Jax, on the other hand, has become Clay but without the restraint. He is, as other characters have pointed out, a hot-head. Clay was somewhat unpredictable, but he was at least predictable in his unpredictableness, if that makes any sense. Jax, however, is all over the map because he lives and will probably die by series end, one imagines, by his emotions.
Except it wasn’t just his emotions getting the better of him in this week’s episode as the Irish and the Mexicans couldn’t stop their petty squabble long enough to avoid a firefight that felt like it was thrown in just for the sake of having one.
You knew when Jax got the Irish to forgive and forget, doing this one last thing for SAMCRO before they split ways for good, that it was too easy and was bound to go south somehow, but it devolving into a race war came out of nowhere. They’re grown men and yet, in that moment, they acted like children. As Jax said, they all want the same thing, but they can’t see past their hatred for one another long enough to realize that.
So it’s a schoolyard brawl, more or less, that leads to the series of events that end, for now, with Jax shooting Wendy up in her motel room. Bobby’s motivations were baffling enough, and frustrating considering they mean Clay will undoubtedly make it out of another season alive, but it was everything surrounding that firefight that had me scratching my head the most.
I mean, I can honestly think of no explanation for the Irish kidnapping Wendy, of all people, besides Sutter having an end game in mind, the aforementioned incident involving Jax and Wendy, and spinning whatever bull it took to reach it. It would’ve made more sense if Jax had somehow managed to talk the Irish into killing Wendy or off her in such a way that it looks as if the Irish were behind it.
However, that would’ve been too easy for Sutter. He doesn’t just throw one wrench into the works and call it a day, he aims for something like a half dozen. He does this in the hopes that it’ll make for great drama, yet it actually just does precisely what one would expect it to: stops things moving forward.
The obstacles Jax has to navigate around feel less like challenges and more like manufactured delays. About halfway through the episode, I found myself wondering what was going to go wrong next because that’s all that happened: things went awry in every conceivable way.
It bordered on laughable at points, in fact, such as when viewers were given a glimpse of the U.S. Marshall’s drug and gun stash. While it should’ve been ominous, my only thought was “of course.” We get it, he’s an unknown quantity and a dangerous one. You don’t need to bash our (or Otto’s) heads in with it.
That’s just Sutter’s way, though. As I’ve said multiple times before, Sutter appears to disdain subtlety and it shows in this episode most of all. And next week’s finale will probably be more of the same. That or he’ll pull another deus ex machina style ending out of his ass, clearing up all the muck he spent this week slathering about in one fell swoop. Whatever the case may be, I’ll just be glad it’s over. For this season, at least.
Bits and Bobs:
- Have Gemma’s feelings for Clay been rekindled? Her hesitancy in her interactions with Clay is conspicuously absent and she’s yet to push him away despite her no longer having any reason to stay close to him. She might just not have the heart to tell him it was all a lie to get the truth out of him, but if that’s the case then Sutter’s keeping his cards close to the vest and Gemma close to Clay’s because, the way she curled up to Clay, it was as if nothing had changed between them.
- How is Sons of Anarchy with Chekhov’s guns? If this were Breaking Bad, the gun Clay gave Juice would be going off sooner than later. Since it isn’t, I’m not so sure.
- What’s Jax going to tell Pope now? Don’t you think he’s done with the endless delays?
- Jax and the others are just going to pretend like Juice’s betrayal never happened now? Oh, who am I kidding? It’ll randomly come back up midway through next season, I bet, just like it did this season.