Spoilers for tonight's "Sons of Anarchy" coming up just as soon as I get an orange Fanta... "Change won't happen quick, or without blood, but it'll happen. It has to." -JaxThis season of "Sons of Anarchy" has been about a schism at the top of SAMCRO, with Jax and Clay supposedly representing conflicting leadership styles. But we've seen in recent weeks that both are just as capable of being cagey as they are impulsive and arrogant. And we see in "Potlatch" (another episode with a title that had me running to Wikipedia for an explanation) that both men are just as capable of getting a club member's wife killed through their own impulsiveness.
Jax is the guy we're supposed to be rooting for, but more and more, the only sane one in the bunch seems to be Tara, who hears all his talk about reform and yet sees a man going to jail, getting beat up, beating other people up, and digging a hole deeper and deeper. At this point, Jax's dream of reforming the club feels like a fool's errand, where the wisest move would be to walk away - if only he could bear to give up his cut. He begins the episode talking to Tara about how that vest is all he ever dreamed about, and when Alvarez threatens to take it at gunpoint after Jax and Opie walk into the wrong bar, Jax tells him, "Pull the trigger, man. It's the only way this leather's coming off my back."(*) This is not a man who walks away from things, even hopelessly, horribly screwed-up things like SAMCRO.
(*) Sidebar to talk about how incredible Charlie Hunnam has been this year. As I said in a comment last week, whatever issues I had with him at the start of the series are long, long gone now. (Even the accent is much less spotty than it used to be.) He carries himself with such power, can stand toe-to-toe with anyone else in the ensemble, and is just generally bad-ass. The venom (with a tinge of self-hatred, given what happened to Luanne) in his voice when Jax told Clay, "I'm not the one murdering women!" was something to hear, wasn't it? Much as I'd like to see Jax turn SAMCRO into a peaceful organization, I wouldn't want to lose Hunnam's portrayal of the character's violent side.
And while Jax is busy screwing things up this week, we see Clay demonstrate why he's been such an effective club leader for so long. The mindgame he runs on Tig is brilliant. He doesn't even acknowledge Tig's point that there needs to be peace with Jax; he just goes straight at Tig's sense of loyalty and competence, and gets his black bag man back in line, PDQ.
But clever as Clay is, and well-meaning as Jax is, they still don't seem to be a match for Ethan Zobelle, who seems capable of taking over gun distribution in this area on all ends. His daughter's sleeping with the son of SAMCRO's IRA connect, and picking up details about how that operation runs, while Ethan's buying the loyalty of the Mayans - whom SAMCRO scorned in favor of the Niners - with a whole lot of free guns. It's clear by this point that he has no interest in white supremacy and every interest in fiscal supremacy, and so long as he can keep guys like AJ in line, how can SAMCRO hope to beat this guy, especially since they're too busy with in-fighting to come together on a proper strategy?
Some other thoughts on "Potlatch":
• Chuck the compulsive masturbator makes his return, and seems in surprisingly good spirits for someone who - after the Chinese cruelly but cleverly chopped off most of his fingers - is no longer able to perform his favorite act. Between him and blind, widowed Otto, it's been a rough patch for both SAMCRO members and assorted hanger-ons. If I was somebody like Neeta, I'd be very afraid of suffering a permanent injury, and soon.
• Between Chuck's return and Half-Sack displaying his nuticle for all to see, this was a pretty funny episode, considering how many bad things also happened in it. (Tig: "Is it gay that I want to see it?" Bobby: "Gay-curious.")
• I don't know how it played out with sponsored interruptions, but this was one of the shorter episodes I can remember, clocking in at just under 39 minutes without commercials.
• Would you rather have seen the confrontation between Tara's boss and Gemma, or did you appreciate the cut away because you could tell how that was going to go down as soon as they wound up on the elevator together?
• I'm glad I can understand Chibs' wife a bit more than Chibs himself. And I like how Gemma framed her opinions about the lady: "There are only three women I'm afraid of: my mother, my third grade math teacher, and that Irish bitch." Think she'll wind up being a factor in whatever goes on between SAMCRO and the IRA?
What did everybody else think?
50 comments:
This and Mad Men are the only currently airing shows that I really hate to see end because it means I have a week to wait for more story.
This episode did seem a bit short to me.
I was suprised how forcefully Bobby was going after Tig at the dinner at the end. He seems to have taken his side....
Opie also seems to be leaning in jax's direction now. Possibly because he saw how Jax was willing to die for
his cut (same for Bobby)?
"I'm not the one murdering women!" And in front of Opie. Oh, shit! Things are going to get even worse for SAMCRO before they get better -- if they ever do, that is.
Yeah, Jax's willingness to take a bullet for his colors says a lot. In the end he's SAMCRO through-and-through, which doesn't bode well for his relationship with Tara, his prospects for reforming the club, or a lot of other facets of his life.
Alan, thanks for the great blog! I loved it as usual, but I have a question. ATF Agent Stahl told Bobby Elvis in Jail last season that she set up Opie to be the rat, and Donna was killed instead. Shouldn't Bobby know as well that Clay ordered the hit? Bobby acted like he didn't have a clue on what the "beef" was about. I hate being nit-picky, but it's the Sopranos/Shield Analyst in me..lol
Can someone explain Georgie Larusso's thought process? Does this dude have a death wish? What exactly did he think was gonna happen when he killed Luanne? He would just take over her market share? He's gonna have a bullet in the brain before you can say "stunt cock."
Also I have very vague memories of season 1. What EXACTLY did Stahl say to Bobby?
-RR
I hate to say it, but when Gemma was implicitly saying how bad-ass Chib's wife was, it reminded me of all those terrible Steven Seagal movies where some character would have to say the same kind of thing about Seagal's character. In a nutshell, it felt like a cop-out to me...that they couldn't do it just by dialogue and mannerisms. We don't need to be spoon-fed.
What does (the formerly) Half-Sack have to do to be initiated into SAMCRO?
Was I a mark to assume the guy who killed the dog and stole the camera was the Asian drug dealer from last week? I kept thinking Georgie was going to say "What camera?" ...especially when they had the Asian gang in the episode.
Kimmy - I was blown too at Bobby throwing out the Donna situation, maybe he never believed Stahl? Does anyone else think that Georgie may be working with Zobelle also? This guy has long arms and Georgie seemed too confident in talking smack to the club.
RIP LuAnne - wonder if Otto can make it to the funeral
Also Alan,
As far as the short run time goes, it felt like this was the most eventful episode to date, the episode was jam packed with action and developing storylines just off the top of my head you had:
-Clay talking to Oswald about running for mayor, as well as their new agreement.
-Chibbs lady
-Bobby prying into Donna.
-The Asians
-Chuck's re-emergence
-the CaraCara Vandals
-Irishmen sleeping with Zobelles fine ass daughter
-tailing the guns
-shoot out at the O.K. Corrall
-Gettin jacked by the Mayans
-Opie reaching out to Jax while a gun was pointed at his head, then jax standing up for his cut
--Luannes Murder
-the absolute meltdown at the Pot Luck
-Mayans in bed with Zobelle
I'd say that was a 39 minutes WELL SPENT
Great post...Saw it linked on twitter and came over...I hope half-sack..err sack..can now get patched in..
He stepped up when Tig apparently froze and bitched out...I'm really surprised about that..For a cold killer he rolled up pretty quick.
The part where Jax tells Alvarez to shoot him cause that's the only way he's getting his cut...Simply Awesome!
Even with the shortness of this episode (which I honestly didn't notice) there was so much packed in that I'm happy!
Hey Alan,
Read your write up on the show every week. This week's show was pretty awesome. Can't wait to see where Jax's line at the end "I'm not the on murdering women!" goes. Also just want to add in that its the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) or the True IRA that they deal guns with. It's IRA all the same but a differnt branch there was a split in fractions when a majority of the original IRA went peaceful in 1997. So now their known of the True IRA or RIRA and the Original IRA are known as the Provisional IRA. Just in case anyone was curious.
Personally, I think Bobby does have an inkling about what's at the bottom of the rift (something "a lot uglier; starting with Donna"), but since the seed of doubt came from Stahl, he doesn't believe what she told him. She's told them lie after lie trying to manipulate them and I think he just rejected it as another one of her lies. But, at the same time, that echo of truth is festering.
Poor Luann. I heard someone would die tonight and I had a feeling it would be Luann. What a horrible, brutal way to die. I liked her. There is some symmetry in it in that Jax, along with Opie and Bobby, is indirectly responsible, but it's still not the same. They had no way of knowing Georgie would retaliate by murdering Luann, whereas Clay intended for Opie to die. But, it does drive home how things unfurl and go wrong and nothing's black and white. Now Jax has some taint, some innocent (relatively) blood on his hands.
