Someone Found the “Multiple Undo” Command

S04E14

So. That happened.

Stingus Interruptus: Lincoln’s Potter hard work has come to naught. It turns out the CIA is in bed with the Galindo cartel, because there is no federal agency in this show’s universe that is not all about screwing over as many innocent people as possible. So Potter’s RICO case gets shut down. The meeting is supposed to go as planned, however the Irish Kings pull their Irish Control Freaks foolishness and insist they’ll only deal with Clay.

Then Jax tries to get SAMCRO out of the cartel business, and that is when Romeo and Luis whip out their federal IDs and drop their government spiel on him: the CIA needs the cartel to keep running guns and coke in order to fund its dirty work. Oy. This whole plotline seems like something dreamed up after falling asleep over an old volume of Bloom County cartoons about the Iran-Contra hearings or the San Jose Mercury News series on how the CIA launched America’s crack cocaine epidemic. ANYWAY. Romeo tells Jax that Otto ratted on SAMCRO, and if Jax doesn’t get Clay back in fighting form so he can deal with that finicky little prick Galen, then Romeo will RICO the club. Also, Jax better not tell anyone anything if he wants the club to survive. Were Jax really serious about leaving, he’d be all, “See my thumbs moving? I’m tweeting this meeting as it happens.” But we know he’s going to be sticking around, so the 45 minutes are about wrapping up this season’s loose ends and launching season’s major story arcs.

Juice, Cut Loose: Potter expunges all the intel on Juice’s daddy and hands Roosevelt the jacket with the sole physical proof. Roosevelt hands it over to Juice and tells him that the racism-related plotline we all lived through this season has been magically undone. That will, I am sure, be a comfort to Miles.

They Will See Me Screaming from Charming Heights: The mayor is about to push through his Charming Heights proposal when in walks Potter with a dossier, a duffel bag and a lifesize doll of a prepubescent boy. Since Potter’s had a bad day, he’s decided to salve his irritation by informing everyone exactly who Mayor McCheese got into bed with (metaphorically speaking) in order to secure financing. It turns out the city fathers have no stomach for having a fancy subdivision financed by the makers of the Sumyung Boy line of sex dolls. When Mayor McCheese demands to know why Potter did this, he snarls, “Because I don’t like you. And the good guys need a win.”

Papa, Can You Hear Me? Naturally, Jax ends up not killing Clay. He says, “The only reason I am not slicing you open right now is I need this cartel deal to happen and those prick Irishmen won’t deal with anyone else. You’re done telling me anything. Now I’m telling you: You’re stepping down as president. You can sit at the table, you can have a vote, but that’s it. You keep the Irish happy, and you stay out of my goddamn way. If you don’t, I let the club read the letters and I let Opie tell everyone you murdered his old man. You stay away from Tara and my mother. Do you understand?” Clay does. Having Jax’s knife at his throat sped the decision-making process along. Jax takes the president’s patch, spits on Clay and walks out. Gemma totters by later to see if her husband is still alive. Unfortunately, he is, which is going to make things super-awkward when Tig starts coming by to pick her up for dates.

Prepare to be Excommunicated, Tig: So Laroy’s old lady? Happens to be the daughter of the biggest kingpin in all of Oakland, Damon Pope. And now the Pope and his cardinals of carnage have Charming in their sights. Roosevelt is not pleased by this news.

Teller/Winston 2012? Not Likely: Jax comes to Opie and asks him to be the VP but Opie – sensing correctly that he doesn’t have enough information to make a well-founded decision – tells Jax that his behavior would seem to suggest that he’s a lying liar who lies, and that doesn’t sit too well with the Opester. He’s MIA for the rest of the episode.

Wherein Tara Discovers That “Promise” Is a Synonym for “Status Quo” in Charming: Jax comes home and tells Tara the whole thing – for once deciding that honest communication is perhaps a good thing in a relationship – and Tara decides for them, “You have to stay.” Jax tells her to take the boys and start a new life in Oregon, and Tara considers it for, like, ten minutes, but by the end of the episode she is standing behind her man in the same posture that Gemma and JT had in that early photo. Gemma is not terribly flattered by the similarity.

