Volume I, Issue v

January 1999

GH in Review by Amy McWilliams

View a section by clicking on the links below, or read the entire review by scrolling down. The review takes up 8 separate pages, but the navigation at the top and bottom of each remains consistent.

General Hospital

The Quartermaines

Carly/Jason/Robin

Mac and Felicia

The Spencers

Bobbie

Lucky and Elizabeth

Luke

The Cassadines

Jax

Sonny

Sonny

• Jason finds Sonny unresponsive, so he just keeps talking until Sonny acknowledges him by demanding to know what he's doing there. Jason refuses to leave, and Sonny accosts him. When he calms down, Sonny admits that he's haunted by Brenda. He doesn't believe that his problems can be fixed, and Jason decides that he will stay in Puerto Rico as long as Sonny needs him. (12/18)
• After yelling at him for messing in his Casino business, Sonny tells Jason that Brenda's death is driving him insane. Jason asks him to come home to Port Charles, but Sonny refuses. He does help Jason plan how to strike back at Moreno, however. Meanwhile, Taggert questions Mike about the shooting and Sonny's possible connection to it. Then he confronts Justus about Moreno's responsibility for the shooting and Justus's job for the mob boss. (12/22)
• Mike arrives at Sonny's on Christmas Eve. (12/24)

Jason: "Sonny? Man, you really wrecked this place. You know, a lot has happened since I was here last time. I retired, like I told you. And now I'm working at a motorcycle shop, which I own with Mike. It's right around the corner from the recovery room. And he comes--he comes over almost every afternoon to take a break with Michael and me. You know, he and I will share--he and I will, uh, share a soda, and he'll tell me which horse he bet on and why it should've won, but, of course, it didn't win, and, you know, Michael just sits there and eats his animal crackers and listens to us. He seems pretty interested, so when Michael grows up, Mike and I are going to take him to the track. You know, we don't live at the penthouse anymore. You believe that? Robin and Michael and I moved into--into Brenda's cottage. For a while, it was really nice. Yeah, it was nice. Michael missed the city lights, but once he started noticing the stars, forget about it. He wanted to stay up every night to watch them. I got Carly out of Ferncliff about a month ago, and she's living with us now. Which Robin hates, but--which Robin hates, but Carly's going to move out as soon as she can take Michael and take care of Michael on her own, you know, which means joint custody, Sonny. Joint custody means that half the week Michael's with me, and half the week Michael's with Carly, and it's really not what I want."
Sonny: "Jason, what are you doing here?"

I include this opening scene just because it made me laugh to look at the transcript and see the huge passage from Jason and Sonny's quick, one line response. Later, he was to comment that Jason used to not talk and now he does. Crack me up.

Sonny: "Why should I go back, Jason? I cashed out of the organization. I moved to paradise and I got all the cash and women I want. What more could I ask for? Am I missing something? Did I forget anything? Hell, it worked out just like--just like I said it would. I got away clean, so what the hell are you doing here checking up on me?"
Jason: "I wanted to see you."
Sonny: "Well, you've seen me! Go! Go home!"

Sonny: "It seems to me that I--I tried to fire you more than once. And what'd you always say? 'It's my choice!' Well, that was your choice. This is my turn. I'm going to stand here in the dark and I'm going to drink alone! I don't need you to bring me scotch! I don't need you to pick up after me! I just need you to go!"