I was a little sorry not to see the scene between Gemma and the administrative priss. Sutter is so good at writing for threatening Gemma, and Katey is so good at delivering it with perfect cool menace, I'm sorry to have missed the treat of hearing and seeing her in action. But the brief elevator scene, kind of a "hat-tip" was well done.
I can appreciate Tara's frustration and her dislike of the porn girls, especially after Ima was so nasty with her, but I do think she's too hard on Lyla. Lyla hasn't been nasty to her; she's just trying to make a life.
I'm not sure Zoebell really is all that profit driven. I think he is more driven by a sense of righteous destiny that is grander than money. He believes it's his divine calling to cleanse his world and make it after his own image. He's a very cool, imperturbable customer and he exudes a feeling of being above it all and untouchable. I think he's playing everyone and I don't think his allowing the Mayans to become indebted to him is about future profits as much as it is about positioning them where he wants them so they and the 'niners and SAMCRO will all implode.
Somehow I think the inclusion of the Chinese gang in the mix will prove to be a fulcrum in helping to keep SAMCRO from going down in the vortex that Zoebelle is creating. I don't know how exactly - I'm no strategist- but they and Oswald seem to be the wild cards in the scheme of things.
And Alan, I wholeheartedly agree with you that Charlie Hunnam inhabits Jax in a much more organic and forceful way than at the series start. I always loved him, but there was a little bit of flatness and stiffness (to me) right at first, but that has been completely gone since the latter half of last season and Jax has an intensity and coiled energy about him that makes him compelling and explosive. He is rightfully the center of the story.
What a contrast this dinner was to the dinner in the second or third episode of the first season. That "potlatch" ended with warmth and love and communion of like minded souls breaking bread ... this one, not so much. You could still say it was family, but dysfunctional crisis, nightmare family.
Speaking of which, Opie's kids are really taking a life beating these days.
This episode was not Gemma's finest moment. From her spirited discussion with the hospital administrator to this disastrous Pot Luck dinner, all her attempts of unity in this episode failed spectacularly. The close up look on her face after she broke the serving plate shows that it'll be an when she'll tell Jax and Clay about the rape, not if.
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The introduction of Chuck only means bad things for Bobby Elvis. Sooner or later, he's going to look at the books from Luanne and then the questions are going to start.
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Tig not laying down cover fire for Clay, then overreacting at the dinner? I think something's still very wrong with him post-Donna. Compassion?
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Georgie has to have some sort of a plan for protection. Maybe from the Mayans? Zobell? Luanne's death has his MO written all over it.
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Jimmy O and Chibs wife seem to be major, major players. Maybe they can help SAMCRO out of this rut or just further complicate things when they arrive.
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This show just keeps on improving, ratcheting up the tension as SAMCRO spirals out of control. It's been a fantastic season and it shows no sign of stopping.
Alan said:
I don't know how it played out with sponsored interruptions, but this was one of the shorter episodes I can remember, clocking in at just under 39 minutes without commercials.
About 2/3 of the way into the episode, I remarked to mrs. nfieldr that there seemed to be a lot of commercials tonight. I guess the 39 min run time verifies that.
Verification word = derlect
I hate it when even software has me pegged.
@Dave F:
"Was I a mark to assume the guy who killed the dog and stole the camera was the Asian drug dealer from last week?"
No, I thought the same. I was very surprised when Georgie actually had the computer and camera.
When the two finger accountant poked that rather large man in the eye... I just died laughing. Loved it!
Yet I am confused about Georgie. I tend to believe he has a "friend" that matters.
I can not believe he would have had the balls to kill the dog, steal the camera, Laptop and brutally kill LuAnne.
Unless Georgie has a "friend" whom he thinks that can save him. Like Zobelle.
But I agree with the thought that Georgie is going to end up with a bullet in his head. Along with the body guard with only one good eye.
I am curious why all of the sudden the Asian gang was brought back into the story telling. Have they decided to sell out SAMCRO also?
And best of all, finally there is a woman that Gemma fears.
Makes me wonder how evil Chibbs wife really can be... and sadly I assume Gemma will not be hitting her in the face with a skateboard.
