by Akbi Khan, Blog Editor
I’m completely devastated. AJ Quartermaine is gone. Frank Valentini (FV) and Ron Carlivati (RC) brought him back in a stroke of genius. And we had him for a year or two. And now he’s gone. And he’s going back to Bold and the Beautiful, where he’s appreciated and where many consider him at home. Sean Kanan‘s disappointment at how AJ was mis/used by RC and FV (whom I otherwise have only good things to say about) in this past year and being let go early from his contract only make the pain sting more.
But the shock hurts the most. When he got shot, I assumed the writers would do something like put him in a coma indefinitely and ship him off to some facility, so he could bring his chiseled features and flirty smile back to Port Charles at any time. But looking at his blue, motionless face in that hospital bed, it all felt so final.
I had gotten backed up on my GH-watching, so last night, unable to sleep, I decided to do some catching up. I was fast forwarding commercials and went too far into yesterday’s episode and stopped right on Carly saying the words, “AJ’s dead.” I think I dropped the bag of Craisins from my hand. I don’t remember for sure. I mostly remember sitting there in the dark fast-forwarding through every other storyline (as much as I care about those characters too), desperate to understand why and how this was happening.
There’s not much more to say about AJ’s death (may he rest in peace), except that, as we soap fans know, no one is ever really dead on soaps—so this isn’t necessarily goodbye.
What I do want to say is: I have 100% had it with Sonny Corinthos. He has devolved from the impish, charming, junior mobster Sonny of the early to mid-1990’s (the Matt and Claire Labine days) to a heartless sociopath. You can see it on his face when Maurice Benard acts (which is a testament to Benard’s acting—wow) he looks like he’s made of stone. Like all the pain and hurt from his past, not to mention what he’s had to do to become this untouchable mob boss has restructured his face. He’s no longer the unbearably handsome Sonny involved in truly loving relationships with wives and children. His face is expressionless, his soul caring for nothing but how he feels and what he needs.
And all his proclamations of love for his children are empty lip service—what has he done lately to show that he loves even one of them? And now shooting AJ? How will Michael ever forgive him? And how will fans?
