Okay, Crow lovers, keep calm… I’m with you. After picking up our collective jaws from the floor after one of the most intense season finales in basic cable history, we need a moment to digest what’s just happened.
I’m not going to even countenance the idea that a true “SOA” fan didn’t watch the broadcast of “A Mother’s Work,” so instead recapping what I know everyone saw, let’s talk a minute about what this means for the show going forward. ( If you didn’t see it… Really? Don’t read this until you do. For shame!)
First off, Tara’s meeting with Mr. Mayhem, coupled with the way she met her demise will be long talked and debated. While a logical end to the plot line of this season, to see this primary character and a mother of two go out by a fork in the back of head in a pool of dirty dishwater ranks pretty high on the brutal meter.
Kurt Sutter’s never disappointed when it comes to dropping the hammer on beloved characters. When Ryan Hurt’s Opie died it was a such a shock to many fans that their perspective on the show changed. I personally have a friend who still laments Opie’s death like that of close friend.
Having Tara shake hands with the Reaper will be certain to create as much division, though it will be argued that there was little wiggle room for her leaving the show (one way or the other) after the ground work of this season.
Of equal significance is the departure of Maggie Siff from the TM. Her contributions to the show have been overshadowed by the six season tour de force that is Katey Sagal’s Gemma and her role on “SOA” seemingly had a permanent cloud over her head from Season One.
However, Siff’s ability to play Tara with understated fire and determination always showed through when she was given the spotlight. And her chemistry with Charlie Hunnam and the child actors who have played Abel and Thomas made the family conflicts of the show believable.
You really could believe that Tara was a good person who loved passionately, but not smartly, and that she would do anything to save her kids. Her scene in Hunnam in the park (where she asks him not to hurt her in front of the children) was premium television acting and writing.
And what of her killer? Gemma has put the show on its ear with her actions. We’ve seen this den mother from Hell do a lot of heinous stuff (in fact, in Season Three when she pulled a gun on a baby, I thought Sutter had taken her desperation too far) but this rises to a new level.
Sagal in her comments during the “Anarchy Afterword” said that Gemma snapped upon the sight of Tara and reacted with rage. But even with the cover of booze,weed, a Nero-induced left field break-up and other pressures, it’s going to be hard to reconcile Gemma being a functional part of SAMCRO going forward.
Her meltdown with Unser at the end may be a glimpse of things to come. Maybe Sutter has abandoned Hamlet for Macbeth? (And congrats, oh sneaky Sutter, because, yes, Ophelia did drown in a way… Clever, clever.)
Speaking of Shakespeare, who saw Juice turning into Iago coming? What’s up with that? (especially the killing of Chief Eli) Did he do it out of desperation? Self-Preservation? Did he do it clearly understanding that Jax will be up on premeditated double homicide? Or did he panic? And has the ultimate crime virgin busted his cherry forever by becoming the new Clay?
Which leads us to Jax. Hunnam’s performance was nuanced in a very interesting way tonight. The return of his journal was a nice touch to the proceedings as we’ve almost forgotten about the literate, thoughtful side of Jax as his body count has grown. His scene (and the inner conflict shown) with CCH Pounder echoed the best elements of The Shield and also mirrored her excellent work as the moral center of the show.
Ultimately, Sutter stayed true to the foundation of the character, that Jax, fundamentally, is a good man in a terrible situation, but that his moral compass still exists. His decision to turn himself in for the Stockton school shooting was the moment that the better, inner Jax won the war against the Jax who just wants to survive. You felt the character become the man he’s always striven to be in that moment.
An interesting road not taken (Jax going behind the wall as an atonement for SAMCRO) as Tara’s death blows up any chance Jax has to redeem himself personally… Or at least, that’s how I read the tea leaves.
Jimmy Smits turn as Nero this season can’t be overlooked either. While his resume is full and rich (hell, he was Princess Leia’s dad!), I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Smits better at any time than as the grizzled BizLat OG. He’s been equal parts Michael Corleone and Cliff Huxtable this season. Being both a wise fatherly sage and a war weary street soldier, Smits’ performance has added something unique to the mix this season. Here’s hoping he’s not overlooked by the Emmys… Though that’s a bit a sore point with the whole show isn’t it?
We haven’t even touched the fact that gun based race war is brewing in Oakland and Stockton. Or that Window Smashing Girl is becoming a intriguing subplot, along with her supposedly dead, dumpster-diving mother. Or that the Irish Kings may not like everything that’s happening with the distribution of their guns. Not to mention that Jax looks like he may be be walking The Green Mile.
Too much to think about? Okay, enjoy the rest of the holidays, go boldly into the New Year and we’ll huddle up again around September of 2014. And think, then we will have to say good-bye to the whole bloody affair we call “SOA.” Until that time, be like the crow and fly straight.
Comments are closed.