Sons of Anarchy Season 4 Episode 3 recap


As I watched Sons this week, in all its basketball-y, ant-ridden glory, I had a question. Actually, several. Today’s more about questions than answers, and I wanted to know - who, exactly, thinks they’re smarter than whom?

It’s not that I don’t think Clay is sincere, for example, when he says Tara’s news made him happy. Both in the moment that she did it, because she’s adhering to the code – SAMCRO look out for each other emotionally, at least theoretically – and that he thinks she’s good for Jax (or more nefariously, that he can keep an eye on her if she’s linked to him). I just wonder whether he gives her any credit for having her own agenda. It’s just that he’s gotten so used to everyone’s actions happening in a way that pleases him.

Clay gives really, really good game where keeping up appearances is concerned. He looks all for the world like he’s confiding in Bobby when he tells him what’s up with Jax…and that he wants him to replace Clay. This is Clay. I don’t think he’s a liar; I think he believes what he’s saying – his ‘word’ – in the moment that he says it.
Clay. A man who believes, in the moment, that he’s doing the right thing for everyone, even if really, he’s going to be the one who triumphs in the end.

Now Gemma - she’s different. It’s not that she thinks she’s smarter than everyone, per se, it’s that she thinks she has to tidy up after everyone because it will all fall to sh-t if she doesn’t. She’s the only one who knows what all the various cracks are – from the JT letters to Tara getting suspicious, and maybe, on some tiny level, about Jax having itchings to get out (and, of course, because she lives with Clay) so she knows she has to keep every solitary thing clean but she still checks on Unser to make sure he’s functional. She still spends quality time with the babies, so that they feel acknowledged, in one way or another… What memory will they have of their grandma? It won’t be Lady MacBeth, I bet…

Also, I love how Gemma’s like “yeah, Jax does not know the HALF of the sh-t I’ve done behind his back, and while I’m not actually concerned for him, himself, it could rain hell down on us so could [Tara] not say anything?” And I know exactly how late I am to this party, but holy crap, Katey Sagal. She is an absolute revelation.

Who is Tara anyway? How on earth did she get into this situation? This is one of these questions that I’m not trying to go back and learn the truth about – it’s more that I’m asking because I want to know what she asks herself when she lies alone at night. There’s a part of her that’s dying to break out and move, and has interviews with hospitals in far-flung parts of town (and how much do I love ‘Margaret’, the tough-talking lady at the hospital?) but there’s a part that says ‘Jax has to lead us out’. And the thing is, to me, as much as that is true in the sense of Jax needs to be the one, there’s also a little of “Jax won’t love me if I don’t let him be the one. I can’t be too strong in his face, or - I might lose him.” We did, after all, see what happened to Gemma when she had the audacity to tell Clay what he was up to wasn’t cool…

Jax, meanwhile, is mostly annoyed. Annoyed that he has to clean up messes, annoyed that he has to keep up the front of still caring. He can tell people are questioning him, but it’s just so much effort to try to keep up the straight face… and yet, he’s pretty ridiculous when he tries to swing his dick around to get mad at the others, isn’t he?

Now, did they choose Juice to bring in because his eyes are emotive pools that make me sad on the inside? (Yes, I know that it was a racial thing. It’s also due to the awesomeness of the actor…) When Roosevelt told him what would happen to him in SAMCRO if he were proven to be black, or part black, you could see the fear of realization in Juice’s eyes. You could see it in the way he asked “What happens now?” You could see it in the way he was steeling himself not to turn back around to look at Roosevelt one more time…

I told Lainey last week that while I like this show, I’m not sure who I’m rooting for. It’s hard to find reasons to be in Tara’s corner, or Gemma’s, or Clay’s. If I have someone, I think it’s Gemma – her angle is clearest, to me– but I still want to know more about the way the others get up in the morning.