With last night’s episode, “Greensleeves” we are more than half way through this final, insane ride with the gentlemen of SAMCRO. At the end of last week’s extended episode, the audience was left waiting to learn what the ultimate fate of estranged club member and potential rat, Juice Ortiz. Would Gemma’s crimes finally be revealed? Also, there was the question of who could’ve sold out the club to Henry Lin. Read ahead for more details from the episode. Stop now if you haven’t watched. There be chaos and spoilers ahead.
The episode kicks off immediately answering the question of whether or not Juice would be meeting Mr. Mayhem. Nope. Is he off the hook? Nope. Juice is getting the one thing he wants most in the world. The club is giving him a chance to earn his way back in and become a part of their beyond dysfunctional family again. How? Well, wearing his newly returned cut, Ortiz rides up on a spot crawling with Highway Patrolmen. He takes a shot at their bikes and leads them on a merry chase. Initially, it’s uncertain if Juice is meant to die in a suicide by cop scenario or if there is some deeper plan. Of course there’s a plan. When does Jax Teller not have a plan, for better or worse? Juice is taken into custody and we quickly learn that he is to go after Henry Lin in county lockup. If he fails, Jax’s ally, Tully will kill the troubled SON once and for all. Chibs is confident that the boy will do what’s required.
Jax and the boys pretend not to know anything about what Juice has done when Unser questions them about it. The old lawman arrives at Redwoody wanting to talk to Jax about Officer Eglee. She remembers everything, but won’t say a word about what really happen. She doesn’t want any more death and destruction in the town that she loves.
Phantom Tara is silent this entire episode as Gemma’s guilty conscience and the knowledge that Juice is with Jax push the matriarch even further over the edge. Chucky sees that she’s coming apart at the scenes. Her emotional state hasn’t gone unnoticed by Nero as well. Her lover shows up at Teller Morrow before she can confide in Chucky. He’s had it with all the bad shit that’s been happening around them. He’s actually been listening to all the yelling coming his way through the television screen this season and he’s getting the hell away from SAMCRO and implementing the exit strategy he talked about in Season 5. He wants to sell his shares of Diosa and move away his son. Great. Run far far away from all of this. He wants Gemma to go with him. Nope. Not good. She’s the main instigator for all the mess. He loves her though and he’s ignorant of her darkest sins. Murdering Tara. Conspiring with Clay to kill JT.
Gemma insists that she can’t leave her family. Nero tells her that the boys can come with them. Clearly he hasn’t cleared that with Jax. Gemma tells him that she’ll think about it. It’s a testament to how much I adore Nero…I mean how can you not melt with him going “I’ve got serious love for you.” So, though I want her to pay for her many crimes, I found myself yelling at the screen. What’s wrong with you, woman?! Run away with him! Seriously, why would she not? Everything is clearly falling a part. Juice is with Jax and the younger man could break and tell Jax the truth about Tara’s murder. When Happy and Ratboy show up later to escort her to the cabin (you know, where most people go to die/be murdered/buried) she refuses to go. Too bad you didn’t take Nero up on his offer right on the spot, eh, Gemma?
Why are Happy and Ratboy insisting she come with them? Did Juice finally rat her out? Of course, she can’t ask them that, but she might as well with her increasingly strange behavior. If only she would’ve broken out into one of her one-sided conversations with Phantom Tara in the van with Happy and Ratboy. Instead, she asks them to let her stop at the house for something she needs before going to the cabin. Clearly, if they knew she murdered Tara and if Jax were waiting to kill her, they wouldn’t have stopped anywhere. Logic left Gemma’s frame of thought a long time ago, though.
What’s really waiting at the cabin? Not the retribution that Gemma so richly deserves. No, Jax simply needs his mom’s help with Grant and Leticia, the dead pastor’s stepson and wife. Leticia is going through withdrawals and since there’s no longer a doctor in the house (thanks again for that, Gemma) he wants his mother to help them out. He sends Happy and Rat to pick her up and the group have a funny exchange about Gemma being one scary chick.
Jax needs the pastor’s relatives to help in his new goal to take down August Marks. He wants Leticia to sign papers saying that Marks forced them to file the paperwork that allowed Marks to use the church owned property for his own interests and money laundering. Hoping to further motivate them, Jax lies and tells them that Marks is responsible for the pastor’s death. He even alludes to Marks being involved in Tara’s death (a move that earns a side eye from Chibs). It seems that nothing and no one is sacred when it comes to Jax getting whatever he wants this season. I still haven’t the slightest idea what that might be. If he thinks Lin is behind Tara’s death then yes rain down death and destruction on the man. That’s not what Jax has done though. Nero said it best a few episodes again. This started with Jax needing vengeance, but now he’s just doing what feels good. He’s backstabbed just about everyone he can except for Redwood. Even Jury, a fellow Son, has suffered in this. We still have no about Jury’s true connection to Gibby, but that is one of many truths that will hopefully come out sooner than later.
Gemma stops at home to do what else but raid her hat box o’ guns. She’s breaking more and more with each passing second. Finally, she comes to the point where she has to say the words and tell someone what she did to Tara. Who else to tell, but the one person who has no understanding of what she’s saying and couldn’t tell Jax even if he could. She blabs to baby Thomas. Of course, she doesn’t see the already troubled Abel listening at the door. Who can he depend on? His mom’s in heaven. His father’s never home. Grandma just confessed to hurting mommy. There’s that new lady Wendy, but he hardly knows her. Who will Abel tell? I’m hoping he confided in Nero or Unser. They both have most of the pieces to the puzzle already.
Elsewhere, while his child is being further devastated, Jax is off wrecking more havoc. In exchange for Leticia and Grant’s help, he pays a visit to a pimp who kept the pastor supplied with young, male companions.
This low-rent pimp, Greensleeves, thinks nothing of slapping around his girls. He’s a charmer though, telling one of the girls that she puts the “O” in Hoe. It’s meant to be a flirty, teasing line because she giggles as if it’s cute. M’kay. Greensleeves has nothing to say to Jax and the boys. He makes a quick escape nearly running down Nero as his girls attack Jax and Chibs. Jax and Nero offer the giggler or Winsome (Don’t be mean, Chibs) a job at Diosa. A “safe” place where she doesn’t have to worry about anyone breaking her arms or cutting off her lips as Greensleeves threatened to do. The guys fail to mention what happened to the previous ladies of Diosa. She falls for it and Jax’s dreamy (lying) eyes and tells them where they can find her former pimp. She never liked him anyway and things he’s not really Jewish. Actually, she tells them, that she thinks he’s “anti-semantic.” That’s what she said. Maybe this one can work a calculator.
Before leaving for the cabin, Gemma asks Wendy to call Nero and tell him that she’s being taken to the cabin. Of course he comes running. Still unsure of everything she’s done, but knowing it’s bad enough he arrives at the cabin door ready for anything. At that point, Gemma has realized that her secrets are safe…for now at least. Will this close call, be the final push she needs to take Nero up on his offer of a fresh start? Only time will tell.
Nero tells Jax that he wants out. He’s selling his part of Diosa to Jax and leaving town. Jax can’t understand why and for some reason Nero chooses not to go down the extremely long list of crap he’s been through since Jax and his mama came strolling into his world. Jax promises that the violence and turmoil is nearly done. Thankfully, Nero has learned just what Jax’s promises are worth.
Tyler arranges a meet-up between Marks, the Mayans and SAMCRO. Marks doesn’t show. Apparently, he’s not stupid and knows that Jax has run a game. How could he not after Jax spilled his guts to Henry Lin, initially naming Marks as the reason for all Lin’s problems. Then there are all the bodies piling up. August sends his security team in with a message that Jax will easily understand. In a moment straight out of Seven (What’s in the box?!?!?!), Marks’ men leave them with a box too small to contain a human head. It does have Bobby’s patches and an Ipad. There’s also a Tupperware container, but the guys don’t look inside. Instead the watch in horror as Bobby’s “demise”(?) plays out onscreen. His face is bloody and one of his eyes has been clearly gouged out. Oh, Bobby Elvis. Not Bobby. What’s in the Tupperware?!?! What else but one of Bobby’s eyes. Marks went all Hammurabi on them. A language that Jax will easily understand since that’s been his entire modus operandi all season long.
Fade to Reaper and now we’re down to six more episodes before the end. One thing that continues to shock me about this season is how surprised Jax and the others are when their enemies have sought retribution. They are so caught off guard and I think…why aren’t you expecting this blowback? Why wasn’t this apart of your careful planning when you dreamed up this insanity. Thinking he was avenging Tara, Jax has double and tripled crossed just about everyone. Stabbing everyone in the back except his own mama, who hello is the one that truly deserves it here. In seasons past, Bobby and Chibs were the voices of reason for Jax. Where were those voices in past weeks? Not much road left here and boy I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. It can only get crazier.
What did you think of the episode? Can Juice really earn his way back in or will Jax pull a double-cross for the umpteenth time? Will someone step up and pull Jax away from the edge before he pushes them all over? How many years of therapy will those poor Teller boys need after all they’ve gone through. Hit the comments section with your thoughts and favorite moment from the episode.
Favorite Tweets of the Night
But if we keepin it a hunna, Sutter never knew what to do with Bobby. Killed his Elvis shtick. And what was that nomad storyline?
— 🦫✨America Is Musty✨🦫 (@DragonflyJonez) October 22, 2014
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