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Buried in the Potter's Field: Chibs tells Jax about Juice's suicide attempt. Nobody suggests calling 1-800-442-HOPE. Instead, Jax points out that suicide is somehow against the biker code and says they'll have to vote Juice out. Chibs pleads for Juice: "Let me watch him for a while … and we've got to get Clay to get him off that cartel shit." Roosevelt is equally alarmed by the state of Juice's tender, pulpy neck flesh, and goes to Potter to convince him to drop Juice as his pawn. Potter is implacable -- and decides today will be a good day to push Big Otto to see whether he ever snaps. So he pretends to be a sheriff's deputy again and tells Big Otto that Bobby Elvis lied about Georgie Caruso's death. Then he heads back to Charming for a face-to-face with Juice. Juice sees the command room with all its photos, realizes that he's helping the Feds build a RICO case, and snaps. Potter then makes Juice an offer: He wants the Real IRA, so if Juice can pass along information about the pending Galindo/Irish Kings meeting, Potter will not "use federal law to shut down your entire organization." It will be interesting to see how Potter slithers between the words to screw everyone over.
If a Piney Is Killed in the Woods, Does He Make a Sound? Gemma discovers Piney's body and has a genuine emotional breakdown for about a minute. She quickly figures out that Clay killed Piney, but it takes Unser to explain the motive: Although Gemma saw letters burning in Unser's firepit, those were only copies. Clay read the copies, he's convinced Tara and Piney have the originals, and he is probably going to kill the mother of Gemma's grandchildren . Unser's all set to go to the sheriff with all this and turn in Clay, but he is soon swayed by Gemma's pleading. And that is how Unser ends up faking a convincing "the cartel did it!" scene.
We Happy Few, We Band of Cartel Stooges: This week's biker intrigue centers around Laroy and the Niners. While the club was formerly allied with SAMCRO and helped them craft a complex web of alliances in the Oakland area, it looks like they're now working for Lobos Sonora -- which means that SAMCRO has to serve them up on a platter to the Galindo cartel. Jax is not too cool with this. Although SAMCRO does set up a meeting between the Niners and Luis (who is now backed by many colleagues who have relocated to scenic northern California), Jax manages to keep everyone alive and brokers a deal with Laroy: Drop the business arrangement with Lobo Sonora and he'll find a way to cut in the Niners on the Galindo deal. Thus the fragile gang ecosystem is preserved with a minimum of bloodshed. Laroy then serves up some Lobos in a good-faith gesture to Galindo, and when Luis gets pissy about how few were killed in the ambush, Jax steps in, gives a thug life equivalent of the St. Crispin's Day speech to persuade Luis to spare everyone's lives, and generally demonstrates to all and sundry that he's leadership material. This is not lost on embattled president Clay or the other members of SAMCRO. Then Jax has a sit-down with Clay where he demonstrates even more leadership and vision by demanding that the two of them come up with an exit strategy for the cartel deal. So Clay salves his wounded ego by ordering the hit on Tara. So much for the powers of Gemma's persuasion.
The "M.D." Stands for "Mostly Doomed:" Right as Tara goes to hand over the copies of JT's letters to Margaret as an insurance policy, she sees the stack of blank paper and quickly, correctly realizes what happened. She confronts Gemma about stealing the letters, admits that she hasn't shown Jax the letters because she thinks they'd push Jax into taking steps that would keep him in the club. Gemma, of course, lies to Tara ("I don't know if Clay killed JT. All I know is he brought me back to life."). So naturally, Tara tells Gemma her plans to flee to Oregon. At the last minute, Jax decides to come with her. I really hope we see footage of him bored to death in the passenger seat of the momvan. I hope, I hope, I hope!
Line of the week: "Relationships are overrated." -- Clay, pointing out to Jax that the Niners getting wiped out by intercartel shenanigans may not be the crisis that Jax perceives it to be. But really, it could apply to so many things in Clay's life.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We open on the Teller-Morrow garage. Chibs is waiting for Jax in the garage, Juice slightly behind him, and he requests of the club VP, "I need your advice, brother." He shows Jax Juice's neck, and Jax asks, "What about it? I thought you caught it on a security chain at Oswald's." Juice gives him a miserable look; if he opened his mouth, he'd probably start crying. Jax looks at Juice, looks to Chibs, then looks back at Juice as he realizes what actually happened. "Oh, shit, Juice!" he says in a mixture of anger and dismay. (It's nice, subtle work by Charlie Hunnam. The only way it would be better would be if Hunnam were doing it shirtless.) Juice spins a tale of vague trauma, and Chibs cuts through with an astringent, "I'm not sure how you handle this."
