Juice Can't Concentrate

S04E07

The "MD" stands for "Maybe Dead:" Gemma finds the death threat in Tara's van, convinces her not to take it to the police, then immediately calls in the SAMCRO reinforcements to keep her son's old lady safe, apparently never dreaming that the threat originates with her husband. Unser tips off Roosevelt to the threat, but Tara lies (poorly) when Roosevelt swings by Teller Morrow to make sure she's okay. Her day gets worse when she figures out that Jax and the rest of the MC have now added drug smuggling to their vast repertoire of law-breaking enterprises. The only thing Tara has going for her right now is one thing she doesn't even know about: despite Clay's warnings to the contrary, Unser is persisting in trying to keep Tara safe, and it looks like he's enlisting Margaret in the fight.

It'll be tough making "Jax Teller" scan in a narcorrido ballad: The SAMCRO boys get an eyeful of what life with the cartel is going to be like after they're present during a horrific spray-and-pray right in the heart of the Mayan's cocaine factory. Using only his wits, a Social Distortion backing soundtrack, and one meager pistol, Jax heads out for vengeance against the shooters. He kills one, tracks another to Oakland (in theory, if mention of Fruitvale means anything), and figures he's found the apartment where the shooter is hiding. A few members of SAMCRO make a field trip – and they end up terrorizing an apartment full of women and children who are, as it turns out, also being terrorized by the Sonoro Lobos cartel. THAT is when it sinks in to SAMCRO that hey, cartels often target families to make people do terrible things. This galvanizes Bobby Elvis, who calls for a vote of no confidence; he thinks the club needs a new president.

Squeezed dry: Potter continues to put pressure on Roosevelt to get that sample from Juice, blithely suggesting that Roosevelt resort to entrapment. To his credit, Roosevelt suggests that Potter cram that suggestion sideways. Potter then threatens to torpedo Roosevelt's career, because apparently there is no member of the federal law enforcement who's not wantonly abusing authority for their own kicks. Anyway, Roosevelt reluctantly pulls an entrapment move on Juice. Potter suggests a few more mess-with-the-head moves Roosevelt needs to make on Juice, and Roosevelt elects instead to gently break it to Juice that he needs to cooperate with law enforcement. "It doesn't matter," Juice replies, sniffling. When he heads back to the club, Clay bestows the "Men of Mayhem" patch on him as an incentive for not being a sketchy little mope. Then Clay sends Juice back out to the Coke-K Corral. He doesn't show, electing instead to sew on his patch, then to hang himself from a tree. A branch cracks right as the screen goes black.

"Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You and I detest all my sins, not because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offended You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin."

So says Juice, who is huddled in the woods ringing the Coke-K Corral. It is unclear whether or not he's returned to the site of his original crime (the cocaine theft) or if he's at Miles' unmarked grave. Either way, this scene tells us that Juice is in such a lather, he's grasping for the rituals of his childhood.

Then we see Gemma walking past Tara's momvan. It's morning in Charming again. Gemma goes to take the bucket seat out of the back of the car (one presumes she's got a base in her car too, although it sort of cracks me up to imagine Gemma all militant about car seat safety), and she notices the note in the front seat. She reads it over ("I'm going to hurt you, then kill you, doctor bitch.") and marvels at the correct use of commas in a compound sentence, then heads inside to show Tara.

Cut to her quizzing Tara, "Could this be someone at work? A patient? Something happen to a kid?" Tara -- who has managed to slap on some makeup this morning -- turns to Gemma and asks, "I'm humping a guy who kills gangsters for a living; you don't think he's maybe bringing his work home?" Only more politely. Tara goes to call the police, but Gemma argues that once Roosevelt's involved, it will only end badly for everyone. Tara pushes back: "This is a death threat, Gemma, delivered to my front door!" Gemma sighs and gropes for patience before telling Tara they'll just camp out at the compound for a few days. Tara vents, "Normal people call the authorities when their lives are threatened!" and Gemma points out to the lady who is sitting on a shoebox of cash that perhaps her life does not fall within the bounds of conventional propriety.

