by J Malcolm Stewart:
Given last week’s explosive finale, it’s not surprising that tonight’s open finds Chibs and Jax sifting through the wreckage of the clubhouse with a silent and somber air. SAMCRO’s digs are a total loss, with even the Reaper singed and burned.
Jax finds a seat in the ashes, finally uttering the episode’s first line as he tells Chibs that the whole thing is his fault. Chibs finds the President’s gavel in the debris and hands it Jax, cementing the fact that Mr. Teller still has to be the leader to take the club out of the IRA wilderness. Chibs tells him to finish what he started.
Outside, the two find Chief Eli waiting for them, obviously wanting them to share more about the nature of the previous night’s explosion. Jax tries to assure him that, despite the evidence to the contrary, his efforts to get SAMCRO out of the gun business will result in less violence in the long term. Eli then goes on to state a reality that’s been building since Opie’s death: Recently, everything that the club has done has backfired big time. The chief knows that Jax is sincere in trying to end the club’s violent history, but it looks that he and SAMCRO are running out of time.
Down at Charming P.D., Gemma is raising hell about Nero’s incarceration. When the officers on duty don’t let her see Nero, she essentially gets herself arrested and thrown in the same holding cell as her BizLat Old Man. Inside together, Nero despairs over the course of his life since he hooked up with SAMCRO. Gemma again bears her inner self, telling Nero that no matter what happens, she want to be with him and will do anything to keep him in her life.
In the “SOA” style we’ve come to expect, Smits and Segal make this unusually tender moment work between these two battle scarred characters, handling the scene with sensitivity and amazing chemistry. It’s truly a credit to the crew, cast and writers that the show can deliver this kind of moment completely out of context with the series’ overwhelming grittiness.
Speaking of Gemma, SAMCRO has made her place their new meeting hall as the club has gathered to hear about Jax’s next plan of action. Before the crucial table meet however, Jax stops to look in on a nervous Tara and the boys. The atmosphere is amazingly tense between the two as Tara relates that she plans to go in for an ultrasound in the wake of the IRA bombing. Jax goes through the motions, but even he knows that his relationship with Tara is hanging by a thread. He promises to resolve this IRA problem once and for all.
At the table, Jax takes the call from the Irish Kings. A gloating Galen is also on the line, essentially to deliver the terms of SAMCRO’s surrender. The terms are stark. In exchange for peace wit h the Real IRA, the club is out of guns, replaced by Clay and crew of the King’s choosing. The club will provide protection to Clay at their expense. Period. Failure to abide will result in an attack on every charter on the west coast.
With a quick verbal vote from the members around the table, Jax takes the deal. He then surprises the Kings by telling them he will still release the prisoners that SAMCRO took last episode. This throws the Kings for a loop as they long expected them to be dead in retaliation. Jax ends the call with Galen obviously savoring his apparent triumph, but the looks on the Three King’s faces show that they have some doubts about how this breakup with SAMCRO has been handled.
As the meeting breaks, Tig relates that the Pacific Northwest clubs are waiting to meet with Redwood. The club is saddling up to ride when the cops escort Gemma back to her house. Jax brings her up to speed, tells her to talk to Clay and to take the deal. As Gemma begins to grill Tara, Unser shows to sweep her up to the hospital.
At Charming P.D., Patterson has arrived to see how Eli’s processing of Nero is going. Eli expresses doubts to he about the quality of the evidence he has on Nero. She tries to dismiss his fears about Lee’s possible involvement in a frame job,but also lets Eli know that she plans to meet with Tara that afternoon to work her to take a deal.
At the hospital, Tara and Unser pick up the thread of conversation they were having last episode. Unser again offers to help. As Tara is deciding how much to trust Unser, Wendy comes in, flustered about the news of the bombing. Tara jumps in with both feet, finally telling Unser her plan to divorce Jax and get the kids out of town under Wendy’s guardianship. Unser agrees to help, but the strain of mixed loyalties shows on his face.
As the club rides through a Podunk town called Eden, they are stopped and harassed by local cops looking for a shakedown. Under the guise of the club wearing gang colors, the cops announce they plan to impound their bikes. Given the sensitive nature of what’s been happening, Jax tries to play it cool with the cops, who obviously just want some palms greased with the King’s coin.
But as he tries to defuse the problem, Juice begins to bark at the cops, puffing up and challenging them. They cuff him to his bike and shoot out his tires, leading him to headbutt the nearest officer. Happy jumps in and draws down on the other cops, leading to the club blowing out from the arrest sit with Juice stealing a police bike.
The club soon finds themselves being chased by Eden P.D., in a scene right out of Smokey and the Bandit (which gets a name check in the course of the melee). Ratboy, who is in the equipment van and being ignored by the cop, opens the side door and pulls up to Juice. Encouraged to channel his inner Fast and Furious vibe, Juice leaps off the bike, leaving it to crash into the pursuing cops. SAMCRO gets away clean, ending the car-chase movie homage portion of the program.
The club makes it to the meeting point with the Pacific Northwest charters and is greeted by a mild surprise. Bobby and his crew are there, minus one, who got spooked by all the talk of IRA retaliation. Jax is wary, but the other guys greet him warmly.
In lockup, a nervous Gemma meets Clay in the general meet room, far away from the humiliating conjugal cell of last episode. An apologetic Clay again promises vengeance for Gemma’s honor. Gemma cuts him short and pumps him for info on Otto’s killing of Lee with the angle of helping Nero’s case. When Clay asks why he should help Gemma’s boyfriend, Gemma reminds him of the disgusting situation she put herself through to save Clay from a beatdown. Clay then relates the torture that Lee was putting Otto through, plus the threats he made towards himself. Armed with some facts, Gemma leaves to confront Chief Eli.
At the meet site, Jax bears all to the assembled group. With a extended speech as good as any he’s ever delivered, Jax bears witness to the reality that SAMCRO is now out of guns and now must find new ways to earn. The power of his words sways the table with the assembled members pounding the table in approval for this new day of the Reaper.
At Charming P.D., Gemma confronts Patterson and Eli with her info about Lee. Patterson is dismissive, but Eli decides at a closer look needs to be taken at Eli. He opens up Lee’s motel, looking for anything suspicious. While Lee was smart enough to clean up the major damage from killing Diosa Girl, Eli and his Lieutenant find bullet holes in the flooring under the cleaned carpet. Patterson, seeing her case against Nero is fading, turns toward Tara as her next point of attack.
At the meet site, Jax pulls Juice over and tries to reassure him that he doesn’t need to play John Wayne to get accepted by the club. While agreeing to tone it down, we see that Juice new ‘tude isn’t going anywhere soon. Bobby interrupts, giving Jax a handful of transfers. Jax expects they are for everyone to go Nomad (who knew you needed so much paperwork to be an outlaw?). But, shockingly, they are for Bobby’s crew to join Redwood! He’s been recruiting to help the charter and not to go solo. The club joyously welcomes Bobby back into the fold.
At the hospital, Patterson meets with Tara and her lawyer and offers a take-it-or-leave-it deal. Testify against Jax and get Witness Protection. Or face full prosecution as an accessory to Lee’s sister’s murder. Tara flatly turns the deal down, despite the advice of her attorney. Patterson heads to the ladies room, pulls off her wig, lets her braids out and declares it’s time to get ghetto. She busts out and tell Tara she’s moving up the trial on her.
At Diosa, Gemma drops by to check on how everything is running without Nero. Told that he has a visitor in the back, Gemnma finds that Venus Van Damn, (Walter Goggins’ transsexual character who cameoed last season) is a friend of Nero’s. Claiming an attack by some abusive relatives, Venus asks for asylum at Diosa, leaving Gemma with questions about how well she knows Nero.
Back on the road, the club tracks down the chop shop of the Eden cops. Turning the tables on the cops, the crew loots the shop of some cherry Harleys and alsoget an apology for the cop’s bad behavior (after supplying the proper motivation). As the episode ends, the crew seems to be savoring their first victory (a small victory, but a victory nonetheless) in a long time.
So what do you think? Can this winning streak continue for SAMCRO? Can Unser really be trusted to betray Gemma? Is Galen through punishing the club? And most important of all… Is Charming ready for Tranny Shane (or Boyd) to take over? 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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