Let's Talk About Sons of Anarchy: "Darthy"

I don't want to keep harping on the fact that this season of Sons of Anarchy has been less than stellar, but, well, this season of Sons of Anarchy has been less than stellar. It has felt very aimless and without a specific purpose and overarching storyline which is one of the things I have so completely loved about the show in past seasons. In last nights episode, although it hasn't been a clear message, we finally got an indication of what has been the message of the entire season – the gavel corrupts. The conversation between Jax and Bobby after the vote at the table felt was very emotional and very important. In fact, it was the moment that I said, "ah-hah" this is what the entire season has been about.

We left last week with Bobby sitting down with Clay and this week found out why. Bobby went behind Jax's back to strike a deal with Clay in order to keep him alive. He was the sole member of SAMCRO to vote that Clay not meet "Mr. Mayhem" after all of the terrible things he has recently done. Obviously, Jax was incredibly unhappy with Bobby and it was in their follow-up conversation that I found the most important moment as Jax finally admitted that the SAMCRO gavel corrupts. Bobby claimed to be protecting Jax, because he knew that he would go behind the back of the club and kill Clay once he didn't need him anymore and he didn't want him going down that slippery slope. However, by Jax's admission he has already gone down that road. For one, he can't feel any sense of community or brotherhood since Opie's death, but most importantly, the power and responsibility that comes with being president of the club corrupts whoever is sitting at the head of the table. We saw this happen with Clay as he devolved into a horrible person who would do anything to get what he wanted without really caring about morals or what was right. It was a much quicker downfall for Jax, but seeing how he now operates, he is closer to becoming like Clay than he probably would like to admit. Jax was always the very sensible one that wanted to do what was best for the club, but it seems as if the more he tries to do better, the worse things get.

The rest of the episode seemed to really reinforce this notion and begin to show how bad Jax has actually become and how much of a mess he has made. Every plan that he makes somehow gets ruined by something else, with the best example being the drop off with the Irish. What he planned on going very smoothly turned into a blood bath and somehow led to Wendy's kidnapping. This felt a little odd at first for her to be such a prevalent part of the story, but with the final scene made complete sense. Wendy has actually become a character I really like. I never expected that, but when Tara decided to give her the kids if anything happened to her I was okay with that decision. However, Jax just completely up and ruined her life in one of the most fucked up ways imaginable. To shoot a cleaned up former up with heroin is one of the most heartless things anyone could probably do. It would actually probably have been nicer if he just shot her.

We also finally got some resolution to the Clay situation which has been lingering for way longer than it should have been. Although I know that Clay has deserved a bullet to the head, I'm actually happy that didn’t happen. With Opie and Piney's death it feels like the original crew has really diminished and I don't want it to get any smaller. It is definitely being set up that Clay is going to work with the Irish to run guns once SAMCRO gets out and that is how he will still stay involved in the show and club. However, they could also be setting up that story to make what actually does happen more shocking. Similarly, I also am curious as to what is going to happen to Tig. For the same reason I don't want Clay dead, I don't want Tig dead. They did also set up an out for him, if he were to decide to go to Belfast with Clay. The thing I hope they don't do is have Tig leave and have Damon Pope go after SAMCRO, because I am really just done with all of that revenge business.

I am very confused by all of the deals that are happening and to be honest, what kind of deal Jax made with Nero or the cartel. However, between that and Gemma's professed love for him, I can only assume that he will be around for awhile – that is if he doesn't meet Mr. Mayhem first. In fact, it feels like next weeks season finale will lead to some sort of BIG episode and cliffhanger and there are many options as to what that could be. It could have to do with Clay, Tig, Nero or sadly, even Tara with the big crazy US Marshal coming after her with those guns. I can't wait to find out.