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There's a lot more ominous buildup this week, on both continents, as it all spirals toward what promises to be a bloody, heartbreaking end for someone (or someones). First up, in Ireland, Jax fills SAMCRO in on his conversation with Father Kellan Ashby but tells them all he doesn't want to kill Jimmy, because he suspects all is not as simple as the Father made it sound. Gemma wants to kill, kill, kill, but Jax's real reasons probably have more to do with the phone calls he keeps making to Agent Stahl (whose girlfriend may be onto her and onto Jax's whereabouts, by the way), who tells him she's not interested in any deals if Jimmy dies. SAMCRO doesn't tell SAMBEL their plan, which is to capture Jimmy and take him to the Father instead of killing him (though Jax's plan may be different even still). Which is a good thing, since Liam and McGee are in deep with Jimmy. While the SAMs ride around the Irish countryside and through boring police roadblocks, Jimmy pays a little visit to the ladies back at Maureen's: Gemma, Maureen, Fiona and Kerianne. Jimmy kills one Irishman who's there with the ladies, then trains his gun on Gemma to get Fiona and Kerianne to go with him. Then Trinity busts in and shoots Jimmy's guy, giving the ladies in the kitchen a chance to turn the tables. Gemma comes very close to killing Jimmy, until Fiona pulls a gun on her (to protect her from the fury that would reign down if she did kill him). Then she pulls her gun on Jimmy and tells him to leave her and Kerianne the eff alone. SAMCRO seems to mostly decide Jimmy needs to die. And Father Kellan Ashby continues to mastermind it, while floating above it all, untouched, being offered promotions from the Vatican. Jax comforts himself in the arms of his half-sister as Gemma tries not to vomit (but still doesn't tell him).
Back in Charming, Unser and SAMCRO are trying to figure out (separately) who hurt Lumpy. SAMCRO's smart enough to question Darby, who tells them it was Jacob, which is information they take straight to Unser. He pretends not to buy it, but then deviously questions Jacob without questioning him -- and it looks like Unser has more than a clue what Jacob's up to. SAMCRO also figures that the Mayans had nothing to do with it, and it had to be Salazar. They don't get to him soon enough, though, before he's threatening Jacob with blackmail to find out who Jax's lady is and then tracking her down (while she's with her boss -- who's all tatted up) on the way to the abortion clinic. As the episode ends, Salazar and his girl kidnap Tara and Margaret at gunpoint.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: A lot of stuff happened, and then SAMCRO went to Ireland to get Abel back. No luck so far, but at least Jax is developing a crush on his half-sister -- and vice versa. So that's something. And they're still in Ireland (though stuff's still going on back in Charming, too, since some of the non-SAMCRO actors have contracts, too). This week's Irish episode title, Turas, seems to mean "trip." (Thank you, Irishionary and the former airline Aer Turas.)
Jax is still in a pew at St. Matt's, the church where Father Kellan Ashby bribed him last week that he would get his son back if and when he kills Jimmy. Needless to say, Jax is a little stressed. Enough that he moves to the front of the church -- the better for us to worship him, I guess -- and calls Agent Stahl to ask what she knows about Father Kellan Ashby. She whispers so her eavesdropping girlfriend doesn't get wind of her being in bed with Jax. Or in bed while on the phone with Jax. Whatever. She guesses Gemma's in Belfast if that's where he is, and he says he had no idea that shit was going down, and says they'll take care of Gemma's situation later, but right now he needs to know about Father Kellan Ashby. She says he's a friend of the Army, but Jax says he's more than a friend; he's a shot-caller. And he wants him to kill Jimmy to get Abel back. Stahl says that if Jimmy O dies, their deal is off. He knows, duh. Snoopy Girlfriend lurks into Stahl's doorway, so she pretends it's a totally casual conversation, all breezy: "I'll take care of it tomorrow." Then she runs off to shower her Jax off of her, and leaves her phone sitting there on the counter. Snoopy Girlfriend OBVIOUSLY picks it up and looks through it. Not that that's going to lead to anything important this episode, but I'm patient.
We Were Promised Jetpacks's (whoever chose the music for this episode doesn't know the difference between Scotland and Ireland, I guess) "An Almighty Thud" transitions us back to the exterior of St. Matt's. Then to Maureen looking at pictures: of her brother, Father Kellan Ashby, with John; John and her; and John, her, and baby Trinity. Jax heads into a different part of Maureen's place that morning for a makeshift SAMCRO meeting. Gemma's in her robe, because they were all clearly woken up for this meeting. But the SAMCRO guys look the same as always, since they sleep in their black leather and never comb their hair. Jax fills them all in on the situation with the great Father Kellan Ashby-Jimmy-Abel triangle: Jimmy wants Abel as leverage against Father Kellan Ashby getting Jax to kill him. Father Kellan Ashby wants Abel to get Jax to kill Jimmy. Jax wants Abel because he's his son. I think Jax actually has the moral high ground on this one. Gemma doesn't hesitate: "Then we kill Jimmy." Jax says it's not that simple, but doesn't reveal that it's all about Stahl. He just says he doesn't trust the priest, because they're all "smoky truth." The only thing they know for sure is that Father Kellan Ashby wants Jimmy, so Clay suggests finding Jimmy and handing him over. Jax agrees. And he doesn't want SAMBEL told about any of this: They need to believe SAMCRO wants Jimmy just to grill him about Abel. They guys all know where Jimmy's going to be later: a gun shipment pickup in Dungloe. Jax apologizes for walking these guys into that. They shake it off, and head back to bed for a few hours before all this major shit goes down.
Gemma stays up, though, to tell Jax how wrong this feels to her. She can't believe these people would use a baby like a goddamn poker chip. But Jax has a platitude for his mother: They're not innocent in this, because they deal guns with the Irish. Take your valuable lessons where you can get 'em on this show, because they're few and far between. Gemma agrees with me: Maybe that "profound awareness" helps relieve his guilt, but he needs to stop soul-searching and focus on the hate he needs to kill these Irish pricks. I do love that Mama Gemma is tougher than any of the Sons -- even if it also makes me hate her sometimes. Irish opening credits.
Charming. Lumpy's in a hospital bed with one of those cartoonish head wraps. Unser wants to know who did this, but Lumpy's not saying much. Unser says he's got to give him something, since SAMCRO's clearly not capable of protecting him anymore. A Prospect is eavesdropping from outside the hospital room as Lumpy tells Unser that the guy who did this to him was Mexican, and told him not to mess with the Mayans. Unser sighs and shakes his head. The Prospect lets Tig, Piney, and Kozik in to see Lumpy. Unser tells them they've "helped" Lumpy enough, and should let him rest. As soon as he's gone, Prospect lets them know that Lumpy said it was the Mayans. Kozik's surprised it wasn't Darby again, and Tig wonders why Alvarez would "shit on the deal." Piney doesn't question it: It's in his nature. Lumpy says there's too much damage now, and he'll have to sell.
When the guys leave Lumpy, they bump into Tara and Kozik tells her the guys made it to Belfast okay. Tig bickers with him about being loud enough for everyone to hear, and Kozik calls him a shithead. Piney tries to play peacemaker. It's all quite laughable and FILLER. Tara just thanks them for the info, and leaves them. Piney puts his arm around Kozik on the way out, and Kozik asks if he realizes one of them (he or Tig) will end up dead. Piney's counting on it.
Ireland. Two SAMs conference: CRO lets BEL know they'd like in on the Dungloe drop. They swear they just want to question him about Abel, because Father Kellan Ashby didn't shed much light on that situation. Liam thinks it would be good for these California lads to see what they go through in Belfast to put bread on their tables, so they're in.
