Sons of Anarchy 6.09 Review: “John 8:32”

The truth will set you free. And that’s what this week’s episode is all about: truths coming out. Jax finally learns about Tara’s plan.

That’s what the majority of the episode was about. There were no major action setpieces, but there were some important confrontations among the major characters as everything finally came out into the open. After the events of the last couple of weeks, Jax hates Gemma and believes that she caused Tara to have an abortion. Gemma, however, is working to save her family–by putting together the pieces of Tara’s plot and exposing it to Jax.

Nero is in a tight spot with Jax and Gemma. You can tell that he wants to help them because he really feels like a part of the family. One of the truths that come out this week to Jax was Nero’s willingness to eat the time and go away for the gun charge. There’s no way that Nero doesn’t deserve to be a part of the family after showing his commitment to a sacrifice of that magnitude. Still, Nero he just wants to be away from the drama. He’s not afraid of confrontation–because he believes in getting everything into the open and getting past all of it. He’s really become a solid moral rock for the series. I love this guy. It’s hard to remember that he hasn’t been around since the beginning of the series. He’s the most reasonable and relateable character in every episode and plotline he’s involved in.

This episode follows up on the one thing about Tara’s fake pregnancy that had me a little confused a couple episodes back: namely that it was fake. I didn’t think that it would be possible to fake it in a hospital environment with so many doctors and paperwork required, but we learn that the administrator Margaret (or as Gemma calls her, “Red”) has played a key role in Tara’s plan, creating all sorts of false reports and documents. It’s the one potential hole that had me uncertain about the whole storyline to begin with, and it makes sense that this trail is where the entire scheme begins to unravel.

On the business/gangster end of things, Barosky pulls out of their arrangement because of the constant pressure from DA Patterson. And with him, he takes Kim Dickens–I mean Colette. They really haven’t been around long and haven’t had the chance to do very much, although Colette’s legitimate brothel is important in what it represents for the future of the club. I hope that they’re not gone for good (and I doubt they are).

Haven’t spent much time in prison with Clay for a while. And, amen Jesus, is this great. Hilarious monologue leading into biting off a guard’s nose. So unlike Clay, yet at the same time, knowing that it’s a part of the scheme to break it out, it’s perfectly like him. And you can tell that Ron Perlman’s having a blast playing the pastor. Clay’s great escape, however, doesn’t quite make it into the episode. Lots of little pieces are sprinkled throughout, but he is still behind bars by the time the episode is over.

In the scene that promises to push the events of the season into endgame territory, Jax meets with DA Patterson. He promises to deliver Galen and a shipment of guns in return for the DA leaving the club alone. Oh man, turning in Galen and the Irish? I want to see revenge as much as anybody–we all really want to see the Irish get taken down after what they’ve done to the clubhouse. But we also know that this is a dangerous path. Just when we think we’re set with the guns and the Irish. Maybe the current resolution wasn’t one that put our boys on top as the winners, but it felt like everybody was going to come out of it alive. Come on, Jackie Boy, this’d better work.

So how do I feel about the episode? As a whole, it was a good installment. The side plot with the girl really didn’t seem to fit–unlike other side plots, it didn’t create any exciting action (though I’m not the kind of person who thinks that a car chase is necessary in every episode anyway). I understand that it was meant to give Jax a chance to look at how he views family and motherhood, but the whole thing just felt really oddly-shoehorned in. Unless this Brooke girl becomes some kind of new recurring character, it felt like this whole tangent was a waste of time. I did like how it sets up the club to be working with the new potential mayor for the upcoming election season and turning on Hale–that could lead to some interesting storylines in the future–but there’s no way that we really needed this storyline to drop us into that.

The biggest thing that the episode accomplished was it solidified the feeling that’s been building for a while: I just don’t like Tara anymore. Sure, it’s been going that way for a while now, and I’ve said it before. But I don’t think that there’s any going back for her.

At the beginning of the season, seeing her in jail, I thought that this would be a great season for her. And in some ways, it has and it is. I mean, she’s doing things. But I don’t like the direction she’s going. Or rather–I like the direction, but not how she’s getting there. Gemma’s always been manipulative and dark, but this is something else. I love the idea of Tara pulling strings, but doing it against Jax and the club is painful. We know that the one thing that Jax would never do is endanger his family–yet it seems like Tara’s forcing him into that kind of position.

A couple of seasons ago, in a fantastic finale image, we were given the promise of Tara standing as Jax’s Queen. But she hasn’t been able to handle that role. She’s not Gemma. While she might have the ferocity and intelligence, she doesn’t have the loyalty that Gemma has, and thats why I find it impossible to be on Tara’s side in the whole situation. She’s causing more problems for the club now than anyone. Gemma said it herself when talking to Nero: she lives by a code. They all live by a code. All of them, except Tara, who is playing a different game.

Is Jax going to come to a clean solution to this without violence? I hope so. I’m excited to see how. But I really don’t want to see Tara take his kids away from him. Even if they might be better off somewhere else, after the way she’s been using them to manipulate her family, I can’t imagine that place being with her.

As always, I’m looking forward to next week. With only a few episodes left in the season, I’m ready for some big things.

What did you think about this weeks episode? What do you think about Tara? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Worth Mentioning

Chucky’s kazoo. Dude is wacky but loveable.

Tig: “Do all teenage girls just hate me?.” And the club simply answers, “yes”, which Tig accepts.

Gemma behind the door in Tara’s office was awesome. Oozing cool.

The homeless woman at the end: is she supposed to be that girl’s mother? Honestly, I don’t really care. There’s so much going on with the main characters and side characters that we really don’t need this to be entering the season this late in the game.

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