Jax and Chibs confer, and we find out that the club's policy on suicidal guys is to withdraw all support whatsoever by voting them out... as people who vow brotherhood to one another do. Chibs pleads to keep Juice around, explaining, "My first kill for the Irish -- young constable in Omagh. My age. Me and him could have been classmates. I put two bullets in the back of that boy's head. Never even seen it coming. Shit broke me, Jackie. Came close to swinging from the tree myself." Jax sighs, grumbles that there's a big difference between suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, but accedes to Chibs' request to keep an eye on Juice. Chibs emphasizes again that Clay needs to take Juice off the cartel business.
Speaking of Clay: He's meeting with Alvarez and Luis now. Alvarez exposits that there are now at least two dozen Lobos Sonora in the area, and they're making alliances with different underworld players to expand their cocaine network. Using basic logical deduction -- the Chinese heroin trade in NorCal has been growing, which means that the Niners got out of it -- Clay and Jax arrive at this week's dilemma: Laroy and the Niners, who are historically not a problem for SAMCRO, have now become a problem thanks to their rooting for the wrong side in this cartel spat. Jax says they'll meet with Laroy today and find out what's going on. Luis cordially invites him to bring along three dozen of his new Galindo friends.
After everyone disperses, Jax exposits: "If the Niners are buying from Lobo, this guy is going to slaughter them. That changes the whole dynamic in Oaktown. It wipes diplomacy off the table." Clay shrugs, "Maybe it's time to clean house. Relationships are overrated."
Aaaaand cut to Gemma. She's sitting at her table, trying to raise someone on the phone -- someone who happens to be Piney. Needless to say, he's in no condition to answer his phone.
We then see SAMCRO meeting in someone's house. (Not Clay's, not Jax's -- but it doesn't look like the clubhouse.) Gemma's providing coffee and muffins. She asks Opie if he's talked to his dad today, which is Clay's cue to be all, "Small talk's over! Time for big boy business!" Jax covers for why Juice isn't there to talk cartel business (he's allegedly sweeping the clubhouse for bugs post-sheriff's visit), and everyone begins asking how to handle this whole "Laroy [hearts] the Lobos" situation. Bobby Elvis gloomily asks what happens when the club finds out Lobo Sonora is forging a virtual United Nations of cocaine distributorship, and Clay testily points out that SAMCRO doesn't have to lead the charge against the Armenians or Salvadorans; all they have to do is back up the Parada cartel. Oh, that's so much better! Who doesn't feel more confident about their future learning they are but the foot soldiers of a murderous crime syndicate? Jax shrugs, "If the Niners are working with Lobo, we'll get them to arrange a meet. Galindo can take it from there. Send this beef back to the border." Bobby Elvis sarcastically says, "Yeah, 'cause all our plans with these guys have worked out just perfectly." Jax has had enough of the other man's bitching and moaning, and tells him to put up or shut up.
The meeting's interrupted by two of the Irish Kings, O'Shea and Rourke, calling for Clay. He leaves the table to take the call. To make a long conversation short: When Irish terrorists are concerned that one is acting recklessly with regards to selling weapons to cartels, perhaps it's time to pay attention, Clay. Anyhoodle, Clay pleads with Gaalen to please, please, please pass on his BFGs, since it's good business. Gaalen reluctantly agrees to a sit-down with what he calls the "heathens" of the Galindo cartel. He warns that there are no guarantees that he'll sell. Clay hangs up and his wince suggests that he does not appreciate the extra pressure he's under with the Irish.
Meanwhile, at Teller Morrow, Roosevelt comes by with a handful of burners for Juice, telling him to use those to stay in touch. Juice drops the bag on the ground and says he's done. Roosevelt notices Juice's neck, and dismay flashes across his face before he buries it under the usual no-bullshit demeanor he uses with Juice. "Jesus Christ, what did you do?" Roosevelt asks. Juice doesn't reply, merely requests, "Tell them I want out." Roosevelt looks as if he's seriously considering it.
We zip to St. Underfunded, If SAMCRO Is Any Indication of the Tax Base. Margaret swings by and Tara makes her day by telling her she's off to the neonatal conference in Providence hospital. Tara then asks Margaret for a favor: "I'm going to leave something with you. If anything happens to me -- just if it did, I want you to give it to Jax. If not Jax, Piney Winston." Margaret's spidey-sense is jangling, but Tara reassures her that it's nothing illegal. As a matter of fact, it's nothing at all -- Tara's just discovered the stack of blank paper Unser left in her envelope. After Margaret leaves, Tara looks at the stack of blank papers and whispers, "You duplicitous bitch."
The war room. We find out that the burners Roosevelt delivered were tapped but, Roosevelt reports, "He's calling our bluff. Told me to rat him out -- he's done." Potter dismisses this with, "He's testing us." Roosevelt says, slowly and angrily, "No. He's not. He tried to hang himself." Potter cocks his head to the side, but his expression remains politely detached. Roosevelt tries again: "He's unstable. He doesn't care if they kill him. He won't be much use for us." Potter switches gears, bidding his ATF pal Grad to play the recording of Bobby Elvis lying to Big Otto about how SAMCRO killed Georgie Caruso. The new plan is to turn Otto. As Potter puts it, "Otto Delaney has endured more pain and suffering for his organization than any other felon I've ever known. I think this betrayal pushes him over the line." But he'll still need more specifics from Juice to push any convictions. Roosevelt says flatly, "I doubt you'll get anything." "Perhaps. Let's just see where this magical day takes us," Potter says.
SAMCRO is meeting with Laroy in what Laroy dubs "the dead zone." It is not the inside of some coma patient's head but rather, a parking garage in an indeterminate location. So after the usual hugs hello, both sides dance around asking why each party came armed to the teeth. Jax opens the real discussion with, "I hear you're moving out of H. Got a new product." Laroy reveals his deep love of Disneyana with "Carousel of progress." Clay plows in: "Carousel of cocaine?" Laroy tells him to butt out: "You sell the guns, I'll sell the drugs." Jax gets between the two leaders and attempts to explain why this is suddenly a thing: "We made a deal with Galindo. You buying from Lobo puts us at odds. We can't have that." Laroy correctly points out that SAMCRO has no business telling the Niners how to make their money, and that's when Luis and his three dozen heavily armed friends arrive on the scene to debate the logical premises behind that point.
Things get a little spitty and punchy, and the Sons step in to get everyone to back off. Jax grabs Laroy and whispers that they're dealing with people who see decapitation as a way of handling HR disputes and promises, "Be cool, and I will try to get you out of here alive." Laroy agrees. He and Luis have a glare-off, then he exposits, "Lobo approached us last month before you guys even got out. We didn't even know about Galindo... [Lobo offered] manpower, protection, a piece of anyone else we brought in to buy. They want to grow." Luis winces, possibly because Galindo's late to market in NorCal, possibly because he was expecting the region to be easy and suddenly it's not. Luis orders Laroy to call Lobo and "tell them you have a buyer with an urgent need." When Laroy understandably hesitates, Luis says, "I'm going to line up your men, I'm going to gun them down, and I'm going to drop their bodies on their mothers' doorsteps."
Cut to Jax hastily interposing himself and offering to talk to Laroy. The two excuse themselves and move away from everyone else. Laroy points out that turning away from Lobo could prove a highly fatal move. Clay nods to Luis and his pals and points out that hanging out with Lobo could prove to be equally fatal. Jax plays good cop in this scenario: "We cannot get in the middle of a cartel beef. We've got to roll with Galindo. We'll talk to Alvarez and find a way to cut in the Niners." Laroy agrees to this. He and Jax walk off. We get a look at Clay, who is half wondering what just happened and half threatened by Jax. (This just points to Clay's biggest weakness as a leader: He is so, so mired fixed on self preservation, he cannot even imagine how to appeal to anyone else on a level beyond "Would you like to stay alive?" So he'd never be able to make an argument like Jax just did.)
And now we get to the scene where Gemma discovers Piney's body. Mercifully, she does not engage in any of those clutch-the-body-to-her-breast theatrics. Instead, she shakily makes her way over to a table and leans on it while crying, "I told you! Goddamn it, I told you! You stupid old man!" But she soon recovers enough to cover the body and call Unser. And when he's there, Gemma's composed enough to reason, "It had to be Clay. He lied to me last night, told me he was at the clubhouse. [You and I] burned those letters. There was no proof. Why would he have to do this?" Unser sighs and admits that Clay read the letters, and the ones Gemma saw burning were copies. Ergo, Clay thinks Tara and Piney have the originals. Gemma is gobsmacked, but quickly realizes that this explains Unser's sudden interest in Tara. Unser explains, "Clay is like a wounded animal, Gemma. He's going to rip apart anything that comes too close. Including Tara. I can't protect your old man anymore. I'm calling this in to the sheriffs, having them pick up Clay." Gemma looks alarmed and says, "No." Unser lays out the stake: "The corpse you're going to be standing over is the mother of your grandchild." (Which, if you know how Gemma tried to kill the mother of her first grandchild, is not the most compelling argument Unser could make.)
Unser lays out this season's theme: "Clay cannot be saved." Gemma tremulously agrees that Clay's a wounded animal, but pleads that Clay needs the two of them. "What kind of wife would I be if I turned on him now?" Gemma asks. "One that wanted to survive," Unser replies. Gemma says, "I love him. We are all responsible for this. Our hands are just as bloody as Clay's." Unser sits there for a minute, wondering when he got co-opted into the Morrow marriage and why he's not getting any of the benefits, then asks Gemma if she lied to him too: "Did you know the real reason why Clay wanted JT dead? Him... ending guns?" Gemma skirts around the question, saying that she supported the idea that JT's death was the best thing that could have happened to the club and the town. (And to JT, given how a man who bailed on his wife during their child's illness has somehow attained some sort of hippie-saint status among some people). But she never really knew the details. Unser clearly thinks Gemma's still lying -- the best liars always lard their stories with just enough truth to make people doubt their suspicions -- and lets Gemma know with "I'm going to choose to believe that." Perhaps all too aware that she's running out of champions, Gemma plants one on Unser. He pulls away reluctantly, but with a little noise of self-loathing, and Gemma presses him into her latest scheme: "We have to find those letters, Wayne. I can prove to Clay that there's no threat. I know I can bring him close again; I know I can. Please, Wayne?" Unser untangles himself from Gemma's arms after a few heavy breaths and promises to help make Piney's cabin looks as though it was worked over by the cartel. (Speaking of the cabin: Piney has a truly impressive bar set-up. There are dives in military towns that aren't as well stocked as Piney's cabin.) Gemma moves to thank Unser, but he pushes her off and tells her to get out of here. Then he looks at Piney's body...
And we transition to Laroy wearing the same doomed expression. Cruz, the head of the local Lobo crew, has brought some drugs in a good-faith gesture. Then, thing we know, the whole scene has degenerated into a production of West Side Story, only instead of the Sharks and the Jets prancing around snapping their fingers and breaking into high kicks, we have the Lobo Sonora and the Galindos shooting at everyone. The Lobos manage to get away by blowing a VW-sized hole in a nearby concrete wall, thereby unintentionally underscoring the Irish Kings' earlier point that indeed, Clay and company are dealing with people who like shooting headline-making weapons.
Luis is not happy with how the meet-up went, so he's planning on lining up and executing Laroy's men per his earlier threat. Clay's all, "It's a sorrow and a pity, but whatevs!" and it takes Jax pulling Luis aside and pointing out to him that north of the border, outlaw gangs are not "kings," and thus have to work with other crews: "You start gunning people down, no one is going to trust us. You want to move your product, we need relationships." There's an interesting shot of Happy, Bobby Elvis and Opie all watching Jax with "a-HA!" faces. It must be so strange to watch a new generation of leadership step up. Jax pleads, "Laroy made a bad choice. A better message [than killing his crew] is that he changed his mind, decided to roll with Galindo. You kill this guy, you're killing everything." Luis reluctantly agrees.
Clay has been watching somewhat sullenly, and as the rest of SAMCRO starts pulling the Niners to their feet, he peels off to confab with Luis. The topic: killing Tara. Luis hands him a burner and says, "There's only one number on here, so use it when you have a time and a place. But he's an independent contractor, so once it's set in motion, it can't be stopped." Clay's okay with that, so long as the murder doesn't blow back on him or our club: "It has to look like something from the outside." Luis smirks, then says snidely, "Considering our current state of affairs, that doesn't seem to be a problem." I believe Luis has just joined the list of people who have reasons to want Clay dead.
Gemma slumps back into her office, only to have Tara get up in her face and say, "You took the letters from my office." You can tell Piney's death has gotten to Gemma because she actually tells the truth without any self-serving justification. Then, because she is Gemma, she goes on the offense: "You have no idea what you stirred up with those letters, letting Piney read them!" Tara rebuts that: "No, I didn't. I asked him about John, told him that I read some things -- did he say that he read them?" Gemma is rocked by the realization that Piney died on a bluff. But rather than fill Tara in on that and risk Tara realizing that Clay's the one making death threats, Gemma changes the subject: "You want out of here?" Tara replies, "Don't you? Look at the last three weeks, Gemma. We are all in danger. How could you want your grandchildren to be raised in this chaos?" Because the only honest answer to that question is, "I raised Jax in it and everything turned out -- oh," Gemma makes another inquiry, asking Tara why she has not yet let Jax read those letters. Tara quietly admits that if Jax were to read the letters, he'd likely kill Clay. More importantly, Tara says, "Finding out how John really felt at the end? It would break Jax's heart knowing he had been hating so deeply. The guilt would push him deeper into the club and I'd lose him." Gemma takes a moment to digest this, then asks how the letters would make Jax feel about his mama. Tara says, "He'd learn some hurtful truth: you being with Clay before John died." And really, this would be the first possible time Jax has entertained that thought? Really? Gemma says, "I made mistakes." Tara asks if Gemma knew that Clay tried to kill JT, and Gemma lies: "I know what everyone else knows. John went out the way they should all go out -- on two wheels, at high speed. I don't know if Clay killed JT. All I know is he brought me back to life." The two stare hard at each other. Then, Tara takes the opportunity to tell Gemma she's headed off to Oregon for a surgical conference. Oh, this information will doubtlessly work against Tara later. It's not really a season of Sons of Anarchy unless she ends up kidnapped as a result of her idiot decisions. (Seriously. At this point, Jax should just install a LoJack on her ankle so they can keep tabs on Tara, because someone is always spiriting her away.)
Zip! We're in Stockton pen and Potter is merrily lying to Big Otto, introducing himself as "Deputy Sheriff Marcel." After a preliminary quip about family photos, Otto shuts up and Potter lays out the truth: "Georgie was in Thailand when Luann was murdered. I also know Bobby led you to believe that the club had avenged Luann's death, but that's not true either." He shows the photos of Georgie outside his studio, and then says mildly, "I can make arrangements for you to reach out and confirm... Georgie's alive and well." (Although it is my sincere hope that Dondo kills him in a Grand Guignol-meets-dildos scene. Because imagining the headline "Dondo delivered death by dildo" makes me happy.) Otto muses that this makes no sense: "Why would they lie to me?" Potter says, "They didn't kill Georgie because he wasn't guilty. I still believe the statistic holds true. Bobby Elvis was sleeping with Luann. When he became concerned that you and the club would find out, he killed her." Then Potter makes the appeal to Otto's sense of justice: "You came to Stockton to do a six- year stretch. The moves you made in here for the club added another 30. You lost your freedom, your vision, your sanity, and now you're on death row. Seems to me there's a substantial inequity at play here." Big Otto sits for a minute, pondering this, then decides he's not going to address that issue with this guy: "Who are you? Sheriffs don't have the juice to bug the infirmary visitation rooms." Potter pauses for a moment, realizes Big Otto may be crazy and blind, but he's not stupid, and then finally speaks with honesty: "I'm just a guy trying to balance the scales."