Charming. The guys run into Darby in the hospital, and drag him into the chapel to grill him on what he's doing here. Darby says whatever they think he did, he didn't do, so Tig fills him in that Lumpy was roughed up later the same day that Darby paid him a visit. Darby says he did visit, but he didn't go back and do the job. Tig wants to know who put Darby up to visiting Lumpy in the first place. Darby says they wouldn't believe him if he told them, and there's no way to prove it.
Quick cut to Piney and Tig filling Unser in on Jacob Hale wanting Darby to rough up Lumpy because he wants to buy his gym. Unser asks what exactly they'd like him to do, and Tig says, "Uh, I don't know. Cop shit. Arrest him." Unser's a little skeptical, given that Jacob's family's been trying to shut down SAMCRO for two decades. He thinks it's a little convenient. Tig says it's not about their beef with the Hales, but Unser says it's still the word of two felons against the guy who'll be Charming's mayor. Piney says they're telling him it wasn't the Mayans. Unser says he has witnesses who say a motorcycle flee the scene: a Harley, with ape hangers. Tig and Piney look at each other knowingly, as Unser asks if that's what Hale's riding these days. Unser gets a call, and excuses them so he can do some "cop shit." Outside the station, the guys quickly figure out it was Salazar and the Mexicans putting it on the Mayans. I'm glad they didn't stretch out that non-story.
Ireland. McGee gives Jimmy a call and tells him it's done; SAMCRO's coming, and they think it was their idea. Jimmy says they'll get it done right this time, and get Clay and his boys detained this time. McGee tries to warn Jimmy that these SA
MCRO guys are smart, but Jimmy assures him they won't suspect a thing. Jimmy tells his minion to arrange things at the barn, and the minion asks ominously if Jimmy's sure he wants to do this. Jimmy says he is. And we know it's bad because he never breaks his gaze at his minion.
Jaunty Irish music plays as the two SAMs ready to leave the way any motorcycle gang does: standing to their bikes and hugging their womenfolk. Father Kellan Ashby shows up with Fiona and Kerrianne (whose name I've been spelling incorrectly; apparently, it was two r's), so Chibs gets hugs from all three of them. Father Kellan Ashby's really here to see Jax though, and wish him a safe run. Then he has a bit of a "Who's a bigger badass?" stare-down with Gemma. I think she wins, because he walks away. They all ride away as the music picks up and becomes We Grow Stronger by Chicago punk band Flatfoot 56. But, hey, at least they're a Celtic Chicago punk band. As they ride and Flatfoot 56 plays, some cops ready for them up the road. Clay wonders if they're kidding him with this shit (they really aren't). McGee tells them it's legit to have a patrol this close to the border, but that money will get them through. So, uh, not quite legit then, is it? Liam gives the cops some money and tells SAMCRO to show their IDs and they'll pass through fine. SAMCRO wonders if they should brave it, but sure enough, they pass through just fine to the surprise of McGee and Liam. But they play dumb well enough, since they've been working at it their whole lives, so Clay thanks McGee for the help, and they all ride on.
Maureen's. Kerrianne wants to go down to the shop and hang with Trinity, but Fiona won't let her. There's a little bit of mother-daughter bickering until Maureen takes Kerrianne to Trinity's room to find something fun to do. This gives Gemma and Fiona a chance to talk. Fiona tells Gemma she was right: that going to Chibs in Charming set this whole thing in motion. Gemma says that sometimes the heart beats the head. Then she asks Fiona what she knows about Father Kellan Ashby. Before Fiona can get out a word, one of the priest's men is led in with a gun to his head by Jimmy's minion, with Jimmy following close behind. Fiona asks what Jimmy's doing, and he says he's setting things right. Then he shoots the priest's man in the head. Trinity hears Kerrianne's scream from the shop, and locks up to head up there herself with a gun from the shop.
Commercials. I know I should want to see this new FX drama, Lights Out, but why does the commercial look so cheesy? I mean, even the name is cheesy.
