-Hughes on Return:  I'm Really Excited! SID 2/6/01
-You Only Live Twice, SID 3/20/01
-The Role of a Lifetime, SID 5/15/01
-The Mommy Returns, SOD 6/5/01
-The Strongest Link,  SOD 6/12/0
-The Ultimate Dual Role, SOW 6/19/01
-The Men in Her Life, SOU 7/3/01
-Flirting with Danger, SID 10/16/01

    The In depth Story: "I am really excited," Hughes teases on her official Web site. "I think they have come up with an amazing storyline to explain my absence. I hope [the fans] enjoy it."

You Only Live Twice (SID 3/20/2001)
It's the news millions have longed to hear: Anna Scorpio- presumed dead nine years ago on General Hospital- is alive! But if she is going to stay that way, All My Children's Alex will have to challenge a foe from her twin sister's past!  Two breathtaking British brunettes; two equally devastating and unexpected exits.

On March 27, 1992, GH viewers were dealt tragic news; Secret agent Anna Devane Lavery Scorpio had perished in a boat explosion off the coast of Venezuela.  Taken with her were her husband, Robert, and Cesar FAison, the duo's arch enemy.  Faison, though, would later turn up alive (first in Loving's Corinth, later on GH), raising the question: Had the others cheated death as well?

Flash forward to November 17 of last year, to another boat- this time a yacht- docked in Pine Valley.  Alexandra Devane Marick, who in previous months discovered Anna was her twin sister, was roaming the deck when an unseen figure approached.  She vanished without a trace.

As family and friends who survived Anna to this day still mourn her passing, Alex's husband Dimitri and her ex-fiance, Edmund, have been left to wonder what happened to the Devane which they knew and loved.  Now, with the opening of a cabin door deep within the woods of Canada, Dimitri and Edmund- face-to-face, squared, with both Alex and Anna- have unearthed some answers, yet also have uncorked a multitude of new questions.  Questions which could put all tehir lives in danger!

Anna Lives!  "This Alex/Anna story will give the fans what they have been longing for," promises AMC's executive producer, Jean Dadario-Burke, whose staff of writers and producers are working closely with their GH  counterparts to preserve the integrity of this abitious crossover tale. "It will give [Alex's portrayer] Finola [Hughes] a chance to also play her beloved GH character, Anna, and it will be a big stretch for the actress to be playing both parts.  That is no easy trick!"

Although Burke is decisively cryptic about the revelations which will unfold this week (to be sure, ABC's highest powers went to great lengths to keep news of Anna's return under the tightest security), Soaps in Depth has unearthed some important details on what viewers can expect.

Brothers & Sisters  When Dimitri and Edmund entered the Canadian cabin last week, it was because they believed they had  spotted MIA Alex through a window.  But once inside, they instead were greeted by Devanes, plural!

"[The brothers] are so excited that Alex is alive and well." Burke declares.  "But seeing Anna, as well, is what launches this story in the direction of even more mystery and intrigue.  There are two of them now!"

As such, the brothers are filled with questions.  Ans as this week progresses, potentially deadly answers come forth...

Where Has Alex Been?  "There aren't too many questions why Alex could have gone away," Burke says when asked to account for the recent whereabouts of Dimitri's wife. "But the fact is that her sister, Anna is alive is a great reason why she would leave town without telling anyone.  There weren't too many plausible scenarios available, but this seemed like a really good one."

Emmy-winner Finola Hughes (whose maternity leave prompted Alex's disappearance) was equally excited by the history-rich twist.  "The AMC writers went through, like, five storylines, trying to figure out how to bring me back," she recalls.  "Suddenly, one day Jean called and said, 'This is what we are going to do'- Alex and Anna.  I just screamed!  I was like, 'She's baaack!'"

Playing a major part in Alex's vanishing is Bart, the mystery man who confronted her that night on the yacht and may--or may not--have her best interests in mind.  Whatever his agenda, he spun a story (and flashed a photo) compelling enough to lure his prey away from Pine Valley.

