What Happened to Finn on General Hospital

The character of Dr. Hamilton Finn on General Hospital plays a significant role in Port Charles, but it can be tricky for some fans to keep track of his backstory, especially since Michael Easton has portrayed several characters on the show! Easton first joined GH in 2012 as John McBain from One Life to Live. However, when legal issues arose preventing the use of OLTL characters, John was written out, and Easton took on the role of Dr. Silas Clay. He also briefly portrayed Silas’ twin, Stephen Clay, who believed he was a vampire named Caleb. Sadly, Stephen was killed off in 2015, and a year later, Easton returned to GH as Hamilton Finn. However, in June 2024, Easton announced he would be leaving the show once again.

Dr. Hamilton Finn arrived at GH at Monica Quartermaine’s request to treat Tracy Quartermaine. Accompanied by his pet lizard, Roxy, Finn was often reminded of his striking resemblance to the late Silas Clay. After diagnosing Tracy with a larval infestation she contracted in Mexico, she was so grateful to be cured that she insisted Monica hire him as a permanent resident doctor. After settling into the Metro Court, Finn secretly injected himself with an unknown drug, and Carly Corinthos grew suspicious of his claim to be diabetic. However, she agreed to keep quiet in exchange for his help in discovering who had donated a kidney to her daughter, Josslyn Jacks.

Liesl Obrecht grew suspicious of Finn when medications began disappearing from the hospital, and he was arrested not only for the thefts but also for being the serial killer terrorizing the hospital. However, when another murder occurred while Finn was in custody, he was cleared of the killer accusations. It was then revealed that Finn had been self-medicating because he was dying from the same deadly virus that had taken his wife’s life. He was enraged at Obrecht for destroying his research into a cure. As Finn struggled to secure a steady supply of the medicine keeping him alive, Sonny Corinthos stepped in to help, providing him with a connection.

Finn’s bond with Hayden Barnes grew into a romantic relationship, with her even helping him care for himself when his health was deteriorating. She offered to use her stolen diamonds to fund his research, but Finn insisted he was dying and still deeply in love with his late wife. When Hayden accidentally infected herself while attempting to clean up Finn’s lab, she became gravely ill, prompting Finn to desperately search for a cure. Thankfully, he managed to save both of their lives, and the two finally made their relationship official.

Finn struggled to retain his job at the hospital due to repeatedly failing drug tests, which were later revealed to have been tampered with using Hayden’s blood. The tests not only showed traces of the drug, which shouldn’t have been possible, but also revealed that Hayden was pregnant. While Hayden was uncertain about becoming a mother, Finn stood by her side, and they decided to move forward together. However, after Obrecht’s plot to get Finn fired by manipulating his drug tests failed, she shifted her focus to Hayden, bringing her ex-husband back to town and exposing her past secrets.

Instead of giving in to blackmail, Hayden confessed to Finn that she had accidentally killed a girl while driving drunk, and her ex had taken the fall for her. Although Finn was shocked, he still wanted to marry her. But on their wedding day, Hayden disappeared, leaving Finn devastated. He hired Curtis Ashford to track her down, but all he found was a letter she had written, apologizing and claiming she had lost their baby. What Finn didn’t know was that the baby was never lost—it had been a lie.

Finn agreed to work with Anna Devane to lure a hypochondriac named Cassandra Pierce to Port Charles in an effort to gather information on Valentin Cassadine. However, their act of pretending to date as part of their cover led to real feelings developing between them. Finn was initially taken aback when his younger brother, Harrison Chase, arrived in town to join the PCPD, and he wanted nothing to do with him. However, over time, their relationship began to improve. When their father, Gregory Chase, showed up needing medical help, Finn reluctantly agreed to assist him but maintained emotional distance.

Curtis handed Finn a letter from Hayden, requesting a meeting to talk, but Finn chose to travel to Cuba with Anna instead to help apprehend fugitive Obrecht. Eventually, Finn proposed to Anna at the Nurses Ball, but their engagement took a sudden turn when Hayden returned to Port Charles. Things became even more complicated when Hayden confessed her past lie and introduced Finn to their daughter, Violet. After Nikolas Cassadine intimidated Hayden into leaving again, Violet was left in Finn’s care.

