General Hospital spoilers: Lucky is back but in trouble?

When it was announced that General Hospital was welcoming back Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer, we immediately tried to think what would bring him back to Port Charles after all these years.

While we could only hold out hope that he is secretly a part of a storyline that ushers in the return of Luke (Anthony Geary), we won’t hold our breath on that front. Additionally, with Jake (Hudson West) now away in art school in Europe, we thought there was a chance that something would happen to him that would require the rescue of his dear old stepdad, Lucky. However, Jake has been gone for about a month now and there’s been relatively no mention of him since leaving, so we think it’s likely Lucky’s return doesn’t have anything to do with the young artistic star.

Someone who has been mentioned lately on the soap is Lulu. She’s been in a coma for years, but recently, Laura (Genie Francis) received an update that her daughter’s liver is now failing.

With a sense of urgency, Laura appears to be rallying Lulu’s family to come to Port Charles to possibly say their goodbyes. Hence, Laura wanting Anna (Finola Hughes) to track down Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) so she can bring Charlotte (Scarlett Fernandez) home. So is Lucky’s return storyline dealing with Lulu? Will he get back in town to say goodbye to his sister, or will he actually save her life?

Well before we can get there, viewers get their first look at Lucky’s return in the General Hospital episode airing on August 23, and it appears he may be in dire straits as his hands and feet are cuffed. Check out this preview clip for yourself to see what we mean.

While Lucky’s face is never shown, we’re pretty confident that’s him as TV Insider reports Lucky’s return date is August 23. Interestingly enough, Jackson spoke with the publication and shared Lucky is "the most like Luke that he’s ever been." If you’re a longtime fan of General Hospital , then you know what kind of trouble Luke used to get into. So this ominous statement makes it sound like Lucky has traded in his law enforcement gigs in for a life of questionable decisions to get money.

Let’s say Lucky needs rescuing before he can get to Lulu’s bedside, who might help him? Again, we can only hope Luke resurfaces and plays his hero, but perhaps Ethan pops up to help his brother instead.

New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu .