At this point, I really hope season seven is all about some citizen watchdog group testing the water in Charming and discovering it's filled with toxic compounds that cause a reverse Flowers for Algernon effect on the population, rendering them all epically stupid over time. Because, oh my heck, tonight's episode was just a festival of incomprehensibly dumb motives. Where to begin?
Tara, I want to root for you, but you make it so difficult: The woman who ostensibly wants only the best for her children spends the entire episode making it seem like she's going to take Patterson's deal and get whisked away to a new life in WitPro with the boys… yet she ends up merely taking the kids from Gemma's house, socking Wendy in the jaw when Wendy shrieks at Abel that she's his "real" mother, then going on the run from both the law and the passel of homicidal bikers headed up by her pissed-off husband and his equally pissed-off mom. I can't even figure out what the hell any of that is about, because it just seems so out of left field. Tara as a character used to be smart and level-headed and really good at compartmentalizing, and now she's a nutbar with poor impulse control? Did I somehow miss the scene where Tara endured career-in-the-NFL-caliber head injuries and is now senile and crazy? Because that's the only possible explanation.
Juice, it is a mystery how you made it to the end of this episode alive: The biker's falling apart to the point where even a drugged-to-the-gills Bobby Elvis can see that Juice is a ticking time bomb, so he helpfully suggests that Juice take a handful of Oxy and head down to Diosa to relax. Juice – who is clearly desperate to escape everything in his life – does just that, overdosing in the bathroom in a fit of self-loathing. Alas and alack, Nero and Gemma happen to be around, and they're remarkably adept at bringing people back from near-fatal overdoses. As Nero tends to Juice, the younger man slurs that he is so sorry, he didn't want to kill Darveny but Jax made him, he wishes he hadn't done it, etc. Nero – who is already trying to ignore the messy reality that Gemma Morrow's impact on his life has not been positive – is enraged to learn that Jax straight-up lied to him about Darveny. But because Nero's trying to be a forgiving, moral kind of guy, he refrains from hitting Juice (though it's obvious he's revolted by him at that point), and later when he comes to Jax's house and Jax is busy being all brood-y about Tara taking off, Nero offers a paternal shoulder to lean on even though he's obviously working on some rage issues.
Nero, your friend had a point: One of the Byz-lats has a conversation with Nero telling him two things: Everything the Sons of Anarchy touches has turned to shit and the Byz-Lats are no exception, and the Byz-Lats are going to hook up with the Mayans, because our old pal Alvarez has correctly guessed that things in the gun market are about to shift in a bad way for him, and he wants to consolidate power. "It's going to be brown and yellow versus black and white," he tells Nero, and challenges the other man to think hard on where his allegiance is going to be. Honestly, if I were Nero, I'd be on the phone to Patterson all, "So. What will it take to permanently disappear me and Lucius? Could we maybe be -door neighbors with Tara and the boys? Like it's a fun sitcom only instead of having punchlines we'll have Teller-Morrow-related PTSD?"
Jax, I think you've tipped the line into 'mass murderer': Who doesn't he kill this episode? A few more Irishmen get shot as a sort of peace offering to the Chinese, who point out that "a small pile of dead bodies" is not nearly the same thing as "total domination of the Oakland gun market." So the move is to bring the Chinese to the remote weapons storehouse, where all of August Marks' men (hidden in the rafters) plus a bunch of bikers massacre the Chinese. Just… bullets and bodies everywhere, and at this point, I am wondering if there is any nationality left in the world that the Sons have not shot at over the course of their career. Australian? Will we be seeing that in season seven? Ugh. Anyway, Jax thinks he's out of the gun business and that the Irish will be happy working with August Marks, because apparently he's never met the Real IRA and the culture of decades-long grudges they enjoy. The Irish on this show are like a plague of the ginger herpes. They will be back when it's least convenient.
For a penultimate episode, this is not a good sign. I've been waiting for this season to cohere into something beyond moving all the chess pieces into place for season seven, and we're still not there. Maybe it's time for me to check the water I'm drinking too.
So! Who's still feeling a little worn out after Clay's death? Anyone? Because Jax looks a little tired. This episode begins with Jax and Patterson meeting at a park gazebo, their respective goon squads a safe distance away. Jax is sounding rather un-sorry as he says, "I'm sorry you lost a man. Anything that gets in the way of the Irish is collateral damage." Patterson calls Jax on his BS, and while she doesn't have evidence to place him on the scene (… yet), she knows his crew knew about the transport: "That's what that wild gun chase was about -- to divert my manpower." Jax defends that move with, "And without that diversion, you'd have had a lot more dead sheriffs."
