by J Malcolm Stewart:
Our episode starts off innocently enough with Chief Unser grabbing a morning toke from his stash of medical marijuana. His buzz is quickly harshed by a knock on his camper door. As he opens it, Unser is rushed by four masked men with White Supes tattoos. Clay’s prison “betrayal” of the clique has come home to roost. As they wrestle him to the ground, one of the attackers pulls out a massive hunting knife.
At the same time, Jax is getting his morning coffee and hears a knock on the door. Peeping out the peep hole, Jax recoils like he’s seen a ghost. And in some ways, he has.
Opening the door, he finds a wide eyed Tig, sputtering about how he survived a meeting with Damien Pope’s former crew down at the Persians’ warehouse. On the fly, Jax musters up a sympathetic ear for Tig’s survival story. Tig relays that Pope’s former lieutenant wants a meet up at the oil wells.
Though Jax hides his astonishment at Tig’s survival, we get the sense that even Tig is wondering how he happened to be cornered by Pope’s men when only Jax knew where he was. He asks Jax if everything is good between them. Jax counters with another bald faced lie and a hug. In his meet with Pope’s men, he’s told if they can get the Irish gun business, they will forgive Tig’s killing of Pope’s daughter.
At Diosa, Nero is told of Diosa Girl’s murder by Chief Eli. Eli is working on general suspicion about the BizLat leader, heightened by the fact that he sees a still black-and-blue Lyla (from her encounter with the Persians) hanging around the lounge. He promptly produces a search warrant and asked Nero to come down to PD for questioning. When they come outside, Eli sees Lee hanging around with a smile. When the Chief remarks sarcastically that the brothel isn’t open yet, Lee just smiles and says “he likes to watch.”
Gemma roles into the garage and sees that Unser’s door is open with no Unser. Coming into her office, she hears a weak voice calling her name. Gemma comes into the garage and finds the interior trashed. Unser has been strung up by his arms and has had deep slashes inflicted on his chest. Horrified, Gemma calls for the cavalry.
Jax’s arrival at the garage is welcomed by a red alert. The club is on edge as Tara tends to Unser’s wounds. To make matters worse, the President and VP of So-Cal chapter also arrive with their answer to Jax’s escape hatch deal with the Real IRA about the gun shipments. No dice per So-Cal’s table vote. An already steaming Jax calls for a table session, but asks So-Cal’s Prez to let him deliver the bad news.
Back in the garage, a bandaged up Unser begins to remonstrate to Tara and Gemma about how dangerous the White Supes attack could have been if the kids had been there. Gemma tries to dismiss his concerns and when he persists, she yell at him to not tell her how to raise “her kids.” While Gemma quickly corrects herself, the comment does not go unnoticed by Tara, who somehow manages to hold her tongue. She tells Unser to come by hospital for further examination that afternoon.
Before the issue can be pressed further, Gemma is interrupted by a phone call from Wendy. Wendy suddenly reports to Gemma that Tara is still planning to give her guardianship of the kids behind Jax’s back. Gemma views the departing Tara with suspicion, thanking the newly super-helpful Wendy profusely.
At the table, Jax lines out to the club about Clay’s actions inside and decide that SAMCRO needs to smack up the local White Supes who carried out the attack. He decides to lean on their former adversary, Darby, for info, but before they do, Jax leaves the So-Cal President out to dry by acting like he doesn’t know that they rejected the gun deal. Sensing something hinky, Chibs calls out Jax after the meeting saying that he’s becoming more and more like Clay in his secrecy. Jax snarls that he will never be like Clay.
In Stockton, Lee meets up with Prosecutor Patterson full of glee that Nero is likely going down for the Diosa Girl murder (not that he tells her it’s due to his planted evidence, of course). However, she reminds him she still needs Clay to sign on the dotted line of the plea deal. If Lee doesn’t obtain that signature, Patterson tells him he’s off the case. This focuses Lee to do some more potential mayhem.
At Charming P.D, Eli is grilling Nero about the murder. Nero assures him that he’s innocent and that the ugly OG Nero is safely buried. While Eli knocks him for still being the sex trade, we can see his gut is telling him Nero isn’t the murder. Gemma shows at the station after being tipped by Lyla and reads Eli the riot act. Despite his less than wonderful opinion of SAMCRO, Chief Eli decides to take a hard look at Lee’s personnel records.
Jax and the rest of the crew pay a visit to Darby (is it me, or is it still strange to think of “X-Files” Mitch Piligei as a skinhead? Oh well, he was Shocker once too) who gives them an excuse about having left the White Supe cause. Jax, not fully buying it, pumps him for more info. Darby eventually confesses that he knows of some minor level skinhead-wanna be’s on a ranch outside of the city limits. Jax tasks Juice, Tig and Ratboy to follow Darby to to check out the ranch, having Tig and Ratboy play a father/son combo who wants to join the cause. Despite the fact that this plan already sounds like a recipe for disaster, Jax and Chibs lace up and head out to a meeting with the Irish.
True to form, the volatile group gets sniffed out by the Skinheads with Tig and Ratboy having to improvise a guns-drawn escape from the ranch. However, the cooperation of Darby against the Brotherhood is exposed.
