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‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Steve Burton Confirmed As Masked Man And Not Nikolas Recast – ‘GH’ Leaked Pic

By Belynda Gates Turner
Published on: 05:20 PST, Sep 15, 2017

General Hospital spoilers tease that Patient 6, the masked man Ava Jerome found in Russia, is Steve Burton. A behind-the-scenes photo was revealed on Twitter by a GH insider, but she deleted it a few days ago. Fortunately, someone captured the image, and it clearly shows Steve Burton wearing the gray T-shirt and sweat jacket that Patient 6 was wearing. If you look closely at the background, you will see Steve is sitting in front of a wall of bamboo, which is a set decoration for the Baronski clinic. It’s Burton on that set in the Patient 6 get-up!

Now that it’s confirmed Burton is under the mask, the big question is whether he’s old Jason Morgan or recast Nikolas Cassadine. Patient 6 is dressed like Dr. Doom from the Fantastic Four, and Ava was told he’s a psychotic and dangerous man. Larissa also said the mystery guy was shot and fell into the water, is the son of a wealthy family, and must be kept heavily sedated so he doesn’t hurt anyone. Up until that point, it sounds like it could be either Jason or Nikolas. There are some little clues that differentiate between the fate of the two.

Is Patient 6 recast Nikolas?

It’s true that GH writers love umbrella stories, but stretching Burton’s return tale all the way from Port Charles to St. Petersburg, Russia, is more of a tarp than an umbrella. There’s no reason (that makes any sense) for him to be in Russia at that clinic. Larissa said Patient 6’s family dropped him off there. That’s not something the Qs would do to their son. However, that is something Valentin Cassadine would do to Nikolas, and they are family, even if there’s no love lost there. So from that perspective, it seems more likely it’s Nikolas, right?

However, recent General Hospital spoilers and casting news say that actors have auditioned in the exact age range for a new Nikolas, and it would be strange to use Burton as Nikolas. Tyler Christopher was already too old for the part, and Steve Burton is a few years older than him. Valentin cut his hand and dripped blood on the family tree sketch on Nikolas’ name just as the mystery patient was revealed. That’s a huge hint, but it also could have been a misdirect to fool fans into thinking it’s Nikolas back from the dead rather than old Jason.

GH twist no one saw coming?

While General Hospital spoilers have been consumed by Steve Burton’s return, many fans complained that GH can’t keep a secret and shouldn’t have revealed Burton until he actually returned. But the ABC soap might have known it would be too hard to hide Burton, so they decided to do a two-for-one shocker and have recast Nikolas return the same time Burton came back. Now that we’ve seen Burton in the costume on the Russian clinic set, it’s safe to say there is not a new actor coming to GH right now to play Nikolas.

To be fair, it would be way too weird to have Burton with Jason’s face playing Nikolas. Imagine how creeped out his cousin Sam Morgan would be to see her dead husband’s face on her cousin? Ick. Finding out Nik survived the shooting would exonerate Valentin for his death and put an end to that silly lawsuit, and there are lots of other plot reasons to bring back Nikolas. But to bring him back with Burton’s face would make no sense. When we see Burton’s face on Tuesday, we’ll know more, but there’s slim hope he’s Nikolas instead of Jason.

Why it’s Jason under the mask

General Hospital fans would be thrilled with a new Nikolas, but there’s concrete photo proof that it’s Burton under that mask. The timing is right for Burton since his debut is supposed to be Tuesday, September 19 and GH has been hitting that date hard in promos. What they probably meant is that is the day GH fans will get to see his face when Ava unzips his “Bane” mask. Spoilers for next week say she can’t control her curiosity, so we can expect Ava to take a peek and see what’s lurking under there. It’s Burton, and Ava may be in danger.

There is another reason to realize that Patient 6, the Sith lord-looking guy, is Jason and not Nikolas. At the castle on Cassadine Island, it was revealed that the window Nikolas fell out of was on solid ground, not water. That is the biggest discrepancy between the “deaths” of Jason and Nikolas. We know Jason was kicked into the water while Nikolas supposedly fell to a rocky death. Of course, few people ever really die on a soap, so we know Prince Nik is somewhere and the recast rumors might still be about him but for a November sweeps appearance.

Check back often for more General Hospital spoilers.

[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]

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