General Hospital spoilers: Ric sabotages a Lucky and Elizabeth reunion?

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Since General Hospital’s Ric (Rick Hearst) has been back in Port Charles, he’s managed to make his rounds in a few storylines.

Ric has been a supportive father for Molly (Kristen Vaganos) as she mourns the loss of her daughter and feuds with Kristina (Kate Mansi). He also offered up an eye-witness statement to police that led to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) being arrested for John Cates’ (Adam J. Harrington) murder, a crime she didn’t actually commit. Then of course, he’s now representing Heather (Alley Mills) in her quest to get out of prison and Ava (Maura West) in her fight against Sonny (Maurice Benard) for custody of their daughter.

With Ric so heavily involved in these other situations, it’s amazing he has time to attempt to woo Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst). The check-ins with his ex, the walks and the coffees, it looks as if he is holding out hope that the two of them could rekindle their failed romance. Despite Elizabeth pretty much telling him there is no way that they’ll go back down that romantic path, he still is finding ways to be in her orbit. However, with Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) back in town, he faces a Spencer-sized problem.

Elizabeth and Lucky have a long history together, and according to Isaiah (Sawandi Wilson) and Lucky’s own flashbacks lately, Lucky still holds a torch for the head nurse. So far Elizabeth has been rather hesitant, and in parts cagey, about addressing her true feelings for Lucky. That would suggest she has them. But given Lucky’s knack for leaving town, she probably is scared to fall for him again.

Recognizing the threat Lucky poses, we can imagine Ric resorting to his classic manipulative form to make sure Lucky and Elizabeth don’t reconcile. If we had to guess, Ric’s best shot at coming between Lucky and Elizabeth is through Aiden (Colin Cassidy). He isn’t Lucky’s biggest fan as his dad has been MIA in his life. Aiden hasn't made attempts to reconnect with Lucky so far, and right now, that sentiment doesn't look like it will change.

It’s possible that Ric learns of the extent of the fractured relationship between father and son, and he befriends Aiden to exploit that. Ric could try to get Aiden to warm up to him so Elizabeth may see a softer side of the lawyer. It’s possible he also pushes Aiden not to forgive Lucky for being absent, knowing that if Lucky and Aiden aren’t on the same page, Elizabeth and Lucky likely won’t be able to fix their own romantic relationship.

Now let’s say Ric doesn’t use Aiden, but rather partners with someone just as manipulative as Ric is to win Elizabeth’s heart, someone like Ava. He’s reluctantly representing her in her case against Sonny and she’s thankful he is because she was desperate. Could her desperation to keep Ric as her attorney push her to do Ric a favor in hatching a scheme that keeps Elizabeth and Lucy apart? Sure it is. We aren’t exactly sure what kind of plan Ava would cook up, but this is a woman willing to toy with a person’s mental health to get what she wants, so we can’t put anything past her.

Having said that though, we’d be remiss if we didn’t say right here and now that we believe Lucky and Elizabeth will reconcile, no matter what Ric throws their way. But Ric may not be so unlucky in love as we can easily picture him and Ava becoming the next big problematic couple in Port Charles.

New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.