All I can say about tonight’s episode of Sons of Anarchy is, “Wow” with a capital W, with Jax hiding behind it, ready to come out and put a couple of bullets in whatever happens to be in his way. Obviously I have more to say about it; otherwise this would be a pretty short story, unlike S.O.A., which has really started to play its cards properly in reminding people that this is a long story with an endgame in sight. Between last week’s mowdown and this week’s body count is further proof that Jax’s “violence begets violence” attitude seems to be his motivation in acquiring a life that has as little of it as possible. What’s the best way to avoid getting antbites? You kill all the ants.
It Had to Happen
Now, obviously Jax has always been willing to murder those who come between him and his club – or between his mother’s cheeks, as was the case with Henry Rollins’ racist rapist – but now that his sole motivation is pulling the club out of the bloodstained limelight, it’s less about direct revenge and more about eliminating any and all threats thought to be a tiny wrinkle of a threat to their eventual violence-free stake in the escort business with Nero. And while this season’s particularly brutal take on revenge and retribution, not to mention the school shooting and torture porn ring, are probably considered to be pushing the envelope too far for some viewers, but it makes the most amount of sense for the increasingly violent habits of increasingly desperate men would come to volcanic proportions, where all that remains are best friends and the most bitter of enemies, which could potentially make for a more focused and character-driven seventh season.
Of course, they might also just get Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Carol Burnett to guest star as some old family rivals who come to stir shit up. But potentially, Kurt Sutter could be sweeping away all of the cluttered scenery to hone in on the club itself and how it can maintain its stability following the destruction of so many lives, including their own. I can easily picture the last song montage of this series just time-lapsing until they’re all just really old men sitting around a table laughing. And that would make me vomit.
By killing Clay and leaving Connor and his boys the only living domestic Irish, Jax finally popped the balloon that had been suffocating the club for so long. By gunning down the Chinese, he took care of a small foe and dammed up yet another river for the guns to go down, linking August with the I.R.A. essentially to save Tig’s life.
Tara’s Bad Day
This is another reason where I think the long-term goals of this series are finally beginning to pay off. Tara has always been my least favorite character on this show, precisely because she and Jax are a couple that wasn’t meant to be, but they kept on trying. And six years into this tumultuous, two-timing relationship, there are now more cracks than foundation, and it has been clear all season that nothing will be the same again with these two, and now she has gone and done exactly what she has to have known was the wrong move by running away.
I don’t really understand why she played the D.A. beforehand though. Considering how intensely the Internet community would be haranguing the authorities who have been doing nothing about nailing someone for the gun used in the school shooting, you’d think Patterson would be stuck like glue to whoever could save her ass, but she’s just so damned boring and lax on everyone. I also didn’t get why Tara said she didn’t have time to call her lawyer even though she told Patterson she was an hour away, and thought maybe she just wanted to see what they had to offer before getting the bright idea to skip town on everyone. She pulled a gun on Wayne and knocked the dogshit out of Wendy for loudly confessing to Abel that she is his mother. These are the acts of a woman both out of options, but one who had heavily considered the lengths of what she would have to do to pull off her great escape. Jax is unhinged. Tara is unhinged. And now…
Nero is Unhinged
While Juice’s devil-may-cry-and-hang-himself attitude has been wishy-washy at times, tonight’s actions polarized me. After getting the best advice in the world from Stoned Bobby – “Get a massage, drop a few oxy, get some head.” – Juice has some kind of a moral-centered panic attack and overdoses on Oxycontin and awkwardly admits to killing Dave Navarro’s old lady back in the second episode, which Jax overtly lied to Nero about, saying it was a heroin overdose. (I guess Juice is into OD karma.) When Nero hears this, it hits him in the gut, as his already tenuous trust issues with Jax were snapped in half. I’m pretty sure the only thing that stopped him from attempting to bash Jax’s brains in was the news that Tara took the kids away.
The tension was palpable during those shots where Nero’s hands were shown near Jax’s emotion-drenched face, the ring on his finger looking more menacing than any knife of gun anyone could have brandished. Back in that second episode, I predicted Nero being the club’s, and Jax’s, biggest threat, though I never thought Juice would just blurt out a confession in such a misplaced way.
But at this point in the season when Jax is leaving body piles everywhere he goes, I’m suddenly less confident that Nero could be such an enemy. Unless of course he had Alvarez and the Mayans to go along with his ByzLat mini-mafia, which hasn’t been too happy with their whore-mongering leader as of late. I would also be perfectly happy with this ongoing storyline becoming the major push for next season’s storyline, as the Mayans have been butting heads with the Sons since the beginning, and Nero is tied into Jax’s life in enough ways that he could make for a suitable final boss fight for Jax, with Gemma right in the middle of the reverse tug-of-war. They’re going to need a better law-abiding adversary than Patterson, though. Maybe they could get Michael Shannon’s Nelson Van Alden character in Boardwalk Empire to do a crossover season.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next week’s season finale, and can’t see how it can top the enjoyable joyride of blood and black humor that these last few episodes have delivered. But Tara had better watch herself, or she won’t be around to…watch herself. It sounded better in my head.
Two Ways Characters Prove They’ve Lost Their Minds
Wayne grabbed an iron pan off of a stove that was obviously still on. How many years has this man been on Earth that he doesn’t know not to do that by now. Curse in front of children or talk about whores? No, he instinctually doesn’t do that. But he gets nothing from heat wafting off of a stove and a pan handle.
Tig’s reaction to blood splatter on his face was putting a few more bullets into the bodies on the ground and rubbing his face against the van while moaning about blood in his hair. Are the rest of SAMCRO used to seeing things like this that someone didn’t say, “Dude, what are you doing?”
Stuff That Fell Off the Back of the Bike
“I’m all over it, like jizz on his mama.”
“My mama’s dead, man.”
“That won’t stop him.”
Poor West. He’s taking the brunt of Bobby’s junk. And he’s the one that technically was on duty when Tara snuck out, so Jax is probably going to shoot him in the hair.
“I am not starting it. I am joining it.”
I could have done without seeing Juice vomit all over, but it was all worth it to see that priceless look between Gemma and Nero when the escort asked if she should call 911.
Booze on the toilet is pretty classy, Diosa.
“How many dead babies does it take to ruin a carpet?”
Chinchilla hats for everyone!
“Croweaters reeking of cum and Tig’s aftershave.” Yum.
Since she’s just become a boring puppet, I hope Patterson gets her face shoved into a table by Gemma.
“My mom’s maiden name was McDuffy.”
I could take more August in next season, if it indeed becomes Alvarez’s colorful explanation of turf wars.
One would have to think that Abel would either not have properly heard or understood Wendy’s admission, but I bet there is a really unskilled conversation between Abel and Tara in the near future.
Once again behold the hauntingly awesome cover version of the titular “You are my Sunshine” from country musicians Jamey Johnson and Shooter Jennings, along with Marilyn Manson’s Twiggy Ramirez. One of the first releases from the artists’ newly-created label BCR Media, it’s yet another superb choice of music to underscore the dramatic tension happening during the episode.
