Drew Is Returned to Pentonville as Alexis Confronts Judge Kim to Try and Have Him Released

At Valentin’s, he surprises Charlotte, whom he took out of school early, with Laura’s return. Charlotte is thrilled to see her grandma and asks about her Uncle Nikolas. Laura relays that he’s traveling and she doesn’t know when he’ll be back. Valentin says he has errands to run, and he’ll let them catch up.

Valentin leaves, and Charlotte’s expression changes. Laura asks if she’s worried about her father. Charlotte thinks her papa is worried about her, and he’s never taken her out of school early. Laura says she asked him to as she wanted to spend time with her before heading back to her job. Charlotte says with her grandma back, she doesn’t feel so alone. They embrace.

Laura wants Charlotte to know she’s not alone. She says she has her and her dad. Charlotte admits that’s just it, that’s all she has as she doesn’t have any friends at school. She thinks she’s been away from Port Charles for too long, and her old friends moved on and keep their distance now. Laura says she knows he has Jake as a friend, but Charlotte says it’s different as he’s a boy and she doesn’t have another girl to talk to. She’d like to have someone to hang out with, and Papa is always busy. Laura knows he spends a lot of time with Anna.

Laura asks how she felt about her dad staying with Anna when he came home. She says that was only temporary until her dad bought this house for them. She asks what Laura thinks about the house. Laura wonders what she thinks about it. Charlotte recalls eavesdropping on her dad telling Anna he bought the house for her, for them. She tells her grandma this house is all she’s ever wanted, a house just for her and her papa.

Laura knows she’s close with her papa, but she also knows what it feels like to be a teenage girl. Laura tells Charlotte when she was her age she made some very big mistakes, and it was her great-grandmother Leslie who saved her. She wants to be there for Charlotte the way Leslie was for her. She says if there is something Charlotte needs to share, she will listen. Charlotte pauses but only says she’s glad her grandma is back as she missed her. They embrace, but Charlotte looks conflicted.

At the Metro Court, Anna thanks her bodyguard for looking out for her and asks if he saw anything suspicious while she was with her friend. He confirms he saw no threats.

Valentin arrives to meet Anna, who admits she didn’t want to go back to her suite where she feels trapped and alone. It makes her feel like a sitting duck, waiting for whoever is after her to strike. He says she has alternatives, but she can’t stay with him and put Charlotte in danger. Anna insists she’s fine here, but he says she has friends here she can turn to. She won’t impose on her friends and bring danger to their door. She needs to find out who is after her and shut them down.

Anna blames herself for bringing this on her due to her work as a double agent. Valentin says this is not her fault, this is someone desperate for vengeance. She asks why he thinks it’s about revenge and not justice.  He reminds her this started with the reading of Victor’s will, and he thinks someone is targeting her on Victor’s behalf.

In Alexis’ office, Gregory and Alexis confront Judge Kim about his relationship with the millionaire Asher Alexander, whom he claims he doesn’t know. She lays out the details of trips he took with the man, which he likely didn’t disclose on his taxes. She asks if he cares to comment on this major conflict of interest. He says he did not agree to discuss his personal relationships and calls this a cheap stunt and says it’s no wonder she was disbarred.

Gregory says a simple denial of Alexis’ claims could clear this up. Kim says this interview is over, but Alexis says he agreed to this and she can publish this interview. She comments, “Or you could commute Drew’s sentence to time served and this interview won’t see the light of day.” He tells her she belongs in prison with Drew and storms out.

Alexis thinks that was a failure, and the judge left with the upper hand. She says Kim didn’t admit to doing anything wrong and she has zero leverage to help Drew. She thinks she should have approached this as a negotiation, instead of going for the jugular. She admits she wanted to be a lawyer again, she wanted to win, but she lost big for Drew. Gregory doesn’t see it that way, he says she offered Kim a deal for Drew’s release in return for not publishing an expose on him. She still feels she made an unprofessional mistake.

