John Oliver asked for a ridiculous soap opera name, a juicy storyline, and a dramatic close-up.
On Friday’s General Hospital, he got all three.
The Last Week Tonight host returned for the second episode of his three-episode arc on the ABC soap, and this time General Hospital didn’t skimp. After making his debut at the tail end of Thursday’s episode, Oliver logged more than eight minutes of screen time Friday as the mysterious head of the WSB.
His character’s name? “Feel free to call me Z,” Oliver told Josslyn Jacks, played by Eden McCoy.
Asked what the Z stands for, he replied, “It’s my nom de guerre.”
That should satisfy Oliver’s earlier request for a ridiculous character name—or at least a soapily cryptic one. As for the dramatic close-up, General Hospital gave him plenty to work with as Z questioned Josslyn from her hospital bed following the bloody shootout that ended Thursday’s episode.
Oliver’s scenes found Z debriefing Josslyn after surgery, pressing her for an account of what happened at Windemere, and then helping steer her toward a version of events that would spare the WSB further embarrassment. By the end of the exchange, Josslyn had turned the situation into a negotiation, agreeing to give a statement that would protect the Bureau in exchange for full releases for Valentin Cassadine and Jason Morgan.
Z, for his part, seemed impressed.
“You are quite impressive, Agent Jacks,” he told her. “I suspect you have a long, bright future at the WSB.”
Friday’s episode ended with Z being approached by Carly Spencer, played by Laura Wright, who told him she wants Josslyn out of the WSB.
A preview for Monday’s episode (below) suggested their conversation may take a turn, with Carly asking Z, “Are you hitting on me?”
“Is it working?” he replies.
Oliver announced on Last Week Tonight Sunday that he would be appearing on both General Hospital and Days of Our Lives this summer, months after publicly begging daytime dramas to cast him.
His General Hospital arc concludes Monday on ABC, while his Days of Our Lives episodes are scheduled for August 11, 12, and 14 on Peacock.
Watch full episodes of General Hospital on Hulu.
