It's kind of hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would be charmed by General Hospital troublemaker Esme Prince (Avery Pohl), but somehow, that's the state of mind that Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Coloma) has found himself in. Well, sort of...
Nikolas is in a tough position, having slept with Esme -- who happens to be his son, Spencer's (Nicholas Chavez), girlfriend -- in the midst of trying to save his marriage to Ava (Maura West). Esme is now holding that explosive information over Nikolas, and she uses it to her advantage as she seeks his help after being barred from seeing Ryan (Jon Lindstrom) at Spring Ridge. So, how will Nikolas respond?
"At this point, he knows he's in a bad situation, and in the sober calm of daylight, he's just like, 'How do I get out of this?'" Coloma reveals in the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest. "He doesn't necessarily want to get involved in anything that she's [got] going on."
However, Nikolas might not have a choice, because when he refuses to help her, Esme resorts to blackmail, threatening to tell Ava about their recent roll in the hay. But interestingly enough, Nikolas isn't completely disgusted by Avery's behavior.
"It's just so twisted, but I think he finds it a tiny bit endearing," Coloma says of Nikolas' reaction. "In the Cassadine world, manipulation and blackmail are kind of their stock-in-trade. He's aware that she's blackmailing him, but it's familiar to him."
In the end, Nikolas feels he has no option but to go along with Esme's plans. "He's trapped," Coloma previews, adding, "It's getting a little bit dicey, but I don't think he's surprised. I think he still looks at her as a troubled, tortured person who needs help."
How do you feel about Nikolas landing in Esme's trap and going along with her blackmail threats? What do you think about Coloma's assertion that Nikolas is charmed by Esme's bad behavior? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
