General Hospital: May 2023 Discussion Thread

[Khan]

I, too, see all those mob heavies from the recent past as one big blur.  I couldn't begin to tell you which heavy did what and how it hurt Sonny, lol.

[dragonflies]

If I remember correctly wasn't MO the one pushing for Sonny/Emily? I remember that from somewhere

[Vee]

It was his wife's idea, IIRC.

[carolineg]

It was.  She saw Sonny/Emily in a scene together and thought they looked good together.  So I guess Mo pitched it to the show.    I think MB was probably more excited about his bipolar story being told than the romance with Emily.

[Khan]

I think Sonny/Emily might have worked had they recast Emily.

[carolineg]

It could have maybe worked if they recast Emily or if NL just played an entirely different character to begin with.  I do think NL/MB had a little bit of chemistry.  MB has certainly had less with love interests.  The ick factor just outweighed any goodwill you might have towards them. 

[Darn]

I don't think any recasting or writing could have surmounted the fact that Emily was barely out of high school and Sonny was in his 40s. It was icky on a fundamental level. Not to mention Sonny's already gross past with teenage girls.

[Khan]

Oh, wow, I didn't realize that Emily was barely out of high school, lol.

[Vee]

I think Emily was supposed to be either college-aged or just out of college by the time they got together. (She was in med school around that time.) But it would never have worked period, lol. Most of their audience remembered Amber's teen Emily idolizing Jason and Sonny.

[Darn]

I was using hyperbole, Emily was over 21, not yet 25. Still a major ick factor considering both Sonny and Emily's past (like @Vee said, and watching Amber's Emily grow up on the show).

[carolineg]

It is icky and I am not defending it.  Sonny knew her as a child.  It can't not be weird, but Emily had already been married twice by the time she hooked up with Sonny.  I don't know how old she was supposed to be, but I think older than 25 as well.  She was in med school although I don't think she went from high school to college to med school back to back due to her accident and then cancer.  I assume she was a bit older than a normal med student.  I swear I am not trying to defend this, but I think Liz/Lucky/Emily/Nik were just older than that. 

[Vee]

I would not have bought Emily being more than 25 tops at that point, lol. Anyway, this is all academic.

[carolineg]

Lol, you are correct.  It doesn't actually matter.  Characters on soaps tend to be 25, but have the life experiences of middle aged people.  

[DRW50]

On paper, I think Sonny/Emily was kind of an interesting idea. Jason had turned a blind eye to Sonny's selfishness and monstrous behavior for years, only to see this eventually point Sonny in the direction of his sister, one of the very few people Jason cared about. Sonny also had a history of exploiting younger women and abuse victims through his seedy club days, even if he was not intentionally exploiting Emily's vulnerability.

(if you're asking what about Emily's integrity as a character, I'd say she never really had any in the first place) 

The show just wasn't willing to be that honest about what a predator and emotional parasite Sonny is and to do any real work on breaking down the Sonny/Jason relationship, which by that point was well past any point of interest anyway. 

(I remember some fans used to say Jason and Sonny were the characters truly in love, for years...I never saw it, and I'm someone who enjoys watching homoerotic male "friendships" that get away from the people who make them)

Edited May 14, 2023 by DRW50

[John]

Dex & Esme?