Forget Rocco, General Hospital's Returning Villain Is Irredeemable

General Hospital villain Dr. Liesl Obrecht has returned to the show with a lot of fanfare, but her horrific past with the Scorpio family makes her completely irredeemable, regardless of how charming she may seem. Kathleen Gati’s Liesl is a complicated character who was only supposed to be on the show for a very short time after she debuted in 2012.

However, Gati’s fantastic acting and a riveting storyline prompted the producers to expand the role, and she’s now come back to Port Charles after a nearly two-year absence. Leisl’s return was the result of Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr), finding out that Leisl had stolen his parents’ frozen embryo, and implanted it in her own daughter, Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud).

Britt gave birth to Rocco, at the time naming him Ben, and raised him for just under a year. The truth eventually came out, and Rocco was returned to his parents, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) and Lulu Spencer (Alexa Havins).

Most recently, when Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton) wanted to get revenge on Lulu for exposing Gio Palmieri (Giovanni Mazza) as her son, she dug up information about Liesl and Britt stealing the embryo.

Danny Morgan (Asher Antonyzyn) stumbled upon the file, and showed it to Rocco, who then called Liesl so that he could speak to her in person about the situation, and so she returned to Port Charles. In addition, Liesl is currently unaware that her daughter, Britt, who supposedly died in her arms in 2023, is actually alive.

Liesl is currently being portrayed as a grieving mother, who’s a sympathetic character who misses her daughter terribly. She’s also often used as comic relief on the show with her hilarious one-liners. However, Liesl is actually a horrendous villain whose theft of Dante and Lulu’s embryo was nothing compared to what she did to General Hospital’s Scorpio family.

General Hospital’s Liesl Obrecht Held Robin Scorpio Hostage & Was Complicit In Making Everyone Think She Was Dead

General Hospital's Kathleen Gati as Liesl Holding Kimberly McCullough as Robin Scorpio Hostage — General Hospital’s Kathleen Gati as Liesl Holding Kimberly McCullough as Robin Scorpio Hostage

Liesl was madly in love with Cesar Faison (Anders Hove), the General Hospital supervillain who was obsessed with Anna Devane (Finola Hughes). In 2012, it was revealed that Liesl was instrumental in helping Faison hold Robin hostage after she was presumed dead in a lab explosion which he had staged.

Liesl took pleasure in making Anna believe that her daughter was dead because she was so jealous of Faison’s infatuation with her. While the writers have since attempted to redeem Liesl in several ways, most recently when she donated her bone marrow to save the life of her great-niece Willow Tate (Katelyn MacMullen), her heinous actions towards Robin should never be forgotten.

In addition to Liesl allowing Anna to believe that her daughter was dead, she heartlessly let Robin’s daughter, Emma, suffer through the death of her mother. It’s challenging to have sympathy for Liesl as she mourns the supposed death of her own daughter, Britt, after she put the Scorpio family through such horrors.

Liesl Put Robert Scorpio Into A Coma

General Hospital's Tristan Rogers as Robert Scorpio Confronting Kathleen Gati as Liesl Obrecht — General Hospital’s Tristan Rogers as Robert Scorpio Confronting Kathleen Gati as Liesl Obrecht

After Faison was finally arrested, Liesl wanted to eliminate Robin once and for all by injecting her with a neurotoxin. However, Robin’s father, Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) was able to track Liesl down at a clinic, and he entered the room as Liesl and Robin were in a struggle with the syringe.

Instead, Liesl stabbed Robert with the syringe, putting him into a coma, and she handed Robin over to Jerry Jacks (Sebastian Roche). Jerry forced Robin to work to find a cure for the plutonium poisoning from which he was suffering.

Because of the coma, Robert was unable to tell anyone that Robin was alive. However, when he finally woke up, he convinced Anna that their daughter was alive. The Scorpios are the heroes and the heart of General Hospital, and Liesl’s vile actions towards them proved that she was a heartless villain.

She has since been portrayed as a much more complex character, but longtime viewers will remember that she has the capability to be intensely evil. Liesl has been the General Hospital Chief of Staff and has even performed at the Nurses Ball, but all of this was an insult to the Scorpio family.

Although Liesl and Anna recently had a heart-to-heart talk about their pasts and their regrets, it doesn’t make up for the fact that Liesl tortured the Scorpio family both physically and mentally.

Although Gati is a fan favorite and a delightful actress, Liesl’s crimes against the Scorpios are too terrible to be swept under the rug. Liesl is one of General Hospital’s most ruthless villains of all-time, and a rewrite of the character’s personality won’t change her past.

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