Review: Sons of Anarchy - Bobby S7.E9

THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS!!

I’m a die-hard Sons ofAnarchy fan. I know the mythology, the family ties, the gang ties. I have loved this show for years, and I’ve exercised patience with this final season’s convoluted, spider-webbing plotlines for eight episodes. I've trusted that Kurt Sutter is going to make it worth it in the end, that his introduction of new people in this final season, when things should be circling home and are instead spiraling out, that it’s going to be worth it.

And then I watched the ninth episode this week, “What a Piece of Work Is Man.” And I’m pissed.

I’m not pissed because Bobby died. I’m sad that Bobby’s dead, but I’ve always respected Sutter’s willingness to sacrifice major players for the sake of the story, and Bobby’s kidnapping, torture, and, finally, his death this week made sense as far as what’s going on with Jax, his ego, and his self-serving plan to eliminate Henry Lin. Bobby was one of the last few good guys, so of course, he had to be sacrificed to Jax’s rage and Gemma’s lies. I’ll miss him.

I’m pissed because Jax ordered the guys to get Bobby out of the van at the cabin and bury him there. “I want him close,” said the prince. Now, granted, they haven’t actually buried Bobby yet, but I swear that if they don’t get him a nice, Skeeter-original coffin, if they don’t clean him up, dress him up nice in his cut, put mementos in his casket, and honor that man, Kurt Sutter will hear me screaming from thousands of miles away. Because that, my friends, will be the biggest load of BS he’s asked us to swallow so far.

JT brought Bobby into the club. He’s been around a long, long time. He has served, and served, and served the club—no matter who had the gavel. His goal has been to do his best for the club. Period. He was tortured—lost an eye, lost his fingers—and he still remained loyal and strong when facing Moses.

He deserves the kind of burial that Opie got. They’re fixing to treat him not much better than Clay, and that’s not right and not fair, and those other cut-wearing brothers should be railing against Jax about this, not just digging the damn hole. But no. It’s just, “OK, boss.” We’ll dig the hole and plant this loyal soldier in it. Hell, Bobby was a veteran too.

I’m sick of the guys just blindly following Jax. I’m sick of his selfishness. You can dress it up however you want—it’s because of Tara, it’s because they’re loyal to club—whatever. I’m sick of it. These are not the kind of men who would have, say, two or three years ago, just said, “OK, boss,” and blindly followed Jax into this maelstrom of violence and vengeance and sure death. They would have spoken up. They would have fought with him. They might have even punched him—oh! What I would give to see one of them lay Jax out right now. Sutter has turned these men into puppets, and I don’t think that’s who they truly are. If they dump Bobby in that hole next week, I may not watch the end of the series because by that time, I may not give a shit.

I have one more big issue from this week, and then I’ll sign off. What the hell was that between Chibs and Jarry in the parking garage? Does FX require a certain amount sex or nudity in every episode? Did that scene fulfill some type of contractual obligation because it made NO SENSE at all.

First of all, Jarry wants Chibs to prove to her that he cares about her … by screwing her on the roof of her car in a parking garage with Quinn watching? That’s how a grown woman knows a man like Chibs cares about her? Because he accepts her demand to “take her”? I laughed—literally laughed out loud—during that whole scene. That was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Ever. It didn’t stay true to anything. It didn’t serve any purpose at all, other than to get a little sex into the episode. That was my “jump the shark” moment until the whole thing with Bobby happened.

This episode has shaken my confidence in the writing of this show more than any other. I will likely watch the last four episodes because I’ve invested years into this show and I have to watch at this point. Now, though, I’m truly dreading it.

I’m not dreading it because of who I’m afraid we’ll lose, who’s going to die. I’m dreading it because I don’t want to laugh—or cry—at the writing (again) and I’m afraid I’m going to.

Sons of Anarchy airs on FX on Tuesday nights, but at this point, I’d recommend just starting over and watching the early seasons. This final season isn’t worth it.