Maureen yells to Jimmy about how he's really screwed now, since Father Kellan practically raised "those brothers" (the guy who was shot is apparently Michael of brothers Sean and Michael Casey), who are like sons to him. Jimmy has no regrets: "Now Kellan can bury one of them, can't he?" He tells Fiona they're going, but she says she's not going with him. He trains his gun on Gemma and asks how many he has to kill to show her how much he loves her. "I'm taking my family home." Kerrianne urges her mom to go, and she relents. Kerrianne left her iPod in the bedroom, though, so Jimmy sends his minion to fetch it. Unfortunately for minion, Trinity's coming in that way just then, and shoots at him. The commotion is enough to distract Jimmy long enough for Maureen to jab him in the leg with a knife. He drops his gun and Gemma picks it up. She points it at his head, so when minion comes back in, she has leverage to make him drop his gun, which he's pointing at Maureen. He drops it and Maureen runs back to make sure Trinity's okay.
Gemma forces minion to the floor with his hands above his head, then makes Jimmy sit. Gemma tells Maureen to get Trinity and Kerrianne out of here, and Fiona asks what Gemma's going to do. She says that her family has some shit to work out with Jimmy, but Fiona says it's a mistake. Maureen does take the girls away, then Fiona pulls a gun on Gemma. She tells her to put her gun down, and Gemma asks what she's doing. Fiona says she's protecting her, and she won't kill him before Fiona kills her. When Gemma puts her gun down, Jimmy laughs: "You're crazy bitches, the lot." Fiona tells him to shut it and points her gun at him. She tells him if he comes after her and Kerrianne again, she will fill his head with bullets. Then she sends Jimmy and his minion away. He leaves them with a "Gemma, always a pleasure" and a "See you real soon, love," directed at Fiona. As soon as they're gone, Fiona puts down the guns, and Gemma socks her in the face. Fiona fights back, though, and Gemma cries, "Why the hell did you stop me?" Fiona says that if she'd killed Jimmy, his crew would have wiped out her whole family. "Total bloody genocide." Gemma looks legitimately frightened.
As she should, because SAMCRO's being led into the barn guarded by Jimmy's boys (who are all around fifteen). They all head into the barn, though McGee and Liam hang back, wondering why the cops didn't pick up SAMCRO back there. McGee tells Liam to call Jimmy and find out what's taking so long. Everyone else heads into the barn and checks out the guns, which are hidden in bales of hay. SAMCRO thinks it's a brilliant way to move arms. They have to move the hay to another barn, where the Army takes it over. Jax asks where Jimmy is, and McGee says he must be on his way, because he never misses a transport.
Charming hospital. Tara's working when her boss, Margaret, asks what she's doing here, since "her friend" had that procedure. Tara tells her that really was a friend, not her, and Margaret apologizes for making assumptions. Tara says she wasn't wrong in all of her assumptions, since Tara is pregnant, and she made an appointment for tomorrow. Margaret offers to drive her, since it's not far out of her way anyway. Tara thanks her, and then cries when she's left alone. The Charming stuff is mostly a distraction from what's really going on in this season, but I have to admit the juxtaposition between how hard Jax and all of SAMCRO are fighting for one of his babies, while Tara might be about to abort his potential one is pretty powerful. Plus, you know she wanted to be able to have a baby with Jax, and then everything went down right now, when she finally could.
