After the butt kicking end to last week’s ep., we find Jax visiting Tully in lockup having a truly pleasant conversation about dogs. It’s as touching a conversation as you’ll ever find with a jailhouse leader of the Aryan Brotherhood… Until you realize that it’s coded pretext for the drug deal that Jax wants to set up with the Peckerwoods.
Tully still finds a way to make it sentimental after he relays to Jax that no one from law enforcement listens in to his jailhouse sit-downs anyway. The coded talk was done to remind him of his long-missed dogs(awh!). Jax sarcastically wonders if they are German Shepherds.
At the pre school drop off line, we find Gemma making new friends. Namely, Courtney Love, who is portraying one of the teachers at Abel’s new school. She plays it straight as Gemma goes straight Gemma on an impatient mom who had been honking at her to move. Since Kurt Sutter seems determined to make this season of SOA a 90’s version of The Band, a rhetorical fiddle duel must be in the cards for Love’s teacher and America’s Most Dangerous Grandma. Somehow, we will find a way to Live Through This plot development.
At Diosa, we see that Collette has shown up to talk to Nero. She inquires about Jax and Nero responds that he is doing as well as an outlaw biker whose wife was brutally murdered can be under the circumstances. Collette is surprisingly sympathetic concerning Tara’s death, considering Tara socked her in the jaw when she caught her screwing her husband. But hey, Collette’s just a giver in that way (and in others).
In the car, we see Gemma waxing poetic again, with no one but the ghosts to hear her. Even worse, at the Come On In Motel, we see Juice doing the same thing, even going as far as answering the door in the nude when Wendy and Unser come with breakfast. No Bueno…
Back at the warehouse, the Club is going over the plans to drop the stolen heroin to the AB’s when Tyler shows up. Now, of course, there’s never good news to give when Tyler shows. In fact, he relates that Marks is pissed over the group of rogue brothas who trashed Lin’s massage parlors. We know of course, it was the Grim Bastards acting on behalf of SAMCRO. But the Sons keep that juicy factoid to themselves.
To make everything worse, Tyler says that Marks is freaking because he can’t find a certain Oakland pastor who he needs to seal a big land deal. It’s then that Jax understands that Mark’s missing Man of the Cloth is the Freakzoid that he and the club snuffed out during their misguided raid in the season’s opener. Tyler relates that the Pastor’s Wife would be able to sign the docs on this certain deal, but finding her seems impossible. Once again, knowing where the bodies are buried is a happy fact for SAMCRO. Jax tells Tyler they can solve Mark’s problem.
Jax then heads to Diosa to touch base with Gemma on some business. Of course, Collette is there, lurking in the background. And while Jax plays it pretty cool, Gemma’s radar is all over the sexual tension. She even makes a crack about Jax’s “mommy fetish” taste in women, which is as inappropriate as it sounds. Even JT jr. has to say pump the breaks on that one.
At Charming PD, Chief Jarry hears about Pimp Dad’s mysterious beatdown. She decides that despite her cash-filled envelope from last ep., she needs to have a talk with Nero and the club.
Speaking of the club, they’ve been busy digging up the remains of the Oakland Deacon board they fragged earlier. Ratboy takes the opportunity to rag a supervising Tig over his strange homoeroticism of the last few weeks. Tig tells him to keep digging. The prize in this buried treasure? The Pastor’s cell phone, which is full of naughty on-camera antics with a surprisingly familiar face: Walter Goggins’ Venus Van Damme.
At Diosa, Jarry shows breathing fire about the Pimp Dad assault to Nero. Gemma goes into bitchy protect mode by mocking Jarry’s “around-the-way-girl” first name of Althea. Nero says he didn’t have anything to do with a butt-whupping of anyone. Jarry says she needs to see the Sons and especially Chibs, ASAP. After Jarry leaves, Nero barks at Gemma about Jax’s indiscriminate rage and her less than motherly enabling of his bad behavior. She tries to turn the tables on him and presses him about Juice’s fall-out with the club, but Nero keeps his peace.
In parts unknown, the club has caught up to Venus, who relates that she and the Pastor were well acquainted and not for Bible Study. In fact, Venus and he spent some quality time together at a lake front property whose address she is more than willing to reveal to the Sons. Tig is overjoyed to be back in the good graces of his favorite…err…”girl.”
SAMCRO rolls out to the house in question, breaking in to see if there’s any clue to the Pastor’s wife’s whereabouts. As they creep through the house, one of the side doors is shattered by a shotgun blast. A blast whose remnants find the right side of Tig’s guts.
Before the club can even react, a car is fired up and a man speeds away from the scene, only to be cut off into the drink by a van-driving Ratboy. The young man makes his way out into the water, screaming that his mother is still inside. The boys spring into action, saving the life of the Pastor’s wife, only to find that she is shaky from needing a new fix. The young man relates that it was the Pastor who fed his mother’s heroin habit, furiously thankful that our sinister Clergyman is not his biological father. Bobby wistfully recalls the days when the clubs worst problem was dodging the Mayas.
