“I’m Henry Lin, I am, I am. Henry Lin, I am. I had nothing to do with making Jax a widower next door, but he thinks I did, so I killed his whores.”
Last week’s massacre at Diosa, beyond taking down a slew of escorts, put Henry Lin and his Chinese gang in everyone’s crosshairs, and the lie that he was responsible for Tara’s murder has now entered everyone’s ears, even Lin’s own. His arrogance, which is no more ridiculous than Jax’s, has earned him a short lifespan, but he’ll probably cause a lot more damage before he’s put into the ground. And I cannot wait for that slimy bastard to meet Mr. Mayhem, which should have happened tonight. If it weren’t for those meddling cops.
Where does this tangled web begin? We’re led to believe that the ties that bind Nero and Jax are frayed, as Nero’s patience with corpses wears thin, and Lin tells Nero that Jax has been responsible for all the thefts and bloodshed against the Chinese. Lin forces Nero to set up a meet with Jax, shamefully using Nero’s son as leverage, and that’s when Jax tells Nero the “truth” about Tara. Meanwhile, Gemma shares the fib with Unser, who then goes on to tell Sheriff Jarry that Lin was responsible for both Tara’s death and the Diosa murders, giving the cops someone to go after. (At least one Sons of Anarchy episode per seasons involves this kind of information dump between characters, though they’ve gotten better at it over the years.)
But because the FBI and other organizations are also interested in taking down Lin’s gang, Jax doesn’t quite get the revenge that he wanted. It all seemed kind of ridiculous, really. Lin’s gang is being held up by semi-crooked cops who are allowing Jax the chance to take Lin down, and even though Jax says he wishes this would have been a slower ordeal (probably like his carving fork murder in the premiere), he chooses to just have a fair fight street brawl with Lin. And Jax is only willing to use a gun once he knows that other legit cops are on the way, which is too dangerous. Why didn’t he just shoot him to begin with? Now, Lin is still alive with the knowledge that Jax has turned everyone against him based on a total lie. He also has the info, though he can’t prove it’s genuine, that Jax and One-Niner leader Tyler have a side deal outside of August Marks’ line of sight. I kind of hate how this was played, although it was enjoyable to see Jax get his ass handled for a little while.
So the question is now, as it has been for all five of these episodes, “When is everyone going to find out that Gemma killed Tara?” Thanks to the end of “Some Strange Eruption,” we know that reveal might be coming sooner rather than later. A fairly complicated effort has been made by Gemma and Unser to get Juice out of the city, but he moronically kills a motel employee (which Unser has to take care of), thus proving his time on Earth isn’t worth extending for all involved. But because Gemma’s plans to execute him were about as concrete as Jax’s plans to save SAMCRO, Juice gets the upper hand and figures her motivations out. We’re left watching him hold her at gunpoint, unable to figure out whether her betrayal is worth murdering putting a bullet in her head.
Now that the only other person involved with Tara’s murder has proven herself to be untrustworthy, Juice has nothing stopping him from letting Jax and the world know that Gemma did the stabbing herself. It would take some major convincing, of course, but he has to be the catalyst for the most intense Teller conversation in Sons of Anarchy history. But how will it all go down?
In other news, Jarry is falling in even deeper with the club – though Chibs is falling pretty deep into her, if you know what I mean – but at least Kurt Sutter and the writers are giving it some kind of an explanation. She’s dealt with all kinds of bad dudes her whole career and knows that the only way to keep the peace is to bend the rules. She takes the money from SAMCRO because it creates trust, not because it…no, wait, she actually does like the money. The fact that Jax’s schemes are now steeped in reliance on Jarry’s enjoyable crookedness just proves even more that his original strategy was just a shoddy go-for-broke shot at sovereignty.
With most of the Chinese going away in some shape or form, now the story can move on to Alvarez and August, with Jax figuring out a way to implode both of those factions. (I bet Jax was the kind of kid who played Risk for five minutes before angrily stabbing another player with the corner of the game board.) Who will be left standing by the end of Episode 6, and will they need help standing because they’ve been shot in the legs? Find out next week.
Stuff That Fell Off the Back of the Bike
In the beginning of the episode, Bobby tells Jax that it’s almost light and that they need to call the cops over the Diosa massacre. One would assume that means it’s like 5 a.m. or something, and yet every single character is wide-ass awake and already doing things. What’s that about?
Sure it was a sad moment, but wasn’t there something hilarious about Lyla trying to get existential about the Diosa tragedy? “Why does this keep happening?” (R.I.P. Opie.)
I guess I would have thought sheriffs had to go through random drug tests, but Jarry is perfectly content with toking it up when she isn’t in uniform. She and Unser should have a wild stoner adventure at some point.
“And that’s why all of our girls are getting stuffed into goddamned bags right now!” I would like to Kickstart a project that has Jimmy Smits performing all of Al Pacino’s wackiest bits.
Sure, Juice is a dumdum dipshit for killing that motel employee, but Gemma had to have known he was going to be paranoid, considering she gave him medical marijuana to blast off with. Seriously, though, that motel dude could have given a soothing explanation rather than just yelling and trying to run away.
Juice has no trouble racially profiling a guy and shooting him in the back, but when he’s face to face with someone who actually did mean to kill him, he falters. That’s why you’re shit, Juice, and SAMCRO will never take you back.
“I’m gonna shove this flute right up his ass!” Something tells me Tig would try to play it after taking it out.
How in the hell is SAMCRO going to find out that Jury is the one who tipped Lin off to where the guns were? Will we get to see him punch Jax in the face, too?
Lin doesn’t know how to dispose of a plate properly.
20% of Juice and Gemma’s actions this season have involved them secretly putting guns into bags.
I’ve made a lot of jokes over the years about people having to force Jax to talk to his children, but it’s becoming oh so clear each week why he stays away. Abel. Is. The. Worst. I admire him for trying to protect his little brother with a hammer (even if it involved just hollering and hitting the wall), but he is an awful human being.
Nero’s kid, however, is a total pimp, playing board games with big-breasted ladies.
Did Jarry get some kind of a memo that SAMCRO loves to say the word “whole?” As in asking “Is everybody whole?” after an explosion or whatever. She tells Jax, “But if I don’t get some cooperation, this all cracks wide open and none of us walk away whole.” She’s speaking their language. I still hope she’s doublecrossing everyone.