The show did run short. Normally the final scene ends right on the hour with the closing credits a few minutes into the next hour. This week, the credits rolled just before the hour. I was able to catch the start of the 11 o'clock news on another channel (big story here in the SF Bay Area about the closure of the Bay Bridge due to the failure of a repair made a few weeks ago).
I'm not as sold on the episode as the rest of you. I found it too much, too fast, and too disjointed. I never absorbed what happened before we were off to a new incident. Unsatisfying.
I'm wondering if the elevator scene was scripted and shot but not included (the missing minutes) because it didn't work. We are invested enough in Gemma to accept that she had a satisfying confrontation, but in reality, I cannot see it. The hospital is too far outside Gemma's world. What could she say? How could she intimidate a hospital administrator? Different leagues. There is no moral ambiguity with the administrator. She may not be agreeable, but she is a good guy. She is the audience. We enjoy our weekly visits to this world, but we don't want it touching ours. This confrontation, if seen/scene, breaks through the barrier we erect that allows us to be okay with caring about SAMCRO. Not enough groundwork has been laid to get a truly satisfying confrontation.
That last scene to me indicates that Gemma is probably going to have to tell the club about her rape to keep it united. This, of course would be highly ironic given what Zobele's intent was with it.
This season has been incredible and it was already great from the last. It reminds me a lot of the trajectory of "Breaking Bad" and that's high praise indeed.
Re: the length not sure if you got the previously on bit on your screener but it was much longer than usual. That might help explain the shorter episode runtime.
It seems like Georgie is hooked into something bigger, that's what it seemed like he was referring to when jax came after him. If one more organization gets introduced I think my head will explode. Nords, zobelle, local police, sheriffs, atf, fbi, ira, chinese, mexicans, blacks, oswald. Seems like there are more groups then in the Wire.
I was laughing on the inside through the whole episode at A) the chronic masturbator's return B) him no longer having opposable thumbs and C) him being assigned to work in a porn studio. The irony! It reminds me of a Greek myth of eternal punishment like Sysiphus or better yet Tantalus.
I'm surprised I haven't seen anybody pick up on what looks like the obvious seeds to next season's conflict - the Irish are coming. The father-son IRA dealers we've seen are just the advance wave. A few eps back they got into an argument with Chibs over somebody "back home." Now we saw the son tell Zobelle's daughter that there is this Keyser Soze style IRA bogeyman (didn't quite catch the name - 'Rickey O' or something like that) that he fears. AND we see Chibs' wife fly in from overseas who apparently is some sort of scary figure herself. Combine that with the IRA guys selling to Zobelle instead of SAMCRO and we got some foreshadowing to some Irish beef ahead.
As if SAMCRO didn't have enough problems with Zobelle, the entirety of the Mayans now have beef with them, Mitch Pileggi and his Nords got beef, the One Niners pipeline seems to be drying up, and the Chinese Tong are getting in on the action too (Is the drug dealer Opie ripped off last episode connected to these guys?). Add in the ATF still watching them, the Sheriff in his final months on the job, Georgie itching for revenge, pending criminal proceedings in their botched hit on Zobelle, 2 members in the hospital, and the club disintegrating... SAMCRO is in for some rough times ahead.
BTW - did you catch Half Sack STARTING the firefight with the neonazis? I used to think Half Sack was a deep cover undercover fed who'd turn on the team in later seasons but after him wilding out with the pistol I think he just squashed that suspicion.
Sadly it looks like the hospital bills may be the biggest enemy of SAMCRO in the end between Chibs and Juice. These guys sure could use an Armenian money train to knock over.
when did the chronic masturbator have his first appearance in the series? i mustve missed that episode or something, didnt recognize him at all.
Two follow-ups:
Alan mentioned the mindgame Clay played on Tigg, but didn't it backfire? We saw Tigg hesitate and then not jump out to save Clay (who need (formerly Half) Sack. When it was ending, Clay gave Tigg a "WTF" look.
The scene where Bobby tells Opie to "hit it" with the porn star? He had to stutter when questioned about his knowledge...since he can't tell anybody he was having relations with Otto's now-late wife. Just a scene to make us all laugh.
Did we ever find out what exactly _happened_ to Chuck? He ordered his Orange Fanta and them disappeared from the episode. It seemed like an odd dangling thread to me. (Was the waitress calling Laroy?)