At the Irish meet, Jax’s brittle relationship with Galen quickly goes south. When Jax relays So-Cal’s bad news, Galen insists he take the guns on hand regardless of the circumstances. When he refuses, a halfhearted fist fight breaks out with Jax mocking the Real IRA excuses for running guns. The two sides depart without further incident, but you know this is gonna be bad when you see the smirk on Galen’s face.
Behind bars, Lee comes to the hole to try to put the screws to Clay. Still unmoved by Lee’s threats, Clay plays it cool, still not agreeing to sign. Lee says that Clay needs to go to the infirmary to see an example of what his future looks like.
SAMCRO regroups at Darby’s in the aftermath of both their disastrous missions. While trying to determine the next course of action, Jax gets a call from Phil saying the Irish are at the farm house trying to make a delivery. Cursing the fates, Jax tells Phil to hang tight and make the Irish wait until he gets there.
Phil hangs up and takes Prospect Eli out with him to talk to the Irish. When they come face to face with Galen, he and his men drawn down and shoot them both in the head. As the Real IRA drag the bodies back into the farmhouse, we see, for Galen, the fun is just beginning.
When Jax and the others reach the farmhouse, they find that Phil and Prospect Eli have been dismembered, their hands left on top of their colors. The rest of them has been stuffed into empty shipping crates which sit along with a single crate of Tech 9’s. Sadness and frustration ensues (though frankly, Phil seemed too nice a dude for the outlaw life).
Despite finding the planted fibers in Nero’s truck, Chief Eli follows his gut and lets Nero go with Gemma. On the way to the garage, Nero laments how quickly his partnership with SAMCRO has gone south. The outlaw life isn’t for him anymore, that he’s sure of. He tells Gemma that he has to put some distance between the Club and himself.
When she asks him if that means he needs distance from her, Nero hits her with the statement that’s been floating unsaid between them all season: He’s in love and want her to consider leaving away with him. Gemma, in a slight upset, seconds that emotion.
Back at the farmhouse, Jax decides that the Club needs an easy win. Taking the hot guns the Irish delivered, he calls the remaining group to visit death on the Skinheads (as Galen and his bunch are untouchable without an OK from the Irish Kings). When Chibs again questions his judgment, Jax waves him off. Several skinheads are filled with many holes.
In the infirmary, Clay sees that Lee has strapped down what’s left of Otto to show him what happens to those who don’t get with the program. Clay seems overcome with emotion, asking if he can embrace Otto. Lee allows it. Unknown to him, Clay passes Otto the shank he was presented with last episode.
Sated with a kill, Jax leads the crew back to the garage. When Nero asks if everything is cool, Jax lies again to his face, but this time Gemma catches it. Despite the fact he comes clean with her after Nero leaves, Gemma is concerned that her former golden boy is developing some bad habits.
In the hoosegow, Lee tries one more time in vain to turn Clay, even threatening him with putting him on the morning train that Otto has been getting. Clay holds firm. Lee decides that maybe Otto will be a softer target.
Chief Unser finally shows for his afternoon follow up with Tara. When he gets to her office, he’s greeted back Tara and Wendy together! Tara quickly ushers him out before he can discover that they’ve been working together against Gemma the whole time. To make matter worse, Gemma shows up right behind him as she was his ride from the garage. Unser distracts Gemma from open the office door and finding Wendy. That bullet dodged, Tara thanks Unser for having her back. He replies that he needs some questions answered.
In the infirmary, Lee puts the full court press on Otto, saying that he can at least end his suffering if he cooperates. Otto (having readied the shank) indicates he’ll provide a written statement (or indicates as well as a man with no tongue can). But he’ll need to be unbound to write something. Lee unstraps him and Otto writes. Lee turns his back to Otto, exalting in his victory.
Otto, surprisingly, finishes his statement and hands it back to Lee, having written down an obscene statement about Lee’s murdered sister. When Lee attacks, Otto shanks him up big time. When the guard outside hear the attack and burst in, Otto slices a shocked Lee’s neck and then goes out in a hail of bullets.
After the end of a horrible day, Jax and the crew dig a pit and put remains of their two lost members in and set it aflame. The gravity of the moment is broken by Jax’s sudden departure from the graveside with even so much as a look back.
At the virtual halfway point of the season, what do you think? Will you miss Otto (and the surprisingly nuanced performance of Kurt Sutter? Has a non-acting showrunner ever been better in a TV role)? How will Wendy and Tara working together end up? For good or ill? Has Jax taken the final turn off to Permanent Doucheville? Let us know below.
J. Malcolm Stewart is a Northern California-based public relations/marketing professional. He holds degrees in Political Science and Comparative Religion, but can have a conversation someone without starting a small war. Long interested in suspense, thrillers and horror, he writes and reviews on the subject for websites far and wide. When he’s not writing, reviewing or reading, you can find J. Malcolm riding around Northern CA with something radioactive in his trunk.
Follow J. Malcolm on Twitter: @sabbathsoldier, and learn more about him at http://about.me/jaymal.
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