Sons Of Anarchy Review: “Playing With Monsters” (Season 7, Episode 3)

Jax is playing it close to the vest with his secrets on this episode of Sons of Anarchy, but he’s already started to look for allies for a war of his own making, and hopefully for when things eventually go wrong. He’s calling in favors from black, and setting up brown and black alike. It’s only a matter of time before there’s some blow back on home turf. Unfortunately, before that happens, there will probably be an internal matter that draws his attention away for at least a few minutes in a future episode.

Another internal matter still at large is Juice (Theo Rossi). He has always been a fringe member of the club, to a certain extent. He was the joker in early seasons, Roosevelt’s pawn for a while, and Clay’s (Ron Perlman) lackey most recently. Although none of his actions have been inherently malicious, they have landed him in a rough spot – hiding out from the club, trying to stay alive. Having Unser on his side is a big plus for his cause, but once again he is in tough place. Unser wants information on Tara’s murder, but it’s going to come at a price for everyone.

There are a lot of uncomfortable scenes within the realm of Sons of Anarchy. Aside from the blatantly violent ones, the ones that are most effective at conveying the overall feel of the show are the heart-to-heart emotional ones. Tonight, viewers watched as Juice reached out one final time to a member of the club for a chance at redemption.

This strikes me as something notable because previous to this, Jax would probably consider the biggest betrayal to have come from Clay. Although Clay somewhat managed to redeem himself during season six, he never really seemed to be able to overcome his own ego, which may have been his biggest character flaw. He died never really have received the forgiveness from his loved ones that he desired. But, he’s not the only member of the club to have stepped on Jax’s toes. Tig (Kim Coates) was a pariah for a while after the club found out that he was responsible for the murder of Opie’s (Ryan Hurst) wife, and somehow Jax found a way to get over it.