Unless you've led a blameless life, you've probably experienced the frustration of trying to make amends for past behavior with a person who doesn't — or can't — believe you've really changed your ways. It's one of the most relatable stories a show can tell, and when General Hospital decided it was time to get Sonny out of the mob, they kicked the door wide open for stories about his struggle to start over as a legitimate businessman after spending decades as a violent criminal.
We're seeing the dawn of that era right now, but as with countless aspects of the modern GH, a lot of distracting corners have been cut with the storytelling. For starters, the way Sonny exited the mob was hilariously anticlimactic:
JASON: I can't work for you anymore because I need to be a real father to my nearly adult son.
SONNY: Funny you should say that. I'm getting out of the mob too.
ALEXIS: I brought the Law-Abiding Citizen paperwork you asked for. Sign here, please.
I wasn't all that upset about this, if only because I never believed GH would have the cojones to give us the version of this story we deserved. After all this time and all that bloodshed, the only narratively satisfying option was to make Sonny run a gantlet of suffering that ended with him finally reckoning with all the damage he's done. Leaving the mob wouldn't be redemption for him, per se, but it'd still be a rebirth — and one that would make Sonny genuinely interesting for the first time in decades.
Sonny's never allowed to lose, though; in fact, he's really only ever allowed to suffer on an extremely short-term basis, and only in ways that make it annoyingly clear that we're only supposed to root for him. Which brings me to the example of narrative corner-cutting that's really bugging me this week.
It makes perfect sense to have someone frame Sonny for a crime, rightly expecting that plenty of people would be inclined to think he's guilty. It also makes sense to play out a story that leaves Sonny isolated from friends and family because of all this. But if the writers really wanted to put Sonny on an island this way, they really needed to lay the foundation for it by chipping away at his loved ones' desperate trust over a period of time. When you've spent years forcing everyone around Sonny to prop him up and defend him at every turn, it makes no sense to suddenly have them all turn their backs at the slightest provocation.
What's happening with Sonny right now is classic 21st century GH, by which I mean that the basic outline of the story has plenty of potential, but the execution of that story is so annoyingly slapdash that it's unnecessarily difficult to enjoy. The idea of Sonny being framed for Sidwell and Curtis' beating is a solid one, and it's very easy to believe that he'd be at the top of any natural list of suspects. But it's also very easy to see why someone might want to frame him. All by itself, this shouldn't be enough to rupture his closest relationships. It should just be one part of a series of incidents meant to make it look like Sonny's still in the mob — the type of story that unfolds over a period of months, or even a year.
But for whatever reason, whether it's a need to get this wrapped up faster or simply laziness, we've skipped straight to the part where pretty much everyone who knows Sonny's name is dead certain that he's a lying scumbag. Curtis — who should really be a little less enthusiastic about making accusations after what happened with Isaiah — is convinced Sonny's responsible for him and Sidwell being beaten. This means Jordan and Trina are also convinced. Dante, who has spent years bending over backward to think good thoughts about his old man, has severed ties with him. Even puppy-eyed Gio is ready to believe the worst.
By all rights, Sonny should expect to be dealing with this type of thing — it's the absolute least of what he should expect to be dealing with — and Maurice Benard is more than capable of playing the layers of hurt that should have been baked into the story. But the way this is happening is so cartoonishly abrupt that you're only left with befuddling snap judgments on one side and a petulant old man on the other. (Sonny yelling "I don't want a son like you" at Dante was a brilliant, albeit presumably unintentional, example of how every relationship with him is purely transactional.)
This could still go to some interesting places before it's all said and done, and I'm glad that we're dealing with at least a little of the fallout from Sonny making a decision that really should have been treated like a much bigger deal. But watching people yell about Sonny last week, I sometimes felt like I was watching actors strain to understand their characters' emotions and motivations. I think I knew how they felt.
Punch Brothers
Speaking of fallout, the aftershocks from Charlotte's impulsive decision to try and frame Drew for statutory assault rolled in fast and furious last week. Some of what we saw was genuinely great, with the scenes between Charlotte and Lulu at the top of the list; while I was in favor of the writers finally deciding to get these teens into some potentially very serious trouble, I was also really gratified to see Lulu explaining to Charlotte how disastrously wrong things could have gone — and also highlighting the grave implications of making false allegations at a time when victims are often blamed instead of believed.
As I said in my previous column, Charlotte is a character with a lot of potential, and even though she's headed off-canvas for a while, I appreciated the way the writers teased at that potential before sending her away — specifically by having her point out that Valentin essentially trained her to do what she did. The complicated legacy he's handed her should define the next chapter of her story, if not the next several chapters, and I hope those conversations were a strong signal of plots to come.
The other stuff… well, similar to what's happening with Sonny, I can see the appeal of the idea, but I have questions about the execution. Drawing battle lines between Rocco and Danny, while Rocco's secretly falling for Scout, is just the type of tangled symmetry that soaps have always thrived on. The problem, as many of us keep pointing out, is that Rocco and Scout freaking grew up together, casting an irredeemably skeevy pall over what ought to be soap gold.
This is another example of a storyline that would have worked a lot better if the show had had enough patience and foresight to build a solid narrative structure first — in this case, by building relationships between a set of teen characters who aren't all related to each other in some way. As with Sonny's persecution, I think this story could go to some interesting places, if only because this type of conflict is so rich with emotion. I just — again — wish it was being built on a sturdier, more sensible foundation.
I think that'll just about do it for the big stuff this time out. How about some bullets?
- Anna inched us closer to the inevitable Scorpio goodbye when she told Tristan he reminds her of "another unflappably good listener who's on the other side of the world right now"
- Because his involvement with L&B Records in the '90s is apparently "legendary," Gio asked Sonny to help him and Trina find a new manager
- Lucas spent the week getting buzzed and gabbing with gal pals, and I could not be more jealous
- Sidwell went into cardiac arrest on Monday, and hasn't been seen or spoken of since
- Michael arranged for Jordan to be treated at the magical skin clinic in Baden Baden, kicking off one very intriguing chem test
- Monet worked her way into Curtis' room and pitched herself as his lawyer, planting the idea that his conviction stands a chance of being overturned
- Only after leaving the mob did Sonny finally say the words "Vito betrayed me"
- Scout yelled at Alexis and stormed out of her office after Alexis pointed out the role Drew's behavior played in Charlotte's plan
- After realizing that Michael hopes to engineer an affair between Chase and Willow, Brook Lynn pushed him in the lake
- Curtis told Willow that he'll help her bring Sonny down, but only if she gets him pardoned; later, Willow got Tristan to agree to keep Curtis at GH for a few days, saying it'd be a "personal favor"
- Choosing a very odd time to stop being psychotically overprotective, Lulu smiled and kept it to herself after catching Rocco and Scout making out
- Mac and Felicia explained to a suddenly dim Emma that yes, of course they've been worried about how dating Gio puts her in close proximity to Sonny
- After Turner reminded her that circumstantial evidence exists, former police commissioner Jordan sneered "Sonny must be one hell of a lay"
- After hearing about the attack, Joss vowed to Trina that she'll take Sonny down, no matter what it takes
- Scout caught Drew and Ava having the world's sloppiest secret meeting with Vito
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