GH: AUSTIN AND LIESL TRICK VICTOR
■ With Peter on the loose and Maxie missing, Victor receives two unexpected visitors to his hotel suite.
Austin is up first, loaded for bear and determined to force Victor to reveal what he knows regarding Peter’s whereabouts. Reports Charles Shaughnessy (Victor), “When Austin comes bursting in, Victor reacts in his usual way, which is, ‘Look, I made some mistakes in the past, teaming up with Peter, but he has nothing to do with me now! I’m sorry that he’s causing so much trouble for everyone, and if I could help, I would, but there’s not much I can do.’ He’s all dimpled disingenuousness [laughs].”
Austin threatens Victor with a syringe, but Cassadine keeps his cool. “I don’t think Austin frightens him,” the actor offers. “Victor can take care of himself! I see Victor as kind of like a modern Russian oligarch on the loose in the West, and those guys, they can look after themselves in a street fight.” Still, when Liesl swoops in and sends Austin packing, Victor professes his gratitude. Details Shaughnessy, “He goes into his Liesl dance, which is, ‘I love you madly, deeply, forever and ever.’ ” He offers to do something for her in return, and she requests his assistance in finding Maxie. “He says, ‘Of course, I will do whatever I can.’ But we all know that that is kind of zero — I mean, he could, but why would he? To an extent, he just wants to keep her on a string until he needs her.”
And he’s not the only one putting on a front. “Immediately after [she leaves], she goes, ‘Did you get that, Austin? I managed to pin a listening device on him.’ So, they are both playing games around each other. There’s a lot of deception in those scenes between the three of them. Who is setting up who between Austin, Liesl and Victor? Who is pretending to come to the rescue, who is pretending to be on someone’s side, who is pretending to care? It made for a really fun day!” the actor declares.
Via the bug she planted, Liesl and Austin hear Victor telling trusty bodyguard Johann that he wants to find Peter — in order to silence him for good. “Peter has just been an irritation to him from the start,” Shaughnessy notes. “Peter is so mercurial, so untrustworthy, and now that Victor has extracted the information he needs from him, he’s served his purpose. It’s dangerous to have him walking around because he knows too much. Peter will do anything to save his own skin, so Victor wants him off the face of the earth. If you’re privy to information that may be damaging to Victor, you’d better hide, because he’s coming for you! Victor wants no loose ends.”
“Victor wants no loose ends.”