"[Bart's intentions] get explained after Anna's first few appearances," Burke teases.  "I don't want to take away the surprise."

Okay- What About Anna?  What about Anna indeed.  Although details about the "late" superspy's life since "death" are filed by Burke under Most Top Secret classification, this much is known...or unknown, as the case may be: "Let's see," the AMC boss muses, searching for the best, least revealing words.  "Anna has been through a great deal, and has suffered a large memory loss."

Adds Hughes, who spent six years as GH's Anna: "She is a bit more 'broken' than we remember her, because of what has happened to her over the last nine years."

In fact, Anna's state of being may be such that the recruitment of Alex was not merely to stage some ersatz "family reunion"--after all, Dr. Marick is a world-class neurologist.  "Alex, being a doctor, very much feels the need to protect her sister," says Hughes.  "It's a struggle, because a lot of 'things' are piled up against the two of them."

An Enemy Among Us  While Alex brings Dimitri and Edmund up to speed on the mind-bending situation involving her and her sister, little do they know that there is a traitor int heir midst, someone who is on a covert mission to make sure that this time, Anna- and perhaps everyone else, if need be- is terminated once and for all!  As all the tension builds to a climax, leaving one individual felled, the others are sprung forth into a new level of endangerment.  Think the worst is over gang? Not by a longshot.

Fearing for their safety, the survivors ponder an escape from their dire situation.  Will a retreat to Pine Valley provide refuge?  Or will the stench of a long-fermenting and vengeance minded evil follow them home?

"There's a tremendous amount of danger out there," Burke warns viewers, refusing to name nameswhen it comes to the enemy's identity.  "No one is safe. No one."

Rest assured though, this foe from the past is in for a fight- having not one but two Devanes with which to deal.

"Alex and Anna, they're both fighting back," their portrayer promises.  "Together."

Anna-lyze This  Clip-and-save this primer on Anna, ABC Daytime's most awesome lady operative!

A Look At Her Life:
A World Security Bureau spy, Anna was coerced into being a double agent for the DVX (aka the bad guys).  As penance for her treason (which cost a fellow operative his life), Anna wore for years a fake scar.  Upon arriving in GH's Port Charles, Anna reunited with her former partner and one-time husband, Robert Scorpio, to whom she introduced the daughter he never knew they had: Robin.

Anna played spoiler to Robert's romance with fellow Brit Holly, only to eventually fall for the dashing Duke Lavery.  Alas, Duke's leanings toward the unlawful came between him and Anna (now police commissioner).  Eventually, they wed, only to be parted by Duke's murder.

Following a brief flirtation with extraterrestrial Casey Rogers (nope, no typo there), Anna and Robert rediscovered their love.  Alas, as they say, it was "till death do us part."

Marriages: Robert (late 70's); Duke (1987); Robert (1991)

Loved and Lost: After coming back from the dead with a new face, Duke was slain by mobster Julian Jerome in 1990. Robert was presumed dead in the '92 boat explosion (orchestrated by Faison) which also seemingly killed his wife.

Family Ties: Alex (the twin sister she never knew); Robin (daughter, now living in Paris); Mac Scorpio (brother-in-law, Robert's younger sibling, now PC police commissioner).

Twin Billing: Seeing double?  Welcome to Pine Valley!
Recalling one of her first double-duty AMC scenes, Hughes says, "I had an eight-page argument involving three people- and I was two of them!  I didn't know what to do, so I went up to David Canary's dressing room, knelt down outside the door, and sobbed, 'Help me!  How can I do this?!'"  During one long talk, Canary offered Hughes some pointers, having himself been one of several AMCers to travel this forked road.

The BIG Question
Okay, GH buffs, we know what's on your mind: Will Mac and Robin learn that Anna is alive?  Although Soaps in Depth hears rumblings that such family ties will eventually be addressed via crossovers, AMC's boss reveals no exact whens or wheres.  "They'll have to stay tuned," Burke teases.

