Even General Hospital's Avery Pohl Isn't Sure If Esme Is Faking Her Amnesia (We're Still On The Fence)

On "General Hospital," the vicious Esme Prince (Avery Pohl) had committed several evil acts in her first year in Port Charles alone, but now seems to be unaccountable for them because she supposedly has amnesia. Pohl recently talked about this storyline at a "GH" fan event on Zoom (via Soap Hub), and remarked that Esme's change from evil to good overnight was enjoyable. "It's fun to go from not [necessarily] 'mustache-twirling' but definitely [Esme's] more evil side to [who she appears to be now]," she said. When asked if Esme's faking her memory loss, Pohl explained that she couldn't answer that question, but remarked, "I think Esme is a person that, overall, just lies to herself constantly because she's lying to other people." 

Pohl also stated that she consulted an expert on how an amnesiac would behave and said the task of portraying it was daunting because "you're taking away all of someone's experiences. It's nature versus nurture." Esme recently had lunch with her boss, Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), who explained that not remembering her many crimes is an opportunity to reinvent herself in a positive light. Pohl appears to agree, commenting, "She could make something else out of herself."

Despite the fact that Esme currently wears a kindly, innocent look on her face — where she previously had an evil glint in her eyes — we're still not totally convinced that she's truly changed.

Praise should be given to Avery Pohl for completely changing Esme Prince's demeanor, thereby convincing many people — both fans and "General Hospital" characters alike — that she really lost her memory. Esme used to date Spencer Cassadine (Nicholas Chavez), until he learned she was behind several crimes, and even framed his current girlfriend Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) for one of them. Despite the proof against her, Esme's victims have agreed to hold off prosecuting her until she regains her memory, but don't hold your breath.

Esme named her child Ace after supposedly not remembering that she used to call him that when he was in utero. So, either her memories are just below the surface of her consciousness, or she never lost them and claimed the name just came to her. Spencer went from having contempt for Esme to buying into this kinder version, and Trina's going along with it – although we don't think she should be nice to Esme. Esme seems to be working hard to win everyone over by not only taking good care of Ace but also putting a good effort into her job at the local newspaper, "The Invader." Heck, she's not even rude to people anymore. 

Having been adept at manipulating people in the past, it's not a stretch to think that Esme's faking memory loss. If so, it's a brilliant move to change tactics and pretend to be nice, which would make her an evil genius.