Opie, Sons of Anarchy

It’s morning in Charming again. It’s interesting how every episode this season has started off with the beginning of a new day. Gemma is sitting at the table pushing food around on her breakfast plate. Opie shows up at her door, presumably to check out her face and see if what Unser said about Clay beating on her was true. He seems a little surprised at what he sees. He’s looking for Clay, wants to know why Clay hurt her. “Heat with the club. When that hits a point same time as family shit, that’s just a bad combination.” He wants to know more but she swats it away like an annoying fly. “So what happens now? You and Clay?” She answers, “I do what I always do. I take care of my family.” He walks out without a word.

Clay and Tig are leaning against their bikes in front of the coke barn when the Irish gents roll up. Jax pulls up a few minutes late and apologizes. Galaan, with the tone of a Catholic school teacher, says “Guess you had more pressing business?” Jax replies, “The mother of my son in the hospital.” There are some empathetic apologies from the Irish gents. Galaan points out, “Unfortunate events such as yours – this is why this cartel deal worries us.” Inside the barn, discussion continues. Galaan continues to voice his concerns about the cartel and Jax has to defend all of the bloodshed, leading Galaan to scold him like a school boy again. He has some choice words about getting into business with the Mexicans, until Clay pipes up. “Look. You trust me. I trust Galindo. We’re talking about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here.” Bobby has a smug look on his face watching Clay defend his bad decisions. Jax tries to help, but it’s Chibs’ magical Irish brogue that helps make the deal happen. As they set up the time for Galindo and the Kings to meet, Juice is nonchalantly taking notes in his head.

inverted Lincoln Potter

In the Feds war room, Potter is hanging out on an inversion table. One of his flunkies is complaining about trying to get Lenny’s privileges approved in jail, when a female flunkie comes over to tell him that they just got a text. He pops off the table, with crazy eyes and hair “Juan Carlos just locked down our Irish-cartel gun meet.” Juice glares at himself in the mirror of the clubhouse john after sending the text. Chibs bangs on the door and calls for him. Bobby speculates that maybe they’ll all get out of the situation alive and Chibs says, “Shit’s in the rearview now, boys.”

Gemma shows up in Tara’s hospital room. It’s the first time Tara has seen Gemma’s busted up face and when asked what happened, Gemma tells her “Fell down some stairs,” which is code for, Clay beat the ever lovin’ shite outta me. Talk quickly turns toward a shared nuisance, Wendy. Gemma tries to get some more information, but Tara circles her wagons, telling her it’s not her business. Gemma sets her straight. “Jax doesn’t need another problem. You keep him clear of it.” Tara snips, “Why? Are you afraid it’ll give us another reason to run from Charming?” I’m afraid it’s another thing that will break his heart.”  Tara snaps, “I can take care of his heart.” Oh, we’re having a little tug of war over Jax.

As Gemma is leaving the hospital room she runs into Jax. She asks if Opie connected with him since he came by her house that morning. Jax says he hasn’t, asks if Piney was with him and mentions that Opie went up to the cabin to check on Piney. Gemma, knowing now that Opie has discovered his gunned down father, lets out a curt, “Oh. No he was alone.” She tasks Filthy Phil with finding Opie for her, knowing that he’s probably a loose cannon.

Jax and Tara talk about her release from the hospital. He asks what happened and because they have a full disclosure policy, she tells him that Wendy came to see her and is pushing to see Abel. He, of course, didn’t know and she stresses that those boys are hers and that Gemma didn’t want her to tell Jax about the visit. Jax says he’ll deal with Wendy and Gemma. As he leaves her room I wonder if he can feel Tara’s eyes burning a hole in his back. There’s definitely a darker side of Tara coming to light.

In the hallway, Jax tasks Phil to find his ex-wife, even though Gemma already gave him orders. Poor Phil.

At the cabin, Unser is overseeing as Skeeter (from waaay back in Season 1), who we find works in a crematorium, is dragging the 300 lbs of Piney out the door. Opie must’ve called in a favor since he tells Unser that the crematorium closes at six and he can come by then.

Jax pulls up to Teller-Morrow as Juice is leaving, saying he’s heading to the weed shop. Jax tells him not to carry. Jax, Bobby and Clay have a chat. Jax says, “After this deal goes down tomorrow, we put a ticking clock on the blow. Tell Romeo we’ll still run his guns, but he’s got to find someone else to mule. We’ll blame it on the Irish, tell Galindo they’re going to bail if we keep trucking powder.” Clay says it’s too soon, Jax claims it’s too late. Bobby looks like he’s about to scream “neener neener neener” at Clay. Jax goes on to state that they’re going to make a shit ton of money and he’s cutting and running after that. Then to Clay, he says, “You were right. Ope ain’t fit to lead. When you step down, gavel should go to Bobby. Chibs is your VP. If Tig ain’t going to carry it, I think the sergeant’s patch should go to Happy.” Bobby nods in approval. “You really going to do this?” he asks. Jax replies, “I love this club, Bobby, but I love my family more. I gotta put some distance between the two.” He goes on to say that close out the cartel business before he makes his plans known, not wanting everyone else to be distracted.

Speaking of distracted, Bobby announces he’s going to see Otto, who has reached out. Everyone assumes that he’s going to tell Otto that they’ve cleaned up the loose ends with Georgie and can finally put Luann to rest. However, Bobby has already screwed that pooch and he knows it. Jax, Chibs, Tig and Happy are off to provide Galaan some back up for one of his errands and Clay is off to meet up with Romeo.

In the sheriff’s office, Hale is busy preening about how Charming Heights’ progression, while Roosevelt politely listens. Hale wants Roosevelt show up at the next night’s city council meeting to talk about potential law enforcement in that community. He is cut off though, when Roosevelt’s attention is diverted to something behind Hale. As Hale turns around he sees quirky Mr. Lincoln Potter smiling through the window. Potter lets himself in, Roosevelt dismisses Hale by telling him he’ll be at the meeting. Potter is amused when he finds that Hale got his investors. Conversation turns toward the RICO sting at Wahewah. Potter asks Roosevelt for backup, and he seems surprised and a little disappointed to discover that Juice pulled through. When Potter calls him on it, he states that he will be there. Potter leans forward and say, “I couldn’t have done this without your help, you know.” Roosevelt gives a sarcastic smile and says, “Yeah, well, I’m all about the help, you know.” Potter then inquires where the city clerk’s office is so that he can “get the details on Mayor Quimby’s housing proposal.” Score on the Simpson’s reference, btw. When the sheriff asks why, he merely says “I’m the most curious of fellows.”

Clay is discussing the concerns of the Irish gents with Romeo, who’s comment is “I find that large stacks of cash have a very tranquil effect on people.” Clay also tells them they’re going to need a little diplomacy, too. Luis answers, “We’re very persuasive.” “Yeah, I noticed.” Clay mumbles. Romeo asks about Mission Impossible: Kill the Doctor. Clay says they need to tread lightly since the Irish are a bit skittish and says they should let him handle it. Romeo nixes that idea, that Clay is too close. “We’ll finish it this time. Let us know when she’s released. We’ll make it look like an accident. No mistakes this time.”

At the cabin Gemma comes storming in while Unser is there. She asks where Piney is and he can’t resist the wiseass crack, “Turns out he wasn’t dead. Got up and walked away.” She asks what happened with Ope. Unser says, “I knew he was coming and I followed him … wasn’t really sure until I got here. Saw the pain in the boy’s face.” She presses for details, he says he told Opie that Clay killed his old man. “After Donna, he’ll kill Clay!” she exclaims. “My intent, Gemma,” Unser says. No duh, Gemma. She wants to find Opie, Unser tells her about the plan for the crematorium. She wants Unser to stop Opie from killing Clay. He asks what she’s up to and she says, “I am protecting what it took me 20 goddamn years to build.”

Outside the weed shop, Juice gets picked up by the Feds.

Bobby is escorted to a room at Stockton. He immediately notes that it’s not the usual visiting room and the fact that Otto is not there. He’s essentially told to shut up and sit down.

Jax, Chibs, Happy and Tig are with Galaan and they pull up to a big house. Jax asks for info, Galaan says, “Our American colleagues have put profit before protocol. We’re just here to enforce decency.” When they enter the house, Jax’s curiosity is piqued when he notices a lady carrying a baby upstairs. He follows her and BOOM. Black market baby factory. All hell breaks loose with the bikers delivering beat downs to the baby trafficking employees. Galaan walks in on the chaos, while all the kids shriek and wail.

At some point Clay has shown up and is refereeing the aftermath between Galaan and Jax. “You didn’t tell us we’d be dealing with the U.S. half of your black market baby ring.” Jax spits out. Hey, after spending the entirety of last season trying to find Abel, who could blame him for being so sensitive on this subject matter. The two of them have a round of “you say tom-ato, I say to-mat-o” until Tig tells Jax that Filthy Phil is on the phone for him.

Clay quietly apologizes to Gaalan for snafu. He explains that Jax, “almost lost his son to your Belfast house. Long story. Kellan, keeping some twisted promise to JT.” Gaalan replies, “I didn’t know.” Clay goes on, “So you understand why this pushes his buttons.”  “Aye, but the boy’s got too many buttons, Clay” Galaan replies. “He’s hotheaded and unstable. Throw him into the mix with Mexicans? I have no faith it doesn’t turn bloody.” Clay resolves to keep Jax away from cartel business so that he’s the only point of contact, and asks if their services are still needed. Gaalan smirkily replies, “American Irish. Greedy bastards. Offering children to the highest bidder, some of them to Protestant families.” He says that they’ve managed to scare the piss out them and Clay cracks a joke, they both walk off chuckling. Clay walks over to Jax, who wasn’t happy that they were not told what they were getting into. Clay asks if he’s going to see Tara, and Jax says probably the best quote of the show. “Later. I gotta bounce someone’s head off 12 steps.”

At Stockton, Otto and Potter are going over the agreement. Potter recites some terms, “Lenny gets full visitation, yard privileges two days a week. Warden signed off.” Otto mutters, “yeah.” “Need your signature verifying everything you told us about your illegal activities with the Sons of Anarchy is accurate and true.” As Otto signs Licoln looks like he’s ready to titter with excitement, he’s ready to bust out of his skin because Plan B has worked. Otto wants to know when he can meet with Bobby. Potter tells him that Bobby is in the next room, as soon as the papers are processed he can talk to him and perhaps get some closure. Otto slowly turns his head around, eyes dead but his wit still lively. “Yeah. I’m completely at peace.”

Jax confronts Wendy about pushing to see Abel. I’m kind of annoyed by this story line. It doesn’t seem like the right time to bring her back into the fold. But whatevs. He asks her to stay away, she admonishes him for not telling Abel the truth, which seems really dumb to me because HE’S ONLY THREE. They argue about who’s more fit to parent, the ex-con or the ex-junkie. She says she’s not going anywhere. He smiles wryly and says “That’s okay. I am.”

Clay lurches down the hallway at the hospital. He tells Phil to take a hike, walks into Tara’s room (she’s sleeping) and attempts to lock the door, but ah there is no lock. Gemma enters the hospital, trying to call Opie, who is ignoring all calls because he’s moping next to Donna’s headstone. She runs into Phil in the hallway. ”Where you going?” she she asks. Phil answers, “Grab a soda. Clay’s with Tara.” Gemma’s alarmed. “He’s alone with her?” Phil nods and she takes off running, heels clacking on the floor.

Tara wakes up and is startled to find Clay standing stoically at the end of her bed. She looks like a cornered rabbit when she asks where Jax is. He tells her Jax is occupied and that’s why he’s there to check up on her. She thanks him. He goes on, “Sure. We gotta get you better, ready to go. You and Jax got yourself a plan, put all this violence behind. It’s a smart move. I’d hate to see something get in the way of that.” His menacing tone doesn’t match the endearment of the words. “I could make sure that this plan happens. Push some doors wide open, see that nobody gets in your way.” Tara asks, “even Gemma?” “I’ll stop her. Make sure she won’t run at you.” Tara replies, “Yeah, I saw how you slowed her down” she says with a twinge of venom in her voice. He brings up the real matter at hand, the letters. She is surprised that he knows about them, figures Gemma told him. She thought you were going to show them to Jax, create a shitstorm. But you’re a smart girl, Tara. You know what happens if Jax reads those letters. It’s the reason why he doesn’t have them already. Complicates your departure.” Clay wants the letters, she wants to know why she should give them to him. “Peace of mind. I want to be able to sleep at night. You can understand that. You give me the letters, I destroy them. You and Jax leave with the boys, everybody’s happy. And safe.” Tara asks, “And if I don’t give them to you?” He tells her, “I’m not sure you and Jax ever make it out of Charming.”

Gemma’s still running and she runs right into Clay as he leaves the room. He sees the look on her face and tells her “She’s fine.” He turns to leave and after she peeks in to see Tara, who’s shuffling to the john, she calls after him. “Opie found Piney. He’s certain you’re the one who killed him.” He asks how and she tells him it doesn’t matter, that he’d better watch his back. “Opie will wanna settle the score.” she tells him. He nods with a bit of sadness, maybe some regret. She takes his face into her hands and blandly says “I love you, Clay.” She kisses him on the cheek, but it reminds me of the “you broke my heart, Fredo” scene from Godfather 2. The kiss of death.

Gemma has switched gears as she helps Tara pack up her stuff to go home. She asks Tara what Clay wanted.  He wants the letters. You didn’t tell me he knew. Is that why this happened?” Gemma explains, “I found that cover note. I panicked. I had to tell someone.” Tara nods as this new information sinks in. And then Jax arrives all happy-go-lucky because she’s been released. Jax tells both of them he talked to Wendy, much to Gemma’s disapproval. “I don’t give a shit about what anybody wants, including you,” Jax says. “We’re going. Tara has an offer from a hospital in Oregon. Day after tomorrow, we’re packing up our boys and we’re getting out of Charming.” He walks out of the room after his phone rings and Gemma is P.O’d. “You have no idea what I’ve done to protect you and Jax.” Tara rifles back, “Protect us from what? I just wanted him to know the truth.” Gemma replies, “Is that what you wanted, sweetheart? Truth? ‘Cause I got buckets of it. I can drown you in truth.”

Knock, knock. Phil tells them that Jax had to split. He’ll take Tara home.” In unison, Present Gemma and Future Gemma ask, “Where did he go?”

Clay enters the clubhouse and the only one there is Tig, oh yeah and three miscellaneous “croweaters.” Clay asks where everyone is and Tig tells him, “Chibs and Hap went home. Haven’t seen Bobby or Juice. I think Jax finally tracked down Ope, and Miles and Kozik are dead.” Thanks for the update.” Clay mumbles. He goes on to say that he got a bad vibe from the meeting with the Mexicans, felt wrong. “Wrong how?” Tig asks. “Wrong like, I may need another guy with a gun?” Tig silently sighs and decides his 3-way massage is more important and passes the buck to Rat. After all, he’s turned in his Sgt at Arms patch and is no longer the go-to guy, plus he’s giving Clay back and bit of the old medicine. Clay’s clearly bummed but shrugs it off, heading into church.

Otto finally walks into the room where Bobby has been waiting. His greeting to Bobby is to throw down a pad of yellow paper. “Read it. Out load.” he demands. Bobby reaches into his pocket for his reading glasses and begins to read a laundry list of dates and offenses that Otto has committed while in prison. But Bobby’s still confused. “What is this?” Bobby asks. “Keep reading.” Otto says. Bobby reads on a little more.”Why am I reading this, Otto?” Otto replies, “It’s my list, brother. It’s all the things I’ve done for the club inside. Including the thing that got me life. The thing that got me death. And I only asked for one thing from SAMCRO: Take care of Luann.” Bobby says, “I know. And we did, Otto. I promise.” “No, you didn’t.”Otto replies, ” And now you’re going to feel that.” Bobby still doesn’t get it until Otto turns away and two cops come in and flank Bobby. “Otto, what did you do?” he asks over and over again, the volume and realization rising in his voice. “You ratted?” he growls as he’s being yanked from the room. Otto turns his back from Bobby when he reaches the door, no reaction on his face. I chuckled a little when in the middle of Bobby’s incoherent grunts and growls he clearly rumbles “SONOVABITCH.” Otto then says, “Time for you to start a list, Bobby.” Potter, standing in the doorway, looks at Otto for a moment, a shell of the man he once was.

Otto, the rat

Opie stands in front of the giant furnace watching his dad’s body burn up. Unser shows up, stands next to him. “I need to talk to you about something,” and Opie mumbless, “Not really in the mood to talk to you right now.” Jax comes in and surveys the situation, sees Opie holding Piney’s cut. “Oh, my God. What happened?” Opie says, “Found him at the cabin. Shotgun to the chest.” Jax tries to hug Opie, who is stiff as a board. Jax asks if it was the Mexicans. Unser is holding his breath but Opie just says “I’ll fill you in. I just wanted to say good-bye. I know that he’d want you here.” Unser decides to leave. Opie tosses Piney’s cut into the flames. He and Jax watch it burn. Jax looks bewildered, Opie has a slight sneer on his face and murder in his eyes.

Outside by their bikes, Jax asks “Want to tell me what happened to Piney?” Opie whips around, pointing his gun at Jax and tells him Clay killed his father. Jax is somehow surprised. “He killed my wife, now my father. Did you know??” he demands. Jax tries to placate Opie saying it’s a club issue to be solved at the table. “What table? You’re out, remember?” Then he shoots Jax’s tire and takes off. Jax grabs a hearse and goes after Opie.

Quick scene of Bobby being taken to a cell and of Tara at home looking miserable trying to feed Thomas with one hand. Gemma sits in a darkened kitchen, smoking alone.

Clay’s sitting in church puffing on a cigar when he hears a bike pull up. He gets up, gun in hand, when he doesn’t hear anyone come in and as he’s by the new double doors Opie kicks it in with brutal force. He pins Clay to the table, tosses his gun and aims his gun at Clay.”Sit. You’re going to die at the gavel.” Clay asks, “I get to say anything here?” Opie’s head looks like it’s going to explode. “My old man get to say anything before you blew a hole in his chest? Sit down!” Clay tells Opie that someone’s been lying to him. Opie screams about how he had Donna killed. “That a lie?” he asks. Clay seems surprised to be hearing Donna’s name at this moment. She was just an old lady, after all. “That score is settled.”

Opie screams that it’s not and orders Clay to sit down. Clay does so and then Jax shows up, gun drawn and aimed at his best friend. “Put it down. Please don’t make me kill you.” Jax begs. Opie is looking at Jax, incredulous that he is defending Clay. With his eyes still on Jax he grits his teeth and blam blam! Clay takes two in the chest. There is definitely blood, he’s not wearing a vest. Jax is in shock staring at Opie.

Next week’s episode: To Be Pt. 1

Jax is confronted with a new challenge that threatens his family and his club.

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”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.09 “Kiss”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.10 “Hands”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.11 “Call of Duty”

Gemma pours a cup of coffee in her kitchen. Unser has stayed over on the couch to be there for her. “What should I do here, Gemma?’ She tells him to finish pointing Piney’s death towards the cartel because it’s about the club now. He clearly doesn’t approve but will do as she asks. “What are we gonna do about Clay?” he asks. She says she’ll handle it. He tries to stress how unpredictable Clay is but she assures him that she knows Clay wouldn’t hesitate to kill her and she isn’t about to let that happen.

Tig tells Clay that Kozik is back with the guns and Jax is going to meet them at the warehouse. Tig treads lightly, asking Clay if he got into it with Gemma. “You don’t need to know,” is Clay’s stock answer these days. Finally, Tig has had enough and asks Clay what his problem is. “You don’t wanna talk about nothin’ no more” he says, “you cut me off. I got no idea what’s going on with you.” Clay makes a smart ass remark about not being married to Tig and that he and Bobby are acting like a couple of chicks. But Tig insists that they actually are kind of married. Reminds him that he is Clay’s right hand. “I’m the guy by your side, that steps between you and the shit that tries to kill you. I’M your right hand, Clay.” But because Clay’s an asshat he cuts Tig down. Tig enlightens Clay that the reason he’s losing the club is because he shuts all of them out. Chew on that!

Gemma enters the hospital with a hat and a pair of large sunglasses on. Margaret sees her, asks what happened. “Flew my broomstick into a wall.” This will go on the list of classic Gemma lines. Margaret is concerned and says this is why Tara needs to get out. Gemma insists that her son would never do that (although he did slam Ima’s face into the table at Gemma’s urging, ahem…) Margaret’s rebuttal: “I’m sure Clay’s mother said the same thing about him.” Gemma tells Margaret that she loves Tara. Margaret replies, “Then don’t stop them from leaving.” Turns out she worked a little magic for Tara. Providence Hospital still wants her and is willing to wait for her to recover. Margaret tells Gemma if she loves Tara she’ll let her take this job, then she walks off humming “You Dropped a Bomb On Me.”

Jax flips when he sees Gemma’s face. She pulls him into the hospital chapel. He’s almost vibrating with anger when he asks if it was Clay. She says it’s been building up, shit with the drugs & cartel, she crossed the line.  He’s ready to go pound on Clay immediately but she asks him to let her handle it. He is devastated when he looks back at his mother’s face and apologizes. He expresses remorse and naivety about the idea of them being able to get out clean. She tells him he’s a better man than her husband. She asks him about leaving Charming. He painfully admits it. This is some really great acting from Charlie Hunnam. He explains that it’s about his sons and Gemma says “It always is.” Interesting reply.

Tara gets a visitor that isn’t Gemma and whoa, it’s Wendy! Wendy sets down a vase of flowers next to the bed. Tara is definitely rocked by her appearance. Wendy is way more sober and coherent than we’ve ever seen her. She explains that she’s running on a program with the hospital’s HR department. She explains that she’s been recovering in sober living and has begun doing a lot of programs in hospitals. The small talk is painful and forced. Tara giggles awkwardly. “I’m not sure what to say here.” Wendy finally spits out that she wants to see her son. Tara’s hackles raise up. “I’M his mother. I’M the one who raised him when you walked away.” Wendy, despite giving up her rights to raise him legally, still wants to get to know him and for him to know that she is his mother. She leaves and Tara is left to stew in those juices. Her chest rises and falls dramatically with each breath because some thought is building up in her head. Ultimately, she screams in frustration and slams the flowers off the table with her broken hand and continues to slam it down on the table.

At the warehouse Kozik is walking Clay through the steps they took getting the guns through, with the help of the Tacoma Sons. Kozik also tells Clay that the Irish are worried about the beef between the cartels. Jax shows up and is none too happy with Clay. “You want to pull off this exit strategy of yours, you better stop focusing on my domestic life and start focusing on the issue at hand.” Clay tells him that maybe Romeo has found the guys who went after Tara. He says, “I need you to keep your head in the game on all fronts. You understand?’ Jax sneers and says, “Oh, I’m focused. And this ain’t finished.” Clay saunters off, unconcerned.

Jax and Kozik in Call of Duty

In the barn, Kozik is going over the gun inventory: long-range sniper rifles, 50-caliber machine guns and rocket launchers (of which Kozik makes a point that the Irish basically said “don’t touch”) Juice states that the only time he’s seen guns like these are in video games. “That’s Call of Duty shit.”

Gemma gos to Tara’s room and finds her gone and discovers she was rushed back into surgery. Lunk-head Phil tells Gemma that things were fine until she got a visit from “some chick”. Gemma finds a card that went with the smashed flowers on the floor and realizes who the chick was. Phil asks who she was, leaving Gemma to mutter, “Junkie whore.”

Romeo and Luis try to placate Jax by showing him two fried Latino-looking bodies in the back of their truck. Jax’s only comment, “There were three of them.” Luis face says you’re welcome, but instead he says that they’re looking into finding the others. Romeo builds on the story claiming that these two guys gave up the remaining dude as well as the remainder of the Lobos in NorCal, so things will be all set once they take care of business. Luis checks to Jax to see if picks up what they’re puttin’ down, and he does. Clay jumps in and tells Jax that he can get his revenge and the club can provide some reassurance to the Irish if the club accompanies Galindo to snuff out the remaining Lobos.

Back at the clubhouse Jax is laying in to Clay that going after Lobo Sonora is a personal, not business matter and to let him go and take care of it. Tig disagrees. “This isn’t just about Tara. This about hurting those assholes who shot up our clubhouse and killed Armando.” Clay, however, agrees with Jax and states that the body count has gotten a wee bit out of control and he didn’t see it coming. Cut to the I-told-you-so look on Bobby’s face. Everyone chimes in that they’re not going to let Jax go alone. It’s a bonding moment that I’m sure is not lost on Jax.

As the guys head out to saddle up, Osborne pulls in to deliver some bad news: Charming Heights is a go due to a large influx of Asian investor money. Clay’s all, WTF?! because the reason they left Georgie walking around was to dangle the possibility of Asian investment, not an actual deal. Bobby and Tig step up to handle the situation, with Opie, who plans to tap Lyla for info. Clay pulls Tig aside to tell him that Georgie is no longer of use to the club. Message received.

Potter is sitting in a visitor room at Stockton. He hums while he waits for Otto, who initiated the meeting. Otto comes in and as Potter launches into his spiel, Otto tells him to stop talking. “Answer my questions, and if I think you’re lying, the conversation ends. Who are you?” Potter tells him who he really is. Otto asks what he wants from him. Potter explains, “I’m building a case against the Real IRA and the Galindo cartel. The Sons of Anarchy is my way in.” Otto may have gone a bit crazy, but he’s not stupid. He deduces that Potter needs Bobby to establish history for his RICO case. “This is what I want. And, uh, you should write this shit down.” Potter takes out pen and paper and Otto starts his list. “I got money in three bank accounts. It’s not a lot, but I want it to go to Luann’s sister. I want to see an eye doctor, get some new glasses so I can read better. I want Lenny Janowitz to get some privileges back, like visitation or yard.” Potter interrupts to say that one might be difficult. “This isn’t a negotiation,” Otto says. “And I want you to move up my execution date. I’ll waive my appeals, I want to go as soon as I can.” Potter looks at Otto when he says this. The only reason Otto is talking is because he’s got nothing left to live for. His wife: dead. And his club: disloyal. Oh and one more request: “I got to be the one that tells Bobby I gave him up. Me. Face to face.” Potter asks “”May I speak?” He goes on to tell Otto that he will need to document Bobby’s involvement in selling guns. Otto can do that. He wants his conditions put in writing (in large print. Potter says that he’ll also have to put Otto in protective custody because now he knows too much. “Fine with me. Better food,” Otto jokes and begins laughing.

SAMCRO and Galindo are going after and surprise some of the Lobo Sonora guys on their turf. They’ve encountered their first line of Lobo, but realize that the main camp is further into the woods. Romeo executes the guys on the first line. Jax and Kozik exchange looks. Romeo says that Luis is going to take a unit into the woods, while he protects them from the rocks. SAMCRO splits up, Chibs and Happy stay with Jax, Kozik and Juice are with Clay, who is with Luis, and they all go into the woods. Luis and Clay’s group moves through a clear area when there is a click and a high pitch whine. Clay yells, “Shit. Stop! MINES!” The mine blows and everyone hits the dirt. Gun fire starts. Galindo red shirts are dropping like flies. Kozik takes a step and we hear the click, whine of a mine. “You’ve got to be shitting me…” then BOOM! He explodes. (And here we’re cued, from Sutter himself, to say “Oh my god, you killed Kenny! You bastards!” Kenny Johnson was offered a spot on a network show, which subsequently was pulled the day he was killed off. Total bummer…)

No more Kozik. Clay watches the explosion and Kozik’s arm drops right next to Juice. If he lives through this season, Juice is going to have a MAJOR case to PTSD. Everyone is sort of stuck where they are. Jax grabs Luis’s satellite phone to call for help, “I’m ordering a pizza. A big, Irish pizza.”

Jax in Call of Duty

Opie is talking with Lyla, who’s all dolled up for work, at Caracara.  She doesn’t hesitate to tell him where to find Georgie. Bobby and Tig sense the tension between them and occupy their time looking at lots of porn starts dressed as Catholic School girls mulling around a giant jungle gym. The conversation between Opie and Lyla ends with the realization that they’re marriage is over. Lyla tells him that it won’t work until she’s dead, something that he pretty much already knew.

The three of them head over to Georgie’s studio, where there’s a photo shoot to promote the “real doll” versions of porn stars. Bobby tells him the Asian investors actually cut Hale a check for Charming Heights and Georgie claims to be surprised. Tig strolls over to one of the adult dolls and pokes it in the face (lest we forget he’s got a thing about dolls). Bobby pulls Georgie out of the room to chat. Opie calls to Tig, “Hey! You all right?” Tig answers softly, “I’m terrified. But I’m totally erect.” Opie rolls his eyes.

Jax’s “Irish pizza” arrives, presumably in 30 minutes or less. Jax and Chibs lock and load and start blasting everything they can. Since all shooting has ceased, we presume that they have just obliterated the NorCal cell of Lobo Sonora. Now the rest of the guys have to walk out of the mine field with getting blowed up. Clay starts to explain that he can retrace his steps, but before he can finish Juice traipses through, causing everyone to raise an eyebrow. Clay looks a little horrified. When Juice gets across without incident he nonchalantly yells, “Clear” and strolls away. Chibs and Jax exchange a knowing look.

Georgie is insisting to Bobby and Tig that he had no idea the Asians actually invested in Charming Heights. Georgie keeps talking talking taking. Bobby nods his head, Tig pops the trunk, then Opie socks Georgie, causing him to spill into the truck.. Bobby sighs, “There’s only one way I’m not going to kill you. You’re going to tell me the truth about Luann.” At first Georgie says he knows nothing, until Bobby puts a gun into his mouth. Georgie spills the beans. He sent some guys to rough Luanne up. She fought back and the beating went too far, causing her to die from her injuries. Bobby has a hurt look on his face and we didn’t already know from his actions leading up to this, it’s obvious that he did love Luanne. He shuts the trunk lid on Georgie, Tig and Opie start shooting into it, turning it into Swiss cheese. Bye, bye Georgie.

After a day of playing Call of Duty IRL, Clay, Jax and the rest who are alive show up at their compound. Clay arranges for Kozik’s cut to be sent back to Tacoma and for any family he had to be notified. Jax is pissed. “He almost made it out.” Clay doesn’t have a retort since he sees Unser pulling in. Jax grabs Chibs and tells him to talk to Juice. “He’s making me very nervous.”

Clay walks over to Unser and there’s a bit proverbial chest bumping and back and forth about Gemma. Clay says, “Keep your secrets and I’ll keep mine.” Unser blurts out, “I know you killed Piney. I know you tried to kill Tara. My telling Jax what I know only hurts him. But I’m warning you, Clay– and may whatever shit God I still believe in be witness to this– you ever hurt Gemma again, I’ll kill you.” Clay shoots back, “I guess cancer gives a man a certain resolve, huh? Benefit of an end date. Nothing more dangerous than a guy who already knows he’s dead.” Unser’s face looks almost amused.

Wendy shows up at Jax & Tara’s house and Chucky answers the door as the “manny”. She’s there to see Abel and Chucky tells her Tara gave the ok. She comes in and runs to his bedroom, where she finds Gemma waiting for her. ”Why am I not surprised?” she asks out loud. “Because drugs dull the senses?” Gemma replies. Wendy smiles, “Not anymore.” Gemma tells Wendy that the boys are at her house. Wendy looks lovingly around the room. It’s a great little boys room (I especially liked the framed motorcycle pictures on the walls). Gemma informs her that Tara’s a REAL good mom.  The two of them start laying into each other. Wendy tells Gemma, “I am clean and sober for over two years. I finished my B.A. I am now a certified substance abuse counselor. I have a two-bedroom outside of Altamont, I have a French bulldog named Ramón. I had my tubes tied, and I recently decided that I like women. What’s new with you?” “Absolutely nothing,” Gemma replies. Wendy repeats the sentiment that all she wants to do is get to know her son. Gemma says she’ll help her out but it’ll be by her rules and schedule and until then Wendy should not have contact with any of them. Wendy agrees, but states, “If you try to box me out, Gemma, I swear to God I’ll get a lawyer and make this shit loud and messy.”

Chibs finds Juice as he’s coming out of the bathroom. He promptly pushes him back in and yells at him for the day’s antics. At first Juice says he’s ok, but then admits that he was bugged out about Kozik. Chibs asks him gently, what is going on. “The sheriff found out some shit when he was digging into my profile and he’s threatening me with it. He says he’ll tell the club unless I start giving him intel.” Chibs asks “Tell the club what? What does he have on you?” Juice finally says, “My dad– he’s black.” Chib’s reply: “So?” Juice is as taken off-guard as we are. Chibs asks what box is checked on is birth certificate. Juice says Hispanic. “Hispanic.” Chibs says, “Then that’s what you are. Half of us don’t know who the hell our fathers are. The paperwork is the only thing that counts.” And at this point I think Juice’s brain will explode. “This is why you tried offing yourself? Jesus Christ, boy. You’re an idiot. All of this is going to be okay. Listen to me: You tell that sheriff next time you see him, he can suck your daddy’s big black cock. There’s not a damn thing he can do to you.” At that moment Juice’s phone alarm goes off. He says he has to take his antibiotics. Chibs tells him to buck up and move on, then exits the bathroom before they start to get funny looks from other people. After he leaves, Juice calls to check-in.

Bobby, Tig and Opie are at the clubhouse bar. They’ve learned that Kozik is gone and Clay tells them the Lobos have been eradicated (for now). Tig tells Clay & Jax that Charming Heights has indeed been funded. Clay skulks off to be alone in church. Bobby informs Jax that Georgie told them what really happened with Luann. Jax tells him he should go tell Otto pronto, but we already know that Bobby effed that up.

Meanwhile, Otto is reading the agreement that Potter has handed him. Other than the restoration of Lenny’s revoked prison privileges everything is in order. Potter signs on the dotted line. Otto says, “I’ll tell the stories, but I’m not signing off on any transcripts until Lenny gets his privileges.” Potter agrees then asks, “If you’re turning over the rest of your club, why the concern for Mr. Janowitz?” Otto shakes his head and says, “You wouldn’t get it.” Potterlightly laughs and says, “I wish that wasn’t true.”

It’s night now and Jax and Opie meet up outside the clubouse. Jax tells Opie that Tara freaked out on him yesterday. Opie says sorry, but he’s sort of wrapped up in the reality that his marriage is over. Jax says he’s sorry about that and Opie jumps down his throat. Jax asks what’s up, and Opie says, “When Donna wanted me out, I didn’t stay ’cause of what you said. I stayed because I knew that trying to be anything else would be a lie. And that’s the worst thing a guy can do to his family.” Jax is quiet for a moment, “I didn’t plan this, Ope. It just played out this way. I’m sorry. I never meant to lie to you.” “And I’m sorry I believed you,” Opie says. He then storms over to the office and yells to Unser to toss him the keys to the tow truck. He’s going to go grab his dad. “I have a feeling he’s in no condition to ride.” Unser follows him and Tig watches them both leave.

Gemma them pulls in. Jax hugs her, still sad when he sees her beat up face. She tells him that Tara smashed up her hand, but neglects to tell him it was because of Wendy’s visit. He high-tails it out to go to the hospital. Tig comes over to Gemma and he stops dead when he sees her. As he gets closer, Gemma looks down. Tig strokes her hair, whispers, “Gem, Gem…this was Clay.” Gemma says, “Not now, Tiggy.”

Tig storms into the clubhouse apartment where Clay is. He’s taken off the Sergeant at Arms patch from his cut. He hands it to Clay and says, “You’re right. This ain’t the way it works.” Tig walks out leaving Clay rocked.

Jax goes into Tara’s hospital room. She’s sleeping, he strokes her hair, takes off his hat and curls up next to her in bed.

Clay stands in the door of the clubhouse and watches Tig leave. Across the parking lot Gemma is standing in the door of the office, watching him. She gives him a look and then closes the door. Clay closes the door nd leans against it, a single tear runs down his face. That last part infuriates me because, dammit, I’m pissed that I am feeling pity for him. Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown. Asshole.

Opie arrives at the cabin. He sees his dead father on the floor and drops down to him. It’s heart-breaking to hear him, “Oh, God! Pop. Dad? DAD? Oh, shit! Dad?” Unser shows up and Opie pulls his gun, his face is twisted and tear-streaked. He wants to know why Unser’s there and what he knows. Unser stays cool as a cucumber. He tells Opie he knows who killed Piney, that’s why he followed Opie to the cabin. “Clay killed your old man. Clay killed him,” Unser says. Opie says, “That’s bullshit.” “I wish it were,” Unser says, “Piney had some kind of leverage on Clay. He was using it to get the club out of the cartel deal. Clay came up here to change his mind. Things went south.” Opie asks how he knows this. Unser confesses that Gemma told him and she wanted to make it look like a cartel hit. Opie asks why Unser is telling him this. Unser fudges the truth, “Gemma confronted Clay about Piney. He almost killed her. Beat her bloody. Clay’s out of control. You’re no stranger to that. He tried to kill you and killed your wife.” Opie is rocking back and forth trying to cope. Unser continues,”If you don’t believe me, go see Gemma’s face, Ask her who did it.” Opie’s face is a mirror of his emotions, he’s ready to snap–which is what Unser is banking on. “Clay’s got to go, son. Before he kills someone else you love.”

Next week’s episode: burnt and purged away

SAMCRO negotiates with the Irish Kings to secure the future of the club.

OK, Shakespeare buffs, be sure to read this excerpt from Hamlet.

Ghost: So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.

HAMLET: What?

Ghost: I am thy father’s spirit,
Doom’d for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love–

HAMLET: O God!

Ghost: Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

HAMLET: Murder!

Ghost: Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange and unnatural.

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”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.09 “Kiss”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.10 “Hands”

Jax and Tara are doing the usual hustle and bustle people do when they’re going on a trip (except Jax makes sure he’s strapped before leaving the house). Tara excitedly talks about picnicking in the park on their road trip. There’s lots of smooching. Gemma shows up so that she can see the boys before they leave and learns that Jax will be going on the trip with them. She reminds him that he’s on parole and Oregon is out of state, but they tell her they’re staying in state and Tara will drive to the conference on her own. All covered. Tara hands Thomas over to Gemma for grandma snuggles.

Roosevelt finds out that Potter had Juice moved to a cell at some point in the evening. Juice is sitting in a cell watching tv to pass the time.

Unser is at the cabin with essentials covered up as he stages Piney’s death to look like the cartel did it. Gemma calls to say something is wrong and tells him about the cash that Clay pulled out of the safe and that he lied to her (how can she be surprised by this?). She wants him to stop what he’s doing and come help her.

Clay is at some undisclosed location. He hands over a  piece of paper with Tara’s destination to a guy with dark hair and olive-y skin (this  guys looks will be important later). Clay hands over the sack of cash. He says, “I want it clean, I want it painless. Don’t mess up her face.” She’s gotta look good in her casket after all.

Jax, Tara and the boys are rolling down the highway, happily singing “This Old Man” as a family.

Clay rolls into Teller Morrow and Gemma comes out to greet him. She asks how the “Mexican shit” went and he told her it’s not her concern. He asks where Jax is and she makes sure she speaks clearly when she says he went with Tara and the boys up to Oregon. He stops dead in his tracks and tries to play it off, but he realized that he has majorly F’d up. He tries to call off the hit but Romeo and Luis tell him it isn’t possible (even though they probably could). They are heartily enjoying watching Clay squirm. Instead, they will let the hitman know that Jax is with her and that he’s armed.

Clay orders Tig to track down Jax. No one has seen Juice in a while so they just assume Roosevelt has picked him up. Opie says he’ll look for Juice up at the cabin as well as check in with Piney. Clay jumps up and awkwardly tells Opie to stick around. Opie seems to get that something’s not quite right, whether he realizes it or not.

Jax is filling the mommyvan up with gas while Tara takes Abel on a bathroom break. A California Highway Patrolman (cue the CHiPS theme!) approaches Jax and asks him how he likes the minivan. Jax is initially surprised because apparently it’s a rare occurrence that he’s treated like a regular person. Jax asks how fast the cop’s BMW 1150 is. “Fast enough,” shrugs the patrolman. He asks, “You ride?” Jax simply answers, “Yeah.” It’s a small, simple conversation but for someone who is trying to escape the biker outlaw lifestyle and running with drug cartels, it’s like looking into another world.

Roosevelt pays Potter a visit wondering where Juice is. Potter says that he’s in good hands, but because he knows about RICO it’s best to keep Juice sequestered. While he’s there, Roosevelt decides to tell Potter how pissed he is at him. “You played me, worse than the outlaws. All that bullshit about my gang experience, and you just needed a local scapegoat. Let all that shit pile up at my door so you can keep your secret war room concealed. And I jumped in like a goddamn Boy Scout.” He declares that he’s done helping Potter, but Potter reminds him that in that stack of paperwork he signed way back at the beginning of the season basically makes Roosevelt his bitch. Awesome.

Jax in "Hands"

Jax is picnicking in the park with his family. The boys are (unrealistically) quiet and still while Tara and Jax lounge in the shade like days gone by. Tara’s talking about her opportunity at this new hospital and thinks she should take the job. Jax agrees with her. By the time she gives her notice at St. Thomas, all of his dealings should be done and he’ll be wiping his hands clean of SAMCRO. Little do they know, that very hit man that Clay hired is watching.

In Charming, Tig is frustrated that he can’t find Jax and Chibs is frustrated that he can’t find Juice. Gemma suggests that Juice is probably curled up in the arms of an old girlfriend. Bobby mentions that Precious is still friends with her so he says he’ll ask Precious to give Juice’s ex a ringy.

Gemma walks into church where Clay is and confronts him about the cash he took out of the safe. “What’d I tell you about digging into club business?” “It’s not club money!” Clay gets nasty, “That’s right. That’s my money. And as long as you got enough to take care of the house and amuse yourself, you don’t really need to worry about it.” She recoils like he just smacked her. “Did you really just say that to me?” Clay, who is clearly unraveling faster and faster, tells her “Maybe I should be saying shit like this to you more often, reminding you that you are not a member of this club, you’re an old lady. And don’t forget it!” So this is what Gemma gets for all of that devotion we saw in the previous episode. And don’t you worry, Clay. She won’t forget it.

At the park Tara’s putting Abel into his car seat. Jax walks across the park to the trash can. When he looks up, he sees the homeless woman he met in the cemetery (in season one) at Donna’s funeral. They recognize each other and we still wonder how she fits in. Is she a boon? A guardian angel? A harbinger of doom? Who knows if we’ll ever find out.

Next thing he knows a van with tinted windows screeches up next to Tara and a masked man grabs her, pulling her into the van. Her screaming snaps Jax’s attention. Tara is kicking and fighting to get away, the door to the van isn’t closed so it’s sort of gliding around as the van moves. Jax grabs his ankle piece and starts running, pops off a few shots at it. Tara, struggling to get free, grabs onto the door frame and as the van swerves the door slams her hand. The van then pulls over. The guys inside are yelling in Spanish, although not as if it’s their native language. Jax pulls Tara out, puts his body in front of hers when a gun is pointed at her and the van takes off, leaving Tara in hysterics holding her mangled hand.

Inside the van the wannabe kidnappers take off their masks and they are NOT Mexican to look at them and they appear to have an American accent (although I really couldn’t tell). So, who the hell are these guys?

Tara’s being put into the back of an ambulance, pleading that they take her to St. Thomas. They tell her that’s out of their jurisdiction and Jax tells them she’s a surgeon there. The CHiP Jax chatted with at the gas station comes over and tells the EMT to take her to St. Thomas and that they’ll clear it up later. Jax is humble and thanks him. The CHiP then quietly reminds Jax that he’s on federal release and inquires if he had anything to do with the gunshots in the park. Jax vehemently denies any participation. He must’ve ditched his ankle piece at some point, eh?

Tara is wheeled into the hospital, Jax assures her everything is ok and that she’s going right into X-ray. Gemma appears, she’s notably concerned. Jax tells her he has to talk to the cops. He whispers to Gemma that someone attacked Tara and tried to abduct her.

Tara in "Hands"

In a cell, Juice is still watching cartoons when Potter pays him a visit. He puts down a clipboard and says to Juice, “”My promise. When we take down the Irish at this meet, we’ll need to prosecute the club members present. But that’s where it stops. I will not use RICO to dismantle the Sons. It’s all there, just awaiting my signature.” Juice does bring up the point that he’s not privvy to any info about any meeting. Potter tells him to find out. He also tells him that they will give him a cell phone that will monitor him 24/7 and he has to check in every four hours. If Potter finds out he’s uttered a peep about the operation, they’ll come crashing in settling for the Mexicans and SAMCRO, all its charters will fall to RICO.

At the hospital, Clay and the boys show up. Gemma pointedly tells him, “Someone tried to take Tara. They hurt her real bad.” He’s a good actor, pretending to be outraged, but you can see that she knows he’s behind it. Jax mentions that the would-be kidnappers spoke Spanish and everyone naturally assumes it was Lobo retaliation. Jax wants to go visit Laroy, since he’s had the most contact with Lobo Sonora up until recently.

Tara’s looking at her hand. Her X-ray shows many bones in her hand are broken and she has nerve damage. Her doctor says they will operate right away and emphasizes that he’ll do everything he can. Tara drops her head to the pillow and her other maternal figure, Margaret, strokes her hair. It’s amazing to see how close these two have become.

At the Niners bar the bass is thumpin’ and the bartender’s boobs are huge. SAMCRO strolls on it but when the Mayans walk in behind them all shit breaks loose, someone starts shooting, and Alavarez’s guy (who helped guard the Coke barn a few episodes back) now has an unwanted hole in his head. When things calm down Laroy explains that Lobo Sonora killing three of his guys that morning. But that doesn’t placate Alvarez’s loss of one of his best dudes, so he caps #4 right then. So no Lobo info for Jax. This trip turned out fatally futile.

Jax then wants to go with Clay to talk at Romeo, but Clay nips that straight away. The last thing he wants is Jax anywhere near Romeo. Lucky for Clay, Opie and Chibs tell him it’s for his own good to stick around and stay with Tara.

Gemma is sitting in the hospital chapel and Margaret comes in, sitting behind her. “It’s awful. This attack on Tara.” I half expected Gemma to turn around and say “No shit” but she only says “Yeah, I know.” No one knows better than she does, since her husband, the one she would move Heaven and Earth for, is responsible. Margaret then sort of unleashes on Gemma, saying she’s been trying to get Tara out of Charming for a year, that Tara is tied to Jax by an adolescent bond, that Gemma manipulates her through the boys. Gemma warns her to watch what she says, but Margaret is not backing down. “You’re an awful woman, and all this suffering landing on Tara–it’s because of you.” The look on Gemma’s face shows that she may actually agree.

Apparently Juice made the deal with Potter since he has shown up at Teller-Morrow. He tells Chibs and Opie that he went to Yosemite to clear his head. Opie tells him, “Probably should have stayed in Yosemite. Shit’s hit the fan, brother. Lobos tried to take Tara this morning.”

Clay meets with Romeo and asks what the hell happened. “Your VP happened.” Romeo answers. Clay fills him in on the fallout, that her hand was crushed and that Jax is rampaging to retaliate against Lobo Sonora. Romeo is pleased at that part. Romeo could have very easily called off the hit against Tara, but it teaches Clay a very valuable lesson about a cartel to do his dirty work. And because it was botched, it gets the club focused on going after Lobo, making them a useful asset for him. Clay whines that he paid $25k for a clean hit, so Romeo hands him back the cash and says they’ll take care of it personally. Clay tries to backpedal for his life, wants to call it off, but Romeo insists since he outed her as a threat, she has to go.

In the hospital Jax is stroking Tara’s cheek. She wakes up when her doctor comes in to give her a progress report. Her bones were set easily, but there’s severe nerve damage. Jax doesn’t know what that means, but I do. Tara tells him that means she won’t be able to use her hand. Bye bye surgery career. When the doctor leaves, she breaks down.

Showdown at Casa Teller: Gemma has arrived home and beelines it into the office where Clay is busy putting his cash back in the safe. She spits, “What’s the matter? Change your mind? Get a refund because they didn’t kill her?” Clay pretends he doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but she’s thrown off her gloves.  “You promised me. You looked me in the eye and you promised me you wouldn’t hurt Tara!” Clay plays dumb so Gemma reminds him of that morning. “Jesus Christ, those babies could have been hurt!” she screams. Clay kicks a chair across the room, he’s had enough. Gemma threatens to tell Jax. Clay turns to head toward her and she pulls her gun out of her bag. “You stay away from me, you son of a bitch. You stay away from my family.” Clay stops in his tracks. “You gonna kill me, Gemma? Like you did your first husband?” Gemma says that he killed John and Clay disagrees. “Nah. Baby, you killed him. You played me for a chump, and I was. I was no match for that tight pussy and broken, angry heart. Yeah. Maybe Jax needs to read some of that truth.” Gemma shoots, but it goes goes wide past Clay’s shoulder. She looks panicked, he looks shocked. He snaps out of it and SNAPS, going after her. Gemma connects a good punch first, but Clay socks her one and sends her across the room and the dining room table. We can correctly assume that his is not the first time these guys have fought, but I can guarantee they’ve never fought like this. Gemma scrambles away from him, gets up heading for the door, but it’s locked. Clay picks her up and throws her to the floor, backhanding her repeatedly. Then we get Gemma’s POV of his fist coming down. That’s gonna leave a mark. And Clay’s arthritis didn’t seem to hinder that…

Tara is staring off like a zombie in her hospital bed. Jax asks her if she wants to say goodnight to Abel and she declines. We can pretty much figure out what’s going on it her head. Jax is feeling helpless and guilty. He wants her to project all of the bad things on to him. She plainly says that all this had to happen because they are destined to be together and he can’t leave. He tries to argue that they’ll leave together. “No. The club won’t let you. Gemma won’t let you. Charming won’t let you…The only way I can be with you is if I lose my way out. I lost that today, baby. I have a dead hand. No one will want me now. No one… I’ll never save another life again, never fix a tiny heart. It’s okay. We can now be together — you, me, Gemma. Here in beautiful Charming. A happy family. Maybe I should smash my other hand. That way I can just stay home, be a mom, raise your babies…” Yup, that’s pretty much what I thought she was thinking. Then she wigs out him and screams for him to go, Go, GOOoooo!!!

Jax runs out of the room and right into the sheriff, who tries to offer some sympathy but Jax is in no mood for it. Roosevelt sees the rest of SAMCRO down the hall, including Juice. There’s an exchange of words between him and Chibs and Tig when he asks to chat with Juice. They go off to be private and Roosevelt apologizes to Juice. “I want to apologize. I’m getting tossed around by this DA just as much as you are. The way I’ve conducted myself … I’m sorry.” Juice tells him it’s a little late but Roosevelt a good guy. “That doesn’t mean I can’t man up and tell you I was wrong.”

Jax sits in the waiting room surrounded with support from the guys. They all get up to go, but Jax asks Opie to stay. “I’ve been lying to you, Ope. That deal I made with Clay about the cartel, it was to get me out too,” Jax starts. He might as well have kicked Opie in the nuts. “I’m leaving SAMCRO, Ope. I was going to jump when Clay retired, but now… I’m out when we get done with this deal with the Irish.” Poor Opie. He reminds Jax, “After my five-year stretch, I wanted out too. You talked me into staying.” Prick. He should have added “prick” at the end. Jax agrees that he did do that and Opie, heart-breakingly, tells him that he needs him in the club. But Jax says his family needs him more. “You were right, man. I should have let you get out. Donna would probably still be alive. I’m so sorry, bro.” Opie is utterly speechless. Jax urges him to make things right with Lyla and his dad and then leaves him sitting there alone.

At the clubhouse, Juice is walking out to the parking lot. He sees Clay arrive and silently skulk into the the building. He pulls out his cell phone and makes a call. “Checking in.” Chibs and Bobby are lounging with some clubhouse croweaters at the bar. Tig yells out, “Yo, what happened to you?” to Clay who doesn’t answer. He carries his overnight bag back into the apartment.

Unser shows up at Gemma and Clay’s house. The lights are off and it’s dark. Plus the place is tossed. Gemma tells him to sit down and he is shocked when he sees her busted up face. He wants to take her to the hospital but she tells him nothing is broken and to sit.  “What do you need, sweetheart? Just tell me what I can do.” he softly tells her. I really love how they call each other sweetheart. There is something so endearing about it. She says there’s nothing left to be done and she utters the same words he has said to her. “Clay can’t be saved.” Unser suggests they re-stage Piney’s crime scene to point toward Clay, but she has something more serious in mind. “He’s not going down by law. He’s going to die by the hand of a Son.”

*A Son. Which means it could be someone other than Jax. So who’s on the short list to do the deed? Jax, obviously, so long as he finds out all of the stuff that people have been keeping from him. Opie: Clay killed his wife and now his father. That totally makes sense. Tig: because Clay’s been shutting him out and he won’t be happy when he sees what happened to Gemma. Bobby: eh, I’m not sold on him doing the deed but would he do it to save the club?

next weeks episode: Call of Duty

A 90-minute episode! SAMCRO is at risk of being pushed out of their own business when a powerful adversary arrives and poses a threat to their business relations with the Cartel.

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”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 4.09 “Kiss”

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”

Jax and Tara’s house: there’s an early morning knock on the door. Rat is woken up and stops in front of the door. She checks the peephole and sends Rat to the back room. Tara opens the door and Roosevelt is standing there. He explains that Margaret called the sheriff’s office and turned over a copy of the note. He holds it up, “She’s convinced you did receive a death threat.” Tara goes on to say that she didn’t take the threat seriously, despite there being a prospect there to watch over the house. And he’s totally got her number. She tries to dismiss him, but he shows her that he’s not going quietly by posting someone outside her house and at the hospital.

Family Recipe: Clay and Piney

Jax and Opie are sitting outside Teller-Morrow when Piney rolls on in. Jax remarks that there was no way Piney was going to proxy this vote. Opie asks what happens if Bobby wins the vote. Jax explains that immediately nothing major will happen. Clay opens the door from the office and Gemma follows behind him, the King & Queen. Jax explains to Opie why he’s siding with Clay and it’s a total BS reason. Clay announces it’s time to vote “this shit.”

Opie approaches Piney and it’s a tough-tender moment between them. In front of his father Opie is instantly a lost little boy looking to his father. Piney strokes the bruises on Opie’s face (that he put there). “I’m sorry, son.” Opie replies, “I love you, Pop. I’m with you on this.” Hugs. Someone must be cutting onions behind Piney.

In church, the vote is starting. Clay and Tig: Nay. Chibs is next but before he opens his mouth the room is awash in bullets. A truck busts through the front gates, still spraying bullets. A duffel bag comes flying out of the truck, as does one of it’s passengers before it takes off. Oops. As they try to figure out what the hell just happened, Clay is already barking orders: take the LS left behind to “the rez” and call the coke barn to be on alert. Meanwhile Chucky has wandered over to the duffel bag. ”Clay! This is bad! Like, bad bad!” They come over to see what Chucky is seeing. Inside the bag are four severed heads, one of them SAMTAZ’s missing prez, Armando.

Clay dispatch’s Happy to interrogate the Lobo Sonara guy left behind. Chibs and Juice go with him. Piney tells Clay: “That bag of heads is your get-out-of-drugs-free card… you tell the cartel we didn’t sign up for this blood feud and you want out.” Piney still pokes at the lion in the cage with a large stick, tells Clay that if they’re not out of the drug biz tomorrow he’s handing the letters over to the club. Yeah, those letters that he doesn’t have.

Jax has some news for them. The coke barn is safe, Alvarez’s tortilla truck was jacked and 3 of his men are missing. Tig states that the cartel is military sharp. Then the police roll in. Piney decides he’s going to head up to the cabin, despite Opie all but begging him to stay.

Chuckie retrieves a bag of groceries from an SUV outside, he’s cooking for the fundraiser for Charming Gardens that’s happening tonight, and spots a head that rolled under the vehicle. He looks around and there’s cops everywhere, so he tosses the head in his grocery bag, naturally.

Inside the office Clay is trying to calm Gemma down, that he’s got things under control. But she’s totally wigged out about the bag of heads. Jax says they should cancel the fundraiser. Gemma disagrees and Clay says it’ll be good PR. Gemma wants some protection from here on out and asks for Phil, but Clay says that Tig is the man for the job.

Outside, Roosevelt asks Jax why the place has been turned into Swiss cheese by automatic fire. Jax and Clay act dumb and Gemma pipes up that it was a rival shop (apparently a nod to Shield viewers, one of which I was not so I didn’t get it). The sheriff says that the place is a crime scene and they have to do a full investigation. Jax dismisses him with a “knock yourself out” and as he tries to walk away Roosevelt says he hopes it has nothing to do with the confirmed threat against Tara. Jax hits a sore spot by asking Roosevelt if he has a family (we know he and his wife want one but haven’t been able to) and Jax rubs it in a little more when he notices the sheriff’s quiet rage. “You really should. It’s good to have a reason not to die.”

Chucky, as always, is providing some comic relief with the hijinks of what to do with the severed head with the compound crawling with cops. I already know where this is going.

At the rez, Happy reports that despite his best efforts the LS soldier is not talking. Galindo is there as well and Clay sort of lays into Luis about then not having their shit together. Since the guy isn’t talking, Luis busts out a case full of things that makes Happy covet, among them some truth serum that he injects into their hostage. The result of that truth serum is that there’s a rat in Alvarez’s crew. Jax utters a familiar phrase to Alvarez: “It don’t matter, Mayan or Sons, that bitch is dead.”

They figure out the mole is a dude in Alvarez’s crew named, Pedro, who was at the SAMCRO clubhouse while Alvarez was injured and knew where Lobo Sonora should hit them. Rather than immediately setting out to decapitate him, they use him to feed some mis-information about the guns to the rival cartel. The only problem is that Galindo has no armed back up available to take then out, so the Sons are stuck with the dirty work. And they’re not exactly thrilled about it.

Back at the clubhouse, Chucky’s chili a la severed head must be smelling pretty good because a couple of the cops are looking to score a free lunch.

Outside Gemma and Tara are commiserating. Tara is none too pleased. She’s been pulled from the rotation at the hospital because of the threat and she’s stuck at the compound with her kids and a bunch of dirty bikers because she’s trying to do things Jax’s way. She questions her judgment and is looking for advice from a woman who has done nothing but exercised bad judgment most of her life. Gemma’s answer, “We pull through and we stick it out. That’s what family does.” And then distracts Tara by suggesting they check on that chili.

Twisted sitcom material: Gemma stirs the pot of chili and a face rises to the top. Chuckie runs over, “Hey! Gemma! Hey! It’s not ready!” She holds it together since there’s cops not too far away. “Did you follow the recipe?” “I had to add a few things of my own.” Gemma smiles nervously, “I can see that.” Tara asks, “Is it spicy?” and as she grabs the lid, Gemma slams it down. “Very. It actually made my eyes burn.” Chuckie says, “I probably got in over my head.” (ba dum dum!) Gemma pushes Tara out of the kitchen. “Yeah, you know, it’s an old family recipe. It’s a delicate process. I probably should have made it myself. Why don’t you take it up to the reservation? I think Happy likes it that hot.” “I accept that,” Chuckie replies.

The garden fundraiser is in full swing. Clay and Oswald are kicking back together when Clay suggests that the two of them donate the $75,000 needed to save Charming gardens. Clay explains that Charming will need a hero when Hale’s vision falls apart. (Oh yeah, I sort of forgot about the Charming Heights story line.) Oswald is skeptical but Clay assures him that public opinion will go against Hale, he loses the on-ramp and then all the land reverts back to Oswald. By then Hale will be done as the Mayor. Everybody wins.

Jax rolls up to Piney’s cabin. The conversation steers toward Piney waxing poetic about John Teller and the vision for the club. It gets under Jax’s skin because he doesn’t want to hear about JT. He concedes that the club has lost its way, but believing one man can change everything is ridiculous. One would think that Piney would take this opportunity to fill Jax in on the existence of the letters. Perhaps it slipped his mind after imbibing all that tequila. Jax says he’s trying to figure out what he has to do today to stay alive to tomorrow, and he’s doing it for his family. Piney tries again to stress what a good man JT was and that Jax should know that for himself. Jax leaves in a quiet huff.

Roosevelt and his wife are chatting at the fundraiser. She’s bummed because of low cash flow. He encourages her for doing what she thought was right. She’s worried about causing tension with he and the mayor, but he confesses that he likes getting under Hale’s skin. Clay and Gemma approach, he’d like to say a few words and make a public donation, if Rita’s ok with that.

Meanwhile SAMCRO, Mayans and the minor showing of Galindo prepping for the Lobo Sonora confrontation. Pedro, the alleged mole, is tied and gagged.

Clay’s speech about his love for Charming is crafted to appeal to the crowd, despite the fact that he’s a “bad element.” His speech’s exclamation point is announcing the donation two $75k checks toward the garden. Rita is happy, some people in the crowd clap approvingly. Roosevelt is not exactly happy about it. Clay goes on to say that while one of those checks is from him, a crook, the other is from a man who believes in Charming and who should be mayor, Oswald.

At the rez, everyone is waiting for the Lobo contingent to show up. Juice is off by himself and Chibs shakes him out of zone to get him involved in the here and now. Two vehicles show up, one stays and the other takes off. The one that stays is the jacked tortilla truck and in the back are the bodies that match the heads that were rolling around the Teller-Morrow parking lot. So…that means Pedro is not the mole. But he is killed by Luis anyway.

At Jax and Tara’s, they are both sitting at the table. She pretty much tells him for the safety of the kids she has to go and get them out of there, despite his best efforts in protecting them. There’s another hospital interested in her and she wants to go. He tells her she should definitely go. She’s relieved to have his support, but is concerned about what Gemma would think.

Gemma’s at the clubhouse cleaning. Clay rings her on her cell asking where she is. She says she’s heading home and asks if he’s ok. He says he is and that he’s going to stay at the clubhouse, a lie since we see Gemma there and he’s nowhere in sight. “Want me to come by?” she asks. He lies again. “Nah. I’m in lockdown in the chapel. I need the quiet.” But she is standing right outside church and he isn’t in there. Tig is hanging out nearby, since he’s assigned to Gemma. She and Clay say their goodbyes. She says, “Take me home, Tiggy.” He jumps up and slings Gemma’s purse over his shoulder. It is amusing.

Juice is in the woods cleaning up from the previous night’s self-lynching. Chibs sneaks up on him and Juice tries to blow things off. But Chibs takes in the scene, then looks at Juice and he gets what went down. “Jay-sus! What the hell are you doing? You coward!” Juice is destroyed and Chibs tries to make sense of things. He grabs Juice and let’s him sob on his shoulder.

Clay, as it turns out, has gone up to visit Piney at the cabin. Piney must have been expecting this visit and makes Clay remove all of his weapons. Clay says he wants more time because things got tricky with Galindo. There’s heated exchange about Clay’s greed being the main motivator. Clay insists he’s trying to do the right thing and proceeds to tell Piney things that placate him. Clay heads for the door and as Piney goes to shut and lock it, Clay kicks it back in knocking Piney to the ground. Clay proceeds to trash the place looking for JT’s letters. Piney gets up, says the letters aren’t in the cabin. Clay realizes that Tara must have them. Piney tries to protect Tara, implying that she doesn’t know about them, but Clay says that Tara’s the one who gave them to Piney. Piney pleads with Clay to leave her out of it. “Too late,” Clay growls before he blasts Piney in the chest.

Clay makes sure that Piney is really dead, dips his fingers in blood. He heads over to a framed picture of the Original 9, then writes “LS” in Piney’s blood. As the episode ends, Clay walks off and the camera pans down to Piney’s back. His jean cut gets soaked with blood. The reaper on the back patch now has real blood on the scythe.

next week’s episode: Kiss

SAMCRO gets word that the Niners have made a new alliance that directly impacts their own agenda.

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”

The full track listing for Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4 is as follows:
1. This Life – Curtis Stigers & The Forest Rangers

2. Son Of A Preacher Man – Katey Sagal & The Forest Rangers

3. Forever Young – Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers

4. John The Revelator – Curtis Stigers & The Forest Rangers

5. Fortunate Son – Lyle Workman & Bob Thiele

6. Slip Kid – Anvil featuring Franky Perez

7. Girl From The North Country – The Lions

8. Someday Never Comes – Billy Valentine & The Forest Rangers

9. Gimme Shelter – Paul Brady & The Forest Rangers

10. Bird On A Wire – Katey Sagal & The Forest Rangers

11. Hey Hey, My My – Battleme

12. What A Wonderful World – Alison Mosshart & The Forest Rangers

13. Los Tiempos Van Cambiando (The Times They Are A-Changin’) – Franky Perez & Los Guardianes del

14. Strange Fruit – Katey Sagal & The Forest Rangers featuring Blake Mills

15. House Of The Rising Sun – Battleme & The Forest Rangers with Katey Sagal

Available for preorder on Amazon.com on November 29, 2011.

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.

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”

Clay gets even more devious in "With an X"

Clay says there are cameras to check. Alvarez vouches for his guy, they vouch for their guys and, oh by the way, Romeo will be showing up soon. Before taking his leave, Alvarez says, “We find the bitch who did it? It don’t matter if he’s Mayan or Son, he’s dead.” Jax and Clay deduce that it just can’t be Juice or Miles, so it must be one of the clueless prospects. Jax calls Happy to get the answer.

Tara shows up at Teller Morrow in the loser cruiser minivan. She has to go to a meeting and will leave Thomas with Gemma. Abel is off somewhere with the new babysitter, who is teaching him Spanish. Gemma snarkily says, “Just keep her away from Tig.” A taxi pulls up with a girl we haven’t seen before inside. Gemma sighs and declares that the girl is “Half of Satan’s spawn.” She is Dawn, half of Fawn and Dawn, one of Tig’s twin daughters. And she is quite simply a hot mess of a girl. She informs “mama” Gemma that she’s changed her name to Margeaux, with an x, then hits her up to pay for the cab fare. Dawn blows Tara off when she tries to introduce herself, quips with Chucky about his weird hands. Gemma asks about Fawn, and her bullshit radar must be blazing when Dawn excaims, “That’s why I’m here. She’s bad. I need my daddy!” Gemma tells Chucky to find Tig .

Bobby shows up at the coke barn. Clay asks about Otto and Bobby says it’s all good. Everyone else is tense. Happy is in the house and that usually means an unfortunate end for some poor soul, in this case Miles. But the joke’s are on the prospects because Happy & Miles are putting on a show of fake torture to sweat out either of the prospects into confessing they took the coke. Only problem is that they didn’t really know what they were guarding in the first place. Meanwhile Juice is looking all squirmy and guilty.

There’s a lot of pressuring the prospects. Both are screaming they didn’t take any coke. This scene, for me, is merely a way for Happy to get more screen time as the gleeful homicidal maniac on the SAMCRO payroll. Tig gets a call and says he has to bail since his daughter showed up at the T-M garage. Bobby decides to tag along. I just want to comment here that I’m always amazed whenever one of these guys gets a call for a domestic issue they just run off, despite being waste high in trouble with a drug cartel!

Tig's daughter shows up in "Wtih an X"

Gemma informs Dawn that Tig’s on the way and sidesteps another dramatic hug from Margeaux (with an “x”).  Gemma then notices Piney bellied up to the bar shooting back a tequila and scolds him because it’s only 9am. Tara hurries on by because she’s late and Gemma kisses her good-bye. And then Ima walks out, stopping Tara short. Ima smugly says, “Good morning” getting Gemma’s attention. The shot of both of them standing in the same position in reaction to Ima’s presence shows how closely Tara has come to resemble Gemma.

Both of them start charging toward Ima, asking who let her in and telling her she isn’t welcome. Tara is ready to rip her face off  but insteadmshe heads outside. Gemma tells Piney to stop drinking so that he can babysit. Tara tells Gemma that she hates dealing with all of this shit when suspicions . Lyla pulls up looking nothing like her porn alter-ego and more like a petite, angelic little thing looking for her estranged husband. She informs Gemma 1 and Gemma 2 that they’re having some problems and as she’s getting ready to take off she sees Ima’s car and makes a beeline for the clubhouse.

Lyla storms in and Piney is there juggling little Thomas in his arms. “Where is she?” “Where’s who, darlin’?” Piney asks. Ima steps out and Lyla demands, “What are you doing here?” Ima wisecracks, “Nobody says ‘Good morning’ any more.” The two blondes have it out verbally. Lyla lunges toward Ima but is grabbed by Tig and Ima pulls out her gun again and starts waving it around. Lyla asks “Why him?” and Ima says, “You want answers, sweetheart? Go ask the cock that was inside of me last night.” Ouch.

Lyla runs off, Tig steps between Ima and Dawn, telling Ima to leave. As Ima takes her leave, Tara says, “Keep that .38 close, bitch. You’re going to need it.” And for the first time ever, I want to give Tara a big fat kiss on the mouth.

Back at the coke barn, the prospects are now being forced into playing some Russian Roulette. Filthy Phil goes first and click. Nothing. Opie gets a call on his phone. Jax hands the gun to Rat. He screams, pulls the trigger and… nothing. Filthy Phil vomits. Opie pipes up “Yo, we got a problem.”

Jax in "With an X"

Jax and Opie and Chibs make their way out and Clay wants to know what’s going on. “Psycho porn star pulled a gun at the clubhouse on Gemma and the girls.” Jax explains. Juice jumps on the opportunity to tell Clay that he thinks the prospects are telling the truth and Jax agrees. Jax and Opie head back to the clubhouse. Miles, with his hands and head still in tact also head back to the clubhouse to check the surveillance footage. Chibs and Juice stay behind to keep an eye on things.

Tig is listening to Dawn as she dramatically tells him about how Fawn’s in danger of doing serious damage to herself because of an eating disorder. Bobby is hanging around close enough to hear the conversation. Tig seems a little surprised as this behavior doesn’t seem to fit his other daughter. Dawn goes on to say that their mother is too self-engrossed to lend a hand and it’s up to her to get her sister to a recovery facility, but that Fawn would never go if Tig went with Dawn. And by the way she’ll need $12,000. Bobby sees through the BS but Tig jumps up to go gather the cash.

Outside the boys pull up and Gemma immediately starts laying into Opie for his indiscretion and when Jax tries to cut her off she reminds everyone that Ima pulled a gun on her. Opie acknowledges that it’s his fault and walks right into Piney’s fist. “Your dick almost got people killed. I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

Tara gruffly patches up Opie’s face. When Opie’s done Jax asks her if she’s ok and a Pandora’s Box of emotion comes flooding out of her mouth before she stomps away. Jax sparks up and he and Opie have a discussion about their love lives. Opie admits that having another kid is not going to fix his marriage or get Lyla out of porn.

Jax goes to smooth things out with his baby mama, who is still projecting lots of anger. She holds up her ring and asks if he knows what that means. He does and goes on to say that this is all Opie’s fault but she shuts him up before he can go on. “This isn’t about Opie. It’s about…this. How you guys treat women.” Talk about opening up a can of worms…We’re talking about a club who is still very antiquated in their ways, that would toss Juice on his ass for being half-black. But Jax is part of a new world order when it comes to club business and he (and Opie) should know better. “I’m the mother of your son. You hurt me, you hurt all of us.” she says before she leaves. Gemma comes over to tell him, “The sting of that betrayal ain’t going to fade.”

Unser and Clay in "With an X"

Clay is watching the security cameras as Tara leaves and notices that Unser’s truck is parked outside. Clay heads outside, wakes up Unser and he threatens to set SAMCRO on the ex-sheriff if anything happens to him. But Unser doesn’t seem too upset at the threat. He really has nothing to lose at this point.

At the coke barn, Chibs is loading a gun telling the prospects that he’s going to figure out which one of them is lying. They look at each other nervously. At the clubhouse, Miles tells Clay that he checked the security footage and no one but their guys were near the barn the night before. Clay acknowledges the info and tells Miles to head back to the barn.

Lyla is sitting on the roof of the clubhouse. Opie comes up and she is trying to make sense of his actions. He admits, “I found the birth control in your dressing room.” He tells her he knows she doesn’t want another kid and she tells him about the abortion she had. He is less than pleased, says he’ll make arrangement for Mary to take the kids and he’ll stay at the clubhouse until she figures out what she wants to do.

Back at the barn and a pretty telling conversation between Chibs and Juice takes place. “Do you ever push back against the rules? Some of them are pretty hardcore.” Juice asks. Chibs says that they knew the rules when they signed up. Juice nods and asks, “The black thing ever bother you?” Chibs shoots a look at him and Juice clarifies, “With Fiona and all.” Chibs blows it off because Fiona was just an old lady. “The rules have been around since day one. Different time. I’m not saying I agree with them all. But you know, if I start picking and choosing which ones to follow, then the whole thing just falls apart.” Juice goes back to being glum and Chibs watches him and I swear I saw a lightbulb starting to glow over his head.

Romeo’s impending arrival has everyone’s wheels turning, especially Clay and Jax. They come to the conclusion that they’re going to have to kill one of the prospects to placate the cartel. Juice doesn’t like that idea and is feeling super guilty at this point. He asks to give the prospects one more chance (and to open up the opportunity for himself to be able to put the brick back). “We’re going to step outside and have a smoke. And whoever took that brick? We know it’s got to be around here somewhere. Just put it back. No questions, no repercussions.”

Unser walks into the sheriff’s department and meets his replacement for the first time. He gets a civil but not totally friendly acknowledgment from the sheriff, then warns him that Tara’s in danger, but he doesn’t have any more on details. Roosevelt pokes at Unser, saying that he was in Clay’s pocket so he should have more details. “I was never in nobody’s pocket! I learned how to work with the club. It was about what was best for Charming, not me.” Roosevelt tells Unser that he can’t keep an eye on Tara unless there are more details.

Juice gets the brick he’s stashed and tucks it in his pants. Unfortunately he runs right into Miles, who just happens to notice the brick tucked openly in Juice’s waistband. Incredulous, Miles asks “You took it?” and pulls out his gun. His intention was to bring Juice back to face the music. Juice throws the brick in his face and Miles shoots him in the leg. They dust up, Juice gets to the gun first and obliterates Miles’ head (Was Miles wearing a red shirt?). Stunned and covered in blood, Juice recovers his wits and tucks the brick under Miles’ arm. Chibs and Happy come up on the scene and Juice fills them in on what happened, “I came out to take a piss. I spotted him pulling something out of the leaves. He saw me and he freaked out. He tried to kill me. I took one trying to get the gun.”

Everyone else shows up and Chibs fills them in on the turn of events according to Juice. Opie’s very surprised, the prospects are stunned and relieved, but they get the grim task of burying Miles. Jax is just happy to have the missing brick back.

Dawn and Tig are reminiscing about stuff that he can’t remember. Gemma and Bobby call him over while she’s distracted. They tell him they called his ex, Colleen. Bobby says, “Fawn is fine. She’s in Chicago with her boyfriend for two weeks.” Gemma adds, “No bulimia. Dawn’s playing you, sweetheart.” He’s a little surprised and wonders why she needs the $12k. Gemma watches him go and says, “This is why mothers should drown baby girls.” I’m trying to figure out what purpose this story line serves, other than providing an episode title.

All is well at the coke barn. Romeo is pleased, as is SAMCRO despite being out of sorts with what just happened with Miles. Clay asks Romeo for a moment of his time. They step outside and Clay tells Romeo about an internal threat, pointing his finger at Tara. Romeo is aware of who she is and the fact that she’s the VP’s old lady, so it must be a difficult decision for Clay to make. Clay agrees that it is and stresses that it’s a chore that has to be tackled from the outside. Romeo says he can do it with time and money and bids farewell. Jax walks over to Clay to see if everything is ok and Clay, that snake, smiles genuinely and says everything is peachy. He pats Jax on the shoulder, puts his arm around him in a half-hug, making the rest of us cringe at how deceitful he is.

Cue the montage: Someone writes a threatening letter that says “I’m going to hurt you, then kill you doctor bitch.” Tig is hugging his daughter before she jumps in a cab. He’s given her the cash she wanted. “She’ll just be back for more,” Gemma says. Tig knows and seems very amused at the thought. Opie settles in to the apartment at the clubhouse.

Ima and Jax are chatting. “What’s the matter? You jealous?” He nods. “So I can only be your bad girl?” He nods again. She kisses him and pulls him into her dressing room. I already know where this is going and I don’t feel sorry for her at all.

Tara is patching up Juice. The prospects are digging Miles’ grave while Happy oversees. Tig is happily sharing photos of his girls with Bobby. Gemma tells Opie that she’s changed the sheets on the bed. Always taking care of her boys, that Gemma. Clay comes in, silently walks by everyone and heads into church closing the door behid him. Piney is flipping through family photos of himself, Mary and Opie. He’s drinking and most likely regretting the fact that he suckerpunched Opie. Or maybe reflecting on time that has passed and where they find themselves today.

Ima is pulling off her clothes as soon as she closes the door. Jax puts his hands to her face like he’s about to kiss her, then slams her face off of the table. “You ever flash that rancid pussy around my club or my family again, I will kill you. You understand?” He spits in her face, then calls her “Whore” for good measure before he walks out. Do you think Jax knows how to spell misogyny?

Someone sneaks up to Tara’s minivan and leaves the threatening note on the driver’s seat. It’s revealed to be Unser and with that note he’s stacking the deck.

Next week’s episode: Fruit for the crows

SAMCRO deals with the fallout from a death threat against Tara while confronting another implication of the drug-mule deal with the cartel. Meanwhile, Potter pushes Sheriff Roosevelt to pressure Juice even more.

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”

This episode opens with a sight we rarely get to see: Kurt Sutter sharing the screen with his wife, Katey Sagal. Gemma is visiting Otto in jail. He has summoned her there to talk about Luann. He fills her in on the intel he received from the “sheriff” (which was actually Potter), about the DNA they found on her body belonging to Bobby and typically the last guy “tapping a bitch” is the one who killed her.

Gemma is surprised and tries to excuse and explain it all away. Otto doesn’t really want to hear it from her, that’s not why she’s there. “I want you to ask Clay a question: ‘What would it feel like to lose the one he loved the most?’ You tell the club, you tell the guy who was bedding my wife, they need to find the scumbag who killed her.”

SAMCRO has just come back from their first drug run to meet up with the Mayans, who don’t quite have their ducks in a row and aren’t ready for the bagging process, which forces them to hold on to the coke for another day. This does not make Jax happy. Alvarez leaves one of his guys behind to watch over the precious cargo, along with Miles, Filthy Phil and Ratboy.

Clay orders everyone home to get some rest. But Juice doesn’t get to catch any zzz‘s, he has to meet up with Sheriff Roosevelt. Juice’s initial reaction is to be tough and loyal, but Roosevelt breaks him down with emotional blackmail about being outed from the club. He says he’ll lock his lips about Juice’s dad as long as Juice filters back information about the Galindo cartel.

Jax happily greets Tara and the boys, then pulls out two thick bricks of cash. She looks slightly perplexed but doesn’t ask any questions. He tells her to put it in a safety deposit box in her name, tells her to ask Gemma since she knows the routine.

Clay is quickly getting on everyone's shit list

Church is in session. Jax and Clay convey the “facts” about Luann’s murder for the guys:  that there is an unknown assailant responsible and his DNA is in the system. Bobby looks nervous, but Juice blurts out that it must be Georgie Caruso. “We should have handled this shit when it first happened.” Clay says “Old ladies, they got a way of coming back and biting you in the ass.”

Jax spells it out for everyone. If Roosevelt’s got proof of a suspected killer, the club needs to get to him first so they can get vengeance for Otto. Bobby looks squirmy as Clay says “I want a brother to look him in the eye and tell him it’s been handled. He deserves that.” Juice asks Opie if Lyla can help find Georgie. Opie thinks so and mumbles that she’s on a shoot today. Chibs dreamily reflects about the beauty of two girls in love. “Before we all sail off to the isle of Lesbos…for a job well done.” He then hands out big bricks of cash to everyone.

Piney gruffly pushes his pile away and glares at Clay. He still wants to talk about the past and about JT. Piney sets Clay up to step in a big, smelly pile. “John changed his mind about the guns, remember?” “Yeah, he talked about, uh, getting us out.” Splat. Piney jumps all over Clay, he knows about the meeting JT set up (the one he never made it to) about getting SAMCRO out of the gun-running business.

He informs Clay of the letters and how they pretty much reveal that Clay is responsible for JT’s murder. Clay sticks to the story, “JT laid his bike down on 580, was crushed by a semi. It was an accident.” Piney says, “We’ll never know. Lowell, senior, disappeared the next week, and he was the only one JT trusted to work on his bike.” Clay wants to know what Piney will gain by bringing all this up. “It’s not about me. You kill the drug muling, or I’ll let the rest of the club read the letters.” Clay has a pretty good idea that Piney doesn’t have the letters, but it’s sort of a win-win in Piney’s eyes. Either the truth comes out or the drugs go away. Clay protests that you don’t exactly quit a cartel, but Piney doesn’t really care and gives him a week. “In case you’re still thinking about slitting my throat, I wouldn’t. I have contingencies in place.”

Bobby’s outside with Jax trying to keep it together. Jax tells him that Otto does know it was him banging Luann, but Jax & Clay know that he didn’t kill her. Bobby doesn’t understand why hasn’t he been questioned if the sheriff has his DNA. And since they don’t have enough things to do, Jax decides they’re going to avenge Luann for Otto. Right. Now.

But not before Clay storms into Gemma’s office and blurts out, “Piney says he knows I killed JT. Threatened to tell the club.” Gemma’s job this episode must be coming up with excuses for everyone else. Clay says that Piney found some old letters, that maybe Tara did tell someone. She knows what his point is and doesn’t like it. Even as Clay continues his line of thinking, Gemma defends Tara. But Clay isn’t listening. “The history that Tara and Piney know? Very dangerous.” Gemma says, “You’re talking about the co-founder of this club and the mother of our grandchild.” But Clay is more concerned about self-preservation at this point. “I had John Teller killed while I was bedding his wife. It does not matter what the reason was, Jax finds that out, he cuts off my goddamn head. He sticks it on the Reaper pole. Now we got to stop this in its tracks, you and me. Otherwise we lose everything.” This is all going to get very interesting. If Clay continues with this line of thought, he’s going to lose Gemma’s support. We all know how strong her family bond is and she will do everything to protect it. If he loses her, he’ll lose everything.

Gemma reminds him that neither one of them has any idea what’s in those letters and they just need to find them. If they can get their hands on them then no one will have any proof of Piney’s claims. She tells him, emphatically, that she will find the letters. “Until I do, Clay, nothing happens. You understand? Not to Piney, not to Tara. You hurt them, you hurt Jax.” And you hurt her, most of all, the Fierce Mother. He promises and they hug, but their faces show that they can’t trust and won’t back each other.

Next stop: Clay visits Unser. He delivers a beautifully restored Sportster and an assignment: find the letters that Tara has, bring them to Clay and Clay will dispose of them. And just as he’s about to leave, Gemma pulls up. We know that she’s there to employ Wayne to help her with the same task, but she plays her visit off as a pot delivery. When Clay leaves she grills Unser about why Clay was there. He tries feebly to lie, but she knows better and stresses that Clay cannot get those letters, that he needs to deliver them to her when he gets them.

Jax and Opie visit Lyla at “work” and she informs them that Georgie is out of the business and now making high-end sex toys, but her current producer Dondo, might have some info. Jax goes with her to meet Dondo, while Opie stays behind in her dressing room. He discovers her stash of birth control pills and has a tantrum.

A brilliant tactic in casting: David Hasselhoff is Dondo. He explains that Georgie wanted to make a line of real life sex dolls (much to Tig’s horror-remember he has a “thing” about dolls) based on one of his best selling movies, which happens to feature Lyla. They decide to lure Georgie in by telling him that she’s changed to mind to be forever cast as a love doll, in the name of avenging Luann, and Dondo begins to froth at the mouth. He loved Luann and won’t help unless they promise to kill Georgie, which they agree to do.

Unser breaks into Tara’s office and steal the copies she’s made of JT’s letters.

Off to Lincoln Potter’s war room and the info on the walls has exploded and he gives Roosevelt a quick download about the cartel. He wants to know how things are going with Juice. Roosevelt explains that Juice will need assurances before he proceeds. He can’t wear a wire so the only other solution is to get a sample of the cocaine to test where it came from, but Roosevelt knows this could get Juice killed. Potter explains, “That’s the point. It proves the risk of getting outed for color is greater than the risk of working with us.” The sheriff doesn’t like the idea if word gets out that he got someone killed playing the race card. Potter makes a promise (with his fingers crossed behind his back) that the sheriff’s involvement with Juice will be stricken from the record. Liar, liar pants on fire.

Unser has read the letters and is in the process of burning them when Clay pulls up and runs over to attempt to retrieve them from the fire. “I wish I had never found them! The lies were easier to stomach.” Clay’s reply is, “Save the pain and sorrow for my old lady.” “That’s the difference between you and me, Clay. I actually feel bad for some of the shit I’ve done. The lie you fed me about why John Teller needed to die…you told me JT’s weakness was going to bring violence to Charming. JT wasn’t weak. He was conflicted. He wanted to end guns, go legit. That’s why you killed him and had me cover it up.” Unser goes on to say that JT described two previous incidents where Clay attempted to murder him. He asks Clay if Gemma knows the real reason he killed her old man. “What’s the matter? Are you afraid the love of your life betrayed you too?” Clay spits back. Oh man, the truth hurts.

Georgie and Ima are back in "Brick"

At the porn studio is Georgie, with Ima at his side, fast and furiously trying to sell the real life doll experience to Dondo. SAMCRO emerges to “talk” but stupid Ima whips out a gun. Georgie grabs it, tries to shoot his way out but Jax tackles him. Bobby catches up and tries to choke Georgie out, but Chibs and Tig pull him off.

Clay and Unser watch the letters, or rather the copies of the letter burn. Unser explains that he doesn’t have the originals, that Tara still does. Clay says he’s going to protect both of them.

The boys have Georgie bound and gag-balled. Juice gets a call and excuses himself.

Gemma pulls up to Unser’s house and notices that he’s burning a bunch of copied letters. He lies to her by saying, “The shit John wrote, too painful for you to read. Sorry.” Gemma looks panicked for a moment, then she thanks him for helping.

Roosevelt squeezes Juice in "Brick"

Roosevelt and Juice meet up and Roosevelt requests a sample of cocaine. “If it’s uncut, it has markers and the lab can isolate the region,” Roosevelt explains. Juice tries to play dumb, but Roosevelt wants him to spill who’s pushing the coke in Sanwa, to connect it back to the cartel and leave the club out. “Look, I just want things to get back to normal. Your MC out of drugs, your daddy back in the closet.” And that’s essentially what Juice wants, too.

Clay shows up at Dondo’s studio and removes Georgie’s gag. He proceeds to plead with Clay to talk sense into these psychos but Clay explains these are the rational guys. “I get Happy here, ‘ball gag’ takes on a whole new meaning.” Georgie says that he didn’t kill Luann, but Jax loses it. Ima seizes an opportunity to cling to Opie. Georgie starts bargaining for his life with cash as the ultimate motivator. “I got Asian backing. Billionaire sex freaks. I’m serious!”

The wheels start turning, Clay confers with his guys about using the Asians to say they’re interested in investing in Charming Heights, then have them pull the money at the last minute to screw over Mayor Hale. Everyone goes along with it, even if it means keeping Georgie alive. “What the hell do we tell Otto?” Bobby asks and Clay is all like, what’s this WE stuff? Jax states it simply, “Tell him the truth. The club needs Georgie alive for a minute. That’s a post-dated check. As soon as we shut down Hale, we cut Georgie’s heart out.”

Juice pulls up to the drug barn and the only one around is Phil. He sees an opportunity to dart in unnoticed. As he’s getting ready to grab a sample Filthy Phil pops in because he’s lonely. Juice panics and shoves the brick down his pants, then commences in small talk with Phil. But then the the Mayan left by Alvarez comes back, so Juice has no other option than to leave with a brick of uncut cocaine stashed in his pants. The Mayan eyes him suspiciously. Juice is crouched in the woods holding the brick and trying not to freak the F-out. Next thing we know is that it’s morning and Juice realizes he’s royally screwed.

Lies, lies, lies yeah.

At Clay and Gemma’s and she is already up and at ‘em, asking where Clay was the night before. He explains that he was dealing with Otto’s request. She plops down a bag of full charred paper. “The letters. I found them in Tara’s office, locked in a desk drawer.” Uh oh, this is the beginning of the end for them. He looks at her a little shocked, betrayed. She continues on to explain, a little unconvincingly,  that they were mostly love letters to Maureen and it hurt her so much that she burned them. So let’s move on, forget about Piney and Tara. It’s over. But looking at Clay’s face and we all know better. The love of his life just lied her fine ass off to his face. He kisses her hand. “Yeah. Thank god.”

Juice decides that his best course of action for the moment is to bury the brick of coke in the woods.

At the clubhouse, Jax finds out that Opie spent the night in the apartment…and not alone as Ima saunters out of the bathroom. Jax scurries away but Opie finds him outside whacking back a butt. But it doesn’t take Jax long to start scolding him, reminding him that he has a family and a new wife. Opie admits that he found Lyla’s birth control. “All this time I’ve been trying to have kids, she’s been killing it off.” Oh yeah that really does suck, Jax agrees, but points out that this probably isn’t the best way to handle it. And then Opie says, Hi Pot. I’m Kettle. You’re black. No, what he really means is, “I miss Donna.”

At Jax’s house, Tara puts Thomas’ car seat in her loser-cruiser, I mean minivan (what happened to her Charger? I love that car). Unser is stealthily following her.

In Stockton, Bobby is visiting Big Otto (by the way, visiting days are numbered as once Otto gets out of the infirmary he goes back to solitary, with no visitation rights). Otto gets to the point: “You got something to tell me?” Bobby comes clean with a straight apology. Otto wants to know things that he really doesn’t want to know: how long and did he love her? Bobby explains that they didn’t love each other, Otto was the only man she loved. But then Bobby lies about killing Georgie. Why, oh why did he do that? More trouble ahead.

In the last scene the boys are counting all the bricks of cocaine before final delivery. And of course they’re a brick short of a full load. (Thank you, goodnight. I’ll be here all week. Try the veal!) They all start to freak out and Juice is standing there looking as guilty as a politician caught sexting.

Next week’s episode: With an X

The fallout from the missing brick of cocaine is the focus of this week’s Sons of Anarchy. Clay, meanwhile, makes a major move.

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”

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Sons of Anarchy "Una Venta"

Another morning in Paradise, the episode opens with Jax writing intently in his journal (what? no butterflies or unicorns with a flimsy lock to keep it shut?). Tara ribs, “My badass biker is journaling?” And just like that, Jax is ready to take off on another SAMCRO adventure. Tara asks if he’s really headed for a bike show and he cryptically asks “you really wanna know?” but in his head he’s thinking: if you mean bike show, as in driving out to Arizona to meet up with our meth dealing, murdering, blowing shit up chapter, SAMTAZ, then yes I am!

Over to Gemma, who is in the greenhouse (did we know she had a greenhouse prior to this?) staring down a wilted lily. In the garage the boys are packing up lots of guns into a truck while the song “Para Los Tiempos Están Cambiando” (Spanish version of “The Times They are a-Changin”) plays in the background.

Gemma shoots up Clay’s arthritic hands with cortisone. The gun-filled truck takes off and the guys head out on “SAMCRO’s Excellent Adventure” into the world of guns ‘n coke. Chuckie is waving his weird puppet hands happily, like a kid seeing his parents off on a brief vacation. Piney scowls at him, and we know he’s thinking, “what an effing idiot.”

Lots of driving. Lots of riding. More cortisone shots for Clay. At a truck stop in Arizona they meet up with SAMTAZ, the Arizona chapter of the Sons. Clays hands shake as he peels them off of his handlebars, more reinforcement that his time as a leader is short.

We meet SAMTAZ’s prez, Armando and it’s VP, Huff. Bobby extends condolences to them about dearly departed brother, Little Paul. Clay’s all business and wants to talk about the plans for meeting up with Romeo at the bike show the next day, in which Armando assures that they’re there to protect and serve.

Suddenly attention is diverted to a scuffle off in the distance. Some SAMTAZ members are beating up some derelict looking fellows who have some sort of debt to the AZ boys. Tig somehow gets involved and when all is said and done it’s revealed that SAMTAZ is dealing meth. A major no-no in SAMCRO’s eyes (ahem…hypocritical, much?). Jax is pissed about this since they’ve just hauled a load of guns into the fray and is even more concerned about law enforcement getting involved. Armando’s response is, “Coke, crank, you mule, we sell. It’s the same shit.” Clay doesn’t see it the same way, wants it shut down and hears “Sorry, esse. Not your club, not your call” in return. D’oh.

The next day in SAMTAZ’s church and Clay is still arguing his point. “I ain’t telling you how to run your club, but the charter has precedence.” It seems rather ridiculous to be arguing about dealing when SAMCRO just snuggled up to a cocaine cartel. “We don’t deal! That’s always been the message.” Bobby is visibly irritated but Jax is wearing his thinking cap today, noting that SAMCRO only just voted on the partnership with the cartel and if the derelicts they rolled at the truck stop have back debt, then…something’s not adding up.

The SAMTAZ boys start squirming in their seats and nervously shoot each other looks. Armando mans up and admits that they voted it in 4 months ago. “This town is drying up, Clay. I’m just trying to keep this charter alive, man.” Jax isn’t happy. “We would have never brought you into this if we knew you were cooking.” Huff is in defense mode now, arguing their position and even when Clay points out they’re getting paid a hefty protection fee, he thinks it isn’t enough in the vast amounts of cash SAMCRO will be rolling in.

Tig pipes up that they have to go meet Romeo, must not keep him waiting. On the way out Jax walks by the photo of dearly departed Little Paul and next to it one that is turned upside down, former member Reggie who after 18 years turned in his patch. Little Paul was his sponsor. Jax asks the sergeant at arms if it (the vote to deal meth) was a close vote. ”It was, but everyone’s behind it now.” Hmm…Jax knows something’s not quite right.

Back to downtown Charming, Gemma head’s to a store and catches the eye of Lincoln Potter, who decides to follow her for a bit. She heads into a garden store that is run by non other than Mrs. Sheriff Roosevelt, Rita for short. Gemma is looking for Mariposa Lily bulbs but they’re not in stock. However Rita offers to help if Gemma brings in her under-performing plants.

(A little note of interest here: the Mariposa Lily is a native American wildflower found in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. It is representative of archetypal feminine qualities. It’s delicate yet it lives in an intense, harsh environment, rooting itself in rocky soil. It’s referred to as The Madonna of the Rocks, the heavenly mother in the harshest of earthly challenges. Helps those who may be bereft of warmth and  nurturing, children who have been abandoned, orphaned, adopted or traumatized in their early childhood experience. It also benefits adults, especially women who need to heal childhood wounds, like deficiencies in mothering, fulfilling one’s destiny as a mother, teacher, healer or caregiver. Sound like someone we know?)

There’s a plucky Chucky exchange to lighten the mood, a comedic device for Gemma to say that she bought his weird puppet hands on eBay. The conversation is steered toward concern for raising funds for Charming Gardens, which is in jeopardy of being swallowed up by the Charming Heights development. There’s a bit of tension between the ladies as the hard truth of how far apart their stations in life are, although sharing a common goal in saving the Gardens. Gemma sort of throws down a gaunlet of sorts, but Rita doesn’t bite. “I honestly don’t care what kind of donor you are. If you want to help, the door is open. But if you’re just here to rattle my cage, I don’t have the time, love.”

As Gemma leaves the store, Potter says “Shame about the gardens. I seriously hope the clock ticks out on Charming Heights.” She’s immediately intrigued as he explains the whole eminent domain thing to her before he saunters away.

Back in Arizona the guys are anxiously waiting on Romeo’s arrival. Jax is still troubled about SAMTAZ’s vote, which happened right after Little Paul’s untimely passing and Reggie turning in his patch. “Little Paul would have never signed off on crank.” he adds. They all kind of realize that someone in SAMTAZ cleared the blockage so that the vote would go through and decide to track down Reggie, but not before another argument between Bobby and Clay. “Armando’s right. Muling and dealing are the same goddamn thing.” Bobby says. But before it can go any further, here come the Mexicans, minus Romeo, as the boys have acquired a police tail that they need to shake loose.

Did someone order a big explosion?

Cue action scene: raucous music, lots of motorcycles rolling and an impressively large explosion. Law enforcement has been squelched and Lincoln Potter is perplexed by this action.

In a quiet, unassuming pet shop, the boys find Reggie–who has lots of blacked out ink on his arms and back (better than a blow torch, eh?). Reggie doesn’t want to talk about why he patched out but he is gently persuaded with a little bit of violence. Reggie reveals that Huff found out he’d been tapping Little Paul old lady but kept it a secret to preserve Little Paul’s marriage. Reggie and Little Paul had found out about a “cookhouse” and found out that Huff and Benny (the sergeant at arms) had set it up. Then Huff and Benny called to tell everyone that Little Paul had been gunned down by Mexican bangers. Reggie threatened to expose Huff, but Huff turned the tables to out the affair Reggie had with Ellen. “I’d be drummed out and Ellen would be shunned. No compensation, nobody to look out after her. I didn’t want it to ruin her life too. I walked away.”

Reggie learns that the club voted in the crank anyway, and doesn’t want to get involved again, but Clay pretty much tells him he doesn’t have a choice in telling the truth and that Ellen will be taken care of.

And because it’s the bad penny of the season, our focus is brought back to Tara’s possession of JT’s letters. Piney is waiting in her office and he wants to read them. “The club is heading into troubled waters. And maybe there’s something in those letters that can keep the boat from rocking too much.” But essentially Piney wants to know the truth of what happened all those years ago. Cue Gemma’s arrival, stage left. Tara’s agitated and pulls Gemma aside to find out what she wants. Gemma wants Tara on the committee for Charming Gardens because her status as a doctor will be attractive to other potential donors.  Before they can squabble about it any more, Piney has collapsed in the office.

Romeo has finally made an appearance and they all work out a detailed plan to transfer the guns. Clay mentions that the Irish Kinds will want a face to face before they place a large order in which Romeo assures he’s always available. As they part ways, Romeo’s right hand guy, Luis, asks if he trusts SAMCRO. “As much as we need to,” Romeo replies.

And thanks to Potter’s war room we get background intel on Luis: he was Special Forces, airmobile group, worked in intelligence and has a masters’ degree in logistics. Potter’s excited while looking at photos tying Luis to SAMCRO because it brings RICO back into the picture. Then Potter traipses off “to the place where bikers go to die.”

At SAMTAZ’s church Clay is laying out the back story to Armando, dragging in a meth cooker to reveal  “About five months ago, Reggie and Little Paul found out Achey here was cooking for Huff and Benny. They told his crew it was a SAMTAZ drug operation.” Huff protests, they took a vote. “Yeah. After you killed Little Paul and blackmailed Reggie out of the club,” Jax says. Armando asks Clay if he knows what he’s doing and Clay shoots back, “I’m accusing the VP and the sergeant at arms of using the MC to their own ends, and then when they got caught, they killed a member and blackmailed another.” Ouch.

Chibs pulls poor Reggie in the room when Benny tries to discredit the witness. Clay says to Armando, “It’s your charter. Listen to the facts, make your decision. But if you find out that your club got into crank on a lie, you need to vote it again.” Ooh, those guys are in trooouuuuble…

Piney’s ok but in no better of a mood, although he apologizes to Tara. She asks him to tell her about John Teller. “He was a complicated guy. Angry, impulsive, just righteous as hell. Hated being wrong. Not much of an education. Book smart, though. He used to devour three, four at a time. He was loyal. Too loyal.” Sounds familiar to her. Then he says, “What I want to know? Why my best friend was afraid when he died.” Tara tells him about the letters, that JT wanted to get the club out of the gun biz. He knew it was risky but Clay and the others were invested. JT met with Kellan Ashby and some IRA members and wanted to end the relationship and stop selling guns but he was killed before that came to fruition. Piney gets it and also gets that the relationship with the cartel can only come to the same fate.

Gemma pops in, Tara exits and she lays it all on the table. “I know you’re bumping up against Clay. That bullshit you fed me the other day –” Piney says, “That wasn’t bullshit. That was the truth. You all just refuse to look at it.” She tells him to drop it or Clay will kill him. “That’s half the reason I’m doing it,” he answers.

SAMTAZ has excommunicated Huff & Benny, although they weren’t killed. Clay is surprised to hear that they voted to keep dealing crank. “Guys got a taste of the money, Clay. It was unanimous.” Armando has noted Clay’s concerns and offers up another place for future deliveries.

Gemma shows back up at Rita’s shop, offering up Tara as a donor and member of the Gold Circle Club and forks over $5k in cash. Then she hands over another bag filled with her dead bulbs.

SAMCRO solemnly transfers guns to the cartel, surrounded by heavily armed guards. The gravity of their situation is not lost on them.

Over to Lincoln Potter, who is standing outside of Big Otto’s prison cell-where this particular biker has gone to die. Looks like part 2 of Plan B is going into effect. He feeds Otto some false lead-in info only to drop a major bomb on him. “According to the autopsy report, traces of semen were found in your wife’s undergarments. The county was finally able to run an analysis, got a match in the system. A, uh, Robert Munson, known as Bobby Elvis. A member of your motorcycle club. Can you tell me anything about their relationship? And I ask, because in most cases, 87.9%, actually, the person having sex with the victim was the perpetrator.” He punctuates that info by placing photos of a bloodied, deceased Luanne onto Otto. “And it was … it was a gruesome assault. I understand you’ve been going through some emotional issues. It doesn’t seem right you’re locked up in this box. I’m going to look into that. I’ll come back a little later when you feel a bit more … settled.” When Potter leaves, Otto places his hands on the photos and there are tears.

Back to the boys nervously taking in their surroundings. Romeo says it’s just a precaution. Jax asks “Should we be taking that precaution?” Romeo answers, “Lobo Sonora doesn’t know about our deal. If they did, they would never risk reprisal up north.” Luis adds that if Lobo Sonora would strike it would be in Arizona and they’re prepared to handle it. Then he forks over $700k and the boys get a crate filled with 30 kilos of uncut Columbian cocaine. Romeo says he’ll be up in a few days to check on it and takes off.

Clay instructs them to load it up, catches Jax’s gaze and then they note Bobby’s look of disdain for it all. When he walks away they exchange another look that says Bobby is going to be a problem and something will have to be done.

Next week’s episode: Brick

A former foe of SAMCRO has been enlisted due to their plan to help as he tried to stop the development of Charming Heights of Mayor Hale. In the other side of the story, Sheriff Roosevelt continue to lean on Juice for additional information to solve his case.

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”

You know the drill, don’t read if you haven’t watched.

Tonight’s episode was directed by Peter Weller, who is classically known for his role in Robocop.

Clay and Jax are having a pleasant discussion about swaying the rest of the club’s vote in favor of running drugs. Clay’s creep factor goes up exponentially when he sees an opportunity to chat with Tara alone and chooses to try to sway her about his love for Jax as a son and how he loved JT. Um…yeah. She’s not buying it.

Mental note: Happy hates kitchen messes. When you make pancakes be sure to clean up. Pronto. Kozik gets baited by two neighborhood kids with the promise of quick cash over a game of basketball. At Teller-Morrow there’s some good banter happening. Chibs is in a world of hurt and Juice’s solution of a green tea and mint colonic is wince-worthy. Clay’s taking a trip back to the Wahewa and chooses a confused Bobby as a sidekick. Tig is feeling seriously left out these days.

Kozik’s friendly basketball game takes a turn for the worse. The kids thump him when he’s not looking and head off to the truck that he and Miles just piled a box of guns into.

My new favorite, Lincoln Potter (from Modesto, CA) despite barely having a team still has figured out what’s up with the Sons muling coke for the Galindo cartel. Since they have no inside man with the cartel, they need to work things from the SAMCRO angle and Plan B goes into motion. They’re going to squeeze Juice. (*groan* I couldn’t help myself.)

Bobby and Clay get to the reservation and Bobby jumps right in to a one on one. He knows that Clay’s motivation to push the club to run drugs is grab as much cash as he can before he’s out, but he’s confused about Jax’s support. Clay confides that Jax wants out clean. Clay blows smoke up Bobby’s butt by telling him if he votes Clay’s way he’ll pass the gavel off to him. “I give you my word.”

Another introspective chat between Gemma and Wayne “Confucius” Unser, this time in the hospital chapel. She snags him into being her look out while she invades Tara’s office again to find and read those letters. While waiting in the hall, Unser discovers that the new sheriff and his wife are having fertility problems. While distracted, Margaret (Tara’s boss) walks in on Gemma in Tara’s office reading “Sonoanatomy and Feasibility of Ultrasonographic Guidance in Term and Preterm Neonates.” “It’s a trilogy.” Gemma explains.

At the reservation Clay has a small pow-wow with Charlie, who’s looking for some additional monetary compensation now that he knows Clay is selling their ammo to the Mexicans. To add some punctuation, he brings Clay and Bobby to see the Russian dude from last week buried up to his shoulders in the ground being eaten by flesh eating ants (The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah…) Clay & Bobby are conveniently left alone to discuss the fact that they are indeed charging the Mexicans 50% more for the same ammo, only to realize the Russian dude is still alive and listening, until Clay snuffs him out.

Jax rips Kozik a new orifice for letting the truck with the guns get stolen. Seems he is the only one who grasps how serious the situation is. They come to the conclusion that the kids will probably try to sell the guns and since their in Happy’s neighborhood he knows where to go: Viveca’s. At Viveca’s house we see her flanked by her two sons, Luther and Vandross (can’t help but crack a smile at their names) and she is adamant that she’s the Nubian goddess of small electronics and organic veggies, but not guns. “…guns, that’s dirty business. Not my flow.” A stroke of luck would have the kids who ripped them off pull up to the house.

Cue another silly car/motorcycle chase scene set to loud music. There’s an moment that looks like the cops might get to the kids before the guys do, but Kozik lures them on a goose chase away from the situation. The kids think they’ve got away clean, but our guys catch up to them, Jax leans in the window, “License and registration please.” I am liking Charlie Hunnam’s short hair.

Charlie is not happy to find that the Russian he wanted to suffer for one to two more days is now dead. Clay insists that he’s not making any additional money from the ammo. “You got my word.” That sounds familiar to Bobby and in an instant he realizes that creepy Clay is brimming over in bullshit.

Back in the hood the teen gun thieves are getting the poop scared out of them to the point that they confess they sold the guns to Viveca.

Chibs and Juice, walking out “Clear Passages” (Chibs has a skip in his step) get rousted by the cops. “Plan B” is in the works and Juice gets picked up on a minor charge.

A quick chat between Margaret and Tara lets us know that Tara’s been shopping around for other hospitals. She tells Tara that she walked in on Gemma in her office earlier and appeared to be looking for something. Tara plays dumb, makes up some excuse. Margaret has heard that Tara & Jax are engaged and wonders if Jax knows that she’s looking to leave. Tara sheepishly says that she isn’t leaving any time soon and can’t unless he leads them out.

Pit bull brothers, Luther and Vandross, flank their mother when Jax and the gang roll up. She vehemently denies having anything to do with the guns, until Opie suggests maybe her boys have taken on some side business. (Anyone watch the show Justified? I think that Viveca and her boys remind me of an urban version of Mags Bennett and her boys.) She is super pissed, slapping her boys upside the head. A bit of hell breaks loose when her lackeys feel threatened and start shooting. Undeterred, she grabs the guns and begins scolding her boys, who despite their large size instantly become little boys who just wanted to please their mother. “We was going to get you the F350, with Super Duty.” “We know how much you love that truck, mama. We even had the red one picked out and shit.” Viveca smooths it all over, hands Jax a few bills for his trouble. “Tell Happy I’ll send his mom some tomatoes.”

Tara is shown making copies of the letters. Nothing good can come from that. Gemma’s waiting for her in her office and confronts Tara. Tara tries to act dumb but Gemma’s got her number, fills her in on the back story. There’s a bit of duality in how Gemma talks about John Teller. She loved him, but the betrayal of his affair seeps out when she talks about him. She began to fall for Clay and he was off in Ireland for months at a time leaving her alone. But she feels that ultimately Jax will be the one destroyed by those letters.

Plan B apparently means mind-f*cking Juice and breaking him down. Roosevelt reveals that Juice’s estranged father is black and if the club finds out they’ll strip him of his patch, make him scrape off the ink and if he’s lucky they’ll let him walk alive. Then he sends Juice on his way, left wondering what happens next. “I’ll be in touch, brutha.”

Gemma finds Piney downing a shot of tequila. He is unhappy and hoping that Clay will listen to Gemma. He tells her that Clay wants to run drugs for the cartel. Meanwhile, Tara is hiding copies of John Teller’s letters in boxes of old paperwork in the back of a storage unit. Gemma confronts Clay about the coke, he looks over her shoulder at Piney. This episode must be about how big of a shit bag Clay is. He promptly puts her in her place.

Opie shares a dreamy moment talking about the day that all this is behind them and they are both sitting at the table together. Jax outright lies to Opie. It’s all down hill from here.

In church the vote goes down about running the drugs. Clay: yea. Tig: yea. Chibs: no. Opie: yea. Miles: yay. Piney: nay. Juice: nay. Bobby: no. Happy: I’m sorry, no. Kozik: backing the present VP: yea. Jax: yea. The vote is 6-5, it passes. One last moment of Clay’s douchbaggery in his parting words to Piney: “if you ever try to end run me through my old lady again, I’ll slit your throat.”

Tara steps up to Gemma’s side as they watch Bobby walk away from the rest of the guys while Shooter Jennings sings  “All of this should have been, all this could have been yours.”

Next week’s episode: Una Venta

SAMCRO makes a run to set up a new business venture while Gemma makes a new ally in Charming.

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”

**SPOILER ZONE**

Don’t read on if you haven’t watched this episode yet.

So it’s the day after the boys have been released from jail. They were very busy that previous day, what with them killing Putlova and all (among other things, like, getting married and stuff). The next morning Clay is understandably a bit tired and wakes up to Gemma’s panicking over the existence of letters from John Teller to Maureen Ashby and the possible incrimination in JT’s death. Clay settles her down a bit, but the information is duly noted.

season 4 episode 2 "Booster"

Jax & Tara’s morning has them enjoying life as a little family until she sees the news about the dead Russians. She demands Jax tells her the truth, which he starts to tell before Gemma shows up for babysitting duty. (By the way, I typically appreciate Gemma’s wardrobe, but anyone else think that she’s a little overdress in her leather & lace outfit with knee high boots for Grandma duty? Anyone that’s ever been around an infant knows they’ll be wearing some spit-up and drool at some point…just saying…).

At the newlyweds house, Opie starts to nag Lyla about getting knocked up so she’ll quit the porn biz. I know this dialogue has only just begun this season, but I’m already over it. But here we have an opportunity in seeing the contrast in Jax and Opie’s relationships with their ladies. When Tara learns of the dead Russians she wants to know and he confides in her because with them it’s all or nothing. When Lyla asks Opie about it he lies though his teeth. Tara is truly Jax’s partner, Lyla is just another old lady.

Lincoln Potter is notably unhappy at the discovery of the dead Russians and the size of the balls on SAMCRO, not to mention the appearance of “Mayor McCheese.” Here we find out that Hale’s development deal of Charming Heights is on a timetable. Dead bodies bring down the property value and if he loses his investors then the city council can revert back all the land. “Good morning.” “Not if you’re Russian.” I am seriously loving Potter.

Clay and Jax head out to meet Marcus about the gun deal he brokered with the Galinda cartel while holed up in Stockton (alluded to in the appisode “Mexican Basketball.“) Enter Danny Trejo as Romero ‘Romeo’ Parada (anyone notice Sen Dog from Cypress Hill as part of his entourage?) and their new relationship, in which Jax discovered that SAMCRO will be muling cocaine for the cartel. A big no-no in the club’s history and world and a huge detail that Clay just happened to leave out. But those giant stacks of cash are pretty persuasive and Jax knows that Clay’s days are running out. I was actually glad that he brought up McGee to Clay because the situation is very similar. But naturally Clay bats the reference away.

Jax agrees to vote with Clay in exchange for his leaving the Sons without any kind of recourse. Clay is incredulous that Jax would actually want to leave. I mean, he’s been groomed his entire life to hold the gavel and he wants to walk away? But Clay needs the big score and reluctantly (and I’m sure temporarily) agrees.

season 4 episode 2 "Booster"

The idea of muling drugs unsurprisingly meets resistance with all the guys at the table. But again, those fat stacks of cash being laid out hold a lot of sway. Clay chats with Tig and Bobby privately and Bobby knows the motivation behind Clay’s decision. And he still doesn’t like it because Clay’s gonna eff things up for all of them.

Gemma, with baby on her hip, searches high and low for those letters. When she sees Abel rifling through the papers in her bag she realizes that maybe Tara’s walking around with them on her.

Han Solo and Chewbacca, I mean, Jax and Opie head out to the Wahewa reservation to check on the ammo. The besties chat about things they thought about in the joint (and I come to the strange realization that Charlie Hunnam with his short hair now resembles my baby brother. Sure he’s a bit older and has facial hair but…weird. I immediately push that connection out of my head since I’ve seen CH’s naked butt more than I can count and don’t want to think about my brother that way.)

Again, here is the difference in the men that Jax and Opie are. Jax looks to his future, dreams about a better life for his family, Opie doesn’t think about any other kind life and is still missing Donna. Potter and Roosevelt meet up and speculate on the “bigger player” the club is in cahoots with. Roosevelt confides that he’s being pressured to take some sort of disciplinary action to the club and Potter gives his blessing to go be a good sheriff and “be the badge.”

Clay meets up with Oswald, makes him feel a little guilty for being a partner with Hale in the development of Charming Heights. Elliot isn’t too ruffled, he worked off his debt. But Clay wants and gets an old abandoned, gated piece of land from Oswald to house his gun traffic.

At the Wahewa, the Russians are lying in wait armed to the eyeballs. Jax and Opie try to flee to no avail. The Russians didn’t appreciate getting ripped off and want their guns back. Now.

More of Gemma being a complete freak, going to Tara’s office to find the letters. We’d better find out some juicy shit that went down about how Clay & Gemma killed off JT because this story line is going to wear it’s welcome out on me real soon. She pulls out a police report regarding JT’s “accident” and we see that the investigating officer is none other than Wayne Unser. So, he’s in on it too. Strange little triangle those old friends have. Tara seemed a bit suspicious to find Gemma locked inside of her office but brushed it off.

Back at Teller-Morrow, Unser has become a different kind of device for Clay to use, this time around to scope out truck routes under the radar for moving product. Oh yeah, and he wants to know if Tara’s been trying to snoop around for info about Clay and JT. So, he did take Gemma’s concern seriously. Just then Jax calls in about the mad Russians and how they want their guns back.

But before Clay can saddle up, they are detained by a visit from one pissed off sheriff, who “discovers” lots of fire code violations and vents his frustrations out with an axe to the mugshot wall and the redwood reaper table.

season 4 episode 2 "Booster"

Day two out of the klink and things are not going so well for Jax. He and Opie share a moment however the gravity of the situation is not lost. But their new Mexican friends roll up in a HUMMER and turn those pesky Russians into Swiss cheese. Why is Danny Trejo so freakin’ badass? Clay shows up a day late and a dollar short and I’m guessing at this point Opie’s decided he’s going to vote in the cartel along with Clay. I also predict some really interesting and adversarial exchanges between Clay and Romeo in the future.

Amid the destruction of SAMCRO’s playhouse, Tara picks that moment to lighten the mood with announcement that she and Jax are engaged. Rounds of shots are had by all to celebrate. Clay assures Gemma that Tara’s a good girl, but Gemma & Unser toss each other an uncertain look. And that last visual exchange between Jax and Bobby said a lot.

Behind the scenes: Trashing the Clubhouse

The production designer chats about how they trashed the club and how they’re rebuilding it.

Next week’s episode: Dorylus

SAMCRO encounters an unlikely foe when a piece of their business goes missing. (FYI: Dorylus are Asian army ants)

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: season 4 premier

Per usual I’ll be going into the episode in depth so if you don’t want to know, stop reading. Gaze into Charlie Hunnam’s baby blues instead…

Sons of Anarchy: season 4

Sons of Anarchy: season 4

Episode 4.01 “Out”

It’s 14 months since we left off and a shirtless Jax sitting in his cell. He has to be shirtless so we can see the new scars that adorn his perfectly chiseled midsection. Those who’ve watched the appisode “Pay Phone” know that a few weeks after entering prison, Jax was shivved by a Russian. Nothing personal, just business. A guard approaches. It’s time to go home.

Opie greets Jax as he leaves prison, episode 1 "Out"

Montage time to get us familiar with what’s going on: a preschool aged Abel is coloring with crayons, Tara is sitting at her desk (in her own practice?) still reading those letters that JT sent to Maureen. She promptly shoves them in her bag when someone knocks on the door and Abel promptly grabs a page to scribble on when she’s not looking. The guys go through the steps of getting out of jail, Gemma tends to little Thomas (who we met in the appisode “Second Son” along with Tara’s giant boobs). Back in jail to Big Otto in solitary, who’s morning breakfast consists of a hard-boiled egg with a toy surprise inside, a shiny new razor blade. Minutes into the episode and things are getting serious.

Back to the guy’s getting out, it’s a happy reunion for all. They climb on their bikes and give Stockton a one-finger salute as they head back to Charming. A purposeful pool of blood has formed outside of Otto’s cell (my husband at this point gets concerned that Otto has killed himself, but I know better because this is Sons of Anarchy and I’ve watched all of the WTF Sutter’s on youtube and know that Otto shows up later in the season). But Otto can’t be dead, he’s a useful tool inside the Big House and as a man who hasn’t got a whole lot more left to lose, is willing to do just about anything for the club.

The boys as they head out to go back to Charming.

As the boys enter Charming they see that Evil brother Hale’s plan of real estate development has been put into action, with noted Oswald as a partner. Uh oh. The new sheriff, Roosevelt, is getting a haircut and just from looking at him you can tell he’s a take-no-shit kind of guy. And he has a special welcoming committee waiting. But there’s also a mysterious new cat hanging out in wait as well. He sticks out quite a bit actually with his euro-moto clothes and riding a *gasp* Triumph.

Roosevelt informs the newly released, “The conditions of your release state no gang colors or identifying clothing may be worn in public.” and according to the government they qualify as a gang, so no cuts allowed.

And all this before opening credits.

•At the Teller-Morrow garage, Piney approaches Tara. ”History’s dead, sweetheart. It’s got to stay that way.” This alludes to the exchange in the appisode “Tara and Piney” in which she approaches Piney about the truth behind John Teller’s death. There’s also a kind of sweet exchange between Gemma and Tara, who seemed to have really bonded while the boys were gone. Now that they’re out, we know that won’t last.

•Happy reunion time with some things of note: Unser is absent, Chucky has weird finger prosthetics cuz he was freaking Gemma out and Gemma handed off a mysterious item to Jax.

•In Sheriff Roosevelt’s office, the peculiar Triumph rider is introduced as assistant U.S. attorney Lincoln Potter and boy, he is odd (and I like that). In a roundabout way he tells Roosevelt that he wants to discuss something with him, but it’s the way he says it makes Roosevelt a bit uncomfortable. Cue Darth Vader’s theme song and Mayor Hale pays a visit, concerned with the newly released members of SAMCRO. There’s a bit of a weak stream pissing match between the two and Roosevelt reiterates that he’s got it under control (for now) before Hale poofs away in a cloud of smoke.

•Church is in session: back payment in the form of stacks of envelopes are handed out to the jail birds. In conversation we’re reminded that gun trading is the means of payment these days, even with small percentages coming their way. Clay steers convo to what’s going on with Hale’s real estate shenanigans and Opie explains “Hale’s got a shitload of presales and just needs a few more investors before he starts swinging hammers.” And what happened with their buddy Oswald? Well Hale screwed him over, of course, by pushing through a new on-ramp to Highway 99, then used the ramp as an excuse to seize Oswald’s land under eminent domain. Since Oswald lost millions of dollars, he’s has to earn it back by providing lumber and labor to the development. The town is ok with the plan because it’ll provide jobs, although only temporarily. And it seems only Clay realizes that the end result will be a housing market most long-term residents won’t be able to afford, himself included. He intends to do something about that.

Jax asks about “black and proud” Sheriff Roosevelt. He’s got an anti-gang background,been on the job 10 months and Opie says, “He’s let us know he’s here, but this is the first time he’s whipped his dick out.” Piney’s two cents is, “You’re not going to get the sheriff on your payroll. This boy’s a straight-up cop.” Gone are the days of Unser and David Hale.

It’s a busy day, apparently, because they have to head off to a meeting with the Russians at a strip club (and a very funny exchange at Tig and Happy’s expense occurs), not to mention by the way, that Opie and Lyla are getting married that night. “I know how much is in those envelopes,” Opie says, “so those wedding gifts better not be bullshit.”

•Predictably, the local law is tailing SAMCRO. Insert car/motorcycle chase scene in which they outsmart the eager deputies.

•Roosevelt heads up to Lincoln Potter’s office and is met with a stack of confidentiality agreements to sign. Lincoln Potter explains that he has trust issues. “That way, you say anything about what you see, I strip your badge and throw you in jail,” Potter shrugs. Two secured doorways later the men enter a SAMCRO decorated war room. All of the clubs friends, family and known associates (the russians and RIRA) are up on that wall and we have to remember that they are bad dudes. Curiously at the bottom of the SAMCRO photo spread is a the sign “Plan B,” and both Otto and Juice’s mug shots are there. Wonder what that is…

Potter starts to lay things out to Roosevelt: He’s going to use RICO to take down SAMCRO now that they’re dealing guns. He’s working with the CIA, the FBI and ATF. He explains that because the Russians were pissed when SAMCRO screwed them over at the end of last season, they had Jax shivved while in prison. Clay brokered a deal in which the Russians got a large percentage of the gun sales while SAMCRO was on the inside. But now that SAMCRO’s out that deal will change. There’s an FBI agent who’s been undercover in Putlova’s crew for over a year now and is in line to become the number two guy. The idea is that the agent is inside will be able to get Putlova on tape buying and selling arms. And in one broad stroke will take down the R.O.C., the Real IRA and the Sons of Anarchy. Roosevelt realizes he’s brought in because it’ll be happening in his backyard.

•Cue Clay’s meeting with Putlova, with undercover FBI guy standing menacingly and attentively behind them, as they reiterate the deal as it goes forth from here. They shake on it with a shot of vodka and since local PD is on Clay’s tail they can’t sample the merchandise at this time. But hey, why don’t you guys come to Opie’s wedding, it’ll provide good cover to check out the operation. Doesn’t seem strange at all…

•We get our answer to what’s going on with Unser. He’s holed up in a shitty, run down trailer his life is in shambles. He’s got no job, no wife, no business and not even his health to rely on. Good thing Gemma is around.

•Jax and Tara have a much needed nekkid-type reunion while the boys are napping. Which cuts over to Gemma and Clay pretty much doing the same, although it’s more of a wham, bam thank you ma’am situation. Pillow talk reveals that Clay’s arthritis is getting much worse and he doesn’t have a whole lot of time left, but he expects to be banking some big money before he’s done. Gemma kills the dreamy thoughts by telling Clay how dire Unser’s situation is.

•Opie and Lyla before their pending nuptials. He’s excited and looking forward to growing his family with her. Cue guilt ridden face of Lyla as she remembers that she’s already had an abortion. Yawn.

•Back to Jax and Tara. They know they need to talk about stuff but the baby starts crying and Jax offers to go get him. Out comes the package that Gemma handed to Jax and at this point it’s obvious that it’s an engagement ring. Tara finds it in the baby’s grip, remarks how lovely it is then quizzically looks at Jax, who says, “We should get married … I love you, Tara. I’ve loved you since I was sixteen. You stayed when anyone else would have bailed. You’ve given me a beautiful son, taken Abel on as your own.” She happily says yes, but all of the issues against them come flooding out. Jax has a plan for the future and it doesn’t involve SAMCRO. But much like Clay, they need to ride it out a bit longer for a big pay off. She tries to assert herself, she’s a successful surgeon that makes good bank. But he won’t hear of it. He doesn’t want to live off of his wife.

Jax tells her, “Clay’s hands are going. His days are numbered. When he steps down, he loses sway. That’s when I get out. And Gemma … she’s just an old lady. You’ve got to trust me. This is all I’ve been thinking about for the last fourteen months. I’m going to finish up with SAMCRO, and we’re going to take our boys, and we’re going to get the hell out of here. Start fresh somewhere, be a real family.” We’ve heard this all before from him and it sounds good in theory.

•Clay goes to visit Unser and they chat about life as it is in modern day Charming. “Town’s upside down, Wayne.” Unser agrees: “I’m not sure which cancer’s worse. The one in me, or the one in Charming?” Clay tells Unser in no uncertain terms that he’s not allowed to wallow any longer because Clay needs him in order to stifle Hale’s plans for Charming Heights. Unser is in and Clay asks him to lend a catering truck for “wedding shit.”

•Big Otto isn’t dead. He’s in the infirmary and a Russian inmate (presumably the one who shivved Jax) is rolled in next to him. The guard hands Otto a scalpel.

•Opie and Lyla’s wedding guest list is one to rival many. The Mayans, the Niners, the Russians are all in attendance. Jax and Tara are the blissful couples witnesses and the ceremony is officiated by Randolph Mantooth (John Gage from the 70′s show Emergency). The local po-po are also keeping tabs on what’s going on and they dryly watch the catering truck that Clay arranged roll by them.

Gemma & Clay watch the wedding commence

•And now it’s a wedding SAMCRO style. Lyla’s dress is all slutty mini in the front (complete with white garter in full view and white sparkly stipper shoes) and long train in the back. Since the wedding is being held on the Wahewa, Randolph Mantooth launches into the Apache wedding blessing. Jax and Tara are cutely flirting. The couple say their vows. As Opie says “With this ring, I vow my love. I promise always to cherish…and protect you” you just know that the ghost of wife #1 is hovering there in his thoughts. It’s a heavy moment. “What else?” Jax nudges. Opie rolls his eyes, “And treat you as good as my leather, and ride you as much as my Harley.” Everyone laughs and the mood is light once again.

•The reception goes in full swing. Jax has snuck out and something is about to go down with Bobby, Chibs, Juice and Happy. They’re in the back of Unser’s truck. “If you get even a hint of a tail, abort.” he tells them before they drive away.

•At the reception Clay and Alvarez are conversating. Clay thanks him for keeping SAMCRO safe inside the joint and Alvarez says he was protecting his interests. The chat goes a bit cryptic when Alvarez says “Talked to our man yesterday. How’s it look for tomorrow?” Clay gives a quick download about the new sheriff and says that they’ll all be safe “once we’re inside.” Before we get any more info Alvarez is pulled away to dance with his leather minidress clad lady.

•Typical wedding stuff is going on. Gemma is dancing with Unser, Lyla is sort of swaying around by herself. Putlova’s gift to Opie is some sort of hand cannon (“best wedding gift ever” according to Opie) and as Lyla pulls Opie away to dance, Clay takes hold of it.

•A cover of “What a Wonderful World” sung by Alison Mosshart (of the Kills) kicks in as Opie dances with his bride. This is where all shit breaks loose. Clay, Putlova and cronies head off to the woods to test out the hand cannon, Chibs, Juice, Bobby and Happy are in a warehouse with undercover FBI guy and the rest of the legit Russians checking out the guns the Russians have. Cut over to Otto, whose restraints are no longer restraining him. He slips off his gurney and stumbles over to the Russian.”This is for Jax Teller,” he says as he plunges the scalpel into the Russian’s ear! Back at the warehouse the boys pick up the firearms and obliterate the Russians, including the undercover FBI agent. In the woods, Clay and the crew wipe out those Russians, except for Putlova, who Jax stabs repeatedly in the gut. “Just business,” he spats.

•A break in the mayhem shows Gemma in Abel’s room that night. He’s fast asleep in bed and she starts picking up the things that are littered on it. She notices the note from Maureen that he had scribbled on in with the mess and realizes that either Tara or Jax (or both) have read some incriminating letters from JT. Ruh-roh.

•SAMCRO sends a (not so) subtle message by dumping the Russian bodies onto Charming Heights. Back at the wedding the reception continues on. Clay smoking a stogie, possibly reflecting on his future happy days of retirement while Opie & Lyla and Jax & Tara slow dance. “It’s good to be home” Jax declares.

Tell me what you thought of the season 4 premier!

Next week’s episode: “Booster”
The Sons of Anarchy are forced to make a decision that could challenge the future of the club.

Be sure to read all my extensive Sons of Anarchy coverage here.

Did you miss the live pre-show chat with Kurt Sutter and the cast? Well, don’t fret, you can still watch. (It takes a bit of time up front to get going.)

Some quick news:

A lot of us have been lamenting the fact that Kurt Sutter had given up Twitter because he kept getting misquoted by certain media sources. On his blog he promised that if he saw a 10% jump in viewership during the S4 premier he’d come back (along with some other prizes). Well, last night’s premier drew a combined 7.25 million total viewers and 4.76 million 18-49. that’s up 28% & 24% from the S3 premiere. Holeeeee shiiiiit.

He’s baaaaack.

Related posts:
Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy” (right before season 3 aired)

Before I get to the appisodes, just wanted to let you guys know that MovieWeb.com has a bunch (about 27 ) of season 4 publicity photos posted. I could write an entire post just on the photos alone, but I’m not going to.

There are black and white and color photos, but I think the b&w ones are best. (They remind me of Life magazine’s Hells Angels photos from 1965.) And good gravy, look at how gorgeous Katey Sagal looks in that second picture!

Sons of Anarchy exclusive appisodes

Three out of four ain’t bad: A lot of you guys know (and some a bit bitter) about the SOA iPhone/iPad app which is where exclusive, additional scenes between S3 and S4 are shown first. These additional scenes will eventually be added to Sons of Anarchy section of FX’s website, although I have yet to see anything there as of today. I’ve done my best to track down the three that have been released.

Appisode 1: Pay Phone

The first appisode was entitled “Pay Phone” (and directed by Ryan Hurst). I haven’t found any “official” video to share but found this one on YouTube. The quality isn’t great but you get the gist of the scene. (In the comments section, someone said the translation from the Russian is “Nothing serious dear, you know why we doing this…”)

Appisode 2: “Second Son.”

This video takes place on Incarceration Day 196. Gemma and Tara (and her enormous boobs) visit Jax in prison, where he meets his newborn son, Thomas (named after his dead brother). Nice little scene.

(I have a small quip about time continuity with this one. The first appisode happened on Day 26, when Jax got stabbed. Would he still be that sore to the touch on day 196? Am I nit-picking?)

Appisode 3: TBD

I don’t know the title of the 3rd appisode but it deals with Tara, armed with the knowledge of the letters written to Maureen by John Teller, looking for answers behind his death.

Appisode 4: Mexican basketball

**UPDATE** apparently EW.com has taken down the video. Sorry for the tease!

EW.com has an exclusive on the video for the 4th appisode. This one takes place on Incarceration day 305. Tig, Happy and Juice play some full-contact prison yard basketball while Clay, Jax, and Bobby discuss a potential new deal.

SOA appisode 4 "Mexican Basketball" can be viewed at EW.com

Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy airs Tuesday September, 6th!

If you already own the SOA iPhone/iPad app, all you have to do is update the app. If you don’t have it yet, it’s only .99 cents for the download and the app gives exclusive first look on the 3 additional scenes that were filmed. (I think Droid users have to wait a little longer until the app is finished development). If you don’t have access to the apps for your phone, these additional content scenes will be available on the FX website in a week or two.

SPOILER! SPOILER!  SPOILER!  SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

Go away if you don’t want to know about this scene. Shoo!

Sons of Anarchy iPhone app: opening screen

First exclusive additional scene: Pay Phone

This is the first time actual video has been available through the app. I’m just posting some screen grabs, but the scene takes place on day 26 of incarceration.

Sons of Anarchy iPhone app: menu

Sons of Anarchy iPhone app: Pay Phone

Day 26

Sons of Anarchy iPhone app exclusive additional content: "Pay Phone": Jax waiting to use the phone

Jax is waiting in to use the phone and is approached by a menacing dude (isn’t everyone is jail pretty much menacing?). Before he knows what’s happening he’s grabbed from behind and stabbed repeatedly by said menacing dude, who spats some words at Jax in Russian. Jax is left on the floor to bleed.

Sons of Anarchy iPhone app exclusive additional content: "Pay Phone"

Sons of Anarchy iPhone app exclusive additional content: "Pay Phone"

Sons of Anarchy iPhone app exclusive additional content: "Pay Phone"

This scene is only 1:21 long, but it’s pretty powerful to watch and it’ll be interesting to watch the show move forward after gaining a little insight of some of the things these guys dealt with while in jail.

Thank you Mr. Sutter!!

Monsters & Critics’ April MacIntyre (@AprilMac): Debi Mazar’s character as a parole officer has been put on hold due to time constraints in the overall arc for season 4.

Debi Mazar

The change was confirmed by Sutter. “Unfortunately, Debi’s character [Carmen] was cut because of time.  We just didn’t have the minutes in the episodes to play that arc out in fully-realized way.  I love Debi, and think she’d be an awesome addition to the show.  My hope is to bring her back in some capacity in future seasons.”

 Buzzfocus interview with Sutter and Sagal

BuzzFocus also published this interview with Kurt Sutter and Katey Sagal from ComicCon with some hints of things to come in season 4. Internal threats from within the club, more history of John Teller’s death and it’s impact. Opie’s Wedding. And, Peter Weller directed episode 3 and will be back to direct episode 10.

Now for some of you more hardcore SOA fans some of this news is not new to you. It’s been a while so cut me some slack. For everyone else: I hope you’ve got your reading glasses on because this post is jammed packed with SOA news!

Sons of Anarchy returns September 6th with a special 90 minute premier episode

Sure, Charlie Hunnam cut his hair short, but you’ll forget all about it when the 90 minute season premier airs. Or until the first scene of the season that shows his naked butt.

SOA season 3 DVD will be released August 30th

As I’ve recently learned, a tv show’s budget to produce a DVD set is taken from the following season’s budget. That’s why DVDs typically come out a week or so before the new season of that show is set to air. It’s no different here. The Sons of Anarchy season 3 DVD set will be released on August 30th, just a week before the big season 4 premier and it is available for pre-order on amazon.com right now.

But I have faith that you guys can plow through an entire season on DVD in a week.

Season 4 casting news

Danny Trejo

Back in May we found out that Danny Trejo will join the SOA cast playing Romero “Romeo” Parada, a charismatic and dangerous former commando for the Mexican military who becomes a new associate of the club.

David Hasselhoff

In a brilliant display of stunt casting, David Hasselhoff will play a John Holmes-esque, ex-porn star named Dondo, who has quit his “acting” career to focus on producing of girl-on-girl adult films.

Debi Mazar

Debi Mazar (Entourage) will appear this fall as SAMCRO’s parole officer. Wonder if they’ll play up her NY background, she won’t take any crap and will whip those boys into shape.

Rockmond Dunbar

There’s a new sheriff in town (sorry, I had to)! In the wake of Hale’s untimely death and Unser handing in his badge, new sheriff, Eli Roosevelt played by Rockmond Dunbar is taking over. Roosevelt will be a strict enforcer, barring SAMCRO from even wearing their colors in town.

LaMonica Garrett

And along with a new sheriff there’s also a new deputy sheriff: LaMonica Garrett will portray Deputy Sheriff Cane.

Ray McKinnon

Another Deadwood alumi joins the cast this season. Ray McKinnon, best known for portraying Reverend Smith on Deadwood, shows up as a prosecutor described by the network as “an independent thinker and somewhat odd.”

Sons of ANarchy season 4 spoilers/news

If you don’t want to know, then don’t read this part!!

Kurt Sutter blogged an overview of what to expect from Season 4:
“So far, the new season feels very potent. We’re back in Charming, we’re out of jail and we’re making money,” he wrote. “With that upswing, comes all the complications that success and power bring. Season four is all about the club. The personalities, the history, the alliances, the conflicts—the inside dynamics of an organized outlaw enterprise. Ego, greed, violence and fear reign supreme. I’m halfway through the cut of 401 and it’s pretty fucking badass.”

Sutter also considers the season ahead to be “act 2″ of the ongoing mythology. He told EW, “It’s a continuation of the mythology. A lot of what happens this season is a direct result narratively and emotionally of what happened in Ireland in season 3 and how that bounces off of Jax, Gemma and Clay. If we’re looking at this show as being 6 or 7 seasons, I’d say we’re coming into Act 2 here, in terms of setting up, emotionally, the bigger arc of the series in terms of where it all might go. I think we get a taste of that this season — where it’s going to go.”

The first five episode titles are:

• Out
• Booster
• Dorylus
• Una Venta
• Brick

Jax and Tara: “[The beginning of the season is] really about both of them figuring out what’s going to happen and making a decision about what’s going to happen,” Sutter says. “I think it’ll be about how one foot out the door, one foot in, doesn’t work anymore. I think this season, a lot of that fluctuation will come to a head and a decision will have to be made.”

SAMCRO vs SAMTAZ: There will be tension between the Charming and Tucson charters this season. Clay and his counterpart are not friends, but Jax and his counterpart do get along. But the club’s Tucson charter will not be their biggest problem. “To a certain extent, the greatest foe the club will have is the club,” Kurt Sutter told EW. “It’s about the internal foes, which I think are much worse than the external foes this season.”

EW.com first reported that Opie and Lyla are getting hitched. (Ha, Lyla’s wearing white. Hilarious.) The wedding will happen during the season premiere. Despite the happy union, we already know that Lyla has a huge secret. Winter Ave Zoli (Lyla) told Entertainment Weekly ”Last season Lyla had an abortion without telling Opie, so now it’s on her conscience.”

Opie & Lyla 4-eva

Opie and Lyla get married (Image Credit: Prashant Gupta)

KS tweeted: “404 (episode 4) has the most awesome SOA EXPLOSION ever. you know my motto, “when in doubt, blow it the fuck up!”

SOA app update

The app update seems to be running a little behind schedule but it is in the works. Info via Twitter: “1ST ADDITIONAL CONTENT SCENE “PAYPHONE” COMING 2 IPHONE & ANDROID IN THE NEXT 2 WEEKS.” So it’s looking like the updated app will be out at end of July, early August.

Misc news

SOA represented again at this year’s Comic-Con. Kurt Sutter, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman were there yesterday in the afternoon to do a signing, press and a panel. Also, look for a special WTF Sutter filmed at Comic-Con on the SOA/SutterInk Youtube Channel. (photos liberated from @SAMCRO_blogger)

Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman at 2011 Comic Con

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Kurt Sutter, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman at 2011 Comic Con

That’s all for now. More news when it becomes available!

Read all of Rippin-Kitten’s extensive SOA coverage including last year’s set visit and tour from Kurt Sutter.

Related posts:

Sons of Anarchy: season 4 production begins
The Sutterink/Sons of Anarchy YouTube channel has launched
Sons of Anarchy season 4 news

So where did we leave off?

If you haven’t finished watching season 3 yet: STOP READING. Move on to the casting section.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Season 3 ended with SAMCRO headed off to a stint in jail after an elaborate plan was successfully pulled off by Jax. Abel is home safe. Agent Stahl is dead at Opie’s hand. Jimmy O is dead, dispatched by Chibs. Tara is knocked up. Opie & Lyla are engaged. Unser turned in his badge. John Teller’s ghost is still looming heavily (“The King is gone, but not forgotten”).

When season 4 begins, 14 months will have passed since the boys went off to the pokey. The boys are out presumably on parole. Based on some production photos that have emerged this week, Charlie Hunnam (Jax) got a haircut (don’t cry, ladies, it’s only hair. It’ll grown back.), Theo Rossi (Juice) let his hair grown in a little and Katey Sagal is still super hot.

Sons of Anarchy casting news

A week ago we found out that Mexican badass, Danny Trejo, will be featured in the upcoming season.

TVLine reported that Trejo will play Romero “Romeo” Parada, a charismatic and dangerous former commando for the Mexican military who becomes a new associate of the club.

Trejo’s past acting credits include “From Dusk Til Dawn“, “Desperado“, “House of 1000 Corpses” and the awesome “Machete.”

Season 4 exclusive content, iPhone app and a big social media push

YouTube channel: A few weeks ago Kurt Sutter/FX Digital launched the Sutterink/Sons of Anarchy YouTube channel where Mr. Sutter will host his own weekly updates (WTFSutter in particular), behind the scene footage from the upcoming season and additional scenes not included in the actual show. “the plan right now, to release the additional content scenes on SOA app first, then later, on the FX website, then my blog & youtube channel” tweeted Sutter.

Phone apps: Last season SOA flirted with new media when they released the iPhone app (and disgruntled a LOT of non-iPhone users) that complemented the lore of season 3. The iPhone app will begin to see updates as early as July and it sounds like the updated app will be available for Android users in July as well.

Take a peek at the SOA iPhone app tour I put together of the first release from last year.

SOA iPhone app main screen

Twitter: Anyone who uses Twitter knows that Kurt Sutter (@sutterink) is a prolific, and sometimes abrasive, user. (Anyone catch this uncomfortable exchange between Mr. Sutter and Jesse James (@freejessejames) last week? *BOOM* This was like two worlds colliding for me since I am still somewhat a fan of Jesse, despite his personal short comings, and I deeply admire Mr. Sutter).

interesting Twitter exchange between Kurt Sutter & Jesse James

Sutter is now considered a “celebrity show runner” because he is so accessible to his fans. At the time of this post he has hit 30,847 followers. He’s great at teasing with just enough info that leaves diehard fans salivating for more and he’s just a really funny guy in general. (Also, don’t forget to check out his blog at SutterInk.blogspot.com).

Plus, he tweets out some great on set photos. Like this one:

Katey Sagal, Charlie Hunnan, Maggie Siff on set for season 4 Sons of Anarchy

Another person you might consider following is Dominic Pagone (@Dom_Pagone), who does publicity for FX. He’s been tweeting out quite a few photos from the set this week. They can all be viewed at the Sons of Anarchy Facebook page as well. He also alerted fans of these photos that are featured on NY Magazine (Photos by: James Minchin III for New York Magazine).

Re-watch previous seasons of Sons of Anarchy

While the season 3 DVDs haven’t been released yet (rumor is that this will happen sometime in August) you can still catch the show in different ways.

Last weekend FX began showing the show in the late night hours (11PM-2 AM) from the very beginning and will continue to do so until the premier of season 4.

Season 3 is available for download on iTunes (but it ain’t cheap). There are several sites that stream the episodes for free, but I don’t know from experience what sites are good.

Or you can go back and read all of Rippin-Kitten’s extensive SOA coverage including last year’s set visit and tour from Kurt Sutter.

Season 4 will premier sometime in September.

Related posts:
The Sutterink/Sons of Anarchy YouTube channel has launched
Sons of Anarchy season 4 news

The Sutterink/SOA YouTube channel is live

With the blessing of the Mother channel (Fox/FX) and their digital team, there will be a huge social media push for season 4 of Sons of Anarchy. Mr. Sutter has been flirting with social media for a while now with Twitter, Facebook and an iPhone app for season 3 and now he’s going to fondle YouTube with his own weekly updates, behind the scene footage from the upcoming season and (I’m assuming) full-video “appisodes,” (unlike the static, page script dialogue we saw on the iPhone app) with the first one airing in July.

There are currently 2 videos uploaded. The first one is a candid video of Mr. Sutter sitting at home, stroking his daughter’s pet bunny while he explains the future plans for the SOA channel. (I couldn’t help to snicker a little bit while watching. The whole time I was reminded of Donald Pleasance stroking his white cat in “You Only Live Twice.” Minus the facial scar and Neru jacket, of course. Or for the younger crowd, Dr. Evil holding Mr. Bigglesworth.)

The second video is the first of a regular segment called “WTF Sutter” in which he will answer fan questions. This particular video is the answer to the popular question of what it’s like for Kurt and (his wife) Katie Sagal to work together. Obviously they decided to have some fun with it.

The channel is “subscription only” so that only SOA fans can watch the videos and get increasingly excited for season 4. At the moment the videos are able to be shared (which may change as the channel gets more populated with content). I’ll continue to share as long as I’m able to. And you should head over there and subscribe to this channel! That’s probably the best way to say “Thank You”.

The Sutterink/SOA YouTube channel can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/sutterinksoa

The problem is that there just isn’t a lot of it out there right now.

Sons of Anarchy

But I’ll happily share what I know:

Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy

Kurt Sutter and crew are currently hashing out the arc for the upcoming season. We left off in season 3 with our boys in the slammer for 14 months and it sounds like season 4 we’ll be coming back to  the club with fresh eyes and a new perspective.

Sutter wrote on his blog, “A lot can happen in fourteen months, especially in prison.  Loyalties, trust and friendships can take odd turns when you are living in a cage.” He promises that his writers are “firing on all cylinders and we’re coming up with some very cool, very crazy fucking shit.”

We can expect “three new characters on SOA this season. the good, the bad and the ugly.” April MacIntyre (@AprilMac) of Monster & Critics was tipped off by Sutter on Twitter that Peter Weller, best known as Robocop and recently as Stan Liddy on Dexter, will be directing an episode as well.

“Who dies in season 4?” Sutter teased on Twitter. He quickly made light of that tweet, following up with “i’m sorry, that was a typo… it was supposed to read, “who dips in season 4?” skoal is a new sponsor. my bad.” and “i’m sorry, that was a typo… it was supposed to read, “who dicks in season 4?” trojan is a new sponsor. my bad.” Funny guy.

Production for season 4 begins on May 23rd, so it appears that we’ll be seeing the new season air sometime in September, just like previous seasons.

When will Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy come out on DVD?

That’s a good question, but most likely right before the new season begins. Sutter informed us that the season 3  DVD will most likely be released in late summer, just before S4 premier. Apparently it always happens that way because all DVD launches draw from new season’s budget. There will be 3 “creator’s cuts” for the S3 DVD, adding in footage that got cut for time or sex/violence content.

What about the Sons of Anarchy iPhone/iPad app?

SOA iPhone app main screen

The SOA iPhone app will live on! It will be updated as the new season gets closer. New content could be pushed as early as May or June, with monthly updates heading into the season premier. Sutter says he is hoping for more extensive content in the form of actual video webisodes or extended trailers. And for those wondering, there are no plans for an Android or Blackberry app. Sorry. <*sad trombone*>

A moment to gloat

Back in February KS had a big issue with another blog that bated Charlie Hunnam in an interview, spawning a post on Sutterink. He then posted a follow up piece about the bloggers he likes– and guess who made it to that list! (Umm, it’s me in case you aren’t sure.)

That’s it for now my friends. I’ll keep the updates coming when I hear more.

Katey Sagal proudly holding her Golden Globe award

Last night she won a Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress in a drama series and a collective cheer went out from the motorcycle community, not to mention that Twitter went ablaze with hoots and congrats to her and to her husband, series creator Kurt Sutter. After the award was received, Sutter tweeted “Fuck me!!!!! We won. Back stage with GG award winner Katey Sagal.”

Katey looked svelt and curvy in that gorgeous orange dress, that complemented her dark tresses. She was a welcome standout in the sea of green dresses that so many other actresses wore.

Now one has to wonder if this is the foot in the door for Sons of Anarchy to be recognized by other award shows, as it so duly deserves.

Heartfelt congrats to Katey Sagal and Kurt Sutter for a well-deserved award.

Sons of Anarchy: NS

I’m getting a late start writing this morning because of all the thoughts I have swirling around in my head. Not many fans would argue that this season has been slightly bi-polar in the story telling, a little slower at times than we would have liked.

Some of you hated the baby. Some of you hated the Belfast story line. We all hated Salazar. Whether we liked every minute or not, it was all good storytelling in the eyes of the show’s creator. Remember everyone: the motorcyclist’s mantra is “it’s the journey, not the destination.” However, in the case of Sons of Anarchy, it’s the destination that is the most rewarding and makes us greedy for more!

Especially when a FINALE! of such leaves us way beyond satisfied.

THe King is Gone EP

I’m not sure if everyone is aware, but the latest EP is available on iTunes for $3.99.

It features:

• No Milk Today: Joshua James and the Forest Rangers
• Bird on a Wire: Katey Sagal and the Forest Rangers
• Travelin’ Band: Curtis Stigers and the Forest Rangers
• Miles Away: The Forest Rangers
• Hey Hey, My My: Battleme
• This Life (Celtic Remix): Curtis Stigers and the Emerald  Forest Rangers

The only real bummer is that the Celtic version of “This Life” is only 38 seconds long.

OK, let’s talk about the FINALE! (Super-duper spoilers ahead. No joke.)

Gemma worries the fate of her baby boy in "NS"

• The opening montage sets the stage for what’s happening in Charming: SAMCRO is celebrating the safe return of Abel and Tara, not to mention celebrating the newly announced engagement of Opie & Lyla (and her scrawny noodle arms). Unser and the fate of Charming PD has been sealed with Salazar’s death. Agent Stahl lies in an empty bed, a slight smile comes across her face as she runs her hand over the space that was previous occupied by the partner she murdered. Crazy, crazy bitch.
• Gemma’s worry for Jax is palpable and I also find the conversation between her and Clay is intriguing as they talk about their future. The club is essentially broke, so the escalated gun deal they made with the IRA is HUGE. Clay needs and wants it to work so that he doesn’t end up broke and desperate like his former club brother, McGee.
• Unser is back in the fold and the loving arms of SAMCRO.
• Otto returns!
• In the cemetery meeting when Stahl explains to Jax how she cleared Gemma of all the charges is pretty awesome. The moment that Jax realizes how bat-shit crazy  Stahl actually is makes him take a step away from her.
• Great scene between Otto (Kurt Sutter, himself) and Lenny (Sonny Barger, big-time Hell’s Angel member). I actually wanted that scene to last a little longer.
• Thank goodness for Chucky’s persistence (and eavesdropping abilities). Did you all like Tig’s offer to lend a hand Chucky?
• RIP Donny. Have you ever noticed that in tv and movies Russian henchmen always wear black leather suit coats? Why is that?
• Loved the exchange between Unser and Clay. I really can’t imagine anyone but Ron Perlman as Clay. He is perfect in the role.
• It’s funny, the first time around I couldn’t understand why Jax was hugging Opie, Piney Chibs and Kozik before they took off to meet the Russians. In watching it again with the knowledge of what goes down, it clicked. Those four  wouldn’t be going to jail with the rest of the club. They had a plan in place to take out Stahl and Jimmy and by the time that deed was done, the other members would in the van heading off to jail. In hindsight, it all makes sense.
• And after an entire season of Clay calling Jax “son”, I was not surprised to hear Clay tell him he loved him. With Jax pulling away from his father’s ghost after learning about the Belfast part of the family, it isn’t surprising that Jax is feeling close to Clay right now. Those letters from John that Maureen slipped into Jax’s bag will be sure to rattle the cage again in the future.
• Super suspenseful scene when the Russians hand over Jimmy. I thought the switcheroo of putting Jimmy into the trunk of Tara’s car was clever. Seems the club was counting on the counterfeit cash to be discovered quickly.

• The tête-à-tête between Jax and Stahl was a total red flag that she was going to screw him over. They played nice all along while the deal was hypothetical but with Jimmy so close to her grasp, Jax’s concerns about ratting and being left to rot in jail were justifiable since she’s so unpredictable. But it turns out she was predictable after all.
• Showdown at the garage. Jimmy thinks he’s got the luck of the Irish on his side. Stahl outs Jax as a rat, the club goes ballistic. Gemma is ready to die. Stahl is so proud of herself. The women, including their lawyer, all upset and out of the loop. Stahl struts away like a proud peacock as the members are arrested, loaded up and headed for jail. All great acting on the part of the MC: Jax looking dejected, the dirty looks from Clay, Bobby, Tig, Happy and Juice. And I bought it hook, line and sinker. This would surely change the show forever (or so I thought!).
• Melancholy moment watching Unser leave his gun and badge in his nearly cleaned out office. Same with watching the prospects riding behind the van (although in the next scene we learn they’re not chaperoning them to jail, they have a job to do).
• And then the double-cross: Unser manages to get Stahl and Jimmy alone. He even offers Stahl a last smoke before the other four get there. It’s a truly poetic moment. Chibs gets Jimmy. Opie gets Stahl. Personal justice is served. (By the way, the symbol that Chibs draws on the window in Jimmy’s blood is one used by the IRA. They drew it on Cameron Hayes’ forehead when he was killed. Chibs left it to make it look as if they were responsible for killing both.)
• Then the signal from the prospects. Those in the truck all smiled at each other. I nearly fell out of my seat. It was a con. They’d conned everyone, including us! Holy crud.
• I enjoyed how respectful the prospects were toward Gemma when they handed her the note from Jax. And nice overlap in voice as Gemma reads Jax’s letter and Tara reads John’s letter to Maureen. After just cheering for everyone for pulling off a great feat and for smiting two of their greatest enemies, we’re sucked back into the mythology again with the knowledge that Clay and Gemma are responsible for the death of John Teller and he knew all along it was going to happen. And now Tara knows.

The King is gone but not forgotten.

Related posts:

Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.11 “June Wedding“
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.11 “Bainne“
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.10 “Fírinne“
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.09 “Turas”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.08 “Lochan Mor”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.07 “Widening Gyre”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.06 “The Push”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

While there’s no solid info about events in the episode, one of the most consistent opinions of critics who have watched the finale is that it is back to the level of excitement that we all love about the show, and that it is seriously good.

Get some SOA Swag

Monsters & Critics is doing an SOA giveaway! You can win a whole bunch of SOA swag (mugs, keychain, hat, season 2 DVD, t-shirt, bandana or a hoodie). Details on how to enter are here.

So, here’s some info from around the web:

From TV Fanatic:

There will be death, surprises and enlightenment as far as what actually happened to John Teller all those years ago.

• SAMCRO looks to heal old wounds, but the Russians and ATF stand in the way.
• Revelations about Jax’s father plunge him into another existential crisis.
• There is a serious fake-out by both SAMCRO and Kurt Sutter and company.
• The letters Maureen hid in Jax’s bag in Belfast are found. But not by Jax.
• There will be bloodshed, with two familiar faces on the losing end.

From Watch with Kristen (E!Online):

• Prepare to rewatch this season’s Sons of Anarchy finale multiple times, because everything looks different once you know. [RK: cryptic enough for ya?]
• “NS,” is all about the terrible consequences of SAMCRO’s journey the past three seasons, and if one of those consequences is near-certain doom for those closest to Jax Teller.
• Shake in your boots, Jax fans. Oh, and you Tara fans—you better stock up on Ativan and red wine, because you are also going to need a sedative or two during tomorrow night’s finale. The suspense is almost unbearable.
• There’s one particular scene, before Jax and Tara set off on the season’s final adventure, that is so sunlit and sweet and optimistic that you just know something horrible is about to happen to one or both of them. This is, after all, Kurt Sutter’s world, where nothing stays too delightful for long.

We also know that we will see Big Otto make an appearance tonight, along with one of the Original Nine, Lenny the Pimp (played by Hell’s Angel legend, Sonny Barger).

Kurt Sutter on Twitter:

S3 finale, 90 minutes. is this the story of johnny rotten? the fate of jax, stahl and jimmy play out. blood and neal young.

i promise there will be content between seasons. either on the iphone or maybe webisodes. there will be something to bridge seasons 3 and 4.

June Wedding

• They’re not even at the club house for a minute before the business of Tara’s kidnapping comes in. No jet lag? No nap? They all have a stronger constitution than I do, I guess!
• Now that Abel is home safe and sound, he once again becomes part of the background. I did love that the prospects built him a little playground. I wonder who’s idea it was. Also, did Abel age a year while he was in Belfast? That baby was big, and noticeably so when Lyla held him in her scrawny noodle arms.
• Salazar remains one of the most annoying and useless villains. I kinda knew off the bat when he was slamming on the trunk that Tara was in there and the chick under the blanket was probably the previous owner of the Lexus. (Not to mention that it was sort of spoiled for us that Tara was alive during the previews from last week.)
• Opie going to Gemma for advice about Lyla was such a sweet scene. Gemma is more of a mom to him than his own mother and to see big Opie look reduced to a little boy asking for advice about his porn star girlfriend was a gem of a moment. But jeez, Gemma really doesn’t pull punches: “But she earns her living catching cum in her mouth, and I’m sensing that’s a problem.” Ya think?
• The only thing I could focus on during the scene of Jimmy meeting with the Russians: WOST. ACCENT. EVER. I didn’t know his Russian connection was Lt. Checkov. I did, however, enjoy how squirmy Jimmy was.
• So great to see Gemma and Unser smoking the proverbial “peace pipe.” I love Dayton Callie and Unser is such a sweet-heart of a character. I find myself always rooting for him.
• This season Juice has been reduced to the show’s punching bag and deliverer of great one-liners.
• Will someone puleeeze listen to Chucky? I’m dying to find out what he’s trying to tell everyone!
• If Salazar had a longer mustache I seriously would expect him to twirl it while he had Tara and Jacob hostage.
• Part of me was taken off guard when Jax finally killed Salazar. All the pent up rage he’s been harboring all season came in handy. Sure, Salazar could have been useful but he took Tara (and Jax’s unborn baby) and had to be put out of his (and our) misery. Simple as that.
• Stahl really is evil, evil, evil. But Tyler was starting to catch on that something wasn’t quite right, so you know she had to go. And June paid really close attention when they were mapping out escape routes from the building.
• So many warm and fuzzy moments toward the end of the episode. Jax and Tara in the hospital, a relief-filled hug between Margaret and Tara, Tara seeing Abel and holding and a tender hug from Gemma. I kind of wanted that scene to last just a few seconds longer.
• When Donny came back with the cash, Jimmy looked worried still that the luck o’ the Irish wasn’t on his side this time. What does the future hold for Mr. O’Phelan? And what was the fate of Father Kellan?
• How twistedly Tig is it that the grudge he has with Kozik is over a dog? It makes perfect sense that he would hold a beautiful German Shepard, named Missy in higher regard than he would an actual chick? I still can’t stop smiling at that.
• I’m conflicted about Opie wanting to marry Lyla. I kind of still don’t like her very much and it still doesn’t seem like enough time has gone by since Donna died. Am I alone in this thought?
• Ally Walker, I can’t say it enough, is so fricking great as Agent Stahl. Stahl is such a horrifying awful person and she doesn’t hold anything back in her performance.
• I’m excited to see Otto next week!

Next week’s episode “NS”: 90 minute SEASON FINALE!
SAMCRO looks to heal old wounds while the ATF and the Russians stand in the way.

The bookend episode to the season opener, both episode titles, “SO” and “NS” are the two rings that Jax wears.

Predictions for next week?

Related posts:

Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.11 “Bainne“
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.10 “Fírinne“
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.09 “Turas”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.08 “Lochan Mor”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.07 “Widening Gyre”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.06 “The Push”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

Yesterday Sutter on Twitter gave us a little hint at what to expect in the eleventh show of the season: “tonight’s sons, all about sons. the fate of abel decided. directed by adam arkin, it’s a pivitol episode in the arc of the series. enjoy it.”

By the way, Adam Arkin is the guy who played Ethan Zobelle last season and I think he did an amazing job with this episode, particularly with the market scene. Nuff said.

SOA IPHONE APP update

There was an update done to the iPhone app this week with additional sections about The First 9: appisodes include the history of the SOA, one on John Teller, Keith McGee, Clay, Piney and other SOA members. There’s another whole section about John Teller, with appisodes dedicated to John and Gemma, John and Maureen and excerpts from his manuscript. And a section called Full Throttle, about SAMCRO’s scoots, the first being featured is Jax’s bike. I’ll do a post about this update in the near future.

On to the episode. SPOILERS ahead!

SOA season 3 "Bainne"

My Observations

• Story lines in Charming were like well placed chess pieces setting things up for things to come.
• Nice misdirection in the scene when we first see Jimmy. Who didn’t think the address Donny got was for the location of Fiona and Kerrianne? Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth for Sean Casey, quite literally.
• Gemma once again knocks on her brass balls and takes control of the situation pulling a gun on a nun. And a baby. AN ORPHANED BABY! Come on writers. Can we please have some character consistency?
• The marketplace scene was, well it was long, but also incredible to watch just for Charlie Hunnam’s acting alone. He has been consistently impressive this season. I know the Petries are an idealized version of a family, but who wasn’t touched watching that sweet and loving young couple stroll around with that beautiful baby, so happy to be a complete family? Jax watched them filled with awe and conflict (as did I. I’m a sucker, I admit it). He was paralyzed, even as they walked within his immediate reach. Did you catch the hubby give Jax a hairy eyeball as his little family strolled by? So, so good. And once again the soundtrack really set the mood for this scene. The song is “Alesund” by Sun Kil Moon.
• And again, Ally Walker’s Agent Stahl is oh so hate-able but I did love her during the botched money drop. Her partner is extremely gullible. I think maybe June’s going to get what’s coming to her very soon.
• I nearly choked when Gemma let the cat out of the bag about Tara to Jax.
• I don’t know about anyone else but I was heart broken when they found the couple dead in the hotel room (“The ceremony of innocence is drowned“). I guess that scene of them in the market really got to me because it was so full of pure and simple joy and they just became collateral damage, tossed aside. And I was pissed. I was with Jax on his decision to let Abel go. I understood it and justified it. But now after this he’s resolved to get the baby back and I feel manipulated. Stop toying with my emotions!
• “I’m done listening to dead men.” Maybe for now but I have a feeling the ghost of John Teller will be speaking to his son again in the future.
• Father Kellan is a great, complicated character and I kind of wish we had more time to learn about him as well as some of the other Belfast cast. Sure, he used them to get what he wanted and maybe deep down he thought he was doing the right thing in fulfilling John Teller’s promise by sending Abel away. But to make things right he sacrifices himself in exchange for the baby. We all know that Jimmy is going to seriously murder his dirty, white-collared ass.
• Tara once again makes some really stupid choices. Has she learned nothing from Gemma? I guess she has to to fulfill the Damsel in Distress role. I’m totally sick of the Salazar story arc. Makes me wish they’d been a little more ruthless during the Pinata Party way back in the beginning of the season.
• Haunting words in that letter John Teller wrote to Maureen. Jax maybe done listening to dead men but she isn’t and by slipping those letters into his bag ensures that John Teller’s voice will be heard again.
• Was that a hint of regret on Jimmy’s face as he handed Abel over to Jax? Did you cheer when Jax finally had the baby secured in his arms?
• Did everyone think Salazar capped Tara in the head? Oh c’mon now…really?
• With the club leaving Belfast I’m kind of sad to say goodbye to Maureen Ashby. I’m glad that out of all the resulting casualties, that she was left standing and I hope we see her again in the future.

Next week’s episode: June Wedding
A SAMCRO family member is held hostage and Jax must choose between revenge and the good of Charming.

ONLY 2 episodes left!

Related posts:

Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.10 “Fírinne“
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.09 “Turas”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.08 “Lochan Mor”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.07 “Widening Gyre”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.06 “The Push”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

Fírinne=truth and a lot of that hit the fan last night.

More on that in a bit.

Sonny barger to guest star on SOA season finale (potential spoiler)

I don’t really consider this a spoiler since news of his guest spot traveled quickly yesterday. Sonny Barger, who is a world famous member of the Hell’s Angels, as well as an established author, will be appearing in the season finale along side Mr. Kurt Sutter himself (who plays Big Otto). If you don’t understand why this is a big deal then your homework assignment is to Google Mr. Barger and do a little reading.

Maureen Ryan at TV Fanatic got the scoop as well as an in depth interview with Kurt Sutter about the season so far and Barger’s appearance on the show. Barger will play “Lenny the Pimp” one of SAMCRO’s first nine, who meets up with Big Otto in the prison infirmary. One: it’s a great interview, highly suggested reading. Two: OTTO’s back!

Sons Of Anarchy iphone/ipad application

In case you missed it the other day, I did a detailed post about the app for those who don’t have access to it. It’s chock full of screen grabs and overviews of each section. The app itself dives into a lot of history, character info and some deleted scenes. Info that isn’t necessarily covered on the show itself and a must for all SOA fans.

SOA and the IRA

On to the show.
[spoilers...coming...up]

Sons of Anarchy, season 3 episode 10: Firinne

Tonight we finally got the version of this show that we’ve come to love.

SAMCRO finally pulled their thumb out of their collective ass and wielded the mighty scythe with wrath and fury. “Truth” is the theme of this episode and I certainly was thankful for it.

Liam got what was coming to him. He turned against the club and got his medieval comeuppance. Pretty gruesome scene for television (but I bet Happy was wishing for a bag of popcorn while he watched Sean Casey spun the Wheel of Torture to select from his massive collection of shiny implements found in his Torture Toolkit of Medievality™!).

McGee was still a wild card for me. I wasn’t quite sure if he was still going to try to pull off dual loyalties to both SAMCRO and Jimmy. That shoot out scene with them and Jimmy’s boys was super action-packed and for a split second I almost thought Jimmy wouldn’t make it out. Silly me…

I had wondered how McGee would be handled once his disloyalties to the MC were discovered.

A little about Keith McGee: He came to the States in the 60′s and rode from New York to CA, where we met John Teller, Piney and Lenny Janowitzy who had all just returned from Vietnam. They formed the “Sons” and when Clay joined them in the 70′s they settled in Charming and became the Redwood Originals. He later went back to Belfast, with John & Clay, to form SAMBEL and become the link between SOA and the IRA.

Would Clay actually kill him? He’s known this man for 40 years and Keith McGee, after all, was a founding member! And yet, there Clay is stripping this man of his cut. And there he is giving him the Godfather-style, Michael Corleone “you broke my heart, Fredo” kiss of death. And there he is pushing McGee off the side of the building. Wow.

The truth about Margaret Murphy came out while she and Tara were trapped in a hot, stuffy attic. Last week we were shown that MM had a pretty large tattooed back piece. I was a little disappointed in her back story about OD-ing with a drug addict boyfriend. Maybe I was hoping for more of a parallel story with Tara’s situation, but I do appreciate the fact that she’s a women who rose from dire depths.

I’m already over the situation with Salazar. He’s not really that convincing of a bad guy and seems a little too flat of a character for this show. However, I did enjoy the anxiety I got when watching Kozik, Tig and Piney roll up to Alvarez’s house. The fact that Alvarez was holding his baby and taken by surprise was likely a huge factor in why they weren’t shot on the spot.

LOVED the Gemma, Maureen and Cherry pow-wow around the table. I half expected Maureen to clock Gemma one.

The truth about Jax and Trinity’s Luke and Leia-style relationship was finally brought out into the open, but not before a few moments of eww-inspiring viewing on our parts (Sutter tweeted this morning: for the record, i wanted jax to penetrate trinity. ultimately, too difficult to get there because of nudity restrictions by S&P and actress. Mr. Sutter, you sick, sick man…).

And as the truth was revealed…Trinity: horrified. Maureen: so heart-breaking. Paula Malcolmson is really incredible as the broken matriarch to the Irish MC. Gemma: sensitive, yet factual while telling Jax. Jax: not quite as surprised as one would have thought. Perhaps at this point and all he’s been going through humor is the only way to deal. “Two minutes later and I’d be dancing in Tig territory.”

And finally, the truth behind Father Kellan’s reason for keeping Abel away. This is where the ghost of John Teller starts to roar loudly to his son from the grave. We learn that John Teller confided to the priest that he didn’t want his sons to follow in his footsteps. Didn’t want the outlaw life for them. Jax already knew this from reading his father’s book and has been struggling with that knowledge.

Jax sees the two possible paths of his life: down one road, a happy life with his doctor wife and their kids. Maybe a real job and a house in the ‘burbs. Free from the violence and viciousness of the SAMCRO world. Or the path that he’s already halfway down. Full of deceit, maliciousness, loyalties, trashy broads and no real fulfillment. A life with the MC that can promise an early death, like John Teller. Or a longer life with empty desperation toward the end, like McGee.

“Your father knew the patch was a mistake, and so do you.” -Father Ashby

Kellan knew that he had failed with Jax, but there’s still hope for Abel. It all makes sense now and I’m so glad that this is the real reason behind his motivations. Jax’s instant realization that he could give Abel a chance at a different life by letting him go is powerful stuff.

Deleted scene from Firinne (from the iphone app)

Next week’s episode: Bainne
While the club’s on a man hunt, Jax faces the toughest decision of his life. [Fun fact: bainne=milk]

ONLY 3 episodes left! What do you think will happen before the season ends?

Related posts:

Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.09 “Turas”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.08 “Lochan Mor”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.07 “Widening Gyre”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.06 “The Push”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

Here’s a video intro about the app from Mr. Kurt Sutter:

This app delves heavily into the show’s mythology and history, and making the connection of Charming to Belfast a little bit clearer. There are also lots of exclusive photos and some deleted scenes, in the form of never before seen show photos and script pages.

My humble opinion

Before I totally dive in, I just want to say that this is one of the better designed apps I’ve ever seen. It’s visually stylish, has great typography over grainy photos that gives it that dirty, gritty SOA feel. It’s chock full of information that one would be hard pressed to glean from watching the show alone. I found the functionality and user interface a little bit strange to get used to at first, but once you figure it out it’s easy to navigate.

It’s a bummer that it’s only available to iPhone and iPad users because it does alienate a chunk of the audience, but I hope to shine a bit of light on what everyone else is missing without completely regurgitating the content.

On to the app

Going forward there will be lots of screen grabs, general overviews and lots of paraphrasing on my part of what’s contained in each section.

SOA iPhone app main screen

Section 1: Belfast and SOA

Section 1: Belfast and SOA

This section contains four appisodes, focusing on the Men of Mayhem in Belfast and how/why they have a chapter there.

Why is Belfast Relevant?

*Appisode 1: Why is Belfast Relevant?*
This section sheds light about how and why John Teller made a deal running guns to the IRA.  As we know, his youngest son, Thomas suffered from congenital heart disease. With mounting medical bills John knew he needed a lot of cash: quick. With some nudging from Clay and McGee, they began a lucrative business selling guns in Belfast.

Because of this John spent more time in Belfast and became distant with his club in Charming. Through McGee, John met Father Kellan Ashby, who introduced John to his sister Maureen. We already know the end result of that budding romance. When young Thomas’ health began to decline, John went back to the States permanently leaving behind the Belfast chapter of the Sons in the able hands of Keith McGee.

History of SAMBEL

This section speaks to the growth of SAMBEL in the 70′s and 80′s with McGee as the head of the chapter. They gathered a lot of members from local MCs in Ireland and the UK that shared the same belief system that SAMCRO had. SAMBEL’s first prospect was Filip “Chibs” Telford, who eventually patched over from SAMBEL to SAMCRO becoming the liaison between the two chapters.

Who's who in Belfast?

*Appisode 3: Who’s who in Belfast?*
Detailed back stories on the Belfast characters, but I’m going to give you the quick & dirty bios.

• Keith McGee: head of SAMBEL
  
• Seamus Ryan: SAMBEL’s VP and club’s medic
• Liam O’Neill: Sergeant at Arms
  
• Padraic Telford: Chibs’ nephew, SAMBEL member [deceased]
  
• Luther Barkwill: Road captain for SAMBEL, resident mechanic
  
• Father Kellan Ashby: eldest of the Ashby family, consigliore to the Real IRA
  
• Maureen Ashby: youngest of the Ashby family (9 children) Cameron Hayes’ cousin, Father Kellan’s sister, John Teller’s love affair, McGee’s old lady and SAMBEL matriarch
  
• Trinity Ashby: Maureen & John Teller’s love child. Princess Leia to Jax’s Luke Skywalker.
  
• Michael [deceased] & Shawn Casey: orphaned brothers, aids to Father Kellan
  
• Cherry: former SAMCRO “sweet butt” (and girlfriend of Half Sack) who fled to Belfast, O’Neill’s current old lady.

Locations Around Belfast

*Appisode 4: Locations around Belfast*
Pretty self explanatory. Lots of back story of each location from the Ashby’s home, store, the SAMBEL clubhouse and St. Matthew’s Church.

Bonus Material

Section 2: Bonus Material

The deleted scenes show up in the app as script pages over still photos from scenes that were cut.

script page from "SO"

*Appisode 1: Deleted scene from episode 301, “SO” when Cameron brings Abel to Maureen.

script page from "Turning and Turning"

*Appisode 2: Deleted scene from episode 305, “Turning and Turning” with SAMCRO in St. Thomas’ chapel discussing whether they can trust O’Neill and the SAMBEL chapter.

script page from "Turas"

*Appisode 3: Deleted scene from episode 309, “Turas.” Jimmy and Donald discuss the explosion in the farm house and Jimmy’s killing of Michael Casey for harboring Fiona and Kerrianne.

*Appisodes 4-7: coming soon.

Section 3: The IRA

All you ever wanted to know about the Irish Republican Army and it’s history.

History of the IRA

The IRA

*Appisode 1: History of the IRA*
Full history of the IRA, explanation of the split of Ireland between the Catholic (Republic of Ireland) and Protestant population (Northern Ireland). If you want to learn more about the Irish Republican Army check out this wikipedia entry.

SOA and the IRA

*Appisode 2: SOA and the RIRA*
The business of selling guns to the IRA, while risky, was full of financial potential. SOA provides the guns to the IRA, who in turn resell to support the cause with the cash they bring in. SOA chapters in Belfast and Dungloe handle all the exchanges, working with IRA sympathizers, helping the guns make their way to militant groups around the world.

Some believe this relationship with the IRA is more of a burden on the club and are looking to earn in other areas. In the end the decision lies with the mother charter in the US (SAMCRO), who benefits greatly from the IRA connection.

Jimmy O vs. Father Kellan Ashby

*Appisode 3: Jimmy O vs. Father Kellan Ashby*

Both men are part of the same cause, have different philosophies on how to get to the end goal. Jimmy chooses violence and strength in numbers to force change while Father Kellan advocates political solutions while counseling the RIRA. Jimmy feels that Kellan’s approach is old and ineffective and is willing to defy Kellan to achieve his goals.

Jimmy is willing to create a new faction of the IRA, by recruiting young men and bending their thoughts to match his vision. Jimmy is looking to sever ties with the Sons, he’d made a lucrative gun deal with the Russians (in season 2).

Chibs, Fiona and Jimmy O

*Appisode 4: Chibs, Fiona and Jimmy O*
Some light is shed on the back story of this volatile triangle. Chibs, a ghetto rat from Glasgow, met Fiona, who is a descendant from three generations of IRA (her father still at the top of the heap). They fell in love and Chibs promptly fell into IRA ranks.

Jimmy was also rising in the ranks and wanted Fiona (and her family ties) for himself. He launched a campaign to turn the Army against Chibs and successfully had him excommunicated. Chibs then patched into SAMBEL so that he could stay close to the girls, but the vitriolic relationship between himself and Jimmy strained the SOA/IRA relationship, which resulted in Chibs patching over to SOA in Charming.

With Chibs out of the picture and Jimmy fast becoming the new star in the IRA, Fiona became drawn to his power and respect, which he never would have possessed if it weren’t for her own family influence.

This now concludes our tour of the Sons of Anarchy iPhone app.

I hope you enjoyed your tour. Please visit again soon and often.

Links:
SutterInk
The Official SOA production blog
SOA store

And those things were delivered. There hasn’t been a whole lot of violence and ‘splosions like in previous seasons and I think a lot of viewers have been missing that. However, tonight’s episode didn’t really propel us forward in the story line.

SOA: there’s an app for that

SOA iPhone app main screen

Before I talk about the episode, just want to remind everyone that the Sons of Anarchy iPhone app was released earlier this week. It’s just .99 cents through iTunes and is chock full of back story and info about the show. It’s a must-have for SOA fans. If you don’t have an iPhone and want to know about the app, rest assure that I will be doing a review of it in the next few days.

[spoilers]

Tonight’s episode sort of reinforced a lot of stuff we already know. SAMCRO is being dicked over, Jimmy is violent and malicious (and maybe slightly crazy, lending to some rewarding unpredictable behavior) and that the new prospects are still funny.

Observations:

• The deal Jax made with Stahl continues to get hairy and more complicated. What will Jax be able to pull off after all is said and done?
• Looks like SAMCRO’s presence is making Maureen sentimental.
• I’m so glad that Jax has realized quickly, that everyone native to Belfast has an agenda and is trying to manipulate them. Gotta love Gemma’s pep talk: “you focus on the hate to kill all these Irish pricks.”
• The incident with Lumpy is driving a wedge further between Unser and the Sons. I am enjoying watching Piney and Tig run things while everyone is away. I like seeing the “lesser” characters get more screen time and Tig does have some of the best lines.
• While I think I have a firm grasp on Jimmy’s motivation to get rid of SAMCRO and SAMBEL’s motivation to be in league with Jimmy, I still feel like I’m missing something.
• I was not expecting Jimmy to barge into Maureen’s house like that. I figured he had enough on his plate dealing with the Charming crew, the guns and the priest. Titus Welliver is really superb as Jimmy O. He’s diabolical and menacing, with just enough crazy behind the eyes. I also loved this scene for the interaction with Gemma and Fiona. Gemma is used to being in control and it’s clear that she has met her match in Fiona (which we already knew when Fi showed up in Charming last season). Luckily it worked in Gemma’s favor this time having Fiona on her side. Gemma is the outsider here and she was authoritatively put in her place. Jimmy’s departing line “Gemma, always a pleasure” was filled with amusement, yet very chilling.
• Double cross and explosions at the barn. And severed limbs. And Chibs’ nephew, Padraic is dead. Interesting that Jimmy is willing to sacrifice the majority of the Belfast chapter, including McGee,  to get rid of the Charming crew. Seems like O’Neill and Jimmy are closer than previously thought and by getting rid of most of SAMBEL would allow O’Neill to take over and start fresh recruiting for the MC. “This may set off a chain of events we may not be able to contain.” Hello foreshadowing.
• I get the feeling that Chibs is not going to make it out of Belfast alive. And I’m pretty sure we count on the fact that Mr. O’Phelan will be assassinated by the end of the season. The big question there is who will do the deed?
• Jacob Hale is the devil. I think I saw a tail peeking out from his suit jacket.
• Gemma/Kellan confrontation was juicy. And frustrating. I’m still irked that Ashby is dangling the baby in front of them like a carrot. And like Jax, Gemma did not go apeshit on the priest about Abel’s whereabouts and for bringing up the painful past of John’s time in Belfast. “I know it seems unfair. You and your son are caught up in a very ugly struggle, and I’m sorry for that. The things I do are not just about my Irish loyalty, but about keeping promises to your family.” She should have gone off on him then!
• It was sort of implied that the paperwork brought to Unser about the real estate buyout led to Hale Properties, but I think it’s obvious misdirection. It’s too easy. Hale’s got to be working for someone else.
• Jax/Trinity: pleasedontkissyourhalfsister! was my first thought. But what was interesting about the scene was that it didn’t feel like he was trying to hook up with her. More like two people finding comfort in each other. Both are very weary with the world, having grown up in a similar destructive cultures. Gemma is sure to drop the bomb on him very soon.
• I predicted Tara would be the damsel in distress at the hands of Salazar. I didn’t expect that her new BFF, Margaret Murphy would be in tow. Margaret’s INK; did NOT see that coming! I guess these ladies have more in common than we thought and that would certainly explain MM’s personality flip.

So, we’re pretty much where we were when the episode started, except with a lighter body count. I think a lot of us have a lot of unanswered questions and perhaps there is a larger purpose for that. One big question I have is why Jax saw a vision of his dead father after the explosion. Sure, there’s a strong correlation to Hamlet. At his point in the show Jax is emotionally flip-flopping between overwhelming grief to seething rage (much like Hamlet), which is screwing with his normal stability. Perhaps the explosion jarred his brain enough that he saw the “ghost” of his dead father. But why at this particular moment?

Next week’s episode: Firinne
The IRA wants proof that one of their own has flipped and Samcro intends to give it to them.

Fun fact: fírinne=truth

We’re down to the last three episodes of the season!
What are your thoughts and predictions? Sound off in the comments.

Related posts:

Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.08 “Lochan Mor”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.07 “Widening Gyre”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.06 “The Push”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

This week’s episode was a tough one for me. I felt like a lot was being crammed into this episode, but nothing all that interesting.

Kurt Sutter recently wrote a blog post about the disillusionment that writers experience when they hit a certain level of success. “I was under the false impression that the more successful the show became, the more room I would get to do it.  But the opposite has occurred, the better the show becomes, the more corporate scrutiny I experience.” One has to wonder if some of the frustration we viewers are feeling this season is because of the network sticking their nose in too far.

As most of you know, the SOA iPhone app has been delayed due to Apple’s approval process. Time of release is now TBD.

On to the recap. As always don’t read if you haven’t seen it yet.

SAMCRO and SAMBEL: together at last

Typically when we get a 90 minute episode, we expect it to be jam-packed with action. Sadly, this 90 minute episode was not the case. Instead of a lot of ass-kicking and baby saving, we got a lot of…talking. Over tea. After a shower. In a church.

We are eight episodes in and only the season premiere had me picking my jaw up off the floor. The extra time in this episode seemed allotted for some of the backseat stories happening in Charming to move along, but honestly what was going on there wasn’t very compelling. Yes, there were some good moments sprinkled throughout, but overall it left me unsatisfied.

Thoughts:

• Ah the green, green grass of home. Great opening shot of the landscape, although they should’ve boosted the saturation so the green looked REALLY green. Everyone should keep in mind that the cast never went to Ireland while shooting. Billy Gierhardt took a small crew to Ireland for a couple of weeks to get some footage and the rest was done with great sets and lighting. But we already knew that when I chatted with Mr. Sutter during my set visit over the summer.

• I find it amusing that SAMCRO didn’t want Jimmy to know they would be in Ireland and Jimmy didn’t want them to know that he already knew. Yet he uses a lame tactic like buying off the local cops to get them deported. I didn’t mind that scene though because it gave Gemma yet another opportunity to be a complete bad-ass. It was rather obviously that SAMBEL didn’t go out of their way to help and I was surprised they weren’t called out on it. Sometimes I feel that the club is waaaay too trusting in certain situations.

• The Celtic version of “This Life” was a nice touch. I almost wish that this hadn’t been leaked ahead of time, but I like when shows do quirky things like this.
• So, the Kozik/Tig feud is over a lady. Is anyone surprised? The only thing that surprised me is that Tig is holding a grudge for 8 years. Must’ve been a doozy.
  

  John Teller's bitches square off

• I got goosebumps when Gemma and Maureen made eye contact. Gemma’s stare could cut glass. You can almost feel every emotion she’s feeling when she meets and scrutinizes Trinity, looking for every trace of John Teller in the girl’s face. I also liked Maureen putting Gemma in her place, which you know so rarely happens. Great scene.
• The Tara/Lyla situation felt a little contrived. They’re both knocked up, roughly about the same time. Lyla has no second thoughts about aborting because she hasn’t known Opie for that long. I get that. And Tara has been here before when she was involved with Kohn. I feel like I can already predict what happens next: she scheduled the procedure, she’ll have a change of heart and not go through with it and then something will happen (perhaps a confrontation with Salazar) and she’ll lose the baby after all. I really hope this storyline doesn’t become this predictable.
• Nice scenes reuniting Chibs with his girls. You get a sense of the strain they’ve all gone through even though we haven’t seen it first hand.
• Funny how SAMBEL’s clubhouse is so similar to SAMCRO’s.
• Dumb question of the night: “Are you lads armed?”
• I rolled my eyes when I saw Darby and Jacob Hale conspiring. But I was pleasantly surprised at the exchange between Darby and Lumpy. Darby had an epiphany and walked away. Awesome.
• Saw that drive-by on the van coming a mile away but was surprised that Jimmy wasn’t behind it. The political relationships happening in Ireland are pretty murky to me and a bit hard to follow. I’m not sure that I want a whole hell of a lot of time devoted to defining all of the relationships between groups, but I wonder if they’re necessary.
• I also had a hard time believing that Jacob Hale would hire Salazar, who is pretty much responsible for the death of his brother. I think we all knew that Hale was behind the property buy-out around Lumpy’s gym, but is Charming really that short in supply of thugs?

Why, yes I will take my shirt off for you...

• Bare-knuckle boxing in Ireland reminded me so much of the movie Snatch. I half-expected a dog making squeaky noises to go running through the scene. Jax & Trinity flirting: eww. I really expected Gemma to nip that shit in the bud, but I guess she was too preoccupied with getting laid?
• One prospect down: I guess the scene at the gym was to reinforce the fact that being a member of an MC is not all it’s cut out to be. Well, duh.
• The “come to Jesus” meeting between Jax and Father Kellan was good to finally see, but Jax was awfully reserved throughout. Essentially the priest is holding Abel for ransom so that Jax will do his bidding: killing Jimmy O’Phelan. Sure, he wrapped it in a nice package by stating it’s for the safety of the baby, blah blah. But if you were in Jax’s shoes wouldn’t you be demanding to see your kid, no matter what? I wanted Jax to say, “sure I’ll kill Jimmy. But I want to see Abel, now.” I did enjoy watching the realization wash over Jax’s face when the priest was setting up the situation (good acting, Mr. Hunnam). Jax is getting deeper and deeper as the season rolls on. It’ll be interesting if he can pull any of it off.
• Ok, that last scene with the couple lovingly cradling Abel kind of pissed me off. If Father Ashby is going to make good on delivering the baby back to Jax shouldn’t there be a “FOR DISPLAY ONLY” sign on the kid? Or is double-crossing SAMCRO his intention all along? Grr. Again, this feels like network manipulation and not typical Sutter-esque writing.

Next week’s episode: Turas
The club embarks on a protection run, the likes of which they’ve never seen before. [Fun fact: Turas means "Journey"].

Related posts:

Rippin-Kitten visits the set of “Sons of Anarchy”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.07 “Widening Gyre”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.06 “The Push”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

Gemma & Jax

Before I get into the meat of it, just wanted to let all you iPhone and iPad users out there know that in correspondence with next week’s episode (on October 26th), a Sons of Anarchy app is going to be released. It will be available worldwide (english only). It will not be available for Droids or Blackberrys and it will cost .99 cents (they had to hire writers for the app). Kurt Sutter has been tweeting about the app for quite a while and says it will have history of the First 9 and a lot of insider info that is a must for fans. [If you don't have an iPhone, don't worry. I will definitely write a post about the app once it's released!]

Sssssspoilers!

stuck in the middle: Maureen Ashby

One of the problems I have with this season is all the distraction other than the matter at hand, which is to go get that baby. This kind of dragging out by the writers seems a little week and I’m perturbed that Jax has time to break up with his lady, bag another lady, take care of his mom, take care of club business with the Mayans and Salazar, make a deal with Stahl, etc. It’s a little taxing on my suspension of disbelief.

OK, I just had to get that off my chest. Here we go.

• That opening shot was for all you guys out there!
• Given the collective outcry to Jax’s bad behavior with Ima last week, I got great satisfaction seeing Jax kick her out of his room and greater satisfaction when Lyla cracked her across the face (after she’d already cracked Opie one for saying something shitty to her). The fact that Tara saw the bitch-slap can only mean that these two ladies are destined to be friends somewhere down the line. And hopefully this will be the last that we see of Ima and her bare ass.
• Lots of good lines in the show but Tig once again holds the honor with, “Hey, this comes with a price.”
• The bathroom scene with the four different MCs was pretty intense. I have to think in reality that Salazar woud’ve caught that bullet in the head rather than Nameless Sargent #1. And perhaps if everyone wasn’t preoccupied with getting out of town they wouldn’t have left Salazar humiliated, stripped of his title and primed for revenge.
• The You Dropped a Bomb on Me moment: Gemma calls Maureen to tell her SAMCRO’s on their way and Maureen thanks her by telling her that John fathered her child. So for all of you who knew Trinity was Jax’s half sister, you get a gold star!

Father Kell: what a pain in the Ashby!

• Lots of conflict happening over there in Belfast. Seems that both Father Kellan and Maureen Ashby are banking on SAMCRO to dispatch Jimmy O for them. Neither are too keen on Jimmy recruiting mere lads as foot soldiers for the IRA. Where will Fiona fit in all of this?
• Tara’s great in this episode all around. “The Prince doesn’t always get his way.”
• Salazar identifies Tara driving her fine Cutlass. My first instinct was that he was going to track down the car and find a Tig surprise inside. But on further thought, I bet he’ll track her down while Jax is away (he did overhear him tell Marcus they were going out of town), beat her within an inch of her life and she’ll lose the baby. And when Jax comes back and finds out what went down, Salazar will disappear in the most painful and bloody way imaginable.
• Hands up: who really thought Gemma was going to jail? Yeah, me neither. Great plan orchestrated by both ladies. I do love Gemma and Tara together. But I wonder how Gemma fleeing will impact Jax’s deal with Stahl down the road…
• What’s up with Tara’s boss anyway? Why is she trying so hard to help Tara? Does she secretly admire Tara (and Gemma’s) choices and convictions on the path they’ve chosen, so much that she is aiding them in the escape?
• SAMCRO’s been playing “kick the can” and it seems like Chief Unser is the can. This guy can’t catch a break.
• “We’re getting the band back together!” The band is complete now that Gemma is back with her boys. And she is always cool as a cucumber isn’t she? A very cool scene with them heading off to the airport while Tig distracts the cops with Curtis Stigers and The Forest Rangers covering CCR’s “Traveling Band” in the background.
• SAMCRO is counting on SAMBEL to back them up, but in the last scene now we know that McGee and SAMBEL are in league with Jimmy O afterall. Should be interesting to see how that all plays out. The one who’s caught in the middle of it all is Maureen and given her situation (the priest is her brother, McGee is her old man and she has a odd connection to SAMCRO). I hate to say it, but I’m predicting that she’ll be an unfortunate casualty.

Next week’s episode: Lochan Mor
A 90-minute episode! When SAMCRO pays a visit to another charter, not everyone’s happy to see the mother chapter. [Fun fact: "Lochan Mor" means "Great Pond" in Gaelic.]

I’m sure at the end of this episode I wasn’t the only one to be grateful that the gang is finally off to Belfast!

Related posts:

Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.06 “The Push”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

Ok, per usual…spoilers ahead.

Sons of Anarchy episode "The Push"

• The show opens up with SAMCRO trying to be creative about raising funds for their Irish adventure. The $10k Opie raised by selling his Panhead is gone (and he’s visibly upset about it) and the cash they got from the steroids was pilfered when Juice was jumped. Back to the drawing board.
• Three new prospects are in the house, Happy goes from nomad to a full member of the Redwood Originals. Kozik is not so fortunate. There’s a pre-existing beef between him and Tig that we don’t know anything about yet. The scuffle that happens between them is much needed, for them and us and breaks a little tension.
• I loved the scene of Gemma and Clay discussing business while she’s sitting on the toilet.
• Robin Weigert (SAMCRO’s attorney) looks fabulous all gussied up!
• So far Jax’s master plan with Stahl is working. She’s been put back on the Irish and is pulling strings to keep everyone out of jail for now.

Kozik: denied

• Clay and Jax’s conversation about Tara is an interesting peek into the old school vs. new school ideology. Jax is a club member with a conscious: his woman is a successful surgeon who made something of herself and because of her love for Jax she would do anything to make him happy, even if it ended her career. He obviously doesn’t want that, which we’ve been witnessing all season long as he’s tried futilely to push her away. It’s not so complicated for Clay. She’s just a chick. She’s either in or out and Clay makes no bones about her being just another instrument for the club’s bidding. And so Jax takes advantage of that to help him move the prescription drugs they got from Honey.
• I was a little surprised when Jax referred to his mother as “another member’s old lady” after she balked at the prepared statement he gave her from Stahl. This is the point we realize that he’s compartmentalized Gemma and Tara and the definition of an “old lady.”
• Unser and Clay’s relationship is fairly dissolved at this point as well. The alliance they made all those years ago was in order to keep Charming safe, safe from SAMCRO and the violence they bring. But the death of Hale is the worst thing that could have happened, raising the town’s wariness of SAMCRO’s presence.
• After finally hearing Gemma’s Stahl-prepared statement, I actually said “wow.” Stahl would go to any length to make things happen, even if it meant fingering her lover (erm, no pun intended) for Edmond’s murder. I loved the misdirection here.
• A truce with the Mayans is a very good business decision on Clay’s part (“It ain’t personal. It’s just about the cash.”). I wonder how long it will last?

Brains before bullets.

• Oh look, Darby’s not dead and proving to still be a giant pain in the ass. Best line of the night spoken by Jacob Hale: “and why are you sharing this with me and my pie?”
• Chucky. Nuff said.
• Darby’s snitching to Hale and instigating a raid on the clubhouse pushes the decisions to end 2 relationships: SAMCRO and Unser and Jax and Tara. However a new one is formed with Mayan club leader Marcus Alvarez to prove to Oswald that Charming is safe for now and convincing him to allow them discreet passage to Ireland.
• Jax finally gives Tara the kiss-off. Old ladies are made up of strippers and porn stars, not successful surgeons and he just can’t bear the weight of that anymore. And to prove that theory he runs off and bangs the nearest and most available porn star. (How many of you ladies with DVRs or TiVo paused on that scene?)

“The Push” is definitely a set-up episode for what’s to come. There was no Ireland this week and that’s due to the fact that there was so much to take care of in Charming.

Next week’s episode: Widening Gyre

The Grim Bastards have a problem that could jeopardize Samcro’s new business arrangements.

In last week’s recap I mentioned that the episode title “Turning and Turning” came from a Yeats poem (“Second Coming”) and next week’s title comes from the same poem. A “gyre” is a type of vortex (like a hurricane or cyclone) in the air or the sea, but it is most commonly used in oceanography, to refer to the major ocean systems.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

You can definitely see the parallels of the poem to what’s happening in the world of Sons of Anarchy.

Related posts:
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.05 “Turning and Turning”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

The title of tonight’s episode is based on a poem by Yeats called “Second Coming”:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Thar be spoilers ahead!

Sons of Anarchy "Turning and turning"

This week we were spared of the heart-crushing emotions that we went through in last week’s episode. We’re getting down to business this week and certain revelations are finally coming to light. Did anyone else feel that Gemma’s hospital room was ridiculously busy for someone who was taken down with a heart problem? Jeez, let the poor lady rest!

Anyway, there was lots of satisfying progression this week.

“Members from the original charter are coming out here soon. You’ll have more truth than you can handle.” - Maureen

This season may be all about the connection between father and sons, but in this episode the women of the show are holding the hot potato. Gemma is back in her rightful place as the matriarch and center of the SAMCRO world (even if she isn’t in a position of influence just yet), Maureen is precariously straddling the line of two dangerous worlds: SAMBEL and the True IRA. But sharing a common thread Gemma, family is important to her and she is going against both of those worlds by trying to get Abel back to his “Dah.” All the speculation about Tara was confirmed tonight: she’s knocked up!

Then there’s Agent June Stahl…who holds the fate of the club by the balls. She’s disgraced and desperate and the only power she has left is over SAMCRO. And she wants to take them down hard. Her unscupulous actions and unrelenting motivation to take them down has led to: Donna’s death, Edmond’s murder, Half-Sack’s murder, Abel’s kidnapping and even Cameron’s murder. Not to mention the frame job that will possibly be sending Gemma to death row.

Agent June Stahl

And finally Jax learns that Abel is in Belfast, not Vancouver. Was I the only one who yelled “Hallelujah!” ? And of course, now that Jax realizes that Jimmy O and a few members of SAMBEL lied to him all this time, he’s out for revenge. He went and made a deal with the devil: Miss June Stahl. He’s ready to hand over Jimmy O in exchange for Gemma’s  and the club’s freedom. It’s a tasty deal for Stahl. SAMCRO is small potatoes compared to landing the big fish of the IRA. (Off-topic but did we always know that she liked the ladies?) And to show good faith, Jax delivers Jimmy O’s second in command. This is a huge risk for Jax but I wonder how it’ll play out in the end.

Random thoughts:

• it makes my night when Chucky is on. “I accept that.”
• not such a big mystery to see what the guys were going to do with all the drugs they got from Honey last week
• is Juice’s role just the club’s punching bag? And when he got jumped in the van weren’t you expecting him to get to the hospital on a stretcher? The Caleveras let him off easy compared to what Clay did to the other guy.
• Gemma, even if currently compromised in the hospital, is still the bitch in charge. Her response to Tara regarding Abel’s abduction was exactly how I pictured her reacting! Gemma reacts with her heart and gut and would throw herself in front of a bullet to keep that baby. Tara thinks and rationalizes, and was paralyzed by that situation. Would she have reacted like Gemma in that situation if it was her baby of flesh and blood? I bet most moms would say they would. Good stuff!
• I know that Tara’s boss’ character is acting as a sounding board for Tara’s inner struggle of being a good doctor or of embracing the “old lady” role, but she’s gone to the other extreme compared to how she was last season. Or did that smackdown Tara put on her last season make her more sympathetic to Tara’s situation? And what direction will this all propel Tara’s future?
• Sometimes I really hate Clay, but I do love his quips!
• Who’s trying to buy up all that land that the boxing gym resides on? Is it Jacob Hale or someone else?
• I kind of felt bad for Unser having to apologize for doing his job. It’s such a weird situation to be a career cop, be in league with the local scourge and then have to apologize for doing his actual job. I do love the dichotomy of his character!
• “Jax goes to Belfast, stones get unturned.” Ooh, such a loaded statement full of potential! Given the fact that we know Maureen Ashby had a relationship with John Teller we can pretty much expect that Trinity is their lovechild. But what other stones will there be? Since we know the show follows the blueprint of Hamlet, we can suspect that Clay had a hand in John Teller’s death with Gemma’s knowledge. Was JT taken out while he was over there? Will Jax find out this truth when he heads to Belfast? Oh, I do love learning about the dirty, dirty past…

True to the title of this episode I’m finally feeling totally invested in the show and was completely satisfied with the plot progressions and shady deals. What did you guys think?

Next week’s episode: The Push

To protect their territory, Sons of Anarchy must handle a rat at St. Thomas. (And based on the teaser, we know that Kozik shows up to further complicate things.)

Related posts:
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.04 “Home”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.03 “Caregiver”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.02 “Oiled”
Sons of Anarchy: episode 3.01 “SO”

Read all of my extensive SOA coverage here.

He wasn’t wrong, but I will add that Katey Sagal was also heart-breaking to watch.

What’s up with Jax’ tennis shoes?

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this episode, I have an answer to one of the more burning questions that lots of fans have about Sons of Anarchy: why does Jax wear white sneakers? In a video interview with the head of the wardrobe department, Kelli Jones, the official SAMCRO blogger sheds some light in her latest post.

Kelli first explains Jax’s style, “…he’s just how those guys are, the younger guys. Like, carpenter pants, really hip-hop, really urban and not like the typical guys who wear wife-beaters all the time…you know, it’s like a gang and that’s his staple. He wears the hoodies, everything’s over-sized.”

Gemma & Jax

And the tennis shoes?

“Charlie went and hung out with one of the outlaw motorcycle clubs for weeks…he did a bunch of research…he looked at how they acted, how they spoke, what they dressed like and a lot of those guys wear tennis shoes.” She says she was told that a lot of those guys barely wear boots anymore. She has some other choice words for her critics, but she swears up and down that those guys in MCs are wearing tennis shoes, white or black, while they ride their Harleys. So, there’s your answer everyone.

OK, on to the episode. Stop reading here if you haven’t seen the show yet.

Sons of Anarchy, season 3 "Home"

There’s a lot of stuff happening in tonight’s episode.

Getting old sucks: Clay’s arthritic hands are causing a lot of problems at a time that’s none too convenient. He hides it well, but his “son” knows better. The aging king has to keep it together for his crumbling empire at any cost.

Anyone whose family has been touched by Alzheimer’s or has had to put a loved one into a nursing home can feel the pain that Gemma goes through this episode. Family means everything to her and in one episode she’s had to endure major family loss with her father and finally learning that Abel is gone, not to mention the face-slapping reality that all those around her that she loved and trusted, lied to her so egregiously along the way. It was all too much to bear, causing her collapse.

Of course, they all lied to her out of the goodness of their hearts. Gemma already has a lot on her plate to deal with, on the run from the FBI for murder, dead mom, senile dad and another unfortunate murder. But to hear about her beloved baby grandson’s abduction from Maureen Ashby, a distant (and probably much disliked, given the hints we got of her past with John Teller) stranger got poor Gemma in her large, but damaged heart.

But then, Jax is dealing with his own shit, too. Charlie Hunnam really seems to be relishing in these dark days of Jax. I said it before, but he plays despondent and angry really well.  His son is gone, his mom is wanted for murder, he’s facing the possibility of more jail time (and an even bigger pile of legal trouble as he plans on fleeing the country to go find Abel), his woman is teetering on throwing her life away for a club that would easily chew her up and spit her out. Oh, and she just dumped the fact that she’s an accomplice to murder and disposing of a body on him. (And once again, Tig is much-need, fantastic comic relief!)

He’s trying to do all he can to push her away. Her life was progressing nicely before she got back together with him. He thinks that being completely honest about all the f’d up things he does for the club will make her realize that he’s no good for her, but she doesn’t care. She loves him and will do anything for him. With Gemma as her mentor, family is important to her and she wants that family, as is evident when she proclaims that Abel is “ours”.  The club is now her family whether he likes it or not. I cringed a little when he told her that if she wants to be an old lady, she should act like one. But just as Jax is redefining his role in the club, Tara is redefining the role of an “old lady.”

And then there’s the club. He tries to deal with the daily struggle of the club, his father’s legacy, that has strayed so far from his father’s original intentions. The club is the only family he knows and has. They would do anything for him, as is evident by Opie selling his panhead to get some loose and fast cash for Jax. For him, it’s always a constant struggle. Does he just embrace the life carved out for him? Or does he go against the grain and try to change it, change his future?

Some light is shed on the struggle between Jimmy O and Father Ashby. Turns out that Jimmy is trying to cut the ties that the True IRA has with the MC. Father Ashby tells Maureen that Jimmy wants to build his own army, comprised of sweet and tender (young) hooligans. And that just doesn’t sit right with the good priest. But he is a priest and can’t engage in battle with the Irish gangster, so he’s using Abel as a ploy to get SAMCRO to take Jimmy out for him. It’s a fairly diabolical plan.

That’s why Jimmy is spinning such a large web of lies to Jax and Clay. He knows he’s in  a deep, deep ocean of shit if he doesn’t get the kid back to them, unharmed, A.S.A.F.P. Misdirecting them to Canada buys him the time necessary to track down the baby and reinforce the pecking order back in Belfast. But the priest has a card up his sleeve that he puts into play after Jimmy threatens his sister. He has Maureen call Gemma to tell her that Abel is somewhere in Belfast. One SAMCRO shitstorm: order up!

I kind of wish the Irish storyline was a bit more clear from the beginning. I feel like it’s more confusing than it needs to be.

The meth-heads storming the go-to drug supplier may have seemed a bit out of place given all that was going on. But I think it was there specifically for Piney to declare “we’re the good guys.”

Other thoughts

• loved the onscreen Deadwood reunion of Paula Malcolmson and Titus Welliver (Maureen and Jimmy)
• Tig’s suggestion of Gemma going redhead was a clear nod to Peg Bundy
• I really enjoyed Katey Sagal’s singing of “Bird on a Wire“
• seeing Abel in the room full of babies for sale bummed me out. I was also afraid for all those little crawlers tumbling right out of their bassinets!
• I’m wondering how the drugs that Honey gave the guys will play into the future
• seeing a Nate settle himself into the loveless nursing home was painful and another reason that getting old sucks.
• Are Clays riding days numbered?

fun stuff

Charlie Hunnam’s fine physique graces the cover of the November issue of Men’s Fitness.

Charlie Hunnam on November 2010 cover of Men's Fitness

Full season 3 episode list
Episode 1: SO
Episode 2: Oiled
Episode 3: Caregiver
Episode 4: Home
Episode 5: Turning and Turning
Episode 6: The Push
Episode 7: Widening Gyre
Episode 8: Lochan Mor
Episode 9: Turas
Episode 10: Fininne
Episode 11: Mirage
Episode 12: June Wedding
Episode 13: NS

Next week’s episode: Turning and Turning
To help his mom, club, and son, Jax conspires with an unlikely source, while the MC puts Chucky undercover.

I have a feeling next week is a huge turning point in the direction this season is going. What do you think?

“You’re all very unbalanced individuals.”– Jax

OK, as always, stop reading if you haven’t watched this episode yet.

Stephen King in "Caregiver"

Random thoughts:

• Was Maureen once John Teller’s old lady? Sure sounds that way and that’s pretty juicy news. I wonder why is Father Ashby keeping Abel?
• I think i actually rolled my eyes when Nate “disappeared.” But I loved Tara’s horrified expression seeing the “greedy little Guaddie” tied up in the basement.
• Aww, I felt bad for Piney when all the guys walked out of the barbershop.
• When Jax was following up with the bounty hunter and they’re still talking about Canada, I just wanted to scream “THEY’RE IN IRELAND, DIPSHITS!!!”
• OK, seeing Gemma’s Dad crying with a shotgun up to his chin is heart-breaking.
• I also rolled my eyes when Tara let one of the caregiver’s hands free and she got clonked on the head for her troubles. Dum dum-head Tara!
• Sweet scene with Gemma and Nate. Someone must be cutting some onions around here…ahem!
• I liked that SAMCRO went to Oswald out of respect to let him know that they were planning on skipping out on their bail hearing.
• Whoopsie! That’s why you’re not supposed to play with knives. I love how Tig scolded Gemma & Tara. Tara is just getting deeper and deeper into this world than she probably ever thought she would be. She’s learning some very hard lessons as to what’s entailed being Jax’s old lady.
• Welcome back, Cherry.
• I got chills seeing Bachman ride up on that cherry red H-D! I almost died when he was measuring Amelia’s body parts and asking for 80′s music (I had to giggle when Tig, without missing a beat said, “I’ll make that happen.”).  Also, the silent exchange between Tig & Gemma: priceless.
• Cara Cara porn star movie fetish party. You just knew that Opie was going to go Grape Ape in there.
• “Where’s who?”
• YES! CAMERON’S IN IRELAND! And he’s also dead. Jeez…

Overall, not a whole lot happening in this episode and without a doubt, Stephen King was the highlight. The club is finding themselves sinking into a deeper pile of shit as time goes on and yet they don’t even blink at the thought of jumping bail to find Abel. The baby seems to be a huge factor in the power struggle between the priest and Jimmy O, maybe that’s why the priest is squirreling Abel away elsewhere. I know we’re only three episodes in but I kind of wish the club, Jimmy O and the priest would all just get in a room together and get everything out on the table. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling frustrated with this plot line.