They’re interrupted by a phone call. It’s a contact Alexis has in the federal building, and they tell her the judge may be reconsidering Drew’s sentence. Gregory tells her, “Nice work counselor.”

Spencer meets Esme, Ace and Kevin at the hospital after learning Ace had a doctor’s appointment. He asks Esme why she didn’t tell him, why he had to learn from a text from the doctor’s office. She explains the pediatrician had an open slot and it’s no big deal. She says Kevin brought her and she thought Spencer would be with Trina. Spencer reminds her that he wants to be at all of Ace’s appointments, but she says as Ace’s mother she’s capable of caring for her own son. A nurse calls Esme in, and she insists on going into the appointment without Spencer.

Spencer asks Kevin what that was about. He says that was Esme asserting her parental rights, which he doesn’t share. Spencer knows he’s not Ace’s father, but their father is not coming back, so he is going to take care of his brother. Kevin again reminds him he has no parental rights, which Spencer gets. He says he and Esme have been able to work together to care for Ace and he doesn’t expect it to change. Kevin tells Spencer that he’s avoiding the reality that he and Esme have nothing in common but Ace, and he may have to accept a reduced role in Ace’s life as time progresses. He won’t accept that. Esme returns with Ace, who has a clean bill of health. Spencer suggests they go to Kelly’s and celebrate.

Liz visits Drew in his room to see how he’s feeling. He feels good but knows that means he’s going back to Pentonville soon. He asks her how the boys are doing, and she says Cam is doing well at Stanford. She says Aiden is still baking and plans to go to a pastry academy in Paris. Drew asks about Jake, and she tells him that he has a girlfriend. She says it’s Charlotte, who seems to have grown up and might be good for Jake. She says this is the first time since Franco’s death that Jake doesn’t seem down all the time. Plus, dating Charlotte boosts his self-esteem.

A guard interrupts them and lets Drew know his paperwork has been approved and he’ll be taking him back to Pentonville. Liz thinks there must be a way to keep him here longer, but he doesn’t want to delay this. She offers to call Carly, but he refuses. He doesn’t want her to watch him being hauled out in chains.

Later, back in orange and cuffs, Drew is wheeled into the hospital elevator.

Robert runs into Diane at the yoga studio, and they make small talk, trading little jabs. They realize they are so used to sparing in court that it’s become their MO. Robert thinks they should change that. Diane admits she likes spending time with him but doesn’t like feeling like an afterthought or a default friend. Robert would like them to be more than friends and suggests they pick up where they left off. She refuses to go back to where they were and reminds him how she was used for Holly’s agenda. She says she finds him charming, but she also hates continually being blindsided by something from his past.

Diane states they can’t pick up where they left off, there is too much hurt and dishonesty there. She suggests they wipe the slate clean and start at square one. He says he accepts the challenge and the conditions. She tells him to think of this as a game between the two of them, and should he mess up again, there will be no more rematches.

Cody meets Dante at the coffee shop, and they discuss Dante being put on administrative leave. Cody mentions how everything is so complicated, and it seems like when you do the right thing, you get the wrong outcome. Cody tells him about Sasha moving, and that he told her that would be a mistake. Dante asks why he didn’t tell her that he wants her to stay.

Cody admits he messed up. He made her decision to leave about himself, and how everyone makes mistakes, and he confessed to her his lie about Mac. He says he was desperate and didn’t want her to go. Dante is sorry this stuff with Sasha is happening as he knows she’s come to mean a lot to him. Dante has to get back to filing some paperwork for his leave but asks Cody if he’s going to tell Mac the truth now. Cody says he can’t hurt Mac that way, but Dante says keeping this secret is going to make everyone’s life more complicated.

On the next General Hospital:  Brook Lynn is caught off guard. Tracy lays down the law. Portia comes face to face with Cyrus. Sonny confronts Selina.