We’re nine weeks into “The Final Ride,” and I’m happy to report this was finally a good week. It wasn’t a good week for the Sons—no, it was a terrible week for SAMCRO—but it was finally a good week for the viewers, because we actually got to watch stuff happen.
Until now, the final season of Sons of Anarchy has been pretty slow and stuffed with filler moments. I mean, I think we can all agree last week’s episode didn’t even need to be 30 minutes long, let alone 90 minutes. So when my DVR said this week’s episode was 2 hours and 15 minutes long, I was worried.
In reality, the last 45 minutes were filled with a live after-show, which was so bad that Ally Walker (Agent Stahl) tried to jump out of her seat before the closing credits rolled. And the other 90 minutes were mostly used to move the plot along, which is actual progression for Sons of Anarchy this season. So, here are the major plot points: Bobby dies, August Marks is arrested, Unser and Jarry realize Juice and Gemma are lying, and we get some bonus nude scenes.
First, let’s cover Bobby’s death. Were you guys surprised when Marks shot him? I kinda was. I thought Marks would let him go back home with SAMCRO. But, other than shock, I didn’t feel much else.
Honestly, I watched Jax cry over Bobby’s body and the only thing I thought was, “Ew, stay away from the bloody eye socket.” I just didn’t have the sads over Bobby because he’s not the same Bobby from previous seasons. The old Bobby had a voice of reason and a rebellion that somehow got muted this season. He’s been just as obedient as the rest of Jax’s crew, and it’s been infuriating. And since dozens of innocent people have died so far, it’s about time some Sons start dying too.
Bobby’s death forces Jax to abandon street justice and go for Plan B—getting Marks arrested. He tells the cops where to find the pastor’s body on Marks’ property, he forwards Latricia’s statement incriminating Marks to the DA, and he lets the justice system do the rest. So that’s twice now this season that Jax has used cops to contain his enemies—first Lin and now Marks. Well. Those two should have a lot to talk about in Stockton.
Speaking of cops, let’s talk about Unser and Sheriff Jarry, who are deliciously close to solving Tara’s murder. Gemma confirmed Dunne was leaving Tara’s house the night she was killed, prompting Jarry to research Dunne a little more. Turns out Dunne was out of state in a holding cell the night Tara died, so that means both Juice and Gemma are leather-clad liars. Unser and Jarry agree to keep things quiet until they know more. Since Unser looks like he’s getting attacked in next week’s episode, I’d say someone knows he’s connecting the dots.
Gemma has been worried that Juice will spill the beans about Tara’s death, but now Unser and Jarry seem to be the bigger threat. In reality, I think Gemma’s biggest threat is herself. She realizes Bobby died because of her lies, and she honestly looks rattled. She pleadingly sobs to Bobby’s body to forgive her, when we all know she’s just hoping to forgive herself. Worst yet, Abel happened to hear her mea culpa, and I think it just turned into another item on his “Reasons to Kill Grandma” list. Yes, I think Gemma will be discovered and punished very soon (whether by Jax or Abel, we’ll see). We’ve been waiting all season for this to happen.
We’ve also been waiting a long time for someone to put Jax in his place, and a few people tried this episode. First up, the pastor’s son Grant. After Jax told him “It’s all gonna come together,” and “You have to trust me,” Grant replied: “Please stop saying that. Every time you say that, something bad happens.” Bless you Grant, for saying the words that all of us have been thinking.
Next, Marks kills Bobby then says to Jax, “This is on you Jackson, because of your betrayal. Don’t ever lie to me again.” Did you hear that Jax? Bobby’s death is on you, as are most of the deaths this season. Thank you Marks, for saying what no one else on the show seems to be able to say. Even Wendy gets in a jab when she says after Bobby’s death, “Does it ever end, Jax?”
Other SoA chapters have problems with Jax too, because he murdered Jury. They’re holding a forum about it to decide what has to be done. Jax will not be involved in the meeting; he’ll just be told about the results. In the meantime, he hopes to get a recording of Juice confirming Jury is the rat, but since Juice is a rat himself, he’s not very credible. I’m curious to see who ends up being a bigger threat to Jax—Marks or Jax’s own club.
We can’t end without talking about that nudity. First, we got front-row tickets to Juice’s bare ass during his cavity search at Stockton. He wasn’t told to bend over and cough, so it wasn’t a super-thorough cavity search, but I’m not complaining. We saw just enough.
Then, we saw Chibb’s bare ass and a mostly naked (and very fit) Sheriff Jarry doing it in on the hood of her police cruiser in a parking lot. After Chibbs hands her a map to the pastor’s body, she says, “If you have feelings for me, show me right now. Take me.” I found that scene so absurd and degrading to Jarry’s character, that the kindest thing I can say is that Annabeth Gish’s body looked good. And… did anyone think Chibbs looked a little reluctant? Or is that just because the other bandana-wearing SAMCRO guy was watching? Hm. We’ll have to check the replay on the cruiser’s camera.
Overall, it was a pretty good episode. It was definitely the best we’ve seen this season (which is a low bar, but still, it was the best so far). I hope the remaining four episodes are more like this, because we have a lot more questions to answer. We’re still no closer to finding the leak (though I’m leaning towards Rat or Charlie Barosky), Jax still doesn’t know about Gemma, and now we have an internal crisis between charters. That’s enough to keep me hanging on for four more episodes, how about you?
Favorite Quotes:
“Don’t buy into the myth, to wear the patch you gotta treat women like shit. Because when it comes to finding a good old lady, you don’t get what you want, you get what you are. Don’t be a dick.”—Gemma to Rat, after he’s nasty to his doe-eyed girlfriend Brooke.
“You know why I like teaming up with you Hap? Because when we do, I’m the normal one.”—Tig to Happy, who happily volunteers to chop up the pastor’s body.
“You’re going to miss school today, you’re going up to the cabin.” “Why, someone else died?”—Abel to Gemma, who observes SAMCRO’s patterns better than August Marks.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Were you surprised when Bobby died? What do you think is going to happen with Marks in jail? What will Unser do once he finds out Gemma is a murderer? Sound off below!
Emily Worden is a Boston-based freelance writer and author of Make. Sell. Repeat. The Ultimate Business Guide for Artists, Crafters, and Makers. You can follow her on Twitter.