Charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent: Well. I don't think I'll be looking at Boyd Crowder with the same perspective after this episode.
Hale the Lesser has finally bowed to convention and grown a goatee so we know he's evil. But he does not bow to SAMCRO when they want to lease one of his properties for their new, classy Hookers'R'Us. Jax offers a deal: They'll help get Hale's Charming Heights development deal greenlit by the city council, and once that's done, Hale will lease them a building.
SAMCRO's methods of coercion include drugging a brownie or ten, delivering them to a councilman, then taking all manner of photos with him in bondage gear and being ridden like Shamu by a drag queen-cum-escort. (Walton Goggins' performance here should land him a spot as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race if there is any justice in this world.) When Jax shows the photos to Hale the Lesser, he offers to set up the blackmail so that it can't be traced back to the mayor. Even more intriguing, however, is his throwaway line that he can bring in a new backer – "the biggest developer in Oakland" – because he's referring to Pope here. (I cannot wait to see why Jax wants Pope on his turf.) Anyway, Hale pretends to some soul searching, eventually gives the nod to having Jax blackmail the councilmember into voting for the project, and agrees to lease his building for the Whoremporium.
SAMCRO is going to start rooting for another potato blight: The deal between The Real IRA and the Galindo cartel finally goes down, but not without an opening act. Galen is apparently miffed at Jax on account of the younger man having the nerve to come to Ireland, retrieve his kidnapped son, and deliver the usual quota of SAMCRO death and chaos in his wake. This leads to fisticuffs, which Jax wins eventually, and then during the deal, Galen demonstrates the efficacy of his wares by blowing up several of the SAMCRO choppers. Jax plays it incredibly cool, however, which shows how the balance of power is shifting, even if Galen doesn't realize it yet.
All we need is love, and/or some really kind bud: So it turns out that Nero is the worst at dumping women, and Gemma is not exactly one to take getting dumped with any equanimity. She correctly intuits that Nero's giving her the cold (tattooed) shoulder because he's going into business with Jax, huffs at Jax to no avail, and ends up having a brief moment of connection with Clay (who is clearly biding his time until he can come up with a quasi-plausible reason to kill Nero). Honestly, the woman just needs a Match.com profile, so she can see what life is like when the man you're dating does not have "felon" checked off on the "extracurriculars" survey box.
However, Gemma is doing better than Tara, who spends most of the episode unraveling as she struggles to reconcile good news on the professional front (her hand is healing) with the hot mess that is her personal life. Perhaps many of you feel differently, but four seasons of feeling conflicted about being a doctor and an Old Lady is about three too many, and it is time for Tara to either embrace all her choices or to go colorfully mad. She's getting boring. And not just because she's smoking enough weed to stone a school of Phishheads.
Home, sweet home invasion: So we've established that the three former nomad members of SAMCRO are utter toolboxes, but if they're behind this most recent home invasion – in which Sheriff Roosevelt's lovely (pregnant) wife Rita is gut-shot – then that's just … ugh. Things are about to get a lot tougher for SAMCRO because the sheriff is going to be on them like Hell's own fury.
Random things worth mentioning: Clay's looking awfully hale, hearty and non-wheezy as he cleans his many guns; Gemma is apparently quite the omnisexual, if the pretty woman in her bed is any indication; Tig's received yet another bite in the ass, making this his third wound to the glutes since the series began.
Lisa Schmeiser is now hoping the season finale features Michael Chiklis dressed as Mae West, but will settle for a scene where Juice helps Gemma sign up for an eHarmony account. Tell her what you loved or loathed about the episode via Twitter.
The Jax Teller monologues are back! Come, let us thrill to the insights bubbling up inside the wine-dark mind of America's most sensitive biker:
"It's hard not to hate. People, things, institutions. They break your spirit and take pleasure in watching you bleed. Hate is the only thing that makes sense. But I know what hate does to a man: tears him apart, turns him into something he's not -- something he promised himself he'd never become. That's what I need to tell you: [I want] to let you know how hard I'm trying not to cave under the weight of all the awful things I feel in my heart. [During this we see Jax riding his bike alone at night, no "brothers" beside him.] Sometimes my life feels like a deadly balancing act, what I feel slamming up against what I should do. Impulsive reactions, racing to solutions, miles ahead of my brain [It is probably not a coincidence that this passage about acting before thinking was a VO on a scene of Gemma, having just bedded some anonymous woman, smoking a joint dazedly.] When I look at my day, I realize that most of it was spent cleaning up the damage of the day before. [And how appropriate that here we see Clay. Bee-tee-dubs, he's looking remarkably hale and healthy for a man who's not wearing his oxygen mask, and he's cleaning his impressive gun collection.] In that life, I have no future. All I have is distraction and remorse. [Hello, Tara! There you are!] I buried my best friend three days ago, and as cliché as this sounds, I left a part of me in that box -- a part I barely knew, a part I'll never see again. Every day is a new box, boys. You open it, you take a look at what's inside. You're the one who determines if it's a gift or a coffin."
So, is anyone else getting a bad feeling about whether or not Jax will be alive by the end of the series? Because so far, this season has underlined all the ways in which Jax is following in his dead dad's footsteps -- from the way he's leading the club to wearing his dad's wedding rings to writing his own manifesto about the perils of losing one's way.
ANYWAY. Jax has stopped writing because it's time to ruin his breakfast by taking it with Hale the Lesser. Jax, Bobby Elvis and Chibs ambush the mayor at his local greasy spoon. Hale opens with a casual mention of the home invasions he's sure have nothing to do with the town's friendly local biker gang. In reply, Jax manfully restrains himself from snickering at Hale's goatee or asking if this means he's dealing with Hale Prime from an alternate universe. Hale asks what Jax wants. Jax would like to lease the old Elks' Lodge for his escort service. Hale begins laughing: "You think I'm going to let you set up a prostitution ring in one of my properties?" Bobby Elvis drawls that it's very legit, as their partner has all the permits and licenses. Hale suggests that the Sons find another very legit property to rent. Jax says, "We like being in business with people we know." Hale blithely assures him that it's never going to happen, and that's when Jax lays down the plot for this week's caper: His exhaustive study of the minutes from the last six city council meetings have shown that the Charming Heights project is not only floundering, but also that Hale's in danger of losing all his land and having it revert back to agricultural use. There's a motion on the table that might permanently ice the project, and it depends on one swing vote. With the cheery demeanor of a car salesman, Jax says, "I know how important Charming Heights is to you, to this town. We're going to make your dream come true. I'll be in touch."
Then Jax is off to church, where he and the rest of the boys are prepping for another meeting, this one with Galen and the rest of the Real IRA. He identifies the stakes for this meeting -- "Make green and brown happy" -- and Clay plays underminer with, "It's currently black that concerns me." Cue the three former nomads playing the "me too" chorus, all, "Yeah! Because the home invasions and ... stuff. Nothing we would ever be involved in, no way. Clay 2012!"
Jax cools the nascent paranoia by pointing out, "We can't control what people think. Charming's love and hate swings back and forth on us. It always has." The Underminer speaks again with, "Be aware, son. As long as these attacks keep happening, the hate swings that far out ... never get the love back." Okay, I'm calling it now: Clay has been using the nomads to effect the home invasions for two reasons: First, it lets him manufacture a race-relations crisis he can exploit with some good, old-fashioned biker bigotry. Second, he was planning on putting a severe scare into Gemma and pulling the "I worry! I'll sleep in a spare room to protect you" act to worm his way back into Gemma's good graces and/or jeggings.
ANYWAY. Tig rises to Jax's defense, as per his agreement with Jax, and to his left, we see Chibs giving the nomads the "Brother, please" look. Greg the Peg asks if Tig's calling out the nomads, and Chibs leans forward to say, "Nah, what he's saying is that you, you and you don't know shit about our town." Which is an excellent way to put the nomads in their place. (Although here is something I'm curious about: Happy's a former member of the nomad charter who settled in Charming because he's a big old mama's boy. Wouldn't he have something to say to someone about the us v. them dynamics that are percolating with these guys?)
Jax effectively tells everyone this topic is dropped, CLAY. Chibs takes that as his cue to bring up the whole "So! There's an exit strategy with this whole coke mule thing, right?" line of inquiry and when another freakin' nomad gets shirty about it, Chibs points out, "We're down three brothers since this started," and Tig gets his back with, "Maybe you forgot about that little truck-burning incident? Happened out on 108?" This gives Jax the opportunity to be the cool, low voice of reason: Business with the cartel is lucrative, but terribly high-profile and high risk. So it's time to perform a cost-benefit analysis and redirect the club's energies according to the results. Speaking of places to redirect the club's energies, permit Bobby Elvis to introduce the newest business idea.
