Fist of Doom

Synopsis:



I think the drug dealers Opie ripped off are going to strike back pretty fast.

kstublen

Glad to see Half Sack back and I'm glad Happy is staying with the club for longer than an episode or two. Also nice to see Chibs doing alright and getting some more backstory for his character. It was funny seeing Chuckie again; sucks that he only has two fingers now...

Anyone else wondering where Jax's kid is? It makes me wonder what he puts first, the club or his kid. Him being willing to die before taking off his vest was pretty intense, and maybe shows Opie where his priorities really do lie, but I wonder if his son is going to come into the mix at some point?

It was also nice to see Bobby and the rest of them not just sitting idly by, but instead trying to figure out what was going on and get answers. It's also good to see that Donna's death really did shake Tig and he is less hesitant to have collateral damage. I think we will see a bigger change of heart for him as the season goes on and the series progresses.

I really can't believe they killed off Luanne. She seemed a pretty important part of the organization insofar as business venture and her being Otto's old lady are concerned; still, glad to see they don't mind killing off some characters now and again to keep it realistic. Although gotta say, pretty lame that Arnold went after a girl and not one of the Sons; just goes to show he really is a piece of dirt. I can't wait to see what the Sons do to Tom Arnold and his Bodyguard. Otto's reaction will be pretty intense too I'd imagine...can't help but feel bad for the guy...he's lost so much for and because of the club; I imagine he will pretty much abandon all ties to the club because of Luanne's death.

That end scene was very well done. Jax almost spilled the beans on Donna's death; I wonder if him saying "I'm not the one murdering women" will be brought back up again next week. Bobby is probably going to be the first person to find out that Clay and Tig were responsible for Donna's death...he already has some suspicions that it started around that time; he seems the most rational and intelligent of the rest of the club.

This show really is amazing. I loved the first season, but this one is leagues ahead of the first. They're doing such a good job keeping everything right under the surface, spilling over every now and again, right before a huge eruption. Not to mention that they fit so much story, action, and drama into one episode. Can't wait to see where the show goes from here.

EDIT: Only five episodes left this season.

pelenor

Spoiler's alert anyone?

kstublen

Episode has aired. Don't come in a thread right after it aired and not expect to see discussion of what happened.

EDIT: I edited the middle part as a courtesy even though once the episode airs all bets are off as far as spoilers are concerned. Anyway, that is the only part that could even remotely be considered a spoiler. I'll remove the spoiler tags later tonight.

MrX

It's amazing that the MC has lasted this long for as incompetent as they appear to be every week.

kstublen

I dunno, they were never really incompetent last season; in fact they did a pretty good job handling things if memory serves. I think it's the fact they now have to deal with an organization that surpasses theirs as far as resources and outward legitimacy are concerned. This group has a lot more money coming in, a lot more influence, more members, and has legitimate businesses to front its illegal dealings. Not to mention a leader that is pretty intelligent and plans things ahead compared to Clay's react first, think later approach. Jax would handle the situation much better than Clay is, which is obvious. Clay needs to recognize he isn't dealing with street thugs like the Mayans, 409ers, or the Nordics and that muscle isn't always the appropriate response in the situation the Club is now in.

SexualPudding

Not this shit again. Why on Earth do some people insist on coming into a show thread before they even get to see the episode being discussed?

Fist of Doom

Just for the record:

Once the show has aired, you've gotta expect spoliers in the discussion, especially in a show like this. Best to stay out of the thread until you've seen the episode.

Jimmy James

The (unwritten?) rule seems to be that spoilers are generally not seen in the thread until the first airing (usually but not always the ES/DT airing). After the show begins, the spoilers start rolling in. They're always current week spoilers, though. If the topic is something somebody knows will happen the following week, that's within tags.

wirefan

The dinner scene was a classic with all that shit coming together at one time and in one place.

I also liked half-sack "sacking up" during the shootout - wonder how long before he becomes a member.

Seems more and more likely that the Irish (or maybe Zobelle?) are going to take a hit in exchange for SAMCRO getting out of the charges - I just wonder it seems like such an obvious solution whether there will be a twist coming. I also really liked the piece with Zobelle's daughter trying to dig higher up in the IRA organization and maybe they will attempt to cutout the middle men (or even try to serve them up with SAMCRO to the feds?). The plot has been setup really well this season where just about anything could happen and it would not seem farfetched.

My long term prediction (not sure if spoiler is needed):

wmansir

Good ep. Good post too, kstublen.

I'm also surprised they killed Luanne. It was especially unexpected since it seemed like they were going to set it up so that the freaky accountant might discover that she and Bobby were cooking the studio's books.