I've been trying to figure out if Sutter is deliberately playing around with people's expectations on the Georgie storyline. Every time he's come up people on this thread have thought there was a deeper conspiracy going on -- Is Luann faking the attacks, are the porn stars faking the attacks, etc. (Is this just because we all have a hard time taking Tom Arnold seriously?) I just wonder if this is why Sutter has avoided ever showing Georgie (or his crew) directly participating in any attack on Luann's.
All that said, the Georgie storyline does seem odd to me. He doesn't seem prepared at all for SAMCRO's eventual retaliation, even though they've already beaten him up once. And while Luann's laptop is valuable, does it really jutify the risk of attacking her place -- particularly if you can't be sure what sorts of stuff she'd have on her laptop? Maybe I want Georgie to be more "connected" than he seems because otherwise he's kind of a thin character.
So...who goes to apologize to Otto? Does this mean we'll get a Sutter/Hunnam scene?
What an episode! I had missed last week's episode, so I watched it on DVR right before this one aired - back to back episodes!! How intense.
SAMCRO obviously cannot bring down Zobelle in any traditional way - they're outmanned, outgunned, and outmoneyed. They're gonna have to exploit the weakness within Zobelle's outfit - which means that they're gonna have to recognize the disconnect between Zobelle's methods (giving the latino gang guns and support, as a means to an end) and the more hard-line approach that his white power henchmen (specifically AJ) take. My theory is that AJ eventually discovers Zobelle's methods (with the assistance of SAMCRO) and turns on him - and subsequently Zobelle's outfit will have a major split like SAMCRO has been going through, so they will be weakened and vulnerable for the first time. The split in the Zobelle crew is already there, but invisible because not everybody has the whole truth. I kinda see AJ taking a Jax role when he finds out the truth - just like Jax has been unable to tow the party line after finding out the truth about Donna, AJ will have a similar moral imperative to undermine Zobelle at every opportunity... That's my theory, anyway :P
Love, love, love this show! Alan - you are so right - Charlie Hunnam is outstanding!
Don't know how Sutter is going to work this out - the riff inside the club is at its very foundation. How does everyone become a brotherhood again? It should be awesome to watch.
Yes - I think Georgie is working with Sobell. Isn't everyone? Smart bastard!
Ha! Good one, Alan, had forgotten the line about the Fanta.
"both men are just as capable of getting a club member's wife killed through their own impulsiveness"
Had missed that symmetry, interesting.
The cut-away between Tara's boss and Gemma was fine...didn't need to see it. Was glad that Half-Sack is back, he's one of the few left who is still likeable...
Not that I don't still like Hunnam's portrayal of Jax, it's just, after Jax disrespected the Mayan with such an obvious shot about waiting tables, hasn't done anything to stand up for his principles, and is constantly responding to situations the same way (saying "SHIT") would like to see some smarts for a change.
How dumb was it for them not to check the IRAs guy's house once they were there, just to see what he was hiding (Zobelle's daughter). ARgh.
This episode had Kurt's magic touches of humor. The Chuck bits "I can accept that", the "get out" to the porn chicks at Leroys, the fanta, the fingers, the trying to sell a mutilation disc, the cut-away of Gemma in the elevator, Tara saying she might be down to porn-chick duties if fired, these were all Kurt master touches.
As for Chib's wife, Chibs never made much of an impression and so who cares if he has a wife? Gemma is always against any woman coming into the club, she blustered about Tara coming back into Jax's life, she's blustering about Chib's wife, so making up a long-standing feud between them is just a re-run on Gemma vs. Tara.
Great episode though. Would just like to see the guys do something smart for a change instead of blundering in all fists and guns and getting trounced.
by the way, your new jersey paper won't let comments be posted at the moment....
With the benefit of a night's additional reflection, and my usual Wednesday morning water cooler chat with a colleague who also watches SOA, I have a few more thoughts -- including some bitches. (Just remember: it's all said with love. This is one of only two shows that I make it a point to watch every single week.) This'll be two parts because it's so long.
(1) A dozen guns fire probably hundreds of projectiles, total, and no one even gets a scratch. It was stupid and implausible on the A-Team when I was thirteen, and it's stupid and implausible now. (BTW, cars aren't all that bulletproof.) As I've said before, I don't mind a little suspension of disbelief; it's part of the TV-watching experience. But this is going too far. I hope we won't see many more scenes like that one.
