Sons of Anarchy – Blood for blood

Oh, there was a lot of bloodshed in this hour-and-a-half long season finale, but I’m referring to the blood of family as much as the literal kind. Before we get into that, I want to give credit to the writers and actors of Sons of Anarchy. The first season of this show was very “hit-or-miss,” and I found myself constantly waiting a few weeks to watch the new episodes because I just wasn’t into it.

Everything changed, though, with the introduction of A.J. Weston and Ethan Zobelle. What it did was bring a sense of direction and focus to the entire season, even if we did spend more than half of it dealing with the growing rift between Jax and Clay.

But everyone was back on the same team going into this week, and they remained committed to exacting revenge for Gemma’s rape. As I said, a lot of bloodshed and a lot of things left unsaid, and unanswered. Just what you want in a season finale.

It’s a testament to the writers that by the time Jax had Weston where he wanted him, you actually felt a tinge of sympathy for the guy. Yes, he’s a misguided bigot who’d just as soon kill for his twisted ideals, but he was also a father who knew that he was going to die, while standing there with his son.

Fathers and children was a huge theme throughout the episode. After Weston’s murder when Clay was telling Jax how proud of him he was, I found myself uncomfortable by the whole thing. He can’t even argue it was in the heat of passion, though passion and rage fueled his meticulous planning of Weston’s demise.

It’s that Jax has now crossed a line toward Clay’s vision of the club and away from the vision of his father he was wanting to bring back. I’m also now worried about his relationship with Tara, as this level of violence and criminal activity is beyond anything she probably expected; even if she agrees Weston and Zobelle should die.

I’ll say I worried about her reaction until those final moments. Like the differences between Jax and Clay were pushed aside in light of Gemma’s rape, so too will any doubts she has for now.

Gemma got into her own heap of trouble when she went seeking revenge of her own, and inadvertently set up trouble for Jax and Clay as well. She couldn’t have known that Agent Stahl was in the house Zobelle’s daughter was in. Nor that Stahl had just shot Edmund in the back out of panic and terror. Can I just say that Stahl is the worst government agent I have ever seen? She screws things up constantly and leaves a wake of bodies in her path in her blind drive toward … I’m not even sure, because I don’t think it’s justice.

Yes, Gemma kills the girl, but it only gives Stahl the opportunity to blame Gemma for both murders and bring government hell down upon Gemma in order to cover her own ass. Hmm, maybe she’s the best government agent I’ve ever seen.

The problem is that Edmund’s father, Cameron, hears Stahl’s lie over the radio and mistakenly believes Gemma has killed his son. So in a fit of rage, he goes over to Jax’s house, kills the Prospect and kidnaps Gemma’s grandson.

Now, I’m on board with all of this, though I kept expecting Cameron to go ahead and kill the baby. Maybe, however, he’s thinking of keeping it as a replacement son. If anyone could get him to understand Gemma didn’t kill Edmund, he’d probably regret his actions, but we may never get that far.

What I wasn’t on board with was Clay failing to finish the Zobelle job when Jax had called. All the writers would have had to do was have one more family lingering in the shop, and the problem was they couldn’t afford to wait any more. Instead, they had Zobelle alone and defenseless. Go in, kill him and get on your way. He could have left some of the boys behind for clean-up.

Everything else, though, I liked. I even like Zobelle getting away. The revelation that he was an FBI informant the whole time explains his swagger and cockiness, but it doesn’t make him less of a monster. But perhaps he’s a monster who could return. Adam Arkin was just perfection in this role.

But if we’re going to praise acting, I’m going to have to give it up to Charlie Hunnam for those harrowing final moments when he collapsed into Clay’s arms as Cameron made off with his son.

They’re certainly doing a good job of throwing a lot of distractions in the way of the problems within the club between Jax and Clay. Yes, these family issues will bring them closer, but unless one of them becomes a different person altogether, all that drama is still waiting for us. So when does the next season start?

Clacked by Jason Hughes
on Dec 02, 2009 @ 19:07 EST5EDT