After years of playing heroic Ryan Lavery on All My Children, Cameron Mathison was thrown into the deep end on General Hospital when his character, Drew Cain, evolved into a cheating manipulator.

When TV Insider chatted with Mathison in February, the actor shared that he found some of the things he was being asked to do as Drew were troubling.

However, based on Mathison’s scenes this week as Drew laid down the law over his daughter Scout (Cosette Abinante) and her interfering extended family, it’s clear that Mathison has embraced Drew’s darker side with confidence and style. He gets that bad guys don’t see themselves as the villain. TV Insider is bestowing Daytime Performer of the Week honors on Mathison for his portrayal of the controlling politician.

Drew was understandably deeply concerned after being informed that Scout had gone missing from Lila’s Kids, the day camp named after her late great-grandmother (Anna Lee, ex-Lila) unaware that Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) had taken his sister without permission back to the Quartermaine mansion.

Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn), Scout’s grandmother, and Jason (Steve Burton), Danny’s father, tried to calm Drew down, but he didn’t budge. He wanted Danny arrested. Mathison brought a strong gravitas to these scenes, tapping into Drew’s parental concern. Everyone else in Port Charles gets to raise holy hell when their kids are in jeopardy. Why can’t Drew?

“Your grandson broke the law,” Drew informed Alexis in a demeanor that was both controlled and furious. “And he’s got to know there’s consequences for that. We all know that his criminal father isn’t going to teach that to him.” (A low blow, but kind of true.)

Alexis formidably combined her courtroom arguing skills with her love for her granddaughter, but Drew didn’t let her walk all over him. He dismissed Alexis’s point that no judge would punish Danny, an underage teenager, for taking his sister home without permission.

“I don’t care about that,” Drew overruled. “I want the arrest on record.”

One of Port Charles’ finest, Chase (Joshua Swickard) threw in his two cents, concurring with Alexis that there wasn’t much of a case here. Again, Drew didn’t budge. He pointed out to Chase that he needed to do his job. Realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Chase, Drew composed himself and let out a long sigh. Maybe he wasn’t going to change Chase’s mind, but he wasn’t throwing in the towel.

“I’m just trying to protect my daughter,” Drew informed Alexis. She countered that Scout didn’t need saving from Danny. “From Jason, who has taught Danny that the rules don’t apply to him, which makes him a danger to Scout,” Drew countered, as if he were arguing a legal case against the savvy attorney.

We watched Drew make the decision to further his case by bringing up Danny’s role in Rocco’s (Finn Carr) recent drinking episode that landed the latter in the hospital. Again, Alexis deflected, but Drew persisted. He noted to Alexis that Sam (Kelly Monaco), Scout’s late mother, would want him to protect their daughter from Jason’s influence, which includes Danny. Alexis made a misstep at this point, believing that her role as Sam’s mother and Scout’s grandmother would somehow get Drew to see he was overreacting.

ABC

This wasn’t a tennis match between Drew and Alexis, but he hit her with an overhead slam all the same. And there’s no returning the ball when you’ve been hit with an overhead slam.

“You’re right,” Drew calmly replied after Alexis informed him what Sam would and would not want, hastening to add, “I should never have invoked Sam’s name — because what she’d want or not want doesn’t matter because she’s not here and I am.” (Ouch.)

“I am Scout’s only living parent and this is what I want,” Drew continued. “I want my daughter to feel safe, protected, and loved. I want her to know that I will always do what’s best for her. And I want her to stay away from people who constantly try to undermine me every chance they get.”

It was clear in his voice inflection that Drew had moved Alexis to the top of that list before he pointedly told her “people like you.”

Alexis tried to get control of the situation by physically stepping back, but it was clear in Mathison’s choices that Drew was finished trying to reason with her. “It’s too late, Alexis,” Drew firmly stated. “I tried my best. I tried to keep Scout in your life, but you made that impossible.”

Alexis saying she never intended to not keep him in the loop didn’t matter much. “You proved I can’t trust you anymore,” Drew said. “Frow now on, Scout will have no more contact with you, with Danny, or with anyone else from your family.”

A less seasoned pro might have resorted to screaming these lines to make this point, but Mathison knew that the power was in the words themselves. Delivering them in a controlled fashion allowed Drew to come out on top.

It’s not often that anyone gets the last words in on the daughter of Mikkos Cassadine, but Drew did when he simply said, “Goodbye, Alexis.”

Then, he left the Quartermaine mansion. The house may belong to Monica (Leslie Charleson), but Drew — and Mathison — owned these scenes!

General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC