General Hospital: Why Scotty Baldwin Deserves One More Chance With Laura

For almost five decades, Laura Webber and Scotty Baldwin have shared one of the most complicated histories in General Hospital. Their relationship has survived young love, heartbreak, divorce, other marriages, family conflicts and decades of painful memories.

If Laura ever becomes single again, there is one person who deserves to be considered before the writers create another new love interest for her: Scotty Baldwin.

Laura was still a teenager when she fell in love with Scotty. He was studying law, and the two were young and struggling financially. Scotty continued his studies while Laura worked to help support them, even buying the law books he needed on credit.

Their marriage in July 1979 began a story that would eventually become far more complicated than either of them could have imagined.

Then came Luke Spencer.

Laura began working at Luke’s Campus Disco, and Luke’s feelings for her changed. Their relationship became one of the most controversial and defining stories in General Hospital history. The show’s later portrayal transformed an abusive assault into the foundation of Luke and Laura’s famous romance, something that remains deeply controversial when viewed through a modern lens.

Laura eventually left Scotty and built a life with Luke. But Scotty never simply disappeared from her story.

Years later, their history resurfaced in unexpected ways.

In 2008, after Laura’s long period of illness, Scotty used Lulu’s legal situation as leverage to bring Laura with him to Los Angeles. There, the two revisited places connected to their original honeymoon and remembered the life they had once shared.

It was a remarkable reminder that beneath all the resentment and heartbreak, Laura and Scotty had nearly fifty years of shared history.

Scotty also revealed something Laura had not known: Luke had gone through another wedding ceremony with her during her brief recovery, while he remained legally married to Tracy. The revelation added another complicated chapter to Laura’s already tangled history with Luke.

Eventually, Laura returned to France for treatment, while her connection with Scotty continued to develop.

When Laura returned to Port Charles in 2013, the two were engaged. Laura still had feelings for Luke, but she ultimately chose Scotty.

On May 20, 2013, Laura married Scotty again.

That decision matters.

Laura wasn’t a teenager anymore. She wasn’t confused about who Scotty was. She knew his temper, his schemes, his humor, his mistakes and his complicated feelings about Luke. Scotty also knew that Laura still had feelings for Luke.

They married anyway.

That is exactly why their relationship still has dramatic potential today.

Later, when Luke became seriously ill, Laura once again turned her attention toward him. Scotty saw that Luke continued to occupy an important place in Laura’s life, and eventually he asked her for a divorce.

Laura later married Kevin Collins, creating another important chapter in her life.

But if that marriage ever ends, General Hospital doesn’t need to invent another romance for Laura from scratch.

Bring back Kin Shriner as Scotty Baldwin.

Put Scotty and Laura across a table and let them talk.

They don’t need to pretend they’re the teenagers who married in 1979. They don’t need to erase Luke. They don’t need to diminish Kevin. And Scotty doesn’t suddenly have to become a completely different person.

That’s what makes the story interesting.

Laura already knows Scotty.

She knows what he’s capable of. She knows his temper. She knows his schemes. She knows his humor. She knows his mistakes.

And Scotty knows Laura.

He knows the teenager he married, the woman who left him, the mother she became, the woman who chose Luke, and the woman who eventually came back and married him again.

They have memories together that no new character could possibly manufacture.

They remember struggling to afford law books. They remember their honeymoon in Los Angeles. They remember returning to California together decades later. And they remember May 20, 2013, when Laura knew exactly who Scotty Baldwin was and chose him again.

That is almost fifty years of history sitting right there.

General Hospital wouldn’t have to manufacture chemistry or spend months explaining why these two people suddenly matter to each other.

The history is already there.

Luke will always have his place in Laura’s life. Kevin has his own place too. Neither relationship needs to be erased for Scotty to matter.

Sometimes the most compelling romance isn’t the newest one.

Sometimes it’s the one that has survived everything.

If Laura ever finds herself single again, let her sit down with Scotty Baldwin. Let them talk as two people who have known each other for most of their lives and have long since stopped pretending they don’t know exactly what the other is capable of.

Let them remember.

Let them argue.

Let them laugh.

And, just maybe, let Laura choose Scotty one more time.

After almost fifty years, their story still has chapters left to write.