‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Luke Spencer Major Storyline Reveal On 52nd Anniversary Flashback Episode

April 1st will be the ABC hit soap General Hospital‘s 52nd anniversary and we cannot wait. Spoilers indicate that it will be a flashback episode that hearkens back to the original 1963 series starter. Original characters Dr Steve Hardy, nurse Jessie Brewer and intern Phil Brewer were portrayed by John Beradino, Emily McLaughlin and Roy Thinnes.

In the anniversary episode, Patrick Drake [Jason Thompson], Elizabeth Webber [Rebecca Herbst] and Lucas Jones [Ryan Carnes] will take on the roles and treat a teen patient who was grievously imaged in a car accident as the medical pros did in the very first GH episode. Set dressers will reconstruct the old-school nurses station used on the soap back in the day and will have authentic costumes to make everyone look perfectly to match their vintage parts.

And to make it even more iconic, the flashback scenes with Patrick, Liz and Lucas will be shot in black and white just like the 1963 debut. Uber cool – can’t wait to see how film noir this will look. Jason Thompson said, “None of us took it lightly. It was a real honor to pay tribute to the cast that launched our show.” Rebecca Herbst said, “Everything was very serious and straightforward back then, almost formal but really cool.”

Here’s some anniversary fun facts about General Hospital:
• When the show first started, it was a low budget live show with a cast of roughly six.
• Today, the recurring cast numbers approximately 70.
• In 1978, GH was almost canceled but was revived by the Luke and Laura romance.
• In 1991, the show was again on the rocks then Wendy Riche was brought in to run it.
• The OJ Simpson trial tanked GH ratings by frequently pre-empting the soap.
• In 2012, GH was again on the brink of cancellation until Frank Valentini took over.
• Currently GH holds the #3 soap ranking behind Young & the Restless and Bold & the Beautiful.

Ryan Carnes said, “”It’s really captivating. The aesthetic, the music, the mystery. Everything draws you in. It’s easy to see why viewers would get into it and want to come back tomorrow.” At the bottom of this post, you can watch the original black and white episode in its entirety in case you’ve never seen it and want to get a preview of what to expect. Also, this will give you some source material to compare against the performances of Thompson, Herbst and Carnes. It’s in four parts – see below.

In addition to the flashback portion, there will be the big revelation on the Fluke/Luke storyline and will explain why Luke Spencer [Anthony Geary] ended up with DID (disassociative identity disorder). Here’s a huge ‘General Hospital’ spoiler of what to expect from the Fluke reveal – DO NOT KEEP READING if you don’t want this reveal spoiled for you! You have been warned. For those with an insatiable desire to know things before everyone else, keep reading.

While there are plenty of details to come out, the upshot of why Luke’s brain broke when he was a young guy is (drum roll please) – he murdered his mom! The Spencer patriarch Tim was a raging alcoholic who abused wife Lina, daughters Patricia, Bobbie and son Luke. There are also rumors (yet to be confirmed) that Tim may have been sexually abusing one or more of his daughters. That would tie into Luke’s storyline of raping Laura.

But when Tim Spencer was on a particularly nasty bender, Luke had enough of the abuse and snapped and tried to kill his father. He accidentally killed his mother Lena instead. This would explain Luke’s deep and disconcerting relationship with Helena Cassadine [Constance Towers]. Mommy issues, much? After Luke killed her, Tim covered it up and sent the kids to live with his sister Ruby. Pat, however ran off rather than going with her siblings.

We’re a little more than a week away from the big 52nd General Hospital Anniversary. Are you excited? What do you think about the flashback concept? Are you excited to see the original episode recreated? Share your thoughts on the upcoming April 1st anniversary in the comments below!