Oddly, Patterson does not see this as the generous move Jax so obviously thinks it is. She is also not buying the mutual-homicide theory behind Clay and Galen's deaths: "Why take such a huge risk just to kill each other?" "Um, because most of the people I float stories at are either stone stupid or they're juuuuust emotionally damaged enough to want to believe I'm telling the truth when I stare intently and talk in a serious tone?" Jax does not ask. But you can tell he's thinking it, mostly because he's practically rolling his eyes as he lays the groundwork again with the repeated conviction that 20 years of business can lead to a lot of built-up resentment.
"My guess is whatever deal they had set up went bad," Jax says, and Patterson smirks, "There's a lot of that going around." Jax puts on his extra-sincere face and says, "I know it's not the way that you wanted it, but from what I've seen on the news, I've delivered everything I promised -- KG-9s, IRA supplier, local gun dealer." Then Jax sanctimoniously adds, "I held up my half of the deal." Patterson replies, "You're a very smart man, Mr. Teller. I can see how you've risen to your rank." In the first moment of actual sincerity we've seen -- and in what is also a nice callout to the original Hamlet -- Jax says quietly, "Unfortunately, I inherited it."
Patterson's not terribly sympathetic for Jax's ambivalence toward the family trade: "We all have a destiny… [my office has to] finish the investigation. Then I'll decide if you've kept your end of the deal."
Back at the cabin, Tara's making sure Bobby Elvis is resting comfortably. Juice has brought her coffee and while his manner isn't as overtly hostile as it was on the day he was her tail, it's not like he's going out of his way to be a sweetheart. Tara's not going to waste time brooding about that, however: Patterson's recovered from her meeting with Mrs. Teller by calling the missus and saying she's secured a deal with ATF, and perhaps Tara can get away from her homicidal security detail to talk about it? Tara says she'll call when she can.
Bobby Elvis conveniently comes to right about then long enough to say, "Thanks, doc," before passing out again. It makes Tara smile for some reason.
Unser comes in for his day of being Gemma's unpaid manservant and as he and Gemma are getting the kids breakfast, Abel sulks and asks where his mommy is. Unser looks at Gemma all, You want to take this one? Gemma does not.
Jax meets up with Connor to see how folks back on the Auld Sod are taking the news of Galen's improbable murder-suicide deal with Clay. Answer: not well. Jax then plays on Connor's jangled nerves to suggest that Lin will take the opportunity to try and move in on the Irish now that Galen's gone, and wouldn't it be a shame if something were to happen? Connor's head nearly explodes from the pressure and panic.
Cut to Tig, Montez and Quinn killing a few Irish guys at Wahewa. You know, just to make it look like the Chinese are making a move and threatening Connor's safety. Tig is okay with the wholesale murder of hapless Irish stooges but he's really upset that there's blood splattered in his hair. Heaven forfend he might have to wash it!
Credits! By the way, Ron Perlman is still in the credits, which is either a testament to a very good contract or a hint that he'll show up as an angry ghost demanding retribution. Oooh, I hope he's a ghost!
In the scene (still at Wahewa), Jax is telling the head Chinese negotiator, Bohai, to looksee at the guns -- still in the barn -- and Galen's men, who are also in the barn and quite dead. This fails to please Bohai. "Do you understand how vengeance works? The satisfaction comes from the doing!" Good timing on that question, what with Jax having just extracted vengeance against the man who killed his father and tried to kill his wife. We don't exactly see him moping around all, "I feel empty inside!" because he's still working on part two of the vengeance, which is getting out of the guns Clay got them into. But if he manages to pull that off, I bet he ends up unhappier than before because what will be left?
SIDEBAR: Two of my favorite poems are "The Iron Shoes" by Johnny Clewell and "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, precisely because they address the formless discontent that settles in once you've executed a great quest. The beginning of Ulysses especially gets to the heart of this:
It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
life to the lees. All times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
that loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea. I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Jax is unlikely to have encountered either poem before he dropped out of high school and that's too bad, because if ever anyone needed a tour through what happens after you make good on your marauding, it's him. And one of my hopes for season seven is that instead of Jax dealing with crisis after crisis keeping him from his beloved dream of being free of the guns and making good on his father's wishes, he lives that new club life for a while and realizes how much it sucks. As Clewell writes, "When I dream, I am on that road once more/ I follow a trail of purpose and will."END SIDEBAR.
ANYWAY, Bohai doesn't care that a few Irish are dead -- he needs to personally do something to make his wrongs feel redressed. And until that happens in the form of delivering Connor to Bohai, he'll just be keeping Happy.
