Elizabeth in Limbo: What's next for the General Hospital heroine?

General Hospital has had trouble finding a love interest for Elizabeth that sticks ever since the inexplicable choice to kill off her husband, Franco Baldwin, more than four years ago. After another relationship went wrong, Elizabeth is back on the Port Charles market, but is the perfect man for her in front of her face, or yet to be seen?

A General Hospital merry-go-round

Things didn't work out for Liz and Lucky on General Hospital | Image: ABC

While Franco (Roger Howarth) and Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) weren't everyone's cup of tea, even fans who didn't like them can admit they were popular. It never made any sense for GH to kill Franco, only to bring actor Roger Howarth back just a few months later as another character it killed off two years later.

It made even less sense to pair Elizabeth with Hamilton Finn (Michael Easton) not long after Franco died. Liz never had a chance to truly mourn her husband, and fans were immediately turned off watching her with a man who tried to run her life. GH plugged away at trying to make fetch happen with Liz and Finn for nearly three years to no avail. Nobody liked them, and the show had to eventually cut its losses.

Having Jason (Steve Burton) rescue Liz from a drunk and angry Finn gave some fans hope that Liz and Jason (aka Liason) might finally get together long-term after 25 years of false starts and one shared kid, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead, Lucky returned to town, and it was clear from the start his return was meant to give Liz a love interest.

Sadly, Jonathan Jackson chose to depart GH less than a year later, leaving Liz without a love interest again — maybe. After all, she does have two other former loves hanging around town, and one would jump for joy like he won the lottery if she'd remove him from the friend zone.

What happens to Elizabeth now?

Does General Hospital's Liz have a future with Ric? | Image: ABC

Since GH is clearly sending Jason down the Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) path, that leaves Ric (Rick Hearst) as the only man from Liz's past left in Port Charles. However, as Lucas (Van Hansis) pointed out just two weeks ago, Ric is the messiest man alive. Plus, he comes with a heck of a lot of baggage, both old and new.

Currently, he is busy blackmailing Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) for millions with the promise that he won't turn Kristina (Kate Mansi) in for cutting his brakes and nearly getting him and Elizabeth killed. While Liz knows what Kristina did, she is keeping her mouth shut about it, but at least she is not blackmailing anyone.

If Elizabeth can overlook this little transgression, the chemistry and history are there, so LiRic could work. However, Elizabeth might want to push Ric right off the famous footbridge when she finally learns what he's been up to with Ava (Maura West). What happens then?

GH can always bring back one of Elizabeth's other loves, which would then give Laura (Genie Francis) another child in town. Nikolas and Elizabeth share quite a history, from best friends to lovers to back again. Could he really be the one for General Hospital's head nurse?

Perhaps Liz might also want to give Isaiah (Sawandi Wilson) a second look. It's clearly not going to work out with Jordan (Tanisha Harper) and Portia (Brook Kerr) is a married woman, so Isaiah might also want to look at Liz differently. All we know is that GH needs to bring Elizabeth out of limbo — stat.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.