Gemma's brooding in her office -- as one does when one is confronted with the truth that one's spouse offed a petulant old drunk for no good reason -- as Jax comes in to talk to her. He breaks the news that Tara's going to Oregon (which Gemma knew) and adds, "She's taking the boys with her." "Why?" Gemma demands. Jax says with exaggerated courtesy: "She's their mother. She's going to take Elyda to help her." "For how long?" Gemma asks. "Not sure," Jax says cheerfully. "What are you doing, Jackson?" Gemma asks, and that's how you know Jax is in trouble -- his mom's using his full name. Jax says glibly, "I'm getting my boys clear of headless bodies." Gemma instantly protests, "You can't do that," and it is to Jax's great credit that he treats that statement as reasonable instead of asking. "Are you listening to yourself? What in the hamfat do you mean I can't take my kids away from decapitated bodies? Were you planning on turning the corpse into a fun preschool lesson in body parts for Abel?" Before Gemma can continue to press the point that there is no better place for vulnerable children to be than in the middle of a cartel's war zone, Chibs comes in and asks if anyone's seen Juice hanging around. Jax mutters under his breath.
Juice has not been answering his cell phone because Roosevelt has been leading him back to the war room. Potter introduces himself outside the room: "I'm a big fan," then ushers them all into the war room. Juice beholds the rogue's gallery of mugshots and surveillance shots, sees that he's been listed under "Plan B," sees the Real IRA photos, and then realizes what he's been conscripted into. As Potter asks, in his customary mild detachment, if Juice has ever seen the inside of a RICO operation, Juice issues a feral scream and lunges for Roosevelt. He manages to take the sheriff down right as Potter leaps to a table, giving him a safe view of the frat below. Grad the ATF guy pulls the screaming Juice off Roosevelt, and we get a shot of the biker, practically foaming at the mouth, glaring at the preternaturally placid Potter.
Back at the clubhouse, Jax is hanging near the boxing ring when Bobby Elvis approaches him to compliment him on his brainy, diplomacy-first leadership style. "This club needs that -- we can't lose you," Bobby Elvis says. Jax looks at him sharply, and Bobby Elvis says, "I know. You're jumping out with Clay." Jax sighs and stands up, the better to have this conversation on equal footing with the older man. He asks, "Who told you?" Bobby Elvis replies, "It was Clay talking to me about handing me the gavel after he steps down." Cut to Jax rolling his eyes, because when he talked to Clay, the agreement was that Opie would take over. Bobby presses his suit: "You are supposed to be the president, not me. It's your path." Jax gently attempts to disabuse Bobby of this notion. Sensing vulnerability, Bobby hones in on Jax's worst insecurity and blows it up: "You ain't gonna make it anyplace else." Jax channels that leadership and says, "I'm going to try." "Like you tried with Ima," Bobby jeers. Jax looks away, and Bobby presses his argument: "Your solution to a problem will always be a club solution. It's the way you're wired." So, we've found out that Bobby Elvis is a proponent of the "Nature" side when it comes to "nature vs. nurture."
Jax takes the tidbit of useful information from his conversation with Bobby Elvis and promptly takes it to Clay in church. The club president is sitting at the table, reading glasses on, flipping through all sorts of paperwork. Jax says without preamble: "You told Bobby I was getting out? Promised him that seat?" Clay takes off the glasses, those reminders of encroaching age, and says, "I'm sorry, [but] Opie can't lead this club. It's just not who he is. I'm only trying to protect what we worked so hard to build." Jax snidely points out that Clay's doing a fine job of tearing down the club as he goes, and says the cartel was a mistake. Clay's all, "Funny how you bitch-slapped Bobby Elvis for that same sentiment this morning," and Jax points out that there's a difference between impotent bitching and drafting the exit strategy that gets them out of the cartel's clutches, and guess which one he's doing? Clay's all, "Buh-wha?" and Jax lays it out: Once SAMCRO's brokered the deal between the Irish Kings and the Galindo cartel, the club's out of drug business. "Then I'm gone. I'm taking Tara and my boys, and we're getting clear of this." Clay gives Jax a lethal glare and growls, "You promised me you would finish this out." Jax says glibly, "And you promised me the cartel would be good for the club. I guess we both lied." He gets up and heads toward the door. Clay decides the best way to smooth over this re-emerging rift is to say, "Doctor's pussy is clouding who you are, son." Jax freezes for a moment, then turns around with murder in his eyes. He heads over to Clay and leans down to say, "If you ever talk that way about Tara again, I will pound those half-dead hands so hard into this table, you won't ever be able to hold that gavel again." Having made his point, Jax slinks off. And thus does he quietly prove to Bobby Elvis that people can change when they want to: This is the first time in four seasons I've seen a younger member of the club call out an older one for their stinking, pervasive misogyny.
