As I mentioned before, many GH characters have done horrendous things in the past and are still on the show. Ava slept with her daughter's boyfriend, and then substituted his Bipolar medication in the hopes he would go off the rails and she'd leave him. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't that lead to his Morgan's death (suicide)? I wasn't watching back then.
Esme wanting to kidnap Spencer to force Nicholas to return Ace to her makes soap villain sense. Much as she hated Trina, she didn't hurt Trina. Her focus was solely on Spencer. Frankly, it surprises me Spencer thought Esme would simply sit back and accept her son being taken away from her. In fact, that's what moved Carly into Jason and Sonny's circle -- keeping Michael from being taken away from her.
Karen L.