Nero is in his office doing business-y things when there's a vigorous tattoo on the door. It's Fiasco, who has come to have a talk with Nero. "The Byz-Lats, we're about done… when that shit went down with you and Renaldo, that was crazy, but I was like, okay, it's all right, our O.G. is back in charge. Maybe we could show some weight, start recruiting --" "Nobody made any promises about growing," Nero interjects. Fiasco overrides him: "It ain't about growing anymore! It's about staying alive! Look, I know you got Diosa with the MC, and you're all hooked with Teller's mom and shit, but we got business too, ese, and you ain't been anywhere around --" Cue Nero taking a lot of exception to Fiasco's interpretation of the last few months' events. Nero concludes, "Check it, Fiasco, because I feel like I'm drowning here!" "We're all drowning here! Ever since you met the Sons! This club, they ain't been nothing but problems," Fiasco says, and if it weren't for his unsightly dental grille, I would kiss this man for finally pointing out that meeting SAMCRO is usually the sign that your life is about to go very bad, very fast.
The upshot is that Fiasco is here because Marcus Alvarez has reached out. Nero is understandably wary of getting entangled, however peripherally, with a second motorcycle gang. You know, since it's worked out so well with the first one. Fiasco concludes, "Talk to him, hear him out. The guys like the idea of brown helping brown." Please tell me I am not the only one asking, "What can brown do for you?" whenever that colloquialism comes up. Nero agrees to meet with Alvarez.
Gemma comes into the room where Wendy and Abel are chilling and gets Abel to leave by asking him to go build a "new clubhouse" with Unser. I enjoy how she's indoctrinating a preschooler into the club norms. Once the ladies are alone, Gemma asks if Wendy's made much progress becoming Abel's New (Real) Mommy, but no -- it turns out three years of competent nurturing is pretty hard to overcome with a day of wishful thinking and Machiavellian scheming.
Gemma nursemaids Wendy, then exposits that Wendy will be checking into rehab the day. "You want me to call your girl, have her bring your stuff?" Gemma asks, and that's when we find out that Wendy's girlfriend fled back to San Francisco (pro tip: She probably left because you called it "Frisco"). I like to think this is the writers' way of addressing some of the longstanding questions about how Wendy's wonderful new life of season four is such a shitshow now.
As Gemma leaves the room, Wendy calls out to say that she appreciates the help, but she'd like to understand Gemma's angle in all this: "Is this all some kind of power play -- helping me to hurt Tara?" Gemma pauses, looks thoughtful, then sits down and says matter-of-factly, "There's a pretty good chance that Tara's going to jail, so she don't need any more hurt. But I'm going to need some help. It's been brought to my attention I'm not as spry as I used to be." Wendy's incredulous that Gemma wants her help and Gemma says, "Well, I can't afford a nanny, so my options are limited. I got Uncle Cancer out there. I got some half-bright croweaters reeking of cum and Tig's aftershave, and I got the junkie mom."
If Jax ever wonders what drove his wife to the lengths she's gone to this season, he should just brainstorm childcare options with his mom.
Anyway, Gemma tells Wendy that she's canceled out her betrayal, and that she'll work on Jax's bone-deep of loathing of Wendy and all Wendy has to do is stay off the smack and get back on the dick. I personally suspect that a higher number on the Kinsey scale is the least of Wendy's problems, but I'm not well-versed in the treatment philosophies undergirding the "Use Again And I Rip Your Tits Off" rehab program.
Tara announces that she has to go back to St. We Paid For This Set And We're Going to Amortize the Cost, and the bikers order Rat to go with her. "I'd be lost without him," she remarks bitterly, then impatiently orders Rat to hop to. (Oh please, let him be a fed and have this whole Tara detail come back to badly bite Jax in the ass.)
Juice goes slouching into Bobby's room, where we see that the patient has recovered enough to be able to hold his own joint. Juice asks wearily, "Really?" then takes the joint when it's proffered. There's a bit of talk about Clay and Juice asks, "Why'd you change your mind? Vote yes this time?" Bobby explains, "Clay deserved the mayhem for what he did. I never had any doubt about that. But the first [vote]? It just wasn't best for the club. It was no good for Jax. This time… it made sense." We get a close-up of Juice's face as he realizes that even though the club makes a lot of noise about brothers and loyalty, everyone is ultimately expendable when it's best for the institution.
Then Bobby gives what is possibly the worst advice you could give Juice -- telling him to bury his problems with a handful of oxy and a little casual sex. "You gotta unwind, man. You're making everybody nervous, especially me," he concludes. Then Bobby gets up to urinate and shouts for West, "You're going to need to hold my dick while I piss. You're gonna need two hands." West looks at Juice and asks plaintively, "You serious?" Juice deadpans, "Yes, he's huge. You're gonna need both hands." Hooray for the brotherhood!
It's Alvarez! I've missed his brand of low-key charm, I truly have. He and Nero get together in a back alley, as you do when you're opening negotiations for mergers and Nero asks why Alvarez is so interested in the Byz-Lats. Alvarez explains, "Shit that happens in Oaktown don't stay in Oaktown. We got a delicate balance -- us, the Niners, Chinese, Italians. We all got our piece and we all got our boundaries -- and we all get our guns from SAMCRO. Same price, same quality. By the nature of the business, the MC became the de facto referee and Jax embraced that." "But not anymore," Nero points out. Alvarez nods and says, "Sons pulling out creates a void, not just in guns, but in power. Word is, Jax is handing over the Irish guns to August Marks, and that move gives black a lot of weight, ese, upsets the balance, makes a real problem for all of us." Nero wanly suggests that Alvarez have a meeting with Jax to air out his concerns, but Alvarez likes his Plan B better, which is to throw in with the Chinese, then start a Mayan charter in Stockton with at least 20 members coming in from Vegas and Oakland. For those of you who have been playing along since Season 1, this basically amounts to a declaration of war. Alvarez warns, "Things play out in Oaktown the way I think [they will], it's going to be brown and yellow against black and white." The question Alvarez has for Nero is: Where will his loyalties lay as this all unfolds?
Jax is now lying to Connor about the disappearance of his guns and the guys who accompanied them. Connor does not take the news well. The bikers casually lie about how it's all the doing of the crafty Chinese, and Connor continues to freak out and it's all leading up to Jax making a sales pitch at the top of his lungs all, "This is why you need August Marks! Without local protection, you guys are just drunk lambs at a local wolf party." Connor nods his submission to this idea.
And now, a tiresome scene in which we learn that whatever rapprochement Tara and Gemma had during the whole Clay thing and the Bobby aftermath? That's done. Gemma's decision to meet Tara at her office also puts a crimp in Tara's plan to meet with Patterson and the ATF and secure the details of her deal. Especially as Gemma runs right into Patterson in the hall.
Patterson lies smoothly about how she's there to visit some of the sheriffs wounded in yesterday's shootout -- "I don't know if you've heard about it?" she asks, and Gemma snarls, "I'm familiar with some of that wreckage." Patterson smoothly says, "That's right. Sorry for your loss," and Gemma immediately correct her: "No, you're not, but I'm not sorry for yours either, so I guess we're even." Gemma asks why the sheriffs aren't at Stockton Med Center and Patterson claims, "The ocular trauma specialist is the best in the state." Given that Tara used to be one of the most promising neonatal surgeons around, I'm beginning to suspect that ol' Margaret has a thing for collecting gifted surgeons and luring them to the ass end of nowhere. Or that Patterson's counting on Gemma not to know enough about the hospital to check the lie.
Anyway, Patterson refuses to let Gemma get to her, which gets to Gemma, then moves into Tara's office to introduce her to beefy Raymond Bowman, ATF. Tara makes it clear that she's being watched and has no time, the lawyers make it clear they've got an agreement and Tara then says she's not handing over the bullet -- which she shows in a baggie -- until she and the boys are set in WitSec. She also informs the agent she'll be flouting convention and instead of the agents absconding with her and boys, she'll be handling the departure in her own way. "I don't want my boys' last memory of their father to be of them being ripped from his arms at gunpoint," she says. Bowman and Patterson aren't happy, but since they currently need Tara to help make their case, they go along with her demands.
After Tara leaves, Bowman points out that she hasn't made up her mind yet. Patterson sighs, "It's a big decision. She loves Teller, and she grew up without a father. Hates having to repeat that pattern." Bowman asks what happens if Tara doesn't show and Patterson says, "If she doesn't testify, I'll bury her in court. If she tries to run with those boys, the MC will hunt her down and kill her."
Speaking of the kill squad… Jax comes out into the main room of the cabin, where Bobby is slurring to anyone and everyone that "I sent Juice to Diosa. That boy is seriously twisted. He needs to relax." Tara comes into cabin then and the bikers all greet her with cheery, "What's up, Doc?"s. Tara rolls her eyes and snaps at Bobby, "Oh, that's good. Alcohol and opiates? time I'll bring the defibrillator. Tara stalks toward the bedroom and Jax broods as he watches her go. The ache in the moment is nicely undercut by Tig rhapsodizing how much he likes a little "zap and tickle," adding defensively, "Oh, like you've never had electrodes connected to your sack." "Direct current?" Bobby slurs and Tig concurs.
Jax comes into the bedroom behind Tara, and then closes the door. Jax has the nerve to tell Tara her children will be staying with Gemma but "you can go say goodnight if you want," and how Tara does not manage to kill him then and there is God's private mystery. Instead, she and Jax maintain the polite fiction that she's choosing to stay at the cabin to monitor Bobby. Jax then promises, "After your trial, we're going to figure all this out." (Why doesn't he tell her about the deal he cut for her? Why?) Tara looks to be on the verge of tears, but doesn't respond. Jax searches her face and then turns to go, but before he can get to the door, Tara's crossed the room in three steps and is hugging him for real, for the first time all season. After a moment, Jax clutches her back, and he begins to sniffle into her shoulder. Tara tearily says, "I'm sorry," then pulls back. Readers, I leave it to you to decide: Is she sorry for what she's done, or for what she's about to do?
The club then takes off, leaving poor West as Bobby's penis concierge. Jax makes eyes at Tara before he goes and after all the boys leave, Tara orders West to help her get Bobby back into bed.
Juice stumbles into Diosa and he's in a bad way. Lyla's on it. She comes over and tells Juice, "I heard about what happened yesterday, and I'm sorry." Juice says hollowly, "It's not like it didn't have to happen. Or he didn't have it coming to him." Lyla recognizes this for what it is and takes Juice's hands before promising, "It'll be good again." Juice nods and begins crying. He apologizes, "I'm sorry. I'm kind of high." Lyla correctly intuits that now is the time to get Juice out of the lobby before he brings any other customers down. She brings him back to an epically tacky bedroom -- I am guessing that the Venn diagram between "people who run escort services" and "people who are huge fans of restrained, organic style" is not that large -- and tells Juice she'll send someone back soon. "Preference?" Lyla asks. "Someone nice," Juice replies. Lyla then heads back to the bar, where she sees Gemma and politely greets her, nearly as a peer. That will last approximately as long as it takes for Gemma to decide she can score cheap points by calling Lyla a whore.
Anyway, Lyla extends her condolences to the Widow Morrow, and then mentions she's lining up a "date" for Juice. Gemma is surprised that Juice is there. I'm honestly surprised that Juice isn't there more often. He's positively monastic, especially when compared to the older men.
And now, the scene in which we discover that one of the reasons Juice is all messed up is that he appears to have forsworn all carbs. At least, that's what his exquisite musculature is suggesting. Suddenly, his moods make sense! I would be a sobbing headcase in a world without pasta too. Anyway, Juice and his many tattoos look in the mirror -- a move that seems to be something of a motive for the season (Jax, Tara and Gemma have all had similar self-loathing examinations). He seems to be steeling himself for something. Then Juice clutches his heart and sinks to the ground -- I swear, I thought he was going to die from an overdose right then -- and goes to pop a few more pills. Hands up, all of you who suspect this is a suicide attempt.
Tara's ministering to Bobby's wound and he slurs, "Thank you so much, sweetheart. We love you, Doc." This breathtaking hypocrisy brings Tara up short, that the men who are keeping her a virtual prisoner at her husband's behest would even think such a thing. She then heads out of the room and tells West she's going to rest up, and uses that opportunity to slip out the window and escape as West continues to read on the couch. Side note: I have always wondered who among the Sons might actually be a reader. Now we know.
Out at the rural gun storage site, Jax and the boys pull up and meet with Connor. It would appear that the Real IRA is more firmly committed to their bigotry than they are to their bottom line. Which is not exactly surprising -- this is a group that's basically founded on one sort of bigotry, so why wouldn't they embrace others? Anyway, the Irish are dithering.
Up pull a boatload of vehicles which Connor assume belong to Marks, but actually belong to the Chinese. Cue Connor getting a gun to the neck, courtesy of Jax. "You piece of shit, Teller!" he spits. Jax shrugs, "Don't worry. It ends well." As Connor is shrieking, "The Kings will crucify you, boy -- fierce slaughter on every one of you!" the Chinese approach, looking pretty damned happy. Jax tells Bohai, "You don't get him until I get my guy." Connor and Happy trade places, then Jax nods toward the barn and says, "The guns are still in the truck." The Chinese head toward the barn, open the truck …
…And discover that August Marks' men are waiting for them inside. And in the rafters. And that the bikers are behind them. It takes less than a minute to finish nearly everyone off -- everyone except Bohai, who is somehow only wounded.
"I love you guys," Happy says when he realizes he'll get to execute his kidnapper. Because, as we all know, satisfaction is in the doing. Tig hands him a pistol and Happy gets to a-killin'. Tig gives him the finger-guns and says, "And we love you."
Tara is driving when Patterson calls: Tara's lawyer made a few tweaks on the offer but overall, he likes the deal. "Okay, I'll give him a call," Tara says. Patterson says, "We'll expect to see you by 6?" "Okay," Tara says. RUN, TARA! RUN LIKE THE WIND!
As bikers load the dead bodies into a van, Connor hotly inquires, "What if the old man had put a bullet into my head at first sight." Jax, who basically has a PhD titled "Negotiating Rituals of Assorted Criminal Syndicates in the Oakland Area: A Comparative Ethnography" (he hasn't stood for defense yet -- his dissertation committee members keep getting killed during tenure review), tells Connor that the Chinese do not share the Irish's comprehensive "Shoot first, decline to get any useful information later" approach. Jax also adds that this was necessary: "It sets the Chinese back, let's you see what Marks can provide."
Tyler, who is Marks' guy on this and who orchestrated the shooting, shares his plans to park the van full of bodies in front of Lin's restaurant as a way of making a point. He rolls out, telling Jax, "See you soon." "No, you won't," Jax says happily. Tyler turns around and gives Jax a rueful, knowing grin: "Come on, Teller. Who you kidding?"
Meanwhile, in a forced bit of comic gaiety, Gemma has discovered that Chuckie accepted a load of chinchillas as payment for services rendered. "I don't care how cute they are! This isn't 1896. We don't barter!" she claims. Ugh. This could have been cut. (This episode feels really long and I am suddenly noticing scenes that seem purely self-indulgent.)
Anyway, Nero comes in and grumbles noncommittally about how bad his day is ("Shit with my crew") and before they can get into it, the sweet-faced young lady who is to be Juice's date for the evening comes running into the room in a state of dishabille and says there's something wrong with Juice.
What is wrong is that he's overdosed on Oxy. (On the bright side, if Jax should ever decide to go an entire season without taking off his pants, we have a capable backup. Assuming Juice lives through this.) Anyway, Nero and Gemma capably pump Juice's stomach the old-fashioned way (Gemma sticks her fingers down his throat), and it's evident she's done this before for other people. Hands up anyone else who feels faintly sorry for Juice for being dragged to the land of the living.
August Marks finally pulls up at the gun barn and makes a very corporate non-apology about the earlier bloodbath. Within moments, however, Connor and August have connected on the common ground of growing their business. Jax -- who is standing between them -- is the only one not in a sport coat and trousers. I find that striking because we all know how strongly Kelli Jones codes her characters by wardrobe, and I think here the message is supposed to be that Jax is unwilling or unable to adjust to the quasi-legitimate milieu these two men operate in. It's a nice commentary on the kind of social and cultural baggage the biker club dress code brings -- and that while that uniform comes in handy in some situations, it is a profound disadvantage in others.
Marks casually tosses a giant duffel bag of $500,000 in cash at Connor in a good-faith negotiating gesture. Connor is again shocked that it's possible to do business without blowing up a building or killing someone's family as an opening gambit. I'm thinking Galan wasn't much of a mentor. August says, "Talk to your organization. Let them know I'm very serious about being in business with them. If it helps, my mom's maiden name was McDuffy." Jax smiles slightly at this.
As Jax walks August to the car, he quips, "Well done, McDuffy." "You, too, man. And whatever, uh, happens here, you've done your part. Trager's clear," August says. Good, now Tig is only going to get killed through his own innate idiocy! As August gets in the car, he quietly says with a smile, "Keep an eye on my money." Foreshadowing?
Back at Diosa, Nero is telling Gemma that he suspects Juice is at least passively suicidal, if not actively so. Gemma -- whose manicure has held up remarkably well for someone who crammed three fingers down Juice's throat -- asks that she gets to talk to Juice before anyone says anything to Tara. But before she can, Tara calls and spins a tale about needing Gemma to come up and help her with a profusely-bleeding Bobby. Her lying is only marginally better than it was before, yet Gemma falls for the story. I cannot decide if this is bad writing or Gemma indulging in wishful thinking about her erstwhile surrogate daughter.
The upshot is: Tara has Gemma driving toward the cabin, leaving the coast clear for her to head to Gemma's house for the boys. RUN, TARA! RUN TO SWEET FEDERALLY-PROTECTED FREEDOM!
Since Gemma can't emotionally abuse Juice for a while, it falls to Nero to coddle Juice for a bit. He decides to get Juice walking around for a while, to improve his circulation, and takes the shirtless sad sack for a drag around the room. As Juice walks, he slurs, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to do it." Nero thinks Juice is talking about an OD, and cheerily says, "It's okay. We gotta get you well, homie!" but then Juice continues with, "Jax says it was what I had to do. Earn my way…" Nero's all, "Come again?" He props Juice up against a wall, and Juice says, "She was so pretty… so sad." Nero asks grimly, "Who was?" and Juice continues, "The kid's mom. [sobs] I did it fast. That's what I want. I want it that way." Nero asks roughly, "Darveny? You killed her? Jax put that on you?" Since we're all in oxy veritas here, Juice sniffs, "Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He collapses in sobs against Nero, and Nero lets Juice slither down to the floor and curl up in a soggy ball. His fists clench and unclench convulsively.
Hey! Who's in the mood to lighten things up after that emotionally loaded scene? Everyone? Too bad, because we're about to see things go down with Tara and Unser.
Unser and Wendy are playing with Abel at the kitchen table while Thomas chillaxes in his car seat -- convenient, that -- when Tara comes by to take the boys to dinner. Unser says he'll have to drive Tara to dinner. (Once Gemma's lapdog, always her lapdog, eh?) Tara says, "I want to spend some time alone with my boys," and Unser clucks sympathetically, then Tara says less amiably, "You need to move, Wayne." Unser claims he can't and Wendy jumps in to ask where Tara's going to take the boys.
Tara calmly puts the car seat on the table, turns Abel's face against her legs, and then pulls out her gun and orders shakily, "You tell Gemma I pulled this on you and you had to let me take them, you had no choice." Abel asks, "Mommy, are we leaving?" and Tara switches to Mom Mode: "Yeah, we are." She coolly swats down Unser's stalling questions with, "We'll be safe," and as that implication sinks in for both Unser and Wendy, they begin to panic. Tara says, "Let us out, Wayne. Doing it the other way is only going to be worse for them." That works and Unser opens the door. Abel sprints out, while Tara takes the carrier. Cue Wendy screaming to Abel that she's his "real mother," and Tara takes care of that by pistol-whipping Wendy.
So, remember how Tara's whole scheme to get a restraining order for Gemma and get her out of the Teller family's life was a case of adopting the codes and tools of the educated upper middle class? And remember how I talked about Tara's skill in code-switching? It's notable how quickly Tara can switch back to something everyone in her husband's circle understands, i.e. beating the shit out of someone.
Anyway, Tara grabs Thomas and takes off after Abel. She seems more shaken by the fact that Wendy said anything than she does by the fact that she's now the kind of person who pulls pistols on people and issues beatdowns.
The scene really doesn't need to be in this episode: It's merely Gemma answering the phone and learning what's happened. We get a dramatic U-turn of Gemma's SUV, but really -- what is the point of this scene? Do we ever doubt that the first thing Wayne will do is run to Gemma? Do we ever doubt that Gemma is a crazy woman when it comes to her grandchildren? No and no. So there's no need to see it.
Meanwhile, Jax is capping off a busy day with an unexpected Irish triumph: Connor tells him that one of the old Kings, Roarke, spoke to the others and they're willing to give August Marks a trial run of one shipment. Connor concludes, "It's been an interesting road, Jackson. One I'm really looking forward to getting off of." "You and me both, brother," Jax replies. The Irish depart and that's when Jax allows himself to relax and smile. Chibs quips, "Well, Jackie Boy, you just advanced race relations in Ireland by 50 years. [pause] And half a million dollars." Everyone starts chuckling, so OF COURSE that's when the phone rings to crap all over Jax's feeling of accomplishment.
Nero tucks Juice into bed and tenderly pats his shoulder, but when he looks up, his face is a smoldering mask. Lyla comes in and somehow manages to miss this as she passes on the news that Gemma wants Nero over at Jax's house now. Nero nods in silent anger.
Tara drives on through the night, doing damage control with Abel and monologuing to convince herself that what she's about to do isn't insanely stupid. "You know, everything I do is for you and Thomas. That's my job. I love you guys so much. Should we sing some songs?" And then she launches into "You Are My Sunshine," which I had always loved right until this episode and the hideous, dirge-like cover that is about to play over the few minutes. But before we get to that musical bringdown, we have to put up with Abel asking, "Where are we going? Is Daddy going to be there?" That throws Tara's musical chops and she has to choke back tears as she drives.
And now, a cover of "You Are My Sunshine" that seems to suggest the existential despair of someone with SPF 55 on their very soul. It accompanies a montage-y sequence where it's made clear that the ATF & Patterson are under the impression they had a deal with Tara, and Tara is under the impression that going on the lam with the kids is the only option she has left.
As a viewer, I have always really liked Tara -- both because her character is fascinating and because Maggie Siff is a hell of an actress and so rewarding to watch. And I've always rooted for her to be able to think her way out of her bad decisions, because her knowledge of life outside the biker milieu is the only adaptive advantage she has over her husband and mother-in-law. So to watch Tara do something so blatantly dumb is really aggravating for me. It's the kind of thing where I'm tempted to spin wild scenarios like, "She's secretly cut ANOTHER kind of deal!" or "Somehow, this is a long play that will work in Jax's favor because Tara can't ever betray him!"… but honestly, the entire season provides a strong argument to the contrary. I am dreading the season finale.
As the sunshine continues to be taken away, Jax races through the house and sees all the signs that Tara's hastily packed the kids' stuff. As he reels through Abel's room, I can't help but wonder if he's flashing back to the baby's abduction. Gemma comes in and looks around in horror as she realizes that Tara wasn't just pulling a pistol because she felt strongly about taking the boys to McDonald's on her own.
Jax says, "She took my sons," conveniently overlooking Tara's connection to the boys and/or her motivations for doing so. Gemma leaps to conclusions, noting that she saw Patterson at St. Enough Already. "She must have made a deal," Gemma concludes. Jax seethes for a moment and all I have to say is: This is news to him? That the woman who was so desperate to line up decent jailtime childcare that she framed Gemma for a miscarriage might actually take a deal to stay out of jail? Also, why did it not occur to him to tell Tara, "Hey, I cut a deal with Patterson on your behalf?" I swear, some couples just don't talk anymore.
ANYWAY. Jax uses his mother's deductive reasoning as a cue to destroy Abel's room, in a sequence that reminds me a lot of when Tara trashed Abel's room in Season 3.
SIDEBAR: One of the things I've enjoyed about this increasingly bleak season -- and about the series as a whole -- is how slyly Kurt Sutter and the rest of the writers' room have embroidered the theme "History is repeating itself" throughout the show's run. Granted, we got that sledgehammer-over-the-head obviousness of the Season 4 finale where Jax takes the table and Tara drapes himself on him in a direct homage to the Gemma-and-John photo. And then we got more of the same in Season 5, when the season closed with Gemma comforting Jax in that same posture as he held Abel, thereby implying how the same pattern was about to repeat in a third generation. Yes, that was all obvious.
But if you look at the pattern of the series as a whole, you see damaged younger men hurting themselves even more every time they cleave to a father figure -- Juice, Jax and even Opie. (Remember how Mary remarked bitterly that Opie ran away from her in order to try and get into Piney and Club's good graces?) You also see other circles, like small victories for the club leading to bigger complications down the line. And I think I see a pattern in Jax and Tara's goings-on to. By the end of Season 1 and 4, she had firmly declared allegiance to him. By Season 2, Abel's abduction blew them apart. In Seasons 3 and 5, their semi-strained partnership was further challenged by one of them being taken away by law enforcement. If we're going under a sort of mirror structure as a whole, we'll see Jax and Tara ending the season on the outs over one of them being forcibly separated from the kids, but by Season 7, they'll be together for better or worse. That's if my theory about the way this show is structured with call-outs to prior seasons hold. Alternately, I'm a crackpot and this is my madness exposed to all. END SIDEBAR.
In any event, we see Tara on the motel bed with Abel sleeping on one side of her and Thomas quietly taking a bottle on the other. She looks like she's on the verge of tears. I leave it to you to decide if those are tears of regret, tears of sorrow or tears of terror as she contemplates what life will be like as she tries to elude both a pissed-off biker gang and a pissed-off law enforcement officer or twelve.
Nero comes into Jax's house and Gemma quietly gives him the 411 as she believes it: "Tara ratted. She took the boys." Nero looks at Jax -- the man he knows to be a brazen liar who ordered the murder of a grieving mother -- and walks into the room. We see a moment where it looks like he might just hit Jax, then he lays his hand on Jax's shoulder and begins soothing him, offering undeserved mercy and comfort even as it shreds his own soul to do what he thinks is right.
And now, only 48 hours until we get to see how Nero and Tara are going to be further shredded by the ruthless mother-and-son team they can't seem to coldly cut out of their lives. Lay in your booze, your bags of Christmas candy, your Xanax or whatever else you'll need to get through the episode. I know I'll be on Twitter, reacting right along with everyone else.
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.
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