By Sobell
Sorry, guys – this episode fell well short of the high water mark known as the season three finale. Pbbbbbbbt. That's me using my still-attached tongue to give it the raspberry.
There's a white puff of smoke over Oakland as Auggie is declared the Pope: Jax begins the episode getting needy and emotional with Pope, all, "Once I deliver Tig, you have no incentive to ever talk to me again. Please, ease my mind by making the Charming Heights deal completely locked down on paper. Also, I will have Tig on a silver platter at the location of your choosing in a few hours." Faithful second-in-command August draws up the papers and makes everything nice and legal – so hooray, Lyla! You get a McMansion! – and then Jax takes Tig out to a secluded storage facility Pope owns, then pulls a gun on him, strips him of his cut and hands him over to Pope. But! Then Jax pulls out a gun he had Juice hide on his bike earlier, and he kills many people before letting Tig kill Pope. Immediately after, Tig is all, "What the actual FUCK, Jax?" and Jax is all, "I had to be sure you'd sell it. Also, you're totes okay with framing your former BFF for this, right?" Tig just sobs. Then Jax goes and meets with August, spins a story about how Clay just went bonkers in a murder-y way, August knows this is bullshit, but Jax demurs any allegations of masterminding an elaborate murder plot. So now these two are in business together. And probably plotting each other's deaths, all while vigorously denying that they have the mental faculties to do so.
It's a dog-eat-dog world and Tig's wearing Milk-Bone underwear: It's part of show history that Tig really likes dogs – his entire feud with Kozic was over a dog named Missy, remember? – so watching the ridiculous mini-gang Nero runs with get all hot and bothered over dog fighting really upsets him. He rescues a loser dog who was about to be put down. At gunpoint, since he's Tig, but still, one gets the feeling most people who run dog rescue operations would approve. After Tig endures the unpleasantness at the storage facility (see preceding paragraph), he comes back and, well, who doesn't love a story about a boy and his dog? It is the one feel-good moment in this episode.
The king is dead, long live the king: Clay was finally getting his mojo back right – Gemma coming to Ireland with him! – when he gets arrested for the murder of Damon Pope and three of his associates. What makes it sting: Gemma lies about Clay's whereabouts (thereby setting him up) and Juice is the one who passed along the gun Clay gave him, thereby framing him at the crime scene. The double betrayal hurts perhaps worse than knowing he's going into a prison system where he's got a million-dollar bounty on his head and no club protection whatsoever. As for the new king: Jax and Nero have a conversation wherein it's confirmed that Jax has no intention of leaving SAMCRO. Once you put on the uniform, you play the game…
Free Tara! Wendy confronts Tara with what Jax did to her, and that is when it finally sinks in with Tara that she married a monster. "This town kills everything that you love. Go to Oregon now, before something awful happens to you and your sons," Wendy raves, hair flying and eyes wild, looking for all the world like a mad oracle. And … she pretty much is, because thanks to a string of highly improbable, gift-basket-related circumstances, Gemma realizes Tara's leaving town with the boys and what do you know? Tara gets arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. Now who could have ginned up the false testimony that Tara was planning to hand over a murder weapon? Did you say, "The lady who can testify, truthfully, that she warned Tara the prison guards wouldn't let Otto keep the crucifix?" It's not shown, but come on: Gemma has made it clear she'll do anything to have unimpeded access to her grandchildren. And given how Jax welcomes Gemma into his life with open arms, I'm thinking he's probably okay with Mom's help in sidestepping the touchy discussions he and Tara were having about her career path and her choice in children's guardians.
And finally: Rather than say a thing to Lee Toric, Otto elects to bite off his own tongue. By the end of this series, all that will be left of this guy will be his left kneecap and an upraised middle finger. Lee Toric says sarcastically, "Way to commit, Otto." I love him and hope he sticks around in season six now that I no longer have the cerebral ruminations of Pope to thrill to on a weekly basis.
Lisa Schmeiser reports, writes and blogs in Oakland-adjacent Alameda. She delay-tweeted this episode.