On General Hospital, Ric didn’t sugarcoat it when he stood in Alexis’ office and tried to explain himself. He told her that if he disappeared tomorrow, the only person who would truly feel it was Molly. For all his resentment, for all the years spent sparring with his half-brother, he admitted that Sonny and Sonny’s children were the closest thing he had to a real family. It was not sentimental. It was stark. And in that admission, something shifted. It would seem that Ric finally stopped defining himself in opposition to his brother and started defining himself at all.
Key Takeaways
- Ric acknowledged that if he disappeared, only Molly would truly feel the loss.
- In Drew’s attempted murder case, Ric exposed flaws in the PCPD’s investigation that helped Michael.
- He chose restraint, protecting Michael’s legal rights instead of exploiting the situation to hurt Sonny.
- When Alexis questioned his motives, Ric didn’t react defensively; he said he was done with vendettas.
- He appeared to step out of Sonny’s shadow by defining himself through family, not rivalry.
Ric’s Case Was About More Than Michael
Ric (Rick Hearst) arrived with updates on Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) attempted murder case, but the legal talk was almost secondary. Yes, he exposed the flaws in the PCPD’s fishing expedition. Yes, he pointed out that Chase’s (Josh Swickard) mistake with Michael’s (Rory Gibson) keyring would likely keep charges from sticking. But beneath his strategy was restraint.
For years, Ric would have enjoyed watching Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) son twist in the wind. Instead, he cautioned Michael to steer clear of Chase and focused on how sloppy police work tainted the case. He did his job perfectly with no smirk or hidden agenda.
When Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) questioned why he was helping the son of the brother he hated, Ric didn’t lash out. He admitted he had time to think. The vendettas did not give him what he thought they would. If family was the only currency that mattered in the end, then maybe it was time to stop burning what little he had. (Find out what Hearst thinks about playing Ric.)
Stepping Out From Under Sonny’s Shadow
Ric has always been in Sonny’s shadow. The rivalry defined him, but the bitterness fueled him. Even his victories often felt like reactions rather than choices.
In Alexis’ office, he swore he had no more agendas and had wasted too much of his life chasing them. She did not fully buy it, and frankly, neither did the audience. But Ric did not flare up at her skepticism. He absorbed it.
That might be the real tell. Growth on this show rarely arrives with fanfare. It shows up in smaller character changes. Ric chose to protect Michael’s legal rights rather than exploit them. He admitted his loneliness without weaponizing it. And he acknowledged that family, even an imperfect family, is not a weakness. For the first time in a long while, he did not look like Sonny’s rival. He looked like his own man. (But has Ric really changed?)
