General Hospital On Will Trent: Quartermainia Hits Primetime — Here’s How That Happened

Even before this week’s episode, there were a lot of reasons to love the quirky series Will Trent. But in this week’s episode, the series paid a loving tribute to General Hospital, right down to the outing’s title: “A Funeral Fit for A Quartermaine.”

So how, exactly, did the primetime crime drama wind up spotlighting a daytime soap? “We have a few General Hospital fans on the writing staff,” admitted Will Trent co-showrunner Liz Heldens to TVInsider. “I used to watch it with my grandmother pretty religiously.”

For those unfamiliar with Will and his story, this week’s episode flashed back to a time when he was taken in by a soap-loving grandmother and her grandson, Rafael. Almost immediately upon meeting, the trio wind up turning on the television to watch the sudser… at which point longtime General Hospital fans are treated to a reminder of days gone by, which you can watch below.

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Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Rafael’s grandma is played by none other than Marla Gibbs of The Jeffersons fame, who just happens to have recently played Olivia on Days of Our Lives!

Later in the episode, Will and Rafael — now grown and on opposite sides of the law — reunited to deal with the death of the woman both had loved deeply. Rafael tells the funeral director that they want, as the title says, “A funeral fit for a Quartermaine.” The woman they’re talking to, however, doesn’t understand the reference, at which point Will offers her a brief history of Lila, the Quartermaine patriarch, and her travails… including the time she bottled and sold Pickle Lila in order to regain the clan’s lost fortune!

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By episode’s end, things took a downright soap operatic twist as the funeral. You can catch both Will Trent and General Hospital on Hulu.