Sons of Anarchy - Discussion, Part 1

OK, so I can tell I've got a lot of people reading my Sons of Anarchy blogs, but hardly any comments. I'd love to know what you're all thinking, so I'm inviting you to share your thoughts, your hopes, and your fears for the end of this season as well as into Season 5.

Do you want Clay to die? Why or why not?

Do you want Jax to leave Charming? Why or why not?

What do you want for Gemma and her relationships with Clay, Jax, Tara, and Wayne?

How do you feel about Otto ratting out Bobby and the Sons?

What do you want for Opie now that he knows about what Clay has done and has shot Clay?

Do you want Tara to stay with Jax if Jax decides to stay in Charming? Why or why not?

Anything else on your mind about the Sons of Anarchy? Please feel free to share. I'm eager to hear your thoughts!!

Thanks for reading. Please keep coming back!

Sons of Anarchy - "Burnt and Purged Away" Opie Shoots Clay

Did Opie kill Clay this week on Sons of Anarchy in the “Burnt and Purged Away” episode? The show has been building up to Clay’s demise for weeks now, but I never really believed they’d kill him off. How does the show go on without Ron Perlman’s Clay? The ending definitely didn’t make it clear—Opie shot Clay twice, but were they fatal wounds? I didn’t think they were until we watched the previews for next week. Did you see them? Clay looked dead.

Are you mystified by Gemma’s actions this week? A couple weeks ago, she told Wayne that Clay couldn’t be saved, that he had to go by the hands of a son/Son. Then, this week she tells Wayne to recant the tale he told Opie about Clay killing Piney and she tells Clay she loves him. Does she want personal revenge? Has she had a change of heart and decided she wants to try and save Clay? I love it that I don’t know, that the show constantly keeps me guessing.

Why did Jax try and stop Opie from killing Clay? Did he do it for Clay or did he do it for Ope? Did he really want Clay to have to answer to the club, or was he just worried about what would happen to Opie if he murdered Clay in cold blood? Jax doesn’t know about the letters, so he probably does have a hard time believing Clay would shoot Piney.

I’ve enjoyed Drea de Matteo’s return to play Wendy in the last two episodes. She’s a great actress, and Wendy is interesting now that she’s sober. But could Jax and Tara have any more complications in their lives? Death threats, damaged hands, warfare with rival gangs and cartels, and now the ex-junkie ex-wife is back and wanting to spending time with her son, Abel.

How did you feel about Bobby’s arrest? I can’t make up my mind about how I feel about it. I really like Bobby. As far as the Sons go, I think he’s one with a lot of integrity—MC integrity to be sure as it’s all relative—but still, he’s a good guy. Yet Otto has done so much for SAMCRO while he’s been inside and he was right—he only asked for them to protect Luanne. Not only did they not do that, but Bobby had carnal knowledge of Otto’s old lady. I guess I’ll say that I don’t blame Otto one bit, but I feel bad for Bobby all the same.

Where’s this wild ride gonna take us next week. We only have two episodes left this season. Did Clay die? If he didn’t, how will Gemma react to all of this? What’s gonna happen to Opie for shooting Clay? What’s gonna happen to Bobby inside and how long are the feds gonna hold Juice? Will Wendy get to see Abel? Will Tara stay with Jax in Charming—because I don’t see him leaving anytime soon now, do you?

I love Sons of Anarchy. I love the twists, the turns, and the characters that are so well written and so well played that I feel as if I know them. I’m glad Opie shot Clay. But I want Clay to live. He’s too bad to lose.

Sons of Anarchy - "Hands" Clay beats Gemma

I can’t believe Clay didn’t kill Gemma in this week’s episode of Sons of Anarchy. Leaving her alive is signing the death warrant for one—or maybe both—of them. He has to know that she’s done with him and his lies and his greed. He has to know that she intends to tell Jax everything, and that, once Jax knows—about JT, about Piney, about Tara, about what Clay did to Gemma—he won’t rest until Clay is dead. And Gemma isn’t safe just because she's still breathing.

Who’s gonna move first—and fastest?

The episode was aptly named—“Hands”—don’t ya think? Clay’s hands are in everything except he’s holding on to less and less with them. His power is crumbling, and in that scene with Romeo after the botched hit, he’s beginning to realize it. Romeo’s pulling Clay’s strings now, and all the pres can do is dance when told.

Then we have Clay and Gemma putting their hands on each other. I thought Gemma’s rape was brutal to watch in the second season, but the beating she took at Clay’s hands in this episode was at least that bad. This was someone who was supposed to have loved her. I flinched away when his fist came down at the screen and it faded to black for a commercial. Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal are phenomenal actors. Hats off to them, always.

As the episode opens, the attempt to steal Tara away is botched, and the van door slams shut on her hand, the obvious reference to the title is clear. She’s so bitter after her operation, trying to deal with the news that she may never use her hand—at least for surgery—again. She has every right to be pissed about her hand, to be bitter, to be depressed. But I hate it that she blames Jax. I hate it when women on shows like this (think Carmela on The Sopranos) get involved with a bad boy and then get all righteous when the bad boy’s lifestyle incriminates or harms them in some way. Jax is who he is. He’s still living the life he was living when she got together with him, got pregnant by him, got engaged to him. She saw him and the MC with her eyes wide open. Who’s surprised she’s been in danger and gotten hurt?

There are lots of other people’s hands getting dirty too. Poor Wayne. His hands are all over Piney’s murder scene, trying to clean up what Clay left behind. Roosevelt’s hands are dirty in the way he’s dealt with Juice and the feds, but at least he knows it and tried to apologize for it. Opie’s reaching out his hands to Jax, begging his friend not to leave SAMCRO. Poor Ope. I’m still wondering what’s gonna go down when he discovers his dad’s dead. I don’t think Jax will be able to leave Opie (and the MC) then.

I can’t decide what I want to happen to Clay. He’s so bad, and that’s what makes the show so much fun to watch. He’s growing more and more evil with time. I can’t imagine him ever coming back from it. Like Gemma told Wayne, “Clay can’t be saved.”

But what happens to the Sons of Anarchy—the show and the fictional MC—without him? I don’t like the pain he inflicts on the others, but I don’t want him to go.

Tune in next week—the episode is 90 minutes long. What do they have in store for us in Charming?

The Walking Dead: Lori pregnant in "Cherokee Rose"?

This week’s episode of The Walking Dead (“Cherokee Rose”) wasn’t as exciting as last week’s, but I guess they can’t all be quite as intense as that one.

I think my favorite part was when they were trying to get that zombie out of the well. First—hats off to the dude playing the zombie. He was both highly entertaining and disgusting at the same time. But the best part of that scene was—if you saw it, you know what I’m going to say—the part where the zombie, well, ripped apart. Did you see the maggots that flushed out of his abdomen and lay squiggling on the ground? They do revolting well on that show, don’t they? I loved it!

My next favorite part was Daryl’s scene with Carol in the RV when he brought her the flower the episode was named for and told her the story behind it. When a redneck like Daryl shows a sensitive side like he did, it strikes a chord with me. And I’m feeling optimistic too—I think they’ll find Sophia, and I don’t think she’ll be bitten when they do.

When Glenn and Maggie got busy in the pharmacy, I didn’t really like it and here’s why. I like Glenn. He’s a good guy. He’s always helping people and he never loses his temper. We know he likes Maggie—they’ve been giving us those clues for a couple weeks. Glenn deserves better than to be used, and I think that’s what Maggie was doing. I almost think that’s why she took Glenn with her. I’m wondering—and so is my husband (in fact, he wondered first)—if she didn’t plan the sex in the hopes of getting pregnant. There were some interesting looks passing between her and her father before and after she and Glenn went to town. I know, sex is sex is sex. They’re both adults and they’re lonely and they got lucky. But I still want more for Glenn.

Then, finally, we have Lori and the pregnancy test. I’ve lost track of how much time has passed since Rick found her and Carl, so I don’t know if she’s wondering who the daddy is, but I think the writers want us to wonder. Was the distraught face she showed us at the end of the episode caused by her confusion over the paternity of the baby, or is it her fear about raising another child in the world they live in? Remember how she talked about not saving Carl because the world is so horrible? Remember how she said maybe he’d be better off if they just let him go? How would that mother feel about trying to care for a baby in the world of The Walking Dead?

