General Hospital spoilers: too much tragedy makes one person finally snap?

When it was revealed months ago that Chad Duell was exiting the role of Michael on General Hospital, and show executive producer Frank Valentini announced there were no immediate plans to recast the part, many viewers wondered how the character would leave the show's canvas.

Well, during the week of January 6, some light was shed on the mystery as Michael was caught in an explosion in Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse and is now fighting for his life. Although we tend to think he’ll survive and be carted off to a burn recovery center outside of Port Charles, even if he beats death, this tragedy is one in a line of recent traumas impacting the town’s residents.

Fans will recall that in October, Sam (Kelly Monaco) was killed off the soap after over 20 years, and the newer character Dex (Evan Hofer) died of the same causes only a few weeks ago. Even before these two deaths, things were rather heavy in Port Charles as Kristina (Kate Mansi), Molly (Kristen Vaganos) and TJ (Tajh Bellow) lost their daughter in August, and Gregory Chase (Gregory Harrison) died in May. (We’d argue there’s too much death occurring in General Hospital, but that’s a post for another day.)

Having said all of this, it stands to reason that some people in Port Charles are about to reach their breaking point with Michael’s dire condition. In fact, we think one person is about to finally snap, which could make for a lot of chaos and drama depending on the individual and depending on how far they are willing to take things.

If we had to guess, Kristina is the person most likely to snap. Like we said, she lost a child in August, her sister in October and now she has to watch her brother suffer. Kristina hasn’t really been allowed to recover from one tragedy before another one hits, which can’t be good for her psyche. That’s a lot of pain she’s carrying around, and she may want to redirect that energy into making the people she feels are responsible pay for her losses.

We’ve suspected that Kristina has been working on a plan of revenge on Ava (Maura West) for the loss of her child for a while, and she already loathes Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) for having an affair behind her brother’s back. When she finds out that Cyrus (Jeff Kober) murdered Sam, Kristina may find she has quite the list of enemies.

It’s worth noting, that with Sonny tossing around the idea of retiring from the underworld, and constant comparisons being made lately on the show about how much Kristina is like her father, could she make a play to take over her dad's business to gain power to help her along in her revenge? Or could she simply go rogue and go after her foes, without the backing of the mob?

Kristina isn’t the only one we’re worried about blowing their top. Josslyn (Eden McCoy) is also young and dealing with an incredible amount of grief. Her boyfriend just died (which is the second love of her life that she’s had die) and now her brother is suffering with burns on over 40% of his body.

Speaking of her process of trying to heal after Dex, viewers know she found Dex’s gun going through his belongings and doesn’t seem that interested in getting rid of it yet. She also desperately wants to know who stabbed Dex in the first place and who killed him in the hospital. Although she reportedly is seeking justice, we think she actually wants revenge.

Considering how much Josslyn is like her mother, we tend to think Josslyn is incapable of becoming a murderer. However, when one is pushed too far, sometimes they surprise you with their actions. Even if Josslyn doesn't resort to violence, she may wind up leaning on Sonny or Jason (Steve Burton) to kill Cyrus when she learns he killed Dex.

Now if you’re wondering why we haven’t mentioned Carly (Laura Wright) as a contender for snapping, it’s because we don’t think she’s going to become a new person because of all the tragedy. Instead, we think we’re about to be treated to vintage Carly who makes her enemies pay, no matter the cost. The Metro Court owner has been “pretty nice” in dealing with those who have crossed her over the last couple of years, and we think the mature Carly may be about to exit stage left as a vengeful Carly reemerges.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens next on General Hospital, but we think some character shifts are in store.

New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.