The episode opens with the full might of the U.S. government arrayed in a grassy field near the Wahewa reservation. Think of Woodstock, only with fewer unwashed miscreants and more firepower. Potter explains, "In the last 16 months, this case has taken 98,000 man hours in four different countries. Recently, it claimed the life of our colleague, FBI Agent Ronald Worski. Now, our sacrifices and hard work allow us this moment -- an opportunity to bring three violent and criminal organizations to justice. Ladies and gentlemen, we are clear to execute all warrants." Interesting note about the posterboards over Potter's shoulders: the SAMCRO one features red slashes through Bobby Elvis and Juice, while Piney and Kozik are to one another. We also get Happy's mugshot, and it is the only one where his club nickname is his first name. Also, his last name appears to start with an L. It would be kind of awesome if Happy's real name was Happy. And it would explain a lot along the manner of "A Boy Named Sue."

Everyone who's present begins clapping; Roosevelt rolls his eyes and gives a few golf claps. Potter continues, "And whatever or whomever you believe in, may it grant you safety and speed."

And on that note, we flash to Jax and Chibs zooming past Charming Heights on their bikes, presumably off to the big gun-swap show.

Then we flash to Romeo and Luis, who are hanging in the back of their Range Rover. Romeo says, "I talked to Teller. MC's on board. Irish will be there. Transport's all set." In the front seat, a guy identified as Medina nods and says, "All right. Let's go. We don't want to be late."

Jax and Chibs arrive at the Coke-K corral. Happy's terrorized the Tacoma guys into loading the van, and Jax nods, then deputizes him to make sure none of the Wahewa are poking around. We then see the scene through a laptop screen and pull back to watch Potter and Roosevelt watching the bikers. Roosevelt notes that only one out of three notorious criminal gangs is there; Potter explains that only one out of three notorious criminal gangs likes to arrive a little early.

Right then, a Range Rover pulls up. Potter turns around with a "What the hell?" expression, and a minute later, we all join him: the Range Rover has disgorged Medina, Luis and Romeo. And we get a formal introduction: "Alphonse Medina, operative supervisor, Central Intelligence Agency."

Potter won't look Medina in the eye; he looks at his chart and says dryly, "Let me guess. You recruited Señor Parada and Torres from Grupo Aeromóvil. (The Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales are the Mexican army's special forces unit, often recruited to carry out black ops.) Medina would like to talk in private, but Potter mutters tightly, "No. If the three amigos have something to say, say it to my team." Romeo cheerfully says, "Yes, we've been working with the CIA." Luis adds, "NCS, inside Sonora." (The NCS, or National Clandestine Service, is the branch of the CIA that runs covert operations. So, for those of you playing along at home: Romeo and Luis were recruited by the U.S. government while they were still in the Mexican special forces; they are part of a black-ops effort the CIA is executing for the U.S.)

By Sobell

Roosevelt asks what this little twist means for the RICO bust. "It means that Kurt Sutter is one crafty mofo for completely shaking up the playing field three minutes into a season finale," Grad replies. In my dreams. On screen, Potter says, "It means our government is backing one cartel to overthrow the others. 'Cause if you control the drugs, you control the politics." Medina -- who looks like a boy wearing his First Communion suit -- squeaks the party line: "It's how we stabilize an important ally." Potter's back is to us, but we can hear his eyes rolling as he says, "Oh, yes, that too."

The upshot: the CIA gets to shut down the RICO operation. So let's all have a moment of silence for those 98,000 man hours down the drain. Actually, let's have a moment of silence for the U.S. taxpayers in the Sons of Anarchy universe, as they're the ones who just funded those 98,000 wasted hours and they're also underwriting a cocaine cartel. And here you thought paying June Stahl's salary was a slap in the face to American taxpayers.

Romeo explains that the deal with SAMCRO and the Real IRA has to go through, and evidently the Justice Department thinks so too. I can't even... you know, I realize that most governmental agencies are siloed, but you'd think that the DOJ would have a computer program that could flag certain names when they came up in domestic probes. There is just so much that boggles the mind about this development, it's enough to make one sympathize with Grover Norquist's sentiment that the U.S. government need only be big enough to drown in a bathtub.

Anyway, as Medina squeaks to Grad about turning over all the files, Potter walks off into the woods. Romeo watches him go.

