It’s daylight and Juice is in the woods (perhaps at Miles freshly dug grave?) reciting the Act of Contrition. His emotional state is cracked like an egg. He’s resorted to his religious background to comfort him (like a lot of other characters have done in the past).
Gemma is taking the baby’s seat out of the Mommy-mobile and she notices the note in the front seat. She reads it and runs inside. She grills Tara as to who could have left it. Tara goes to call the police, but Gemma dissuades her, it will only end badly for everyone. Tara is not playin’ around. “This is a death threat, Gemma, delivered to my front door.” Gemma says that they’ll just camp out at the compound for a few days. “Normal people call the authorities when their lives are threatened!” Gemma reminds her that she doesn’t have a normal life.
Jax and Clay are on their way to the Mayan’s cocaine-packaging compound. I guess it makes sense that all of Alvarez’s worker bees are women clad only in their undies (to avoid any opportunities to pilfer a baggie here or there) and respirators. The packaged coke is bundled into hollowed out stacks of tortillas. Tig says out loud what everyone is already thinking, “That’s embracing the stereotype, man.” Alvarez tells them he currently has 28 dealers and that he’s looking to triple that number and get it into the prisons. Bobby asks about the heroin when Jax is distracted by a phone call. He tells the guys that someone left a death threat in Tara’s car. As they’re getting ready to leave, a car busts through the gate and two guys in masks start firing at them with automatic weapons. Alvarez gets a good guy wound and a few red shirt Mayans are killed.
Jax grabs a gun from one of the downed Mayans, gets on his bike and takes off after the car. Tig and Clay check on Alvarez and after the realization that the Mayans doctor was killed, they offer up Tara’s services to patch him up.
At Jax’s house there’s crying babies and a pissed of Tara trying to get things together to head to the safe arms of the club.
Jax is keeping up with the shooter’s car. They pull over to shoot at him. He takes cover behind a truck but can see enough to know that they’re Hispanic in nature. He shoots and hits one of them and as he goes after the guy, the driver of the car backs up kills their guy. Jax gets back on his bike and pursues.
Back at the clubhouse, Clay tells Gemma and Tara that Jax went after the shooters. Tara sees Alvarez and goes into doctor mode. Unser shows up soon after and Gemma shows him the threatening note (that he wrote). He asks her if Tara is under club protection and Gemma assures him that she is. So far his plan is working.
Tara is patching up Alvarez. Chibs, her assistant, helps with pain management by handing him a joint. Juice comes in from warehouse duty and Clay asks why he’s there. Nevermind, he doesn’t care why he’s there. He wants him back at the warehouse. (By the way, wasn’t Juice shot in the leg? There’s not a limp in sight.)
Clay asks Gemma how Tara’s doing. Gemma wants to know if the threat is valid, but he plays dumb. Because Gemma is the fierce mother, she asks Opie where his wife and kids are. He and Bobby head off to find Lyla. Clay starts throwing questions at Alvarez about those who were brave enough to storm the Mayans compound. He tells Alvarez about the threat to Tara. Juice is acting a little wiggy watching Tara dig around in Alvarez’s shoulder, and Chibs is noticing. Tara does not feel like chatting when Alvarez asks what happened to her. Clay fills him in about the threat she received. Alvarez mentions, ” I’ve been hearing rumors Galindo lost a hit squad last week. Found them butchered and burned.” Tig asks if its the other cartel, Lobo Sonora, but Clay tries to sweep the thought away with the thought that Romeo would have let them know.
Jax calls to tell them he followed the shooter to a small apartment complex and tells Clay to get backup from LaRoy. He watches the driver take a large duffel bag out of the trunk and he goes inside.
Sons of Anarchy "Fruit for Crows"
Roosevelt shows up to check on Tara because he heard about the threat. Under the watchful eye of Gemma, Clay, Chibs, Juice and Tig she insists that she is fine. Roosevelt is not unaware of all the eyes watching them and slides her his card. Then he yells out to Juice that his parole officer wants him to take a pee test right now and Clay urges him to do so. Clay initiates another one on one chat with Tara to see if everything is ok and she knows something is just not right.
And then we see Lyla at Cara Cara. In a a thong. Opie tells her to pick up her daughter and come back to the compound because “shit’s going down.” She argues that she has a job and she can’t just leave, then asks him to clarify why she should care. He reluctantly tells her about the death threat in Tara’s car and that they’re taking precautions. His phone rings and he takes the opportunity to remove himself from her. Bobby notices Ima doing her best to cover up her two black eyes and busted nose. He asks her what happened and she says, “Ask your VP.” Bobby is skeptical that Jax did that to her face. When Ima tries to push by him he puts out a hand to stop her, causing her to flinch and back away. He asks if she put a note in Tara’s car and she screeches “I swear! I did not do anything!”
