This week's episode almost made it the full hour as a completely harmless break, but then a late twist shook things up for the better.
Clay (Perlman) is still acting like a wounded dog, but I think there's still some bite in him yet.I don't know how I can write about the best parts of this week's Sons of Anarchy without delving into some very not-safe-for-work territory, but I'll do my best. This week's episode, for the most part, can be summed up with Walton Goggins' amazing guest spot as Venus Van Dam: interesting, a little weird, and very, very fun. This week's episode almost made it the full hour as a completely harmless break, but then a late twist shook things up for the better. Let's jump right in.
I'll start off by admitting that I didn't hate Gemma (Katey Sagal) this week. She had a great scene with Tara (Maggie Siff) that finally worked to bring her character back towards earth again, without her losing what makes her so appealing in the first place. At the same time, I wish she wasn't pining over Nero (Jimmy Smits) like a highschooler, especially because the scene between them was the only time we saw Smits this week. I'm not sure if we've got Gemma on a better, more believable path, but I sure hope so.
A solid chunk of this episode was spent following Jax (Charlie Hunnam) as he tried to get SAMCRO on a better path to success. Largely, this involved getting Mayor Hale (Jeff Kober, makings his not-so-triumphant return to the series) to sign off on the Sons buying the new property for Nero. It was refreshing to see a vote go according to plan, and to watch the actual plan play out with very little violence. Which is where Goggins comes in. I am a huge fan of Walton Goggins, both on The Shield and Justified, but it still took me a little bit to figure out that was him under all that makeup and in that dress. He provided some great humor in this episode, which helped deliver a much-needed break to the generally serious tone of the show. I hope he returns, if only to continue to taunt Tig (Kim Coates). We also got a little bit of Jax and the IRA, but it was a largely inconsequential piece of fluff, at least for now.
Finally, the robberies that have been plaguing Charming were brought a little more to the forefront this week. I still think Clay (Ron Perlman) has something to do with these, possibly with the new club members, but I don't think that even he wanted to see Roosevelt's (Rockmond Dunbar) wife get shot. Last season, I was very supportive of Roosevelt as a character, and I stand by my belief that he has the potential to be a huge addition to the show. Now, it looks like he'll have the chance to prove himself. I'd be happy if the robbery storyline took us to the halfway point of the season, from which we will start to focus on the larger problems facing the club.
This was one of the few Sons of Anarchy episodes that rose to the occasion of serving as filler, but also moving things along just a tad. The inconsequential stuff was interesting enough that I was never checking the time, and the few story beats that we actually got made me very anxious for next week's episode. Hopefully, we get a little more oomph in the coming episodes, but I can be happy with this week's episode until then.
As always, leave a comment below if you've got any thoughts to share on this week's episode. I'll see you all next week, and this Sunday for the premiere of The Walking Dead, possibly with some notes from their panel at New York Comic Con this weekend. Stay tuned!