Back at the Coke-K corral, the Real IRA walks into the bar. Gaalan ignores Jax's greeting and asks for Clay. Jax explains that Clay's indisposed right now, on account of having more holes in him than a plot about one government agency deep-sixing another agency's massive, expensive legal case. Gaalan looks skeptical of the goings-on, and his expression does not change once he's shaking Romeo's and Luis's hands. Gaalan then asks when Clay will be back on his feet, and although Jax assures him that SAMCRO's up to speed on the schedules and routes for the guns, Gaalan snits, "I made it very clear to Clay, the only way this deal happens is if he's running it." Jax visibly gathers his patience and says, "We run things as a club. We can make this work without Clay." Gaalan says, "It's not about making it work; it's about trust. I have little in you and less in them." Romeo looks indignant, which is sort of hilarious. Gaalan snots. "When Clay's back at the table, we can discuss the deal. Until then, there is none." Then he walks out, leaving Romeo, Tig, Luis, Chibs and Jax to debate what the "IRA" stands for in "Real IRA:" I'm Really Aggravating or Irksome Ridiculous A$$holes?

Jax turns around and Romeo's right on his rear end, almost like he's about to launch into Dirty Dancing 3: We've Become Extraordinarily Open Minded. Romeo says, "We've got to talk," and Jax is all, "Oh, you think?"

The Feds have broken down the staging area for the RICO sting with amazing efficiency. Potter remarks as such, "Goes down as quickly as it goes up." Roosevelt asks, "So that's it? They just let the MCs continue to run drugs and sell weapons to the goddamn cartel?" Potter rolls his eyes as he replies, "For the greater good." Roosevelt asks, "What about the smaller good? They are doing this shit in my county." Potter deliberates a moment and then hands over Juice's jacket. He says, "I thought you might want to be the one to release [Juice]. I had the DEA raid his weed shop, tell the workers that they picked up the owners. It gives him a cover story for the last 24 hours. I've stricken Juice's colored past from the record. He's free and clear." And thus we have SEASON FOUR PLOT REWINDOMATIC USE #1.

Roosevelt gives Potter a look that really should go into the Oxford English Dictionary as the illustration for "WTF?" and asks why Potter would do that. Potter says, "Because. The bad guys won today, sheriff. And they may not know it yet, but Juice and the MC are on the losing end, just like us." He nods, extends his hand and says, "I have tremendous respect for you, Eli." They shake, and Potter begins to walk off. Roosevelt finally shakes off his bafflement and calls out, "You're a really odd dude, man. You know that's really hard to get past, right?" Potter stops and almost smiles as he explains, "I do. But it serves a purpose. I don't really like people all that much. Be well, sir." And with that, the two good guys part for the season. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. I shall miss their partnership.

Back at the Coke-K Corral, Jax closes the barn doors for a little tête-à-tête with Luis and Romeo. He says, "Look, I'm sorry. We really thought we could pull this off. The truth is, we're in over our heads. I know Clay thought we could make this work, but we can't. We're not drug mulers, big arms dealers. We're small-time, man. We can't do this anymore." Romeo replies politely, "I'm afraid we're at cross-purposes, Mr. Teller." Then he and Luis flash their badges. Jax takes a moment to be stunned. Don't worry, Jax. A scant five minutes ago, we were where you are.

Luis explains, "Otto Delaney did sell you out. U.S. attorney was going to crush this meet with RICO. We stopped them because we need this relationship to continue." Romeo steps in to explain how the CIA is subsidizing the murderous Galindo cartel, and they need the money from the Irish guns and the coke to do that, or else they're going to have to start using U.S. taxpayer money. His sense of patriotism inflamed, Jax promptly -- I'm sorry. I can't even finish that sentence, I'm laughing too hard at the idea of anyone in SAMCRO regarding "U.S.A." as anything but a collection of letters in reverse-alphabetical order.

By Sobell

Jax tries one more time to get out of this situation by pointing out that they all heard Gaalan say he'll only deal with Clay, and Romeo shrugs, "Then you'd better make sure Clay gets well soon. Because if you don't, we'll give RICO the green light." Jax is either too stunned to be angry or too angry to be irrational. He asks if the Feds have Bobby and Juice, and Luis tells him that they've only got Bobby Elvis, on account of Otto giving him up like chocolate for Lent. Romeo promises, "When things are running smoothly with the Irish, I'll do my best to get Munson clear of all the charges." And thus we have SEASON FOUR PLOT REWINDOMATIC USE #2.

