General Hospital Message Board

Sonny and Kate – August 21, 2008

The Karpov revelation

Sonny entered into a deal with Karpov with the intention to remain on the boundary of the mob to protect Jason. However, after Sonny realized that Karpov dealt with drugs, he broke off his deal with him. Sonny had made a promise not to deal with drugs because of the memory of Stone.

Karpov then sent a gift to Kate while Kate was still thinking that Karpov was a legitimate business partner to Sonny. When Sonny found out, he realized that Kate had to know Karpov’s true identity.

Sonny told Kate that Karpov was a mobster. However, he told her that he was not aware of Karpov’s involvement with the mob when he entered into the deal with him. Sonny told Kate that Karpov had misrepresented himself and that when Sonny figured out Karpov was a mobster, he ended his involvement with him.

In other words, Sonny did not tell Kate the truth.

And who was Kate in this equation?

The way the story was written, things were ambiguous. It was not explicitly stated that Kate accepted Sonny’s second proposal because he had left the mob. However, the story could be interpreted that way as the second proposal took place after Sonny left the mob.

The development of the love story for the characters as adults emerged into an authentic connection. The backstory of the characters together as teenagers in Bensonhurst and their history together back then gave the love story an additional layer of authenticity.

However, it appeared that Kate had become attached to the idea of keeping Sonny out of the mob. The dynamic between the characters, as a result, had become somewhat peculiar. A range of characters on the show kept warning Kate that Sonny would eventually go back to the mob. However, Kate maintained the belief that “Sonny would not let her down”.

It appeared that Kate’s focus may have been on achieving something. Or of fulfilling a dream that was fixed on her mind. This made Sonny look like he had lost his masculinity.

Some of the dialogue in these scenes:

Sonny: “I talked to Jason, and I said hey you know what? I can’t help you. I don’t want to get pulled back in this life because I don’t want to jeopardize what I have because I’m starting a new life that’s important to me.”

Kate: “I like the sound of that.”

The story was becoming more and more precarious with all the connections among the characters and all the “half truths”. The setting was there for there to be a downfall for Kate.

What went through my mind when watching the scenes above was that there was a set up. That there would be a wakeup call for Kate and she may be humiliated in a story that was going to be eventually told. That’s the interpretation that I drew from the acting choices of the actors. Especially that of Sonny. Implying that Kate would face certain consequences in a future story that would “compensate” for the approach she was taking in the present. With Sonny being instrumental in this humiliation.

I had the insight, but I didn’t share it with anyone on the online message board where the fans of the couple interacted together. We discussed many aspects of the story, but I stayed silent on this aspect.

The aspect of Kate’s possible humiliation, in the future, by Carly and Claudia.

There were many elements at work here.

I had a tendency to humiliate myself in my own private moments and I channeled that tendency towards Kate.

The justification was that Kate would “prove” the extent of her love for Sonny by enduring humiliation at the hands of her female rivals on the show.

I was dwelling in this thought within the framework of the story.

However, there was a rumor later that year that implied that this situation may have had roots in something other than merely a soap story. I didn’t entertain this thought at the time.

Up until those fateful days in early January of 2009, I maintained that this was only a story.

The culmination of the story on those days was the result of accumulation of many hints in Sonny and Kate’s scenes together in the many months before.