Jason: "I do what I can. Which is listen, mostly. Robin misses Brenda all the time."
Sonny: "Yeah, well, you know--they were close. I don't know why. I mean, Robin's so sweet, and Brenda was a pain in the butt."
Jason: "Sometimes it's in the back of Robin's mind and you'd never know anything happened. And other times she would just cry, kind of sudden for what seemed like no reason, and then sometimes she would sit in Brenda's couch in the living room and remember little things they did together like--like hear a song together, a joke that made Brenda laugh. You want more of this?"
Sonny: "I used to--I used to see her face sometimes, Jason. Right in front of me, like I could touch her cheek. Remember I told you I'd die seeing that face? Well, I never thought, man, you know--it never occurred to me she'd die first. I did everything I could, you know? I did everything I could to make sure that didn't happen with Jax, with anybody. I didn't care. I--I should've cared."
Sonny: "I should've stayed with her. I should've--I should've taken her with me to Europe. Small town, nice people. We could've been Mr. and Mrs. Nobody."
Jason: "Yeah. Maybe you could've had a house with a garden. You could've gotten Brenda a dog. You could've grown your potatoes, until a man with a gun came and shot you and shot Brenda, like you told me the day you left her. You did your best to save her, Sonny. This is not your fault."
Sonny: "That she died anyway? Yeah, you're right. I mean, it doesn't matter why she died. What matters is she's dead. And I can't be with her again except when I sleep, and then I'm with her all the time. You know, I have nightmares where I scream myself awake. And I say to myself that is the worst thing. But Brenda--dreaming of Brenda is, because when I wake up, she's not there. She's not there."
Sonny: "I know you want to help me out. But you can't."

I adore Sonny second only to Luke, and I'm thrilled that he's back. His grief is of a different kind than that of Jax, though they share self-blame. Sonny, however, shuts down, as he did before Jason came, where Jax turns to risks and Monte Carlo. Unfortunately, that difference--and the past animosity between these two--means that we're going to be in for dueling griefs. Here's hoping that they'll give both of them something better to do, if not instead, at the same time.

Sonny: "You've been spending too much time with Mike. You never used to talk. Now you can't shut up. So why you here? Well, as long as you're here, you got to understand something--this is my casino. I run it my way. You take my orders."
Jason: "I don't take orders."
Sonny: "The hell you don't! I gave you a life in another city! You don't want it? You want to stand there and watch me like some kind of guard dog, huh? Well, you're going to take my order! My first order is get out!"
Jason: "What you going to do, push me again? Maybe you better use a bottle, because unless you knock me out and drag me away, I'm not leaving!"

Sonny: "I'm sorry. I had no right to treat you like that. I had no right to push you."
Jason: "I'll live."
Sonny: "My stepfather used to do that. He used to go crazy and he'd beat up anybody, you know that was in his way. He'd lock me in a closet and I'd have to sit there in the dark and hate him. I'd tell myself he was a pig and I'd never, ever, you know--and here I am. Anyway, you told me last night Mike was ok?"

Through all of Sonny's alternating between rage and apology, I thought of Maurice Benard's desire to reveal that Sonny is manic/depressive (or whichever term is correct at the moment). That possible diagnosis aside, it's clear that Sonny's emotions and grief are as bad as ever. He blames himself for Brenda's death. He does things to save her, he does things to hurt her, and he finds himself in an impossible situation. His psychology is fascinating to me, but these scenes gave us nothing unexpected--nothing we hadn't seen before. And I was still fearful that we were going to get dueling grief when he and Jax met up.

Jason takes it all in stride, though. It's interesting how he lets it roll off of his back, understanding Sonny perhaps out of his own experience with rage and helplessness.

Sonny: "For more than a year, Jason. I've been--I ran from the church. I ran here. I got nowhere else to go. Only place I got to go is out of my mind--or into the ocean, which wouldn't be so bad because that way, I'd be with Brenda. What? See? No argument?"
Jason: "What? You know, I can't fight what's inside your head. I just know that you're not a coward. And if I'm the only one who can hear, then I'm going to sit down right here until you're ready to listen to me."
Sonny: "Well, you could be waiting for a long time."
Jason: "That's fine. You know what? I'll wait, and I'll bring Robin, Carly, and Michael down here because, you know, Robin wants to see you again and Michael loves the ocean--and if you think you're crazy, just wait until you meet Carly. I happen to like my life. You know, Robin and Carly, they get along--when they're not together--and it's interesting listening to Mike. It is."

