Editor's Choice: The End, My Friend? --- April 8, 2003 --- SOD

It was, in a sense, your classic soap breakup. There was anger. There were cross words exchanged. There were fireworks and hurt feelings and a painful good-bye. But it wasn't a romance that came to a crashing halt on GH. It was the long, abiding, seemingly unshakable friendship of mob mates Sonny and Jason ... and the severance was shattering.

At the heart of this matter was a matter of the heart. Jason had fallen for Sonny's half sister, Courtney. Though you'd imagine that Sonny would be thrilled to have the one man he trusts most in the world become the beau of his beautiful sib, the tables turned sharply in the other direction. Sonny not only opposed the union --- he forbade it, citing that mobsters' loved ones tend to end up on the wrong side of the guns, bombs and the like. As a result, loyal soldier Jason broke things off with Courtney, but for weeks, he fought his desire to be with the woman he loves and his dedication to his friend/boss.

Things came to a life-altering head when Jason showed up at Sonny's place following an emotional conversation with Courtney at The Cellar. Upon entering Sonny's penthouse, we could see that something profound had changed in Jason. He didn't say anything, but his pained, distant, expression bespoke the step he was about to take. As Sonny railed on about the latest threat against him, Jason interrupted: "I can't do this. I just can't do this anymore."

He explained that he had been keeping Courtney at arm's length (and thus, safe in Sonny's eyes), but that it was all becoming too much, too hard. "I love her. I want to be with her and she wants to be with me," Jason expressed, clearly uncomfortable with revealing these emotions. He went on to recall how, after the accident that changed his life. Sonny urged him to make his own choices, rather than letting the Quartermines do it for him. "That's exactly what I've been taking away from Courtney. Her right to decide her own life. I can't do it anymore."

"Then I guess you have to make a choice," responded a stone-faced Sonny, drawing a line in the sand. "I can't choose who I fall in love with," Jason argued. "Then you're spitting in my face!" Sonny shot back. "It's not an honor to drag my sister into a world that's illegal and dangerous." "What have you done?" Jason replied, momentarily stopping Sonny cold.

"I will not let my sister die. So, you've made your choice?" Sonny asked Jason, knowing they were on the edge of something possibly irrevocable. "Yes, I have," Jason answered quietly. "Then, you're fired," Sonny announced --- the word moving through the air like a slo-mo bullet.

Ever loyal, Jason refused to let Sonny open himself up to the dangerous tracking of the hit man (or hit woman, in this case) who they had yet to identify. But Sonny would have none of it. "I don't want you around anymore --- get out!" exploded the mob boss. Jason, clearly stunned, responded, "You know it doesn't have to be like this." But it did have to be like that. Both men would stand tall with their convictions, but they'd have to do it alone.

Saying that these scenes were a showcase for the unparalleled talents of powerhouses Maruice Benard (Sonny) and Steve Burton (Jason) would be a terrific understatement. They are on-screen acting partners who you relish watching say anything to each other, let alone unleashing a torment of emotion and fire such as the one we were awed by. Will Sonny and Jason ultimately make up? They'd kind of have to, wouldn't they? After all, having these two apart for too long would be truly criminal.