And it sounded like Maureen was John Teller’s woman for the time he was in Belfast. Wouldn’t it be scandalous if Trinity was “J.T’s” daughter?

Nice to see Jax and Opie getting along as they talked about their ladies. I think part of me was glad to know that Opie is still mourning Donna, despite Lyla’s companionship. Jax quoting his father’s manifesto about old ladies was interesting (you either tell them everything, or you tell them nothing). To me it seems like if you’re an old lady that knows everything, you stand a chance for surviving-unlike Donna, who was never told anything.

I’m kind of curious to see what comes of the Jacob Hale/Unser relationship as the season goes on. As we saw in the barbershop, the good townspeople of Charming are none to happy with the Sons these days. And remember last week when Hale said to Unser it’s one thing to look the other way when the hooligans are helping to keep the peace, and another when they become part of the problem. Hmm…

Fun stuff

Turns out the little store set I photographed on my set tour back in June was Ashby’s, Maureen’s store! When I saw the store on screen, I turned to my husband and gleefully declared, “hey, I touched those potatoes!” Yeah, I’m a dork like that.

Next week’s episode: “Home”

Jax and Clay head for Canada, thinking that Abel’s there. They want Gemma to head north and out of harm’s way as well, but she has unfinished business with her dad (Hal Holbrook). Meanwhile, Happy needs a pharmaceutical favor from Honey (Frances Fisher); and in Belfast, Jimmy O (Titus Welliver) clashes with Father Kellen Ashby (James Cosmo).

“It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.”– Jax

Jax, season 2 episode 2 "Oiled"

Boy, he wasn’t kidding. The second episode of this third season didn’t have the head-exploding (no pun intended) bang that the premiere had, but more of a slow steady burn. It closed some doors, progressed some plot lines and opened up some new things.

If you haven’t seen the show yet: STOP READING NOW.

Bobby & Chibs season 2 episode 2 "Oiled"

This episode we were taken out of the comfort zone of Charming to the dreary blue of Belfast. We met Father Ashby, a goodly priest who also just happens to be a leader of the local IRA. And although he’s aligned with Jimmy O, they have apparently have different agendas which will most likely play out for the rest of the season.

Jacob Hale, as we already guessed, is the new devil in town falling right into place before his brother’s body is cold. He plans on being Mayor of Charming, offering Chief Unser the ability to pick his successor and bringing to light that Unser’s old deal with SAMCRO has worn thin. “Even if I’m the devil, wouldn’t be the first time you shook my hand, Wayne.”

So, it turns out I was wrong about the drive-by and my initial thought of it being the Mayans was sort of correct. It was orchestrated by a smaller MC getting ready to be engulfed (patched over) by the Mayans.

Pinata party? season 2 episode 2 "Oiled"

And Clay is a clever manipulator for sure. Again in this episode we hear him call Jax “son” and steering him in directions that best suit his purposes. It’s pretty transparent because Bobby notices and doesn’t seem to approve. Clay’s response: “I’m helping him through it.”

Random thoughts

• Tig was great comic relief this episode. His fear of Hummels is rivaled by no other and he looks adorable in a pink silk robe.
• Gemma’s dad’s dementia is going to get really old, really fast.
• Tara’s boss might actually not be so bad after all. She has a point in making Tara rethink that leave of absence.
• We all love Chucky!
• How is everyone keeping the lies about Abel from Gemma straight? And don’t they know she will be PISSED when she finds out?
• I like me some Jimmy O. Maybe I just like Titus Welliver.
• Bobby sure likes some crazy chicks and Precious seems like a doozy!
• I got a little sad seeing Chief Hale’s desk plaque being put into a box.
• Um, is Opie only just now realizing that his little lady is a porn star?
• Hybrids are dangerous!
• Maureen really does appear to be the irish version of Gemma. At least Abel is being lovingly cared for while being displaced from his family. But little Abel will never stand a chance in life, he is always surrounded by treachery. And thus, Cameron’s fate is decided.
• I know a lot of you ladies out there like Tig, but I could’ve done without that butt shot!
• It’s a good day for Pinata party! Wow, can you imagine the mess if they actually hit him?
• We kind of new the housekeeper was going to be trouble, right? But again, Gemma proves how smart and badass she is.
• The church scene was pretty brutal, watching Cameron be the willful lamb going to slaughter, to be made an example of. Father Ashby is not f*cking around.

Fun Stuff

A fun moment for me this episode: when I visited the SOA set in June, it turns out the lovely irish home set I was on was Maureen’s home!

Next week’s episode: “Home”

The club exploits its porn connections to entertain Henry Lin’s clients, which doesn’t sit well with one member. (Hmm, would that member be Opie?) Also, did you catch Stephen King in the clip for next week?

Sound off everyone! Let me hear what you’re thinking!

Read all my extensive Sons of Anarchy coverage here.

Is everyone recuperating after watching last night’s episode? (Don’t worry, if you didn’t get to see it yet I will not spoil anything…yet. You will get fair warning when I get into the nitty gritty).

After what felt like a loooooong hiatus, a lot of build up and hype counting down to the new season, the premiere episode did not disappoint. With a new season you never know what you’re going to get, especially when the dynamic of the show switches up like SOA has.

Ok, now I’m going to get into details of tonight’s premiere. If you haven’t seen it and don’t want to know any details, STOP READING. Here’s a nice photo of Charlie Hunnam. You can gaze into his pretty face for a little bit and then take a hike (or skip all the way to the bottom to watch the pre-show chat video with Katey Sagal and Kurt Sutter).

For the rest of you, be prepared for my stream of consciousness and thoughts throughout the episode.

just lookit that mug!

“Every time I think maybe I’m heading in the right direction, I end up in a place I never even knew could feel this bad.”– Jax

“Dad’s Gonna Kill Me“–Richard Thompson

Random thoughts & tidbits about the episode:

• Charlie Hunnam does a great job conveying a hollow, exhausted Jax full of despair.
• Hey, it’s nice to see Chuckie!
• Ladies, aren’t you glad that Mr. Hunnam doesn’t mind taking his clothes off? But, what’s with the bad hair extensions?
• OK, can the debate finally be ended now: HALF-SACK IS DEAD.
• With the power struggle that was dominant in season 2 between Jax and Clay, that big hug between them made me go “aww…”
• Maggie Siff has taken Tara to another level. I never particularly liked her character, but tonight she may have changed my mind. It’s been interesting watching her struggle and begin to crack after all she’s been through. Oh, and I still want her car!
• This probably amused me more than it should but did you catch “Uncle Rico” from Napoleon Dynamite as the passport forger, Mr. Magoo?
• Jacob Hale is back. You may recall he is running for mayor of Charming (against Oswald, the guy who owns the lumber mill and bailed the guys out of jail last season) and will no doubt add another layer of trouble for SAMCRO.
• Gemma’s anxiety to get out of that hotel room made me antsy.
• Cameron’s boat is named “Dithreabhaigh” which means “The Homeless.”
• I thought the car chase scene was a little lame. The Sons took the time to put their helmets on and still managed to catch up to the car, all while maintaining perfect ride formation. And the barbed wire around Opie’s leg? What was that all about?
• Piney: I love the dynamic between him and Jax and how he acts as the spiritual guide.
• Oh, Agent Stahl: How we hate thee! Ally Walker is once again great as the hateful, narcissistic, dirty agent.
• Much needed comic relief: Gemma realizing she needed her reading glasses to hotwire that car!
• Clay’s dual role as caring father and club leader was an interesting juxtaposition. He is trying to be gentle and supportive toward Jax after this horrible thing has happened, and yet as SAMCRO’s leader he needs to stoke Jax’s anger, to get it to rise up and set an example for the rest of the club. Who knew it would come out so violent and unpredictable?
• 3 new prospects will be around to replace Half Sack: Filthy Phil, Shepherd and Miles
• Seeing all of the SAMCRO members milling around in front of the funeral home did raise a flag for me. They looked like sitting ducks. Especially when the time was taken to show each character and where they ended up outside when exiting the building. A slow, approaching van is NEVER a good sign!
• Just like the end of the premiere episode for Season 2 (the gang rape), this episode ended with such intensity that I nearly fell off the edge of my seat. A calculated drive-by shooting on SAMCRO at Half-Sack’s wake. My first thought was “Oh, it’s the Mayans” but I quickly dismissed that. Then I went through the next in line: White Power or the Irish? But…I remembered  Jacob Hale, mayoral candidate and hater of SAMCRO. Conveniently he is there in the crowd at the wake, but just out of harm’s way. I’m going to put my money down that he’s behind it. Sadly, his brother ended up a casualty.
• And if anyone is wondering: HALE IS DEAD. The rear tire of the van ran over his head, that’s what that  smashing pumpkin sound was. His brains were on the pavement. Please don’t ask if he’s really dead. HE’S REALLY DEAD. (And Hale packing up his office and moving into the big “Chief” office should’ve been a tip-off. I’m mad at myself for not picking up on that, but I’m glad that I didn’t because that was the big “Holy Shit” moment that I needed and wanted.)
• Um, hey Charming police. Sure, your almost-new Chief just got his brains smeared all over the road, but you might want to stop that desperate and enraged biker from turning your one lead to that unprovoked shooting into bloody red paste on the pavement. Just sayin’…

So, what did you all think? I got some instant Twitter reaction, but now that you’ve slept on it, what are your thoughts?

If you didn’t see the pre-show chat with Kurt Sutter and Katey Sagal, here ya go! (It takes a bit of time up front to get going.)

Next week’s episode: “Oiled”
Jax and the club help a bounty hunter track someone down to get information on Abel’s whereabouts. At Half-Sack’s wake, the club press a source for answers the SAMCRO way. Also Gemma deals with her father’s dementia.

Sons of Anarchy, Season 3 Episode 2 "Oiled"

Read all my extensive Sons of Anarchy coverage here.

Tonight’s episode summary:
Episode title: SO
The kidnapping of Abel has left the Sons reeling, especially Jax, whose grief sends him into even deeper turmoil about his future with the MC. Gemma, having been framed for murder, stays on the lam and finds out some unexpected news from her past.

Catch an exclusive scene from tonight’s premiere!

Seems like tension is mounting with the impending season 3 premiere. Last week Charlie Hunnam and Kurt Sutter had a small, public pushing match over creative strategy. Hunnam off-handedly voiced his opinion to the Chicago Tribune, “Keeping actors in the dark is not always the right move, because without knowing the direction that something’s going, one can make slight mistakes.”

Mr. Sutter answered to that via Twitter, explaining he doesn’t always give his cast a heads up about story details, but he does share major plot lines.

“i regret some of my cast feel that the writers are conspiring to ‘keep actors in the dark.’ that’s not the case. we are doing the best we can,” Sutter tweeted. “i love my cast and try to challenge their talent with quality writing and deep, 3-dimensional stories. that effort requires focus and time. perhaps if they were doing a network procedural they’d have a showrunner who could tell them everything and assuage their apprehension. i’m not that guy. SOA is not that show.”

Anyway, they’ve since kissed and made up, blaming everything on the media for putting a negative spin on Charlie’s comment.

Mark Boone Junior arrested for assaulting a cop

TMZ reports that Mark Boone Junior (real name: Mark Hiedrich) was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Glendale, Calif., for allegedly assaulting a traffic cop who pulled him over.

Authorities say it was a routine traffic stop until Boone got nasty. Backup was called and he was ultimately arrested on suspicion of assaulting an officer and resisting arrest.

Drugs or alcohol were not a factor in the incident, according to Glendale Police Department.

Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 DVD available next Tuesday, August 31st!

To hype up the release of season 2 being released on Blueray and DVD, there’s a fun little microsite that you can go and customize Jax’s ride. If you’re looking to kill a few fun minutes, head on over to soacustomchopper.com.

SOA season 2 on Blueray & DVD 8/31!

You can still pre-order season two on Amazon.com now for a low, low price and get season one while you’re there.

New season 3 promo!

Another trailer to get you psyched up for the new season.

A peek at the press kit screener that FX sent out to those lucky TV critics

from laist: FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” season 3 doesn’t premiere until Tuesday, September 7 at 10pm but we had to share with you what FX sent us. Check out the video clip showing the SOA guide and DVD of the first four episodes. We’ve seen the premiere and it’s very good – we can’t wait to dig into the DVD!

Spoilers!

(stop reading if you don’t want to know details of the season premiere)

Film School Rejects watched the screener for the season premier. Here’s what they have to say:

We join Jax and the rest of the Charming charter a few days after Abel’s kidnapping. And as you would imagine, Jax is distraught, and emotionally lost. By the end of the episode he’s going to be forced to make a choice. Show the rest of the SOA that he can lead them and will do anything to get his son back, or step out of the way.

Everyone in law enforcement will make an attempt to find Abel and Gemma this season. But the real fight for survival is between Clay and Stahl. Clay lays it all out on the table for Stahl, and she will be left with only one option for sake of herself, and everyone around her.

We also learn the current fate of Gemma. She’s still on the lamb with Tig at her side. But Gemma, for the good of the club will stop at nothing to break away from her SOA escorts. All leading up to a moment that will change the show forever. Before the episode is over, you will learn the roots of Gemma Teller Morrow.

This season will also put Deputy Hale in the hot seat as Chief of Police. And let me tell you, this is the move we have all been waiting for. This is the one thing that can bring SAMCRO down, for good. And by the end of the premiere, his decisions will reach a tipping point for everyone.

Related post:

Sons of Anarchy: season 3 news, updates, promos and new cast photos!

Read all my extensive Sons of Anarchy coverage here.

Updated Season 3 episode list:

Episode 1: SO
(According to SAMCRO_BLOGGER: Charlie gets naked in the first 10 minutes of 301. Very important information for some people to know!)
Episode 2: Oiled
Episode 3: Caregiver
Episode 4: Home
Episode 5: Turning and Turning
Episode 6: The Push
Episode 7: Widening Gyre
Episode 8: Lochan Mor
Episode 9: Turas
Episode 10: Fininne
Episode 11: TBD
Episode 12: TBD
Episode 13: TBD

Spoiler-ishy stuff

EOnline teases that the Abel babynapping storyline will drive a majority of the season and IRA leader Jimmy O (Titus Welliver) will be this season’s “Big Bad.”

Maggie Siff, who plays Tara, tells EW that when the new season kicks off September 7, we’ll pick up the action almost immediately where “Na Trioblidi” left off. “The first episode is just a couple days after the last episode, so it’s really the aftermath of the [kidnapping],” she says. “So there’s still a lot of shock involved.”

Season 3 cast photos (from Daemon’s TV All photos CR: Frank Ockenfels / FX):

Tidbits of info from Comic-Con:

Kurt said the new season picks up a few days after Half-Sack was killed, Abel was abducted and Gemma went on the lam, and he and Charlie talked about how poorly (but unsurprisingly) Jax is handling his son’s kidnapping. Charlie said that Jax and Clay will have to put their animosities aside, because the Abel thing is bigger than the feud they had about the direction of the club.

Four episodes will take place in Belfast, though none of the actors actually went there to film.

There will be 3 new prospects introduced midway through the season to replace Half-Sack

Gemma would become even more bad-ass this year, gets “very familiar with a gun” and goes to an even angrier place. (source: HitFix)

Kurt’s explaining role of homeless woman: “She is who she is, and says what she says.” Take from that what you will. [SAMRO_BLOGGER]

SUTTERINk update

From the SutterInk blog:
All 13 episodes are broken.
A writer’s draft of 313 is being written.
[KS] is currently working on a draft of 312.
Adam Arkin is prepping 311.
Gwyneth H-Payton is directing/shooting 310.
Stephen Kay is working on his director’s cut of 309.
I’m working on my producer’s cut of 308.  This will be a 90 minute episode.
Craig Yahata, my post producer, is working on the pre-mix for 307.
306 is mixed and in layback.
305 is getting final post touches and is ready for final mix and layback.
304 is done and out to critics.
303 is mixed and waiting for a re-shoot to drop in.  A temp version is out to critics.
302 is done and out to critics.
301 is done and out to critics.  The name of the premier episode is “SO”.
The SOA iPhone app should hit the week that episode 308 airs.  It’ll make sense why.

SutterInk’s Twitter updates:

A recent tweet sheds a little more light on that iPhone app: soa iphone app will be more content than flash. provides backstory that fans would not get anywhere else. no droid/ BB app yet, maybe later.

About the emmy snub: after hearing my boss and stars at TCA, i’m no longer worried that my opinion about the emmys will hurt the show. it’s a collective blow me.

Kurt Sutter is trying to reach 12,000 followers and he’s only got about 500 more followers to go to achieve that goal. If you’re not following him yet you may want to consider it.

random news:

In a recent interview, Kurt Sutter refused to give his birthdate to the interviewer. When asked why, he commented on why he feels his age has a negative connotation for what he does.

“I wish it didn’t matter, but unfortunately it does…at a certain point when you have a big enough body of work, [age] doesn’t really matter. I’m sure David Milch and David Mamet don’t give a f*ck if people know how old they are. But I’m not there yet.”

FunnyOrDie.com says this photo depicts the reaction on Ron Perlman’s face when a fan asked him if the second season of his rough-and-tumble motorcycle drama “Sons of Anarchy” was influenced by “The Empire Strikes Back.” Whether that’s true or not, it’s still pretty funny. Heh…

Related post:
Sons of Anarchy: season 3 spoilers and exclusive photos!

This entire post is full of information about season 3, so if you don’t want to know anything…STOP READING!

Instead, go read about my visit to the SOA set (which is chock full of great photos) or maybe you can go pre-order season two on Amazon.com now. And don’t forget to order season one while you’re there (if you don’t already own it)

OK, you’ve been duly warned!

sons of anarchy season 3 partial episode list

From tv.com

Episode 1: TBD
Episode 2: Oiled
Episode 3: Caregiver
Episode 4: Home
Episode 5: TBD
Episode 6: The Push
Episode 7: Widening Gyre
Episode 8: Lochan Mor
Episode 9: Turas
Episode 10: TBD
Episode 11: TBD
Episode 12: TBD

Sons Of Anarchy casting info tidbits

(mostly from the Chicago Tribune)

• Dayton Callie, who plays Sheriff Wayne Unser, has been made a series regular this year.
• Agent June Stahl will be back for us to hate with a fiery passion for four or five episodes.
• Hal Holbrook, who plays Gemma’s father, will be in the first four episodes of the season (probably being visited by his fugitive daughter.)
• Stephen King’s cameo will be in Episode 3
• Paula Malcolmson (former “Deadwood” cast mate of Dayton Callie and Titus Welliver, who plays Jimmy O),  is in eight episodes as the “Gemma” of the Belfast chapter (SAM BELL)
• Speaking of Titus Welliver, Jimmy O’Phelan will be back taunting Chibs and no doubt lots of other people for eight episodes.
• Yet another “Deadwood” alumni will be joining the cast this season: Robin Weigert, (who played Calamity Jane) has a recurring role this year as SAMCRO’s lawyer
• Lots of UK actors are joining the cast for the Belfast story arc. James Cosmo appears as Irish Catholic priest Father Kellan Ashby, Andrew McFee as Belfast chapter president (and SAMCRO original 9 member) Kevin McGee, Ari Verveen as SAM BELL Sergeant at Arms Liam O’Neill and Zoe Boyle as Maureen’s (Paula Malcolmson) daughter Trinity.

Sons Of Anarchy season three set photos: Rippin-Kitten exclusive

As we already know, much of the season will take place in Belfast. While on my set visit I was shown, and photographed, some of the interior sets for the Belfast scenes.

The Chicago Tribune also had some exclusive photos to share. Granted the photos are small, but still worth a gander.

Here they are, some Sons Of Anarchy season 3 spoilers!

The Belfast story line will be very important this season. Mr. Sutter’s blog post a while ago set up the back story for  Charming/Belfast explaining that John Teller set up the Sons of Anarchy charter in Belfast at the urging of Clay and Kevin McGee (a member of the original nine and current Belfast chapter president) in order to run guns for the IRA.

From the start of the season there will be dual stories taking place in both Charming and Belfast, which will eventually converge a few episodes in. It also sounds like we’re going to get a little more backstory about John Teller this season. Kurt Sutter told the Chicago Tribune, “I think people are invested enough in the characters and the world to where they’re open to getting backstory about John Teller (SAMCRO co-founder and Jax’s father) and about this world.”

In the Belfast storyline, Father Kellan Ashby and Jimmy O. will have a very combative relationship. KS told the Chicago Tribune, “It’s really this conflict between these two men (Jimmy O and the priest). They are living outside the box and it’s really mirroring a lot of the stuff that went on last season with Jax and Clay. It’s really all about character and that dynamic. And what happens is, the baby sort of becomes the pawn in all of that.”

James Cosmo (Father Ashby) and Titus Welliver (Jimmy O)

Also, apparently Father Ashby will listen to someone’s confession and eventually he will be forced to condone the ultimate punishment. (TV Fanatic).

And lastly, an SOA show “nsider, snitchesgetstitches left a comment here last week saying the following:

“I work on the show…for obvious reasons my real name aint here. I will tell you guys were wrapping up and there are some big surprises in store for the new season. Kurt is very careful about PR so you wont be getting anymore info other than whats out there…except I will say there is a “vacation” planned to the Emerald Isle which will be interesting.”

Hmm, a “vacation”? Anyone want to take a guess?
I’m going to predict that it will be Jax taking that vacation based on this from Sutter, “In my mind…I knew the Irish backstory was always a very big part of this mythology…It’s like, Jax is in a place where he’s deciding what he’s going to do, and he gets pulled away from all of that with everything that happens with his kid. Yet he can’t ultimately deny the information that he’s going to get in Belfast, and it will continue to impact him. So it seems like we’re going in a completely different direction, but, you know, we’re just continuing to tell the emotional story of our lead character.”

FX’s Sons of Anarchy season 3 live pre-show sweepstakes

Seven grand prize winners will receive:

• A trip for 2 to LA
  
• Tickets to a private Season 3 premiere screening & live webcast featuring Kurt Sutter
  
• $500 spending cash

The sweepstakes ends on August 16, 2010. See the official rules for details and for the love of god, go enter now!

** Rippin-Kitten is in no way affiliated with this contest. We’re just passing on the good word to all you folks.**

Ok, that’s all I got for now. As always, if you got a scoop on some info, spoilers or news about Season three, leave a comment and share with the rest of the class!

It was rumored the last time I wrote about SOA but Entertainment Weekly confirms that FX has announced their fall schedule and the show will return on it’s regular night, Tuesday September 7th. Rejoice, one and all!

You can pre-order Season Two, which will be available August 31st on Amazon.com now, (as well as Season One) and spend the week before the premiere catching up.

Eff the Emmys!

By now anyone that cares about the Emmys knows that our girl, Katey Sagal, was snubbed for a nomination for her incredibly amazing performance as Gemma in season 2. I wouldn’t even bother to mention it if I didn’t honestly think that she deserved the acknowledgment. And I think the majority of us deep in our hearts knew that the show itself would not get a nomination, even if we wanted it to. There’s a lot of good shows out there and it would seem that the Academy chooses to stick with the safe ones.

Dear Emmy Academy: we don't like you, either.

Sutter speaks

Speaking of the Emmys, Mr. Sutter did not hesitate to speak his mind on the issue. In his post “We Don’t Like Your Kind” he reminds us that it’s ok for a show about outlaws to be shut out of the inner circle. Also check out his other recent posts about the controversy of his blogging and how the media spins everything he writes so that he seems like the “Sean Penn of the Blogosphere”.

“My most recent blog is being spun by the rag blogs as an angry rude rant. Sour grapes? Maybe, but clearly honesty makes folks uncomfortable.”- from a recent tweet.

Sons of Nerd-ary?

Comic-con in San Diego is happening July 22-25 and the attendees better make sure they put on their big-boy pants. Making a first time appearance will be Sons of Anarchy series stars Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman and series creator Kurt Sutter. They’ll be there on Sunday afternoon and appearing with the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I could make all sorts of jokes about people who attend Comic-con but I’m not going to because if I was in San Diego I’d be there, too!

Charlie Hunnam prospects for a new movie

Charlie Hunnam is heading back to his native Newcastle to make a movie about his dad. The Sunday Sun reports that Hunnam wrote the script about his dad, Billy. “He has a really, really interesting life and is a real tough guy from a very, very tough corner of England.”

Charlie Hunnam

Charlie is hoping to be as hands on as possible in the making of this movie. “I am thinking I may be able to produce that in a more hands-on way in terms of hiring the director that I want and hiring an actor to play my dad and stuff, and actually fully produce that film, which would be great.”

Hunnam’s other script “Vlad” about Vlad the Impaler (the real-life inspiration for Dracula) is being made into a movie called “Blood” by Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company.

FX’s Sons of Anarchy season 3 live pre-show sweepstakes

SOA fans: there’s a new sweepstakes in town!

Seven grand prize winners will receive:

• A trip for 2 to LA
• Tickets to a private Season 3 premiere screening & live webcast featuring Kurt Sutter
• $500 spending cash

The sweepstakes end on August 16, 2010. See the official rules for details and for the love of god, go enter now!

** Rippin-Kitten is in no way affiliated with this contest. We’re just passing on the good word to all you folks.**

Did you read about my visit to the set of SOA?

In case you missed it, last month I was fortunate enough to be out in California and to spend some time with Mr. Sutter on the set of Sons of Anarchy. You can read about my experience and there’s lots of good photos that I took while I was there (and some shaky video footage that I shot, ha ha).

Have you seen the new Season 3 promo?

Neither have I.

But friends of mine claim they’ve seen it running on FX. If anyone finds it online somewhere can you drop me a line and send me in that direction? Thanks!

Want more?

Follow this link for all my posts, ever, about Sons of Anarchy. You’ll be reading for quite a while…

Casting news: a familiar face returns

Filming for season three of Sons of Anarchy is well underway and we’ll see the return of a familiar face. Taryn Manning will be returning  as Cherry, who we haven’t seen since season 1. A while back on Twitter Kurt Sutter indicated that she secured a role on the reboot of the Hawaii Five-O series. I guess it’s not as big of a role as first thought.

Taryn Manning will be reprising her role as "Cherry" on season 3 of SOA

Fancast reports that a storyline involves the Belfast charter of SAMCRO, populated in part by Keith McGee (to be played by Aussie actor Andrew McPhee, ‘Pirate Islands’) and Liam O’Neil (Arie Verveen, ‘Sin City’). Liam, a source revealed, is “involved” with Cherry.

If you’ve forgotten, when we last saw Cherry she confessed to Gemma that her real name was Rita, she was still “sorta married” to an abusive husband, and she was wanted for grand theft and arson. After narrowly escaping police custody and saying goodbye to boyfriend Half-Sack, she went on the run and disappeared.

Emmy hopes for sons of anarchy

The nominations for the Emmys will be announced July 8th and there’s a lot of buzz and hope surrounding some of our favorite actors on SOA.

Gemma stole the show in season 2, episode 2 "Small Tears"

Opie in episode 2.10 "Balm"

The obvious nomination we’re hoping for is Katey Sagal as Lead Actress in a Drama Series. There’s also a lot of buzz that Ryan Hurst may have a good chance at being  nominated as Supporting Actor in a Drama. *fingers crossed*

Chuck Zito files $5M dollar lawsuit against FX

Chuck who? Chuck Zito, former NYC HA, body guard and “actor”, has filed a $5 million dollar lawsuit against FX, claiming that “Sons of Anarchy” was his idea. According to TMZ, Zito claims he entered into an “implied-in-fact contract” with FX which guaranteed if they used his ideas for a TV show, Zito would be “reasonably compensated and afforded appropriate screen credits.”

Chuck Zito & Pam Anderson (photo lifted from chuckzito.com

So when FX began developing “Sons of Anarchy” in 2006, Zito got pissed claiming that SOA was “substantially similar” to his show idea.

Kurt Sutter is  spewing brimstone and hellfire about the lawsuit in his latest entry at SutterInk.

“Before I dissect the claim, let me say that I know guys like Chick [sic]. He tried to file a legal claim a few months back and it was so preposterous that I believe FX legal simply dismissed it. So he’s pissed and he’s desperate. What we are witnessing now is his “plan B”. And it’s outlaw mentality in full gear. He will take his bogus claim and shop it to every celebrity rag and website hungry for topical gossip, he’ll go on Celebrity Justice, TMZ, any sleaze forum or cable access show that will have him. He will become a bitter, juvenile gnat buzzing in the ear of FX and myself. He will use lies, intimidation, and his big mouth to become such a pain in the ass, in the hope that Fox will throw some money at him to shut the fuck up. It’s not a coincidence that his claim hits while academy members are voting.”

Kurt goes on to say that there’s no way Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox, will ever pay a red cent to Chuck because the “parent company [being Fox] is as stubborn and aggressive” as he is.

That’s for damn sure.

I’m 15 minutes late. I’m sweating. And there’s not a soul in sight. I’m in a large parking lot of an innocuous looking industrial building with a line of trailers to my right. I recognize the names on those trailers: Opie, Chibs, Bobby.

*Sigh* Looks like I’m going to have to call him. When he answers the phone I tell him I’m roaming around outside. He says, “ok, darlin’ I’ll come and get you.”

What bizzarro world am I in that I’m in N. Hollywood, standing on the set of Sons of Anarchy and calling Kurt Sutter from my cellphone on a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon?

He comes strolling out in baggy shorts, t-shirt and sandals with the cutest French Bulldog happily running beside him. A polite hello & friendly cheek to cheek kiss. We exchange pleasantries and I learn the little dog’s name is Lumpy. I’m instantly smitten (Lumpy? or Kurt Sutter? I’m not tellin’!).

It’s very difficult to not appear as a smarmy ass-kiss when you meet someone “famous”-especially when you’re juggling an iPhone, professional DSLR and a Flip video camera. But I didn’t have a photographer with me or videographer at my disposal to document this meeting, so I had to suck it up.

We launch into small talk about my weekend trip to California, discuss the demo ride for Honda and how that experience was. He then starts to tell me about the set that we’re on and how the exterior shots will match up to some of the interior shots that he’s about to show me. We head into the office area where all the writing and production work happens. There are a bunch of desks that belong some of the writing staff and I instantly recognize it as the Charming police station.

Then we head into his office and just as we get there he stops in his tracks. “You lost your dog, didn’t you?” I ask. “Yup, be right back.”

I AM STANDING ALONE INSIDE KURT SUTTER’S OFFICE.
Hmm, what can I touch?

There is his desk. There are posters on the wall and family photos, mostly of his lovely wife and baby daughter. I’d better just sit down.

Lumpy comes bounding in the room and showers me with doggy kisses before eventually jumping into Kurt’s lap. Lots of chit-chat about the show, it’s history. He says that he generally doesn’t like people but is so appreciative of the support fans give to him and the show. We are about 10 minutes into the conversation before it dawns on me that I’m a one-man band here and I’d better start taking some pictures and videos. But how do I without looking like an asshole? There’s no way around it.

this is Lumpy

After a few minutes of talking about the show, fan interaction on Twitter and Facebook and the success of season two, we start going through the maze of sets. Some of the sets, like Jax’s apartment, are locked because there was some equipment in there. And Clay & Gemma’s place was not set up at the time. But then we came up a familiar set: the hospital and the hospital chapel, that only had the window in place.

Then there was the clubhouse. This particular set was probably the largest set in the building. He tells me: “We create these actual functioning spaces so that you can put the camera anywhere. As long as you don’t point it up, you’re fine.”

It’s amazing to see how intricately decorated it is. And if I didn’t see all of the lighting equipment above me I’d swear it could have been a real clubhouse. Only it didn’t smell like stale beer and cigarettes!

I start taking photos, there’s so much to see! I take a few of Kurt, but he never really looks directly at the camera even when I tell him I’m taking his picture. He just keeps on talking. I spot The Table and immediately run over to it. It is a gigantic table with that enormous reaper carved into it. I mention that I’ve seen the artist’s website of all his carvings. He says they almost didn’t get that table because they gave the artist (Carver Doug) some ridiculous time line, like two days, to get the table done. But he did it and it’s made of real redwood.

We head off to see some of the other sets. In the space that was set aside for Cara Cara they built some additional hospital space and right next to it a home set for the Ireland storyline in season three. That’s right, an unseen home set!

Rippin-Kitten season 3 sons of anarchy exclusive!

These first photos are obviously of a small store and the following two are interiors of someone’s lovely Irish home.

And because I’m me, not even Kurt Sutter can escape my ball-busting. I think I’m being a smart-ass by asking: “You mean they didn’t send you to Ireland to film all the stuff in Belfast?” He gave me a straight-up answer: “We’re sending two second units to film in Belfast. We’re sending Billy Gierhart, who was my first cameraman on the Shield and has directed two episodes [of Sons of Anarchy] for me now, to film the second unit stuff.”

Here’s more from the Man Himself (sorry for the shaky video footage!):

If the embedded video doesn’t play go here.

I never asked too many questions about the show itself for two reasons: I don’t want to appear pushy trying to get info about the upcoming season and honestly, as a fan of the show I don’t want to know too many details about what’s going to happen! But I do ask about the fate of one particular character: Otto!

If the embedded video doesn’t play go here.

The tour is winding down because we’re running out of sets to look at. We head back outside to look at the exterior set where the Teller-Morrow garage is. “The exterior of that lot we play all the time, which since we’re in the asshole of the Valley here, you know, it’s fucking N. Hollywood. It’s brutal when we’re filming in July and August. It’s like 110 degrees out there and these poor guys are on these Harleys and they’re dressed in leathers…” he chuckles and I interject, “And they hate you cuz those things are hot!”

By this point we’ve made it full circle. He kindly walks me back out to the street where my rent-a-wreck is. I humbly thank him for the taking the time out of his day to hang out with me. He is gracious and wishes me safe travel back to the east coast.

I get into my car and sigh with relief. This was the cherry that topped an incredible, whirlwind weekend trip to California.

If you missed any of my previous posts about Sons of Anarchy: season three, be sure to check them out:
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers
SoA season 3 update
SoA casting news

So, what’s the status of Season 3?

According to SutterInk himself: update: 301 being locked. in post on 302. 303 being edited. 304 being shot. 305 and 306 written. writing 307 and 308. breaking 309. He also wrote a quickie blog post with an update of sorts.

Kurt Sutter's sure to be drinking a lotta this stuff while working on season 3. Photo lifted from @SAMCRO_BLOGGER

By the way, if you’re on Twitter and not following Mr. Sutter then you’re doing yourself a disservice. Plus he’s just a few shy from 10,000 followers. Help the guy out!

Release date for Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy on DVD:

August 31st!  That means you can catch up before season three starts airing! The DVD will include the following special features:

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• The Moral Code of Sons of Anarchy
• Sons of Anarchy Happy Ending Roundtable
• John the Revelator Music Video
• Commentary on Select Episodes
• A Night Out with the Crew at Happy Endings Bar

Sons of Anarchy season 2 on DVD: available on 8/31/10!

You can pre-order Season Two from Amazon.com now, heavily discounted from listed price (and so is Season One)!

SOA season three Casting news:

We already know that season three will have some new faces, including Paula Malcolmson, Hal Holbrook, Kenneth Johnson and even Stephen King, who is an avid motorcycle enthusiast. He recently wrote an article on his website about his experience on the set. Kurt Sutter assured Mr. King that he’d write “a suitably nasty part” for him, put him in all black clothes and on a a bright red Harley-Davidson Road-Glide.

Stephen King will be making a cameo on season 3 of FX's Sons of Anarchy

SK wrote, “I got to meet most of the cast, who’ve bonded into a little family on the ranch locale about an hour from the city where they do the filming…They treated me like a professional, which I most assuredly am not.” Full article available here.

The latest actor to join the cast is James Cosmo. According to TV Fanatic he will appear in a six-episode arc as Father Kellan Ashby, an Irish Catholic priest who will be forced to condone a character’s confession.

James Cosmo will be joining the SOA cast in Season 3

What happened to Half-Sack?

DEAD, DEAD, DEAD.
Sorry folks, I know a lot of you are hoping that Half-Sack isn’t really gone, especially with the promise of him finally passing from prospect to full patch member. But it’s been reported that Johnny Lewis was no longer happy being on the show and requested to be written off.

Alas poor Half-Sack!

Our beloved Half-Sack will go down as a legend and a hero in SOA lore. Gone but far from forgotten…

Life after Lost

Fans of the show Lost will certainly be feeling lost these days, wondering what the heck to watch now that our favorite show is gone. Joe.IE made a list of five shows for Lost fans to try to fill the cavernous void that the end of the show left. SoA was definitely tops on that list. In fact, four out of the five shows on that list is Rippin-Kitten approved (I haven’t gotten around to watching Treme yet…but I’m sure once I do it’ll be 5 out of 5)!

Katey Sagal is on Ausiello’s 2010 Dream Emmy Ballot

Michael Ausiello from EW.com made out his 2010 Dream Emmy Ballot, this one focused on the lead actor and actress in a drama series categories. Katey Sagal made it on the list of picks for Best Lead Actress (Drama). He wrote: “(Sons of Anarchy) Season 2 sent Gemma to hell and back. Heavenly!”

I think we would ALL be happy to see her at the Emmys and even more thrilled to see her take home a statue! She definitely deserves it.

When the hell is season three going to start?
Production for season 3 of Sons of Anarchy kicked off last week and will hit the tube in September this year!

Casting news
Season 3 will introduce a host of new characters, so most of recent news has revolved around casting. A few weeks ago we learned that Paula Malcolmson will join the show for an eight episode arc. She’ll be playing a wee-Irish lass named Maureen, who is based in Belfast.

We also learned that Kenneth Johnson will reprise his role for six episodes as the Tacoma chapter’s Kozik, an SoA club member who has some kind of an unhappy history with Tig.

Paula Malcolmson, Kenneth Johnson & Hal Holbrook will be part of SoA season 3

The latest character revealed is Gemma’s father, played by Hal Holbrook (who was in Creepshow, one of my favorite movies!). He will appear in a four-episode arc, beginning with the premiere episode. His character is 80 year old Rev. Nathaniel Madoc, who has mid-stage Alzheimer’s and is completely unaware that his wife has died. He spends his days in bed watching old Westerns and is delighted to see Gemma when she visits. Also, his dementia has made him a little trigger-happy. Recently tweeted by Kurt Sutter: “first day of production done. hal holbrook was awesome. sweet man. not a false fucking moment.”

There is also a rumor that Titus Welliver may be reprising his role as Jimmy O for a handful of episodes. *Fingers crossed* I love that guy!

Non-casting news
Here’s a small bone for those looking for news about lovebirds Jax & Tara (from EW): Season three will find them reeling from the trauma of season 2. “They’re both struggling with who they are as a couple,” reveals series creator Kurt Sutter. “It’s made them both take a step back. It was a reality check and it will impact everything they do throughout the season.”

Jax & Tara in happier times. Sounds like the honeymoon is on hiatis in season 3 as reality sets in...

And what about Gemma?
After killing Polly and getting framed for the death of Edmond Hayes, Gemma remains on the run but that doesn’t mean she’ll tame down nor will she lay low. “I’m in danger, I killed somebody. There’s an element of danger for everybody,” Katey Sagal tells TV Guide. “Gemma got totally screwed, but she’ll get revenge.” (source: BuddyTV)

Read on for a few additional spoilers.

Back to season 2 for a bit:

When is season 2 going to be out on DVD?
There’s no date yet on when it will be released. Mr. Sutter and the gang recently finished up the DVD commentary and also taped a roundtable discussion. Kurt asked people to send in questions that he randomly selected and answered for the DVD. He received over 2000 questions from fans! Good job answering the call, everyone.

Apparently the season 2 DVD is  available for pre-order on Amazon.com (price is listed at $34.99)!

additional SoA desktop wallpapers available at fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa

SoA in the U.K.
Season 2 of the show will air on Bravo UK very soon. Henry Rollins was interviewed (more like bamboozled) by a guy named Rich Pelley (who writes for The Guardian) who, not only irretrievably annoyed Mr. Rollins, but basically spoiled the fate of  his character, AJ Weston for the UK fans. What a douche.

Mr. Henry Rollins

Random tidbits:
Someone on Kurt’s FB page asked: where the idea of Bobby moonlighting as an Elvis impersonator came from and will we see any more of it?
Kurt answered part of the question: we have to use it sparingly. it costs like 10-20 K to use elvis’ likeness (bobby in a jumpsuit) and another 75-100 K to use a song… crazy how much the presley estate gets paid.

As a lot of you know, Kurt Sutter is a productive Twitter user and is still looking for more followers! He tweets frequently, so if you want to hear some news right from the heartbeat of the show, go follow him! He posted some pictures last week so I’m going to be bold and repost some of them here. (Looks like Charlie’s hair is a bit shorter this year. Enjoy!)

