General Hospital spoilers: is Ava planning a big comeback in the criminal underworld?

Lately on the General Hospital canvas, we’ve been consumed with Jason’s (Steve Burton) big return, and rightfully so. However, we are starting to pivot some of that attention to Ava’s (Maura West) questionable behavior.

At first, when Ava moved into Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse, we thought nothing of it. Ava had gone through a lot with the whole ordeal with Nicholas (Adam Huss) and Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) and was with Sonny on the island when there was an assassination attempt, so her moving in with the kingpin for protection made sense to us. After all, the duo share a child together and they have been amicable for quite some time.

Now over the past couple of months, Ava and Sonny have gotten closer, especially in light of his breakup with Nina (Cynthia Watros). Despite Ava and Nina being besties, that hasn’t stopped Ava from cozying up to Nina's soon-to-be ex-husband, and of course keeping that information a secret.

Ava and Sonny’s closeness gave us pause, but Ava’s antics during this crisis with Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) made us raise both eyebrows in suspicion.

It started when she began encouraging Sonny to keep drinking to help him cope with his stress. For a while now, Sonny had stopped drinking so heavily, as alcohol led him to make some poor decisions in the past. So it’s interesting Ava guided him to the bottle.

Then, as Sonny felt the need to close ranks around him feeling betrayed by Michael (Chad Duell), Carly (Laura Wright), Dex (Evan Hofer) and Jason, Ava whispered in his ear that Sonny can’t trust anyone. Instead of pushing Sonny to make up with even Michael, she did her best to encourage the rift between father and son. Ava also pushed Sonny not to trust Jason, the mobster’s longest-standing friend and associate.

The tipping point for us in suspecting Ava is up to something sinister, occurred when Dante finally woke up in the hospital. Instead of telling Sonny that Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) sent over a message that Dante opened his eyes, Ava claimed the hospital called and Dante was awake. Furthermore, Ava persuaded him not to go to the hospital to see his oldest son until the next day.

With all of this in consideration, let’s recap an interesting development about Pikeman. Viewers learned in the General Hospital episode airing on March 29, that Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) and Brennan (Charles Mesure) have been working together in some capacity to run the Pikeman Organization and have made attempts to eliminate Sonny. Valentine’s latest plot is messing with Sonny’s bipolar disorder medication, with the hope that him off his medication will cause him to spiral and lose control of his territory in Port Charles.

Could it be possible that Ava is working with Valentin against Sonny? Sure. Ava has a history of being duplicitous. So if she is working with Valentin, the next question becomes why?

Although it’s been years since Ava has been a player in the criminal underworld, we think it’s possible she may be ready to reassume her role. From the moment she left the criminal world, she’s repeatedly found herself in vulnerable positions, a place she doesn’t like to be. So perhaps she could again be in search of the power that she feels once kept her safe.

It’s also worth noting that because of Pikeman, many mobsters in Port Charles have been eliminated, so now would be a great time to make a play from Ava’s perspective. Additionally, Ava’s sister Olivia Jerome (Tonja Walker) was murdered by Pikeman, and it’s not lost on us that Ava hated her.

Knowing all this, we can see a scenario in which Ava is cozying up to Sonny in an effort to help take him down and possibly assume his territory. Essentially working for Pikeman.

Now is it possible that Ava’s been acting oddly because she wants to get Sonny all to herself so the two can live in romantic bliss? Yes. But regardless of what she’s up to, we will be keeping tabs on her.

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