Back at the sheriff's office, a handcuffed Juice is learning to his horror that Potter et al have been on the RICO operation for nearly two years: "It started with the Russians and it's ending with the Sons of Anarchy. We're turning Otto Delaney." Cut to Juice looking as if someone's just told him Santa Claus isn't real. (Who knows? That may be week's big revelation for the poor kid.) Potter gleefully expounds, "He'll give us past criminal activities. That, coupled with the MC's ongoing relationship with the cartel, will give us our historical pattern of organized crime." Juice stares up at Potter, wondering when exactly he wandered into The Sopranos and became Adriana La Cerva. Potter lays it out: "I want the Real IRA. I can collect you and the Mexicans without issue, but the clandestine Irish, even with the help of Scotland Yard and Interpol, will be impossible to hurt at home. They will slither back into their secret snakeholes, and the source of all my woes will still be at large." Juice listens to this, and then points out that there are no snakes in Ireland, ergo the Real IRA has no place to slither into. Kidding! He stonewalls, because that is apparently a skill that everyone in SAMCRO has. Potter calls bullshit on Juice's professed ignorance and tells him he'll find out when and where the cartel and the Irish Kings will be meeting. If he does, perhaps Potter will "extract the Sons from the RICO equation." Juice asks skeptically, "You're going to just let us walk?" Potter sits down to him and very carefully says, "No. But I won't use federal law to shut down your entire organization ... some members of SAMCRO will have to pay for their involvement, but the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club will survive. Hmmm. Maybe saving the reaper will be just the karmic balm your psychic neck wound needs?" Juice mulls it over.
Night has fallen, and Gemma is sublimating her agitation through cleaning up after the kids on the SAMCRO playground. Clay comes over and asks lightly, "It's a little late for Legos, ain't it?" Gemma sighs and sits down in one of the swings. Clay sits to her. For all that they're on a child's swing set, the two of them look like a king and a queen sitting on their thrones, and uneasy lies the head that wears the king's crown. Clay says, "Rough day." Gemma concurs. She lets a long silence stretch between them. Then she says, "I live with so many lies, Clay. So many things I can't ever speak of. I'm okay with that. I do it to protect what we have. But I can't lie to you. You're the only truth I have." Clay listens to all this and purrs, "I know, baby." This is all a prelude for Gemma's real bombshell: "I went to the cabin today. I know why you did it. I know you read JT's letters, burned the copies." In a way, this scene sort of hits the rewind button on the scene a few episodes back where the two of them merrily lied to one another about the letters. But in another, Gemma calling out the lies pushes them into a whole new area. Clay acknowledges this with "So ... what do we do with this truth?" Gemma says bleakly, "Nothing. It stays between us. Piney wanted a hard way out. Going down defending John was probably the noblest way for him. But it stops here. I talked to Tara. She's never going to tell Jax about those letters -- she knows it would push him deeper into the club. She's heading out of town tomorrow morning, going up to Oregon for some hospital thing. When she gets back, I'll get the letters. And I promise you, I won't let her hurt the club, or our family. But you have to promise me you won't hurt Tara." Clay mulls it over, realizes that technically, the hitman would be doing the hurting, then says, "Okay." Gemma demands that he look her in the eyes and promise, and Clay easily does so. He adds, "I love you, Gemma. Everything I do is for you." They hug on the playground, and Gemma looks sad. Whether it's because she knows Clay's lying even now or because she doesn't like thinking of things like "killing the man who patched me in" as something Clay's doing for her? Who knows.
Meanwhile, Tara's packing for Oregon. Jax comes over and jokes, "Got any more room in there?" Jax, clearly you have never traveled with babies and/or small children. There is a rule of the universe stating that for every pound your child weighs, you must haul five pounds of corresponding stuff. Then Jax adds, "I'm coming with you." He figures he's due a little "me time" from the club, and besides, "I'm out, babe. I just got a few things to tie up when I get back." Tara flies into Jax's arms. They're both giddy.
Back at the club, Clay opens the burner Luis gave him and presses the button. We hear the phone ringing and the screen goes dark.
Lisa Schmeiser is a reporter and editor in the Five-One-Oh, and as such, greatly enjoys the references to Oaktown geography. Follow her on Twitter.
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