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. I will keep my eyes peeled as more news becomes available!

Related posts:
Sons of Anarchy Season 3 casting news
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers

Malcolmson, a.k.a. Amanda Graystone on “Caprica” and Trixie on “Deadwood,” has signed on for an eight-episode arc in the new season of “Sons of Anarchy.” She’ll be playing a character named Maureen.

Paula Malcolmson as "Trixie" on Deadwood will soon appear on season 3 of Sons of Anarchy

That season won’t air on FX until September, but a bit more casting news has already leaked out: Kenneth Johnson, who played Lem on “The Shield,” will be back in a six-episode arc to reprise his role as the Tacoma chapter’s Kozik, a Sons of Anarchy club member who has some kind of twisted history with Tig (Kim Coates).

Kenny Johnson, who we briefly saw in SOA season 2, will reprise his role as "Kozik"

Production on the third season of “Sons of Anarchy” begins in about three weeks.

story via Chicago Tribute

Dayton Callie, Theo Rossi, Mark Boone Junior and Kim Coates during their USO tour in the Persian Gulf

The eight-day USO tour visited Kuwait and Iraq, and touched more than 2,000 service men and women. Among the installations visited were Camp Arifjan, Camp Taji and Joint Base Balad. This was the first USO tour for the quartet.

In 2009, 157 USO celebrity entertainers traveled to 25 countries and 8 states, entertaining more than 275,000 troops and family members. “Leading up to this USO tour, I was very excited and couldn’t wait for it happen.” said Mark Boone Junior. “Now that it’s over and after spending time with the brave men and women serving on the frontlines, I can say that this trip has exceeded my expectations.”

All photos courtesy (and copyright) of the USO.

The actors came to Iraq to show their support for service members overseas. Kim Coates said, “I loved every moment of this trip, from being in the desert meeting service members to sharing this experience with my cast mates. I know that each of us walked away from our USO experience with a greater sense of how much these young men and women sacrifice on a daily basis. I can’t wait to do it again!”

They all signed autographs, held meet and greets and posed for photos with all service members. Theo Rossi said he was humbled by the experience. “We are a country at war, if you watch the news you know that. But this trip wasn’t about the war. It was about the troops and letting them know that they aren’t forgotten and that we appreciate the sacrifices they make every day.”

Even Dayton Callie seemed to be at a loss for words. “Thank you to the men and women who serve this country and thank you to the USO for making this trip happen. I honestly don’t know what else to say, this was an experience of a lifetime and I am so grateful to have been a part of it.”

Kim Coates discusses his experience about visiting service members during a USO tour with a military reporter.

Seems like they had a great time going out there and boosting the morale of all those soldiers.

This spring Kim Coates, Mark Boone Junior, Theo Rossi and Dayton Callie of the FX drama “Sons of Anarchy” will soon deploy to the Persian Gulf for an eight-day USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour. The first USO tour for all four actors, the cast mates will spend time with troops, sign autographs and pose for photos.

Dayton Callie, stars as ‘Chief Wayne Unser’ and is best known for his role as ‘Charlie Utter’ on the HBO series “Deadwood”

Kim Coates, stars as ‘Alex (Tig) Trager’ and is most recognized for his roles in the Academy Award-winning films “Blackhawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor”

Mark Boone Junior, stars as ‘Robert (Bobby) Munson’ and has appeared in box office hits “Batman Begins,” “Armageddon” and “2 Fast 2 Furious”

Theo Rossi, stars as ‘Jean Carlos (Juice) Ortiz’ and has made appearances in such feature films as “Code Breakers,” “Last Resort” and “Cloverfield”

More details soon!

Kurt Sutter posts an SoA FAQ

Since Mr. Sutter is heavily involved in social networking these days and making himself so accessible to his fans, he hears the same questions over and over and over and over and over and over…well you get the idea. So, he decided to compile a list of FAQ’s to hopefully squelch some of those questions. You can read them over at SutterInk.

As it’s an ever-growing list I can think of one more question he should add to that list pronto:
Ever thought of making Jax’s dad’s journal into an actual book?

Kurt, do yourself a favor and add that to the FAQ! (BTW-the answer to that is this: John Teller’s journal/biography is an ever-evolving document. It won’t be finished until the series ends. Then maybe it will get published.)

New SoA merchandise available

Too many sleazebags have been pirating Sons of Anarchy merchandise. Get the real stuff instead. FX added some new items to FX’s SoA store and it’s worth checking out.

top row: SoA Zippo $29.95, Samcro hoodie $42.95, SoA bandana $11.95, Men’s Teller/Morrow tee $24.95

bottom row: “Property of Redwood Original” women’s tee $24.95, Reaper Crew baseball cap $22.00,  Charming Born & Bred tee $24.95

Did you know?

I doubt there are many of you that are Twilight fans, but did you know that the author of the books, Stephanie Meyer, really really wanted Charlie Hunnam (Jax Teller) to play Carlisle Cullen?

On her website she said: “Second only to Edward on my “passionately decided” list is Carlisle’s character. My favorite: Charlie Hunnam. The reason this actor was able to get such a hold on me was his work as the title character in Nicholas Nickleby. He pretty much was Carlisle in that movie.”

Hmm, well I think we’re all glad that didn’t happen!

fun in photoshop: what the cast of Twilight *could* have looked like...yeah, it looks weird to me, too.

Help Kurt Sutter reach his goal

Kurt Sutter put the call out recently: by the season 3 premier he would like 50,000 fans on his Facebook page and 12,000 on Twitter. Ok, people. You have a mission. Get going.

Related posts:
Season 3 Sons of Anarchy news
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers

]]> http://www.rippin-kitten.com/2010/03/03/need-a-little-sons-of-anarchy-fix/feed/ 1 http://www.rippin-kitten.com/2010/02/18/sons-of-anarchy-news/ http://www.rippin-kitten.com/2010/02/18/sons-of-anarchy-news/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:58:46 +0000 Lizzie http://www.rippin-kitten.com/?p=2779 What’s up with season 3?

Well, news and details about season 3 of SOA still remain slim, but there are a few tidbits floating around out there. Last week Kurt updated his blog (in his jammies and slippers, no less) that he’s finally finding his groove getting back into the writing process:

“I’ve been back with the writers for a month now, and today was the first day I felt like I actually plugged back into the show.  I finished a first draft of episode 301 this week, but it wasn’t until I mulled, sorted and boarded 302 that I felt reconnected to the process of running a show.”

Of course he didn’t leak any details about story lines, but he did end his post by saying:

“Season three of Sons of Anarchy will take us to some new and very different places — both narratively and emotionally. We will reveal some dark Teller family secrets and create a few more in the process. It was John the Apostle who said “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Clearly he never spent a weekend with Gemma Teller.”

Casting news

Taryn Manning, who played Cherry in Season 1,  has been cast in the reboot of classic cop show Hawaii Five-O, which also stars Daniel Dae Kim (LOST) and Alex O’Loughlin. Kurt Sutter tweeted: “happy for taryn manning getting 5-0 gig. hopefully 3 will be the charm for les’ boy o’loughlin. bummed for soa, had an arc for cherry in S3.”

Sons of Anarchy merchandise

If you’re chomping at the bit for some SOA stuff to buy, have no fear. Kurt says “talked to the network yesterday. they r going to have LOTS MORE SOA MERCHANDISE for sale. on the website and IN STORES. i’ll keep you posted.” SA-WEET. Now be patient and stop buying those knock off t-shirts…

SOA knockoff t-shirt: if you're buying this crap...stop it. Stop it right now.

Extracurricular activities

Anybody catch Katey Sagal reprise her role as Helen on Lost? She and Terry O’quinn are two of the best actors on TV right now…

Katey Sagal on LOST (screencap from lost-media.com)

And lastly, we all know that Charlie Hunnam wrote a script for a movie based on Vlad the Impaler, which traces Dracula’s days back to when he was a wee impaler…

Vlad the Impaler

The script was picked up by Summit Entertainment, who we can thank for bringing us the Twilight franchise (take that with as much or as little sarcasm as you like) and now writer Scott Kosar (The Machinist and soon to be released The Crazies) has been asked to take a stab at it. The film is being produced by Mr. I-own-fifty-bazillion-expensive-motorcycles Brad Pitt.

If you got the scoop on some info, spoilers or news about Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy, feel free to leave a comment!

Related posts:
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers
Sons of Anarchy season 2 finale

So what do we already know? We know that season three will be back in September and that Kurt Sutter is already back in the writing room. And that he has offered “Coco” a guest spot on the show, which would be surreal but awesome!

I’ve casually scraped my news reader and perused the usual spoilerish sites that would have some juicy morsels to share. I’m not claiming that I am the end all, be all source of SoA news, but here’s a lil sumpthin’ sumpthin’:

From EpisodeInfo:

In an interview conducted with NJ.com, [Kurt] Sutter said that in the 3rd season he wants “to take them into a world that is outside their own, where they don’t have any control, where they are subject to other people’s laws and beliefs and parameters, where they aren’t quite the big fish in the small pond.”

Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Character Spoilers (Buddy TV):

Chief Unser: According to TV Guide, Unser will step down from his post next season, consequently leaving Hale as Deputy Chief. Series creator Kurt Sutter hints that Hale will be put on a tight spot on Sons of Anarchy season 3 and is forced to make tough decisions just as Unser did in the past.

“Unser came to understand… that you have to create relationships with these gangs and turn the other way sometimes and set parameters,” Sutter explained. “You can’t go by the letter of the law or you’re f—-d. Hale [will] have to learn those lessons and how much he’s willing to bend.”

Jax: Losing baby Abel will definitely affect Jax and his relationship with Tara on Sons of Anarchy Season 3. Series creator Kurt Sutter says he wants to “explore what happens to a couple when they’re faced with a tragedy like that….To be honest with you, I don’t know where it’s going to go. Does Tara blame herself? Does Tara blame Jax? Does Jax blame Tara? But that will be a very real dynamic in their relationship.”

Sons of Anarchy episode 2.3 "Fix"

From E! Online:
Kurt Sutter just headed back into the writers’ room and would only tell us this of season three: “I have a baby to find, and that’s all I know.” As for Gemma’s future as an outlaw, Katey Sagal doesn’t seem too worried. “I don’t think it will alter the family bond, but there are so many things that have to be addressed,” she explains. “Gemma obviously doesn’t know what’s happened to her grandson, and she’ll probably go insane when she finds out. I wouldn’t put anything past her. I’m sure she’ll take care of business.”

Kurt Sutter

If you got the scoop on some info, spoilers or news about Season three, leave a comment and share with the rest of the class. I will post updates as I stumble across them.

Related posts:
Season 3 Sons of Anarchy news
Updated 4/28/10! Sons of Anarchy season 3 update

Here’s to wishing everyone a happy New Year and thanks to you guys for hanging with Rippin-Kitten.com this year. It’s been a stellar year for the site and am looking forward to making next year an even better one!

I tend to get sentimental at the end of the year and I like to reflect back to see how things played out. Looking at the top posts for 2009, it’s pretty obvious that a little television show called Sons of Anarchy exploded not only on the biker subculture, but on the mainstream culture as well.

Twitter was another thing that blew up this year. I made a ton of great new friends that I converse with frequently and built up a substantial list of followers. So thank you guys for that. A highlight was getting the notification: Kurt Sutter is now following you on Twitter. Hell yeah!

So let’s take a look back at the most trafficked posts of this year!

Top 10 posts of 2009

• Sons of Anarchy season 2 update
• More info about Sons of Anarchy season 2
• A punk icon joins Sons of Anarchy
• So you want an old skool rally?
• Myrtle Beach rally now moving to NC
• Women’s only motorcycles: pandering or genius marketing?
• Billy Lane sentenced to six years
• Harley Davidson contributes to HBO’s True Blood campaign
• HD at Sturgis 2009: New models, events and more
• Sons of Anarchy update: 9.02.09

Next up: my personal top ten posts of 2009!

Episode 2.13 “Na Trioblóidí”

Na Trioblóidí means “the Troubles” in Gaelic.

As SAMCRO attempts to rid Charming of Ethan Zobelle and The League permanently, familiar faces present new challenges.

“Adjust and adapt, just like we always do.” – Ethan Zobelle

Sons of Anarchy season finale: Na Trioblóidí

The good:

• the blatant foreshadowing of the rats feeding on the dead crow in the opening shot. Genius.
• Zobelle’s not only a scum bag, he’s an FBI rat. Did you love his MC motorcade as he’s released from jail?
• Unser feeding info to Weston and the motivation behind it. Conversely, Hale’s confession to Weston is equally as gratifying, even though he still tries to land on the right side of the law.
• the (literal) Mexican stand-off on Main St.
• Otto’s revenge
• The surprisingly sad send-off of AJ Weston.
• Warm fuzzies between Jax & Clay over the bloodshed
• The Bitch is Back: Agent Stahl unleashes a major shit storm. In her defense I’d shoot anyone who punched me in the ovaries, too.
• Even though Stahl is setting her up to take the fall, I like the interchange between her and Gemma
• the highway scene where they go after cowardly Zobelle
• RIP Half-Sack. (Saw that coming last week with all the talk of patching him in). Poor kid.
• “I need you.”
• Zobelle…got away? Inconceivable!
• Gemma’s on the lamb with Wayne Unser. Classic.
• Abel’s abduction.

The not-so good:

• After all the time that has gone by it seems weird that that Gemma would pick this moment to go after Polly. But I do love her gun-toting stance as she walks through the door, aims the gun and juts her hip out to one side. So badass.
• Tara’s paralyzed inaction when Cameron shows up at the house. WTF?? She’s not a damsel in distress (as was clearly defined last week). When Cameron stuck Sack with the knife, you’d think she would have done something to stop him (especially since the gun was not in his hand). You know if it was Gemma in that situation, Cameron would’ve been castrated before he even knew what hit him. And letting Cameron take Abel? Oh HELL NO!

Holy mother of all cliffhangers! I should have known better than to expect the season to be wrapped up in a neat little package, but a silly part of me wanted that gratifying television cliche to come to fruition. But this is Kurt Sutter’s show and he isn’t about to give us a neat and tidy season finale. In fact, it was pretty fricking messy all around.

I wanted the League folks to get what they deserved. Let’s face it, Weston: not a nice guy. Polly: not a nice girl. But the bathroom scene with Weston was ugly enough without the addition of his kid being present. Weston was a total shitbag, but a shitbag that, in his own twisted way, loved his brainwashed, anti-semetic kids. And as for Polly, I wasn’t sad to see her go, but I wish it wasn’t at Gemma’s expense. I know…it sets up a lot for season 3.

The final few minutes of the show takes us from long-festering, hell-bent revenge to a heart-crushing kidnapping. Normally, a kidnapping event is a fairly innocuous plot device done a million times over. But the fact that the abductee in this situation is a teacup human mere months old that is as helpless as helpless can get, is what makes it so much more impactful.

Seeing little Abel, legitimately crying as he’s placed on the boat by a vengeful stranger, got me where it counts. Tears! Tears in my eyes, people! This essentially thrusts SAMCRO head-long into a crisis they’re completely inadequate to deal with. Guns, drugs, porn…no problem. But this? No way.

At the end they totally have a what the fuck just happened to us? look on their faces. They look like they just got donkey-punched in the balls. Without Gemma there to help them cope and devise a plan, you gotta wonder what they’re going to do. And we have to wait a whole year to find out!

Ratings:
The finale was cable’s #1 program for the night, with 4.33 million total viewers and 2.99 million adults 18 to 49, according to Nielsen Media Research. The episode was the most-watched ever for “Sons,” surpassing its Season Two premiere, which drew 4.29 million total viewers.

The finale was also the top-rated show on television in the 10 p.m. time period among men 18 to 49, or 1.92 million, and men 18 to 34, or 1.09 million, beating all three broadcast networks.

FX, Fox 21 and 20th placed this ad in all the trades

And as everyone probably knows by now, the network has ordered 13 episodes for the show’s third season, which is scheduled to begin in September 2010 (yippee!!). Also Kurt Sutter reached a deal on a two-year extension to continue his services as showrunner/writer on the show. The cast of regulars are also set to return next season.

I could go on and on about this show but I’ll refrain.  I would like to sincerely thank Kurt Sutter for writing a tremendous season and creating a show, about bikers no less, that makes me feel a little smarter while watching typically brain-numbing tv. It makes me want to crack open his skull and lick his brain. Which probably sounds icky, but the sentiment is sincere.

Instead, I’ll keep following him on Twitter until he gets bored with me and count down the days until September 2010.

Read my other episode reviews of season 2:

Episode 1: Albification
Episode 2: Small Tears
Episode 3: Fix
Episode 4: Eureka
Episode 5: Smite
Episode 6: Falx Cerebi
Episode 7: Gilead
Episode 8: Potlatch
Episode 9: Fa Guan
Episode 10: Balm
Episode 11: Service
Episode 12: The Culling

The entire SAMCRO family goes on lockdown inside the clubhouse as Jax and Clay prepare to battle The League.  A.J. Weston learns the truth about Ethan Zobelle’s business dealings in Charming. Applying what she has learned from Gemma, Tara ensures her position at St. Thomas Hospital.

“I get it now. God wants me to be a fierce mother. That’s my path.” – Gemma

The good:

• Pulling up the gates & manning battle stations at the SAMCRO fortress. You can see the strength in Clay as he speaks to everyone and understand why he’s the club leader.
• the club giving Half-Sack some props and potential patch-in. Ah, foreshadowing…
• how easy it was for AJ Weston to be turned against Zobelle. “We’re here to educate, not provoke.” Weston’s one crazy mofo!
• Chucky’s back with the truth of what happened to Cara Cara
• the high ICK factor of Zobelle confronting Polly of her “afternoon delight” with Edmund. And WHAT was up with that kiss he planted on her?? *shudder*
• more pressure on an already ticking bomb when Weston’s kids get repo’d
• I love the scene of Tara & Gemma discussing God and their paths in life.
• Jimmy O’s ruthlessness
• dead rats. Coulda been you, Chibs!
• Gemma’s influence rubbing off on Tara. She finally standing up for herself! Love the exclamation point at the end of the encounter when she pulls the gun out of her bag. Awesomeness.
• GEMMA! Seriously. I love her. Especially when she calls Chuck “Stumpy.” (oh and it looks like “Porn Girl” Lilah has been accepted into the family)
• Love the old skool rumble and how the alliance with the Asians and the OneNiners plays out. Henry Rollins brings a lot to the table with vitriolic Weston this episode. He’s not generally known for his acting abilities, but you gotta give him props here.
• That last intense scene inside the cigar shop. Clay’s understandable brutality towards Polly & Zobelle, Hale’s panicked uncertainty, Unser’s straddling of the fine line here and SAMCRO gets jipped as Zobelle takes the easy way out, getting himself and his daughter arrested. You want to hit him with a cast iron skillet when you see the smug look on his face as he’s led past Clay.
• The overall amazing use of music in this episode. Talk about evoking emotions. Wow.

The not-so good:

• This is the last we see of Titus Welliver’s Jimmy O this season
• only ONE episode left!

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
Surprisingly the numbers were down slightly this week, according to TV by the Numbers. It was still the number one cable show with adults 18-49 for the night.

Articles:
SoA at salon.com

Next week:
Episode 2.13 “Na Triobliodi”
It’s here! The 90 minute Season 2 finale! The second season ends with SAMCRO trying to get rid of Ethan Zobelle and his cohorts once and for all.

Chibs makes a secret deal with Agent Stahl in order to protect his wife and daughter. Opie learns the true circumstances that led to Donna’s death and seeks both revenge and reconciliation.

“The outlaw had mercy.” -Opie

Sons of Anarchy season 2 episode 11 "Service"

The subtitle to this episode should have been True Confessions of the Sons of Anarchy. Wow. Everyone has laid their cards out on the table this week and things have now gotten verrrry interesting.

The good:

• Gemma’s gamble pays off and the Jax/Clay rift is closed and sealed tightly. I got the warm fuzzies seeing Clay holding Abel while they discussed killing their enemies…
• Tara’s diarrhea-of-the mouth string of openess to Jax. I actually had to giggle at her moment of craziness.
• the sticky groping make-out scene with Tig & Gemma that says so much without saying anything at all. Tig needs to feel something other than guilt, Gemma needs to know that someone still desires her after she convinced herself that Clay will reject her since she was violated.
• Tig’s inevitable guilt-consumed moment of spilling the beans. I wanted Opie to beat on him a little more, not take off after the blame was placed on Agent Stahl. But if he didn’t go after her he’d never have found out about Chibs’ deal
• I love how all the various plot points are beginning to come together, like when Jax realizes that Zobelle is in bed with the Mayans and the implications of that partnership.
• Opie’s confrontation with Stahl had me on the edge of my seat, especially when he handed her the empty magazine. Whoa. Ally Walker’s performance was great in this scene.
• Gemma’s flirtation with religion boils down to the poignant conversation she has with the priest, which I would say directly impacts the scene she shares with Chibs later on. In fact, this episode it’s reiterated that she is *the* female epicenter of the club.
• the “Guy-Love” scene with Opie and Jax. So glad to see them getting along again.
• Ryan Hurst. Good lord he is great.
• Clay, in a sense, is starting to “get it.” Finally.

The not-so good:

• I kind of expected Jimmy O. to be more full of piss & vinegar during the chat with Clay. Perhaps this is a quiet facet of the character.
• As much as I love how Opie handled everything with thought and quiet rage, didn’t you just want to see him go bat shit ballistic on everyone? But of course, that would be too obvious of a reaction for this show, right?

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
Update: TV by the Numbers says: Tuesday night’s Sons of Anarchy tied The Jay Leno Show with a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating and beat ABC’s the forgotten (1.8).   Tuesdays are Jay Leno’s best ratings  of the week, too (so yeah, SOA’s 18-49 numbers beat the Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday airings of The Jay Leno Show).

Follow SutterInk on Twitter
This is a carry over from last week, but deserves to be repeated. If you’re on Twitter, a fan of the show and not following Kurt Sutter, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. He’s not only a direct line to the show itself, but he’s also candid, frank, brutally honest and still somewhat approachable (if you’re respectful and not a babbling idiot). He’s looking to build his Twitter followers, since there’s no official Twitter account for SoA.

There’s even some incentive: “loving the power of twitter. no SOA twitter account, so help me grow Sutterink. want 5213 followers by the finale. signed scripts for number(s) 3666, 4069, 5213.“

As of today’s post he is up to 4059 followers, so start following @sutterink and you could win a signed script!

Sons of Anarchy: Most Shocking Moments
TV Without Pity has posted a photo gallery of them.

Interviews
Katey Sagal, mother of Anarchy
Katey Sagal, mother of Sons of Anarchy
Arkin digs into role on Sons of Anarchy
Kurt Sutter: Celebrity Podcast Interview with the “Sons of Anarchy” creator

Next week:
Episode 2.12 “The Culling”
The entire SAMCRO family goes on lockdown inside the clubhouse as Jax and Clay prepare to battle The League.   A.J. Weston learns the truth about Ethan Zobelle’s business dealings in Charming.  Applying what she has learned from Gemma, Tara ensures her position at St. Thomas Hospital.

An extra-long episode billed as a 90 minute show is really about 54 minutes of content. If you don’t like extra commercial breaks then you might want to consider watching the next 90 minute episode (season finale) from your TiVo or DVR.

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.

“This is just a detour on a very long road.” -Jax

Opie in episode 2.10 "Balm"

The good:

• Piney makes a poignant return
• Chibs giving the ATF a heart-attack when he confronts Edmund about the guns and HELLO TITUS, I mean, Jimmy O!
• I am liking Agent Stahl this season for her cheeky yet no bullshit approach
• learning the amount of damage that Jimmy O has caused in Chibs’ life (not to mention how diabolical he truly is when talking about Chibs’ daughter. Ewww.) “We both know he’s the devil.”
• the scene where Jax & Gemma discuss him going Nomad is so amazing. As my Twitter friend, @robdale tweeted to me: “one of the most subtle SOA scenes is when Gemma asks Jax if he was going to tell her about going Nomad. She tells him to sit down. He goes into her office and sits down and removes his hat. Suddenly, he is just a boy talking to his mom.”
• brass and fungi
• Chibs’ limits pushed beyond his control
• when Jax apologizes to Clay for assuming he was responsible for the fire at Caracara, Clay is less than responsive. It’s a juxtaposition of the prior scene with Gemma: she’s Jax’s loving mother who will do what it takes to keep him around. Clay is the evil step-dad that wants to remove a giant obstacle, which at this point is Jax.
  
• “It’s cowarm!“
• the minute Gemma says to Unser “you need to protect the club” we know exactly what she plans to do. And it made me squirm in my seat.
• Opie’s coming out of the death spiral he was in, even if it’s a result of getting involved with a coke-head porn star. Think it’ll last?
  
• Tig & Halfsack’s very different experiences on the “serious fungi”
• I have no words that could do justice to the final scene of Gemma’s confession to Jax & Clay. The acting is so unbelievable in the most subtle way possible: through their eyes. Tara’s silent encouragement. Clay’s realization of the suffering his wife has been going through. Jax’s hurt and anger that someone could defile his mother so completely.

  The stillness of the scene is what makes it so powerful. You can feel the tension in the room and the stunned silence of everyone when Gemma drops this bomb on them. That they didn’t react in what could have been formulaic television drama makes it so much more powerful (sure Jax has that one outburst slamming his hand on the table, but let’s cut him some slack. He’s had an incredibly shitty day that just got an assload worse).

  I guarantee there wasn’t a dry eye in anyone’s house after Jax gets up and takes his mother’s hands in his own.

  And the irony is that this one act that Zoebelle thought would tear SAMCRO apart will actually have the opposite effect. If Gemma had told them straight out right after it happened, the outcome might have been what Zobelle was counting on. We’ll never know. She kept it secret for so long to maintain the club’s stability. By picking the moment before it almost fell apart irrevocably would hopefully bring Jax & Clay back together. It was a big gamble on her part and when Jax grabs his patches on his way out of the door, it looks like it’s going to pay off.

The not-so good:

• We still don’t know whether Chucky or Darby died in the fire at Caracara. I’m assuming this info will be revealed in the near future.
• Poor Tara, despite doing right by her man and the club, she still gets cornholed at the hospital by being put on suspension
• Abel. It’s a nitpicky thing but we all know that kids take up a lot more time than this kid does. He must sleep a lot. And spend a lot of time with the nanny.
• Only 3 episodes left of the season!

The interesting:

• For a second time, Jax is referred to as the “Prince”-this time by Agent Stahl.
• Does Gemma really think that John Teller committed suicide or does she know that he was murdered by Clay?
• Opie twice makes reference to Clay as Jax’s “father”. At first I thought that he was so wrapped up in his own familiar turmoil that he was trying to imprint it on everyone else, but in watching it again it occurred to me that he’s trying to use the father/son bond (as loose as it is) to remind Clay & Jax of the basic nature of their relationship. This reminder, on top of the anvil that Gemma dropped on them at the end of the episode, helps build the bridge that closes the rift between them.
• Good GOD if Katey Sagal doesn’t get some sort of Emmy nod it will be a crime! The show itself has already been overlooked for a People’s Choice Award…
• I think Charlie Hunnam needs a nod for his performance as well. Katey Sagal is so good as Gemma that she can overshadow others easily. In “Balm” Charlie has takes Jax and boils him down to what he really is: a scared kid. He looks to his elders for advice all episode long. He finds some solid advice from Gemma and Bobby. But twice he’d gone to the only father figure he has looking for acceptance, and twice he was shot down. Clearly the decision to go Nomad was not something he truly wanted to do, evident by the dejected look on Jax’s face after the vote is unanimous for him to go. He had hoped that the club would fight for him to stay. And then of course there’s that final scene…whew! Nice job.

Sons of anarchy news

I’m keeping the news aspect light this week since my observations of the episode were so lengthy.

Ratings
TV by the Numbers reports that the 90 minute episode averaged 3.38 million viewers, making it basic cable’s most watched show in primetime with adults 18-49. Compared to its season one average, Sons has shown an increase of 64% in total viewers.

Follow SutterInk on Twitter

If you’re on Twitter, are a fan of the show and not following Kurt Sutter, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. He’s not only a direct line to the show itself, but he’s also candid, frank, brutally honest and still somewhat approachable (if you’re respectful and not a babbling idiot). He’s looking to build his Twitter followers, since there’s no official Twitter account for SoA.

There’s even some incentive: “loving the power of twitter. no SOA twitter account, so help me grow Sutterink. want 5213 followers by the finale. signed scripts for number(s) 3666, 4069, 5213.“

He’s roughly got 3600 followers at the moment, so start following @sutterink and you could win a signed script!

What he has to say about “Balm“:
“Glad people dug balm. Knew I wanted to play out that reveal and have gemma use it to help heal. So proud o my cast and my beautiful wife.”

“To all you fucking whining about the commercials last night-90 minute ep is a seven act structure. More act breaks, more ads. It ain’t hbo.“

See? Brutally honest and frank.

Next week:
Episode 2.11 “Service”
Chibs makes a secret deal with Agent Stahl in order to protect his wife and daughter. Opie learns the true circumstances that led to Donna’s death and seeks both revenge and reconciliation.

Whoa!

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.

Potlatch: A leader holds a feast for friends and family in their home. The main purpose is the re-distribution and reciprocity of wealth.

With an already-dwindling gun supply in question, SAMCRO takes extreme measures to procure weapons for a customer. The revenge that is sought following a theft at Caracara Studios puts one diva at risk. Tara’s professional and personal lives begin to collide.

“Change won’t happen quick, or without blood, but it’ll happen. It has to.” -Jax

Sons of Anarchy "Potlatch"

The good:

• Nutical!
• the Pandora’s box that opened with the break-in at Caracara
• Chucky’s back, sans 8 digits (“I accept that“)
• The “Irish bitch” is back, we meet Mrs. Chibs
• This time around, Tom Arnold is wonderfully sleazy as George Caruso
• Walking into a Mayan ambush at LaRoy’s
• tension within the ranks of the League
• Tara’s worlds in a power struggle
• Zobelle’s logic in supplying guns to the Mayans
• the rift within SAMCRO gets just that much wider

The not-so good:

• Ah, Luanne…we hardly knew ye
• only 5 episodes left this season!
  

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
TV by the Numbers reports that SoA is a hit with adults in the 18-49 and the 18-34 age bracket, being the only scripted drama in both top ten lists of shows.

File this under my own personal excitement: apparently another “Deadwood” alumni (and recently of Lost, playing Jacob’s enemy), Titus Welliver, will be joining SoA for a few episodes. The other alumn is, of course, Dayton Callie who plays Chief Unser.

Titus Welliver & Dayton Callie from HBO's now defunct "Deadwood"

I have to give a shout-out to Michael Ornstein, who plays Chucky and is a fellow MA resident. From Boston.com:

Here’s a good reason to watch the FX biker show “Sons of Anarchy’’ tonight – one of the show’s guest stars is one of our own, a resident of the Barnstable village of Cotuit. Actor Michael Ornstein, who moved with his family to the Cape a few years ago, appears in the show for the second season in a row as Chuck Marstein, an accountant with an unusual sexual issue. “It’s a very unique tick,’’ Ornstein explains with a giggle. “It’s a big problem.’’ Ornstein, 46, tells us he’ll play Marstein in four episodes this season. The work on “Sons’’ has had him traveling between the Cape and Los Angeles, but he says he’ll be home in the Bay State to watch the show tonight. “Maybe my kids can stay up a little late to watch,’’ he joked.

When you recognize quality but don’t watch it: SOA vs NCIS: sadly this kind of logic is why some really great shows are no longer on the air

The Watcher voted SoA’s theme song one of the best on tv: “This Life” from “Sons of Anarchy” – Curtis Stigers is better known as a jazz saxophonist and vocalist, but he does a great impression of an old-fashioned blues singer here. The song is a perfect fit for the show, but it stands on its own, too.

SoA theme song voted one of the best on tv today

The big buzz of the week past is how SoA beat out (actually, I believe the adjective I saw used was “crushed“) Jay Leno in the 10 o’clock time slot for Tuesday night . Seems like lots of folks in “the industry” are shocked by this fact, although I can’t really figure out why. Kurt Sutter sounds off as to why it ain’t Jay’s fault on his blog at SutterInk.

Women's Sons Of Anarchy 'SAMCRO' T-shirt

And if you want to show off your love for the show, there is now official Sons of Anarchy merchandise for sale. The official store has t-shirts, pint and shot glasses, hats and much more to choose from.

Next week:
Episode 2.9 “Fa Guan”

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.

From the Scriptures, “Gilead” means hill of testimony or mound of witness, a mountainous region east of the Jordan River, situated in the present-day Kingdom of Jordan.

“You know, this club needs a healing, brother. And you’ve got to be the one to deliver it.” -Bobby to Jax

The boys are locked up in the slammer with no friends to watch their backs. Opie’s up to his elbows holding down the Teller-Morrow fort, trying to fulfill Clay’s requests & on top of it, his own kids. Gemma struggles to find solace while doing whatever she can to get her boys out of jail. Everyone is trying to make sense of it all and find some inner peace.  **Spoilers ahead**

Jax in episode 7 "Gilead"

Clay in his prison duds

The good:

• the vulnerability of SAMCRO in jail
• Helloooo Agent Stahl
• the Zobelle/IRA connection: guns
• Juice’s comical “romantic” endeavors
• Gemma calling in the favor on Elliott Oswald & the really sweet interaction with his daughter, a rape survivor
  
• Opie stepping up to the plate for the club
  
• Tara calling Lyla “porn girl” (it made me snicker)
  
• Agent Stahl’s tactics putting a bigger rift between Clay & Jax, leading to the inevitable blow-out
  
• the palpable tension and parting of ways when the guys get home, leaving Gemma & Tara perplexed
  

The not-so good:

• Juice getting shivved for his troubles
• Plan backfired and Sheriff Trammel getting popped.
  

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
TV by the Numbers reports that last week while Sons of Anarchy didn’t make the weekly cable top 40 by viewers (it was 49th, 3.312 million) it was the number three show with adults 18-49 on cable, trailing only ESPN’s Monday Night Football, and TBS’ coverage of game one of the NLCS between the Phillies and the Dodgers.

Sons of Anarchy was the only scripted show in the 18-49 top 10 last week and was also the only scripted non-animated show with adults 18-34 last week, coming in 8th.

Charlie Hunnam on Carson Daly
Kurt Sutter posted this video interview on his site last week. Somewhere in the swirling voids of my mind I knew that Charlie was English, but hearing him speak normally threw me off a little!

And speaking of…here’s an eyeful of man candy featuring young Mr. Hunnam for you ladies! Aww…so cute!

Next week:
Episode 2.8 “Potlatch”

Zobelle’s business dealings with SAMCRO rivals exacerbate divisions in the club, which is already riven by the Jax-Clay split. And complicating matters further, Georgie Caruso’s (Tom Arnold) thugs attack Luanne’s studio. Meanwhile, Clay comes to an agreement with Elliott Oswald; and Chibs’ estranged wife shows up at his hospital bedside. Tara’s professional and personal lives begin to collide.

Falx Cerebri: n.
The scythe-shaped fold of dura mater in the longitudinal fissure between the two cerebral hemispheres.

“I got a bad feeling we’ll be walking right into a trap.”- Jax

A fortuitous quote in the first 5 minutes of the show. This episode’s title is representative of the conflicting leadership styles of Clay & Jax: Clay’s hellbent, emotive retaliation efforts vs. Jax’s strategic, overly-thought out plan. This time around, Clay wins out and sends the club out on a duck hunt for Zobelle & Weston. **Spoilers ahead**

episode 6: Falx Cerebi

The cop & the criminal

The good (and SO much of it!):

• Chibs is ok
• The Hale/Jax connection
• Tara’s look of realization as to why someone planted the car bomb
• Radioactive pee
• Seeing more of Polly Zobelle this week and realizing the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
• Weston’s brain-washed kids
• Could I love Gemma any more? Taking Tara under her wing, the hatbox collection (and the toy surprises inside!) and shooting up Trampy McTramp’s car
• Hale blackmailing Polly
• The well-planned ambush of SAMCRO

The not-so good:

• We’re just about half-way through the season!

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
TV by the Numbers reports that ratings stayed flat from last week (3.763 million) but up with adults 18-49, completely beating the pants off of ABC’s “The Forgotten.”

Kurt Sutter tweeted about the overall numbers for Season 2: “Sons of Anarchy season 2 avg. 3.7 million P2+ and 2.6 million A18-49, gains of +68% and +77% vs. season 1. Very impressive.”

**Spoilers**

E!Online is reporting that someone on the show is gonna get whacked in episode 8, “Potlatch”:

Brace yourselves, Samcro fans, because in an upcoming episode of FX’s ultragritty family drama Sons of Anarchy, someone close to the club gets dead. Majorly dead. Blood and brain matter dead. And when you learn who it is, your heart is going to break a little. So is it Chibs (Tommy Flanagan), who just took a car bomb to the head…or could there be someone else on the chopping block?…The good news is the death ain’t Chibs. The bad news is that it’s somebody else about whom the club cares deeply.

A lot of people are guessing that perhaps the unfortunate soul is Unser, but according to E!Online’s Spoiler Chat: We don’t want to give away the farm too early, but here’s another big hint: If you guessed a man in uniform, you guessed wrong.
Uh oh.

Next week:
Episode 2.7 “Gilead”
Since The League has SAMCRO members behind bars, the club must make new alliances in prison to survive. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent Stahl uses this imprisonment to test Jax and Clay’s relationship.

Kurt Sutter tweeted yesterday: “next week’s ep 7, gilead, probably my favorite of the season. clearly “oz” was my favorite show. i think fontana is a genius. i aspire…”

“These guys…they’re monied and connected: both sides of the law.”

SAMCRO finally realizes how big of a threat the League is to them, not that they were being subtle about it. I don’t know how you guys felt while watching, but there were a lot of “holy shit” moments for me for sure. **Spoilers ahead!**

more headbutting between Clay & Jax

The MC is clearly divided between the two men.

The good:

• The League’s tenacious ferocity towards SAMCRO
• Poor Otto…
• Tara’s ride: SWEET
• Learning that the blond girl who lured Gemma is Zobelle’s daughter
• Gemma reading an excerpt of John Teller’s book
• Unser divulging to Hale what happened to Gemma
• Jax letting Tara read The Life and Death of SAMCRO
• The explosive end

The no-so good:

• OPIE! I miss the Opie we knew last season. I know the evolution of his character is serving a purpose, but…

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings for last week’s episode “Eureka”
In last week’s update I mentioned that this episode was the second highest in ratings after the season premier. TV by the Numbers reports that SoA averaged 3.76 million viewers (up in viewers from the previous week’s 3.49 million for “Fix”). The show is beating FX’s other shows Damages and Rescue Me by a fairly wide margin. So, keep watching everyone!!

Full episode list for season 2:
Episode 1: “Albification”
Episode 2: “Small Tears”
Episode 3: “Fix”
Episode 4: “Eureka”
Episode 5: “Smite”
Episode 6: “Falx Cerebri”
Episode 7: “Gilead”
Episode 8: “Potlatch”
Episode 9: “Fa Guan”
Episode 10: “Balm”
Episode 11: “Service”
Episode 12: “The Culling”
Episode 13: “Na Trioblóidí”

Kurt Sutter attends Sonny’s 71st
Over the weekend Kurt Sutter attended Sonny Barger’s 71st birthday party and received permission to write a blog entry about it. Really interesting peek into a world I will never know.

A while back, I got wind that Sonny was a fan of Sons. My initial response was relief. Perhaps the same relief David Chase [creator of the Sopranos] felt when he got a gift basket instead of a dead fish from his Italian brethren.

My husband had met Sonny Barger a few years ago when he photographed a portrait of him at a bike rally. Knowing how things typically work around Mr. Barger, I feel comfortable in saying that Kurt Sutter is blessed to be welcomed into that circle with open arms.

Read the entire post over at SutterInk

IESB.com visited the SOA set and has not one, not two, but THREE great interviews to read:
Ryan Hurst (Opie), Theo Rossi (Juice), Kim Coates (Tig) and Mark Boone Junior (Bobby)
William Lucking (Piney)
Tommy Flanagan (Chibs)

Special Effects
From last week’s episode, the crew smashed thru a ratty motel to liberate Tig from the bounty hunters. Here’s a little tidbit of that event from behind the scenes. From the FX SOA production blog: “they got to build AND destroy one of the many sets you see in the show. It is oddly satisfying – so I’m told – to build something only to crash a flatbed truck right into it.”

I was sure satisfied while I was watching it…

And something to ponder: why are SO MANY people offended by the fact that Jax wears WHITE sneakers?
The amount of comments that fly around about the stupid sneakers is stunning to me. In fact, it has resulted as one of my highest commented posts on this site, and I have also seen it happen on other sites as well. I don’t get it!

Next week:
Episode 2.6 “Falx Cerebri”
After the explosion, retaliation is a go as the tension between Jax and Clay begins to boil over. Despite best efforts, the rift between Jax and Opie widens as Clay further embraces him. Jax works with an unlikely partner in a last ditch effort to protect the club.

“If you come across something that don’t make you miserable, enjoy it.”

