When the General Hospital character John “Jagger” Cates returned to Port Charles in February 2024, some fans were shocked and dismayed to see that it wasn’t Jagger’s original portrayer, Antonio Sabàto Jr., but rather actor Adam J. Harrington—who looks nothing like Sabàto. Nevertheless, the show pressed forward with the new John Cates.
John Cates, now an FBI agent, came to town with one thing on his mind: sending Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) up the river for his mafia crimes. But while the original Jagger had a beef with Sonny, this version escalated things and even threatened to send the mob boss’s daughter Kristina Corinthos-Davis (Kate Mansi) to prison unless Sonny confessed all his crimes. Cates also coerced Ava Jerome (Maura West) into making a false statement accusing Kristina of attempted murder. Sonny opted to do things the old-fashioned way, and he put two bullets in Cates, ending the agent's life.
Sonny and Cates's final conflict took place during a thunderstorm, which was the perfect cover to hide the sound of gunshots. Harrington spoke to Soap Opera Digest on September 6 and discussed the difficulties of shooting a scene in the rain at the ABC studio. The Port Charles set already has a pool for the Metro Court Hotel’s rooftop scenes, which is only about three feet deep, but they make it look larger—and they’ve even done explosions on the set, like when Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) blew up a building.
Harrington hilariously described those final days of filming his character's untimely demise in the rain:
I finished on a Friday. That [Sonny/John showdown] was filmed on a Wednesday. Thursday I was partly lying on the ground with rain going up my nose.
He was suitably impressed at the special effects
Harrington had fun shooting those last few General Hospital scenes. He was not only impressed that they were able to make a rainstorm indoors but also how much the dark and dreary nature of the weather added an ominous ambiance to the proceedings, fitting for the end of a good guy turned bad. Then he mentioned that with all the rain and thunder, he was asked to say his dialogue louder than usual, remarking,
These things are filmed so fast so they can get the product out to the fans every day on TV that [they say] ‘Speak up and go.’ So you’re just trying to gauge how loud the thunder might be or how loud the rain is going to be.”
Harrington knew ahead of time that it would be curtains for Jagger
General Hospital star Adam J. Harrington further explained that he was informed in May that his character was going to meet his end within a few months. He had a feeling something like that was going to happen because Jagger had become increasingly unhinged as he obsessed over taking Sonny down, and he grew more ruthless. Cates blamed Sonny for treating Karen Wexler (Kari Shayne) horribly decades ago, and that fueled his vendetta nearly to the point of insanity. Knowing about Jagger’s obsession, Harrington stated,
You bring in an FBI agent, two things are gonna happen. People are gonna go to jail or he disappears.
With regard to the last stretch of Harrington's storyline, he didn’t know how he was going to exit until much closer to the end:
And then when the time came, they let me know how. So that final arc was just backtracking from the confrontation with Sonny and how to plot that.”
The double tap that Sonny gave Jagger ensured that Jagger would not be coming back to life anytime soon. But this is a soap, and fans always love the old adage, “Never say never.”
General Hospital airs on weekdays on ABC and Hulu.
