A lot went down last week, and unfortunately I missed the review. Brief recap of last week: the conflict with the Irish escalated as they killed two members of SAMCRO, and Lee Toric was finally murdered by Otto. The thing about this show is that it’s incredibly difficult to recap succintly–there’s a lot that goes on every week, with seemingly endless storylines intersecting in different ways, and this week’s episode is no exception.
Luckily, this will be easier because if you’re reading this, you’re watching the show. Right?
I’ll try to keep the recap portion of the review brief: This week picks up with the club on lockdown and Jax bent on revenge. Jax and his guys manage to contact the Irish Kings (after a shootout at a warehouse) and Jax attempts to make peace. But of course, Galen’s already with the Kings and it’s clear that peace isn’t going to be easy.
The Irish are offended by Jax’s attempt to set them up with Marks, so they reach out to Clay in prison, promising to bust him out so he can run a crew from Belfast. Clay passes the information to Jax through Gemma, who endures another harrowing experience during a very uncomfortable conjugal visit.
Roosevelt’s onto Nero and SAMCRO, though it’s clear that he doesn’t really want to take them down. Last week, Roosevelt was certain that Toric had planted the evidence against Nero (and he was right), but now the DA is pressuring him, especially now that Toric is dead, and when the evidence comes back positive, Roosevelt has no choice but to pick up Nero.
The big event of the episode comes at the end, when the Irish set up a bomb to take out the clubhouse. Luckily, everyone gets out in time–including the kids, though that was super tense and I almost expected some serious deaths. But with the clubhouse destroyed in an attack that literally hit home, SAMCRO is not going to be able to put a clean end to this.
Overall, this was one of the more streamlined episodes of the season. And that isn’t an easy thing to say. A lot happened, but it all primarily revolved around the conflict with the Irish Kings.
The story progressed forward–significantly, and on multiple fronts. The explosion at the clubhouse is certainly going to have major ramifications going forward, and likely on all the storylines that have been building so far.
I enjoyed that there was restraint on the side-stories, for the most part: no Bobby, no Marks, very little with Collette and Barosky. Nero’s problem with Roosevelt got attention, but in a way that didn’t feel disconnected, bringing the police to the clubhouse at the time of the explosion at the end. The episode was really centered on the escalations with the Irish, leading to the disaster at the clubhouse.
The only scene that might have seemed out of place was the conjugal visit, and the disgusting behavior of the guards towards Gemma. I anticipate some kind of fallout from this, though. These kinds of things shouldn’t– and typically aren’t– treated lightly.
I think this was one of the strongest episodes of the season so far. What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Worth Mentioning
– “I hope you’re not a leftie.”
– No room to talk much about the goings-on between Wendy, Tara and Gemma regarding the custody of the children, but things are progressing. It’s made clearer what is going on where, with Wendy in cahoots with Tara in regards to getting the kids away from the club lifestyle. I’m sure the bombing will put a rush on that process. Maybe after this, Jax will even agree.
– So after the guard who had a hand in Opie’s death last season, and the guards allowing for Toric’s abuse of Otto in the opener of this one, this episode gives us yet another reason to hate prison guards in the world of Sons.
– Glad that Chucky got some screentime. He doesn’t get enough. It was nice that his past with Otto wasn’t forgotten, even if it was just a simple mention. This show has a deep history, and little references like these feel rewarding to those of us who have been here since the beginning.
– Other than a brief mention of Bobby, he and his nomads aren’t seen in this episode. It’s gonna come into play at some point, right?
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