GH’s Sonny Serves Nina Divorce Papers — Expectations Vs. Reality

Sonny blindsided Nina in the Tuesday, February 20 episode of General Hospital when he had Diane serve his wife divorce papers. Sure, the relationship between Sonny and Nina has been nonexistent ever since her secret blew up. But did we think a divorce was in their immediate future? Nope, not yet anyway.

Expectations

Ever since New Year’s Eve, Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Nina (Cynthia Watros) have both experienced downward spirals but on completely separate paths. Nina’s dealing with the fallout of what she did. There were consequences for being the one to turn Drew (Cameron Mathison) and Carly (Laura Wright) into the SEC, with the Martin Grey (Michael E. Knight) assist. She instantly became a town pariah.

In 2024, Nina has had to contend with everybody finding out, one by one. Plus, she faced a series of threatened paybacks, over-the-top rants, harsh words, promised retaliations, and every other adjective that’s a synonym for anger and vengeance. She’s also no stranger to enacting her own brand of revenge.

Meanwhile Sonny’s traveled his own troubled road since New Year’s. His path has been paved with isolation, betrayals, and assassination attempts. And that’s mostly from family and employees. He’s in a dark place mentally, and it’s concerning.

We expected a period of silence. After all, Sonny’s family took a hit for Nina’s actions. For the mob boss, family comes first, so the fact that he shut his wife out so completely didn’t come as a surprise. But at some point, we thought that icy cold resolve would thaw and the two would inch closer and closer to a reconciliation. That their love that started in Nixon Falls would prevail. But that didn’t happen at all.

The Reality

Anytime Sonny’s near Nina, he avoids her, often in record time. He might say two words to her, but that’s it. This whole war between Drew/Carly and Nina is happening (Cameron Mathison talks Drew and Nina here), and he’s barely aware of it. And what he is aware of, he’s not bothering to intervene. He doesn’t even want to talk about her with Ava, who’s the one person who can put in a good word for her friend.

Speaking of which, while Nina and Sonny seem separated by space and live on different wavelengths, he and Ava (Maura West) feel the closest they’ve ever been. Should Nina fans be worried about this development? Meanwhile, Nina and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) are connecting and doing this thing where they take on each other’s fight. Valentin just bought The Invader and installed Nina as its publisher and Alexis’s (Nancy Lee Grahn’s) boss.

In addition, Sonny ordered Diane (Carolyn Hennesy) to deliver an envelope. The lawyer had no choice but to serve divorce papers to Nina. For her part, Nina was shocked, and so were we. And, the terms of the divorce were simple and cold. Obviously, their relationship was stuck in limbo. But now, their relationship is running on fumes, with little hope of coming back to life. And Nina’s just another in a bunch of people Sonny feels betrayed him. And he wants nothing to do with them.

Can Sonny and Nina save their marriage that imploded after a couple months? Will Nina take Valentin’s advice not to give Sonny the divorce? What about Sonny — will he finally come out of his haze of depression, victimization, and hopelessness? What’s next for these two? Did this play out like you expected it to? Let us know in the comments below.