Back at the barn, everyone's getting ready to head out, but Jax says he's not going anywhere until Jimmy shows. McGee says he's sorry, but the Army sets the pace and they have to go. Liam goes outside, and Happy and Juice follow, wondering where the hell he's going. He says he's "got to murder a shite," which is Irish for "have a bowel movement." He wonders if they want to watch, and Happy has to consult with Juice to know how to answer. In the barn, McGee's phone rings. He gets off the phone and says it was Maureen, and that Jimmy's in Belfast, where he went looking for Fiona. He assures them everyone's okay, but just then the fifteen-year-olds guarding the place close the barn doors and lock everyone in. The kids drive away, with Happy and Juice chasing on foot for a moment. Then they turn back to the door, and try to shoot the lock, as the SAMs bang on it from inside. A couple young SAMBEL guys jump into the hay truck to ram the door down. Chibs's nephew is on the back and some other young pup drives. Liam hears the commotion from the bushes, and when Happy realizes what's up, he pushes Juice out of the way of the door. The truck breaks through, and then Liam hits a button on something from his perch in the bushes and the truck explodes. Lots of SAMS are thrown every which way, including Jax. Opie stumbles around. Clay walks out of the barn and finds Jax. When he calls him "Son," Jax briefly pictures his real father, John. Clay helps him
up. They survey the damage and realize they're at least a couple men down, including Chibs's nephew, whose name was apparently Paddy based on Chibs's cries. Jax looks into the flames and hangs his head, guilt-ridden.
After a commercial, he's thrown off his guilt enough to ask Liam where the hell he was; he lies he was taking that "shite" he talked about, and that his boys were watching. They're too dumb to protest that, no, they were actually not. They all assume this was Jimmy, though McGee says it had to be the Ulsters. He's like the boy who cried wolf, this guy. And, anyway, did he miss the part where his woman called and told him Jimmy was there with a minion who had a gun pointed at her head? They decide someone knows they're here and they better get moving, although Chibs doesn't want to leave Paddy.
Charming. Unser meets Jacob at a café in the daylight. Safest place to meet a shady politician. Unser asks Jacob what he needs, and Jacob says he heard about Lumpy and wonders what happened and if there are any leads. Unser says that Lump says the guy was Mayan. Jacob lectures that he's trying to save the Charming PD, but is running out of wins to put in the plus column. Wrong move, pissing off a guy who's already been told you might have been involved in this crime. On his way out of the café, Jacob runs into Elliott and loudly -- for all the café to hear -- tells him about Lumpy, saying it's another brutal act of violence brought on by the men Elliott bailed out of jail. Elliott sits down with Unser, calls him a dick, and then asks if it was really Mayan retaliation, which doesn't make sense. He says he saw Clay and Alvarez shake hands two days ago and put their feud to bed. Unser says it doesn't take much to kick back up that kind of bad blood. But Elliott suggests Unser check out that stretch of Liberty Street since Lumpy's is the only place that hasn't gone out of business, even though not one of the places went into foreclosure. Unser asks who owns them, and Elliott doesn't know but he guesses a single developer is buying the block and would have a lot to gain by getting rid of Lumpy.
Ireland. Father Kellan Ashby has the women from Maureen's in his church. He says he has someone to watch the ladies in the rectory, but they should let Sean grieve for his brother. All the ladies leave, except Gemma, who tells Father Kellan Ashby she's sorry about his friend, but she wants to talk. He sits down to her in a pew, and she asks him why he's doing this to them. If he knows where her grandson is, why won't he just tell her. He says he understands this seems unfair to her, but what he's doing isn't just about Irish loyalty; it's also about keeping promises to her family. Gemma's confused: "To my family?" Father Kellan Ashby says that he and John grew very close when he was here, and he loved him dearly. Gemma guesses he must be the one who granted him absolution from adultery. Father Kellan says no, and that John struggled greatly with his love for Gemma. She says that John bailed on his family. She says her baby slipped into a coma while John was here playing house with Maureen, so would Kellan mind not telling her how he struggled. Father Kellan didn't mean to be dismissive and says he understands her pain. She says he doesn't understand shit, then calls him a hypocrite and storms off.