Speaking of the man to whom Tara's plighted her troth, he and Clay are on their way into the Mayan compound, along with the Teller & Morrow tow truck. And by "compound," I mean "residential block" which Alvarez has somehow managed to pull into a working cocaine-packaging operation. He is totally the biker outlaw Gallant to Clay's Goofus. "Goofus keeps getting members' old ladies killed, while Gallant is stone-cold outlaw enough to shoot his own son," or "Goofus has his members walk off with a key of blow while Gallant has an entire city block packaging cocaine for him." Anyhoodle, here's a fun fact: All of Alvarez's cocaine processors are women who work clad in but respirators and their underwear. I suppose the official explanation is that it prevents them from smuggling, but I suspect the overseers are all, "And the scenery is okay too, har har har!" By the way, the distribution is conducted entirely by clothed Mayans who are packing the bundles into hollowed out stacks of tortillas. Tig chortles, "That's embracing the stereotype, man." Alvarez says he has 28 dealers now, but he's looking to treble that number and colonize the prison market by the second quarter of fiscal year 2012. Just as Bobby Elvis asks about the heroin trade -- which Alvarez assesses in the exact same tones and phraseology I've heard on quarterly earnings calls at Intel -- Jax is distracted by a phone call. He announces that he's bugging out on account of his old lady. The rest of SAMCRO rolls their eyes and follows.

Outside, Jax says angrily that someone put a death threat in Tara's car. Clay feigns outrage; Bobby Elvis's "Je-sus Christ!" sounds far more genuine. This, however, is not going to be the most dramatic thing that happens to the boys today. Nor is someone driving their car through the Mayans' front gate and taking out the guard. It's when the passengers in the car poke their semiautomatic weapons outside the window and begin spraying the area with fire -- THAT is the most dramatic thing in this scene. Naturally, only Mayans are hurt.

For some reason, Jax is inspired to go grab a gun from a prone figure, then take off after the car full of people bearing automatic weapons. Back at the compound, Tig and Clay hustle over to the bleeding Alvarez. He is cool enough to order protection for his immediate family. "How far is your shot doc?" Clay asks. Alvarez then lowers the ambient temperature another twenty degrees by nodding over to a corpse nearby and quipping, "Not too far." Clay's all, "Well, so long as Tara's still alive, we can use her for something." Yes, because who better to operate on Alvarez than someone whose nerves have been stretched tighter than a Kirstie Alley dance costume?

Back at Jax's place, Abel is having a meltdown in Chibs' arms, sobbing for his daddy. To his credit, Chibs is keeping his cool. Not so for Gemma, who's radiating a "Jesus, what NOW?" tension, and Tara -- who is holding Thomas and trying to figure out how to balance a baby and a medical bag -- looks like she's barely holding it together.

Meanwhile, her idiot partner is off chasing several heavily-armed men, bare-headed and armed only with a handgun that is not fully loaded. Fortunately, he's got the power of Social Distortion backing him, which automatically renders him bulletproof and gives him superhuman marksman abilities. I wish I were kidding. The driver escapes after backing up and running over one of the shooters.

At the Teller Morrow show, Clay further twangs Tara and Gemma's nerves by cheerfully answering the question "Where's Jax?" with "He went after the shooter." More like: Where are the kids? Chibs is empty-armed and unless Thomas is chillaxing in Tara's medical kit, he's not around. Please tell me the boys are not being raised by croweaters. In any event, Tara gets an eyeful of Alvarez and remembers that she is a doctor.

Unser pulls up, and Gemma whips out the death threat. Clay watches those two, but Unser's "Jesus!" is surprisingly convincing. Gemma asks Unser to sniff around, and Unser asks if Tara's under club protection. "Yeah. She won't leave our sight," Gemma says. I look forward to seeing how this works when Tara's in the operating theatre. Opie's going to end up cleaner than he has been for the last three seasons. ("Nurse, scrub that man down again. This time, use a gallon on Bactine on the hair alone...")

By Sobell

Inside, Tara's operating with Chibs as her assistant. His first job: to offer Alvarez a cigarette. Juice comes in, and Clay asks why Juice shows up. The young biker answers, "Chibs told me to come back. We're on lockdown." He is walking awfully well for someone who had a bullet dug out of his quadricep not 24 hours before." Clay sighs, orders Tig to call Tacoma to get them to guard the warehouse (apparently, he thinks Happy isn't a sufficient one-man killing machine?) and sends Juice back to the warehouse.

Gemma comes over to watch the Dr. Tara show, and Clay asks her how Tara's doing. Gemma replies that she's scared, and then asks Clay if the threat is real. Butter wouldn't melt in the man's mouth as he replies, "I don't know." The entire exchange is not lost on Bobby Elvis, who most certainly thinks that a) Tara is in danger and b) it is all connected to the cartel business. Gemma then focuses on Opie, asking where Lyla and the kids are. Answer: conveniently off-screen. Bobby Elvis decides that he and Opie can go pay a call to Lyla at work.

Clay then decides that what Alvarez needs at the moment is the third degree: Who did the shooting? Why did they want to shoot at you? What could they possibly want (besides everyone dead)? Juice, who has been watching this whole thing, looks very freaked out by the bullet and the blood -- something that is not lost on Chibs. As Tara gives Alvarez a local and begins digging around the injury, Alvarez asks her, "What happened to you? Jax was very concerned." Tara blows him off with, "Ask them. I have to disinfect." So it's left to the guy who has actually put out the hit on Tara to explain that she found a death threat. Juice's eyes bug out, and Alvarez mutters, "Shit. I've been hearing rumors [that] Galindo lost a hit squad last week. Found them butchered and burned." Tig asks, "So you're saying that this might be the other cartel, Lobo Sonora?" Clay pooh-poohs that idea, rumbling that surely Romeo would have given them the heads-up, and everyone in the room is too freaked out to rebut that Romeo did not exactly send out an email to everyone all "SUBJECT: Dead hit squad -- whoops." Just as Tara heads back into view, Juice blurts out, "Targeting families is what drug cartels do." We see Clay wince and roll his eyes, and given how this is a problem of his own making, all I can say is: Ha HA.

Jax watches the surviving gunman and the driver, and notices the driver taking a big duffel bag out of the trunk. He then shadows them to their apartment.

Just when things can't get any more hectic for SAMCRO, along comes Roosevelt looking for Tara. I'm guessing Unser went to him all "You wanted proof? Here's your proof!" None of the bikers handle this news with sangfroid, except for Alvarez. Because as we've already established, the man lives in his own personal blast-chiller zone.

Anyhoodle, Tara somehow discerns a safe stopping point and somehow manages not to be covered in blood when she heads out to stonewall poor Sheriff Roosevelt, who is merely acting on an anonymous tip he got. Interestingly, everyone -- Gemma, Chibs, Juice, Tig and Clay -- have all sort of ambled outside to see how to conversation is going, so even if Tara were tempted to spill her guts, she's got five people reminding her not to do so. Roosevelt notices this and says softly, "We can help you. You know that, right? Give us a call if you need anything, okay?" His gentle demeanor only unnerves Tara more -- as it should, since experience has taught her that the people she associates with are the most likely to be kind right as they're manipulating her into ignoring her own instincts. Then Roosevelt's tone shifts as he calls out to Juice that his parole officer wants a drug test and he wants it now. Juice blusters, but Clay urges him to shut up and make nice so that Roosevelt can't come back.

Clay then asks Tara if everything's okay. She tells him, "Yeah. [Roosevelt] must have caught wind of the threat. I told him it was nothing." "Good girl," Clay says softly. And for some reason, that is what sets Tara's radar pinging. Perhaps it's the fake concern coming on the heels of the real article.

