Frank Valentini Dishes GH and a Possible Luke Return

Pink Java recently caught up with General Hospital boss Frank Valentini at the Summer TV Critics Press Tour where the busy exec took some time to chat with us about what’s going on in Port Charles. While there’s no update yet on when Finola Hughes (Anna) and Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) will return, Valentini did talk about Kristina’s coming out tale, Sonny and Ava, and the possibility of seeing a familiar face back in Port Charles. Read on to get the scoop! Soaps tell stories at a breakneck speed but the tale of Kristina figuring out her sexuality is being told slowly, which is great because all the beats are being played. Why was she the character chosen for a story like this? I think this was the right character to do this with because there needed to be an explanation as to why Kristina was making such bad choices in the men she was with. To some extent, she was forcing herself to be with somebody to sort of taper down all the questions as to who and what she’s attracted to. Laura and Kevin seem like an unlikely pairing on one hand, but on the other it makes perfect sense. It does make a lot of sense. It’s a very sweet story. It’s also somewhat unexpected for Laura. She and Kevin are two different people so it’s interesting to see them mix and their chemistry is fantastic. Ava and Sonny remain in a war over Avery. It shows no signs of ending. As long as that kid is in their lives, then they’re connected to one other — for better or for worse. But each of them has gotten away with murder. Sonny killed A.J. and Ava killed Connie. Should Avery be with either of them? I think there are a lot of children in this world who have very terrible parents. Ava and Sonny wrestle with their demons all the time. Avery is a chance for redemption for each of them. Will we see Hayden and her mom (Naomi) have ties to some familiar names in Port Charles? Yes. You’ll be very surprised to see who she’s involved with. Can you tease anything coming up this fall? Lots of big things. I’m not giving anything away, though. It’s all very good. Any names from the past coming back? Well, Jax is back now. We have that. We’re concentrating on that. We have a big cast. You’ll see Bobbie, Monica, and a lot of Lucy and a lot of Scotty [coming up]. Did we ever find out what was in that letter Luke left for Laura? No, but we will. Anthony Geary (ex-Luke) told EW.com as he was walking out the door a year ago that he’d come back for six weeks or so if the story were interesting. Is the door open for him? (Smiling) The door is always open.