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There are, if we’re being honest, quite a few times when it feels like Sonny’s gone too far on General Hospital — especially lately. But just when we think he’s beyond redemption, something pulls him back. Take shooting Agent Cates in cold blood. That felt like it was beyond the pale (not that we particularly loved this obsessive version of Jagger), but then Sonny finally decided to turn himself in to save Alexis. Granted, as of yesterday, he ended up not needing to… But it’s the thought that counts, right?
None of that, though, was the problem that Maurice Benard had with his character. The actor recently hosted Evan Hofer for his second time on Benard’s State of Mind vlog, and the two discussed Sonny and Dex’s volatile relationship a bit.
Hofer recalled how scared he was during the darkest days of their fractured friendship. “When you walked up to me at that wedding, they said, ‘Cut,’ and I was like, ‘Are you good?’” He recalled. “You were in it, and it was great, and it was incredible. Like we said, then you don’t have to act when you’re being —
“It was evil,” Benard interjected good-naturedly. But that’s pretty much how he felt about Sonny’s reaction to Dex. Virtually everything about it was bad, but for Sonny’s portrayer, there was one moment in particular when the don went way too far.
“I had a problem with beating you up because you’re not a bad guy,” Benard said. “And Sonny’s not — I know Sonny was off his medication, but how far do you want to push that? To beat up a nice guy. I know you ratted on me, whatever.”
Sonny walks a very fine line as a loveable mob boss. He’s survived this long not just as someone on the show, but as a fan favorite, because of his code of ethics. And beating the you-know-what out of Dex was just pushing things too far for Benard. Hofer, though, saw it differently.
“I don’t know,” he jumped in. “I could justify it for Sonny, like it’s kind of a crime of passion in a way. At least speaking for Dex, I loved Sonny. I loved Sonny like a father, like the father that I always wished that I had. So for all of that to happen, like me never swinging back at you or anything was this almost reversion to this childlike state and just thinking about all that love that was there. Something like that can only happen where there was a lot of emotion. If you didn’t care about me, you’d be like, ‘Yeah whatever, man. Have fun at the wedding.”
That’s fair enough. Daytime is certainly full of stories about people who feel so betrayed by those they love, that they push for some pretty extreme revenge. But it rarely gets as bloody as what happened to Dex.
Still, Sonny’s survived this long and, as Benard said, his character was off his meds at the time. So while it may have been extreme, we’ve got a feeling it’s just one more thing that folks will, ultimately, forgive. But maybe Dex should have a talk with a professional sometime about healthy love. And Sonny? Next time, if you’re off your medication, maybe at least try to take a chill pill.