Oh goody, we're at the Caracara studio. I see Lyla's been staying off the carbs and doing her squat-thrusts, if her appearance in a thong is anything to go by. Opie comes by and stoically tells Lyla to pick up her daughter Piper and come back to the compound because "some shit went down. It's just safer." Lyla points out that she has a job and she can't just leave, then asks Opie to define "some shit" and why she needs to be concerned. Opie reluctantly tells Lyla about the death threat in Tara's car and adds, "Don't know if it's real. Just taking precautions." He and Lyla have a moment of awkward silence, then Opie uses his ringing mobile as an excuse to take off. Lyla watches him go; she appears to have aged ten years over the course of their conversation. Bobby Elvis, meanwhile, notices Ima hard at work at her makeup mirror, trying to cover up her two black eyes and busted nose. He asks, "What happened to you?" and Ima answers tersely, "Ask your VP." Bobby Elvis skeptically drawls, "You're saying Jax did this?" and Ima tries to brush by him with, "I'm working." He puts out a hand to stop Ima and she flinches as she tries to back away from him. Bobby notices this, asks if Ima put a note in Tara's car, then logs Ima's panicky "I swear! I did not do anything!" As he and Opie head out the door, Bobby Elvis asks Opie, "Did you see her?" Opie makes it pretty clear he has no interest in seeing Ima at all.

At Sanwa PD, Juice and Roosevelt have an ultimately unproductive conversation: Juice won't fork over a sample until he meets the guy who can allegedly help him, and Roosevelt can't introduce Potter until he's got the sample. Juice finally says, with resigned weariness, "I'm just tired of playing 'Who's Your Daddy?' I'll bring you the sample when I meet the guy who can make the deal."

Zip! We're in Oakland, where Jax is telling Clay, Chibs, Opie, Tig and Bobby Elvis how he saw one of the guys pull "a big-ass bag from the car," or, as this traveler sees it, most flyers' definition of "carry-on luggage." Anyway, the boys decide to go ahead and get this thing done with Laroy and his crew; Opie, Chibs and Jax will take the back balcony entrance, while the graybeard crew takes the front door. Everyone remembers to turn off their cell phones and then ... well, we watch a very efficient home invasion in action.

Except the thing is, this is hardly some criminal stronghold. (The first clue should have been the cat condo on the balcony.) There is a woman holding her baby, and several more women hanging out with their kids on a couch, and the driver looks like he's about to ask for new pantalones. Jax speaks for everyone with "What the --?" He unzips the bag he was sure was full of guns, and out tumble several packages of diapers and wipes. The camera cuts to Clay, who you just know is thinking, "This kind of crap never happens to Alvarez, oh no." Tig is standing there with a look of barely-restrained dismay, so when Jax snaps to get the kids out of the room, Tig immediately dives for the first baby he sees, plucks the child from a woman's arms, then expertly jogs it into quietude as he ushers all the children into another room. I tell you, it's only a matter of time before we get a throwaway shot of Uncle Happy cooing to a child.

Jax is flustered, but recovers by waving his gun at the terrified driver and asking where the other shooter is. The driver sobs, "No se," and Clay drily says, "I'm assuming none of us picked up any Spanish in Stockton?" Tig then conscripts a translator via the time-honored diplomatic method of pointing a gun barrel at different people and waiting for someone to crack. A woman finally manages, through her sobs, to say, "Okay!" Jax asks what "you all" -- i.e. the elderly, the women and the children -- are doing in the apartment, and we cut to the driver shaking his head no. When the woman says shakily, "We live here," the door opens and the second gunman bursts out and trains his gun on the woman. She begins sobbing in genuine terror, the SAMCRO boys have all their guns out, the gunman's taken another woman hostage, and there's a terrible moment where we see the translator lady and just behind her are rows of frames school pictures, the children smiling with innocent optimism into the camera. Jax manages to get everyone calm, then orders the woman to translate. She sobs, "He won't listen. He doesn't care." "Why? Who is he?" asks Jax. We cut to the driver desperately shaking his head, but that's not good enough for Shooter #2, who promptly assassinates the woman. Chibs then shoots Shooter #2. The driver sobs, "My sister," while Chibs screams in fury and/or horror, "Jesus Christ!" Tig starts pacing the room, muttering, "Oh, man," repeatedly and Bobby Elvis just looks around with "Which decision led me here, exactly?" written all over his face. Jax persists in getting details from the driver, and that is how we find out that these poor, legal immigrants from the state of Sonora, Mexico, were told by Lobo Sonora that the man could act as a driver for a Lobo Sonora errand, or his family in Sonora could be killed in very painful and creative ways. THIS is when it finally sinks in to Jax that hey, cartels really have no problem fucking with civilians and their families; going by Opie's look, he's just drawn the same conclusion. We can't see what Clay's doing behind his sunglasses, but I'm betting there's a Really? The timing could not be worse. REALLY, Universe? eyeroll going on. Bobby Elvis caps the scene by giving Clay a total bitchface and saying, "Better call your friend Romeo." Then SAMCRO takes off, leaving the dead bodies, the blood and the sobbing survivors.

