It's All Coming Back To Me Now, GENERAL HOSPITAL

Aside from portrayer Maurice Benard’s 1997-98 break from playing Sonny, daytime’s most beloved mobster has been a fixture in Port Charles since his debut in 1993 — that is, until he was presumed dead last December, and spent the lion’s share of 2021 carving out a simpler life as amnesiac “Mike” in folksy Nixon Falls.

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The kingpin’s long-awaited return was set in motion in a series of fiery episodes (pun intended) riddled with surprises.

When Jax caught on to the dangerous game Nina had been playing (concealing “Mike’s” true identity), her jig was up. Nina promised to come clean to Sonny, but before she had the opportunity, the other presumed-dead career criminal who’d made his way to Nixon Falls — Peter August — took her (and Phyllis) hostage. Once they were tied up at the bar, he gleefully informed Phyllis that her dear friend Nina was a liar, who had known all along who “Mike” really was and kept him from his family. Then he doused the place in gasoline, chuckled maniacally as he used a TanO-branded matchbook to set the joint on fire, and slipped off into the night.