The Role of a Lifetime Portraying twin sisters doesn't being to rival the thrill Finola Hughes feels when playing mother (by Matt Webb Mitovich, SID 5/15/2001)
FYI FYI FYIFYI
Born: October 29 in London
Shall we dance? Hughes studied ballet from age 10 to 17
Rewind: To reacquaint herself with Anna, Hughes requested the character's "greatest hits" from GH's library.
Gimme a double: Of Mollie O'Mara, her stand-in for scenes requiring both Alex and Anna, Hughes says, "She is wonderful.  She helps me with my lines and, because she's also a mother, reminds me to stay calm.

It's not the memory the immediately comes to her, but it's still there. When prompted, ALL MY CHILDREN's Finola Hughes remembers herself as a little girl, fantasizing about the future.  Specifically, it was a vision of her and her someday groom, peddling a tandem bicycle with two beaming children along for the ride.

When Hughes made Russell Young her husband in 1992, the actress began to see her perfect picture realized.  Now, even more so, with her latest addition: baby boy Dylan Joseph, whom she and Young welcomed into the world last November 9. Hughes, who shortly thereafter would be handed two roles on AMC, had an entirely new part to play- that of mother.

Close, For Comfort
Although it would stand to reason that the Emmy winner could get caught up in AMC's sister act, the truth is that her now nearly six-month-old son is never far away, always tucked cozily in mommy's dressing room.  There, Hughes easily can steal away maternal moments, and drink in long gazes at her boy.

"When I look at him, I can't help but think he looks exactly like Russell," she shares. "I'm still filled with amazement. It is pretty awe-inspiring."

To be sure, Dylan responds in kind when he spies his mom on the small screen. "It's very funny," Hughes notes. "I was on the other day, and the lady who helps take care of him held in front of the TV. He was like, 'There's Mom!'"

A Perfect 10
If baby Dylan- who's named after Dylan Thomas, his dad's favorite poet, and shares Hughes' father's middle name- is calling the shots from his crib, all involved would agree he's doing a bang-up job.  Especially, Hughes, says, since she had "no preparation at all" and is operating purely on "guesswork, as I think everybody does."

Pressed to evaluate the pure joys- and perils- of motherhood thus far, she cannot sing its praises loudly enough. "It's a 10," she declares, smiling from ear to ear.  "I'm not sure I'm a 10 at it, but it's definitely a 10.  Dylan is absolutely the greatest joy I have known."

Her Other Roles...Finola Hughes is greater than the sum of her parts
What began as a dance (between the sheets) with Tony Manero ultimately led to a CHARMED life.  Here, Finola Hughes reflects on past parts she has played.

Staying Alive:  "I was the queen of hell, which makes perfect sense," laughs Hughes, referring to Satan's Alley, the stage spectacle within the 1983 Saturday Night Fever sequel.

Jack's Place:  "I loved that [1992 series about restaurant co-workers], because of working with Hal Linden and John Dye- I had a lot of chemistry with those two."

Blossom:  Joining the sitcom's cast in 1994, Hughes played step mom to titular star Mayim Bialik. "She's an extraordinary young woman, with a great mind.  We still send Christmas cards to each other."

Tracey Takes On:  Hughes is most fond of her folly on Tracey Ullman's sketch-comedy show. "That was the most favorite thing I've ever done. It was just a wild ride. And Tracey is so talented... She's a crazy girl."

Pacific Palisades:  "The big thing that came out of that [1997 primetime sudser] was working with [executive producer] Aaron Spelling.  I have great admiration for him."

Sunset Beach:  Appearing on the soap in 1997, Hughes reunited with Sam Behrens, who had played Jake on General Hospital. "I love Sam.  He's great!"

Charmed:  Despite being the deceased mom of the series' witchy trio, Hughes has four guest spots under her belt.  "All three of them are very powerful," she says of her TV kids. "Shannen [Doherty], though, has got such a soul."