Jax points out that "whoever replaces Clay might not want this. SAMCRO could vote the cartel down." Luis and Romeo exchange amused looks, and Romeo explains how that's not likely since Jax is now in charge of the club. Jax grins all, "Ha, good one. You know I'm planning on leaving with my lady, right?" Luis then adds, "All this stays between us. If anyone else finds out -- the club, your family... we'll crush your MC." Jax has finally reached the point where he has to laugh at what's going on because otherwise he'd explode from rage. And he asks, "Did you know that Clay wanted my old lady dead? Were you the ones he hired?" Luis cuts his eyes to Romeo all, "You take this one," and Romeo explains, "He thought she knew too much about our business. We wouldn't have hurt her --" "You did hurt her," Jax snarls. Luis explains, "We were going to debrief her. Keep her in protective custody," and Romeo apologizes for what happened. Then he asks, "Is she a threat?" Jax stands there, thinking about how if he hadn't grabbed Tara away, she'd have been unhurt and safe with the Feds. Get it? How Jax's inability to let Tara go has permanently harmed her?

Juice is in lockup, watching an episode of The Shield. This disappoints me greatly, because I've been sort of hoping that Sons of Anarchy took place in the same universe (much like the late, great Homicide: Life on the Street took place in the same TV universe as Law and Order) and now we have proof it does not. Roosevelt comes in and Juice shuts off his TV. He asks, "How many guys did they arrest?" Roosevelt gives Juice the good news -- the RICO thing went away thanks to the REWINDOMATIC -- and that Juice's parting gift is his jacket with all of his daddy-related data purged. Roosevelt tosses Juice the folder and says, "That is the only proof. I thought I'd give you the satisfaction of tearing it up." He turns to go and Juice asks, "Why are you doing this?" Roosevelt says, "You're a criminal. You do bad shit. I'm a cop. I stop you. I just wanna get back to that." Juice does too. The two part, if not on nodding terms, at least with a mutual understanding of what the other one is.

And now we zip to the council meeting where Hale the Lesser is about to get Charming Heights rubber-stamped by the gutless wonders on the city council. In the audience, Rita Roosevelt rolls her eyes. But right before the council can proceed to give Hale's proposal the lavish tonguebath it requires, Potter quietly enters the chambers. He's got a legal folder in one hand, a black duffel bag over his arm and a floppy latex doll, life-sized, of a little boy over his left shoulder.

Potter calls out, "Sorry, your excellence. Lincoln Potter, assistant U.S. attorney, San Joaquin County." The council head huffs, "What is this about? We're in the middle of a council meeting." Potter flops the child doll down on a table and says, "Moral bankruptcy, sir." He walks forward with his folder and says, "Jacob Hale has scraped the bottom of the barrel to fund Charming Heights, and he's dumping the sludge in your back yard!" With a dramatic flourish, Potter dumps out the duffel bag and all manner of tacky sex toys spill forth. The extras look appalled. Hale asks, "What the hell is this?" and Potter explains: "The Tokyo Fund, as it's called in the mayor's proposal, is actually a single investor: The Natsuki family, the largest manufacturer of sex dolls and hardcore sex paraphernalia in the world, including the Sumyung Boy line for the discerning pedophile." There is no way to spin that last sentence without coming off as a total creepster. Even serial killers who keep severed heads in self-storage facilities to their collection of Slim Whitman records are all, "You don't have a latex doll thing or a kid thing, you have a latex kid doll thing? Oh my God, that's revolting."

Hale tries to cut Potter's monologue off, but the city council head is all, "No, no -- by all means, please continue." Potter says, "As a public servant in this district, I thought the good people of Charming needed to know the truth." Potter heads toward the door, leaving the citizenry to goggle at the assorted paraphernalia, and Hale the Lesser runs after him, asking desperately, "Why are you doing this?" Potter wheels on him and says, "Because I don't like you." He turns back and adds to himself, "And the good guys need a win."

Over at St. Are The Resusci Annies Safe From the Natuski Family Customers?, Tig is busy keeping a vigil at Clay's bedside. Jax comes by and asks him to am-scray, as it's time for an I-murdered-your-father/son moment. Tig leaves with a promise to call the guys and tell them about the church meeting at 8 p.m.

So Jax stands over Clay, visibly fighting the urge to kill him. He pulls out the syringe Tara gave him, studies the IV line, heads toward the door, then goes to lower the shade.

