General Hospital has created several new characters throughout the past few years, but there’s one person who hasn’t been seen in 14 years who could really shake things up if he returned to Port Charles. In 2011, Alec Barrett (Quinn Friedman) was revealed to be the son of Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil), one of General Hospital’s most beloved characters, and it’s time for him to return to the show.

Alec was stolen from Brenda at birth by his grandmother, Suzanne Stanwyck (Adrienne Barbeau), who was the mother of the late mobster Aleksander Janáček (Antonie Knoppers). Brenda had broken up with Aleksander when she found out that he was involved in an organization that exploited children.

When Aleksander began stalking Brenda, she moved to Manhattan, where Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) was assigned to protect her, before he knew that he was Brenda’s ex-lover Sonny Corinthos’ (Maurice Benard) son. When Brenda discovered that she was pregnant with Aleksander’s child, Dante pretended to be the baby’s father in order to protect them. When Aleksander later attacked them, Brenda shot and killed him.

In addition, Brenda didn’t realize that she was working with Aleksander’s mother, Suzanne, who drugged her, induced labor, and stole the baby, telling Brenda that a fever had caused her to have a miscarriage. Suzanne raised Alec for four years, until the truth was discovered, and Sonny reunited Brenda with Alec. Brenda and Alec eventually moved to Rome, Italy together.

General Hospital Should Use Characters They Have Instead Of Continuing To Create New Ones

There Have Been Too Many Long-Lost Children Lately

Credit: ABC

During the past few years, General Hospital has created several new characters who ended up being the long-lost children of established characters on the show. Cody Bell (Josh Kelly) was introduced as the son of Mac Scorpio (John J. York) and Dominique Stanton (Shell Danielson), while Sasha Gilmore (Sofia Mattsson) was revealed to be Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) and Holly Sutton’s (Emma Samms) daughter.

In addition, it was recently disclosed that Gio Palmieri (Giovanni Mazza) is the son of Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton) and Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna). Rather than bringing in these new characters, General Hospital should be using its rich history and reintroducing characters they already have, including Alec, to the canvas.

The Possibilities For Alec Barrett Are Endless

Alec Has Connections To Several Current General Hospital Characters

Credit: ABC

Alec was four years old when Brenda reunited with him in 2011, so the character would be 18 years old now. However, soaps are notorious for SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome), and Alec could believably return to the show in his 20s. While it would be a dream-come-true for him to return to General Hospital with his mom, Brenda, that seems unlikely, but he could still show up in Port Charles and turn the town upside down.

Alec would certainly take an interest in Dante, the man who offered to pose as his father before he was born, as well as Sonny, who helped reunite him with Brenda. In addition, when Brenda and Alec left town for Rome, Brenda’s ex-lover, Jasper “Jax” Jacks (Ingo Rademacher), had accompanied them.

Imagine the possibilities if Brenda’s son met Jax’s daughter, Josslyn (Eden McCoy). Brenda’s rival Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) would be thrown for a loop if her daughter ended up with her son.

After 14 years, many fans have forgotten about Alec, and some new viewers never knew about him in the first place. He could come to town shrouded in mystery, and then his true identity could be revealed in a shocking way. The icing on the cake would be if Marcil came back with him, but, for now, General Hospital would be smart to bring Alec back to Port Charles.