When Finn’s stepmother, Jackie Templeton, returned to Port Charles, their strained relationship became clearer, revealing that they had once shared a brief affair before she married his father. Finn was later shot by Anna’s twin sister, Alex Devane, but made a quick recovery and resumed wedding plans. However, Finn began to suspect that Chase might not be his brother, but rather his son. The drama escalated further when Obrecht interrupted Anna and Finn’s double wedding with Peter August and Maxie Jones, revealing that Alex, not Anna, was actually Peter’s mother. Hurt by Anna’s decision to confide in Valentin instead of him, Finn called off the wedding.

When Chase attempted to bring the family together to heal old wounds, Peter tried to kill Finn, but Chase ended up drinking the poison instead! After Anna revealed who was responsible for putting his brother in the hospital, Finn decided to end his relationship with her for good. Peter taunted Finn by offering a cure for Chase, but when the villain destroyed the vial, Finn snapped and pushed him down a flight of stairs at the hospital. Elizabeth Webber discovered what happened and helped Finn hide Peter’s body in a freezer in a secret basement at the hospital. When Finn tried using a cure with his DNA mixed with Jackie’s, it failed, but the combination of Jackie and Gregory’s DNA worked, revealing that Chase was actually Gregory’s son, not Finn’s.

Overcome with guilt for killing Peter, Finn confessed to Anna, though he left Liz’s name out of the confession. However, when they checked the freezer, the body was gone! Peter later resurfaced, threatening Finn, but with no evidence of the assault, Finn was cleared. He then focused on building his relationship with Liz, making her birthday special, and ringing in 2022 together. But their growing romance faced challenges when Liz continued to be haunted by memories of Franco.

As Liz was tormented by a mysterious stalker, Finn wanted to help and enlisted Chase to investigate. It was later revealed that Liz had been going into a fugue state and harassing herself. Finn stepped in to care for Liz’s kids while she checked herself into Shadybrook, and when she came out, she was thankful for his support. However, Finn was concerned that Liz wasn’t fully healed and reached out to her family to uncover the truth. Under hypnosis, Liz recovered childhood memories involving Finn’s late wife, Reiko, and it was revealed that Liz had been partially responsible for Reiko’s death. Heartbroken, Finn took some time away and was further distressed when Liz claimed she was pregnant with Nikolas’ baby.

After claiming she had miscarried, Liz later admitted to Finn that she had fabricated the entire story to cover up her involvement in Nikolas’s kidnapping of Esme, who was actually pregnant with his child. When Nikolas went missing, Finn advised Liz to keep quiet, although her guilt eventually overwhelmed her. These events brought Finn and Liz closer, strengthening their relationship, and Finn eventually asked Liz to become Violet’s guardian.

Finn was taken aback when Gregory confessed that he had been diagnosed with ALS. He later encouraged his father to seek a second opinion on his treatment plan. Finn and Liz enjoyed a romantic getaway in Vermont, which deepened their bond. However, upon returning to Port Charles, Finn was hit with a malpractice lawsuit. After Diane declined to represent him, Finn hired Martin Grey as his lawyer. As the trial approached, they uncovered evidence that the patient had orchestrated the case against Finn to ensure his family received the settlement after his death. Tracy arranged for a “donation” to get the widow to drop the case.

As Gregory’s condition continued to deteriorate, Finn grew concerned about him living alone. Gregory agreed to move in with Finn and Violet, and they informed the little girl about his illness. Finn continued to care for his father with great attention, but Gregory insisted on officiating Chase and Brook Lynn’s wedding as planned. After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed the reception, and Finn brought Gregory home, where he went to bed content. The following morning, Finn was devastated to discover that his father had passed away in his sleep.

Devastated by his father’s death, Finn turned to alcohol to numb his grief, which worried Liz about his sobriety. He reluctantly agreed to attend AA meetings and apologized to Liz for his outbursts. However, his drinking continued, and after Chase caught him drinking shots following their father’s memorial, Finn sought solace at a dive bar, where he drowned his sorrows and ended up with a woman named Barb. Liz walked in on them on the couch at Finn’s apartment, which led her to break up with him.

Despite attempts from everyone around him to intervene and help Finn see the severity of his drinking and its impact on Violet, he refused to listen. He pushed everyone away, vowing that no one would take his daughter from him.

When Violet found Finn passed out, bleeding from a cut, she feared the worst and called Tracy for help. After Tracy called the paramedics, she confronted Finn, insisting he needed rehab or he would lose custody of Violet. Finn shared a tearful goodbye with Violet before entering rehab, leaving her in Chase’s care. A few months later, in October, Finn completed rehab but chose not to return to Port Charles, leading Violet to move to Seattle to be with her father.

Will Finn ever return? Stay tuned!

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