General Hospital: Ava better watch her back

Maura West in General Hospital
(Image credit: Disney/Bahareh Ritter)

Now that the verdict is in, Ava (Maura West) is in more danger than ever. The verdict gave Sonny (Maurice Benard) even more reason to want to take Ava down. There’s nothing more dangerous than Sonny when he feels like he’s on a mission for justice. And now Sonny will be more committed than ever to making sure that he gets custody of Avery (Ava & Grace Scarola).

The Verdict Was Fair

It may be a hot take, but the “not guilty” verdict was fair and reasonable in the circumstances. The prosecution didn’t prove that Ava was solely responsible for Kristina going through the window. Kristina bears some responsibility because she went to the hotel room specifically to confront Ava, knowing that Ava has a history of violence.

Even Molly (Kristen Vaganos) and Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) admitted to each other that the death of the baby was a tragic accident, and that Ava wasn’t solely responsible. They are ready to put aside the need to find someone to blame so they move forward and grieve. But Kristina (Kate Mansi) and Sonny are not going to let it go.

Rick Hearst and Maura West in General Hospital

(Image credit: Disney/Bahareh Ritter)

Teaming Up For Revenge

Kristina has convinced herself that the only way she can move forward from losing her child is to watch Ava suffer. She thinks that is justice, and it will make her less angry about the baby’s death. But it’s really just a desire for revenge. Nothing is going to take away the pain she’s going through, not even Ava being punished.

Sonny is taking advantage of Kristina’s need for vengeance and cloaking his desire to get rid of Ava once and for all as a mission of getting justice for Kristina and her baby. Sonny has been trying to take Ava down for years, and now that she is fighting him for custody of Avery, he has even more incentive to get her out of the picture.

Sonny may appear to be an aggrieved father and grandfather who is committed to getting “justice” for his daughter and granddaughter but really he’s just the same old Sonny. He’s going to act like he’s a fierce family man protecting the women and children he loves when really he’s just looking out for himself.

If he can manage to take out Ava for good Kristina will love him even more, and she will be loyal to him. He will get custody of Avery and be able to keep Kristina close to him while eliminating one of his biggest enemies while looking like a good guy. That’s a win from every angle. And if there’s one thing that Sonny knows how to do it’s work his angles.

Kristina Blew The Case Against Avery

It’s very hypocritical for Kristina to be so bent on avenging her child when she’s the reason that the case against Ava fell apart. The only reason that Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) was able to get the jury to have reasonable doubt is because of the way that Kristina acted on the stand.

She was hostile, angry, and admitted that she went to the hotel to violently confront Ava. She also admitted that she hated Ava and wanted her to suffer, Of course the jury had reasonable doubt after that performance.

If Kristina had just managed to keep her cool on the stand the verdict might have gone the other way. Alexis tried to warn Kristina to keep her temper under control. But because Kristina is physically unable to process her emotions like an adult, she couldn’t do it, and the result was the “not guilty” verdict. But now, like usual, Kristina is going to make her emotions everyone else’s problem.

Maurice Benard and Kate Mansit in General Hospital

(Image credit: Disney/Bahareh Ritter)

Sonny Isn’t Helping His Daughter

Kristina is clearly struggling with everything that happened, and she needs help and support to get through that. Sonny feeding into her delusion that making Ava suffer will somehow stop her grief isn’t helping Kristina.

He is just using this opportunity as a way to get Ava out of the picture so he can kill two birds with one stone: he can make Kristina loyal to him and get custody of Avery.

Kristina needs to have a good relationship with Molly and Alexis in order to heal from this. Sonny can’t possibly understand how traumatic it is for a mother to lose her child, but Molly and Alexis can. They should be Kristina’s support system.

But Sonny plotting revenge against Ava and encouraging Kristina to give in to her thirst for revenge and her anger is just going to drive a wedge between Kristina, Molly, and Alexis.

He’s giving Kristina the restaurant to keep her busy, but I suspect he’s got an ulterior motive by giving her that as well. He’s not an altruistic person. Sonny is always looking for an advantage in every situation, even when he’s dealing with his children.

Ava – You’re In Danger, Girl

Ava should know Sonny well enough by now to know that he’s going to be gunning for her. She probably would have been safer in prison. Ava’s not very well liked, and Sonny has a big network of people who are willing to commit crimes for him. He’s probably already got a plan to take care of Ava that can’t be connected back to him.

If Ava is smart she will start looking over her shoulder, locking her doors, and make sure her life insurance is in good order to make sure Avery is taken care of. Ric Lansing isn’t going to be much protection against the kind of revenge that Sonny is surely planning right now.

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

CATEGORIES
Sonya Iryna

Sonya has been writing professionally for more than a decade and has degrees in New Media and Philosophy. Her work has appeared in a diverse array of sites including ReGen, The Washington Post, Culturess, Undead Walking and Final Girl. As a lifelong nerd she loves sci-fi, fantasy and horror TV and movies, as well as cultural documentaries. She is particularly interested in representation of marginalized groups in nerd culture and writes reviews and analysis with an intersectional POV. Some of her favorite shows include Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Sandman.

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