The soap opera world was stunned by General Hospital's 52nd anniversary episode, which traveled all the way back to the soap's first year on the air (1963) to unravel the shocking secret that led to Luke Spencer developing a splintered personality. But it seems nobody was more shocked by the dark reveals than the character's portrayer, Anthony Geary, who is still reeling from the material head writer Ron Carlivati and scriptwriter Elizabeth Korte created. The seven-time Emmy winner was taken off guard by the unexpected twists and turns, but he's thrilled with the final result -- even if it leaves Luke without much future story to tell.
"I think we can, without hesitation, refer to him as a serial killer now, and I am delighted," Geary told TV Insider of the April 1 reveal that Luke killed both his mother and father (in addition to other characters, which the audience previously knew). "Most of the time when Luke has killed over the years, he really felt he was removing people from this Earth who deserved to be removed, though it wasn't his place to make those decisions. That was always a stretch for me -- just a wonderful conceit that I played along with -- but now it makes total sense. Luke became like his drunk, abusive father, only worse -- a marauding dark angel going around spreading as much chaos and misery as he possibly could."
In addition to bringing a deeper understanding to many of the character's actions, such as the infamous episode in which Luke raped Laura (Genie Francis), the scenes laid out the character's motivations flawlessly. "They explained things about Luke that I'd never even considered," Geary says, adding that he was particularly relieved that Fluke didn't end up being Luke's cousin, Bill Eckert. "When the fans started to guess the outcome -- Ron monitors the comments so closely -- they decided there was a better way to go... When I was called to Frank's [Valentini, GH executive producer] office, he told me that this other personality had been Luke all the time, and I cheered. Not only did I love the idea, but it meant that people like Tracy [Jane Elliot] weren't being stupid. I mean, wouldn't she have known if she'd gone to bed with someone other than Luke?"
However, there is one drawback to the reveal of Luke's past: the fear that the story can't be topped, and there's nowhere left for Luke's arc to go. "To have all these disparate pieces of my character come together in one script is pretty overwhelming," Geary admits. "I feel like I've taken off all my clothes and have nothing left to shed. There's no going back. It will be an incredibly interesting challenge to go forward. There are so many ramifications here. In another couple of episodes, we find out why Luke went after Sonny Corinthos [Maurice Benard], for starters, and a lot of other truths will come spilling out now that Luke's mind has cracked open. I'll have my work cut out for me to balance all these balls in the air when I come back from break. In the meantime, we will leave Luke going off to some kind of sanitarium for some kind of treatment. We can only hope that Heather Webber [Robin Mattson] isn't the head nurse!"
For more from Geary -- including his thoughts on why Luke fell in love with Laura, how he prepared for the harrowing Fluke reveal scenes, and his opinion of his costars' performances during GH's 52nd anniversary episode -- check out his full TV Insider interview here.
Were you as stunned as Geary when the truth about Luke was revealed? Do you agree that it might be tough to top the episode? How would you like to see the show handle Luke's near future? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
