Last night’s episode was a mess. It seemed to want to set up the arc for the rest of the season, but I’ve thought that a lot through the first seven episodes, and Opie’s death is barely a factor anymore. As we’ve already seen throughout, story lines are aren’t given much time to develop before a SHOCKING twist or a SURPRISING death concludes them, sending Sutter scurrying off to find a new plot line to mine. Last night’s episode was all about re-igniting one rivalry (Jax vs. Clay) at the expense of a far more compelling one (SAMCRO vs. Damon Pope).
Let’s just get to it, but before we do, another reminder that on the week of the Sons of Anarchy finale (November 20th), UPROXX is giving away a very cool new T-shirt to 100 people. To be eligible to receive the shirt, you need to unlock the ALLY badge. Find out how to unlock that badge here, and check out the bad ass shirt here.
1. If She Was Drunk Or High, I Swear to God … — After the accident last week, in which a stoned Gemma got into a car accident with her grandkids, the Jax’s offspring came out OK. Abel got a boo boo on his head, and had to have a irregular heartbeat straightened out, but the BIG SHOCKING CLIFFHANGER was quickly resolved. Sutter didn’t have the balls to kill the kid, and for now anyway, it’s probably for the best because Sutter needs some slack to play with.
2. The Cover-Up — As we predicted last week, the accident would lead to a cover-up, although in this case, it was Clay who took the initiative on behalf of Gemma, suggesting that Gemma was pushed off the road by the same van that tried to take out Jax last week. Gemma quickly went from goat to hero, compounding her guilt about being the real cause of the accident. But …
3. TWIST — Before the episode ended, Jax and Tara learned the truth, Gemma confessed she was high, and Tara knocked the holy snot out of Gemma. “You’re done! You don’t call, see, or come near my kids again.” At this point, Gemma is dead to the family. Clay is all she has left. But …
4. CURVEBALL — By the end of the episode, Gemma already has a redemption opportunity. Jax decides to use Gemma to take down Clay. “Be with him. Sleep with him. Make him feel like a king,” Jax said. Find out all his secrets, and if she can’t, she will be left to fend for herself among the bangers and whores. If she can, she will be welcomed back into the family, although Jax doesn’t seem to give Tara’s feelings on the matter any weight.
The whole set up felt incredible contrived and convoluted: Kurt Sutter took the scenic route in order to pit Gemma against Clay, when I’m certain there was a more direct route that didn’t necessitate the fake-out cliffhanger in last week’s episode. More on this in a moment.
For now, Juice sums up this plan perfectly:
5. The Dead Black Guy in the Back of the Car — My favorite line of the episode came courtesy on Damon Pope, who was once again relegated to scant screen time. Confronted by Jax about the identity of the guy they shot, Jax says, “He was black. What the hell was I supposed to think?” Pope’s cool rejoinder: “That someone wanted you dead and hired a black guy to do it. Unemployment’s crushing the hood. Brothers need work.” Pope also suggested, as Unser did earlier, that there are better ways to identify a dead guy than cutting off his hands with an axe.
6. The Trail Takes Us To Frankie Diamond — One dead guy led us to another soon-to-be dead guy, as Jax tracked down the survivor, forced him to confess that Frankie Diamond was behind the hit, and then shot him in the gut. My favorite part about Jax’s over-the-top power trip temper tantrums is the look on Bobby and Chib’s faces every time Jax gets out of hand. That bewildered look that says, “Man, what have we gotten ourselves in to?”
7. Frankie Diamond Leads Us Back to Clay — Frankie takes Lyla hostage, steals Nero’s money and his truck, shoots Lyla in the leg, and after forcing Chibs to escape with him at gunpoint, knocks him out cold and leaves just enough blood to leave us wondering if Chibs survived.
But before Frankie makes his escape, he confesses to Bobby, to Tig, to Nero, and to Jax that Clay was behind the home invasions the whole time. No one is surprised by this, and yet …
8. Jax Needs Proof — No action can be taken until Jax has proof. This is why he hatches the plan to play Gemma against Clay. But my question is this: WHY THE F**K DO YOU NEED PROOF? Jax knows that Clay killed Opie’s first wife. He knows that Clay killed his father. He knows that Clay killed Piney. He knows that Clay tried to have Tara killed. He knows that Clay is behind the home invasions, which resulted in Gemma and Unser getting beaten to a pulp. Bobby also knows most of these things. It doesn’t matter what Tig knows because Tig is in Jax’s back pocket. Chibs was there when Frankie indicted Clay. WHAT ELSE DOES JAX NEED?
This is not a cop-and-lawyer show. There are no Fourth Amendment protections. There’s no burden of proof to overcome. Jax has taken out a lot of people for a lot less, and most of SAMCRO already knows that Clay is a murdering, thieving asshole. Who the hell does he have left to convince? Happy? Filthy Phil? JUST KILL HIM FOR F**K’S SAKE. I get it that Jax wants to consolidate power, but the lengths he’s willing to go to demonstrate what a sack of sh*t Clay is has become absurd.
9. Clay’s Sole Ally — Poor Juice. The kid unloads one secret, and Clay burdens him with another. “What we shared here makes us even. Honest. We’re connected.” No, not if Clay is dead. I hope Juice escapes, although killing the guy at this point may finally give him some peace.
10. Eli’s Role — So, Eli thinks Frankie Diamond is behind everything, and is willing to sacrifice poor Juice to take his revenge on Frankie. If Jax turns Frankie over to Eli, Eli turns the informant over to Jax. Eli gets the satisfaction of killing Frankie (which he deserves), leaving Jax with the satisfaction of killing Clay. Except that he won’t. Because Jax insists on putting Clay on trial, and Clay will get the case thrown out on a technicality. “You can’t kill me! You didn’t read me my Miranda rights.”
Oy. This week’s episode frustrated me.
Bonus: 11. Nero Pushed to the Sidelines — Nero is kind of hanging out at this point, giving up a wad of cash to Frankie, trying to convince Jax to get out of the drug business, and dealing with Clay, who is threatening Nero if he gets in the way of he and Gemma’s relationship. Meanwhile, Nero is also in the unenviable position of having to defend Gemma. If I were Nero, I’d walk away.
I’m with Lannister. Burn them all, but spare Juice.
