Sons of Anarchy, “Some Strange Eruption” (7.5) - TV Review

Sons of Anarchy, Season 7, Episode 5, “Some Strange Eruption”

October 7, 2014, 10 pm (EST), FX

Payback and retribution have been frequent themes throughout Sons of Anarchy. It would probably be a much duller show about motorcycle gangs if it wasn’t. There was always one gang getting even for the actions of another, and, for the most part, it was tolerated. The actions SAMCRO and the Triads have all but demolished that with this episode.

Jax sitting among the massacred victims of Diosa was a bit macabre. His blank expression as he stares at the victims, Collette especially, shows us even more that this is not the man we once knew. The old Jax wouldn’t have let things get this bad in the first place. The Jax we see now is lost and has blinders for nothing but the Triads. He’s more determined than ever to make Lin and his crew suffer. It makes us pause and wonder what would happen if Clay were still around. As bad of a person as he was, things were never this bad when he was in charge.

I really wonder what Kurt Sutter is doing with Althea Jarry. Her character has been so inconsistent since she came on this season. After letting Chibs drive her home after surviving the grenade attack at the ice cream shop, she sleeps with him. It is very hard to see that she would be sleeping with a known felon and someone connected with the murders and attempted murders involving SAMCRO and the Triads. Not only that, but it would be really unethical too. She’s keeps teeter-tottering between being a good cop and bad cop. I shouldn’t say she’s bad as much as corruptible. Yes, she took the money a couple episodes back, but it was possible she was doing it to gain the trust of SAMCRO. It was nice to have a second sheriff in Charming that wasn’t going to be corrupted by the Sons. Apparently, the money was just her way of picking up some quick overtime although why she felt the need to tell Chibs is beyond me. Now we have this extra unnecessary drama with her and Chibs. Their little exchange about trust and Chibs throwing it in her face was quite hypocritical of him. If anything, they both were trying to gain the other’s trust. I’d like to believe Jarry just slept with Chibs as part of getting him to trust her, but who knows. I think it would’ve been nice to have her up SAMCRO’s ass trying to find answers and solve Eli’s murder.

Trust and picking sides came up once again. Jax tells Nero he needs to pick a side in the fight instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting to see who’s going to come out on top. Nero’s response that he’s just tired is about spot on. He almost speaks for the audience as well as he’s been on the fence and gone between Jax and some of the other gangs, mostly Alvarez. Nero seemed to make his choice to stick with the Sons after ratting out Lin’s crew. Jarry, also sick of games, tells Unser it’s time to choose as well. She’s tired of being kept in the dark about everything and finding out about the carnage after it’s too late. Wayne at least delivers on preventing another massacre by tipping her off to follow Lin’s crew when they went to Stockton. At the same time, Wayne’s still cleaning up after Gemma’s issues. While he made one good call, there’s still time for him to turn around again.

Jax, ever the present father, isn’t around to notice Abel acting out like we’ve never seen before. Being held at the porn studio for protection, Abel will not allow anyone to go near Thomas as he will “protect him.” He even goes so far as to slam the hammer against the wall, demanding to be taken home so he can go back to school. Abel has been around his father for too long, and the effects are starting to wear on him. He’s only knows the life of a violent, absent father. Abel will protect Thomas, but to what extent. Maybe next time he finds a gun and then the unthinkable may happen.

Gemma’s lies about seeing one of Lin’s guys leaving Jax’s house the night of Tara’s death is going to catch up to here even quicker now that Jax attempted to execute Lin’s entire crew unsuccessfully. Jax really lost on the opportunity, and now that Lin knows why Jax has been going after him, it’s only a matter of time before some truth comes out. Will Jax turn this rage towards Gemma in his quest to find the truth? I can’t see Jax turning on his mother, but he loved Tara more than his mom.

Juice continues to lose his grasp on reality. After being kept in the hotel awhile longer while Gemma deals with the Diosa massacre, his paranoia hits full panic mode as he ruthlessly executes a hotel employee he believed was part of Lin’s crew. What’s worse is he doesn’t seem to have any remorse about it once Wayne and Gemma discover him in the blood-soaked room. He just wants to get out of there. There must still a little bit of sanity left, as Juice realizes Gemma’s trying to take him off elsewhere to kill him. While Gemma claims she doesn’t know if she was actually going to go through with it, this brings up a whole new set of problems for SAMCRO. Gemma cowers for her life as Juice holds her at gunpoint. We can assume she’ll be used as some bargaining chip. As terrible a person as Gemma is, there’s no way Sutter will let her go out quietly like that. Then again, it would actually be a breath of fresh air for how a major character would go down. It would be nice to not see everyone executed with a bullet between the eyes.

The Roundup

• Happy seemed, well, too happy to see Desmond executed in front of him.
• Interesting that “The Age of Aquarius” played at the end, considering it’s supposed to be about love, light and humanity; everything that has been missing in Sons for quite some time.
• The flute scene was…interesting & pointless.