(2) The level of recklessness displayed by nearly all the criminals in this show is too high to be plausible. Guys that dumb should all be in prison by now, even in Charming. For example: LOAN (which has no special relationship with the Charming PD) transfers crates of full-auto Russian AK-47s in broad daylight, in a public place? SAMCRO is then stupid enough to attempt to steal them -- also in broad daylight, in a public place -- knowing that ATF is nosing around for those guns (and apparently is watching the Irish, who sold the guns to LOAN). This while SAMCRO also at least suspects -- based on what Stahl told them -- that the FBI is after Zobelle, and thus could be watching his end of the exchange. And the aforementioned shootout (in broad daylight, in a public place) doesn't attract any witnesses, or apparently even come to the attention of law enforcement? No one notices the cars peppered with bullet holes cruising the streets of charming? Hale doesn't even come around to ask a few perfunctory what-do-you-know-abouts?
But it's not just that; there are many more examples. There was the the decision to go after Zobelle at the Christian Center in the absurdly reckless way that the club did -- not even ski masks, people, and away from the protection of Charming? -- rather than simply having Tig wait in the bushes near Zobelle's car and shoot him once in the back of the head as he was leaving. Then there's the scene at the beginning of one of the early episodes this year, where SAMCRO is testing full auto guns at the new warehouse -- again, outside, in broad daylight. I've spent way more than my share of time around guns and shooting, including quite a bit of full auto, and unless you are well and truly in very deeply isolated wilderness, or on a range where this sort of activity goes on lawfully on a regular basis, that sort of thing is going to draw a flyover from a police (or in this case perhaps ATF) helicopter. Plus, all those spent bullets are sitting there in the backstop, waiting to be dug out and matched to the crimes committed with those guns by their ultimate consumers.
I have no problem believing that lots of criminals are this reckless. I just have trouble believing that the ones who are spend very much time outside prison.
(3) I wish Sutter & Co. wouldn't paint SAMCRO as so darned hapless and incompetent. I'm sorry, but it's true: these guys can't seem to do anything right. Which makes one wonder how they got to be the all-powerful rulers of Charming. I realize that drama requires having things go wrong for SAMCRO, but I feel like the writers are taking the easy way out and in the process making the club look incompetent.
(4) Rhys did a great job of laying out SAMCRO's myriad enemies; these guys are really up against it. They have enemies out the wazoo, and so far they don't seem to be able to deal effectively with any of them. What SAMCRO seems to be short on right now are allies. I have a suspicion that Chibbs's wife may be linked to Jimmy O, and that she and Jimmy O may end up helping resolve some of SAMCRO's problems. (Though they may eventually turn out to be a serious problem in their own right.) Right now I'm also including the Chinese in the list of people who may help pull SAMCRO's bacon out of the fire. From the looks of it, they're sure doing to need help.
Er, sorry: "Chibs's wife."
Keep up the great work Alan.
PDQ?
Pretty Damn Quick.
My favorite line of the entire episode was Tara's, about what might happen to her if she hangs around the family long enough. I won't repeat it, in case any little ones are reading, but I just about spit up my coffee this morning when she said it.
Was also pleased that Opie actually had a line to make us laugh while walking in on the nutical reveal. Might have been the first light moment he's had since, well, probably ever.
And Chibs' wife is obviously going to stir up some shit, otherwise she wouln't be here. Can...not...wait.
People are too quick to assume that Georgie killed Luann. We didn't get to see two things in this episode: What Georgie said to his bodyguard about how they would respond, and who killed Luann. It's possible that he's a red herring.
rcade,
Good point. I'm inclined to guess that Luann's murder is what it seems to be, but there's definitely potential for a surprise there.
SAMCRO does have a long list of enemies. I read that line from one of the posts an I thought, hmmm.... how cool would it be for Jax to have them all killed Michael Corleone style in the season finale? Just a thought.
Great blog, great comments, great show.
Another great episode. Don't have much to add to other commenters, so just a few points:
Maybe Bobby just doesn't think that Jax knows the truth about Donna's murder. Or, he has suspicions but feels the truth has to come out for the good of the Club, no matter what Opie might do.
I was glad Oswald got the knife back. It seemed implausible to me that he would do such a big favor for the Club last week without demanding it back.
Surprised that Hale didn't wait to hear all of the dirt that was getting bandied about before breaking in with news of Luanne's death. Maybe he figures it's better not to know certain things.
