steve burton GENERAL HOSPITAL - Stve Burton plays "Jason" on the Emmy-winning daytime drama "General Hospital" which airs Monday-Friday (3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. GH18(ABC/Craig Sjodin)STEVE BURTON
Credit: ABC

It looks as if viewers just might get answers this week!

The biggest mysteries unfolding on General Hospital isn’t unfolding on the screen but rather behind the scenes. While we know that Ingo Rademacher’s Jax will last air as Jax — at least for now — on November 22, there’s no indication as to how the character will exit. (Our guess? He heads back to Australia for whatever reason). And then there’s the question of whether rumors of Steve Burton’s imminent departure are true and, if so, how Jason will be written off.

Well, it looks as if we may have just gotten the answer.

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First, a bit of math: Assuming that Rademacher and Burton each departed the show at approximately the same time (which, again, is based more on rumors and sources whispering than anything else), it seems fair to conjecture that their last airdates would bump up against one another. Rademacher’s is next week, and suddenly, only a few days before, General Hospital has released a promo (which you can see below) promising this will will “end with a bang.”

When we spoke to headwriters Dan O’Connor and Chris Van Etten last week, they carefully danced around exactly what unfolds on Cassadine Island, although they did say that the fallout would ripple across Port Charles for months. And two sources at the show whispered in our ear that this week’s episodes were ones the audience should definitely not miss.

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Now obviously, fans have been chomping at the bit to see Peter pay for his litany of sins. And certainly the ever-increasing contingent of Port Charles residents hanging out on Cassadine Island have good reason to want Henrik dead.

That, however, seems like too obvious a twist… especially if the show is looking for a way to write off, whether permanently or temporarily, Jason. Especially since… well, watch the promo, and we’ll reconvene in a moment.

Notice how we end with a horrified Britt screaming “Jason!” after a gunshot rings out? Now, it could be that following a struggle over the weapon in question, Peter winds up being shot. But our money is on the bullet in question ripping a hole in one of the black t-shirts that Jason favors over everything else in his wardrobe. (That said, we suspect the character is heading for yet another fake death, as it’s impossible to believe that the soap would actually kill Jason off as opposed to simply sending him off canvas until a later date.)

Don’t look to next week’s spoilers for much in the way of clues, as there’s little more than vague references to the fallout of the events which go down on Cassadine Island. But it’s worth noting that, as if to keep us guessing, there’s no mention of either Peter or Jason in the teasers leading up to the two-day Thanksgiving break.

So what say you, General Hospital fans and mystery buffs. Do you think the show just revealed the fate of both Jason and Burton? Or do you think someone else might wind up literally biting the bullet by week’s end? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, then join us in contemplating why it is that Peter, not Jason, really should be the one to bite the bullet on Cassadine Island as we list the litany of his crimes against humanity… or at least the residents of Port Charles.