The Mommy Returns A Visit from Robin Prompts Total recall for Anna on AMC (Elaine G. Flores, Soap Opera Digest, June 5, 2001)
General Hospital alum Kimberly McCullough comes back to daytime this week for a much-anticipated reunion with TV mom and real-life pal Finola Hughes (Anna). But here's the twist: They meet up on AMC.

As GH aficionados know, McCullough's character, Robin Scorpio, who has been living in Paris, believes that her parents, Anna and Robert, perished in a 1992 boat explosion.

Her trip to Pine Valley is set in motion after an off-screen encounter with Edmund, amnesiac Anna's new champion. "Edmund went to Paris and saw Robin, and it piqued Robin's interest," explains Hughes.

"Robin tracks him back," picks up McCullough, who points out, "I'm sure nobody's brought up her mom in years, and he wants to talk about her, so she's like 'Why does this guy want to write an article about  Anna?'"

On Wednesday, as Anna has a flashback about her little girl, Robin lands on the doorstep at Wildwind, where her mother's been cloistered while dodging a mysterious threat to her life. Anna's roused from her thoughts by an oh-so-familiar-voice.

"She's stroking the picture and trying to conjure up some memory when she hears the voice in the foyer," previews executive Producer Jean Dadario Burke. "The memory comes back of the young Robin running into her arms. That was so effective and I thought, 'Well we can top that.' However, when they meet at the door, it really does top itself.

"The reunion was everything I'd hoped for and more," continues the exec. "These two ladies are so wonderful. We did the scenes a few times because we wanted to make sure we got every single moment, and I went down later to apologize to them for having to do such emotional stuff over so many times. They just said, 'No! Thank you, we're thrilled to do it.' We got every tear and every moment. I think the audience is going to be really pleased. It's very visual and very moving. I called in one of my producers when we were editing it because I thought, 'Well maybe we're doing too much with it.' And as we're watching it, there's no music, none of the finishing touches are on it and there's this producer sobbing, so I said, 'Oh, I guess it's not too much. It's just right.'"

After Robin gets over the jolting discovery that Anna's alive, there's much catching up to be done. The duo touch on the possibility that Robert also survived, and Anna's in for unnerving news: Her girl is HIV-positive. "Robin tells her and [Anna] realizes that she wasn't there to help her when she lost her boyfriend [AIDS victim Stone] and found out that she had the virus. That's a huge amount of guilt," notes Hughes. "She's desperate to make it up to her daughter."

There's also a sticky wicket that must be addressed for continuity's sake. In 1995, Robin communed with her parents' ghosts on GH. "If you need someone, you feel their presence, their spirit. Robin needed her [parents] and sort of made it up in her heart," offers McCullough.

"It wasn't a ghost," agrees Burke. "She conjured the spirits and we did discuss it. So, Anna's spirit was there. It could happen."

Though Robin is only on screen for four days, McCullough has made it clear she's open for more. "Anything is possible now that we know she'd like to come back," says Burke. "They're just magical together. I can't wait until the audience and the writers and everybody sees how they work together."

Whether on GH, AMC, or in real life- Finola Hughes and Kimberly McCullough Share... The Strongest Link  ( Elaine G. Flores, Soap Opera Digest, June 12, 2001)
Finola Hughes and Kimberly McCullough played mother and daughter Anna and Robin on General Hospital from 1985-92. The pals were estatic to reunit on-screen during McCullough's All My Children stint, which ended this week. Or has it?

Kimberly McCullough (squealing): "I'm back! I'm back for three days!"

Hughes: "She's got to come back.

