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So this episode starts off with a bizarre accidental killing of a hooker, and spirals from there.
Seriously: Patterson comes to visit Toric at his motel room the morning after his celebratory romp with the Diosa Norte gal and this kind of surprise – being sprung as it is upon a revenge-crazed drug addict who happens to lounge about in a speedo and accessorize with a silencer-equipped gun – ends with Toric gut-shooting the escort by mistake and then head-shooting her because she won't stop complaining about being gutshot. Fortunately, dead escorts come in handy when you decide to frame an innocent man for murder, as Toric does to Nero by the end of the episode. (He really believes in using all parts of the hooker.)
Jax tries to lean on Roosevelt to remind him that hey, Clay's in jail only because Roosevelt went along with the "Look! A gun that is Clay's! Surely it is the same one used to kill Pope!" ruse from last season, but Roosevelt's all, "I fail to see how not bringing in the Las Vegas CSIs to whizz about with special effects and find the real killer makes Clay Morrow's ongoing existence my problem." And Jax realizes that when it comes to manipulating law enforcement officials, there's actually precious little he can do here because "Well, Clay Morrow set up his wife's murder and the sheriff got sloppy with an investigation later" is not that easily provable, especially if the witnesses who can support that allegation are documented informant Juice and aggrieved ex Gemma.
Then Jax goes to talk to Clay who is still, in Gemma's words, puking sorrow everywhere. Jax is unmoved by Clay's apologies and by Clay's matter-of-fact pronouncement that this is his way of settling things before he's killed in gen-pop. After Clay's done talking, Jax addresses the one-way mirror and monologues at Toric about the wrath that will rain down if Toric continues to mess with Tara. Toric appears unmoved, mostly because Jax preening and strutting about vengeance is a lot less impressive than being a dope-addled revenge fiend with a temporary law enforcement badge.
(As if to reinforce this, Toric leaves the jail and talks to Nero's crew, if by "talks," you mean "uses their mouths as bottle openers in a truly horrifying scene." Surprisingly, taking out someone's teeth with a bottle of Tecate does not make them more inclined to tell you things like, "We let Darveny and Arcadio out the back door last week and they still haven't come back.")
In "plotlines to keep an eye on, part one," Tara is apparently pregnant, and has told Jax (whom she plans on divorcing, remember?) and Gemma (whom she is hoping to legally bar from guardianship of her children, remember?). I am hoping that this is a ruse meant to make both Gemma and Jax assume that the pregnancy will prompt Tara to reconsider her family commitments and drop the legal shenanigans.
And in "plotlines to keep an eye on, part two," Wendy comes to the club ostensibly seeking Jax, but gets diverted by Gemma and spins to her former mother-in-law a story about getting attacked by a fellow recovering addict at a meeting. Wendy says she's worried about being stalked by this guy, so Gemma gives her a gun with the registration number filed off. But! At the end of the episode, we see Wendy wiping off the "bruise" she showed Gemma, so who knows what her long con is. All I can figure is that it involves setting herself up as something Gemma can find valuable later.
Other plots being set in motion this season: Jax and Robocop team up in the weekly caper to wipe out the Gehnazi brothers' presence in Stockton for once and for all; there's some tension there, however. When Jax goes to visit Colette at the end of the episode for any one of a number of reasons, he walks in on Colette pistoning away atop Robocop, which bums him out to no end.
Also, Clay ends up alive. And how, you ask, did this happen? He makes a deal with the Pope Squad: start a brawl in the yard and shiv a white supremacist, and live to rat another day. While I have no great love for this character, I do enjoy that his continued existence gives Jax and Gemma headaches.
Finally: Jax hands Tig over to the Pope organization, presumably so he can be flame-broiled in a circle-of-death callback to how his daughter was murdered. Since The Great Juice Fakeout of '11 taught me that nobody on this show is dead until you see them being dumped in an unmarked grave, I'm saving my "Noooooooooooooo!" until the episode opens with Tig's head in a box (and even then, that's no guarantee of death). But I am perfectly comfortable coming to the conclusion that Jax handing over a brother is something that nobody in SAMCRO would ever be cool with. He better hope nobody ever finds out, hmmm?
Lisa Schmeiser is an Oakland-adjacent reporter, editor and blogger. She regularly tweets here, blathers about comics here, and posts the oddball personal piece of writing here.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!As the episode begins, District Attorney Patterson is giving a voice-over about school shooter Matthew Jennings’ journal and how a year ago, people were warning that he needed help. This is relevant because she’s saying this as Jax writes in his journal while snuggling Thomas. This show’s always been about how sons struggle to escape their father’s darker legacies, so what better way to point out how high the stakes are for wee Thomas than by underlining what kind of world his father is making for him?
Tara’s in the kitchen, wearing another outfit that does nothing for her -- awful black suede tall boots, poorly fitting jeans, a poorly fitting hoodie -- and brooding as Abel eats his Fruit Loops without making a mess.
Then we transition to a very nice, mostly empty basilica. Gemma’s sitting in the back, clearly waiting to be burned by a stray drop of holy water, and rolling her eyes as Nero goes into confession.
We go to the motel where Toric is staying and see that his outcall date has lasted all night. I sincerely hope there’s an extra fee tacked on for that; one of the perks of having a customer service job is usually that you can go home afterward. Toric, on the other hand, is wide awake. Of course he is, on account of being a nutcase.
Let us dispense with the Bobby Elvis business up front. He is still on a quest to find a fourth member for his little side project: Operation Screw You, I’m Going Nomad, and he’s going to succeed. I will care about this plot line only when it finally gets to the point where it looks like Bobby actually challenges Jax’s leadership, or when it gets to the point where it looks like everyone who had "Bobby Elvis = Fortinbras" in the Sons of Hamletarchy pool is in danger of collecting.
Once the opening montage is done, Patterson gets down to business. She is not pleased with the Stockton PD for misplacing both Darveny and Arcadio, and barely refrains from rolling her eyes after the policeman she’s grilling says he had to release the two Byz-Lats who were hanging around the premises claiming they have no idea where Darveny and Arcadio went. But she does get an idea for how to use Toric.
Gemma and Nero leave the basilica, with Gemma making it abundantly clear she doesn’t represent the seal of the confessional. Nero explains, "Look, I don’t know if it works. I guess I’ve been doing it for so long, I’m afraid of how bad it gets if I stop." Gemma can respect that reasoning much more than "I believe in the Baltimore Catechism and I find personal and societal value in the institution of organized religion," and now that she no longer fears Nero attempting to baptize her while she does the dishes, she can apologize for making fun of Nero’s meaningful personal ritual. "You’re a good man," she says, and it’s not clear whether the unease beneath those words is because she doesn’t think Nero believes her. Or because she has no idea how to act around someone whose moral code isn’t written in invisible ink.
Toric is sitting in his black bikini briefs and black socks -- since we haven’t gotten enough clues that he ain’t right in the head -- and scrolling through a smartphone while Erin the escort showers. He hears a noise outside, so he grabs his gun and peers out the room’s window to investigate. About ten seconds later, he has cause to regret his choice in accessories. Erin comes up to ask what he’s doing, and the spooked Toric -- perhaps jittery because DA Patterson’s outside and it’s always awkward introducing your escort to your boss -- turns around and accidentally shoots Erin in the stomach. She is, understandably, upset about this and refuses to go along with his plan to shush, so Toric feels he has no choice but to cram a pillow over her shush-hole and shoot her in the head. He does apologize while he’s busy shooting her.
After the credits roll, Toric’s getting dressed and he does not invite Patterson inside to speak with her. Instead, they meet in the blazing sun, right in front of the door. Patterson would like to know why Toric didn’t mention anything about Tara Knowles, who has since come up in the morning briefings. Uh-oh…
Toric says, "I spoke with her. She’s towing the family line." Patterson correctly points out, "She’s a surgeon facing manslaughter. No room to push there?" (Or no room to push on the "Your small children will be raised by the same woman who bred the murderous father of your children while you’re doing time?" angle? Must I do everything for you, guys?).
Toric shrugs that the reality of jail time hasn’t set in yet and argues, "Morrow was burned by the club and now he’s facing a yard full of shivs. He’s our best play." Patterson hands over a folder all, "All right then… get him to sign that agreement to turn state’s evidence." She also adds "Find Darveny and Arcadio" to his to-do list. Here’s hoping Toric’s brand of barking madness has given the olfactory acuteness of a corpse-sniffing dog. He’ll need it.
Toric is delighted by this turn of events, because he can tie Arcadio to Nero, then ties Nero to Jax Teller and the rest of SAMCRO. Patterson listens to what is really the felonious analogue to the Farmer in the Dell : Arcadio works for Nero, Arcadio works for Nero, heigh ho, the Byz-Lats know that Arcado works for Nero/ Nero works with Jax, Nero works with Jax, heigh-ho, the OGs know, that Nero works with Jax/ Jax runs the club, Jax runs the club, heigh-ho, the U.S. knows that Jax runs the club/ the club sells the guns, the club sells the guns, heigh-ho the RICO shows the club sells the guns. Then she says, "Fine, work on Clay, get me Arcadio and Darveny, you’re on the team, only not in some many words because I need plausible deniability if you rogue."
Speaking of the badasses of law, San Joaquin edition, Roosevelt’s returned to the screen! Jax rolls in to see him and asks bluntly, “What’s happened with Clay? He summoned me to county." "Talk to his public defender," Roosevelt replies coolly. I love this because Roosevelt is basically drawing boundaries and saying to Jax, "Don’t confuse my compliance with one bullshit crime scene with me being your Unser 2.0.” Jax tries to impart how serious this is and asks if Toric’s behind this. Roosevelt allows that "I heard the marshal’s been pulling in some serious favors to keep Clay whole and away from Pope’s kill squad. He also paid a visit to Tara inside. He also processed her arrest … [He wants] something to crush the guys that murdered his sister." Jax attempts to reel Roosevelt in one more time with, "I guess you can relate. Same hate you got for Clay killing your wife." Roosevelt smacks him back with, "I’m not involved here." Jax leaves.
Hey, did you need any more sign that Toric’s a creepy mofo? How about a scene where he gets ready for the day while Erin’s body cools in the tub?
We’re at Teller Morrow Motors. Tara’s lost the hoodie and that only makes the outfit worse, because it’s another unflattering tank top with a tacky lace racer back. She’s getting a lot of lace this season: I wonder if it’s supposed to allude to her increasingly shredded life? We have established that Kelli Jones is pretty much a genius who doesn’t do anything by accident, so the fact that Tara can’t pull together a decent ensemble has to signal something, like discomfort in the role she’s trying to play or a complete abandonment of good sense or something.
ANYWAY. Unser comes over to help Tara with Thomas’s bucket seat and offers to play with Abel. Tara chit-chats a bit about Unser’s living situation, and he says, "Spending my twilight years living in a parking lot to a used oil bin? It’s what I dreamed of since I was a boy." Tara gives him a genuinely sympathetic smile, and Unser asks, "How you doing? You getting through this?" " No choice, right?" Tara replies. Unser assures her, "You’re going to be okay, sweetheart." Tara watches a crow-eater push her son on a swing and says, "It’s not about me anymore." Gemma pulls up and once he’s hopped out of her SUV, Tara asks for babysitting so she can run to St. How Has A Board Not Pulled Your License Yet and get her hand checked out. She quips she hurt it again "making friends the Gemma way." Tara, with all due respect: become ambidextrous. Tara adds, "[The boys] missed you." " That’s nice to know," Gemma says softly. As Tara walks off, Unser cautions Gemma, "That’s a very worried mother." "She’s got no idea," Gemma clucks.
And now, the scene that launched a thousand promo clips: Jax is sitting down with Clay in a visiting room at county. Clay launches into his heartfelt monologue and Jax cuts him off with, "I’m not buying the mea culpa. What did you give the marshal for [protective custody]." Clay says, "I promised I’d give up the club if he’d let me see you and Gemma." Jax seethes over this and Clay continues, "I just want you to know that I’m sorry. For all of it." Instead of asking, "Even the parts where you killed my dad and put a hit out on my wife?" Jax merely asks if Clay’s shedding the guilt before he turns state’s evidence. Clay claims he won’t turn, and he’s at peace with knowing he’s about to be turned into a flesh doily by Pope’s squad. Anyway, he’s done talking with Jax.
However, since Jax is stewing, he has to let it out somewhere, so he monologues at the one-way window where he presumes (correctly) that Toric is standing: "I’m sorry for your sister. I can feel how personal this is for you. But SAMCRO didn’t kill her. Otto acted alone. He’s not a member anymore. He’s just a broken guy, more than a few blocks from sane. I don’t give a shit what you do to [Clay], but if you try to come after my wife, try to tie her to this murder, you’re going to feel how personal this is for me." Then Jax goes… because he knows how to make an exit.
Toric comes into the visiting room and makes one last pitch for Clay to sign the dang agreement already. "You are too smart to go down like this," he says, and then reminds him that everything in his life had set him up and betrayed him. Clay doesn’t even dignify any of that with a response. Toric gets in his last word: "I can’t help but see the irony in this. You’ve gotten away with how many kills in the past 30 years? And the one that gets you the death sentence is the one you didn’t do."
When Jax rolls into T-M, he asks Gemma where Tara is because "I need to ask her something," then gives his mom the barest outline on his visit with Clay. We transition to him at the head of the table in church, telling the scant handful of remaining guys, "Clay swears he didn’t give Toric anything." There’s a brief sidebar on how they’ll find out whether or not Clay was lying by whether or not he’s still standing after he’s transferred to Stockton. Jax says, "Either way, this marshal is still a problem. I got no doubt he’s made the Byz-Lat connection to the school shooting." Happy points out, "We’re laying low on guns. Byz-Lat ties are buried." Happy should know – he dug Arcadio and Darveny’s grave in the last episode. Jax points out that the marshal is both persistent and bonkers, and since the club is intimately acquainted with that brand of crazy (Agent Stahl, anyone? Real IRA, anyone?), he knows from experience this is going to be an issue.
So everyone agrees to pretend they’re law-abiding citizens until the moment they get an opportunity to kill Toric. Then it’s time to set up act II of this episode and make a nod to other developments: Everyone save Filthy Phil is off to Stockton to stand around while Jax signs paperwork for the Diosa expansion into the Best Little Exquisite Craftsman Whorehouse in Stockton. Filthy Phil is expected to work in the garage with the prospects because "we’re falling behind." (I hope we get a montage set to upbeat 1980s music showing Rat and Filthy Phil repairing a fleet of Acuras and then high-fiving one another). And Juice gets a line! He suggests bringing Bobby up to speed, and Jax is like, "Text him already." Chibs suggests that Jax needs to be the one who does it, and Jax is all, "If Bobby would like to know what’s going on in his club, he is cordially invited to sit his hairy rear at this table and listen like the rest of you."
You know, in my spare time I’ve been watching The Hollow Crown and one of the things that stands out in those plays is how rulers are almost always undone by some petty decision they make out of pride, spite or spiteful pride. Maybe I’ve drunk too much of the "THIS IS THE GOLDEN AGE OF QUALITY TELEVISION! WE HAVE MADE BURNT OFFERINGS OF ANTIHEROES UNTO THE GODS OF NARRATIVE AND THEY ARE WELL PLEASED WITH OUR SLAVISH DEVOTIONS TO MINUTIAE AND CONTINUITY" kool-aid, but I think that this is what we will later think of as a defining moment in whatever is building between Jax and Bobby.
Oh God, it’s a torture scene. Guess who’s doing the torture? If you answered "Toric," then four Byz-Lat teeth are your prize! There are plenty for all of you, on account of Toric using the jawlines of two guys as impromptu bottle openers. The worst part of this scene? The crunchy little noises that issue forth as Toric uses the beer bottle to pop off people’s teeth. Also, I hope we’re all clear that he’s crazy and violent, yes?
Wendy pulls into T-M and Gemma’s all, "I got this." Unser agrees to watch the kids. As Wendy gets out, I want to point out how, again, Kelli Jones is a genius. Both Tara and Wendy are wearing black high-heeled boots, skin-tight jeans and a tank top. But where Tara got all the details wrong (the boots are suede wedges, which work best when you’re channeling Stevie Nicks; the jeans are cut all wrong for her figure; the tank top makes her look dumpy, which is the exact opposite of how Maggie Siff is built), Wendy’s working a chic, tough look. The boots are feminine, the jeans look great on her and her tank top – a solid gray number that’s a little loose – only makes her look cool in a tough-girl way. We can take this outfit as Wendy having an instinctual understanding of the outlaw dress code, or we can take it as Wendy being in a much better place than Tara psychologically and dressing the part.
Wendy and Gemma meet and Wendy asks to meet Jax, because she was assaulted by someone in a 12-step meeting and now she’s all freaked out. Gemma looks at the bruise on Wendy’s neck and gets all mother hen, because nothing makes Gemma feel more in control of a situation than being God’s Righteous Mother toward someone. (Sidebar: I am fascinated by how Gemma revels in using motherly behavior both as a safe channel for showing empathy and compassion AND as a way to exert her dominance over someone else. There is a master’s thesis to be written on whether she’d be like this if she had been born in the era of "Free To Be You And Me" as compared to the 1950s. End sidebar). Gemma promises to talk to Jax for Wendy. Wendy, who appears quite rattled, is softly grateful and as she goes, Gemma calls out, "Look, why don’t you come by the house today after I get off work," and then pulls Wendy in for a back-patting hug. "It’s going to be okay," she promises.
We’re back at Barofsky’s upscale bakery, because all the best shady business meetings take place over scones, and Nero is explaining the licensing process for taking Best Little Exquisite Craftsman Whorehouse in Stockton semi-legit. Jax points out that city inspections will happen early and often, and that Nero will be providing useful guidance for passing those. "Girls gotta be willing to do things by the book, though," Nero warns. Colette says with a smile, "They know. I run a very conservative house." So no access to birth control, then? (Ba-da-bump!) Jax says, "We like pussy that slants a little to the right?" and right as Colette begins to coquette in his general direction, a spray of gunfire interrupts the meeting and everyone dives for the floor. Fortunately, only the extras are hurt.
We zip to the clean-up (it’s good to have friends in law enforcement, as Barofsky’s got uniforms and an ambulance on the scene) and we learn that Amir Ghenazi is behind this. You will remember that he and his brother -- who met his end in a bathtub of urine -- were basically torture porn’s answer to the Coen Brothers, and SAMCRO shut them down after Lyla got burned. "I thought that was ended," Jax says of the angry Ghenazi, and Barofsky replies, "So did I. Anything I should know?" Jax looks over at Tig and you can see the thought bubble reading "Guy who has an established habit of accidentally killing the wrong guy + unsupervised time with a Ghenazi brother + angry other Ghenazi brother = DAMMIT, TIG." Nero provides an alternate explanation: "You stole his money and his drugs, trashed his studio … That could have stirred up some bad feelings." Barofsky decides it’s time to talk to Ghenazi to see what his damage is, provided the guy hasn’t set sail for the Caspian sea. I enjoy how Barofsky’s quips are factually accurate (the Caspian sea is bordered by Iran on one side) and I hope Peter Weller’s having a good time with this character.
Anyway, we’re off to the docks. Colette’s going to hang at the bakery, and Jax asks if she needs a ride back to her place, just to be safe. Barofsky says his guys have it, but Jax asks Juice to hang out and keep an eye on Colette. (Oooh, someone’s got a crush). Barofsky snaps, “Am I talking to myself or what?” and Nero defuses the dick-swinging tension by joking that Barofsky’s pet corrupt cops might actually get a real police call, so it’s good to have backup. “Don’t fight over me, boys. My daddy says I’m not worth it,” quips Colette, because you can’t have a TV hooker without deep-seated daddy issues, and we close the scene on Juice looking worried.
Meanwhile, Toric is lying to Patterson about why Clay has not yet signed the affidavit. However, Toric is not entirely untruthful when he says, "I did chat with the two Byz-Lats. They couldn’t say much. They’re both protecting Nero Padilla. He’s the way to tie the MC to the gun." Patterson says, "I checked him out. O.G.’s been living clean. There’s nothing outstanding." Toric then decides to kill two escorts with one gun: "I hear he’s brutal with his girls. We’ll need to run a check on all his escorts. See if any have something they may want to trade." Patterson looks at him all, Anything to hang out with hookers, huh? says, "Do it." Then she makes him sign some papers that will, in theory, "cover my ass in case you go rogue."
The Diosa consortium (i.e. Nero, Barofsky and Jax) pull up to the docks where the Dayoos is docked. Nero cracks, "I forgot how much work this is. Active duty. Very few straight lines, eh?" Is it too much to hope that Nero is having second thoughts about his association with Gemma and the club? Anyway, it shakes out that Barofsky and Jax decide to make a "social call." It's more dick-swinging between those two, which leads me to suspect that Barofsky’s got feelings of some sort for Colette, and then the two go down to meet Amir Ghenazi at his boat.
Barofsky calls out, "Hey, Amir, we just want to talk, figure out what the beef is." Amir speaks quietly with one of the people to him, then demands Jax and Barofsky toss their guns in a nearby box. They do, then board Dayoos . Chibs and company watch with some misgiving.
Once inside the boat -- which sports spotless white floor-to-floor fur rugs -- there’s a frank exchange of opinions where Amir points out that his main problem is that he hasn’t seen his brother since the bikers took him, but he’s got one tacky, waterlogged red jacket. Barofsky raises an eyebrow. Amir pelts Jax with the jacket, and Jax merely shrugs. "I know they killed him and they dumped his body in the bay," Amir says. Jax lies forcefully, "Amir, I don’t know what happened to your brother, but I telling you, we didn’t kill him." Wait, technically speaking that is not a lie, since there is no "we" in "DAMMIT, TIG! STOP ACCIDENTALLY MURDERING PEOPLE."
But Barofsky chimes in calmly, "It’s true. I was with them in the warehouse when they cut your brother loose." Jax gives Barofsky a long look, probably wondering what this corroborating lie will cost him later, and says, "You see?" Then he can’t resist adding, "But he was pissed that you caved. That’s probably why he split!" Amir is all, "My brother is not Aquaman, you idiot. He’s not going to split under the water." But Jax and Barofsky stand firm. Barosky calmly says, "This is done. Get it?" Amir replies, "For now, we’re even." Barosky shrugs, "Well. I didn’t say we were even," and from nowhere, he produces a butterfly blade and quickly slits the throat of Amir’s number two guy. Jax uses the opportunity to pound Amir into a fine paste and disarm the other guy. As Barofsky watches the thug bleed out all over the white fur carpet, he nods, "Now that feels like even. Now, you start your boat,and you set sail, and you keep going. If I ever see you or your goddamned Iranian kin in my town again, I will personally gut every one of you." Oh, Barofsky. You are my favorite rogue law enforcement character now!
Once everyone’s back at their vehicles. Barofsky says, "Okay. Want to tell me what happened with the brother?" Jax insists, "I don’t know. I’m not playing you, man. I told my guy to cut him loose." "Did he?” Barofsky demands. Jax thinks back to Tig’s long and storied history of killing the wrong person at the wrong moment and shrugs helplessly. "If you can’t trust your crew, I can’t trust you," Barofsky says. Jax makes a leadership call: "I’ll handle it." Barofsky nods, "You owe me one, handsome Jack." Jax rolls out, and meets with the rest of the guys by Nero’s SUV.
Chibs asks what that whole mess was about and Jax lies, "You were right. They were mad because we pushed them out." Tig looks up at this, then goes back to acting suuuuuuuuuuper casual. Nero asks if this nonsense is done, and Jax again lies, "Yeah. All settled."
Hey, it’s time for Clay to die! He’s being processed into Stockton and the fact that he’s immediately put in a small room with a large group of black people does not bode well for him. Clay manages to hit first and somehow, the elderly and arthritic biker manages to last longer and remain more alive than did the much younger and much healthier Opie. (Then again, he is far less suicidal than Opie was). When he’s finally on his knees, Clay gasps, "Just get it done." The guy holding the shiv says, "That’s going to be your choice." Clay looks up, not comprehending.
Tara comes into Gemma’s office where her sleepy baby son is chilling in his bucket seat. Abel is conveniently off-screen making popcorn with Filthy Phil and Unser. Tara says something vague about the hand and thanks Gemma for watching the boys, then she picks up Thomas’ carrier and heads toward her vehicle. Gemma totters after her, fishing for information on whether or not Tara and Jax have made Wendy the guardian of their children. Tara says shortly, "Not really. I have other things on my mind." As she gets to the minivan (or whatever behemoth she’s piloting these days), Gemma asks if Tara needs some help.
Tara says, "I don’t think so. At least, not yet." Gemma asks, "What’s that supposed to mean?" and Tara says, “If I tell you something, do you promise to keep it to yourself?" Gemma says wryly, "Secrets are what I do." Tara chuckles, then says, "I’m pregnant. About eight weeks." Gemma is delighted, and even as Tara dithers on about the timing being rather unfortunate, she’s all glowing and happy. Gemma asks, "How’s Jax with it?" and Tara says, "I just found out for sure. I’ll tell him tonight." Gemma is equally thrilled by the notion that she found out before Jax did (again), as it only fuels her delusions of being everyone’s mother confessor. She pulls Tara into her arms and coos, "Oh, honey. We’re going to figure everything out, sweetheart." Tara grins at Gemma for a minute, then Abel comes over and Tara begins doting on him as Gemma watches approvingly.
All I can say about this is my, it’s amazing how a medically trained woman manages not to take control of her own fertility. You’d think after her ex-boyfriend stalking her and getting all worked up because she had an abortion, Tara would have put in a Paraguard and revisited the issue of having children in another few years.
Meanwhile, out in Stockton, Jax is grilling Juice on why Colette’s not waiting for him at the bakery. Juice exposits that one of Barofsky’s guts took her home and Colette passed on a message that she’d call Jax. Oh boy, the crush is mutual. Jax tells everyone except for Tig to scram, and gives Chibs orders to "put everyone on notice, just until this Persian thing is done." Tig watches everyone go, then asks, "So we’re heading over to Colette’s?" Jax says, "Just me. I didn’t want to say anything on the docks in front of our Catholic friend … that Persian porn equipment. We pack all that shit up?" Tig nods. Jax orders, "I need you to hang out there. I’m going to send a prospect down with a van. I want you to pack it all up, store it down at the gun warehouse, just in case Ghenazi comes looking for it.” Tig says, “I thought all of that was settled?" Then Jax tests Tig: "The younger brother never showed up. They found his jacket in the bay this morning. Amir thinks we killed him." Tig immediately and inexpertly lies: "Are you kidding me? I cut him loose, man."
A shadow passes over Jax’s face and he nods, "I know." (Sidebar: If this were Breaking Bad some writer over at Slate would have cranked out 1800 words on that "I know" and its layers of subtext. But this is the non-prestige show about what happens when middle-class Americans can swing their medical bills, so you poor people get me). The point is, I think Jax is saying to himself that he has a bead on the situation, and he’s just decided to kill Tig because it’s one thing to be a homicidal incompetent, but another to be an untrustworthy homicidal incompetent. This is a management decision.
Then Jax hugs Tig, kisses his cheek and says, "I love you, brother." That right there is a death sentence. However, Tig can’t quite grasp that, so he’s merely confused. Then he turns to do Jax’s bidding.
We’re back at Stockton. Since Clay’s walking out in the yard, he’s obviously made some sort of choice. As he cozies up to the local white supremacists (and well done, casting agents, as all of them look like the product of inter-generational inbreeding) we see him being watched by the same black inmate who had told Clay that whether or not he died was his choice.
Have we not gotten the point about how creepy Toric is yet? Is that why we’re forced to see him stroking the dead escort Erin’s hair and crooning, "I’m going to make all this matter." He’s obviously collecting hair and blood in order to doctor a crime scene somewhere.
Jax heads into Best Little Exquisite Craftsman Whorehouse in Stockton, where business is booming, and one of the escorts recognizes him from his last visit and tells him Colette’s upstairs. And so she is, but she’s indisposed at the moment, on account of piston away atop Barofsky. Jax overhears them having very loud sex and cracks the door to confirm it’s Colette and Barofsky. At one moment, Barofsky looks over at the door and grins at Jax, very obviously pleased to have won this round of the dominance Olympics.
So, it appears Clay’s started a race riot in the Stockton prison yard, then used it as cover to stab some white supremacist in the neck. I can only presume those were the terms of the deal he made with the would-be hit squad Pope had inside the joint.
In the scene, Jax is hanging out by a little-used underpass, sort of bummed that Colette had the nerve to have sex with someone else, when August pulls up. He’s really grown into the figurehead position, and I wonder if he might not be more dangerous that Pope was, the same way Jax is more dangerous than Clay. Anyway, August tells Jax that "Clay is still alive. But he had to earn it." Jax thanks him, and August says, "Don’t thank me yet. He’s dead before morning if I don’t like the reason." Jax breathes deeply, then says, "I’m taking your mentor’s lead – shedding the thing that brings us heat". ( I think he means guns).
Clay has old-school ties with the IRA, and says, "I might need him to navigate a very messy breakup. I want him dead as much as you do. This is business. It’s the smart play." August replies, "Smart for you. Bad for me. It compromises me. Sends the wrong message." To appease August, Jax tells him he’s resurrecting his porn studio, and would Pope Industries like to be a silent partner on the venture? Also, would he like Tig’s head on a platter? Here is the address, and there’s a lovely stoneware plate waiting there in addition to one middle-aged biker. August takes the address, then asks Jax to send him the business plan for Caracara. Jax nods. Is anyone else super-curious about what a business plan authored by Jax looks like? Do you think the tone is as flowery as his journal entries?
Night time at Chez Gemma. Wendy comes by, and Gemma gives her Mama’s Little Helper, also known as a revolver. Wendy gasps, "Oh, Jesus Christ" and Gemma cuts in with, "Hey, until we shut this guy down, you gotta protect yourself." I love how, now that Jax is in charge of the club, Gemma is basically using him to knock everything off her to-do list. I can’t believe nobody else is like, "Hey, Jax, it seems like a lot of what we’ve been doing lately is linked to what makes your mom’s life easier." Wendy takes the gun and worries that if she waves it around, her would-be rapist Luis will blow her head off with his own piece, and Gemma says, "Then you blow first. I know these scumbags. That’s the only way they learn." I don’t know about you all, but I think it’s sweet that she’s hoping to help Wendy avoid going through what she went through courtesy of the neo-Nazis back in season two.
Anyway, it turns out that Wendy also knows her guns. This is another sign that in some ways, she’s better suited for life in Gemma’s orbit that Tara is, I think.
The musical montage for the evening begins. We see Clay being tossed into a solitary cell, groaning from the scope of the injuries he’s had. We see Gemma hugging Wendy and walking her out to her car. We see Nero’s truck pulling up to Gemma’s place, then Toric pulling up a distance away. Gemma greets Nero and draws him inside. We then see Colette kissing Barofsky goodbye, then picking up her phone to call Jax.
Jax is home, but he elects to ignore his phone. He heads to the fridge, glugs some milk straight from the container. (I love this continuing character trait). Tig pokes around the Ghanezi facilities, idly amusing himself by looking at a Gimp-style mask. Clay’s dozing when a deep voice says, "Your friends in the GN thank you. You might need this," and pushes a shiv into his cell. Clay hides the blade.
As Jax walks around the kitchen drinking his milk, he notices the sheet of paper Tara left on the table. It’s a hospital serum test confirming her pregnancy. He looks up, a little stunned. We transition to Gemma sitting on her bed, knitting. I love that her craft basket is leopard print. Nero brings her a cup of tea in bed and Gemma melts at being doted upon.
The montage continues and Katey Sagal is singing "Everyday People" which is probably meant for us to think, "Gosh, even this gang of violence-drunk criminals and their enablers have the same quotidian wants and domestic moments we do!" Because Sons of Anarchy is nothing if not subtle in the ways it presents its messages to the viewers.
We see Toric planting the evidence in Nero’s truck, then transition to Roosevelt responding to a 911 call: it’s dead escort Erin, and they just found the body courtesy of someone who saw a Ford pickup truck pull away as they stopped to change a flat. The montage continues and we see Wendy wiping off her bruise. What is she up to?
The door of the porn studio creaks open and Tig drawls, "About time." As he gets up and turns around, he sees August and his boys. Tig’s face goes bleak and he whispers, "Oh, shit." Oh, shit, indeed. I give Tig a lot of stick, but I love his character and if he is indeed killed, I am going to miss the hell out of him. Now, let’s debate: Do you suppose Tig knows Jax gave him up? And how do you think he felt? Discuss.
Speaking of Jax, he’s heading into the bedroom where Tara is waiting. The good news is, she’s changed out of her terrible outfit. The bad news is, even her pajamas are tacky and unflattering. (I can only imagine how hard Kelli Jones is working here, because Maggie Siff is a striking woman with a great figure, and you would not know that from how she’s dressed here). But Jax isn’t really focusing on that hot lace-t-shirt mess. He tells Tara, "I love you," and crawls up onto the bed to hug her in celebration of the pregnancy. Tara clutches him close and, yet again, an episode ends with her crying in Jax’s arms.
Lisa Schmeiser is an Oakland-adjacent reporter, editor and blogger. She regularly tweets here, blathers about comics here, and posts the oddball personal piece of writing here.