Dayton Callie as Wane Unser

Last night we were drawn deeper in the turmoil swirling around the members of (and those touched by) SAMCRO. Clay’s arthritis is getting worse, he & Jax are butting heads more and more, Tara’s life is almost becoming divided by her relationship with Jax (doctor vs. “old lady”), Gemma’s torment, Unser’s struggle with doing the right thing, Opie’s drifting allegiance and then there’s Tig (“Assault and indecent exposure inside a livestock transport”)…

The good (and a LOT of it):

• Tara’s epiphany
• Gemma pulling the gun
• Clay vs. Jax
• seeing Unser’s strengths for a change while trying to take care of Gemma
• the rescue (gotta love Piney!)
• seeing the Oregon chapter of SoA
• the humanization of AJ Weston
• the chilling exchange between Clay & Jax

The bad (not a whole lot!):

• Gemma’s weakness once again exposed: her compassion for the parent/child bond (and this is bad mainly for the sheer frustration of it all). I really wanted to see her put one in the back of Weston’s head!

Sons of Anarchy: Eureka

Did anyone out there watch the HBO show “Deadwood”? Is it me or do you also have a hard time distinguishing Dayton Callie’s Wayne Unser from his character Charlie Utter? I think I have a brain wire crossed somewhere…

Sons of Anarchy news

It’s a been a pretty slow news week around here.

Ratings
Eureka was the 2nd highest in ratings after the season premier. Beat networks in 18-49 men.  Nice job!

Kurt Sutter’s request to The Boss falls through.
There was a particular Bruce Springsteen song that he wanted to use for the season finale of the show but the Boss’ legal team kept swatting him down.

Kurt Sutter

From Sutter’s blog:

So some of you have been aware of my tweets about the Springsteen song I wanted for the finale. I won’t mention the song, suffice to say it’s one of Bruce’s more obscure rockers.

Because of the accelerated pace of our production schedule we were initially declined. Bruce is on tour and they needed a bigger window to get his approval. Someone at FX has a direct line to his manager so we were able to cut through to someone who can make a decision. I made that call yesterday. Here’s the problem, Bruce does not allow commercial covers of his songs. Part of our musical signature on Sons is to use obscure songs from little known bands and to do covers of classic 60′s and 70′s tunes. Partly because the costs for masters of iconic music is astronomical. To get the master cover from Sony for the Bruce song I wanted would have been upwards of $75,000 for one use. That’s my music budget for three shows.

So alas, we won’t be using the Bruce song in the finale. But what’s been true for the tenure of SOA holds firm in this situation as well. We didn’t get the song because there is a better choice out there.

Special Effects
Here’s a behind the scene look at how they crafted last week’s explosion of the house meth lab.

Next week:
Episode 2.5 “Smite”
While Jax and Clay lock horns (and line up support) over how to deal with Zobelle, Tara finds herself ensnared in Gemma’s emotional struggle in the aftermath of her attack. Meanwhile, SAMCRO gets help from an unlikely source.

“Nobody likes seeing Mommy and Daddy fight.”

Sons of Anarchy episode 2.3 "Fix"

Last night’s episode was a definite set-up to further some drama and tensions for what we will see as the season progresses. Gemma’s ordeal is clearly taking a toll, not only on her, but also on her marriage. Clay is about as understanding as Clay can be…but a man has needs, as we can clearly toward the end of the episode. Tara & Jax: are they doomed lovebirds? How much can she take of seeing the world that he lives in? (And is it only me or do these two totally lack onscreen chemistry? I feel like every scene is forced.) Ethan Zobelle continues to be a meddlesome meddler and, of course, got Deputy Hale eating out of his hand.

The good:

• Bobby singing “Hava Nagila” as Elvis
• Gemma mentoring Tara about the ways of the club & how to keep her man
• The mounting strain between Gemma & Clay, resulting in a smashed window
• Opie’s blatant disregard for self-preservation
• More of Charlie Hunnam’s butt!
• Tara’s expression when she & Jax were “caught” in the act

The not-so good:

• Mr. Rollins was absent this week

Sons of Anarchy news

Ratings:
Well it would appear that there was a 19% slippage for the second week, which is a little more than one usually likes to see after a premiere, although it was seen by 3.7 million viewers, 3 million of which were adults 18-49. Among total viewers, the show held up slightly better, dropping 14%. Those are still great numbers for FX and remember, the premiere was up 95% over last year.

TV Squad recently visited the set of SoA during some final writing sessions for the second season. While they didn’t learn anything telling, they do hint that the show so closely follows Shakespeare’s Hamlet that each season will almost mirror each act of the play. Now although I’m a little rusty on my Shakespeare (although I did love it in high school), I’m pretty sure that I remember the final act of Hamlet being a blood bath. They don’t call them tragedies for nuthin’.

Monsters & Critics has a refreshing interview with supporting actor Kim Coates, who plays Tig, the resident psycho and loyal follower of Clay. When asked about how season two was shaping up for “Sons of Anarchy,” and especially Tig, Coates noted his conversation with Kurt Sutter.

“Kurt pulled me aside before we started shooting,” Kim said. “He told me that it was going to be a funny year for him, that he had kind of lost his ‘mojo’ and was in a bad place over the thing with Donna.”

Initially, you know, (Ron) Perlman and I were late cast additions to the series, and the shaping of Tig was a process, I had to trust Kurt that, well, I am very careful with my bad boys, and I wanted to strike the right balance of humor with his tough as nails attitude, he’s a psychopath!  A lot of the stuff he does is sick, but interesting to watch.  But I wanted Tig to also have heart, but the Donna thing of course was wrong on so many levels, and Tig this season really has a hard time with it…he’s lost his way a little.”

Season 2 finale is in the can!
The filming of the final episode of SoA wrapped this week and Kurt Sutter is now in post-production. Some of his tweets (@sutterink) from this week are very telling of how things went and a hint of the carnage we’ll likely see in the finale:

another huge day. lots of gunplay and blood. 8:37 AM Sep 14th

day 5 of 8 (9?). HUGE fucking episode. who wrote this monster? i’m shooting pretty damn efficiently and still dropping scenes everyday. 8:32 AM Sep 15th

i directed the finale last year, but this one is way more proactive. a 90 minute indi-thriller. every scene is pretty much an action beat. 9:56 AM Sep 17th

day 8 of 9. starting late, finishing later. it’s gonna be a very bloody day. in front and behind the cameras. 12:06 PM Sep 18th

last day of shooting. good morning. on sked. just wrapped HR for the season. 1:14 PM Sep 21st

been trying to get use rights for a springsteen song for the finale. keep getting shot down by their legal team. need a line to bruce. about 12:30 PM Sept 23

post 212. the script is not a fucking blueprint. every word serves a specific purpose. dropping lines and adlibs drives me fucking nuts. 9:50 PM Sept 23

Here’s a peek into next week:
Episode 2.4 “Eureka”
When SAMCRO heads north to Eureka on a “charity” club run, they find more than just bike trouble when they cross state lines. The need to act fast causes the tension between Clay and Jax to rise. And with Samcro out of Charming, Gemma’s left in a tight position with The League.

What can I say about last night’s episode? Whoo doggy! And there was an unscheduled full moon last night: helloooo Charlie Hunnam bum shot!

gratuitous nekkidness!

To be honest I had higher expectations for the season premier. First of all, there were way too many commercials for my liking and I thought the “horrible event” was a bit…cliché (but I think maybe I have more of a Teflon coating than most viewers). However, I do expect the show to escalate over the season, much like it did last season, and I think we’re all in for some good storytelling. 

Highlights:

• Katey Segal still great as Gemma. And how many black, lacy shirts do you think that woman has in her wardrobe? Amazing.
• Rollins, Rollins, Rollins! He brought amazing coldness to his character. And unlike the majority of the SoA cast, those tattoos are real, kids!
• The title for last night’s episode was “Albification” which by definition means: the act or process of making white.

What did you guys think of it?

Sons of Anarchy news: warning some SPOILERS ahead

EW says aside from Katey Segal’s Emmy-worthy performance as Gemma, there are 5 things to watch for in Season 2:

1. The arrival of recurring guest stars Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins. They play white separatists determined to do whatever it takes to get the club to stop selling guns to gangs. “It’s no mystery how that’s gonna unfold ultimately,” Hunnam says. “It’s gonna be bloody.”

2. A brutal final few moments of the season premiere. Something happens to Gemma that will make you want to punch someone and/or your TV. Just know it serves a storytelling purpose. “There’s a slow build in the resentment between Clay and Jax that comes to a head in the middle of the season in a very explosive and violent manner, and we needed something that huge to bring us back together. The event is concealed from the vast majority of the club until Gemma realizes that she needs to pull the trigger and finally reveal this awful thing that happened to her in an attempt to unify us,” Hunnam says. “I think it was a very smart thing that [creator Kurt Sutter, Sagal's real-life husband] has done actually. I totally agree that it could potentially put people off a little bit because it is just so horrifying, but if you stay put through the course of the season, there’s a really nice payoff at the end.”

3. Jax getting the club involved in the porn business. Big Otto’s wife Luann runs into trouble keeping her porn studio afloat, and Jax brings the club in as a partner to bail her out. In addition to affording an opportunity for much-needed levity, it gives Sutter a chance to fulfill Hunnam’s one request for season 2: That Jax play a much bigger role in the day-to-day mechanics of the club. “Through the course of the first season, Jax was very reluctant to engage in a lot of the business of the club, mainly running guns, which is something I always liked that he was against. But I also felt like Jax is a gangster, and gangsters like to make money. He needs to prove that if he was the president of the club, he’d be a strong leader, bring in some money, and do a better job than Clay.”

4. Jax’s son, Abel, being a quiet baby. Drea de Matteo, who played Abel’s mother, Wendy, is headed to Wisteria Lane, which means Jax is now a full-time father. “Which is fun, but boy, it’s kind of hard working with babies,” Hunnam says. “It’s all adorable and very sweet when they’re cooing and inquisitive and playing with my beard and grabbing my hair. They stay at that level for a couple of minutes, and then they get bored and start crying and we have to bring in a rubber baby. We’ve just opted for Abel sleeping a lot.”

5. Two shower scenes! Jax is committed to making his relationship with Tara (Mad Men’s Maggie Siff) work, though their ongoing issues ruin what could’ve been a romantic shower scene in the season premiere. But, Hunnam promises, “the second shower scene later in the season is a little more hot and steamy.” The actor doesn’t have a problem with nudity. “I had such a baptism of fire since my first job was [the UK] Queer as Folk, and I had to be 18-years-old, fully naked, and engaging in pretty graphic sex scenes with another man,” he says. “After that, anything that Sons of Anarchy can throw at me is pretty much a cakewalk. I’d still say the baby is more difficult.”

Katey Segal & Ron Perlman as "Jemma and Clay"

Ron Perlman has been making the rounds with two similar sounding but different enough interviews, one at Pop Culture Zoo and one at IESB.com. I liked hearing his take on the show and of his character, Clay. Oh, and it would seems he’s finally put some decent time in the saddle and gotten a little better with his riding skills!

Chicago Tribune thinks SoA has definitely upped it’s game this season.

“The pacing is better, the plotting is tighter and the supporting cast is full of gems.”

TV Gal from Zap2It falls into the camp that is too squeamish to watch SoA:

“I’ve watched the second season premiere and the show simply isn’t for me. But I can appreciate why so many of you enjoy it and I’ll continue to check in on it as the second season progresses.”

She should just stick to Vampire Diaries and So You Think You Can Dance. This show is way out of her league.

Clay & Jax, Sons of Anarchy Season 2

*Tweet tweet*

Kurt Sutter is on Twitter (at least for the time being until he deletes his account “’cause i will feel frivolous and shameful“): @sutterink
Katey Segal is also on the tweets as well: @kateysegal

SoA Party in a Box giveaway is still happening!
The FX network is encouraging fans to throw Sons of Anarchy viewing parties and are having a Party In a Box giveaway! All you have to do is register and the first 100 fans to register will get an exclusive Sons of Anarchy Party-in-a-Box with branded party gear including SOA shot glass, banner, tattoos and more.

Kurt Sutter, Ron Perlman, Katey Segal & Charlie Hunnam

So I’m gonna ask the readers of my blog to help spread the word. Sons of Anarchy season two, premiers in one week — Tuesday, September 8th, 10pm on FX. I know in this digital age of DVRs, streaming downloads and iTunes, destination television is a dying event. But that number next Tuesday is an important number for the network and studio. All that advertising, marketing and promotional material you have seen around your town and on your TVs is pointed at that one night. A high number serves them in terms of advertisers and overall perception of the show. I couldn’t have asked for a better campaign and marketing strategy. FX has done an amazing job. I’d love to see all that hard work pay off for them and the show.

My request is good old fashioned “word-of-mouth”. Tell your friends, family, co-workers about the SOA premier next Tuesday. Help me get bodies in front of the tube. And if you know someone with a Nielsen box, I’ll personally call them and invite them to watch. I’m not kidding, send me their number and I’ll call them. I feel confident that the first episode of the new season will not disappoint

I want to thank you in advance for your loyalty and support. I am constantly blown away by the enthusiasm and devotion of the SOA fans. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I love this show and I love its fans.

I know I’ll be watching it in real-time! Will you?

There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of anticipation for next week to get here already so we can delve back into the brutal world of Charming and into the tumultuous clubhouse of SAMCRO. I know that for me, personally, I’ve probably forgotten how heavy & violent the show really is and I’m getting myself geared up for the culture shock of being thrust back into that world again.

Sons of Anarchy back on next week!

Thar be spoilers, Captain!

If you don’t want to know anything about season 2 events, stop reading now!

What will be be seeing in season 2?

Season 2 picks up where the first season left off. SAMCRO is in turmoil, they still have the ATF buzzing around their noses and the gun running biz is all but extinct. Jax & Clay are now in the midst of a Mexican standoff and that leaves the club divided.

If you’re a fan of Opie, like I am, you’ll be glad to know that he’s sticking around this season, full of appropriate drama and dedicated to Clay, which I’m sure will put a strain on his friendship with Jax.

SoA: Opie wallpaper

It’s been alluded to that there are other chapters of Sons of Anarchy in other areas of the country, and we’ll see SAMCRO team up with SoA Oregon to team up for some crime.

SAMCRO will also dabble in the porn biz this season. They will help Otto’s old lady, Luann, run her adult movie business. This will lead to a series of half-nude girls hanging around to entertain the fellas. According to E! News, one of the characters, a seemingly sweet single mom, will make a move on Opie; while another aggressive actress wants Jax  for herself. Tara doesn’t like that very much, naturally, and you will love what she does about it.

Oh, and apparently we won’t be seeing any of Wendy, played by Drea DeMatteo this season. I don’t think I’ll miss her much.

While the Mayans were SAMCRO’s enemies last season, this season they take on the Aryan Brotherhood (led by Adam Arkin & Henry Rollins) who want to destroy pulverize SAMCRO by any means necessary. And they’ll go to any extreme to do so. Let’s face it, the Sons of Anarchy are not good guys, but these guys are worse.

Sons of Anarchy

And what about that “horrifying event”?

There’s no other information other than it’s “Horrifying. Terrifying. Stomach-turning.” YIKES.

Enter for a chance to win a 2009 Harley Davidson FXD Dyna Superglide
visit: fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/bikegiveaway

Enter for a chance to win a Sons of Anarchy gear pack giveaway
visit: fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/gearpackgiveaway

SoA Party in a Box giveaway!
The FX network is encouraging fans to throw Sons of Anarchy viewing parties and are having a Party In a Box giveaway! All you have to do is register and the first 100 fans to register will get an exclusive Sons of Anarchy Party-in-a-Box with branded party gear including SOA shot glass, banner, tattoos and more.

Until next week!

The countdown is ON for the season 2 premier episode “Albification.”

Sons of Anarchy season 1 is now on DVD.

Catch up on the first season so you don’t get left in the dust when season 2 begins! Many critics still refer to SoA as “the Sopranos on 2 wheels”-which I think is a lazy way to describe the show. I very much believe it’s majorly influenced by Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” over anything else.
Read Express Night Out’s review and Icon Vs. Icon chose season 1 on dvd as it’s Pick of the Week.

Katie Segal on her character & the upcoming events of the season

Katey Segal at the FX Screening of Sons Of Anarchy

I really like her. I like that she’s flawed but she doesn’t think that she is. She’s survived a lot, and people like that tend to live in a lot of denial. She knows how to get through life in her way, and she doesn’t question it. It’s just, “This is how it is.” For instance, I don’t think Gemma’s ever been to therapy. She’s not that girl. What you see is what you get.

Something very dark happens. The club is going to go through some turmoil — when you live an outlaw lifestyle, that’s the risk you take. As my husband says, this season is all about loyalties. Henry Rollins and Adam Arkin are on the show this year, and they … well, I don’t want to say too much, but they’re not really good guys.

Adam Arkin & Henry Rollins talk shop

Adam Arkin on FX's Sons of Anarchy

Henry Rollins on FX's Sons of Anarchy

By now we all now that Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins are joining the cast to stir the pot in Charming. Arkin insists his character, Ethan Zobelle, is a White separatist, not a supremacist. Henry Rollins describes his character, AJ Weston as a “knucklehead”.

“Being an American who is very aware of race, I’ve been around those knuckleheads for many, many years,” Henry explained. “In the music world they come to your shows, it’s awful. I’ve heard the rationale, I can’t support it but it’s interesting to hear it and wonder how insane these people are.”

FX’s Sons of Anarchy Season 2 Premiere Screening

The screening for season 2 took place at the Paramount theater on Monday night in Hollywood, CA. View all the red carpet arrival photos!

Kurt Sutter, Katey Segal & Charlie Hunnam at the SoA premier (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America)

Throw your own Sons of Anarchy viewing party

The FX network is encouraging us to throw Sons of Anarchy viewing parties and to help the cause they are having a Party In a Box giveaway! All you have to do is register and the first 100 fans to register will get an exclusive Sons of Anarchy Party-in-a-Box with branded party gear including SOA shot glass, banner, tattoos and more.

Until next week!

If you need a refresher or want to do an SoA crash course to catch up before season 2 begins, season 1 was released on DVD today! Seriously, if you’ve never seen the show before and are interested in watching it you really should watch season 1 because season 2 expects everyone to know what is going on.

additional SoA desktop wallpapers available at fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa

From this point forward is a spoiler zone.

Consider yourself warned! On to the juicy stuff:

More about the “horrifying” event that occurs in the premiere

Something worse and more distressing than the castration or the blowtorch tattoo removal in season one is going to happen at the end of the first episode. If you can bear to watch, it will certainly make you think and wonder what will happen next.

I do know that this event includes newest bad guy, Henry Rollins. In a recent interview he was asked how difficult filming that particular scene was and his reply was:

It was a little much. It was tough to shoot, for all of us — the whole crew and all the actors involved. It was not cool. It was part of the story and we had to do it, but it was a huge relief when they said, “Okay, we’ve got it. That’s all we need.”

Henry Rollins on his character

I’m an awful man, named AJ Weston. He’s a neo-Nazi, white separatist, white supremacist type. He has no redeeming social qualities, except that he likes his kids. Past that, he’s incorrigible and awful. My boss is even more awful because he’s a Machiavellian character, played by Adam Arkin, who is brilliant. I’m a bad guy that does bad things, and my enemy is the Sons of Anarchy. And, they hate me too, believe me.

Opie fans rejoice

Ryan Hurst will be back this season as Opie, despite the fact that his character’s wife was assassinated last season, which surprisingly makes Opie’s commitment to SAMCRO even stronger. “Opie is a guy who needs a task,” series creator Kurt Sutter says. Opie’s task will find him getting even closer to Clay, which will most definitely have an impact on Jax’s emotional arc this season.

Enter the SoA bike giveaway

Go to fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/bikegiveaway to enter for a chance to win a 2009 Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Superglide!

And while you’re there don’t forget to enter the Sons of Anarchy gear pack giveaway!

As of August 17, you can head on over to fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/gearpackgiveaway to register for the giveaway where five winners will win the prize package, which includes:

• Tour Master Nylon Cruiser III-Large Sissybar Bag- a heavy duty, weather-resistant bag with nylon construction and a hinged lid providing storage space and easy access.
• Gift Certificate for a case of AMSOIL 20W-50 Synthetic Motorcycle Oil- a high performance engine, and primary chaincase lubricant.
• Gift Certificate for S&S Single Bore Tuned Induction Kit- kit features two forward facing, tuned length induction tracts and dual air filters to increase both horsepower and torque.
• Bobster® Gunner- eyewear that converts from sunglasses to goggles with lenses that darken in the sun.
• Find It Now Security System- an anti-theft tracking device that will ALERT, LOCATE, and RECOVER your ride if it is moved or tampered with.
• Vega XTS Naked Half Helmet- featuring aggressive cutaway styling and exceptional fit with a plush, super absorbent interior.
• Iron Horse Magazine- subscription to the #1 motorcycle magazine for the motorcycle enthusiast.
• ZANheadgear® Neodanna -Bandanna with neoprene face mask to ensure full coverage of the face and neck.
• ZANheadgear® Flydanna®- Head wrap with a tail and ties; perfect under a helmet.
• Sons of Anarchy Reaper T-shirt

Everyone is definitely anticipating the return of SoA. Even though the first season started out a little slow, I have a feeling that all of the media buzz and critical acclaim will pull in a ton more viewers for season 2, which is very much the same phenomenon that happened to season 2 of HBO’s True Blood.

Until next week!

This week we’ve got a little inside scoop about the over all story arc:

According to Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, friends tell him that FX’s headbanging outlaw motorcycle club series was the talk of the annual Sturgis Rally in South Dakota. Here’s some inside info on SOA from the cast and producers at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California (with additional info  gathered from a variety of sources including sutterink.com, the SOA myspace page and variety.com):

• Kurt Sutter has more or less a seven-season plan in mind for Sons of Anarchy, assuming that the largess of FX allows him to go on that long.
• The events of the season premiere will send one character on an unexpected spiritual journey.
• Per Kurt Sutter, Opie (Ryan Hurst) is ”a guy who needs a task,” and he’ll actually recommit himself to Clay this season, which plays into Jax’s arc this season.
• Maggie Siff revealed that high school acquaintances/friends Opie and Tara finally share a scene this season.
• Ron Perlman has finally mastered motorcycle riding and during one episode, which is largely set on the road, he was able to be in every single shot.
• Big Otto (the imprisoned club member played by Kurt Sutter) will appear several times this season.
• Tara and Gemma (Katey Sagal) will be drawing closer this season, but oddly enough, Jax and Gemma haven’t had many scenes together this season.
• Regarding the new white supremacist separatist character, Adam Arkin declares he is the “conceptual artist” in charge of violence; Henry Rollins does the actual skull crushing. Rollins promises that punches will not be pulled—you will see the aggression onscreen, live and bloody.
• Rollins says that his character’s, A.J. Weston, only redeeming quality is that he loves his children.
• Tom Arnold will be showing up in some sort of recurring role.
• There is a “horrible event” that happens to one of the crew on the season premiere. Jennifer Godwin, over at E-online wondered if it would turn away fans. It’ll rock folks a bit, in a good way, but if they stick around, they’ll see that it wasn’t gratuitous and that it indeed fuels the emotional engine of the season.
• Jax fans should be more than happy to see a buck-nekkid Charlie Hunnam in a shower scene toward the end of the season-two premiere, with his character sporting a new tattoo with the name of another character on the show.
• Sons of Anarchy season two premieres Sept. 8 at 10 p.m. on FX.

photo by D. Craig Harris (follow him on Twitter @d_craig_harris)

Until next week!

Coming into the home stretch. Writing 211, prepping 210, filming 209, editing 207, mixing 206.

This is that time of year where the story road gets very narrow. All the narratives start to intertwine and come to a head. It’s been a tough season for all our characters — emotionally and physically. I think it will be very satisfying for the loyal fans and hopefully intriguing enough to attract new viewers. The finale (which might be 90 minutes) will be pure BLOODY fun.

The premier episode, Albification, went out to critics. I’m already hearing buzz about the “horrifying event” that happens to one of the crew. Jennifer Godwin, over at E-online wondered if it would turn away fans. I’d say it’ll rock folks a bit, in a good way, but if they stick around, they’ll see that it wasn’t gratuitous and that it indeed fuels the emotional engine of the season.

FX has their TCA panel this week — Television Critics Association. Charlie, Ron, Katey, Maggie, Henry Rollins, Adam Arkin and myself will do a Q & A for critics about the upcoming season. Then critics will get the next four episodes to review.

I have to say, getting reviewed is such a mind-fuck. I try to stay detached — not take the bad ones personal, not be over-satisfied with the good ones — but man, it’s difficult. Not sure how others handle it, but I hate the fact that I’m deeply impacted by the opinions of others. Some of it is human nature, some of it is my emotional immaturity. The truth is there are so many variables that dictate the tone of a review, that only an idiot would take them to heart.

So here I sit, the idiot. Let the mind-fucking begin. More to come.

Poor Kurt. It must not be easy to east shit and play nice in that kind of area day after day to do what you love.

Here’s a whole bunch of promotional photos of the cast. Seeing Rollins in there makes me giddy!

It gives a little hint to what we can expect this upcoming season. Looks like lots of trouble for SAMCRO and even more trouble (deservedly so) for Clay. And there’s even a glimpse of Mr. Rollins (as a cop, perhaps?) in there, too!

Click on the image to view the trailer!

]]> http://www.rippin-kitten.com/2009/07/24/sons-of-anarchy-season-2-trailer/feed/ 4 http://www.rippin-kitten.com/2009/07/06/soa-promos-for-season-2-get-a-taste/ http://www.rippin-kitten.com/2009/07/06/soa-promos-for-season-2-get-a-taste/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:46:34 +0000 Lizzie http://www.rippin-kitten.com/?p=1624 While we all are doing our best to enjoy our summer (for a lot of us the bulk of our riding season) and not wish it away, there is also a part of us that can’t wait for September to come around so that we can dig back into season 2 of Sons of Anarchy!

Here are three official season 2 Sons of Anarchy promos to scratch the itch you guys might be having right about now. We can expect new episodes for season two to begin 09-08-09! Click on the photos to watch the videos.

Promo 1: Jax vs. Clay

Promo 2: Harley 360

Promo 3: Jax 360

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Pics from the set of Sons of Anarchy season 2
Sons of Anarchy season 2 update
More info about Sons of Anarchy
Shooting begins for SoA
A punk rock legend joins the cast of SoA

Related posts:
Pics from the set of Sons of Anarchy season 2
Sons of Anarchy season 2 update
More info about Sons of Anarchy
Shooting begins for SoA
A punk rock legend joins the cast of SoA

In the thick of it. Just started shooting episode 204. I’m writing episode 206 and 207 and editing 201 and 202. Love my job, even when it’s crushing me. Here are some non-spoiler pics. I have my PA, John snapping away on set, so hopefully I’ll update more frequently.

Related posts:
Sons of Anarchy season 2 update
More info about Sons of Anarchy
Shooting begins for SoA
A punk rock legend joins the cast of SoA

Another update from Kurt Sutter’s blog:

“We start shooting season two on Monday. Had our read-thru this week. It was great to see everyone around the table again. Not to gush, but it’s such a cool fucking pack of folks…

So we continue to try and generate quality material and the cast and crew continue to bond. It’s a great fucking set. Guerrilla film making with everyone firing on all cylinders. I saw it happen with Chiklis, Walton and Kenny [of The Shield] and it’s happening on SOA as well. The actors have become family and in our case, a club. Charlie, Ron, Boone, Kim, Theo — they all hang out, drink, play golf together. Girls too. Katey, not unlike Gemma, has become the maternal glue. It’s just in her nature to take care of those around her….

Had a great meeting with an actor today whom I hope will be be playing Ethan Zobelle. Zobelle is a new proprietor in Charming and the leader of an ultra conservative organization. Can’t reveal any names until the deal closes, but this guy is a fascinating actor from a very talented family. That character shoots Friday so I hope it closes early this week.

Well, lucky for us Kurt Sutter, creator and writer of FX’s Sons of Anarchy recently updated his blog and gave us a little nugget regarding the upcoming season of the show.

“We’re pretty much on schedule. My goal was to have four scripts written and approved by the time we start shooting and we’ll do that. Have various drafts of the next four being written and well start breaking stories for 209 next week.

The first episode starts shooting on the 27th. Guy Ferland (who directed more episodes of The Shield than any other director) is directing 201, Albification. Guy did an amazing job on episode 107, The Pull, last season. I’m thrilled to have him kicking off season two.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about what the 201 title means. I can tell you it’s a theme for the season.

My entire, talented cast is back (with the exception of a few, whose agents and managers are twisting my fucking arm for more cash that we don’t have and ultimately undermining their clients whom I won’t be able to afford) and we’ve added a few new characters. As you probably have read, Henry Rollins joins us as AJ Weston. He’s a prison hard Aryan walking a fine line between ultra conservatism and violent racism (if a line truly exists). His boss and the brains behind the organization is Ethan Zobelle. That role is still being cast.

As I’ve said in interviews, this season is all about internal alliances. For me, the big antagonist this season is just a catalyst to ignite the deep, primal conflicts within the club. Lives will be threatened, sides will be taken and Sam Crow will become the biggest threat to the Sam Crow.”

Punk rock legend, Henry Rollins,  joins the cast of Sons of Anarchy season 2!

A legend in the punk rock world (and an icon from my misspent youth…I can’t tell you how many shows of his I’ve been to!) is joining the cast of Sons of Anarchy for a six episode arc. That’s right, just when I thought I couldn’t get any more excited I just learned that Mr. Henry Rollins is joining SoA this upcoming season.

If you didn’t grow up listening to punk music in the 80′s then here’s a brief bio on Mr. Rollins. He is a singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, stand-up comedian, author, actor, activist and publisher. He was the front man for punk band Black Flag in the 80′s and has since formed the Rollins Band, written a few books, done a ton of spoken word & stand-up tours, has a lot to say about social and political issues (whether you agree with him or not) and even has his own show on the Independent Film Channel.

He will appear in six upcoming episodes of Sons of Anarchy and will play a new antagonist in the show who poses a deadly threat to SAMCRO. Even Kurt Sutter is excited to have him on the show. From his blog, SutterInk:

“I fucking love Henry Rollins. Been a fan for years. From Black Flag to his one-man shows. He’s a super smart cat with exponential intensity. So excited to have him on the show.

I don’t want to say too much about who his character is right now. As we get closer to air, more information will be revealed. Suffice to say, Henry will fucking chew it up.

While Henry’s better known for being an angry, little man and not known for being a fantastic actor, it’s sounds like he won’t have to stetch his acting legs too much. He just needs to have a bad disposition and scowl a lot. I think he’s pretty good at both of those things.

And now for your viewing/listening pleasure is “Liar” by the Rollins Band.

Kurt Sutter recently posted an update on his blog about the progress of writing for season 2:

I’ve finished a draft of the first script and my writers are in the process of writing 202 and 203. We’ve broken the first four episodes and have a pretty solid handle on the arc of the season. Two weeks ago, I pitched the big ideas to the network and they loved them. It’s cool when your boss is also a fan of the show. I don’t just get “that’s good for the network”, I get “that’s great shit for the show”. They had very few notes on the first script, so we are off to a good start with the story-telling. My hope is to have four scripts approved by the time we start production at the end of April.

Obviously, I can’t give anything away, but I as I’ve said in a few interviews, this season is all about alliances. We are going to explore and exploit the bonds we have with our brothers, our family, our country and our god. As I was writing this first script, I smiled when I realized that I get to channel all my twisted Catholic angst into a show about men who play God. I love my fucking job.

Still uncertain exactly when season two will air. A lot depends on FX’s development slate. I will keep you posted.

It’s always a good sign when the writer himself is giddy with twisted excitement!

Related posts:
A punk rock icon joins the cast of SoA
More info about SoA
Shooting begins for SoA

February is my least favorite month of all. Even though it’s short it just feels…so…long…But I’ve snapped out of it and I am raring to go.

Here’s a few interesting bits of late:

All ladies summer tour through Alaska

MotoQuest Tours is planning an all women, 9-day, 1200 mile trip (on all paved roads), with lodging-through Alaska from June 26th to July 4th.  An average day will be about 250 miles so everyone can take in the scenery and all the riders will be followed by a 12 passenger van to schlep all the luggage and provide snacks and refreshment. Full details and information can be found at http://motoquesttours.com/09ladiesintro.html

Sons of Anarchy, Season Two

There’s very little to report lately about the next season of SoA. Writer and creator, Kurt Sutter, posted in his blog a month or so ago that they were back in the writing room working away. Shooting allegedly begins in April, with new episodes hitting the air hopefully in September.

Jesse James News

No, it has nothing to do with Jesse’s appearance in the next “Celebrity Apprentice” or his show “Jesse James is a Dead Man.” This video is of Jesse winning a pie-eating contest at the Tennessee Vally Fair. Just because I think it’s funny.

So, I thought I would take my gift of “free time” to kind of slow down and catch up with my bloggy life.  I do have a few little bits and nuggets of news to share.

This is hardly new news but the winners of the Harley-Davidson Bikes, Camera, Action! video contest were announced earlier this week. I have to give these ladies credit for taking the time to make these great videos. I think a video contest is a lot to ask of the general public and these ladies rose to the occasion. Congrats to them!

Here are the top three:
Her Need for Speed
Girls Night Out
Here Come the Bride

In additional Harley-Davidson news, it’s been announced that registration for the 2009 Women’s Experience ride in Daytona is now open. The second annual MDA ride will take place on March 3rd and only the first 500 women to register will be eligible to take part in the event. Last year they raised $60K from the event. Here’s hoping they beat that amount this year since it’s for such a good cause.

Here’s a bit of Sons of Anarchy news from writer, producer Kurt Sutter’s blog SutterInk:
“Based on final ratings, FX’s critically acclaimed freshman drama series Sons of Anarchy has proven itself to be a worthy successor to the network’s award-winning drama series The Shield, which completed its historic seven season run last month.

With the Live +7 ratings factored in from Nielsen Media Research on a multi-telecast basis, Sons of Anarchy delivered a weekly average audience of 5.83 million total viewers (jumping 16% vs. the Live numbers) and 3.9 million Adults 18-49 (up 18% vs. the Live numbers), the highest ratings of any new series on FX since the network’s hit series Rescue Me, which debuted in 2004. On a first-run basis the series averaged 2.6 million total viewers and 1.75 million Adults 18-49.

For calendar-year 2008 on a first-run basis, Sons significantly surpassed new and returning basic cable shows on delivery of Adults 18-49 including Saving Grace (1.59 million), Battlestar Galactica (1.58 million), Eureka (1.42 million), Raising the Bar (1.37 million), The Cleaner (1.11 million), Mad Men (879,000) and Breaking Bad (821,000).

Sons of Anarchy showed incredible consistency on a week-to-week basis and actually saw audience growth over the final two episodes, hitting its peak with the season finale (episode 13), which delivered 3 million total viewers on its first run. The second-to-last episode (episode 12) delivered the most Adults 18-49 (2.04 million) in the series entire run. The series premiered on 9/3/08 to 2.87 million total viewers and 1.73 million Adults 18-49.

FX has picked up a second season of Sons of Anarchy, slated to begin in Spring 09.” Not too shabby! There’s also another interesting post going back a few weeks about the new defunct HBO project 1% that got HBO in all that legal hot water with the notorious Sonny Barger.

Recently I’ve joined the collective of microbloggers and have been tweeting away! If you’re on Twitter, aspire to get on Twitter to see what it’s all about, you can find me @rippinkitten. A bunch of my fellow blogger tweeps are there as well as some new friends. Come say hi!

I know that we all read a ton of motorcycle blogs of different form and fashion but I’d like to take a minute to plug a new blog written by my friend: ArtBiker World: Art, Bikes, Bikers, Culture. I’ve known ArtBiker, aka Matt Linton, for over 10 years when he used to live here in Boston. He now resides in Houston, TX with his family and is one dude who lives and breathes motorcycles and the biker culture. Oh yeah, and he’s one hell of a photographer, too. His blog went live only a few short months ago and it is a great read. Go show him some love!

Now I’m going to make some hot chocolate and watch those flakes start to fall.

Admittedly, it took me a while to get into watching this show. In the very beginning, I dismissed it as a “Shield” or “Sopranos” on motorcycles. I also couldn’t get past how the “club” was portrayed, the fake tattoos, the lame dialogue and the shiny, new HDs they were were riding.

From the start I did appreciate Katy Sagal’s portrayal of Gemma. As they say, behind every great man is a great woman and Gemma is indeed the great woman behind Ron Perlman’s club leader, Clay. l was unsure about Jax’s character in the beginning. I didn’t get what he was all about, other than a womanizing loser who seemed like a sheep, just following what everyone tells him to do. I always liked Opie’s character and I think I like him even more now that I learned he was intended to be killed off (Ryan Hurst, the actor who plays Opie just signed on as a series regular).

I watched when my husband turned it on, but I didn’t always stop what I was doing to watch intently. Until we got past the middle of the season. Then I noticed the show began to hold my interest more. I realized how good the writing was becoming and, independent of reading any news articles, how much the show was drawing from Shakespeare. Then it all started to click in my head. Jax was a character who was wondering: “To be, or not to be…”

From the SoA page on Wikipedia:

The family drama is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet indeed, star Ron Perlman has said, “I’m sure they’re going to stick to the structure of Hamlet all the way to the end” of the series. Clay is based on the role of King Claudius and Gemma as a Gertrude figure.

Jax stands in for Prince Hamlet himself; his reflective questioning of the SOA culture, brought on by the birth of his son, references Hamlet’s melancholy over the death of the king. Additionally, Jax “communicates” with his dead father by way of his late father’s unpublished journal/manuscript; Hamlet, of course, literally communicates with the ghost of his father.The drama and characterizations are also enhanced by drawing on Macbeth, another Shakespeare tragedy.

Ron Perlman’s portrayal of the Claudius-like character, Clay, is so guilt-ridden that he resembles Macbeth more than Claudius at times. Even more, Katey Sagal’s Gertrude-like Gemma resembles Lady Macbeth because, while it is never entirely clear from Hamlet how complicit Queen Gertrude is in the murder of Hamlet’s father, it is obvious that Gemma has willingly participated in the cover-up of the murder and may even have encouraged Clay in his treachery.

The last two shows were the most intense of them all.

Sons of Anarchy Spoiler Alert!

The turning point and ultimate summation of the season came in the last 10 minutes of the 90 minute season finale. The hint of a weakening leader when Clay is not able to button the sleeve of his shirt. The homeless woman (who we first met outside of the grocery store enlightening Gemma while asking for a few dollars in order to help her boys) shows up again, this time showing Jax the path to redemption. You can’t get more biblical than seeing Jax literally wash away the sins on his hands with the cold water in the graveyard. And he then silently spoke louder than anyone by walking (not riding his motorcycle) to Donna’s burial by himself (wearing white, of course) standing opposite of everyone else decked out in black. The tell-all gazes he shot at Clay, Gemma, Piney and Opie that told them all what he wanted them to know before walking away.

With such smart writing I’d like to think that the show is finally hitting its stride. Beautiful symbolism combined with great writing allows the story to build up and a possible future to be paved.

As a person who wasn’t eager to add another program to my already packed list of television-watching, by the end of the season I can say that Sons of Anarchy is now on my list of must watch shows for next season.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that two of my other favorite shows this season we canceled.

Here’s a quick reminder of what the show is about:

“FX Network’s new original series, Sons of Anarchy, is an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (MC) desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that their simple, sheltered town of Charming, California remains exactly that. Charming. The MC must confront threats from drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. Behind the MC’s familial lifestyle and legally thriving automotive shop is a ruthless and illegally thriving arms business. The seduction of money, power, and blood.”

If you’re totally anxious for the premier and want to pump yourself up before the show, FX has jam-packed the SoA section of their site with all sorts of goodies: including information about the cast & crew, blogs, downloadable wallpapers for your computer and a few other fun things.

So make sure to set your Tivo or DVR if you’re not going to be around tonight to watch it! I can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

My name is Chrissy and I’m working with FX Network to help promote their fall premieres. I noticed your recent post regarding the upcoming series premiere of “Sons of Anarchy”, and I wanted to follow up and provide you with some additional digital assets and information in support of the series.

SONS OF ANARCHY
Series premiere – Wednesday, September 3rd at 10:00pm

Official Press Release: Coming Soon, but here’s a sneak peek:
“FX Network’s new original series, Sons of Anarchy, is an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (MC) desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that their simple, sheltered town of Charming, California remains exactly that. Charming. The MC must confront threats from drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. Behind the MC’s familial lifestyle and legally thriving automotive shop is a ruthless and illegally thriving arms business. The seduction of money, power, and blood.”

In addition, FX Network is hosting offline events in support of the premiere. I know you’re based in New England, but thought that you or your readers might be interested in the following “Sons of Anarchy” motorcycle rally events:

Fri Aug.8-Sunday Aug. 10
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Sturgis, SD

Saturday, Aug. 16
Salute to American Veterans
Winter Park, CO

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if there’s
any additional information I can provide you!

Best,
Chrissy

So, there you go everyone! If anyone is going to Sturgis drop me a line!

Relative unknown, Charlie Hunnam stars as the conflicted hero, torn between the love of the brotherhood and the apprehension of its lawlessness. Ron Perlman (Hellboy) is his step-father and club president and Katie Sagal (Peg Bundy from “Married with Children”) is Mom. And you know there is all sorts of dark family drama to go along!

Look for “Sons of Anarchy” on September 3rd. If you’re completely jazzed and need your SoA fix now you can go to the official FX page or check out their MySpace profile!