Enraged by the killing of his horse, Tony Soprano beat Ralph Cifaretto to death, and then called his loyal soldier Christopher Moltisanti to help dispose of the body. Frustrated by a home seller's unwillingness to refund his deposit, Tony arranges for a loud, constant Dean Martin serenade that almost drives the man and his wife insane. Two different reactions to two different scenarios, from two different walks of life. In each case, we the viewers understand why Tony does what he does. We felt no sympathy for Ralph, who has been asking to be whacked for his disgusting behavior for a long time. Tony's reaction felt justified, and a long time coming. The homeowner, a smarmy lawyer, is exasperating in his own right, but certainly not deserving of a fate like Ralph's. Instead, Tony irritated him into submission…and we cheered.

The writers and producers of General Hospital love the mob mystique, but don't have the guts to do it justice. What are they so afraid of? As the Sopranos showed us, a mob boss reacts to different situations in different ways. People who are in the "life," or who knowingly get involved in the life, understand the risk they are taking. If they cross the boss, they will be dealt with violently. The list of mob enemies Sonny Corinthos has encountered is long: Frank Smith, Joe Scully, Hernando Rivera, Harry Silver, The Tin Man, Anthony Moreno, Joseph Sorel, and Luis Alcazar. And yet, Sonny wasn't allowed to deal with any of them decisively. Arguably, Frank Smith was a special case. Luke Spencer had a long history with Smith, and convinced Sonny to let him be the one to take Smith out. And the Joe Scully situation was understandable as well. Joe was like a father to Sonny. He saved Sonny's mother from the clutches of Deke Woods by having the cop killed in an alley. But when push came to shove, Sonny pulled the trigger. The most baffling writing occurred during the Joseph Sorel and Luis Alcazar stories. Here were two characters that the viewers had absolutely no connection to; that were blatantly written as sociopaths with no regard for human life. There was frankly no excuse but a lack of cojones for the writers not to allow Sonny to take those men out. Maurice Benard, the actor who brilliantly portrays Sonny, once said that the powers that be feel that such behavior would tarnish Sonny as the romantic lead. In whose mind? Not the viewers, I assure you.

Just as Tony Soprano executed the Dean Martin torture on a civilian who didn't do what he wanted, Sonny Corinthos should be allowed to do the same. The most over used plot point on General Hospital today is that everyone has a vendetta against Sonny. And every one of them is based on situations that Sonny had no responsibility in. And yet, people are allowed to harass, attack and abuse Sonny on a daily basis, while he does…nothing. Over the years we've had flashes of Sonny taking action against these commoners, but mostly he just takes whatever they dish out. Claire Labine, that great writer who gave us the character of Sonny Corinthos, knew there were things Sonny could do that wouldn't involve violence towards other major characters. She gave us a great scene soon after Sonny took over Frank Smith's organization, where Sonny educated some of his crew to use their brain power to get things done. Instead of muscling a business owner who wouldn't pay protection, they could make something happen to get his business shut down. All subsequent writers should have used this as model for how to write Sonny Corinthos. Ned Ashton, a man whose whole existence seems to revolve around his feelings of inadequacy in comparison to Sonny, has decided to "take Sonny down." Sonny knows this, and knows that Ned is working with the widow of a deceased mob rival. Instead of waiting for Ned to make a move, why doesn't Sonny make one? Ned runs ELQ. ELQ owns the Port Charles Hotel. Why doesn't Sonny have someone release rats in the basement and then call the Board of Health? Why doesn't Sonny get the union that controls the hotel service workers to call a work stoppage? Having Sonny fight back against people who are coming after him will only serve to make him appear stronger, and more appealing as the lead character.

The most troubling and difficult area in the writing for Sonny is how to deal with his personal relationships. Here, the writers are unable to reconcile Sonny's position as mob boss with his roles as husband, brother and friend. There's no rationale for having Sonny accept the lies and abusive tirades that spew from the mouth of his wife on a daily basis. It's a question of respect; and his wife obviously has none for him. Reuniting the couple after she sold him out to the Feds was a horrible decision; one that cannot be justified. There is no place in Sonny's life for someone who treats him with so little regard. His relationship with his sister is hardly worth commenting on, since the writers have done nothing to build a relationship there in the first place. Almost as absurd as Sonny staying with his wife is the relationship between Sonny and Jason Morgan. Somewhere along the line, under the pen of the current writer's first tenure at GH, Jason forgot who the boss is. Sonny and Jason forged a strong friendship from the start, not unlike that of Tony Soprano and Silvio Dante. But Silvio, for all the advice he gives as Tony's consigliere, never forgets his place. Recently, Jason took up with Sonny's sister, behind Sonny's back and despite how he knew Sonny felt about it. The writers insist on representing Jason as the golden boy who can do no wrong, but it's not flying with us. Sonny is Jason's boss; Jason has pledged his life to serving that boss in the "business" they are both firmly entrenched in. Jason's behavior warranted a severe reaction from Sonny, but all we got was Sonny "firing" him for a few weeks. Now, Sonny has two more enemies that have tried to destroy him: Faith Roscoe, and his half-brother Ric Lansing. I still shake my head in disbelief that Sonny was not allowed to take Faith out. Forget getting creative, that psycho needs to die. And then there's Ric. I guess I can accept that Sonny wouldn't want to kill his mother's son…although Michael Corelone got over his reservations and took out his brother Fredo. But for Sonny to let Ric just walk away, Scott free, after everything he's done, well, that's just further evidence that the writers are lazy as well as unimaginative. Ric set out to destroy Sonny's life, with no legitimate motivation…blaming a six year old for their mother not keeping him hardly counts. Sonny needs to take apart Ric's life, piece by piece in retaliation.

It's a crying shame that one of the most complex and well-conceived television characters ever written is being misused in such a way. Take a cue from the Sopranos, writers; there's a better way to write a mob boss. What are you so afraid of?

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