As Jax outlines the details of the proposal -- going into business with Nero and tapping the Caracara roster for the porn-star premium hookers. The Underminer asks what the money looks like. Jax says coolly, "Right now, I'm fronting the merger, but I want this to be a club business." "You trust this guy?" asks the Underminer. Jax grins a little before saying, "I do. He's straight-up about profit." Best of all, the money keeps them out of fed crosshairs. Jax says, "When it's up and running, take a look. You guys want in, we'll vote it." The Underminer says, "Why wait? Let's vote it now." So the table does, and it turns out everyone's in favor of moving into the companionator business.
Clay is the last to leave and Jax uses the opportunity to ask why he didn't get more resistance on SAMCRO's new business line. "Why? 'Cause your new partner's bedding my wife?" Clay asks. (Oh, he is so playing the Long Con to get Gemma back. I would bet cash money that the primary reason Clay took over the club was to keep Gemma.) Jax says, "That stops. That's wrong." Not because it's a troubling commentary on his mom and her coping skills, but because Jax has a healthy concern about Gemma's corrupting influence. As he should.
Speak of the she-devil, the minute the boys roll out of church, Gemma's swung over to ask Jax if he's maybe heard from Nero lately? Jax says, "Don't get attached to that. He's business, not pleasure." As Jax rolls off, Gemma ponders exactly what that is supposed to mean. (Confidental to GTM: It means Nero is a lot more interested in profits than in crazy middle-aged tail.)
Meanwhile, Gemma Junior is having a medical consult with the hand expert at St. Convenience, and she's learning that her hand is healing in a way that would be considered miraculous, were medicine based on folklore and strong belief in correlation equaling causation and not, say, reproducible results and evidence. Dr. Balian tells Tara that if he were her, he wouldn't rule out the possibility that she'll be able to resume her surgical career. Tara's somewhat nonplussed by this news. Her checkup is in six weeks -- let's see how long it takes before she permanently sabotages any chance of resuming a white collar, legitimate profession!
We're at the meet. Clay and Juice roll up in the truck -- which reminds me, doesn't Clay have to ride soon? What sort of distraction will he engineer to get around that? -- and Clay takes off the oxygen, telling a nervous Juice that so long as he doesn't have to dance, he'll be fine. He and Galen then greet each other warmly, Clay lies about how hale he is (OR DOES HE?) and then the awkward silence descends as Galen realizes Clay's no longer the HBIC. (That would be Head Biker In Charge.) Galen snots, "I wasn't aware there was an election," and Clay shrugs, "So long as I was incapacitated, I figured it was a good time to move Jax up. Nothing changes with us, though." Galen replies, "I hope that's true. Our seniority's earned, not sewn on with cheap thread." You know, for being Real Irish and all that, Galen seems to be missing the gift of Irish diplomacy, i.e. the ability to tell someone to go f*** themselves and have them enjoy the trip.
Jax steps forward and says, "We got some sort of beef, let's lay it on the table." Galen is all dismissive until Jax calls him out: "Grow some balls, you Irish prick. You got a problem with me, you tell me to my face." Galen does; he tells Jax, "I think you're arrogant, selfish and explosive. The wreckage you caused in Belfast got a man of God and one of my dearest friends killed ... Kellan Ashby took me out of the streets of Armagh, saved my life." Jax quips, "Right. Gave you a Catholic Blessing of the Blood? Made you a gangster of Christ?" Galen replies with a mean right hook, and after Jax recovers, he shouts, "All right! Now we're making progress!" Cue him taking off his rings -- this is the equivalent of a woman taking off her earrings before a brawl, a la Carla last week -- and Galen takes off his crisp button-down, and then the two proceed to bash at each other for quite a while. As this is going on, Romeo pulls up. He walks over to Clay and remarks, "I wasn't aware you were going to have entertainment. Is this going to be a problem?" Clay smirks, "It'll all end in Guinness and man-hugs." The two old-school thugs then resume watching with some amusement. And then, Jax lands the decisive blow.
Back in Charming, Chucky is delivering complimentary brownies to someone who looks like Divine without her makeup on. It's Councilman Allen, cross pin prominently displayed, and he soon accepts the gift. Chucky leaves the office and gives Tig -- who is waiting outside in a van -- a thumbs up.
Back at the meetup, everyone rolls into the barn to talk business. Both Galen and Jax look surprisingly healthy for men who were pummeling each other bloody one scene back. Luis waves around a giant wad of cash in the exchange-of-money portion of events, and Romeo spells out new business terms. Everyone's cool with it. Galen asks of Romeo, "Don't you want to check your hardware first?" Romeo doesn't feel as if he needs to, but Galen insists. There's a BFG set up inside the barn, and Galen then uses it to blow the beejesus out of several of Sons' bikes. While Chibs is going ape, Jax just watches Romeo, who is watching Galen and looking disapproving as only Danny Trejo can. After Galen stops shooting, Jax shrugs, "Well, now you know what they can do. Way to close the deal, brother." He saunters out of the barn, stopping only to call over his shoulder, "We'll send you a bill for the bikes." And that is how you refute the charges that you're a hothead. Let the other guy prove he is instead, then giggle at him.
up: a visit to the good councilman, who is unconscious from the roofie'd brownies. Tig is leaning against the man all casual-like, and he tells Chucky, Jax, Chibs, Juice and Happy, "I think he even licked the box." The councilman is expected to be out for four hours. Bobby Elvis asks quickly, "Are you sure we want to do this? It's a risky bet on a horse we hate," and while I am unclear on what "this" is, if prior seasons of Sons of Anarchy have taught us anything, it's that Jax excels at crafting and carrying out long-term plays. Jax says as much: "Come on, man. This is for the long game, brother. First bite of the apple's got to be tasty." Bobby chuckles and says, "I hope you're right." And now, it's the SAMCRO equivalent of clobberin' time.
Gemma has decided to do a little detective work, because Nero not answering her calls surely has everything to do with her and nothing to do with the fact that his lease was up in a week and he's scrambling for his business. She totters into the Best Little Cathouse in Charming, which is down to a bunch of moving boxes (exactly what is there to --? You know, nobody answer that.) and the bad black-and-white photos on the walls. Hilariously, the escorts are moving the boxes in full miniskirt-and-heels ensembles. As Nero comes out, he asks brusquely, "You lost? What are you doing here?" Gemma is all, "You didn't caaaaaaaaaall," and Nero uses the brothel's imminent shutdown as an excuse for dodging Gemma. She then asks where Carla is, and Nero says, "Hopefully healing someplace. Carla's got her demons. She's a complicated girl." Gemma gets that. She apologizes for Carla's beatdown, then justifies it with, "She almost got Jax killed. Tara went a little medieval on her." You know, I am sure Nero and Gemma could exchange who-wronged-whom arguments all day, so let's skip to the main point of this scene: Nero sucks at dumping women, which is somewhat surprising for someone who's a pimp, and his suckitude enables Gemma to discern that Jax is the one who provided Nero with the incentive to end things. Also, I hate Gemma's chunky blonde streaks. They add ten years to her appearance. That and the severe eyeliner. Gemma needs a makeunder.
So it turns our that Jax's first step in the long game is to dress up the unconscious councilman in bondage gear and take photos of him. then Chucky announces, "We got something coming," and opens the door to six feet of Venus Van Dam. She would not be out of place on RuPaul's Drag Race for a wide variety of reasons. (Also, the IMDb nerd in me loves that Walton Goggins is playing this role because his co-owner in Ginny Mule Pictures is Ray McKinnon -- whom you will all remember as Lincoln Potter of last season -- and McKinnon has already donned a fetching Coldwater Creek ensemble, so why shouldn't both partners in Ginny Mule get a chance to feel pretty?)
ANYWAY. Tig is instantly smitten. Jax thanks Venus for coming, and she interrupts, "Not yet, baby. You gotta eat dinner 'fore you have your dessert." Cut to Bobby and Chibs exchanging looks all, Lord, save me from sassy transvestite prostitutes. Anyway, Tig is behaving as though he had a magnet in his pelvis and Venus was made of iron filings, but Venus is charmingly focused on business: She will be helping SAMCRO take blackmail pictures for the bargain price of $2000. Venus then asks what she's supposed to do, and Jax says, "Ride him a little, some other stuff. He's not going to remember a thing." "Unfortunately, I will," Venus huffs. She then asks for the powder room, and a twitterpated Tig hands over her bag and offers to give her a hand. Venus leans forward and whispers, "It's not going to happen, Tiger."
(Note: This was the point where Mr. sobell began snickering, and in between giggles, "Raylan ... I'm imagining him talking to Raylan like that ... a crossover needs to happen. 'Now, Raylan, just because I found my feminine side does not mean we need to act at cross purposes.'" We are big Justified fans in this house.)
Anyway, Tig takes a yearning step or two in Venus's wake and he's physically stopped by Juice, who cocks an eyebrow and asks, "Really?" Tig sort of shrugs and that moment made the episode for me. So many thanks to Twitter superstar Amyanxiety for pointing me to the gif of that shining moment.
Meanwhile, in the parking lot of the SAMCRO clubhouse, Clay is sitting with two sheriff's deputies, waiting for Gemma. He is delighted to report that the sheriffs busted a van full of African-American men with a van full of stolen goods and, why, it just might be tied to the home invasion! So Clay and Gemma simply have to go down to the station together to check out the stuff. Before Gemma peels out -- alone -- she agrees to take a box to Jax that, according to Filthy Phil, "someone dropped off, said it was real important."
We're back in the councilman's office. Someone has taped his eyelids open, and Venus is riding him like she's on a merry-go-round as Juice snaps photos. Both Jax and Bobby are providing art direction/constantly snapping at an infatuated Tig to get out of the shots. In the background, both Happy and Chibs look like they're attempting out-of-body experiences. The merriment screeches to an abrupt halt when the councilman's stepson Devin comes into the office.
Callow though he may be, Devin is not dumb. Within seconds, he has figured out that his town's motorcycle gang is blackmailing his stepfather -- and he is totally down with that. "Allen is a total dick, man," he explains. Venus pipes up, "How old are you, sugar?" Devin claims he's 21. Venus sashays over and coos, "I do like them young and sweet." Devin gasps, "Dude, you're like a dude." Note that he did not say, "No." Venus flutters, "Didn't your daddy teach you, 'Never judge a book by its penis?' Now, have you ever had your dick sucked by a Southern girl with a huge cock?" Surprisingly, Devin has not. As Venus mashes Devin's face into her formidable cleavage, she promises, "Baby, you are in for a treat. I will make you come so hard, it'll make your grandmama wet." Proving he was absent the day his English teacher covered "hyperbole" in school, Devin gasps that his grandmother is dead.
Jax helpfully adds that getting a blowjob from a transvestite does not make you gay, concluding, "We've all been there." Everyone mutters their concurrence, and Juice adds thoughtfully, "A lot of cock..." Devin squeaks, "Really? All you guys?" "Two dicks," Chibs deadpans, helpfully miming the particulars. Venus persuades Devin to put on a blindfold and wait for him. Devin chortles all the way to the back of the office. Once he's gone, Venus is all business: "I suggest you clean up Tubby while I get some photos of this very disenchanted little boy." Jax looks like he's halfway to Tig levels of gratitude as he says, "That would be very helpful." It's about another $2000 worth of helpful. Before she heads to the back, Venus asks of Tig, "You jealous, Tiger?" "Kind of," he says. "I know you are. Ha!" Venus exults, and sashays back to turn Devin's morning into the 2012 remix of "Lola."
On the straight side of town, Roosevelt is enjoying a meal in his office with his wife Rita and it's adorable up to the point where it's interrupted by him having to watch Clay and Gemma picking through photos of other people's stuff. He and Rita idly gossip about Clay and Gemma's disintegrating relationship and Rita gets in a nice zinger about the similarities between outlaw life and law enforcement life. Then it's time for Roosevelt to get back to work, so he kisses Rita goodbye, then kisses her stomach, which is the TV shorthand for "PREGNANT LADY AHOY." You will recall that there was a single scene last year at the hospital where it was established that these two were seeking medical assistance in having children, so this is obviously a much-yearned-for pregnancy. Uh-oh.
On her way out of the office, Rita catches Gemma's eye and the two horticultural groupies exchange cordial nods. Then Roosevelt comes over to ask Clay and Gemma if anything in the van was theirs. Not so far, but if a silver teapot's up for the taking, Gemma would like dibs. Roosevelt is all, Oh, ha, ha, until the moment he's distracted by two no-doubt-pertinent pieces of information: the young men in holding are from Damon Pope's fiefdom (East-Dub), and they're busy beating up a screw. I smell set-up.
Back at the councilman's office, Venus saunters out in her sassy wrap dress, hands over a smartphone to Jax, and sits down to reapply her lippy. Jax says to the dazed Devin, "So let me tell you how this goes: You go home, you tell no one about any of this. 'Cause if you do, your stepdad ain't going to be the only one with a new photo album." Devin is shocked -- shocked! -- that the same biker gang who is blackmailing his stepdad with a transvestite hooker might do the same to him. Why, it's an extra-mean thing to do because Devin adores SAMCRO and would love to hang around them. This does not get the rapturous response Devin had hoped for. More to the point, Chibs cordially invites him to come by on Saturday morning and clean up the river of filth that everyone leaves in the bathroom on a Friday night.
Well, Venus thought the day was delightful. She stands up and carols, "Whenever y'all need a little Venus love, give me a call. I'm the belle who does not tell." Then she plants one on Jax (he wipes his mouth discreetly), gropes Tig's bottom for good luck (he watches her go like a lovesick swain), and saunters out of the episode. I sincerely hope she'll be back. And I hope she brings a friend who shares Timothy Olyphant's magnificent bone structure.
Anyway, the boys are busy trying to get the councilman back behind his desk when he suddenly comes to and, for reasons known only to himself and his God, sinks his teeth into Tig's backside. This is the third glute-related injury Tig has suffered since the show began: there was the dog bite in Season One, the bullet courtesy of Gemma's dad in Season Three, and now a human bite. By Season Seven, Kurt Sutter's going to have to contrive a plausible situation involving rabid bunnies.
Cut to Tig stretched, prone, on a tarp, smoking a joint while Chibs pats his shoulder. Tara exclaims, "Jesus Christ!" in disgust. Girl, I say that every time I look at your tacky-ass Clairol "Paint these frosted highlights yourself" hairdo. Anyway, she claims that she'll be able to stitch him up, which is right when Jax remembers that Tara had an appointment that day, and he asks if the new cast is good news. "More mobility," Tara says glumly, and it does not escape Jax's notice that her head's not in the game. As Tara heads off to do the clubhouse version of scrubbing in, Bobby leans over and quietly tells Jax that the boys will help Tara. The idea of a bunch of hairy, filthy bikers poking around Tig's open wound fills nobody with any alarm whatsoever.
Jax takes a break from getting things done to field his angry mother. Gemma is worked up about Nero calling it quits, and tries to cudgel Jax with his daddy issues, but it backfires when Jax points out, "You're connected to that back history [with JT] and Clay, and maybe I am having a little trouble separating my hate." Gemma says, "You can't hate me, Jackson. You're the only thing I still love." This will be news to Tara and the boys, no doubt. Jax tells Gemma to keep it in her pants, and if she wants to be useful, go try to pull Tara's head together before she accidentally sews Tig's cheeks together.
Cut to Tara's hands shaking badly. This does not pass unnoticed by either Gemma -- oh, great, another disease vector in the OR -- or Chibs, and Chibs gently, tactfully, asks Tara if he could tag in. (Remember: he was a medic in the Irish army before being mustered out.) Tara accepts, and Tig puts on his specs and leans forward to begin making stitches. Gemma leans over to ask Tig how he's doing and he slurs, "I don't know if it's good or bad, but I am totally hard right now." Oh, Tig. Nobody does comedic polymorphous perversity like you do.
And now, Jax goes to Charming's mayor and presents him with a moral dilemma: Is Hale the kind of man who is willing to resort to blackmail and consorting with thugs to get his dream of Charming Heights? Oh, who are we kidding? Grinning like the devil on a blind date, Jax promises that he can set up the whole thing so it never touches Hale. And, he adds, "I can also get you a new investor -- one of the biggest developers in Oakland." And this is pretty much when I realized that Jax's entire season three arc -- where he was ostensibly "betraying" the club yet was really engineering a set-up in which the club evened things up with the Irish, got the legal deal they wanted and got Stahl killed in the process -- was just a warm-up for whatever is going to play between now and the rest of the series. Jax's developer is Damon Pope, and him bringing in the man he considers to be Opie's murderer means that Jax has an endgame in mind that will ruin both Hale and Pope. I cannot wait to see how this plays out!
"It's all about being in business with the right people," Jax tells the mayor. "Whether you like it or not, there is no-one in this town who can help you more than me." There. The King has stated his authority. Let's see how he plans to topple his enemies.
Tara heads into Jax's office, where Gemma is waiting. The older woman knows the younger is beating herself up and says tiredly, "Well, we all got a lot of healing to do." Tara finds herself drawn to Gemma and sits down to her to admit, "The thing that happened with Carla in the garage ... I didn't tell Jax." "I didn't think you would," said Gemma. Tara says, "It scares me sometimes, the extremes." Gemma replies, not unkindly, "Not a lot of gray in this life, sweetheart. Extremes become average." Tara says, "I'm not sure I find that comforting." "You're not supposed to," Gemma replies. She reaches out to stroke Tara's hair, then leaves. Those two! It is fascinating how much they need each other and how much they resent that need.
Clay's back at the sheriff's office, where we learn that the beating these guys gave the CO was enough to land them in county. Also, the photos of the stolen goods turned up via anonymous email. Anyway, Clay takes in the news that the gentlemen are no longer in his zip code and says, "The further away from Charming, the better." Roosevelt -- who is, you will recall, not unmindful of SAMCRO's rich history of racism -- merely says, "That's right," through narrowed eyes. (Personally, I would be surprised if this was Clay's doing. I suspect Pope's looking for an angle to the home invasions to exploit.)
And now, speaking of home invasions, guess who's been targeted? Rita's at home dozing on the bed -- providing television's only realistic portrayal of the first trimester, when a woman's new favorite hobbies include things like "napping" and "sleeping sixteen hours out of every twenty-four, if possible." Anyway, Rita may be dozy from the hard work of building a placenta, but she's smart enough to have 911 on the line and she manages to get a good claw to the neck in before one of the guys shoots her in the torso. By the by, all the home invaders look to be of anglo-saxon descent, and at least one of them sounds vaguely nomad-ish. And now, I sincerely hope that the rest of SAMCRO learns what these meatheads are doing and extracts some horribly colorful SAMCRO-style vengeance.
Across town, Gemma's swung by the Teller-Knowles estate to drop off the box she promised Phil she'd deliver. Disappointingly, the boys are asleep. But Tara calls, "It's almost time to feed Thomas. I'm kind of tired." Gemma recognizes the peace offering and takes the bottle with thanks. Tara watches her go, looking oddly triumphant. Then, after Gemma's settled with the baby, we see that "kind of tired" is a euphemism for "about to get her smoke on."
Cut to Roosevelt holding Rita's hand as the emergency personnel rush her into the O.R. He has the presence of mind to ask for the skin underneath her fingernails.
Hey, guess who's now leasing the old Elks' Lodge? Jax hands over three months' deposit from his car window and asks the mayor, "I'm guessing I should move forward on securing Charming Heights?" In his car, the mayor sighs and nods. The way that shot is framed, with Jax's face floating in darkness, it really does look like he's there to tempt Hale from the path of moral certitude. And granted, it's not like Hale wasn't already sauntering off the path, but it's a lovely visual for how Jax must appear to the people who neither know him nor love him.
Jax then heads home. Tara's passed out on the couch, having managed to not set anything on fire or, even more miraculously, make the place stink like a college town head shop. Jax tenderly tucks a blanket around her shoulders. Then he finds his mom passed out on the futon in Thomas's room, Thomas in her arms, and he smiles. Jax caresses his son, then covers up his mother.
Pleased with his ability to tend the ones he loves after a long, hard, ultimately productive day, Jax heads into the kitchen for a drink. After chugging some milk straight from the carton, he notices the box on the table and opens it up. And inside? A thumb and a breast, both brutal reminders that every time Jax takes a step forward, he's still dragging the messes of ever prior day with him.
Lisa Schmeiser is now hoping the season finale features Michael Chiklis dressed as Mae West, but will settle for a scene where Juice helps Gemma sign up for an eHarmony account. Tell her what you loved or loathed about the episode via Twitter.