I have No Illusions-Sonny and Faith
by Cleo Britex
 

There are few things right now on General Hospital I am enjoying at the moment. One is the Nicholas and Emily story. As teen stories go on General Hospital, this one seems to go beyond the juvenile meanderings, and seems to want to truly delve into a romantic and deeper story. I want to see where this story goes in the coming shows. The other story, which excites me, is the story of Sonny and Faith.

Sonny and Faith are a new pairing on the GH canvas, well not really a pairing but a curious coming together of two equally strong actors. Maurice Benard and Cynthia Preston bring these two complex characters vibrantly to life.

Maurice Benard plays Sonny Corinthos and Cynthia Preston plays Faith Roscoe. We know the story well of Sonny Corinthos, but have little input on what drives Faith Roscoe.

A quick back story. Sonny Corinthos is a married mobster in Port Charles, with a baby on the way. He cherishes family over all else and prides himself on being faithful. Faith Roscoe also comes from a Mob background and her mob husband recently died (rumor has it at the hands of Sonny Corinthos). Faith wants power (as well as revenge) and will seemingly do everything to get both.

The first time we saw Faith Roscoe was at a Port Charles trendy Club 101 where she walked in and looked straight at Sonny Corinthos. It was a contemplative yet amusing look. A look that instantly showed that she was trouble, and also that she's surely not afraid of Mr. Corinthos. From Sonny's end it was resigned yet angry. From that very auspicious beginning we saw a whole story take place. It’s a story that has kept me interested in these two characters. From there, these two characters had very little interaction save for a small scene in a courtroom where once again a look told a story. Numerous question was asked and unanswered with that look. What exactly happened between these two? Did they have a relationship before? What created the underlying passion and tension?

Fast forward a few months and now Sonny Corinthos whose wife has been kidnapped must play nice with Faith Roscoe to find his wife. They must pretend they are lovers to smoke out the kidnapper. This has allowed these two characters to interact on a daily basis.

It's actually a very familiar story: two characters who initially hate each other - are forced to live together and eventually learn to trust one another. Yes we have seen this all before, many times over. Yet Sonny and Faith's story is different, and much more interesting and feels more complicated than we have seen before.

Sonny Corinthos over the top anger at Faith Roscoe implies maybe that something went wrong between these two at some earlier date that the viewer in unaware. He flings obscenities and other brutal words in her direction, and until recently, these words rolled off Faith's back with relative ease. Hinting to the viewer that Faith Roscoe knew these words were coming and was quite ready for them. Why?

There have been intense scenes, words thrown back and forth and as I read recently by someone who wrote, "what’s really interesting is the words not being said". Maurice Benard and Cynthia Preston taunting and incendiary interplay gave us such an intriguing and promising beginning - that I and many viewers could not resist dreaming up any number of tempting back stories for their smoldering animosity. I mention the actors because I’m skeptical the writers of General Hospital, (who have shown very little imagination of late) can do Sonny and Faith justice. From what I've witnessed so far the writers seem incapable of bringing to life such a powerful and complex relationship. And complex it most certainly would be. Sonny prides himself on being faithful -and with a child on the way even more so. Sonny Corinthos will never be unfaithful to his wife. Nevertheless, the undercurrent of this story lead the viewer into believing that Faith could prove to be the sexy wrecking ball that finally destroys the Corinthos marriage.

What if he feels an intense passion for Faith - stemming from a shared but unspoken past? And what if these unspoken feelings for Faith are strong enough to make Sonny feel guilty - so much so that he hides behind words of hate and anger as a smokescreen? In regards to Faith, you have to ask yourself what happened in their former relationship that would warrant this anger - on both sides. Why would Faith be willing to go through with this charade knowing what took place between them - as well as knowing that Sonny's anger was a foregone conclusion?

What is driving Faith to push and push, almost daring Sonny to speak about a subject both seem unwilling to "dig up"? This could be an incredibly complex story, however, General Hospital has been known, especially recently, to take the easy way out of stories. Viewers have been given badly written, juvenile and uninteresting nonsense - instead of complex and moving stories, that not only challenges them as writers but also challenges the viewers. However as I stated at the beginning of this article. I am under no illusions.

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