By Sobell

Back at the clubhouse, Jax comes in, hugs his mother hello, then heads back to see Tara in the pit they call "an apartment." As Jax heads back, Gemma calls out, "She knows about the drugs. And the cartel. Not from me." Jax is suddenly a whole lot less eager to see his lady.

And now, time for a delightfully tense conversation between two people who don't have a whole lot of positive associations (IMA) with this room (IMA). Jax is saying that he didn't know the drugs were a part of the deal, and Tara's only response is, "Hmmm. Was that Clay?" Jax sighs, "Yeah. The deal we had to make was ... it was complicated." Tara shakes her head and correctly notes that Clay cannot be trusted. Jax insists -- despite abundant evidence to the contrary and a conversation wherein Clay admitted he's planning an exit strategy -- that Clay is protecting the club. Tara points out, "Clay protects himself. This is two weeks into it. What happens in two months? A year?" Jax only looks at her. Tara scoffs, gets up, and leaves, presumably to resume mad Googling of "forging whole new identity + going on the run from crazy, stupid, murderous bikers."

Clay and Alvarez have a little catch-up in church. Clay fills him in on the whole sad, bad Lobo Sonora stunt and concludes, "I think Galindo's rival is making a play in northern Cali." Alvarez says, "I talked to Romeo. Said it was a shot off the bow -- Lobo making noise. Luis is coming up with a few of his guys, make sure it all dies quietly." Clay asks about the note in Tara's momvan. Alvarez replies, "He said it's not their style. Lobo would have written the note in their kids' blood." I am unclear on who the "they" is -- or more to the point, which children are being exsanguinated for the sake of memo writing -- but none of that is any good. Anyway, it's all good between Goofus and Gallant.

And now, a tiny and heartbreaking scene where Roosevelt lays the groundwork for entrapment and looks disgusted with himself and/or the universe while he does so. Moving on...

Gemma and Unser are meeting in her office; Unser's filling her in on his "legwork," when in actuality, he's doing some of his own. First up, finding out that Tara hasn't mentioned the death threat to anyone else. Second up, learning that Clay is very probably on to him as the source of the letter. After Gemma leaves, Clay shoves Unser to the couch and snarls, "You think this is some kind of a game? Crawl back into your little shithole, Wayne. You leave this alone. Don't get in my way anymore." Or what, Clay? You'll kill the guy with the terminal diagnosis? You best watch it -- those guys are the ones who figure they have the least to lose and the most to amend for. (See also: Piney.)

And now, a tiny and heartbreaking scene where Roosevelt does the entrapment. He still looks disgusted with himself for doing so, so at least there's that.

After Clay gets done pushing around a terminally ill man, he walks out to a card table where Chibs, Bobby Elvis and Tig are sitting around and looking like they fell off the wrong side of the pool table that morning. Bobby Elvis tells us that SAMTAZ called, and Armando's been MIA since last night. Chibs adds that Tucson's worried. Naturally, it's time for a meeting. How these men stay in home-invasion shape when they're constantly sitting in meetings is God's private mystery. (Although -- aw! -- we see Jax and Opie playing with Jax's boys on the playground.)

