Synopsis:

Alliances are tested, while bonds are broken. Written by Mike Daniels; directed by Karen Gaviola.

Episode 8 of 13



I just finished watching last week's episode last night and was Abel really impaled by that tree at the end? I hope the kid doesn't die. Jax and Tara would fucking lose their mind that Gemma was responsible death of their boy.

After the ending last week, Abel being OK felt like a big cheat.

Tara needs to learn to punch with her left hand.

Apparently next week's episode is 75 minutes, and the rest are 90.

The way this is going, they need it. I'm exhausted.

I'm not getting the whole get the club to vote to kill Clay thing. Jax could have taken out Clay anytime he wanted with all Clay has done and the Club wouldn't have much cared. He didn't do so because he was needed for cartel business. What has changed?

I thought Jax fist fighting the Irish leader got him more respect from him, and clay may no longer be needed as liaison?

i predict:

1.the vote comes at the end and with juice now in clay's corner it negates tig being with jax
2. ?????
3. Profit

Juice is a pussy and will crack. I predict he will either try to or will come clean to the club. That dude cries more than a girl.

Clay is just a master manipulator trying to stay alive at this point, and I do like Jax's plan to take him down.

I also think Jimmy Smit's has been a superb addition to the season. Loved his response to Clay's threat...

This and this...

Thos.

Let's see... Clay kills Jax's best friends wife, kills his best friends father, beats Jax's mother, kills Jax's father, tries to kill Jax's wife and kids, hires nomads to overthrow Jax's power that kill the sheriff's wife, threaten Unsur,... and Jax keeps harping about is MORE proof so that the club will vote Clay down?

In the first seasons of SOA, Jax would have voted Clay down with lead poisoning to the back of the head.

I can't say I do. In the world of this show, with the way everything has pretty much unraveled for the club, and the things Clay has done, Jax would just shoot Clay and be done with it. Just killing Piney would be enough. But they also killed Opie's wife. And he beat Gemma horribly. Now, while I get Gemma's just an old lady, she's very favored in the club, is kind of a defacto club mom, and the members did not take kindly to that. The list just goes on. Jax doesn't need any more "ammunition" to convince the club. There's simply no one powerful enough in the club to make trouble over it, and they'd all pretty much get it. I doubt even the police would much care.

Like I said, the only reason I thought Clay was alive at this point was he was needed for the relationship with the Irish. Jax's plan doesn't address that. Either he's needed, in which case he's no less needed after Jax gets more evidence, or he's not, in which case the plan isn't necessary.

With all the things that go on, how are they keeping their business running? (drugs, weapons, prostitutes etc)

Along these lines, I question the motivation for the Nomads to go through with this whole plan just to get a cut of Clay's take, which they would split three ways.

My assumption is that they would have met with some sort of accident once Clay took over - financially, it didn't make any sense at all for the Nomads.

From what I recall, the reason that Jax didn't off Clay last season was that the Machete & Aceveda said that if Jax didn't play along with the RICO case, they would come after the club. Now, Jax is wanting to get some sort of evidence to bring to the club to have them vote on offing Clay. Wouldn't this still result in them coming after the club or did I forget something about the RICO case?

for someone who wanted out, Jax sure has a way of ramping shit up. i think he's killed more guys this year than clay every did.

I hate when DNA is inconvenient inconclusive. It's not like they probably saw the scratch marks on the dead nomad either. A minor point but it seems like weak writing to contrive a way to not have the sheriff know. If he suspects Frankie Diamonds why the hell would he not look close at the 2 dead nomad guys? Of course if he did there would be no need to leverage Juice which in a remarkable coincidence gives Clay another angle to play. How fortunate he couldn't put 2 and 2 together and figure it out.

Also, why is Gemma alive? The latest episode doesn't trigger Tara to mention her involvement in JT's death (from the letters). Oh wait, Gemma is now needed to get evidence to bring Clay to justice at the table (which conveniently gives her a reason to breath).

A strong start but once again Sutter is trying to juggle too much crap at the same time, refuses to end plotlines until the end of a season and the writing gets more and more contrived as the season rolls on. Gemma gets into the accident so Jax can recruit her to spy on Clay? Because apparently Jax/the club just finding Frankie Diamonds first would be too easy. Is it just me or does Sutter seem to go for the most complex and roundabout solution for things, in the hopes that it will be more dramatic. Sometimes simple for some of the plotlines is good storytelling too.

I actually have knowledge of a murder (a real one) where similar DNA analysis gave something like 1 in 200 chance that the person in question didn't contribute the DNA under the dead person's fingernails. That's not exactly "inconclusive", but it's not the 1 in the population of the Earth result many are used to with DNA. I think they actually did right by that story element.

The sheriff needs conclusive DNA evidence for an arrest. Would he need conclusive evidence to take matters into his own hands? Or is he not that kind of guy?

sure sounds like he's turning into that kind of guy.

Jax is just god damn pathetic. It's hard to watch.

This season has certainly ramped shit up, but this show just has NO characters who are even semi-likeable anymore (besides Unser, I guess). Fuck, even Walter White is more relatable than the characters in this fucking show.

It's not just "likeable", though...It's that this show has no characters that I don't vehemently detest whenever they're on the screen. I guess Jax is still supposed to be the "hero" but he swings between violent sociopath-hypocrite to complete pussy between scenes, let alone episodes.

Are the bikes now sponsored? When Jax went after the van shooter guy, all 3 bikes were identical.
Used to be they were all very different, and I know the Irish guy shot up a bunch of em.

Well they did lose a bunch of bikes. Maybe it's an attempt to be realistic in that you're not going to replace your beloved bike overnight with a cool customized bike (not custom, just customized).

I thought the whole thing with Juice's father being black was explained away last season when Chibs basically said, "Who gives a crap?"

You mean to tell me Frankie got the drop on Nero, Jax, Bobby, and Chibs? WTF

I actually like Jax's plan for Clay. Makes Gemma, a character I truly detest, do things that are pretty repulsive to her and a thing that I can see Jax and Tara have a good laugh at. In real life we all know Clay would be dead but its all for the drama.

Could someone please confirm whether there is something I've forgotten where it was stated that the RICO case is no longer a threat? I know that this shouldn't be bothering me, but it is.

Thanks