Juice and Roosevelt are at the police station in a bit of a stalemate. Juice won’t give him the coke sample until he meets the guy pulling the strings and Roosevelt can’t introduce Juice to Potter until he’s got the sample. Juice finally says, “I’m just tired of playing ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ I’ll bring you the sample when I meet the guy who can make the deal.”
Fruit for Crows, SOA 4.07
Jax now has back up and is telling Clay, Chibs, Opie, Tig and Bobby about the duffel bag. They decide to proceed even though LaRoy and his boys aren’t there. Opie, Chibs and Jax take the back balcony and everyone busts on in with a countdown over their cells.
The apartment is hardly full of the dangerous type. It’s full of a family: kids, a mom and grandmother and the driver. The duffel bag Jax was sure was loaded with some heavy machinery is actually full of diapers. Ruh roh. He is clearly pissed, orders the kids out of the room so he can have a chat with the driver. He asks where the other shooter is and the driver, in Spanish, says he doesn’t know. Ah, what we have here is a failure to communicate and none of the guys picked up a lick of Español while in the pokey. Tig starts threatening those present with his gun and finally a woman speaks up in English, “We live here.” Chaos ensues when the second shooter busts through the door and grabs a woman hostage. There’s a lot of yelling and crying.
Jax manages to calm everyone down for the moment and asks her to translate. “He won’t listen. He doesn’t care.” This prompts the second shooter to execute her before she can say anything else, which prompts Chibs to shoot him dead. Through the driver’s despair, we find out that the woman was his sister. With some prodding from Jax he tells them they are legal immigrants from Mexico and he was forced to be driver for this Lobo Sonora errand, or his family in Mexico would essentially be tortured and killed. This is where Jax (and Opie) finally realize that dealing with cartels is BAD. They exit, leaving all the carnage behind them.
Meanwhile Tara wants to know what Gemma knows about cartels. Gemma doesn’t really own up to much knowledge other than they’re selling guns to the cartel. When Tara asks if drugs are involved Gemma clams up completely, causing Tara to freak that she is being targeted by a cartel. Gemma tries to assure her that she’s safe. “The club is not going to let anything happen to you,” but Tara doesn’t want to hear it. “The club is why everything is happening to me! To my family! I can’t believe I signed off on this shit.”
Roosevelt meets with Lincoln Potter and tells him that Juice wants to meet him. Lincoln nixes that until they get the sample. He suggests Roosevelt bust Juice for the sample instead possession, even though it’s entrapment. Roosevelt protests, “I am not going dirty to expedite your agenda.” Potter asks how the sheriff justifies trashing the SAMCRO clubhouse. “That was tactical, this is criminal! You want to tie up Juice on a bullshit bust? Do it yourself. I’m done.” Lincoln answers that with a threat of a formal complaint against Roosevelt and it would seem that he has the sheriff over a barrel.
Jax returns to the clubhouse, gives his mom a hug before seeking out Tara. Gemma informs him that Tara knows about the drugs and the cartel, “Not from me.” she insists. Jax uncomfortably confronts Tara and tells her he didn’t know the drugs were going to be part of the gun deal. Tara instantly and correctly guesses that was Clay’s doing. He says the deal was complicated. She correctly states that Clay cannot be trusted. Surprisingly Jax sticks up for Clay, saying he’s protecting the club but she isn’t swayed. “Clay protects himself. This is two weeks into it. What happens in two months? A year?” She leaves in a huff.
Clay and Alvarez discuss recent events. Clay tells Alvarez about Lobo Sonora, “I think Galindo’s rival is making a play in northern Cali.” Alvarez says he spoke to Romeo and the consensus was that Lobos were just making some noise. For now. Clay, still diverting any arrows pointing to him, asks about Tara’s note and Alvarez explains “…it’s not their style. Lobo would have written the note in their kids’ blood.” Lesson: you DON’T eff around with cartels!
Roosevelt calls Juice and tells him to meet him with the coke, to set up the entrapment. He is clearly unhappy that he has been forced into this position.
Gemma and Unser are meeting in her office to figure out where the threat against Tara came from. He tells her no other doctors have been threatened and suggests that it’s club-related. Before they can explore any further Clay comes in and Gemma leaves. Clay is none too happy with Unser, shoves him down on the couch and growls, “You think this is some kind of a game? Crawl back into your little shithole, Wayne. You leave this alone. Don’t get in my way anymore.”
Juice dutifully brings the coke sample to Roosevelt like a good puppy. Roosevelt makes sure he is alone and when Juice hands him the coke, Roosevelt arrests him.
