6 Reasons General Hospital's Ava Should Not Trust Ethan

In a surprising General Hospital twist, Ava Jerome has developed an unlikely friendship with Ethan Lovett after Sonny tasked him with keeping an eye on Avery's mother.

However, a violent event involving Jenz Sidwell shooting at Ava forced Ethan to take the bullet to save her. This instinctive goodwill bonded Ava and Ethan as Ava learnt from the wounded Ethan that he was not Phoebe’s biological father. So, now Ava is privy to the secret that he is only pretending to be the baby's father so she can be adopted. Currently, as they try to skeptically trust each other, Ethan clearly wants to enjoy Ava’s company.

6 Hints That GH’s Ethan May be Manipulating Ava

1) History as a con artist

Ethan with Lulu in a scene from General Hospital | Image: ABC

Ethan Lovett (previously played by Nathan Dean until this week) spent most of his life a con artist. As Luke Spence (Anthony Geary) and Holly Sutton's (Emma Samms) son, he inherited his parent's penchant for a good con.

Ethan recently returned to Port Charles, reunited with his sister, Lulu (Alexa Havins Bruening), and got a job as Sonny Corinthos' (Maurice Benard) latest enforcer, which is how he met Ava (Maura West) and ended up taking a bullet for him. However, despite Ava coming clean with him, Ethan has remained dodgy about his intentions while turning on the charm. As such, Ava should be wary of this classic con combination of dishonesty and charisma.

2) Lies around Phoebe’s paternity

Ethan lied about his connection with Delilah and Phoebe | Image: ABC

As GH fans know, Ava helped Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn) dig baby Phoebe’s parentage. Since her mother, Delilah (Lily Cardone), died, Ava and Alexis uncovered a photograph of Delilah with Ethan, hinting at him being the father. When confronted, Ethan accepted the claim, but insisted on a closed adoption for the baby.

However, while in a delusional state after being shot, Ethan told Ava that he was not baby Phoebe’s biological father. Later, he asked Ava to keep this intel a secret even from Alexis, claiming that the baby’s real father was a dangerous man. With so many secrets and counter-secrets, Ava may not find Ethan (now played by Christian Howard) trustworthy.

3) Hidden agenda and tampered evidence

Ethan may be hiding an ulterior motive on GH | Image: ABC

Since returning to town, fans have wondered about the true reason for his homecoming. To add to the confusion, he has given a different excuse to each person. From wanting to meet Delilah to being short on funds and hoping to replace Jason (Steve Burton), Ethan has presented multiple reason to be in Port Charles. Expectedly, none of them ring true hinting at a possible secret agenda.

Elsewhere, when he arrived at the hospital for his regular checkup, viewers saw Nurse Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) take his DNA swabs and set them aside. However, as soon as the nurse left the room, Ethan swapped the sample with another that he produced from his pockets. Since tampering with medical samples is a crime, Ethan played true to his reputation of being a crook.

4) Connection with the mob circle

Ethan is working for mobster Sonny on GH's storyline | Image: ABC

While always flying under the radar, Ethan has been involved with various unlawful activities in the past. After returning he reached out to Sonny for work. He knew that Jason was arrested by the WSB and Sonny may look for a replacement. As expected, Sonny hired his friend Luke’s son.

While Ava is connected with the criminal Jerome family, she's had an ongoing battle with Sonny over Avery’s custody. Befriending Sonny’s aide would be counterproductive for her custody case. Moreover, she befriended mobster Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) in the hope of doing business with him, although she cut her ties as soon as he became a fugitive. Since Sonny and Sidwell are rivals, Ava’s position will remain precarious even for Ethan.

5) Selfish goals in life

Ethan (now played by Christian Howard) is always up to something | Image: ABC

During his previous run in Port Charles and even after his homecoming, Ethan has been clear about his main focus. As he has admitted repeatedly, his actions are mostly out of self-interest. He told his sister that he works for money and also that he currently needs some. This hints at the fact that his loyalties may be bought.

That may also mean that if Ava threatens Ethan’s freedom or his secrets, he may not hesitate to throw her under the bus. As yet, Ava does not know Ethan’s purpose in town, so he might be manipulating her for his selfish reasons.

6) Continued emotional leverage

Ava opened up to Ethan who remained secretive on GH | Image: ABC

As GH viewers have noted, Ethan has been giving mixed signals to Ava. On one hand, he switched on his charm to lower her defenses. On the other hand, when she opened up about her vulnerabilities, he put a lid on his secrets.

Ethan’s calculative deception reaches beyond Ava. While he orchestrated Phoebe’s closed adoption, he pretended to be an innocent party in Chase (Josh Swickard) and Brook Lynn’s (Amanda Setton) presence. He even had Tracy (Jane Elliot) fooled about his arrival and connection with Phoebe. At the same time, he cornered Ava about the latter’s reason for visiting Brook Lynn. This level of layered fabrication and weaponized charm should put Ava on edge.