We get what General Hospital was going for by having Jason pay Jake’s art-school tuition. The hit man has no other means in this very moment to make up for the myriad ways that he didn’t show up for his son over the years. Were we squeezed into his Tiny Black T-Shirt™, we’d have done the same thing.

But now we are left with a question: How are we supposed to feel about the fact that Jason, in essence, bought Jake’s forgiveness?

We know that Jason is the soap’s halo-clad hero. No matter how many characters he’s roughed up or orders he’s executed for Sonny, Stone Cold is the Good Guy. Heck, even Maurice Benard has observed that Steve Burton’s on-screen counterpart can do no wrong. Jason is treated as such a saint that we’re meant to sympathize with him because he’s being blackmailed to — wait for it — help the authorities instead of the crooks!

That said, though Jason’s financial support of Jake makes sense, it also rings hollow. Rather than be patient and do the work of reestablishing a relationship with his son — rather than earn his forgiveness — Jason has smashed his piggy bank and taken a shortcut. How resonant. And with Jake leaving for Spain, father and son will not be around each other enough to reconnect.

Also: Not for nothing, but wouldn’t Jake’s father have established some kind of trust fund for him years ago (a) in case of emergency and (b) in case Pops’ dangerous line of work finally killed him in a “He won’t be coming back from the dead this time” way. Would Jason have let old (and future?) flame Elizabeth struggle to raise her boys, including Jason’s?