Is General Hospital really kicking Sonny out of the mob?

General Hospital's Sonny is a mobster and has been one since day one. When he first made his Port Charles debut in 1991, he was the owner of a strip club that was a mob cover operation. While Sonny was not yet the mob boss, that is what he quickly became after Frank Smith allegedly perished in 1994. Being a crime boss has been Sonny's entire identity — until now.

General Hospital's Sonny questions his life choices

General Hospital's Sonny the amnesiac tried life as a bartender and fell for Nina | Image: ABC

While this isn't the first time General Hospital has toyed with the idea of Sonny (Maurice Benard) "leaving the business," it now feels like the soap is serious. In 2018, Sonny had a dream about what life would have been like if he had not performed his first mob hit as a teenager back in Brooklyn, but when he woke, he never actually spoke of leaving the only life he's ever really known.

He also spent nine months in the sleepy Pennsylvania town of Nixon Falls as Mike the Bartender, where he met and fell in love with Nina. Sonny enjoyed that carefree life, but when his memory returned, he returned to the mob.

However, this year, everything has changed. As soon as Sonny learned he had a heart condition, he realized it was time to finally bite the proverbial bullet and leave the business. The problem was that Jason (Steve Burton) didn't want to take over. He also wanted out because he was a single dad now and needed to take care of Danny (Asher Antonyzyn).

If a fire bomb hadn't blazed through Sonny's penthouse, sending Michael to a burn unit, Sonny and Jason would have probably found a way out by now. Sonny is determined to find out who did this to his son, but he knows once that mystery is solved, it's time for a change.

Will the Earth shift in Port Charles?

Sonny and Mike had a good talk on General Hospital | Image: ABC

After Sonny's heart surgery, he dreamed of meeting his dad, Mike (Max Gail), at Kelly's. In the dream, Sonny told his father that he wanted out. Mike had been right all along, and Sonny should have listened to him.

It now feels like Sonny's mob exit story is well on its way as he is in jeopardy of losing his piers. While we still have no idea what illegal items Sonny imports through these piers (he has claimed he will not deal in drugs or arms, although he did have that Pikeman deal two years ago), Sonny sees those piers as his business lifeline. We know he imports coffee as his money-laundering cover, but if he loses those piers in the new referendum election, it could prove to be an easy out for Sonny — but will he do it?

Sonny has always said that it's impossible to leave the organized crime life once you enter it, but his old enemy Julian Jerome (William de Vry) gave it a go and bought Charlie's Pub in an effort to lead a clean life. Since Julian was a bit of a hapless mobster, he got sucked back in toward the end, but he really and truly tried. Perhaps it's time for Sonny to do the same.

If Sonny does go legit, that will be an earth-shattering event in Port Charles. What will he ever do? Could Sonny really have the peaceful, happily-ever-after life he'd always dreamed of, or is he stuck in a trap of his own making, as he told Mike? Time will tell...

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