father being in New York.
Sam admitted that a lot of people she cared about were affected by this case and was willing to search for Esme’s bio dad for free, so Esme got on board.
Meanwhile, Dante wasn’t impressed since Heather hadn’t been able to come up with much of anything regarding Esme and Ryan Chamberlain’s (Jon Lindstrom) connection.
Heather offered to arrange a run-in between Ryan and Esme – that way, she could translate and perhaps find out whether Esme had a partner in crime.
Dante insisted Heather had one week to come up with something solid or else she’d be transferred back to the asylum.
Moments later, Heather looked uneasy as Esme filled her in on Maggie and how she might know where her father is.
General Hospital spoilers say Heather will have more fires to put out as her storyline heats up, so stay tuned to ABC’s GH.
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