Clay picks that moment to wake up, gasping, "Son." Jax steels himself, puts back the syringe with a look like distress, then lowers the shade as he pulls out his knife. And you know what I just got distracted by? We've seen in prior episodes that visitors have to go through a metal detector. So how on Earth did that knife make it past the security guards? Ahem.

Jax makes his way over to Clay and grabs Clay's cut. He lays it over Clay's torso, and right as Clay asks, "What are you --?" Jax holds his knife to Clay's throat and whispers, "I read the letters. I know you killed my father. Piney. You tried to kill Tara." Clay gasps, "Please, son --" Jax says softly, "Don't call me that. The only reason I am not slicing you open right now is I need this cartel deal to happen and those prick Irishmen won't deal with anyone else. You're done telling me anything. Now I tell you: You're stepping down as president. You can sit at the table, you can have a vote, but that's it. You keep the Irish happy, and you stay out of my goddamn way. If you don't, I let the club read the letters and I let Opie tell everyone you murdered his old man. You stay away from Tara and my mother. Do you understand?"

What is truly frightening about the scene -- aside from the fact that he never raises his voice -- is how Jax has something like a smile on his face the whole time. Remember how in the episode, Jax told Tara that extreme rage could make one feel as though they were in a state of remarkable clarity? At this point, Jax is so clear, he could be used to measure diamonds' 4Cs.

By Sobell

So Jax stands over Clay, visibly fighting the urge to kill him. He pulls out the syringe Tara gave him, studies the IV line, heads toward the door, then goes to lower the shade.

Once Clay has said he understands, Jax cuts off the "President" patch. Clay gasps, "You may as well kill me." "You're already dead," Jax says. Then he spits on Clay and takes his leave.

Enter Gemma. Jax just plants himself in the hall and looks resigned to what follows, namely Gemma deciding that the best thing she can do for her son is to ask him to break his promise to his old lady. Jax says, "I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry. He won't hurt you again." Gemma hugs Jax, but he looks like he's barely tolerating it. He really does not care what his mom is feeling right now. Gemma doesn't twig to this, though, and totters down the hall to see Clay lying in bed clutching his cut. She turns and walks away wordlessly.

By Sobell

Let's all address the elephant in the room here. It is going to be really awkward season when Gemma starts dating again. Especially if she takes up with Tig.

Cut to Roosevelt's office, where Rita is regaling her husband with the story of Potter's visit to the city council meeting. She adds that Potter's intel so unnerved the good people of Charming that Charming Heights is now off the table. So, to recap: It is apparently okay when a white supremacist opens up a smoke shop downtown. And having an MC full of felons running rampant within city limits is okay. But by golly, the city fathers of Charming draw the line at sex toy entrepreneurs underwriting a housing development.

(And thus we have SEASON FOUR PLOT REWINDOMATIC USE #4.)

Anyway, the point to this scene is to set up the plot arc for Season Five. Remember how last week, Tig took out Laroy's old lady? It turns out the late Veronica Pope is the daughter of Oakland crime kingpin Damon Pope. And now poor Roosevelt will be dealing with the Pope and his cascade of cardinals year, all thanks to the dumb lie Jax told about black people shooting Clay. Also, it is a shame Clarke Peters is currently tied up with Treme, because he would be an awesome crime kingpin. Or we could go with Robert Wisdom and thereby make it a Prison Break reunion of sorts. I may be overthinking this.

Jax and Opie have a meet-up outside Jax's house. Jax asks how Opie's wrist is, and the other man says tartly, "It's fine considering a bullet just went through it." Jax lets that opportunity to apologize drop to the floor and writhe awkwardly for a while. He thanks Opie for swinging by. The point to the talk: Jax confirms that Clay did kill Piney, and the only reason Clay is still alive is because the club needs him for the Irish guns deal.

Jax tries to explain why the Mexican alliance is necessary without using the words "CIA," "RICO" or "entrapment," but that doesn't give him a lot to work with, so Jax settles for, "I'm staying. I'm taking the gavel. I need you at my left. Be my VP." Opie would like to know how that works with Clay around and Jax says simply, "Clay stepped down. It's our club now." Opie presses further: "I don't get it. Why are you staying? What the hell happened today?" Again, when you can't explain what's going on without using the words "CIA," "RICO" or "entrapment," there's not much left. Jax requests, "I need you to trust me." Opie, whose trust in the club has, at various times, left him broke and bereaved, says, "Give me a reason." Jax struggles: "I'll tell you everything. And the club. I've just got to do it at the right time." That's not good enough for Ope: "In my book, that's lying." Jax asks Opie to show up at church in an hour. He walks off and the camera focuses on Opie's face, half in the shadows.

