Secrets are unlocked, truths are told and Pandora’s Box is opened in the first part of the Sons Of Anarchy two-part, season four finale. The foundations of SAMCRO are rocked as the past is explored and now, there is no turning back. We are sure that SAMCRO will never be the same again.
The episode opens right where we left off, with two bullet holes in Clay’s chest. When Opie realizes he is still alive, he attempts to shoot Clay again before Jax shoots Opie’s arm, and pistol whips him over the back of the head as Unser and Rat run in. They take Clay out to the garage, and call EMS. They then devise a story that it was two black guys who shot Clay. Jax leaves Unser with Clay just after Rat leaves with a now conscious Opie.
As Jax drives Opie to emergency, he asks him to let him figure out the truth, while Opie tells him to talk to Gemma, as she and Unser found Piney and knew it was Clay who killed him.
As Clay is prepped for surgery, Roosevelt questions Unser in the emergency room. Unser tells him he saw what looked like two African American males speed out of the lot in a black SUV, before finding Clay. Tig, who is in the waiting room, feels responsible for bailing on Clay earlier, and believes it must be The Niners who shot Clay, even though Chibs and Happy try to calm him down.
The next morning we see Linc Potter preparing for the IRA and Cartel meet. Roosevelt asks him if he thinks the meet will really go ahead with Clay in hospital, but Potter decides to proceed, presuming Jax will take the reins.
As Jax washes off the blood at home, he explains to Tara that Clay was shot. She once again shows her skepticism about leaving, and Jax once again pushes the point. She tells him that if she could stop she would, but she does love him. Tara’s sanity has really become a strong focus point of the last half of the season, and it will be interesting to see how it develops further.
At the hospital, Chibs and Happy speak to Jax and inform him that Tig, Opie, Bobby and Juice are missing. Jax tells them that Opie is at the cabin, hiding what really happened. Chibs tells Jax that Lenny Janowitz has been given new privileges and wants to speak to Jax, so he agrees to head up to the prison.
We then find Tig sitting outside a building in a stolen car. Across the road we see Laroy, the head of The Niners. Then, a girl gets in his car and they drive away. Tig, in the stolen car, follows.
Gemma arrives at Jax’s house to speak to Tara and tells her that Opie shot Clay and explains the reason for Piney’s death. She also tells her Clay is the reason she was nearly kidnapped. Gemma asks her for the letters to give to Clay, so they can put the whole situation to rest. Tara agrees and gives her the keys to the storage unit and tells her where to find them. As Gemma leave Tara asks her to, “tell me you love me”, Gemma replies that she does, but the look in Tara’s eyes shows some doubt.
At the prision, Lenny tells Jax that the reason he got privileges is because Otto spoke to some Federal Agents. This sparks questions between the two of why Otto would rat. However, Jax tells Lenny that he will get to the bottom of it.
Gemma finds the letters in the storage unit, along with old letters of her and JT. She goes through them and takes one out of her standing behind JT, who is sitting at the gavel, and puts it aside. She then gets out the letters and begins to read them. After a few minutes, she takes several letters out of the folder and puts them in her bag, before leaving the storage unit. As she closes the shutter, we see she left the photo of her younger self, with JT, out.
Outside the restaurant where Laroy is eating, Tig drives the car straight at him, which launches his girlfriend straight through the window of the restaurant, killing her. Tig dumps the car and jumps on his bike, right after making a call for back-up. He takes off on his bike, with several of Laroy’s cars in trail.
Jax meets with Romeo and tells him about Clay. He tells him he can handle the meet with the IRA, however, he thinks that Otto may have flipped. This means that there is too much heat on the club, and the meet is too risky.
As Jax goes to leave, he gets a call from Chibs saying Tig needs an escort home. As Tig blasts over the highway, with Laroy and his men right behind him, The Sons, with Jax at the front of the pack, come to his rescue. They dodge traffic and a road accident, and get Tig back to Teller-Morrow, but not before killing another one of Laroy’s men.
Chucky tells the boys that Clay is out of surgery and Tig decides to head up to the hospital to see him. Jax gets a call from Romeo saying that his intel says that Otto hasn’t sold out SAMCRO.
Romeo goes on to say that he pays a lot of money for information and that it’s accurate. Jax gives Happy instructions to get ready for the IRA and Cartel meet, and asks Chibs to try and track down Juice and Booby, as he still isn’t 100% convinced about Romeo’s information.
At the hospial, Tig makes a heartfelt apology to Clay, who is laying in bed asleep. Meanwhile, Gemma arrives and consoles Tig. As he goes into the bathroom to clean himself up, Gemma leaves, giving Clay an unenthusiastic “sorry” on her way out.
We see Jax going through some paper work for the IRA meet while sitting at the Redwood table. Then, Gemma walks in. What follows is a conversation we have been waiting for since the end of last season. Gemma gives Jax the letters, telling him Clay killed JT and Piney. She tells him that Tara has them but not to blame her. Gemma goes on to explain the whole situation, leaving herself and Unser out of it of course. She tells Jax that Clay also tried to kill Tara. She explains to Jax that he must kill Clay and then take the seat that is rightfully his, at the head of the table.
She leaves him to read the letters before waiting outside. Unser arrives and she explains the situation and tells him that they’re protected. When Tara arrives, Unser gives them a moment to talk. Tara asks her, if she gave the letters to Clay, which Gemma tells her she didn’t. Tara then asks how many she took out before giving them to Jax. A shocked Gemma asks why she would give them to her, if Tara knew she was giving them to Jax, to which Tara replies, “because I’m smarter than you are Gemma, and I know Jax better than you do”.
As Jax comes outside, Tara apologizes for not giving them to him, but explains she was just scared to lose him. Jax tells Tara that he has to kill Clay, to which she shockingly replies, “I know, and this is how you do it”. Gemma seems even more shocked than Jax, as Tara provides Jax with syringe and tells him how to simply kill Clay and make it look like an accident. She then tells him to kill Clay and then come and get her and the children and leave Charming.
As Jax gets on his bike with Chibs to go to the IRA and Cartel meets, Gemma questions what Tara is doing, and we see Tara has now come full circle from the innocent doctor she once was, to a biker’s wife. She tells Gemma that she’s doing exactly what she taught her. Gemma who seems broken and realizes she may have lost even though she though she had the upper hand, is brought back down to reality when Tara tells her, “he’s mine”, before leaving Gemma all alone. We see Jax deep in thought, getting on his bike as we fade on to the reaper.
Once again Sons Of Anarchy continues to better itself with another fantastic episode that topped the previous one. A lot of the characters have had great stories this year that have provided the actors (like Ryan Hurst as Opie, and Theo Rossi as Juice, as well as the rest of this amazing cast) with wonderful material to work. This episode, we can see that Tara wants out so badly. It may not be because this life is so bad for her kids, but more so herself. Whether she realizes it or not though, she is more apart of this world, and more like Gemma than ever.
Now is the question we have all been waiting for: will Clay die? Personally, I have always doubted FX would let Ron Perlman go, but it’s possible. Another prediction I have had since the end of last season when Tara found the letters, was that she will be the one to kill Clay, and this episode shows she has it in her. However, I really have no idea how this will turn out.
With only one episode left, we are all on the edge of our seats. Will SAMCRO be destroyed? Will Jax leave or become the new president? Will Clay live? So many questions need be wrapped up so, hopefully 2011’s last episode of Sons of Anarchy will give us answers.