The Ultimate Dual Role For Finola Hughes, playing twins on-screen is nothing compared to juggling motherhood and a career (by Robert Schork, SOW 6/19/2001)
Only in New York can you be treated to three institutions at once:  high tea with Finola Huhges at The Plaza. Monday afternoons don't get any better than this.
     "Isn't this so civilized?" Hughes marvels as she takes her seat. It's easy to understand why she chose the this venue to meet. As strolling violinists fill the air with classical music as soothing as the tea and palatial surroundings, time, for a short while, stands still. Getting the clock to stop, however briefly, is a welcome miracle for an actress playing two lead roles (as Alex and Anna on AMC)- or actually four, if you count loving wife and new mom. "I think they're trying to kill me," she jokes about her employer. "Just before I came here (to the interview), I was working on a nine page scene between three people- and I'm two of them..."
     To be sure, Hughes' first role is stretching her acting muscles- "and my patience," she says with a laugh. "Because it's very difficult with a little baby (son Dylan, now 6 months old), trying to put in the hours that I would like to do. But then I have a lot of people at work who help me. The directors, and everyone, have been incredible about this."
     Fashionably dressed down in a denim jacket and shades, Hughes all aglow as a doting mom, presents Dylan in an adorable and befitting Harley-Davidson motorcycle jacket. "I'm afraid he is a born speedster. Unless he's moving, he's not happy. I can't imagine where he got that from," Hughes deadpans. "Here in New York, most people scream at the taxi drivers to slow down. But Dylan screams at the drivers whenever they stop." Hughes nestles Dylan into the chair besider her. "He's got his father's hair, see?" she says, pulling a knit cap off her son's mostly bald head with the flair of David Copperfield. Once settled in, Dylan quickly rivals the scones and other treats as the sweetest thing at the table.
     The waiter has not yet heard the London-born-and-breed Hughes speak when he approaches. "Will the two of you be having our traditional English high tea?" he asks. Hughes flashes a devilish grin across the table as she peers over her menu and replies, "I'll be the judge of how traditional it is," in perfect British diction.
     Not surprisingly, the tea doesn't disappoint and neither does Hughes. Showing the multitasking facility of a more experienced mom, she effortlessly switches from demonstrating the proper English way to prepare one's scones, to feeding Dylan a bottle of his own "tea," to sharing a bit about first time, later-in-life motherhood. 
     "It's been fantastic. Tiring, but fantastic," she says. "Russell (Young, Hughes' artist husband) and I are trying to keep him with us all the time, and bring him up that way rather than have too much outside care. I take him to work with me, so he's with me most of the time. I'm so enjoying it. I really wanted to be a mom."
     In keeping with the desire for a traditional upbringing for Dylan, Hughes and Russell opted for another surprise. "We didn't want to know ahead of time if it was going to be a boy or girl. That helped to make it such a great moment, actually, when he was born."
     For Hughes, the biggest surprise of motherhood has been "how much it changes everything- I mean everything. People would say that before, and I wouldn't really understand what they mean. But now I understand."
     Hughes reflects on even the smallest of ways motherhood has changed her. "I didn't know Itsy Bitsy Spider before," she says with a laugh. "And I didn't know how little sleep you can do nine pages of dialogue on."
     Dylan's father hasn't escaped change either. "Russell has gotten all inspired in his artwork because of the baby. He's doing great stuff. He's such a fantastic dad. Russell will take him everywhere he goes, to all the museums and exhibits."
     From Rembrandts to high teas, Dylan is certainly getting a head start in becoming a Renaissance man. Hughes hopes to instill in him a proper mix of European and American values. "Later on, I suppose that will come more into play. What I love is the American confidence and the go-getting that's taught to the kids here right from an early age. But we'll bring him up a bit more European, maybe, in as much as we will take him everywhere with us. And, I would like to teach him lots of foreign languages."
     When asked to sum up the experience of motherhood in one word, Hughes softly replies, "Warmth. Even though on TV, I'm not for warmth, in my real life I enjoy it. And he's a nice baby, so that helps."
     Hughes' aversion to on-screen affection stems from her admittedly biggest challenge as an actress. "The romantic side of the soaps is the hardest for me. It's not what comes easily to me, somehow. I don't know why that is, really.," Hughes takes a beat. "I think what I find romantic is different from most others. I like things that come harder... a romance that is like the way that Scully is kept apart from Mulder for so many years," explains the ardent X-Files fan. "I enjoy that. I like Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn- that hard kind of romance. I don't like the giving, be-nice-to-each-other stuff. I like my romance served up a little colder- like General Hospital's Duke and Anna. They were the epitome of a dark, brooding romance. And they were very cool. There's always a joke on the set whenever they ask me to be warmer in a scene: I always say, 'Do you want me to hum him to warm things up?'"
     If Hughes had her way, the warmth she'd be playing on air is the spy who came in from the cold. An avid enthusiast of both fictional and real-life crime and espionage sagas, Hughes would love to see one or both of her characters embroiled in a full-blown cloack and dangger tale. "I don't know if people would enjoy that kind of story anymore," Hughes continues, "but I think there's a way to do it that's more investigative than action. Because we don't go out on locations anymore and that really made the action so fabulous."
     When asked if Hughes misses the budget-busting location shoots and action sequences of her past on GH, she gets a gleam in her eye, as if Anna has momentarily taken possession of Hughes. "I miss it terribly. I'm a physical actor, and if I can incorporate movement and jumping and throwing myself off a cliff, it's all the more real- to anybody, not just me."
     For now, though, Hughes gets her action fix by tending to her energetic infant while trying to learn her lines for the next day. "I just bounce him on my knee as I read my script. There's not a whole lot of options. From this exposure, I wouldn't be surprised if Dylan develops a great memory capacity himself and becomes a natural actor. Either that, or when he gets older he's going to ask me, 'Who the hell is Dimitri?'"

