Sons of Anarchy 7.04: Poor Little Lambs
Written By:
Kem Nunn and Kurt Sutter
Kem Nunn and Kurt Sutter
Directed By:
Guy Ferland
Guy Ferland
Well, that escalated quickly. We're four episodes into the season and the usual course for this show during any season is to let things burn slowly. The plot doesn't usually come to a head until very late in the season. Perhaps the writers realize that since this is the last season, they have to do things with a little more urgency. So if we look at things from that perspective, it's not a real big surprise that the Chinese would retaliate against the club in such a swift and brutal manner.
Jax was so convinced of his and the club's invulnerability through all of these covert alliances that he probably felt like he couldn't be touched; That everyone would just submit to the actions of SAMCRO without question. He had to know that there would be some retaliation. If he didn't learn that lesson from Damon Pope (or any of the other events like this in the show's history), then, well, this was the result that was coming.
Jax's thought process and sole focus on avenging Tara's death blinds him to that result. He has set things up so thoroughly that he's under the false impression that everything is secure. It's absolutely a strong possibility that Jury may have given Lin the information he needed so that the Chinese could throw grenades in the ice cream shop and then go ahead and murder everyone at Diosa. We don't get to see that onscreen, but it makes the most sense. The club spent a good chunk of time being out in front of things. Jax is making deals with Tully while Tully is in prison.
That gets messed up by the sheriff's deputies who had the misfortune of tailing the club on personal orders from Sheriff Jarry. The cost of which is unfortunately Cane's death and Eglee's chances of survival not looking too great. The club even takes casualties of its own, with Tig taking a gut shot when the club's leadership tries to negotiate with a family under threat from Marks. Normally, Tara would easily treat that wound and the club would continue on. Only, now, Tara is dead. After this episode, it's fair to wonder if the club will make it to the end of the series altogether whole.
All of this death is traced back to the most obvious source: Gemma's lie to Jax that one of Lin's men was responsible for Tara's murder. Jax has been committing these murders under the impression that Lin did him wrong and so he must exact revenge. All of the bodies in Diosa are on Gemma. Those were innocent civilians. All they ever did was make money that would line the club's pockets. Now that there has been so much death at Diosa, there are going to be repercussions in Gemma and Nero's relationship.
That seems to have been fracturing for a while though. The massacre at Diosa should hopefully get Jax and Nero to look at their toxic relationship with Gemma with more scrutiny. If they ever found out what really happened in Tara's house, their reactions wouldn't be too good. That would certainly connect the little character details of Gemma talking to an absent Tara and Juice's slow mental deterioration to the main plot.
The show shouldn't let either Jax or Gemma off the hook so easily. They both have to pay something heavy for all of the death they brought into their lives and the lives of the club's members. The massacre at Diosa does set up the issue of making the Chinese the antagonists with even less regard for human life than those in the club when that's not really the case. It's been an issue across the series of whether or not to cheer for these violent thugs. Yes, Tig and Chibs somehow found themselves with possible relationships that could soften them in time. Tig and Venus in particular was a rather unexpected pairing. Chibs and Jarry are a wait-and-see proposition.
If the writers are committing to a dark path for Jax and Gemma and SAMCRO, then do so. Don't give them the possibility that they could get away with all of this and somehow redeem themselves at the last moment. I really don't see how they could redeem themselves at this point. There's time to see what the future has in store for all of them.
Our Grade:
B+
The Good:
- The pacing drastically escalates
The Bad:
- Jax and Gemma shouldn't be getting off as easily as it seems
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