Teenage Rocco Falconeri experienced a General Hospital rite of passage this week when the son of a cop and the grandson of a mobster shot his first bad guy. In Port Charles, that’s often a way of life, but it wasn’t a life Rocco ever wanted for himself. He’s even had aspirations of becoming a doctor, and that was how he walked into this mess that has earned young actor Finn Carr Soap Central Performer of the Week honors.
General Hospital’s Rocco stumbles into disaster
All Rocco wanted to do was convince Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) to be his mentor for a shadowing program at General Hospital, but he knew her reaction when he asked was off, so he followed her to Pier 55. That’s where his life changed forever. For two episodes, Carr said very little.
On Monday, Rocco listened, watched, and absorbed as he lurked around a corner and learned that Britt’s life was nothing as he imagined. By the end of the episode, there he was with a smoking gun in his hand, looking dazed, confused…and sick to his stomach. That is when our hearts ended up in our chests.
By Tuesday, 17-year-old Carr offered a master class in acting without saying a word. Rocco seemed helpless as she stood there with Cullum’s gun, not knowing what to do next. He just did as the grown-ups told him and left with Nathan (Ryan Paevey). By the time he was standing at the front door in front of Lulu (Alexa Havins), Carr had turned Rocco into a little boy who just wanted his mom. He melted into Lulu’s arms so naturally that we all wanted to give him a hug from our living rooms at that point.
Rocco uttered about three more lines for the rest of the episode, but the anguish on his face was so apparent that Lulu was beside herself. She knew what Rocco needed to tell her because he told her with his eyes, but she still waited for his words as confirmation.
Wise beyond his years
Carr made sure that Rocco was slow and measured as he explained to his mom exactly what happened. Tears streamed down his face as he got choked up by his own words and memories a few times, but he kept his cool until he said, “I shot Agent Cullum.” That’s when Carr finally allowed Rocco to sob in his mother’s arms.
Rocco’s guilt and anguish over possibly taking another man’s life were apparent and palpable. The next day, the memories still haunted him as he described a decent night of sleep, followed by the realization that what happened was real and not a terrible nightmare.
Carr showed us Rocco trying to stay mature and composed as he spoke of the night before with Lulu, but then he had a realization. Carr moved from calm to stunned in an instant as it dawned on Rocco that Jason had taken the fall for something he had done.
Finn Carr has been blowing us away since Lulu nearly died from liver failure and Rocco had to face the possibility that he might lose his mother forever. As Rocco deals with the consequences of his actions and the secret he must now keep from his dad and Danny (Asher Antonyzyn), we expect more powerful performances to come.