I do have to say that I'm getting a little tired of the club taking it in the ass. That seems to be the theme of the season due to the division in the club.

Nitpick time:

1. Jax and the crew were entirely too gentle with Tom Arnold. They have already pulled the tough guy act twice then he goes and mess with their business, kills the dog, and pulls a gun on them and they just dunk his laptop and walk away. It's no wonder the thinks they are all talk.

2. Having Jax and crew walk into the Mayan club also seemed a bit far fetched. If that was the 9'ers home base the club would have to be pretty deaf to the street not to know the Mayan's took over. I know the club is in disarray, but still.

3. The idiot of the week award has to go to Tara for taking a loaded gun named Gemma and pointing it straight at her boss.

Original Desmond

Wow the list of people that Samcro need to wreck revenge on is growing each week !

Zorbelle
Mayans
Irish
Porn producer

they need more manpower badly

Fist of Doom

Half-sack really showed some balls this episode. Twice.

Yep. I'm ready for SAMCRO to start doing some ass-kicking themselves. If Gemma hadn't gotten (understandably) distracted, I don't think the Clay/Jax rift would have gotten this bad. Looks like she might be getting back in the game now, maybe even revealing the rape.

The Luann killing surprised me. It seems too extreme for the Tom Arnold character, unless he has some pretty tough backers. Was it established that he had her killed?

Red Dog

Yeah - I was going to say they are making a lot of enemies fast.

starseed1981

How many episodes to do we have left this season?

Fist of Doom

Five. Time flies.

catchawave

No I don't believe it is established yet. Clay asked the guys what they did at the studio and it made them assume it was Tom Arnold's character. On the other hand, the previews show

I would add that it could be some other scenarios, but all seem unlikely.

1.The drug dealer that Opie stole coke from came back for revenge. Opie did say he was hired by Luann as the new security, so the drug dealer could hold it against Luann for hiring him.

2. It could have just been a random killing, but unlikely given SAMCRO's dealings.

3. Bobby could have been pissed about the comments about Otto when they were at the studio or afriad she'd spill the beans about the books and Bobby and herself with the new accountant coming in. This scenario would have required him to leave the guys for a period of time or hire someone within a few hours to off her.

4. The Mayan's took it out on her because of earlier in the day.

5. Opie's new gal or one of the gals at the studio is looking to move up the ladder.

6. Otto found out about Bobby and Luann and had someone off her.

SexualPudding

It seemed obvious to me that Tom Arnold's character was responsible for LuAnn taking a dirt nap, just from the scene where the black dude said "what now?" and Arnold gave him a look for a couple seconds that the camera lingered on. Unless that was all done to swerve the viewer, it seems pretty open and shut to me.

Deftones

Am I the only one that though Gemma was going to blurt out she was raped at that last dinner scene?

tbird2340

Totally agree with this.. I think it was pretty lame that all they did was hold Arnold down.. No physical violence? Seriously?? Laaaame..

Also, I can't see how Arnold would have the balls to go that far.. I mean, SAMCRO is huge in the town so I would think you're pretty much writing yourself a deathwish..

stingermck

Yeah I thought that wouldve been perfect timing.

TGM

I am ready to see SAMCRO kick some serious fucking ass. SOON.

Shamus McAnally

Unless he's got serious backing. It doesn't seem too far-fetched, that in his line of work, especially after his initial dealings with SAMCRO, that he would get in bed with some heavies (more than he already has) that could back his play with the Club.

I'm interested to see if it's indeed someone else or Zobelle. (Zobelle could use another needle under SAMCRO's skin.)

wirefan

Part of me thinks it's just too obvious that Arnold was responsible for LuAnn and I wonder if it will end up being some curveball like the Aryans doing it to trick SAMCRO into an escalation against Arnold/broadening the clubs enemy base. (EDIT - oops that what the poster above me also speculated)

Sure I'm reaching... but it just seems too obvious.


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And I completely concur with the lame ass response by SAMCRO against Arnold - this was the 2nd time they were retaliating against him, and if you recall after the first retaliation there was some threat about a stick and some porn movie reference... You'd think they'd know the "we're really, really angry this time" might not have the desired deterrent effect?

Jimmy James

I think the point of the lacking response to Arnold is that Jax is not nearly ready to implement his "new approach" to running the club. That was 100% his call, and it may have led to LuAnn's death.

Weighing whether or not it is Arnold is tricky. The story is better in one way if Arnold is misdirection, but Jax would then get out of the responsibility for LuAnn's death. It would seriously reduce the impact of her death on the ongoing main storyline (which is the club's internal struggle).