By Sobell

Inside the house, Tara is playing with baby Thomas, and you can tell that parenting has eaten my brain because I am all, "What is that baby doing up after 7 p.m.? Haven't you read your Weissbluth, woman?" Eh -- the point is that Jax sees Tara playing with their son in the nursery. He comes in, looking painfully somber, and sits down across from Tara on the other side of the baby blanket. Without preamble: "The CIA is behind this Irish cartel hookup. They've been playing us. If I kill Clay, the Irish walk away, the deal falls apart, and the Feds take us all down." Tara can only say, "Oh, my God."

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone, Tara. But I can't have any more secrets," Jax says. And kudos to him for communicating with her. It's such a novelty! Tara says, "Okay, baby," and she sounds so much like Gemma, it's uncanny. Then she tearily says, "You have to stay." Jax is also sniffly as he tells her, "Walking away from my club is one thing, but letting it die? I can't." To say nothing of the inevitable lengthy federal prison sentence he'd be serving. But Jax also says, "It's part of me. I'm so sorry. I know you have to go. Take our boys. Go to Oregon. I'll send you all the money you need." Having voiced the worst outcome possible -- losing his family to his club -- Jax begins sobbing and manages to get out, "I love you so much." Tara gently reaches for him, but Jax gets up and walks out, leaving her wrecked on the floor. Thomas crawls into Tara's lap and coos, and she picks him up, sobbing into the baby's hair, "He's mine." Oh, honey, no. He's not, he never was, and he never will be.

Jax then heads out to church. Guitar music starts up and we see... Bobby Elvis doing his best Jailhouse Rock impression by playing guitar in his cell.

Montage, set to a dirge-like rendition "The House of the Rising Son." Clay alone in his hospital bed. Gemma sitting in the swings at the biker playground, burning the incriminating letters. (I hope like hell that Tara made a set of backup copies.) Juice sitting on his bed -- and boy howdy, kudos to the set decorator because they have nailed the "bachelor man-child goes dumpster diving for his furniture" aesthetic -- and looking at the folder, the contents of which drove him to lie, steal and kill. After a moment, he sets aside the photo of his father and rips up the file before picking up his cut and heading out. Jax, making both motorcycle riding sans helmet and smoking look very cool. Unser smoking a joint. (Presumably off-camera: the giant bag of Cheetos immediately to his left.) Of note: Unser is toking up in the Morrow house.

A tiny noise and Jax's attention shifts to the door, where Gemma is standing. This should, in theory, be her triumph: Her son in the president's seat and not abandoning Charming. But she looks disquieted.

Tara does not miss this. As she rises, Jax gives his mom a combative, closed-off look. Tara then stands behind Jax and drapes one arm possessively around him, staring matter-of-factly at Gemma. We get a shot of Gemma's face, and she looks as if she's seen her life pass in front of her eyes. And in a way, she has: Tara is standing behind Jax in the same posture she stood behind JT thirty-odd years ago. And, as in the picture, Tara is staring at someone she perceives as threatening, while Jax sits at the head of the table, wearing a trapped look. And if we don't get the visual allusion, the camera helpfully morphs from the modern tableau to the Gemma/JT one.

That wraps up the season. I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to read the recaps, to talk about them on the forums or over email, and who sent me pictures of Opie and Filthy Phil standing together and causing our planet to wobble on its axis. Y'all are the classiest show fans going. And I would not like to thank FX, unless their goal was to make sure I was the only recapper on the Internet who did not get screeners and thus could not turn around the recaps in a more timely fashion. (If that was the case, FX, then well done.)

ANYWAY. Thank you all for the enthusiastic forum discussion, thanks to moderator TWOP Howard for rocking along with us, and I look forward to seeing everyone again in September 2012.

Lisa Schmeiser is an Oakland-adjacent reporter and editor. Keep up with her via Twitter at twitter.com/lschmeiser, keep an ear out for her on The Incomparable podcasts, and keep her inbox full at lschmeiser@gmail.com.

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By Sobell

ANYWAY. Thank you all for the enthusiastic forum discussion, thanks to moderator TWOP Howard for rocking along with us, and I look forward to seeing everyone again in September 2012.

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