Bobby informs Clay that SAMTAZ called and are worried because Armando, their prez, has been missing since the night before.
Over to Potter, looking at the sample of coke now in his possession. “Now we have leverage. I test this, we tie it to Galindo, then we see if Juice feels like cooperating.” Roosevelt is curious what happens if Juice doesn’t cooperate. Potter explains that they expose him to the underworld that he’s working with the Feds, stole from the club. If that doesn’t motivate him they charge him on the drug possession. “And we send him back to Stockton an unprotected rat.” Roosevelt deduces. ”That sounds terrifying,” Potter deadpans. I am really enjoying Ray McKinnon in this role. He is amusing enough to be somewhat likeable, but he is crazy enough to be incredibly unpredictable. Potter knows that Eli Roosevelt is a good cop and that he’s compromised the sheriff’s ethics a great deal. He tells the sheriff to “Tell Juice about the leverage, cut him loose. His fear will… multiply exponentially around his brothers.” Oh boy, he has NO idea how true that statement is.
Before the guys head into church a prospect assigned to watching Lyla comes in, sheepishly reporting that she gave him the slip. Opie gets the ok from Clay to go find her. Jax heads out with him.
Roosevelt sits down with Juice in an interrogation room. Roosevelt quietly says, “I don’t know what it is they want from you, but at this point, you have no choice. You have to cooperate, Juice.” Juice sighs. “It doesn’t matter,” he says and walks out.
When Juice returns to the club house, Chibs, Bobby and Tig are sitting outside. Chibs tries to approach him about his drug test, but Juice just walks by and into the club. Chibs goes to Clay to express his concern about Juice and Clay summons Juice to appear before him.
Clay walks over to a file cabinet and pulls out a small lockbox. Juice comes in, shuts the door behind him then goes to sit at his regular spot at the foot of the table. But Clay tells him to sit next to him. “Most days, this life is just riding around, getting shit done. Some days, it’s more than that. Some days, we ask our guys to do shit that very few men could do.” Clay hands Juice a “Men of Mayhem” patch and continues on. “That’s what this means.” Juice quietly stares at it. Clay keeps going, “The way you handled the Russians, this hard thing with Miles, I’m proud of you,” Juice at this point is trying to keep himself together. This is a moment that he’s been striving for. All he ever wanted was a family and a father figure. All things he gets from the club, and he knows he’s earned this patch under false pretenses while betraying them.
Juice manages to say, “Thanks.” Clay basically tells Juice to toughen up and put all the stuff with Miles behind him. As Clay says, “I love you, son.” Juice is pushed over the edge. Clay sends him back to the Coke barn and Juice leaves with eyes wet with tears.
Opie and Jax find that Lyla has packed up in a hurry and has fled the nest.
Around the reaper table Bobby states that Lobo Sonora knew exactly where to hit the Mayans and that they’re next. Clay says they’ll handle it and Bobby makes a snarky remark. Clay shoots back, “Instead of sitting on your fat ass complaining about all the shit I’m doing wrong, why don’t you do something that actually helps this goddamn club?” Ok Clay. Bobby calls for a vote, challenging club leadership. The already thin air is sucked out of the room. Clay is bullshit. “We vote this shit tonight,” he growls through his teeth before pounding the gavel.
Over to Juice who is lovingly sewing his “Men of Mayhem” patch on while tears stream down his face. His phone rings but he doesn’t answer. Opie tries futilely to call Lyla and Piney is loading his shotgun, ignoring his phone. Gemma walks out into the kitchen where Filthy Phil is naturally eating. She hands him a shotgun, “I trust you know how to use this?” He says he does. At the hospital, Unser approaches Margret with the threatening note he left for Tara. And finally at Jax and Tara’s, he pulls her in for a big hug and tells her they’re safe. She’s pretty stiff about it, especially when she spies the prospect keeping guard in her living room.
Juice is pulling a long length of chain from the tow truck. Chibs is beginning to worry that he can’t get ahold of Juice since he never showed up at the warehouse. Bobby and Clay have retreated to separate corners.
In the background Katey Sagal is singing “Strange Fruit,” a song originally sung by Billie Holiday, based on a poem written about the lynching of two black men in the South.
“Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.”
Towards the end of the song, Juice is sitting on a tree branch. He wraps the chain around his neck and then jumps off. We see his feet kicking, hear him gasping. The screen goes black and we hear a cracking noise, perhaps the tree branch?
Next week’s episode: family recipe
An important club vote gets side tracked when SAMCRO is forced to deal with dangerous external threats against the club.
Be sure to read all my extensive Sons of Anarchy coverage here.
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Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.01 “Out”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.02 “Booster”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.03 “Dorylus”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.04 “Una Venta”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.05 “Brick”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.06 “With an X”