The Men in Her Life AMC's Anna and Alex have tangled love lives. But off-screen, Finola Hughes has two great guys (SOU 7/3/01)
She’s an Emmy-Award-winning actress for her role as Anna Devane on GENERAL HOSPITAL.  Now the beautiful and talented Finola Hughes is making her home on AMC, where she has not only a new character– Alex Devane– but has also undertaken the task of dual roles by bringing back her very popular GH character.
     Off-screen, Hughes is enjoying another challenge: motherhood.  She and husband, photographer Russell Young, recently became the proud parents of son, Dylan.  So what’s life like for the English-born actress?

Just Call Her Mom  “It’s what I wanted it to be.  It’s fulfilling and great fun; you laugh a lot. They make you laugh,” she says with a grin.  Hughes admits that being a parent took a little getting used to, but “it’s sort of panning out now.  I can make it work a little better than I was.  Dylan comes to work with me nearly every day,” she continues.  “There’s a lady who watches him so I can work.”  Hughes also credits her husband with being a big help in taking care of her and Dylan.
     “My husband is an excellent cook, which is very handy.  If it were left up to me, no one would eat in the family,” she says laughing, before adding that “Russell is great with Dylan.  He can’t wait to play soccer with him.”

Life in Pine Valley  Hughes’ AMC character Alex is married to Dimitri Marick (Anthony Addabbo), but she fell in love with his brother Edmund (John Callahan) when it was believed that Dimitri had lost his life.  This created a sticky situation when the Count suddenly returned.  Then, Hughes took off on maternity leave and Alex disappeared, complicating the story even more.  When Dimitri and Edmund finally found her, not only was Alex discovered, but twin sister Anna too! (F.Y.I. Anna was supposedly killed in a boat explosion with Faison years ago while residing in Port Charles.)
     Hughes admits that initially she didn’t feel comfortable playing both women.  Since then, her self-confidence has improved dramatically.

