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'Sons of Anarchy' Season 4, Episode 4 Recap
by Maureen Ryan, posted Sep 27th 2011 11:00PM
['Sons of Anarchy' - 'Una Venta']We hear the word "patch" a lot on 'Sons of Anarchy,' and it's interesting to think about how its various meanings are applicable to the current state of the club.
Of course, to wear the SAMCRO patch means that you're a fully vested member of the club. But there are deep divisions within the club, as well as differences of opinion and temporary alliances with various non-member too.
'Una Venta' did a good job of showing us how those problems have been patched over, but underneath that temporary fix, things are really starting to fester.
We got to meet another chapter, this time the club's Arizona outpost, and forgive me if I hope it's not SAMCRO's only trip to the Southwest. Given all the talk of meth cooking and all those wide open spaces, 'Una Vente' made me long for an 'Sons of Anarchy' - 'Breaking Bad' crossover. Who wouldn't like to see Gus Fring meet Clay Morrow? Or, better yet, Gemma? That would be some epic TV.
But what we got this week was certainly nothing to sneeze at. Through SAMTAZ, the fissures in SAMCRO were intriguingly echoed and amplified, and though things didn't quite boil over among the Men of Mayhem, we have to know that some big confrontations are coming. Piney is so willing to question his status quo that he's fine with risking his life to do so (even a veiled threat from Gemma didn't make him back off his effort to undermine Clay).
And Bobby is now the conscience of the club, the only one with the standing and the longevity to truly challenge Clay. That makes me wonder -- could Bobby's life be in danger at some point down the road? After all, the SAMTAZ club member who opposed those who wanted to use that club for "their own ends" ended up dead. Isn't that a pretty perfect description of what Clay and Jax are doing -- using SAMCRO to their own ends and rigging a vote in order to do it? People who live in glass houses...Bobby hasn't fully rebelled yet, but the episode convincingly built to that powerful final scene, in which the entire club had to confront their new reality -- they are now coke mules. They're operating at a much more dangerous, difficult level, and even their supposed allies are willing to view their arrangement as temporary.
The club from Charming saw for themselves how a taste for drug money ripped apart the SAMTAZ chapter. Big money means higher stakes -- and sometimes, a new place in the pecking order. For a man who's used to being obeyed, this season is all about big lessons in hierarchy for Clay.
He and Jax efficiently uncovered the SAMTAZ chapter's dirty laundry -- but he needed Jax's help to do it (as he needs his stepson's and his wife's help to even ride, given his hand problems). But the meth selling is going to continue, even after the Arizona club members came clean about their plotting regarding that drug vote. Clay isn't his own boss any more, not really; he certainly can't rule SAMTAZ with an iron fist. But that's only one of the ways in which he's losing his grip.
The club works for the cartel now, and, as we saw this week, that is a big, scary machine in which they are really just tiny cogs. Clay's alliance with Romeo and his crew is a thing of convenience that could be discarded at Romeo's whim, just as the alliance with Jax something that is purely practical and not based on truly shared goals. Everything is precarious and could blow up at any time (not unlike Piney's ticker).
Piney's putting his cards on the table now, with both Gemma and Tara, but, like Bobby, Gemma is keeping a lid on her feelings about what the club is doing, more or less. Still, I liked the way 'Una Venta' showed that she, in her own way, let Clay know she wasn't happy about their altercation before the vote. They both decided to let it go this time, but what about the next time, and the time after that? Gemma's trying to support Clay all she can, but she can't do it all on her own -- and if he pushes her around, literally or metaphorically, he could be even more isolated.
Trouble is, every time either Clay or Gemma try to deal with one issue, another problem crops up. There are a lot a parallels to 'Breaking Bad' this season, in that we've got two guys trying to "make bank" and get out alive, with their families intact. Given the intelligence and tenacity of the club's enemies this season -- and the power and brutality of their temporary allies -- the likelihood of them being able to achieve that goal seems to shrink, just as it has for Walter White.
Like Gus Fring, prosecutor Lincoln Potter is a very scary and resourceful character. Whether it's buddying up to Gemma, getting intel on the cartel's players or approaching Big Otto in prison, he's relentless in coming up with ways to get at the club. What a great character Potter is turning out to be. I love his weird, obsessive glances, his odd presence and the way he danced on the conference table (or whatever that little shimmy was). Ray McKinnon is an excellent addition to the cast, there's no doubt of that. (As I said on Twitter, he's replaced 'Boardwalk Empire's' Agent Van Alden as my favorite weird Fed on TV.) They've got a lot on their plate already, but the fact is, SAMCRO doesn't even know what they're up against. Just as the cartel does, Potter has a big machine behind him, one that could crush SAMCRO without a second thought.
Speaking of those encounters at the flower shop, what's Gemma's angle with the sheriff's wife? Is she trying to influence the woman so her husband will go easier on the club? Mrs. Roosevelt made it clear that she's her own woman and not about to be intimidated by Gemma, but Gemma kept going back to the shop.
Maybe she really does want to save the local gardens. I suppose Gemma could be operating from an altruistic place for once. But somehow I doubt it. In any case, there's no doubt that everyone else has an angle.
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