Tig, Kozik, Piney, and the prospects show up at a house with their guns drawn. Tig and Kozik bicker over who will take the prospects around back, but then they all head in. They bust into the house, and find it's empty; no Salazar. Unser's in his office at the same time, getting a list of investors in the group, Miltona Trust, that's buying up the properties on Liberty Street around Lumpy's. Unser opens the folder and says, "Son of a bitch." Jacob's leaving work at Hale Properties when Salazar and Louisa pull up. Salazar tells Jacob to get into his car, and he does. But he tells Salazar never to come to his place of business again. He says he's regretting doing business with Salazar, since he was supposed to scare Lumpy, not beat him half to death. Salazar: "Got him to sell, didn't I?" Jacob asks what he wants. Salazar needs a favor. He's got some unfinished business with the Sons, and would like to find Jax's old lady, who isn't home; they checked. Jacob won't tell him where she works or anything else. He starts to get out of the car, but Louisa plays back the earlier conversation she's been recording, in which Jacob reveals what he hired Salazar to do to Lumpy. Jacob says this is blackmail, and Salazar -- quite the comedian -- says, "Yeah, I got an app for that, homes."
Ireland. SAMCRO's gathered again at Maureen's. Chibs says the girls are fine now, but he wants someone with them for protection from now on. As long as they don't bring back Prospect Fail, they should be fine. They all tell Chibs to take his girls on Elliott's cargo flight out of Manchester, the day after tomorrow. They're not safe here. Chibs says he's protecting them now, and that he's not going to force Kerrianne to leave her home. The only way he says he can keep her safe is if Jimmy's dead, and he guarantees he'll make that happen. Jax says okay. Then he heads outside to call Secret Agent Stahl. She's in her bed again, but says she can talk. She ran Father Kellan Ashby through every database. She says it's common knowledge that he's a friend of the cause, but there's nothing that can touch him: no record, no nothing. He is a revered priest, who's turned down three promotions from the Vatican. Jax says he's a saint, then gives her another name: Liam O'Neill, who he says is a Son, but Jax is pretty sure he tried to blow them up today. Stahl asks if he's okay, and he says he is but five others are spread out over a farm in Dungloe. She tells him she needs him back in one piece, and he appreciates her concern. They hang up without goodbyes.
Trinity joins Jax then, and asks for a fag. They smoke and discuss her sleeping habits (she's up at 3 because she's not much of a sleeper, not at all because she's hot for half-brother). Jax gets it. He tells her how tired he is, and she looks sad. He puts his arm around her, which is when Gemma comes outside for a smoke of her own. She sees them there, and looks like a worried mother about to warn her son of the dangerous road he's on. But she doesn't.
Charming. It's nighttime, when we see Margaret and Tara in a car together. It's not clear if they're going to or from the abortion clinic, but Tara doesn't look sad or hurting, so I'm guessing this is the before shot. A car rear-ends them at a stop sign, and Margaret and Tara get out. It's Louisa, who's apologizing profusely for bumping them. No big deal, Margaret says, there's not even any damage. Louisa asks Tara if she's Jax Teller's girl, and Tara says yeah, then asks who she is. Salazar gets out of Louisa's passenger seat, and she says she's his old lady. She pulls a gun on Tara, then tells Salazar the brunette's Jax's. Salazar wonders who Margaret is, and Tara says she's a doctor and this is her boss, a supervisor at the hospital. Salazar wants to check her ink, and sure enough, she's got a giant SAMCRO-looking tattoo on her back that says "My love." Tara looks shocked, and Salazar laughs, "She's a supervisor, huh?" They force the women back into Margaret's car at gunpoint and climb in with them to drive away.
And that's it for this week, and for me. I believe Sobell will be back with you week, so you have that to look forward to. And this: Jax tells some pretty young thing her old man was responsible for the explosion, and she asks if he's going to kill him. Salazar calls Piney and tells him he's got a gun pointed at Jax's old lady. Sure enough, Tara and Margaret are taped and tied up at the end of his gun. Tig and Kozik go to Alvarez to tell him Salazar kidnapped Tara. Someone gets tortured -- please, please let him use the crocodile tube -- to get someone to spill who ordered "the hit" -- but what hit? And Clay blows some shit up.
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, doesn't like this show as well on two continents. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
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