Playing Dual Roles  So how easy was it to slip back into playing Anna?  “I had to give it an little thought, because it’s one thing to slop back into a role that you were playing and nothing has changed,” Hughes explains.  “But I wanted to take into consideration everything that’s happened to her.  Of course, the good thing is that she doesn’t remember her past or what happened, but she’s beginning to recall some of the explosion,” Hughes continues.  “I wanted her to be different because these writers are different writers,” she says of the AMC writing team who are themselves just becoming accustomed to Anna’s idiosyncrasies.  “There are days when I really feel I’ve got Anna, and there are days when it doesn’t feel like Anna at all.”
     But Hughes knows what it takes to make Anna believable again.  “She needs to do something, then we’ll see Anna.  She needs to get out and when you see her in action that would be Anna.  She was always taking chances… was always in trouble,” tells Hughes with a chuckle.
     Regardless of what Anna has been up to, Hughes’ original AMC figure– Alex hasn’t seen much action either.
     “It’s weird and- in some way– it’s funny.  I feel that some of Alex’s personality has gone on hold at the expense of Anna a little bit, so that I can make the two characters different,” reasons the actress.
    What would Hughes like to see happen for Anna and Alex?  “I’d like to see Alex more involved in the hospital– doing something.  At AMC, they work the romantic side and your character’s soul, which is kind of fantastic.  I would like Alex to get more involved with David (Vincent Irizarry) in the hospital, in some kind of research.  I think our character work well in that sort of loathing-each-other way,” she laughs.
     Hughes admits that it is difficult to predict the future for her second alter ego.  “Viewers know better,” she offers.  “They really have an idea of what they would like to see that character do.  I feel very much that Anna belongs to the fans; they made her what she is and would probably come up with the right thing.”  One idea, repeatedly recycled among Internet surfers and daytime insiders, is the resurrection of the malevolent Faison.  “You can’t kill that guy off,” sums up Hughes in a breath. “I’ve always wanted him to swing through Pine Valley and maybe see her, but she won’t remember him.”  Another possibility is the return of Duke Lavery–  “that would be exciting– Anna’s second departed husband.”

Words From A Friend  Hughes and former co-star Ian Buchanan, who portrayed Duke on GH, are still the best of friends and he loves tuning in to catch his gal on AMC.  “She’s wonderful,” compliments Buchanan.  He also admits to the suggestion of repeating his character.  “Maybe Ryan (Lavery) could be my son, or at least my younger brother,” he laughs.  “Maybe it will happen sometime.”

Flirting with Danger (SID 10/16/01)
It’s the in-law versus outlaw, as Anna chooses between returning with Mac to her comfortable Port Charles past or pursuing a perilous Pine Valley future with David!

This week on AMC, when recovered amnesiac Anna receives an unexpected visit from her late husband’s brother– GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Mac Scorpio– she faces a difficult decision that promises to change the face of both AMC and GH forever!

Anna’s In Attack Mode!  In 1992 when Anna was presumed dead– an apparent casualty of the boat blast that also killed mate Robert– the Internet barely had been born.  Now, ironically, it’s a product of the Web– a shocking and cryptic E-mail– which fuels Mac’s journey to Pine Valley, where his alive-and-kicking sister-in-law resides.  But perhaps he should have called first.  “I go to my room at the Valley Inn, where I’m now, living,” Finola Hughes (Anna) says in character, “and this man is there, so I attack him.” “Then,” she adds, “I realize it’s Mac!”
     Enter GH star John J. York, who was thrilled to partake in the crossover.  “Mac figures, ‘If Anna’s not coming to Port Charles, then I’m going to Pine Valley, to see her for myself,” he explains.  “After all, he thought that Anna and Robert and [the secret agent duo’s archenemy] Fasion were dead.  Then Faison reared his ugly head, and now Anna’s alive!”
     All of which, says York, raises the big question:  “What about Robert?”

