General Hospital Performer of the Week: Eva LaRue as Natalia Ramirez

Eva LaRue bid farewell to General Hospital this week as Natalia Ramirez met a dramatic end that fans did not see coming. While the writing was on the wall for her exit, we did not expect the exit we got, which gave LaRue the best material she has had on GH, and showcased what an outstanding performer she is.

Getting to know Natalia

Natalia realized her illusions had been shattered | Image: ABC

Until recently, we didn't know much about Natalia except that she seemed to be a helicopter parent who also happened to be homophobic while having two adult LGBTQ+ children. A few months back, we learned she was married to Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) at one time. But what we didn't know was that she drank — a lot. In fact, when she was pulled over a few weeks ago, it wasn't her first DUI.

Last week, we learned that Natalia is a bit delusional. She truly believed Sonny (Maurice Benard) was going to join her in starting a new life in Belize when we all know he said no such thing. On Monday, we learned she also popped pills, tranquilizers, to be exact. LaRue slowly showed us who Natalia really was because GH finally decided to tell us.

LaRue gave some of the best performances we had ever seen her give on soaps as Natalia unraveled completely over the course of a few short episodes. We saw her illusions shatter before her eyes, her anguish at the idea of being away from everyone she loved for the rest of her life. We felt her pain because LaRue felt her pain, but she also entertained and drew us in.

Natalia's last General Hospital moments

As Natalia slowly realized that she had believed what she wanted to believe from Sonny, she fell apart at the seams. We watched her in emotional agony as she threw clothing all around, stumbled around her hotel room inebriated, and sent drunk texts to her son, Marco (Adrian Anchondo). Through it all, she seemed to forget how many pills she had taken, so she kept taking more.

We saw the utter sadness in her eyes as she slowly closed them one last time. By the time Anna (Finola Hughes) and Chase (Josh Swickard) found her, she was already gone and declared dead at General Hospital. While we are sorry to see LaRue go, GH gifted her with Emmy-worthy work for next year.

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