Above, he said that he couldn't wait to go crazy because he wouldn't have to think of Brenda. Here, he recognizes that all he wants to do is run away. The line about Carly being crazy had me laughing out loud. I'm not sure, however, why Jason thinks that bringing Sonny home will fix everything. Will it make Moreno back off? Or will it just make Moreno more aggressive? Or does Jason also want Sonny home because of his personal troubles? Or because of Sonny's? I suppose it's all of the above.

Jason: "I quit for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I thought I could keep the people I care about safe. Didn't work. Now I got to try something else."
Sonny: "Neutralize Moreno."
Jason: "By myself?"
Sonny: "You can do it."
Jason: "What happens when his lieutenants come after me, Sonny? What, do I take Robin and Carly and Michael down to Australia or come down here to live with you? Is neutralizing Moreno the last thing I do before I change my name and spend the rest of my life running a casino?"
Sonny: "Oh, it could be a lot worse."
Jason: "I don't see how. You hate it here, Sonny. This place is killing you."
Sonny: "Regret is killing me. A life of bad choices that the people I love are paying for."
Jason: "Then why not help the people you love who are still around? I can't leave Port Charles. I can't. Michael's life is there."
Sonny: "All I got to offer is a place to hide and as much money as you need."
Jason: "You know, you're a liar."
Sonny: "I can't go back to Port Charles, Jason. That's where I loved Brenda. She'd be everywhere and I'd be useless. You think you got it hard now? It'd be a hell of a lot worse if you spent your time babysitting me. You know how I am with Brenda in my head. I proved that trying to handle Rivera."
Jason: "I need to think straight, Sonny. I can't if I leave you down here. Every reason that you have for staying is gone. There's no protecting Brenda anymore. Your contract that Rivera took out on you expired a long time ago. He's dead. I don't think he's going to be calling anyone to tell them to finish the job or refund his money."
Sonny: "Are you trying hard not to understand? I can't go! I can't!"
Jason: "You can't stay here. You hated it even before Brenda died, and now it's worse. I know what I should do--the same thing I did after lily--I should wait and listen when you need to talk, clean up after you wreck something, and cover for you with business, but, Sonny, I don't have the time right now. You were more than a friend to me. You gave me my life. But Michael needs me. He's a baby. So, Sonny, please, do not make me pick because I'll have to pick him, and that means I failed you. And I'd rather die."

Sonny: "Jason? If you hadn't done right by your kid, then you'd have failed me."
Jason: "I'm coming back, Sonny. And the next time I leave, you'll be with me."

Jason has vowed things to Sonny, to Robin, to Carly, and to Michael. He'll keep his vow to Michael above all else, and that's what's causing him so much trouble. Perhaps that's what Sonny sees, and perhaps that's what finally convinces him to come back to Port Charles.

Autumn waves good-bye and the changing of the seasons brings a change in me
I see with different eyes
I get a sense of all of nature's possibilities
It's like the world is new and precious as a baby
And life is sweet as children at play
And love is truly there in every heart
December makes me feel this way

Friends and family strangers on the street are smiling at me
Inhibitions disappear laughing in the snow
I wish that I could know this feeling every moment of the year
The world is new and precious as a baby
Life is sweet as children at play
And love is truly there in every heart
December makes me feel this way

The spirit will guide me
Whenever I am lost it's gonna find me
When I am unsure it will remind me of who I am
What I can be
December is inside of me
And love is truly there in every heart
December makes me feel
December makes me feel this way
Life is sweet as children at play
And love is truly there in every heart
December makes me feel this way
December makes me feel this way

This song ended the Christmas Eve episode, and I liked it well enough to include it. I love the montages we often get at the ends of episodes, and this was no exception. I include it here because my favorite of all the scenes included here, was Mike showing up at Sonny's door. Sonny just rolled his eyes, but Mike was there, like it or not, and he would stay. They were to have some good scenes the next week, and I was very excited to have them back together, even if it seemed that they were starting over from scratch again.