Looking forward to next week. And still wondering if we’ll see Otis as a zombie. Shane should have shot him in the head.

Dexter Can't "Just Let Go"

Did you think that Brother Sam was going to be able to help Dexter leave his Dark Passenger behind? I did. I really did. And then, sadly, in this week’s episode (“Just Let Go”), Brother Sam died, and put Dexter to his most rigorous test yet.

Brother Sam asked Dexter to tell Nick, the man whom Brother Sam had tried desperately to save from a life of crime, that he forgave Nick for shooting—and killing—him. That’s not how Dexter operates—forgive the pun. Dexter knew before Brother Sam made his dying request that Nick was the one who pulled the trigger. He’d already begun to plan how he was going to get Nick onto his table.

But Dexter liked and respected Brother Sam, and he wanted to believe—I think—that there was a lightness inside him that Sam could see and that could maybe, eventually, be brought out to shine over the Dark Passenger Dexter carries with him. So he tried to carry out Brother Sam’s wish.

When he took Nick for that walk on the beach, I didn’t know how it was going to go with Dexter. I did believe, though, that when Nick found out Sam forgave him before he died, Nick would convert and be the person Brother Sam thought he could be. I think maybe that’s what Dexter thought would happen too because he was giving Sam’s request consideration.

And then Nick laughed because Dexter was the only person who knew of Nick’s guilt. Nick was jubilant that he’d gotten away with the murder.

Dexter, as he told us, hit his fork in the road. Nick’s laughter was more than Dexter and his darkness could handle, and he drowned Nick there in the knee-deep surf. And I think he also drowned any hope he had of finding the light inside himself. It made me really sad for Dexter.

Then, when Big Brother Brian shows up at the very end of the episode, I got really worried about Dexter. On the same day that he loses Brother Sam—someone who saw both the light and the dark in Dexter and believed in the strength of the light—the darkest figure in Dexter’s life comes back.

The trailer for next week’s episode of Dexter promises a reconnection with Trinity. Will Dexter ever be able to separate himself from his Dark Passenger? And is he even going to want to anymore, now that Sam is gone?

Sons of Anarchy - "Kiss" and Clay orders the hit

At the end of Sons of Anarchy this week, Clay dialed the number that Romeo gave him for the hit man. We heard it ringing. Lots of dramatic irony this week—we know stuff Clay doesn’t know. We know Jax and the boys are going with Tara to Oregon. Clay thinks she’s going alone. But remember what Romeo said, once the ball is set in motion, it can’t be stopped.

So who’s going to die? Tara and Jax? Tara or Jax? I don’t think so. I could maybe see Tara, maybe. But my money’s on one or both of the kids. Will Gemma “kiss” that murder away from Clay like she did Piney’s? Will Wayne help her cover that up too?

Clay’s not happy with Jax right now. Jax wants out earlier than what he promised Clay, and we know Clay is all about Clay. He wouldn’t mind if his VP was gone. But Gemma would mind. A lot. And I think even Clay would feel bad if he was responsible for the deaths of the boys. I think. He’s such a viper, it’s hard to tell.

Gemma keeps letting me down. I know she loves Clay. But she’s not blind to his darkness, and she knows what he’s capable of. She knows who he’s hurt and who he’s capable of hurting, and yet she keeps trusting him. I want her to be more honest. I want her to take better care of her family. She keeps letting me down. Maybe she keeps believing in Clay because if she has to really see him for who he is, then she has to see herself for who she is too, and what she’s helped him do all these years. I just really used to think she was a better mom than she’s turning out to be.

I hate it that Juice seems to be believing Lincoln, the federal agent who’s been blackmailing him. And don’t you just hate what the cops are doing to Otto? That poor guy has taken it and taken it for SAMCRO and here he’s getting it from the feds. I want some retribution for Otto!

Who knows where this crazy story is going next? Will Clay’s hit succeed, and, if it does, who’s going to take the bullet? Sons of Anarchy is one of the best shows on TV and this “Kiss” episode is another example why. See ya next week!