Unfair Much? General Hospital Throws a Lifeline to One Character and an Anchor to Another

We’re used to our soaps dealing out hypocrisy on the regular. What one character is allowed to do and think nothing of, another will be called on the carpet for and made to wear a scarlet letter S (for “sinner”). But General Hospital is taking it to the extreme with its treatment of Sonny and Ava.

Half of the August 6 episode was dedicated to the Mob boss’ vision of son Morgan reassuring him that he isn’t a career criminal whose “family business” has made moving targets of everyone he loves. “I’ve been a disaster to all my kids,” Sonny sniffed. “Molly was right when she said all I bring is pain and destruction to everyone.”

Point of fact, Molly was kinda right. But Morgan insisted, and we quote, “No parent’s perfect.” Umm, we’re pretty sure none of Liz’s kids ever wound up in a coma because of a botched underworld hit. And we don’t think that Brook Lynn ever happened upon Ned beating the [bleep] out of someone a la Kristina happening upon Sonny mid-smackdown of Dex.

Even that, though, Morgan was quick to shrug off for the godfather’s sake. Sonny had rearranged arguably the handsomest face in Port Charles for no reason other than that he was angry, and Morgan nevertheless assured him, “That’s understandable, Dad.”

Is it? Look, we get that Sonny is off his medication. But the dude has been a criminal since the day that we met him (when he enticed an underage girl to strip at his club before getting her drugs and sleeping with her). Medicated or un-, this is not a good guy. Complicated and fascinating, sure… but the Mother Theresa treatment he’s receiving is off-the-charts bonkers.

It’s galling, too. On one side of the canvas, we have Imaginary Morgan doing backflips to redeem Daddy for the umpteenth time and give him a no harm, no foul on all the havoc that he’s wrought, and on the other side, we have Ava being charged with manslaughter when she most certainly did not give Kristina a nudge to do her best Tom Daley impression.

We get that the whole show revolves around Sonny, so he gets more free passes than anybody else. But the unfairness of Ava being painted into a corner as an irredeemable villain, while the don’s checkered past gets completely whitewashed is majorly perturbing. Carly gets to play the victim even though she did engage in insider trading. Jason gets to play the hero even though he lists “hit man” under occupation on his tax returns. Hell, Brennan gets to trade his prison jumper for a business suit even though he was a Pikeman power player. Ava, though? Oh no. She has to be marched through Port Charles with people throwing rocks and crying out, “Shame! Shame!”