Crow Lovers, the End is Nigh! And I’m not going to even presume that you didn’t see the penultimate Dec. 2nd episode, because I’d be wrong, right? You were glued to the screen and couldn’t be torn away as the stuff hit the fan. Take that “Walking Dead” mid-season finale! We’ll raise you a Beth and top it with a Gemma…
So rather than recapping what I know you saw, let’s spend our next seven days reflecting on what we’ve learned. Sounds good? Okay…
Well, just like Clay and Tara in seasons past, this time the Reaper came for Gemma. And sadly Unser and Juice as well. Gemma’s death has been one of the most expected take downs in recent series TV, but when the moment came, it still was among the most heart wrenching scenes I can recall in a TV drama. Until the moment of truth when Jax pulled the trigger, I was uncertain the character could do the act. Kurt Sutter really raised the Shakespearean stakes on this one, making Jax both an avenger and victim all in one blow.
The Freudian subtext on this one was also huge, friends ( no pun intended). In many ways, Jax was striking down the very person who made him a monster to begin with. But he also put the bullet in his closest, most ardent supporter. Gemma Teller Morrow was many things: Among them, a lover, a liar, a cheat and killer… But she did everything within her power to aid and promote Jackson and his rise to power. Killing her would have have been worse than killing himself.
So at long last, we say our on-screen good-bye to Katey Sagal’s Gemma, who has been (for my money) the best written, best acted, most interesting character on series television the last seven years (by narrow margin over Jessica Lange’s and Edie Falco’s offerings, and yes, I left “female character” out on purpose).
Two of this episodes pure delights came from the cameos that accompanied Gemma’s departure. Prayers of many (or at least mine) were answered as Michael Chiklis made his “SOA” debut under the wire, ensuring that every major player from “The Shield” has made an an appearance on Sutter’s follow-up ratings hit. Bravo. If FX had only made a big an effort to promote that show as some of their stuff now… Oh well…
Hal Holbrook’s Nate Madock gets in under the curtain as well, having not been seen or heard from since Season Three (maybe his character’s Alzheimer treatments were by the same doctor who was treating Unser’s cancer?). Just as he stole every scene he was in during his first run, his six minute section of this ep. with Sagal was note perfect. Mondo good TV.
Sutter did a bang up job understanding what kind of performance Sagal could delivery in the right environment. (Almost makes you hope that Tim Burton is taking notes for Helena Bonham Carter, who is brilliant in everything but her husband’s movies… However, I digress). She rightfully should be considered for her first Emmy given the high drama stakes that this season dove into. Given the cold shoulder that SOA has been given by every mainstream critical outlet since her Golden Globe win, I won’t hold my breath. (Side rant: a fairly prominent TV critic who will remain nameless recently admitted he had never seen the show before Season 7, which screams how cliquish TV “journalism” can be… However, I digress again.)
Lost in the melee between mother and son was the collateral death of Wayne Unser, which came off a little cold, however logical. Wayne’s undying love for Gemma was his exit point, sadly taking his life before what has to be one of the slowest growing cancers of all time (I believe the character was diagnosed in Season Three). Dayton Calle has pulled one of the smartest, understated performances in recent TV history as a beat down, bent cop who loved the wrong woman with the totality of his being. I wish we had seen a little more of the spine and fire Unser showed this season in years past. It would have added some fleshy nuance to a character that always had a little more potential than was shown.
Now, don’t get the impression that all is good in Sutter-Land, Crow Lowers. I am beside my journalistic self over the death of Theo Rossi’s Juice. Frankly, I think it was poorly handled compared to the thoughtful and dramatic exits of Ron Perlman and Mark Boone Junior. Sutter had Juice go out with a whimper of torment: beaten, gang raped and ultimately shanked by Tully with nary a word.
We knew that Juice is done for. But he didn’t have anything to say about his ultimate fate? Not even a hale and hardy middle finger (rhetorical, of course) to Lin’s men or the ABs? Here was a man with literally nothing left to lose and he goes down like a wilting flower, even giving his killer the instrument of his death? Didn’t work, in my humble viewpoint.
Also in the cross-hairs of trouble is the final fate of Jax. Sutter is setting us up for a “Tale of Two Cities” kind of ending with the coming mayhem vote due to the death of Jerry. Given the bloody swath that Jax has left in his wake this season, it will be a tough sell to have him play out the redeemer role at the end.
Based on the sit down with the other charters Presidents, it appears Sutter is angling that Jax’s dying wish will be to eliminate the rule that excludes blacks from the club. I’m not sure playing MLK will wash all that blood off those icy-white Chucks he’s been wearing, but he starts saying “Tis a far, far better thing I do now…” next week, I’m outta here.
There’s also million plot strings hanging for this final episode of this final season. When will the group get revenge for Charlie’s betrayal? Is Connor really a rat? Will Nero actually be the first hustler since Superfly actually buy a farm instead of “buying the farm’?
Can Chibs and Chief Jarry live dysfunctionally ever after? What about Venus and Tig actually riding off into the sunset? How can Jax’s sons ever find normal after all this? And hey, where did that Jax and Wendy doing the “Ex-Sex” thing come from? And if this is SAMCRO’s last ride, who gets the too-cool-for-words Reaper table? Can one slightly off-center showrunner really tie up all these hanging threads in one show?
Be back in seven days after the airing of “Papa’s Goods” and we’ll discuss. I will be attempting to get on Sutter’s weekly YouTube wrap up, “Intercourse” this week and speak to him. If something juicy hits, I will be Tweeting out at @SabbathSoldier on Friday 12/5. Until next time, Crow Lovers, be like the Crow and Fly Straight.
Comments are closed.