GH’s Ethan Lovett Stared Through Sonny’s Window Like a Marksman and Sonny Just Handed Him the Keys to the Operation

ETHAN LOVETT IS IN AND RIC LANSING IS THE ONLY ONE WATCHING

TL;DR: Sonny Corinthos hired Ethan Lovett on Tuesday’s General Hospital even after Ric Lansing sat across from him and flat out accused him of working for Robert Scorpio. Sonny said he was doing it for Luke. Ethan walked outside, called Lulu, stared through the window at his new boss, and told her he was exactly where he needed to be. Ric is right. Sonny just made the biggest mistake of the year.

Ric Lansing Read the Room and Sonny Corinthos Hired Him Anyway

Ric Lansing is having a week. On Monday he was offered a retainer by Nina Reeves to quietly set up a battered woman defense for her daughter. On Tuesday he sat across from Ethan Lovett at his brother’s kitchen table and watched Sonny Corinthos ignore every instinct a consigliere is supposed to trust.

Ric did not mess around. He told Ethan point blank that he was angling to replace Jason Morgan. He accused Ethan of working for Robert Scorpio. He conducted the interview himself and found nothing he liked. And when Sonny decided he wanted to hire Ethan anyway, Ric told him in plain language that this was exactly the kind of hire that ends with a knife in Sonny’s back.

Sonny hired him anyway. Not because he believed Ethan was clean. Because, as Sonny said out loud after Ric confronted him, the only way to figure out what Luke’s son is actually working is to keep him close. And, Sonny added, he is doing this for Luke.

For Luke. The man who spent forty years using his oldest friends as moves in whatever long game he was running. That Luke.

Ethan Lovett Told Lulu the Quiet Part Out Loud

The part that should have every fan’s hair standing up happened seconds after Sonny offered Ethan the job. Ethan walked outside the house. He called his sister. He told Lulu Spencer that he had just been hired by Sonny.

Then, while Lulu was on the phone expressing concern about whether this was the right move, Ethan stood on Sonny’s property and stared through the window at his new boss and said he was exactly where he needed to be.

That is not a man looking for a job. That is a man looking at a target.

Whatever Ethan came back to Port Charles to do, Sonny is the doorway. Sonny’s organization is the access. Sonny’s name on the paperwork is the cover. Ethan did not show up at that house on Monday because he was short on cash. He showed up because whatever he is hunting runs through the Corinthos operation, and now he is inside it with a paycheck.

So What Is Ethan Lovett Actually Doing Here?

There are three live theories and all three make Sonny’s decision worse.

Theory one. Ethan is working for Robert Scorpio, exactly the way Ric said. The WSB has been circling Port Charles for months between Valentin Cassadine‘s runaway status, the Cullum mess, and the Faison weapon project. If Robert needs a man inside Sonny’s world, Luke’s son is a tailor made asset. Sonny trusts Luke’s name. The WSB gets eyes on the organization. Ethan gets plausible cover and a way to pay his bar tab. This is the simplest theory and the one Ric is already looking at.

Theory two. Ethan is hunting Jenz Sidwell or Ross Cullum or both. Ethan left a cryptic voicemail for someone on the pier when he first returned. That voicemail has never been returned on screen. If Ethan is working a personal vendetta against someone in the Sidwell-Cullum operation, Sonny is the fastest path to the intelligence and the muscle he needs. The Corinthos operation is already at war with Sidwell. Ethan just joined the side that was already shooting.

Theory three, and this one is the worst. Ethan is not working for Robert and he is not working for himself. Ethan is working for somebody none of us have met yet. The voicemail was to them. The return to Port Charles was on their orders. The Sonny job is part of their plan. That is a Spencer move. That is a Luke move. Ethan has been off canvas for years and nobody knows who he has been with or what he owes. The moment Ethan smiled at Kristina like a long lost friend on Monday and the moment he stared through the window at Sonny on Tuesday, he was performing. The question is for whom.

Ric Lansing Is the Only One Seeing Clearly and Sonny Is Not Listening

Here is the thing about Sonny Corinthos hires. Sonny has a long, documented history of bringing dangerous men into his inner circle and being right about half the time. The other half end with somebody dying. Jason is in prison. Brick is not a Port Charles full timer. Sonny is short a right hand, he is emotionally compromised by the absence of Jason, and he is making sentimental decisions about a man who has not earned sentiment.

Ric is going to be proved right. The only question is how bad the damage is by the time Sonny figures it out. Ethan has been inside the operation for less than a day and he is already looking at Sonny through a window like a marksman checking his angles. By the end of the week he will have names and contacts and access to places Sonny does not let strangers walk into. By the end of the month he will know enough to hurt him.

Sonny made this hire for Luke. Luke is not here to protect him. Luke never protected him in the first place. And whatever Ethan is doing in Port Charles, Luke’s name on it does not make it safer. It makes it worse.

Ric tried to tell him. Sonny did not listen. And in a few weeks, when whatever Ethan is planning finally lands, Ric is going to be standing in the kitchen saying “I told you” and Sonny is going to have no answer.

Do you think Sonny Corinthos just made the worst hire of his career, or does Luke’s son actually have his best interests at heart? Send your hottest takes to [email protected] and we just might publish them!

WATCH THIS: What does this man REALLY want?

@soapoperamag Well, this isn't suspicious at all… Are the fans right? Is #EthanLovett secretly a WSB agent who is in town to take down two of the most dangerous criminals around? Hmm…maybe! #GH #GeneralHospital ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine