Hear Us Out: General Hospital's Nina Doesn't Deserve The Hate

While fans of Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright) on "General Hospital" continue to defend her heinous actions, they simultaneously throw shade at Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros). Heck, Ava Jerome (Maura West) has literally gotten away with murder, yet is still beloved by viewers. So why does Nina get so much hate? She doesn't deserve the animosity she's gotten from the fans, so let's look at her rationale. Watros — who took over the role from Michelle Stafford in 2019 — discussed the tragic motivations behind Nina's impulses, explaining that because the character lost 20 years of personal growth when she was in a coma, she portrays her as somewhat immature and given to impetuous decisions.

The litany of ways in which Nina has been wronged, however, is lengthy. Her husband, Dr. Silas Clay (Michael Easton), had an affair with Ava. When Nina got pregnant, her mother, Madeline Reeves (Donna Mills), gave her drugs to induce a miscarriage, but instead she fell into said coma. When she awoke, she was informed that her baby had died, not knowing that she had actually had twins, which Madeline promptly sold. Her ex-boyfriend Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) later paid Sasha Gilmore (Sofia Mattsson) to pretend to be Nina's long-lost daughter. Madeline even gaslighted Nina to steal her fortune and killed Silas, letting Nina take the blame. And let's face facts: Carly not once, but twice prevented Nina from knowing she had a daughter.

That's a lot for any human to deal with.

Nina Reeves isn't above reproach. Blaming Ava Jerome for ruining her marriage to Silas Clay and subsequently learning Ava was pregnant in 2014, Nina suffered a psychotic break, causing her to induce Ava's labor and steal the baby. When Nina was with Valentin Cassadine, and his daughter Charlotte Cassadine (Scarlett Fernandez) became her step-daughter, she irrationally berated then-schoolteacher Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen) for pointing out the girl's misbehavior in class. There began a long-standing feud between Nina and who she would eventually learn is her second daughter. Nina's main motivation is a subconscious attempt to fill the hole in her heart created when her children were stolen. 

When she found a presumed-dead Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) in the town of Nixon Falls with amnesia, she attempted to call his wife Carly, who attacked her on the phone. Thus, she told no one. Keeping Sonny from his family was indeed a terrible act, but Carly had it coming. Nina and Sonny fell in love, subsequently breaking him and Carly up, and the two are now engaged. However, Nina recently made another bad choice when she felt Carly was being more of a mother to her newfound daughter Willow, and impeded any kind of budding relationship between the two. 

She also learned that Carly and Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) had participated in insider trading, so she reported them to the SEC. Reporting a crime is not a crime, yet fans took exception to this.

When Carly was indirectly involved in the death of Nelle Benson (Chloe Lanier), she learned that the young woman was Nina's biological daughter, but kept it a secret to save her own skin. Nelle was an evil schemer, but Nina was justified in her anger at Carly because, had she known their relationship, she felt she could have helped change Nelle's malicious ways. On her deathbed, Harmony Miller (Inga Cadranel) revealed to Carly that Willow was Nelle's twin, but swore her to secrecy. Willow had already told Carly that if someone like Nina turned out to be her mother, she wouldn't want to know, so Carly's lips were sealed — until Willow was dying from leukemia.

Willow has kept Nina at arm's length after learning that they are mother and daughter. Because Carly is Willow's mother-in-law, the two have bonded, which understandably irritates Nina. As a result, Nina impulsively turned in Carly to the SEC, not realizing that Willow's brush with death had softened her stance toward her. Even though Sasha Gilmore had pretended to be her daughter in the past, Nina forgave her, and the two became friends. Ava also forgave Nina, with the same result. Nina's one hope out of life — to have a child — has been dashed at every turn,  and while she needs to be held accountable for her actions, fans should have some understanding as to why she does what she does.