THE SCOOP

While seeing her mother off after their planned shopping spree was interrupted, Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright) ran into her ex-husband, Jasper “Jax” Jacks, who informed her that despite the cold weather he was out for a walk spending his last moments in Port Charles before heading out of town on important business. As a result, the episode marked the last appearance of actor Ingo Rademacher.

“Some things piled up in Sydney [Australia] that I have to deal with in person,” Jax tells Carly about why he’s leaving town. Responding that it’s not like him to put things off like that, Jax explains, “Well, I didn’t want to leave while Sonny was gone, you know, given how things escalated during his absence, and putting our daughter at risk.” Arguing that Josslyn was fine and wasn’t in any danger, Carly doesn’t agree with Jax’s assessment of things. “No, she was in danger of losing her mother to a bullet from Cyrus Renault,” retorts Jax. 

Without disagreement with Jax’s comment about Renault, Carly questions Jax’s timing, asking, “Okay, so, um, now that Sonny’s back, you feel that it’s safe for you to leave Josslyn and go?” Jax responds, saying, “Do I feel it’s safe? No. No, I think – I think it’s safer.  At least I hope so. I mean, you’ve – you’ve stepped back from the organization, right? You and Jason are no longer a – a thing. I mean, business partners. I mean, I know that Jason will always be front and center in your life.”

Following Jax, as he walks away from her, Carly tells him, “You know, Jax, I thought I made it clear – my life is none of your business.” In response, Jax tells her, “Well, it becomes my business when you put our daughter in danger.” Carly says, “Okay, we are Josslyn’s parents. That’s a bond that’s never gonna break, but…you’re not my friend anymore.” Jax agrees with her on that, saying, “Yeah, I know that. Happy to stay out of your life.”

Showing some concern after he says that, Carly asks him how long he’ll be gone. “Are you coming back for Thanksgiving or Christmas?” Carly asks him. Without any certainty at this time, he tells her, “I’m not sure yet. I mean, you know, Josslyn can always come and visit me in Sydney and have a summer there…” Not liking what she’s hearing, Carly tells him that it doesn’t sound like he’s planning on hurrying back to Port Charles anytime soon. “Look, besides Josslyn and Alexis, I’m kind of on the outs with everyone in Port Charles right now.” An aggravated Carly tells him, “Well, that’s what happens when you drop everything for Nina. You really let her screw up your life.”

Speaking of Nina, that’s who Jax shared his last scenes with as the episode came to a close. As Sonny makes his exit from Charlie’s Pub, Nina (Cynthia Watros) acknowledges Jax’s presence before he tells her, “Just be, uh – be careful, Nina. Don’t let, uh, Sonny pull you back in.” Nina then tells him he has nothing to worry about because “Sonny doesn’t think about me that way,” to which Jax responds, saying, “Oh, then what did I just walk in on?” Nina says, “You just saw a man comforting someone in need. Sonny and I don’t have a future.”

With that, Rademacher’s more than 25-year run as Jasper “Jax” Jacks has come to a close. 

Rademacher first joined the cast of the daytime drama series in January 1996 and has portrayed the character off and on ever since, with his most recent run starting in 2019. The character was created under the Claire Labine writing regime with Wendy Riche serving as executive producer. 

The character has been known as a corporate raider who takes over unsuspecting businesses as he did to Lois Cerullo and her L&B Records when he first entered Port Charles. He later fell in love with Brenda Barrett and the two were married in what became an iconic scene for the soap that’s been dubbed the “Clink Boom” moment wherein the two were married on Jax’s yacht just as Sonny’s world came crashing down with the death of his wife and child as the car they drove blew up after Lily turned the ignition key as a result of a planted bomb.

Rademacher’s exit comes weeks after Disney implemented a vaccine mandate for employees across its entertainment properties. The actor has been vocal on social media about being against vaccine mandates and allegedly did not comply which forced the show to write the character off the canvas.