Sons of Anarchy 7.02: Soil and Till
Written By:
Charles Murray and Kurt Sutter
Charles Murray and Kurt Sutter
Directed By:
Billy Gierhart
Billy Gierhart
It's slightly disturbing to see Jax go ahead with his plan to lay waste to Lin and the Chinese. Of course, it's the natural progression of action if Jax is under the misguided impression that a member of Lin's gang was responsible for Tara's death. What is of concern is that while Jax is slowly going entirely evil, there is no real moral force that is going to stop what he's doing. The club is going along with whatever action Jax decides to do. They happily ambush and strike a supposedly secret weapons delivery by the Chinese without much resistance. When Jax declares precisely how he's going to lie and torture Lin, no one opposes. He even drags members of a different Sons charter into the fray, as Jax murders Jury's security and plants evidence that pins the murders on the Chinese.
Gemma can't be counted on to be this moral authority on Jax, both because she likes being Jax's good graces and any opposition to his actions would invite suspicion moving to her. Nero's friendship with Jax is on shaky ground. He's also grappling with old loyalties and a possible alliance with the Mayans. Unser could be one possibility but unfortunately, he's too blinded by his feelings for Gemma to really get through to Jax.
I mention this observation in detail because it's something of a referendum on the original intentions of Jax's character. He was supposed to be the counterpoint to the corrupting influence of the club, using the knowledge culled from his father's actions to make it into something better. As he and Tara got further and further away from their stated intention to get away from the club, the more it became apparent that he was going to be tied to SAMCRO forever. He overtook Clay to become President, then his best friend and Tara died due to elements also tied to the club. Tara's death was the last straw so his death at the end is the most likely outcome. And I don't think Jax really cares. He probably felt resigned to that fate long ago.
There's something sad about that fact since it would be more honorable to build some kind of legacy to leave to his sons. Perhaps that's why Gemma looks so forlorn when she looks at Abel. She knows that she was responsible for killing his mother. Their current situation seems untenable, with a reformed junkie in Wendy being their primary maternal presence. Gemma might succumb to the guilt over her role in Jax's downfall.
That isn't Gemma's immediate concern, though. She uses Unser's crush on her to get close to him and that lets her see the kind of information he has on Tara's murder case. He only gets those files in his association with the new sheriff (Annabeth Gish, taking a break from her bit role on The Bridge). The sheriff seems competent and orderly on first impressions, although the same was said of Roosevelt and look where he is now.
I like the idea, though, that this is the start of the walls closing in on her. She figures that she has all of her bases covered by pinning Tara's murder on Lin's gang. Unser may unwittingly unravel the truth on the whole situation. If he can somehow connect the reasons why Juice is all jittery and paranoid with how Gemma's acting, then he could solve the whole thing. Of course, that's wishful thinking on my part, but it might happen. The show needs to play around with the fact that Gemma can't get away with the murder. Eventually Jax will find out the truth. Putting Gemma through the wringer would make the revelation that much more impactful. What's left up to question is how long the writers will play out that string.
Our Grade:
B
The Good:
- Jax's character arc is taking a substantial and logical turn
- The walls are closing in on Gemma
The Bad:
- Still some question on whether or not Gemma will get what she deserves
Henry Tran is a regular contributor of review for Critical Myth; The Critical Myth Show is heard here on VOG Network's radio feed Monday, Wednesday & Friday. You can follow him on twitter at @HenYay