If the Club ever gets evidence of Zobelle's dealings with the Mayans, I wonder if they can use that to manipulate AJ.
Speaking of Hale hearing things when he walked in, he heard Tigg say "Well I hope it went better than the Trammel task."
Not sure if that means anything, as cops being on the SOA payroll is nothing new to Hale, but maybe Sutter made him hear that for a reason.
Great, great, great show. That said, this week it got a little hard to accept Piney as away on his bender for the third week in a row, especially when Tig was supposed to "call everybody" and they were so desperate. I get that Piney can't spoil the "surprise" about Donna until the season ends because that's how it was mapped out in the writers room so it would be hard to write him into every episode and have him keep his mouth shut, but can't they just give him temporary amnesia (see LOST: Claire) or something.
Pet theory of the week: Georgie is protected by the Armenians. Watch your feet boys.
As someone watching this show from Ireland, the only thing I do not love about it is the Irish arc to the storyline. The 'True IRA' or Real IRA in real life are hardly the most plausible multi-national terrorist organisation. In reality this is a tiny splinter organisation which has few members and limited resources. I would have thought Islamic terrorists would have been far more plausible. Did Sutter think this too controversial?
Leaving that aside the accents are terrible. Did anyone actually think of hiring Irish actors for these roles? This lacks the authenticity which shows like Brotherhood displayed when they hired Brian F O'Byrne to play the Cafees' cousin Colin.
Notwithstanding all of the above, this is an excellent tv show!
I love this show.
But sometimes the willing suspension of disbelief collapses. Further to Matt's comments above about the recklessnes of SAMCRO trying to steal guns in broad daylight while the ATF is supposedly watching...aren't they out on bail TOO? Cleary a violation of the bail agreement. I'd be pissed if I was Oswald - he won't have any land to worry about the mayor taking if he has to forfeit it as bond.
Also doesn't Charming have a local paper to report the fire fight? Wouldn't the fire fight catch the eye of Bay Area news? I mean, they can ride there and back in 1/2 day, it's NOT that far.
Don't know if the linking to other sites is allowed, but: Interview with Katey Segal over at Television Without Pity, http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/telefile/2009/10/katey-sagal-talks-sons-of-anar.php
Sorry about that, David. Though given our trouble understanding Chibs's accent, we might be completely lost with real Irish actors!
Following up on your Real/True IRA complaint, the idea that a gang in California would have to rely on the Irish for guns -- even full auto ones -- is a little silly. It'd be easier and cheaper to get them from Mexico, Central and South America.
Actually Matt this a very good point. For that matter AK-47s are widely available from a million sources. Some things do not add up at times on this show. It seems that the Shield just about managed to believable at times especially given the 7 seasons took place over a fairly short period of time. No cops could be that corrupt and not stumble eventually!
Matt, these were very interesting comments--agree about Kurt needs to stop making the club look so stupid.
Your insight on the automatic weapons was good, and agree--HOW do these guys come out of full-on firefights without a scratch and just drive away!
If they're going to keep doing this they need the Star Trek strategy of pumping up both Samcro and the Mayans with a bunch of expendable Red Shirts just so they can get killed and it doesn't look so stupid.
Agree about Piney--the club is getting kind of small to have some just allowed to stay out of it indefinitely.
And WHEN does Sack get made a full member-surely he deserves it? Also he is a good actor and my personal favorite after Jax.
I though Chibs was Scottish? Cripes, I'm confused.
Loved the ep, though. Seeing Tig show mercy on Chuck was a great character beat, as was Chuck rubbing the outline of his penis (outside his pants) with his two fingers. Even with only two fingers, he can't stop touching himself. Gads!
Chibbs is Scottish-born, but spent part of his life in Ireland. They've never really explained this on the show (or, if they did, I couldn't understand it because Chibs was saying it).
The Real IRA are also referred to as the Coca-Cola Brigade because they are the real thing.
Chibbs apparently was in the British Army in Northern Ireland for a short time, until he was court-martialed. (?) He obviously also married an Irish woman. He may have something to do with SAMCRO's relationship with the True IRA, though that's just speculation on my part. I suspect we'll learn more in the next few weeks.
Since there are thirteen times more Irish living outside Ireland, including America than in Ireland, samcro can probably find lots o'Irish just down the street.
Agree with the comment that the guns would much more likely come from Mexico through those underground tunnels.
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