Back inside, as Chibs tends to Tig, the son relates the skinny on Mark’s land deal: buying church property to laundering drug money by developing it (the bake sale is so passe these days). While the mother and son are reluctant to go through with the deal, Jax relays the grim truth that they have no choice but to sell the land to Marks if they want to live. He also relays that SAMCRO will assure their safety in the matter. They agree to make the deal.
At the motel, Unser gets the word that the APB on Juice is going out regardless of Jarry’s foot-dragging. No bang for the buck with her. The final plan to take Juice to Gemma’s dad’s place goes into overdrive. Juice freaks out bad, saying he can’t trust his own thoughts. Unser foolishly calls Gemma, who recruits Collette to distract her club appointed tail by the use of her own tail.
The club roars back into Charming, late for their drug deal with the ABs. Deputy Kane and a newbie see the activity and figure they can earn some brownie points by tailing the Sons. They follow Jax, Chibs and Bobby to a secluded area. Where the ABs promptly ambush them.
Kane is killed instantly. The Newbie bolts from the car only to get shot in back. The trio of SAMCRO looks on horrified as the ABs bolt.
Sadly, it marks the end for LaMonica Garret (Deputy Kane) whose character had made it through six seasons and three chiefs of police… Alas, even given all that, he didn’t quite make it to the finish line. RIP, bro (though your character should have known better than to play hero in Charming after all these years).
Jarry calls Unser to the scene and laments the façade of Charming’s idyllic surrounding. She’s starting to understand it’s not a good place. There is a ray of light as the Newbie has survived the attack due to her bullet proof vest. However, she is clinging to life, unable to relate who attacked Kane and herself.
Back at the Ice Cream store, Jax shows more remorse than he has all season over the needless deaths of two deputies. While Tig is being cared for a by a concerned Venus, the club starts to plan. Happy votes for more back up. As Jax agrees, Jarry show up downstairs. While the healthy guys clear out, Tig and Venus have a moment which is probably a first for basic cable. Which leads again to Sutter making sure he hits every hot button topic possible before the final crow call.
Downstairs, Jarry tries to get the club to spill on the shootings. Jax, honestly shaken by the events of the afternoon, insists to Jarry that SAMCRO had nothing to do with the assault. As he is making his case, the sound of screeching tires are heard outside. The club turns just in time to see a Tong solider break the plate glass window of the Ice Cream Store and throw a grenade inside. The third explosion in Charming in SOA’s seven seasons goes off as the screen goes to commercial.
After the break, the club gathers in the street as the fire department fights the fire. Jarry is incensed with the club, railing at Jax to tell her what is going on. Jax and everyone stays mum. Chibs offers to drive Jarry home. Jax knows they are facing total war with Lin and the Tong. With a touch of magical thinking, Jax rationalizes that someone within the group must have tipped Lin off to the covert war against the Chinese (over looking the fact that Lin has several reasons already to kill off SAMCRO). The traitor talk grows just as Nero pulls up.
Meanwhile at the motel, a nervous Juice is loading his gun while Wendy waits for Gemma to show. On the other side of the game, a cautious Gemma is also loading her clips in preparation to do what may have to be done to Juice.
At Diosa, the girls are readying for a night of hospitality. Several business men of a certain persuasion make their way in the door and ask for some drinks. We see one of them is Lin’s right-hand man. While Collette pours him a drink, he makes a call.
At the smoldering Ice Cream Shop, Nero’s cellphone rings. Answering it, he asks who is calling. The calm voice on the other end apologizes to him for what is about to happen to his business interests and says he knows that Nero is innocent. He says the actions that follow his call are meant for the Sons of Anarchy. And on the other end, we see Lin’s lieutenant hang up the phone. His men are already reaching to their travel bags…
Horrified, Nero yells at the club that Lin’s men are at Diosa. They race into the night, already too late to save the lives of their poor little lambs.
The ending collage spins with Gemma heading to the motel, with Rat taking Tig and Venus to safety, with Jarry and Chibs having a moment of their own. And with Jax, Nero and the club bursting into Diosa, only to to greeted by the sight of every woman in the club having been shot dead.
What an ending, Crow Lovers! The walls are closing in on our favorite MC. But before the bloody ending, there are some more questions to be answered. Will the Newbie survive to snitch out the club? Will Gemma and Juice go out James Woo style? WIll Chibs and Jarry find a moment of happiness? Is it happily never-after for Basic Cable’s oddest lovebirds, Tig and Venus? Has FX’s Standards and Practices already called it a day in terms of slowing Sutter’s roll? Be back next week! Until then, be like the Crow and fly straight…
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