Alexis Davis, played by two-time Daytime Emmy-winner Nancy Lee Grahn, doesn’t need to be in a General Hospital courtroom to cross examine a suspect.
Recently, the legal eagle expertly and verbally filleted Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard, pictured with Grahn below from 2024) at the site of yet another crime scene. This time, it was outside Charlie’s Pub following their daughter Kristina (Kate Mansi) being burned in a fire that was set intentionally.
“No thanks to you,” Alexis shot back at Sonny after she arrived on the scene and he informed her that their daughter was going to be okay. Heck, we knew before Alexis arrived that she’d be loaded for bear and wouldn’t hesitate to speak her mind.
“So, which one of your enemies did this,” Alexis queried with a weary tone in her voice as if she’d asked that question many times in the past. “Stop!” she proclaimed as Sonny began to respond, insulted that he didn’t know her inquiry was partially rhetorical.
Sonny didn’t have his attorney Diane (Carolyn Hennesy) present to object on his behalf so Alexis continued to hammer away at the mobster. Alexis pointed out to Sonny that they both knew what had happened. One of his many enemies had gone after him but got one of his children instead.
Disney/Bahareh Ritter
“I knew that Kristina working with you was a bad idea because death and violence are all over you like the plague,” Alexis fired away to her hostile witness, not caring which bystanders overheard her rant. “Anything you do, anyone you love, God forbid anyone who loves you back, you just pass it onto them. And I know you don’t mean to, but you do. And it’s got to stop because I will not bury another daughter!”
If Sonny had anything to say, he kept silent. But, then again, Alexis wasn’t asking him questions as much as she was letting him know how she felt about yet another act of senseless violence that’s affected a child.
Granted, Sam (Kelly Monaco), Alexis’s late daughter, died because of Cyrus (Jeff Kober) and his warped sense of reality, but he was also one of Sonny’s many enemies. And let’s not forget about Michael (Rory Gibson) being shot and Morgan (Bryan Craig) dying in a car explosion.
Alexis shifted from passionate attorney/mother to protective mom when she visited Kristina in her hospital room. She half-jokingly told Kristina that if she had died then, Sonny would die, too. “I would kill him with my bare hands,” she said. (Well, we’re not so sure she’s kidding.)
In a touching moment with daughters Kristina and Molly (Kristen Vaganos), Alexis playfully but emotionally stated, “You both are contractually obligated to outlive me, understood? Because we need each other. And we can’t let anything separate us.”
Alexis wasn’t just referring to future fires, gunplay, and kidnappings. She’s desperate to keep secret the fact that Kristina nearly got Molly’s father Ric (Rick Hearst) killed by tampering with his car brakes.
We see the look of semi-panic on Alexis’s face that this could be revealed at any moment and drive yet another wedge between her surviving children. A story doesn’t need to be playing out in the forefront for Grahn to incorporate a secret like this into her daily performances. It’s one of the many reasons she’s so watchable.
We’ve always known that we’d want Alexis on our side if we ever went to trial in Port Charles. But Grahn’s recent performances serve as a reminder that Alexis is the type of friend anyone would want in their corner for any reason!
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC