Episode 2.9 “Fa Guan”
Fa Guan: Chinese for “The Judge”
When SAMCRO’s adult-film business becomes a hindrance to the club, Clay seizes the opportunity to revive the gun-running cartel. As Jax and Clay continue to clash over club activities, their relationship reaches a new level of antagonism.
“I’m going Nomad.” -Jax
episode 2.09 "Fa Guan"
The good:
- the short, yet completely devastating opening scene of Jax visiting a physically (and now mentally) broken Otto. Kurt Sutter may be a fantastic writer, but in this scene also a fantastic actor with all of the subtleties conveyed. He’s in jail for the club, his wife died because of the club and while the club is all he has left, he wants nothing to do with the club. Extra twist of the knife in the heart seeing the wheelchair in the foreground as Jax walks away. Ugh!
- maybe its just me, but the fact that Bobby made banana bread is really awesome
- Clay’s complete contempt for Jax & the porn biz (it’s “dirty”-really Clay? Running guns and killing people is tolerable though)
- Zobelle still trying to muscle Hale into working together and Hale’s surprising reaction of going to Clay to handle the problem. Wonder how Hale is going to justify jumping into bed with the club further down the line and maintain his integrity. Or will he end up just like Unser?
- Tig’s position with Clay is (ironically) threatened by Opie, who we see teetering on & almost going beyond the point of no return. The scene at the judge’s house was intense to say the least.
- Chibs & Tara working the hospital system
- Darby gets his come-uppance
- the return of the homeless girl from last season, who seems to be an enlightening guide to Jax and Gemma
- another instance of Gemma looking for peace in church
- god bless Charlie Hunnam’s derriere!
The not-so good:
- being reminded that Unser is an ill man and the fragile mortality of this great character
- I’m stuck at the casting road block of Mitch Pileggi as that sleaze-bag Darby. I still see him as A.D. Skinner on “X-Files.” I guess now it doesn’t really matter!
- Did Chucky make it out of the fire? If not, I don’t accept that…
And a few observations that amuse me: I think this is the first episode that we actually hear Jax referred to as the “Little Prince.”
Holy sexcapades: you gotta love how far Kurt Sutter pushes network television with all of the sex scenes in this episode. It makes me wonder what this show would be like if it were on a cable network…
Sons of anarchy news
Ratings:
TV By the Numbers says last night with a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating (same as last week) and 3.5 million viewers (up a touch from last week). It will again be the #1 scripted drama on cable this week.
Monsters & Critics sent a letter to John Landgraf, the president of FX, asking where the order is for Season 3. Read: “John, where’s the beef?”
How does Charlie Hunnam feel about being naked on the show? E!Online asked him:
“I’m very glad that I made the choice to have the back patch tattooed on me. Me and Opie (Ryan Hurst) both have it. I’m very glad, because it’s always exciting to see that piece of artwork, because otherwise it would just be me standing there, totally gratuitous.” (We’ll take it.)”
gratuitous nekkidness!
The fighting Irish
As we already know, SoA have a tie in with the IRA when it comes with gun-running and we learned that some even more high-profile members are coming stateside. Last week we met Fiona, who is Chibs’ (ex?) wife and one of the few women who scares Gemma. She is 3rd generation IRA and the woman behind the ominous, Jimmy O (played by the fantastic Titus Welliver), whom we’ll have the pleasure of meeting next week.
Ask Ausellio: You must tell me when Gemma tells SAMCRO what happened to her on Sons of Anarchy! —Cindy
Ausiello: …the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth comes out in the Nov. 10 episode.
Speaking of next week: a 90-minute episode!
Episode 2.10: “Balm”
Agent Stahl takes notice at the handsome profits SAMCRO is reaping from the repo business. Meanwhile, the Jax-Clay standoff forces Gemma to make a difficult decision.