Cut to Potter looking at the sample and saying in dry delight, "Now we have leverage. I test this, we tie it to Galindo, then we see if Juice feels like cooperating." Roosevelt asks what happens if Juice happens to feel uncooperative. Potter says matter-of-factly, "We yell to the underworld that he's working with us. He stole from his own club. If that doesn't motivate him, we move forward on possession charges." Roosevelt says hotly, "And we send him back to Stockton an unprotected rat!" "That sounds terrifying," Potter deadpans. Roosevelt looks at the other man and says, "You love this shit, don't you?" Potter is quiet for a moment before saying, "I like you, Eli. You're a good man. Straight shooter. I know this is difficult for you. Tell Juice about the leverage, cut him loose. His fear will... multiply exponentially around his brothers." Then Potter walks off, the back of his leather jacket smoking gently from where the heated fury of Roosevelt's gaze has caused it to burst into flames.

Abel is playing with balls on the pool table and enjoying being fussed over while everyone heads into church. Then the latest prospect -- an Asian fellow named Lin -- comes on by and we learn that he was Lyla's assigned escort, and Lyla quietly shook him and escaped to parts unknown with Piper. Opie gives the room and look, and Clay gives him leave to go. Jax follows. And I wonder: SAMCRO has established that it's okay with Latinos (per SAMTAZ) and Asians (Lin), so...what's the problem with having a member who's got an African American parent? I get that racism is a huge component of biker club culture and all, but at this point, the lines seem so arbitrary, they might as well have been drawn on an Etch-a-Sketch. By Abel.

Roosevelt and Juice hang out in a bleak interrogation room, sitting side-by-side, and it strikes me that this is another blocking in which Juice is conversing with someone who could be a father figure to him. It more or less emphasizes the appeal of the club -- he desperately wants a family and a father to guide him -- and the fact that the club's love is highly conditional. Roosevelt quietly and apologetically says, "I don't know what it is they want from you, but at this point, you have no choice. You have to cooperate, Juice." Juice heaves a watery sigh. "It doesn't matter," he says, and walks out.

Cut to the three old guys of the club -- Bobby Elvis, Tig and Chibs -- having some sort of conversation where they appear to come to a consensus, and Chibs says they need to bring Juice up to speed on whatever it is these guys decided. ("RESOLVED: This cartel business is nucking futs?") Chibs walks over to the just-arrived Juice, asked about the urine test, then tries to direct Juice over to Bobby, but Juice heads right into the clubhouse. Tig asks, "Is he okay?" Chibs says he doesn't know, but he'll be right back. We get a nice shot of Bobby Elvis looking dismayed by this turn of events; the people in his club are falling apart right before his eyes.

Chibs strides into church and interrupts Clay (who's looking quite actuarial with his reading glasses and paperwork). He says, "I'm a bit worried about Juice. This thing with Miles, the sheriff riding him -- the boy's checked out. We've got to put him off this cartel shit." Clay sighs, pulls off his glasses, and gives the non-answer, "Send him in, will you?"

Clay goes over to an office supplies cabinet, then pulls a small lockbox out. Juice comes in during this, shuts the door per Clays' request, then sits, per Clay's request, ext to Clay instead of at his customary spot at the foot of the table. Clay begins: "Most days, this life is just riding around, getting shit done. Some days, it's more than that. Some days, we ask our guys to do shit that very few men could do." Clay hands over a "Men of Mayhem" patch and explains, "That's what this means." Juice just stares at it, knowing that he's "earned" that patch under false pretenses. As Clay says, "The way you handled the Russians, this hard thing with Miles, I'm proud of you," Juice struggles not to cry. This is probably not how he ever expected to get a Men of Mayhem patch -- by killing a "brother" in the service of keeping a secret, then heaping lies on top of the murder. Anyway, Juice chokes out, "Thanks." And then Clay basically tells Juice to nut up and get hard like the rest of the club, there's some hugging, and Juice chokes back a sob as Clay says, "I love you, son." Clay then orders Juice back up to the Coke-K corral with orders to keep Tacoma "on their toes." Juice gives Clay a Brave little Soldier smile. He heads out, his eyes wet.

