Sons of Anarchy, “Greensleeves” (7.7) - TV Review

Sons of Anarchy, Season 7, Episode 7, “Greensleeves”

October 21, 2014, 10:00 pm (EST), FX

We’re officially past the half-way mark of the final season of Sons, and things are finally kicking into gear. Family has been one of the central themes of Sons, and Gemma has always been the anchor of the family; not just for the Tellers, but for SAMCRO as well. Loyalty to the club has always played a role with characters coming and going. These values have never been put to the test more than what happened tonight, and with what is shortly to come.

Juice is apparently allowed to live as he receives his cut back from Jax before shooting at and leading the police on a high speed chase, where he gives up and turns himself in. We find out Jax is using Juice to get to Lin inside prison. If Juice can’t or won’t pull it off, Jax is having Tully take out Lin then Juice as a security measure for everyone. It seems like Juice is willing to do this penance, and as Chibs said “A boy will do what he’s told.” The club knows Juice desperately wants back in, so this must be his test. It certainly would go a long way to prove his loyalty back to SAMCRO. What we don’t know is if Juice has told Jax anything about Gemma. This seems unlikely as Jax is maintaining a calm composure (and Sutter would never allow such a pivotal plot point to be left discussed off-screen).

Unser continues to move the chess pieces around. Telling Jax about Eglee’s recovery and that she told Unser who was there is an interesting play, especially since the audience has no idea what was said. Despite Jax’s promises to not go after her, Wayne seems to be playing too many moves ahead for his own good. Hopefully he’s not putting her in danger by bringing it up. He knows something’s up with the club though as they didn’t seem too surprised Juice was picked up by the highway patrol, despite Jax telling him not long before he had no idea where Juice was. Wayne’s not dumb, but he plays it well so it’s hard to tell if Jax knows he’s up to something or not.

Nero tells Gemma that he wants out of this life for good, and as soon as he has the cash and sells his shares of Diosa he’s leaving for the country. Surprisingly enough, he wants to bring Gemma. Of course, Gemma being Gemma, she reiterates a line we’ve heard all too often: “I can’t leave my family.” Nero tells her that “they deserve something better” than what’s been put in front of them lately. Gemma wants to be with him, but can’t stand the thought of leaving her boys behind. This will only be far more tragic for Nero when the inevitable truth about Gemma and Tara comes out. After he leaves, Gemma tells Unser she doesn’t want to be alone. It’s a shame she already made that decision though after killing Tara. How long until she fully realizes the magnitude of what she’s done remains to be seen.

As if Gemma hasn’t had enough paranoia and delusions lately, she hits an all-time high when Jax tells Happy and Ratt to bring her up to the cabin to help detox the preacher’s wife. Knowing the Jax has talked to Juice and hasn’t said anything to her since, Gemma assumes the worst and that Jax knows what happened. As she gathers her things before heading up, she packs a gun and says what she thinks is a final goodbye to Thomas, but not before telling him the truth that she killed his mom. Really, not so much the truth as a Gemma-fied version of the truth, in that she says “accidents happen.” Of course, Thomas doesn’t understand as Gemma is doing it to try and clear her conscious. Unbeknownst to her, Abel is standing at the door listening to her whole confession before he walks off. For a moment there, I thought he might go for Gemma’s gun and shoot her to “protect Thomas” like he did with the hammer at Red Woody a few episodes back.

After discussing Juice’s plans in prison for Lin, Jax lets the rest of the table know how much their support has meant to him since Tara’s death. He says “you’re my family.” Both he and Bobby get a bit misty-eyed, but he immediately ends the meeting because we can’t have the big, tough bikers sharing an emotional moment for too long. Well, one family member that’s been around a long time may not be with us much longer as Bobby is ambushed by Mark’s men while on his way to the cabin to meet Ratt and Happy. After waiting for Marks to show up to meet Jax (and the Mayans as backup), Marks’ head of security drops off a package for Jax. We’re left with Bobby’s Redwood Original patches, a video of him being tortured and his eyeball in a plastic container. Clearly, Jax has underestimated Marks and has pushed him too far. Marks has barely begun to push back, and if this is what it looks like, Jax may have bargained for more than he wished.

The Roundup

• Really, Happy? You want to show the preacher’s wife a picture of his corpse?
• Jax using Tara’s death to get the preacher’s wife to sign a document to use against Marks just sickens me more. You can’t have it both ways, Jax.
• As deranged as Happy can be, even he is afraid of Gemma.
• Does anyone else think Jax’s offer to Winsome (I wish I made that name up…) seemed eerily creepy or offsetting? He offers her protection and a “better” life, but considering what happened at Diosa is her life going to be better?
• What’s the club going to do when they find out Jury is the one who sold them out (we’re in agreement it’s him, right)?