I know I’ve been behind with the recaps and since we are nearing the end of the season, I’m catching up! Thank you everyone for still sticking with me and taking the time to read my SOA posts!
Ok, on to the recap.
At the garage, Chibs is essentially dragging Juice by the collar to go see Jax. He tells Jax about Juice’s suicide attempt. Apparently suicide is somehow a no-no in the SAMCRO biker handbook. They typically withdraw support from guys who are suicidal and then vote them out. Chibs asks for a second chance for Juice, so long as he watches him personally. Oh and maybe keep him out of the cartel ruckus for now.
A meeting between Clay, Alvarez and Luis reveals there are two dozen or so Lobos Sonora in the area and they’re making alliances to expand their cocaine network. The Chinese has cornered the corner of heroin trade, so the Niners are out of that. They figure out that Laroy and the Niners have been doing business with the enemy cartel and have now become an issue. Jax says they’ll meet with Laroy to find out what’s going on and Luis invites himself to tag along. After everyone else leaves, Jax say “If the Niners are buying from Lobo, this guy is going to slaughter them. That changes the whole dynamic in Oaktown. It wipes diplomacy off the table.” Clay shrugs, “Maybe it’s time to clean house. Relationships are overrated.” Aaand, that statement sums it all up when it comes to Clay this season.
Gemma’s trying to call Piney but he isn’t answering his phone.
RIP Piney Winston
A SAMCRO meeting is happening to figure out how to deal with the new revelation of the Niners. Juice isn’t present, Jax covers for him and says he looking for “bugs” in the clubhouse since the cops were all up in there. Clay enforces that they don’t have to worry about dealing with Lobo, they have to worry about Galindo so let Galindo deal with the issue and they’ll act as backup. Bobby sullenly states, “Yeah, ’cause all our plans with these guys have worked out just perfectly.” The meeting’s interrupted by two of the Irish Kings calling Clay. He leaves to take the call and the gist of the conversation is that they’re concerned that he is acting recklessly by selling weapons to a drug cartel. Clay pleads with them to follow through and they reluctantly agree to meet with Galindo, but with no guarantees that they’ll sell them guns. More pressure on Clay.
Roosevelt is also alarmed by Juice’s emotional and physical state when he drops by the T-M garage. Juice tells him he wants out.
Tara tells Margaret that she’s going to the conference in Portland. Margaret’s thrilled and Tara then says she wants to give her something to hold on to (the letters) in case something happens to her. But as she pulls them out of her drawer she realizes it’s just a stack of blank paper. And she knows just who was behind it.
Roosevelt goes to Potter to convince him to cut Juice loose because he tried to kill himself. Potter realizes that if Juice is so unstable they won’t be able to use him properly. So he switches gears and decides to tap into Otto. They recorded Bobby’s visit to Otto in the pokey, including his lie about killing Georgie. “Otto Delaney has endured more pain and suffering for his organization than any other felon I’ve ever known. I think this betrayal pushes him over the line.” But he’s still going to squeeze what he can out of Juice.
SAMCRO meets with Laroy, basically tells him to drop the relationship with Lobo Sonora. There’s some tension as Laroy tells them to butt out, that it isn’t their business. But Jax tells him,”We made a deal with Galindo. You buying from Lobo puts us at odds. We can’t have that.” The point is punctuated when Galindo shows up heavily armed. Jax pulls Laroy aside and tells him that if he cooperates they’ll all get out alive. Laroy explains to everyone that Lobo approached them before the boys got out of jail. He didn’t know about Galindo, only that Lobo offered lots of support in an effort to grow. Luis isn’t happy about this info. Luis orders Laroy to call Lobo. “Tell them you have a buyer with an urgent need.” Laroy hesitates but Luis says if he doesn’t do it he’ll gun down all his guys.
Jax pulls Laroy aside and Laroy explains that trying to sever from Lobo could be muy mal. But Jax tells him the other option is equally as bad. “We cannot get in the middle of a cartel beef. We’ve got to roll with Galindo. We’ll talk to Alvarez and find a way to cut in the Niners.” Laroy agrees. A glimpse at Clay and we can hear his time as a leader ticking away.
Gemma goes to the cabin to check on Piney since he hasn’t been answering his phone and, of course, finds him dead. She has a minor freak out. “I told you! Goddamn it, I told you! You stupid old man!” She calls Unser and it doesn’t take her long to figure out that Clay killed Piney, she tells him how he lied about being at the club house the night before. Unser explains that the letters she saw burning in the firepit were only copies. Clay read the copies and was convinced that Tara and Piney have the originals. Piney’s dead, Tara’s next. Unser is more than ready to turn in Clay but Gemma says no. He tells her “Clay cannot be saved.” She refuses to turn her back on him, that she loves him and they’re all responsible for this. Unser wants to know if Gemma knew the real reason that Clay wanted JT dead, ending the guns. She answers very carefully, that she supported the idea but never knew the details. He tells her he’s going to choose to believe her answer. Before he knows it she plants a big one on his kisser and that moment explains how she has managed to manipulate him through the years. He pushes her out and proceeds to figure out how to stage the crime scene.
The head of the Lobo faction has brought some drug samples to Laroy. The place explodes as Galindo busts on in shooting and Lobo fires back. Lobo blows through a wall and escapes, leaving Luis undeniably peeved. He’s ready to execute Laroy and all the Niners. Jax, again, steps in explaining that in the land of outlaw bikers, you need work with other crews. To move product, you need to build relationships. A shot of Happy, Bobby and Opie as lighbulbs shine over their heads as they’re seeing Jax emerge as a leader. Jax explains that Laroy made a bad choice and killing him off won’t help Galindo in the long run.
As everyone starts to disperse, Clay approaches Luis about Operation: Kill Tara. Luis hands him a burn phone and explains there’s only one number on it, that the guy is an independent contractor and once Clay makes the call there’s no going back. Clay stresses that it has to look like something from the outside. “Considering our current state of affairs, that doesn’t seem to be a problem.”
Tara confronts Gemma about stealing the letters from her office, which Gemma does not deny. “You have no idea what you stirred up with those letters, letting Piney read them!” Tara insists she didn’t let Piney ready them, she only asked about John. Gemma is knocked off her game because now she realizes that Piney was bluffing and Clay killed him for nothing. Gemma asks why Tara hasn’t shown the letters to Jax. Tara says that Jax would likely kill Clay, then adds “Finding out how John really felt at the end? It would break Jax’s heart knowing he had been hating so deeply. The guilt would push him deeper into the club and I’d lose him.” Then Gemma asks how he’d feel about his mama and Tara answers truthfully. He’d find out some harsh truths about Gemma being with Clay before John died (which hardly seems like it would be a shocker). Tara asks if Gemma knew that Clay tried to kill John, and Gemma lies. “I know what everyone else knows. John went out the way they should all go out — on two wheels, at high speed. I don’t know if Clay killed JT. All I know is he brought me back to life.” Another example of Gemma’s devotion to Clay stressed in this episode. And then Tara proceeds to tells Gemma that she’s taking off for a conference in Oregon, information that no doubt will come into play at a later time.
At Stockton, Potter is stirring another giant pot. He again pretends to be a sheriff’s deputy and visits Otto. “Georgie was in Thailand when Luann was murdered. I also know Bobby led you to believe that the club had avenged Luann’s death, but that’s not true either.” Otto is truly stumped and my heart is breaking for this guy. “Why would they lie to me?” Potter twists the knife of lies telling him that they didn’t kill Georgie because he wasn’t guilty and still insists that Bobby did the deed. He continues on. “You came to Stockton to do a six- year stretch. The moves you made in here for the club added another 30. You lost your freedom, your vision, your sanity, and now you’re on death row. Seems to me there’s a substantial inequity at play here.” Otto may be a little crazy but he’s smart and knows this guy isn’t just a sheriff’s deputy. He asks Potter who he is. He answers, “I’m just a guy trying to balance the scales.”
Gemma is sitting in her office when Jax comes in to tell her that Tara is taking off for a conference. He also adds that she is taking the kids with her, along with the nanny. Gemma is not happy, asks why (Tara’s their mother) and for how long (undetermined) and then asks him what he’s up to. She’s serious, too, because she actually asks, “what are you up to, Jackson?” He just says he’s trying to keep the kids clear of headless bodies. Just then, Chibs pokes his head in looking for Juice.
Piney and Juice
Meanwhile Juice, handcuffed, has been shown Potter’s war room and about the RICO operation, from the Russians to SAMCRO. Potter explains that he really wants the RIRA. He tells Juice he’ll leave the Sons out of RICO if Juice tells him when the meeting with the Irish Kings is. “You’re going to just let us walk?” Potter sits down next to him and carefully words his answer. “No. But I won’t use federal law to shut down your entire organization. Some members of SAMCRO will have to pay for their involvement, but the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club will survive. Hmmm. Maybe saving the reaper will be just the karmic balm your psychic neck wound needs?”
It’s nighttime and Gemma is outside cleaning up around the kids play area. Clay comes over and they both plant themselves down in the kid’s swings. “Rough day.” Clay says. Gemma agrees and they sit silently. She finally breaks the silence. ”I live with so many lies, Clay. So many things I can’t ever speak of. I’m okay with that. I do it to protect what we have. But I can’t lie to you. You’re the only truth I have.” The third act of devotion to Clay stressed in this episode. “I went to the cabin today. I know why you did it. I know you read JT’s letters, burned the copies.” We all know this revelation is not going to sit well with him. “So … what do we do with this truth?” Gemma: “Nothing. It stays between us. Piney wanted a hard way out. Going down defending John was probably the noblest way for him. But it stops here. I talked to Tara. She’s never going to tell Jax about those letters. She knows it would push him deeper into the club.” And then the info we knew would come into play at some point. “She’s heading out of town tomorrow morning, going up to Oregon for some hospital thing. When she gets back, I’ll get the letters. And I promise you, I won’t let her hurt the club, or our family. But you have to promise me you won’t hurt Tara.”
Clay says ok and adds, “I love you, Gemma. Everything I do is for you.” but we already know the wheels are turning in his head.
Tara’s packing for her trip when Jax comes in and asks if she has any more room in her bag because he’s going with her. Plot twist! He’s taking some time from club biz and says “I’m out, babe. I just got a few things to tie up when I get back.” They both giggle with happiness.
Back to Clay at the clubhouse, he pulls out the burner phone Luis gave him and presses a button. We hear the phone ring.
Next week’s episode: Hands
Jax and Tara get a glimpse of life without SAMCRO but discover that their reality is hard to escape.
Be sure to read all my extensive Sons of Anarchy coverage here.
Related posts:
Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy” (prior to season 3 airing)
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”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.07 “Fruit for the Crows”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.08 “Family Recipe”