Mac Searches for the Truth  The possible survival of Anna’s spouse is a hot topic covered by the reunited in-laws.  “We have a conversation about Scorpio…” teases Hughes.  And it’s a dialogues loaded with questions, says York.  “Is Robert dead?  Is Anna sure about it?  What exactly happened on that boat?  These details all have been addressed.
     “Parts of their encounter are going to be uncomfortable,” York continues.  After all, Mac has reason to be miffed by Anna’s silence about her return to the living.  “He would have been like, ‘I care about you, I love you!  Come get a hug from me!’”
     Ultimately, their reunion leads Mac to invite Anna back to Port Charles, where friends like Felicia, Tony and Bobbie would welcome her home.  Anna, though, tosses back a curveball.  “I tell him that I can’t, because I want to stay in Pine valley,” Hughes reveals.  “I say it’s too difficult for me to go back to where all those memories are.  But… he doesn’t buy it.”
    Indeed, Mac’s police commissioner instincts are acute; Anna is concealing a none-to-small detail about her decision to stay put.  “There’s something that Mac sees in Anna which suggests that she’s not telling him everything,” says York.  “But he respects that, and understands that she needs to do what she needs to do.”

What Is Anna’s Mission?  Little does Mac know that the cause of Anna’s piques thirst for derring-do is a man– namely, Dr. David Hayward, with whom she has been enjoying many “interesting” encounters- including a spontaneous liplock!  The intrigue ante soon will be upped when Anna slips a little something- say, a homing device- into David’s bag.  “Anna is trying to discover things about David,” Hughes teases.  “But we don’t yet know exactly why she’s doing this.”
     Stop to consider David’s unexplained connection to the increasingly suspicious Roger Smythe, coupled with Anna’s rejected offer to assist federal agent Chris Stamp in his drug investigation, and at least one theory comes to mind.  “But Anna’s now on her own,” says her portrayer, cryptically.  “’Free-lancing,’ perhaps.”

Where There’s Smoke…  Alas, nothing is free when it comes David, and Anna should be prepared to pay, should the shrewd doc wise up to her agenda– that is, if he has not already.  As the two headstrong sorts battle for the upper hand, count on sparks to ignite.  “David is the perfect foil for Anna,” observes Hughes.  “He brings out the ‘fight’ in her.”
     Vincent Irizarry- whose’s David showed untapped potential with Hughes’ original AMC character, Alex- also sees an exciting ride ahead.  “David and Anna’s interest in each other,” he explains, “is sparked by them seeing a similar quality in one another.  She is somebody who, at one period in time, was at the top of her game, a person who committed herself to her work– and that’s certainly true of David as well.”
     Plus, there’s that unique heat which often arises from friendly fire.  “David likes a great challenge,” notes Irizarry, “and Anna is one person with whom he could be challenged, and challenged equally."  “That,” the actor smiles, “is an aphrodisiac in and of itself.”

A Love Affair Or A Date With Disaster?  So, what lies ahead doe the sly sleuth and the cunning surgeon?  AMC promises a steamy, adult game of cat and mouse, one filled with hidden motives and illicit liaisons.  After all, Anna– at one time in her illustrious past, a brilliant double agent– is well-versed in how to play both sides of the fence.  “She knows how to be bad,” points out Hughes, “so it’s going to be hard for David to one-up her, and vice-versa.”
     ”She has flirted with this kind of danger before,” the actress adds, “and, a couple of times she allowed her feelings to get involved.  Perhaps that will happen this time."  In other words, in the weeks and months to come, nothing is certain!

The Real Anna is Back  You can keep your lights and camera; what Finola Hughes wants is action!
     We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Since her resurrection seven months ago, Anna had been a bit… well, timid.  And it was a shame, for this “broken” braveheart, saddened GH fans who followed her to Pine Valley, and puzzled the AMC viewers who were just meeting her.  Yet things now are changing.  “This [Anna/David story] totally is a turning point,” raves Anna’s portrayer, Finola Hughes.  “I’m so grateful, because it looks like they’re moving this character around the way she’s supposed to be.  I say things to Mac like, ‘I need action!  I need to be aggressive!’  And it’s good to hear Anna saying things like that.”  Hughes credits AMC’s new writing regime for this transformation.  “Anna’s ‘fight’ has been nonexistent, but [headwriter] Richard Culliton is really interested in bringing it back, which I think is absolutely great!”