Meanwhile, Opie and Jax stop by Casa Winston -- truly, it is a magnificent testament to what a woman with a vision and unfettered access to Pier One Imports can achieve -- and going by the drawers pulled out of the dresser and piles of clothing everywhere, Lyla packed in a hurry and took off. Opie actually seems hurt that Lyla would do that. (I wonder if he's thinking about what makes a woman stay -- i.e. Donna -- versus what makes one go.)

By the scene, all the cast regulars save for Juice and Piney are at the table. There's some small talk about the missing Armando, and we learn that Kozik is riding down with the shipment of guns real soon now. Bobby Elvis points out that "Lobo Sonora knew exactly where to hit the Mayans. That makes us the target." Clay says, "If we are, we'll handle it." "Like Alvarez handled it?" Bobby replies. Clay says wearily, "Instead of sitting on your fat ass complaining about all the shit I'm doing wrong, why don't you do something that actually helps this goddamn club?"

And BOOM! That is when Bobby calls for a vote on club leadership. "Officer challenge. Your leadership is compromising this club. I want a vote. New president," he says. Clay snarls that he seconds the motion. It's time to gather in the patched-in guys, and get proxies for the ones who can't be at the meeting. "We vote this shit tonight," he finishes through gritted teeth, then pounds the gavel like an executioner swinging an axe. Tig follows Clay out; everyone else sits around the table in silence.

We cut to Juice sewing on his "Men of Mayhem" badge, as the tears trickle down his face. He's sitting in the dark outside. His phone rings and he does not pick up.

The montage continues: Opie can't raise Lyla on the phone. Piney ignores his phone and continues loading a rifle. In her house, Gemma walks out to the kitchen bearing a rifle. She puts it on the table and says to Filthy Phil, "I trust you know how to use this?' "Yes, ma'am," he says around his snack. "I'm going to bed," Gemma says. "Good night, ma'am," Filthy Phil calls out. I am fascinated by the big bumbler. More backstory on him, please!

Unser's got his note. He's in the hospital and he waylays Margaret because hey, why shouldn't she be pulled into this whole mess regarding Tara and death threats? Her life's been entirely too drama-free for the past year. (That said, Margaret is someone I'd want in my corner. Unser's instincts are good here.)

Jax is propping up a doorway and brooding over his incredible failure to provide us with a decent shirtless beefcake shot in yet another episode. Tara puts Thomas in his crib, then sees Jax in the doorway; he grabs her desperately and hugs her, but we can see Tara holding something back. Jax insists that they're safe, but honestly, with Rat hanging in the living room, I'm not sure I'd be reassured. Tara looks at the prospect and tries not to think about what happened the last time she was left alone in the house with a prospect and a baby during some club drama.

By Sobell

We cut to Juice sewing on his "Men of Mayhem" badge, as the tears trickle down his face. He's sitting in the dark outside. His phone rings and he does not pick up.

By Sobell

We cut to Juice pulling a length of chain out of the tow truck. Then to Chibs reporting to the rest of the club graybeards that Juice is MIA; he never showed up at the Coke-K Corral. He is sufficiently alarmed, and decides to head up to the Coke-K Corral to see if he can find Juice. Tig decides to accompany him. Left alone in the clubhouse for now are Bobby Elvis and Clay. They retreat to separate corners for their fuming.

I should note that while all this is going down, Katey Sagal has been singing the classic "Strange Fruit," which is a searing look at the sick, sick practice of lynching. The lyrics to the song, as written by Abe Meeropol, are:

Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is the fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

As the song ends, Juice wraps the tow chain around his neck, jumps off the branch of the tree he had been sitting in, and the camera follows his descent. We see his feet jerking frantically, hear strangled gasps -- then, as the camera goes dark, we hear a snap. According to the closed captioning, it was a branch cracking. We'll find out for sure what it was week.

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