Those fears aren’t unfounded, either, as it’s a wonder she’s recovered to the extent she has. After the damage was initially done, she was given little chance. She’s not exactly done herself any favours either, going so far as to re-injure herself not long after her arm was first set. To think that she could return to full-duties as a surgeon again one day almost stretches the believability of the situation too far, one could argue.
That aside, it leads to one of the first real heart-to-hearts Tara and Gemma have had in a long time and to Tara letting Gemma back not just into her lives, but her children’s as well. Though it’s hard to see them, once as strong as their old men, looking and acting so defeated, I’m glad to see them bury the hatchet, if only temporarily.
Someone who isn’t about to go burying any hatchet, however, is the Sheriff. The moment his lips went to kiss his wife’s barely noticeable baby bump, viewers had to have an idea what was coming. Still, I wasn’t expecting it to be so soon. Only minutes had passed from that moment before the Sheriff’s home was made next on the list of invasions and his wife took a bullet to the gut.
Which leaves viewers with even more questions about what Clay’s aim is here. Prior to the break-in, he gives a knowing look with regards to the Sheriff, showing that this attack definitely wasn’t random. One wonders, though, how this can possibly work in Clay’s favor. On one hand, the pressure from the Sheriff will be much greater now, increasing the discord among SAMCRO that’d already reared its ugly head in the club meeting earlier on and potentially allowing Clay to rip Jax out of power.
On the other hand, though, with Clay’s culprit-of-choice going to county lock-up, who is there left to blame? This could very easily blow back on him, and sooner than he may think if the Sheriff’s wife got any of her attackers’ skin underneath her fingernails.
Plus, while we’re on the subject, the mystery surrounding Clay and the home invasions still hasn’t been unpacked in the slightest and it’s beginning to get frustrating. We’re almost halfway through the season and, besides a brief glimpse of a mystery person looking through the birth and marriage certificates from Clay’s safe, and hints that it’s the SAMCRO Nomads carrying them out at Clay’s bequest, all we know about the home invasions is that they’re taking place. All I ask is for something, big or small, to go off of.
Lastly, there are two more things I feel I must talk about. First there’s the brawl between Jax and Galen. With the Galen and the Irish being all that kept him from getting out from under the CIA’s finger, his animosity towards them was understandable, to say the least. Well, in this week’s episode he got to take out all that pent up rage towards them out and from his carefree attitude about Galen taking a gatling gun to their bikes, it would appear it was as cathartic an experience as one would imagine.
Second, there’s Walton Goggins‘ (Justified) uproariously funny cameo as Vanda Van Dam, professional tranny. Of everything to happen in this episode, it’s his performance that is going to get people talking the most. What I found most interesting about it, though, was what it revealed about Tig.
Apparently, he’s one of Vanda’s regular customers, which seems weird even for him. Here’s to hoping their shared familiarity results in more future cameos by Goggins because he single-handedly gave this season an infusion of what it had been missing up until this point, its trademark humor.
All in all, there was a lot to like about this episode, but for as much as it cleared up and resolved, there was still a good deal it left its viewers in the dark about, things they’re going to need answers to sooner rather than later.