General Hospital's Dante Falconeri's Life, Loves and Trauma, Photos

Credit: ABC (2), Paul Skipper/JPI (2), Sean Smith/JPI

Father/Son Bonding?
New York City Police officer Dante Falconeri arrived in Port Charles in 2009 working undercover as Dominic Pirelli. He infiltrated the Corinthos organization to bring down Teflon don Sonny Corinthos, not realizing that the career criminal was his biological dad. When Sonny learned “Dominic” was a cop, he shot him in cold blood in the chest.
Living *and* Loving Dangerously
While undercover as Dominic, Dante met and fell for Lulu Spencer (then Julie Marie Berman). He eventually admitted who he was and then tried to break up with her for her protection. However, Lulu wouldn’t hear of it and stood by him when the truth came out.
‘You’re Gonna Want More Than One Beer to Hear This, Son’
As he recovered from his gunshot wound, Dante learned that mom Olivia Falconeri had, let’s say, history together. Dante struggled with his mother’s lifelong lie but eventually forgave her. He also took some time to accept that Mob boss Sonny was his father, but they eventually formed a relationship. The first step was Dante keeping quiet about Sonny being his shooter, which got him fired from the NYPD. Luckily, the Port Charles Police Department wasn’t opposed to hiring a cop who’d withhold crucial intel.
‘Next Time, Bro, Maybe *Don’t* Help’
When Dante learned that Michael Corinthos, not Sonny, had killed Claudia Zacchara, the cop revealed the truth during Dad’s trial. Unfortunately, Dante was unable to protect Michael, who was sent to Pentonville Prison. Dante later got Michael released on the condition that he move in with him.
‘But… But All We Shared Was Ice Cream’
Out to avenge Dante’s role in having Michael sent to prison, Carly Corinthos hired her stepson’s old friend Brook Lynn Quartermaine to break up him and Lulu. When that didn’t work, Carly dug into Dante’s past with Sonny’s ex Brenda Barrett. Though Dante only helped to protect Brenda and her son from an abusive ex, his secrets were too much for Lulu, and she broke up with him.
A Very Merry Christmas Indeed
Of course, Dante and Lulu reunited, and he proposed just as he was being rushed into surgery after getting shot again. He recovered, but Lulu continued to fear for his safety as a cop. She overcame it, though, and the two lovebirds married in New York City on Christmas Day.
Labor Relations
When Dante and Lulu (then Emme Rylan) decided to start a family, they learned that she was unable to carry a baby to term. So they turned to Lulu’s best friend Maxie Jones to be their surrogate. When Maxie got pregnant, she failed to tell them that she miscarried their baby and was carrying sometime squeeze Damian Spinelli’s child. After giving birth, Maxie gave the baby to Dante and Lulu, but the truth eventually came out, devastating the couple. Soon after that disappointment, Dante and Lulu discovered that wicked doc Britt Westbourne had been impregnated with their stolen embryo. Ultimately, they named their son Rocco.
Putting Their Issues to Bed
Dante became jealous when Lulu’s ex-boyfriend Dillon Quartermaine returned to Port Charles. When he thought Lulu had cheated on him, Dante slept with Lulu’s cousin Valerie Spencer. Lulu left Dante and then teamed up with Johnny Zacchara to run Valerie out of town. When that plan endangered Valerie’s life, Dante filed for divorce. They reunited after Dante rescued a kidnapped Lulu from drug dealer Raj Patel.
‘We’re Screwed If They Ask Where Babies Come From’
By and by, Dante and Lulu learned that she had another child. In true soap opera fashion, Helena Cassadine had fertilized Lulu’s egg that Stavros Cassadine had harvested from her years earlier with Valentin Cassadine’s sperm. Despite the utter madness of all that, Dante and Lulu welcomed the young girl, Charlotte, into their family even as they entered into a tense co-parenting situation with her father.
Mission: Intolerable
In 2018, Dante, wanting to ensure Lulu’s safety, went back undercover. This time with the WSB when Raj resurfaced. Dante’s mission left him stranded in Turkey with Raj’s organization for months, leading Sonny to team up with Robert Scorpio to rescue him. Though they brought Dante home, the torture he had endured left him with PTSD. Fearing he’d hurt Lulu and their kids, Dante left for treatment and cut off all communication with his family. He even sent Lulu divorce papers, which she signed in 2019.
Coming Back and Going Forth
While recovering from PTSD in a Geneva facility, Dante was brainwashed by Liesl Obrecht. When he returned to Port Charles to take down Peter August, he was forced to accept that Lulu had moved on with a schooteacher named Hot Dustin. Sadly, just as she was about to tell Dante that she still loved him, she fell into a coma after getting caught in the Floating Rib explosion that killed Hot Dustin.
His Turn at Bat?
Dante was programmed by Obrecht to do away with Peter… and he’d have done it had Sam McCall not intervened. She was just being a good friend by helping Lulu’s former husband get the help he needed… but slowly, over time, the two became much more.
No, Dante Was Not Proposing Marriage
But to get the upper hand on crazies like Heather Webber, sometimes the savvy detective had to stoop to their level. And obviously never come between a killer and their BLT.
All in the Family
Dante and Sam became increasingly serious about one another. It wasn’t even an issue that she was an old flame of his dad’s. (Technically, Dante would have had an impossible time finding a girlfriend in Port Charles who hadn’t already been with his father.)
Aw, Shoot!
It seemed as if nothing could muck up Dante’s romance with Sam — until, that is, her “late” ex-husband Jason Morgan rose from the grave (yet again), and her new significant other got caught in the crossover of Stone Cold’s reluctant work for the feds.