I remember the year I got a baseball mitt as a gift from my Dad. I was 12. It was the best gift ever. I lived in a neighborhood of mostly boys, and I wanted into the Boys Club so badly. No one else *had* a real mitt, so they had no choice but to let me play. Besides, I was the best batter on the block, and had 4 trees in my yard that were in a diamond shape - Tree Stump was home plate, Maple Tree was first, Pine Tree was second, Taller pine tree was third. Mailbox was Foul Ball territory. When I opened Dad's package and saw a red leather mitt inside, it was the first real evidence I had that Jesus listened to my prayers. However, I didn't see that look of awe and epiphany on Mike's face when he opened that gift from Sonny. I think he was secretly praying for a giant box of $1000.00 chips for the Haunted Star. But Sonny was feeling nostalgic for days of playing catch with his Dad, so Mike got a baseball glove. Sonny was also apparently feeling nostalgic about being married to Lily, as Emily had to answer to Lily 2 or 3 times this week. Sonny is drifting in and out of reality and it's beginning to frighten Emily (or Lily if you prefer) more every minute.
I have a friend who is plagued by Bi-Polar disorder, and I have asked him to help me write about it with knowledge. He's had so many heartaches - just imagine the real ramifications of things he does when he's out of control, unlike Sonny, real people don't have Max and Milo to cover for them and clean up the glasses they break and the dirt piles they dig in their yards. They have to actually leave their house and go to jobs and try to function, etc. I have been watching Maurice Benard on GH for years, and I had no idea what he was capable of as an actor until this storyline began. He's been absolutely brilliant. His performances are nuanced and haunting - we see so much emotion behind every flicker of his eyes, we can testify to Sonny's every internal struggle. We see the shift in him as people leave the room and he's left there alone clenching his fists in some inner rage we can tangibly feel - his presence in every scene is smoldering and vibrant. Maurice Benard has taken his own experience with bi-polar disorder and brought it to life in Sonny Corinthos, and is letting us examine his own angst and struggle. He's bearing his heart to us, day by day, scene by scene, and that kind of vulnerability comes at a price. For him to relive the moments when he himself was out of control has to be painful. He is paying a high price to educate us, and I just want him to know, we see it, and we appreciate the emotional sacrifice he is making. I want to thank him for putting his own tortured soul into Sonny's body so we can understand people who struggle with Bi-Polar Disorder.
On a lighter note, when Sonny started talking about Emily's "Condition" I got scared and thought I missed a scene that said she was pregnant and that Sonny's Magic Sperm had struck again. Imagine, if Sam's baby had lived and if Lily's baby hadn't been blown up by a car bomb, he'd have 5 kids and by 4 different Moms... Emily, for Pete's sake; use birth control.
Sam wants another baby, and she wants Jason to father it although he has rejected her about 42 times. But she keeps trying. She can't give up. She loves him and she can't let go and she doesn't understand how he can let go. It makes the love they share seem unreal to her, if Jason can just turn his back on her and walk away without a glance back she fears that everything they shared was a lie. She understands the obstacles they face, and she knows his reasons he is trying to quit her, but Love isn't something that evaporates. She'd rather fight through every challenge than give up. Jason disagrees and she is stunned by his adherence to silence. If she really wants a baby, I suggest she look to new step-daddy Ric, as he is related to Sonny and thus might be gifted with ultra potent sperm. Not to mention the fact that he seemed EXTREMELY interested in her as she was wandering around the balcony in her see through negligee and feathered high heel slippers at Alexis' new home. I bet it's only a matter of weeks until he chains her to a wall. When Ric mentions to Sam that Alexis is working really hard dot get to know her, Sam says "What about you Ric, do YOU want to get to know me?" assuming Ric hates her. Well, honey, things have changed and my take is YES, he DOES want to get to know you.
Ric did a good job at burying his dark side for awhile there, but boy, oh boy, do I see it coming back like a tsunami. Ric is taking Jason's absence as the way to get in position to be Sonny's right hand, but in order to gain that power, Sonny has to be in the business, and Sonny is more interested in coffee right now than Mob business. Sonny is struggling with a delicate mental state, and I fully expect Ric to take full advantage of that to manipulate Sonny into following his own evil agenda. Mind you, I am not sure what Ric's actual agenda is just yet, but I know he has one. How this will impact his marriage to Alexis, newly appointed D.A., remains to be seen.
Sam hasn't noticed Ric's eyes burning holes through her jammies, as she is bound and determined to get back together with Jason and is using any stupid 'I Love Lucy' plot she can to get Jason to notice her. What happens when you cry wolf and the wolf isn't found, but he's actually OUT there? Sam told Jason she heard an intruder and was in danger. That was a lie, she didn't hear an intruder - but, Manny is in deed out there lurking in the shadows waiting to get her - she just doesn't know it. Liz is doing her best to steer Jason back to Sam, but he's not budging. He doesn't mind being a hit man, but can't stand the thought of being a hypocrite, it seems. I suppose we all pick and choose our sins.
Lucky's sin of choice, and possibly hereditary, is substance abuse. Mind you, he's not swigging back shots of Jack like his Dad, but he's popping handfuls of Hydrcodone instead. Make a mental note, that you shouldn't take pills and shoot a gun at the same time. Liz makes a deal with Jason for Lucky to be able to get a big bust under his belt so he can feel like a man again. (Ah, the intricacies of the male ego.) Unbeknownst to Liz, Lucky is out on the streets armed and dangerous while under the influence. When Liz can't reach Lucky via cell, she panics and asks Jason to check his status, Jason discovers that Lucky is in trouble and goes to the docks to find Lucky losing in a shootout and fires a shot or two of his own from behind cover hitting the intended target. Lucky thinks he fired the shot, even though he is clearly strung out on pills. The only one who realizes this however is Maxie, who rushes off to the hospital in her Hoochie Mama dress to try to sneak in to steal more pills for Lucky.
Another person in a bad disguise was Carly, who thought the best way to sneak into GH to alter Baby John's 15th paternity test was to go into the doctors Co-Ed locker room and put on some bright red scrubs, not even bothering to tie up her mane of curly blonde hair. Good disguise Carly. Maybe Uncle Luke could give you some of the finer points of undercover missions. Epiphany assigned Carly to empty a bedpan and I am guessing some poor GH patient is still waiting for that to happen. Carly snuck into the lab undetected, logged into a computer that looked like the same one Luke used to type in ICE PRINCESS back in 1980 and wrote in Jax as John's father... again. And after Nikolas went to all that work to sneak a clipping of hair from a baby who doesn't have any hair...But have no fear, St. Robin who must find justice and set all things right in the universe even when they don't concern her, is intent on blabbing what she knows to Nikolas and revealing John's true paternity. Helena will jump for joy when she realizes she doesn't have to hire someone for Nikolas to impregnate. Why didn't Helena just go and dig up Lydia? Nikolas was kind of starting to like her last time he got forced into a Cassadine coupling.
What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Jake's start having Drunken Doctor's Night at the bar since it's become a weekly tradition? Will Lulu and Diego succeed in breaking up Dillon and Georgie, or just end up falling for each other while they play Bonnie and Clyde? Will Duke Lavery and Victor Jerome be coming back too, now that Luke said their names out loud? Will Jason pay Liz packing fees for boxing up all Sam's stuff for him? Will Sam give Liz Taylor her slippers back? Will Jax and Nikolas switch teams and decide to parent Baby John together in an updated version of My Two Dads? Will GH ever hire a security guard to keep lurkers from sneaking in and putting on scrubs?
