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■ Nina is distraught over
the possibility that “daugh-
ter” Sasha might succumb
to a powerful strain of avian
flu — and her terror ratchets
up when Cassandra sends
her the selfie she took with
Michael and Sasha on the
island, effectively out-
ing herself as the source of
Sasha’s illness.
Nina runs to Valentin
with the photographic evi-
dence, and together, they
reveal Cassandra’s involve-
ment to Sasha’s doc, Finn,
who has had his own mis-
erable dealings with the
villainess. Finn tells the duo
that he wants to alert the
authorities. “That concerns
Valentin because he knows
that concerns Nina,” notes
his portrayer, James Patrick
Stuart. “If the authorities are
involved, they might real-
ize that Nina had a part in
almost snuffing Cassandra
out.” But Finn, worried that
the virus, in Cassandra’shands, has the potential to
become a pandemic, won’t
back down.
While Finn updates the
PCPD (via Chase) and the
WSB (via a call to Anna)
about Cassandra, Valentin
and Nina show the photo to
Michael and Sasha, explain-
ing that the woman who
befriended them as “Sandy”
is actually Cassandra Pierce.
Nina adds that Cassandra
deliberately targeted Sasha
because she’s Nina’s daugh-
ter, and Sasha and Valentin
share a pointed look, as they
know this not to be true.
“Valentin is worried,” Stuart
states. “Sasha is already a
loose cannon, with or with-
out the bird flu! So, yeah,
this is just making matters
worse, for sure. That’s the
fun dance around that issue;
while everybody is watch-
ing, it’s in broad daylight
while he’s standing next to
his fiancée. In the back of
Valentin’s mind, he thinksthat if Sasha were to die, that
would solve an awful lot
of problems! He would no
longer have to worry about
that one.”
Once Nina and Valentin
are alone, Nina vows to kill
Cassandra for what she’s
done to Sasha. Valentin
assures her that he will
take care of things — and
eliminating Cassandra per-
manently is very much on
his mind. “I think that’s
the plan,” Stuart nods. “He
didn’t want to take it to that
level, but I think he realizes
that that needs to happen.
Cassandra and Valentin
go way back; she has had
him under her thumb for a
long time. I think he appre-
ciates that Cassandra is a
problem that is long over-
due to be solved. It’s a lot
easier for Valentin to deal
with Cassandra the way
Cassandra deals with things,
and make her finally go
away.”GH: NINA AND VALENTIN’S NEW PLAN
Bird Feed: The news
that Sasha’s (Sofia
Mattsson, far l.) ill-
ness was inflicted
by Cassandra
makes eliminating
her an urgent mat-
ter for Nina (Cynthia
Watros) and
Valentin (Stuart).