General Hospital Performer of the Week: Laura Wright as Carly Spencer

We had been waiting for this General Hospital moment since February, when Jack Brennan came up with the crazy idea to recruit college co-ed Josslyn Jacks into the WSB. All we could think was, "Uh-oh, wait till Carly finds out."

Well, this week, Carly found out, and Laura Wright did what we expected her to do, giving a performance so powerful and engrossing that she earned this week's Soap Central Performer of the Week honors.

Carly's week started with a laugh (and some fear)

Carly was shocked when Nina was arrested on General Hospital | Image: ABC

After worrying that Anna (Finola Hughes) was going to arrest her, Carly got a good chuckle out of watching mortal enemy (and sometimes frenemy), Nina (Cynthia Watros), get arrested instead. However, Diane (Carolyn Hennesy) had to warn Carly that she was not out of the woods, especially when she sheepishly confessed to threatening to kill Drew and being alone in Elizabeth's (Rebecca Herbst) house, which would have given her time to plant the gun Anna found.

Wright portrayed Carly's amusement and fear to perfection, but we knew by the end of the week that Carly was going to get the shock of her life. Wright's early-week performance was clearly just a warm-up for the main act.

General Hospital's Carly can't believe her ears

Carly had to absorb what Jason told her about Josslyn | Image: ABC

On Thursday, when Jason (Steve Burton) finally said the words, "Josslyn is in the WSB," Wright's facial expressions said it all. Carly barely needed to speak because we knew what she was thinking. From confusion and disbelief to fear and outrage, Wright was on fire.

Carly was every mother as she tried to make sense of what she had just been told. Her daughter was a college student, not a super spy. Why would Jason say such things? Carly's journey from bewildered mom to furious lover had us enthralled, but Wright wasn't done.

Then came Carly's moment with Josslyn. Both Wright and Carly chose to play it calmly and inquisitively, but also lovingly. Carly questioned Josslyn about her life choices without ever bringing up the WSB. At that point, she was every mother — worried about her child, while trying to respect them at the same time. We can't wait to see what Wright does next week when she has her moment with Jack.

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