Does This Scene in ‘General Hospital’ Signal the Return of a Long-Lost Character?

The cool thing about soap operas is that you can stop watching for any length of time and usually return to familiar faces. Case in point: On July 19, 2024, General Hospital fans couldn’t believe it when writers called back Lulu Spencer, who hasn’t been seen onscreen since December 2020.

After four long years, during which time Lulu (most recently played by Emme Rylan) was said to be living in a long-term care facility in a coma, fans are dying to know whether the character will make a full return … or not. Here’s everything we know so far!

Who is Lulu Spencer?

General Hospital has been on the air since 1963. Over the course of its sixty-one-season run, they’ve returned time and again to the storybook romance of lead characters Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura (Genie Francis) Spencer. Lulu is their daughter, born onscreen on August 8, 1994. She was played by various child actors for years, but then in 2005, the character was “SORAS-ed” (soap talk for “soap opera rapid-aging syndrome”), jumping from age 11 to age 17 presumably so the writers could pursue more interesting storylines.

Lulu’s early life was filled with strife, as her parents divorced, got back together, and then split again. She had quite a few interesting romantic plot lines, and is noteworthy because she’s the first character on General Hospital to ever have an abortion. The role of Lulu was played by Julie Marie Berman from October 2005 until 2013. Berman won three Daytime Emmy Awards for her acting in the role. Rylan took over for Berman on April 11, 2013 and continued until 2020, when she was let go from the series.

Writers left the door open

Lulu was never killed off, so there’s always a chance that the character can come back in future episodes of the long-running soap. When last we saw her, she was involved in an explosion at the Floating Rib and fell into a coma. As we all know, that’s soap opera speak for “to be continued!”

Sure enough, the July 19 episode saw Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) and Laura visit Lulu in the hospital, opening up a brand new discussion about whether Lulu will finally rise up out of that bed at last. Many fans wonder if Berman might return to reprise her role. Since leaving General Hospital in 2013, she has appeared on shows like Two and a Half Men, Jane the Virgin, and Casual, but her dance card seems to have some room on it as of this writing.

So, while there’s been no official announcement from ABC about Lulu Spencer’s fate to date, we’re optimistic that this July 19 “sighting” will signal the character’s triumphant return to daytime drama.