Sons of Anarchy, S05 E05 “Orca Shrugged”

Well, well, well. That was awesome.

And by that I mean Walton Groggin’s cameo as Venus Van Damme, transvestite hooker galore. The other plot-lines of the show faltered around the magnificence and hilarity of her’s.  The plot machinations that brought her there were thinner than a nano-thread, but I still  laughed and covered my mouth in surprise through the whole ordeal. Amazing.

Too bad that the plot line directly attached to the central story weren’t as brilliant. Like I’ve said, my motto to TV shows is generally ‘wait and see’, but I know Sons can do better.

Report Card:

A: Venus Van Damme. Jax making decisions!, his own decisions!, about his long game strategy. The reappearance of a very gray-dignified Mayor Hale.  Tara receiving the good news that her hand is healing well. I really, really hope that this is legitimate good news for her character. I’m not sure how much more Tara can suffer and not completely snap before her credibility as a character is lost.  Jax telling Gemma, “I’m having a hard time separating my hate.” Damn, Hunnam is good.

B: Gemma’s vulnerability. Why B and not A? Because…something feels off about Gemma this season. I can understand her character vacillating wildly because she’s completely unmoored—a ship with no harbor, so to speak. That definitely happens to people. And she’s never been subtle. However,  the characterization is hitting a wrong note. I’m not sure that Gemma would show her desperation so publicly.

D: The Sheriff Roosevelt and Rita plot-line. The way this was set up (kissing her belly…really?!) and executed (a shot to the abdomen?) was…clunky. To say the least. So many small tweaks could have made it much more relatable: instead of kissing her belly, why not show her drinking ginger ale and eating saltines? Mentioning going in for beta/hcg draws, having morning sickness, getting an ultrasound. Subtle works, friends.

(I’m assuming because of their fertility troubles they were on a medicated cycle, maybe even IVF, which means that you need blood draws to confirm and ensure the stability of the pregnancy. The writers should know that since Tara is a neonatal surgeon, and this would be part of her expertise.)

I understand that they probably wanted the pregnancy in danger, but why? To call Tara in? To get her more involved with Rita? If that’s not the goal, then…what was the point?  Rita already has my sympathy as a character. I don’t need to see her pregnant belly shot.

Which, as much as I love Sons…the emotional weight of what happens can be unbearable. The VVD scene gave SOA the necessary levity to purchase a few more wrenching scenes, but not if they’re as poorly executed as that.

Overall

Slowly, slowly this seasons arc is moving forward. Galen and Jax are in business. Jax and Mayor Hale are in business. Foundation is being laid for a few potential above-board earners for the club. More impetus has been given to Roosevelt to figure out the home invasions, and he’s obviously going to be essential to the execution of that plot.

We’re almost at the season’s halfway point, and though SOA can turn on a dime, and though the latter parts of the seasons are usually strongest (save the totally incredible season 2), I’m not entirely sure where all of this is going.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Sons of Anarchy, S05 E04 “Stolen Huffy”

(Um, spoilers. Duh.)

It’s kind of weird to be starting an SOA commentary on the episode following such a massive, show-altering event. Yes. I’m talking about the tragic, violent death of Opie Winston. RIP.

Now at episode four, we find that SAMCRO is grieving, Gemma is clueless about Opie’s fate, Tara is becoming increasingly bitter, and a prostitute on the run for being falsely accused of calling the cops on Nero’s escort operation.

At first watch, the episode was serviceable.  The ending montage of Opie’s funeral, especially with that song overlayed, was powerful and heartbreaking.

Looking back, though, the episode feels a little….off. All of the components were…fine. The prostitute-on-the-run storyline was ho-hum. Gemma’s line of, “What’s happening to us?” felt real and true for her character—she’s spinning out of control, and now the violence her generation perpetuated is taking a devastating toll on her son’s. I think Gemma thought that by now either SAMCRO would be kings of Charming, or at least have some sort of stability. Now they’re thick in the quicksand of machinations they might not be able to control. The song, Lonely Boy by Greg Holden, played over a haunting memorial for Opie.

But putting those elements together—adding in a dispute between Tara and Wendy, as well as Tara, Gemma and Carla—came off as clunky. As a fan, I would have liked a whole episode to process Opie’s death and see the effect on the club and Jax.

Oh, Tara…

This season I’m most concerned about Tara. I don’t want Tara to become a little Gemma-Frankenstein. She’s smarter than that, and she’s not Gemma. Tara is sad, bitter, angry and giving in to hysterics (like dealing with Wendy) that are similar to how worked up Gemma would get in previous seasons. In this season’s opening monologue, as Jax talks about what doesn’t kill us makes us angry but what holds us together is family and work, we see Tara sitting in a tub, smoking a joint, with a gun. At the end of the episode we see Tara, once again smoking a joint, turning off the baby monitor as Thomas starts to cry. We see her dissatisfaction with work. When Jax is contemplating anger, it’s obvious that we should look to Tara. I can understand why she latches on to the only model she has of a woman in the club life. Probably the most powerful woman ever in motorcycle club life. But I hope that she can find a way to transcend Gemma, and pray-to-the-Lord she doesn’t have an affair and tamper with Jax’s motorcycle. (Hah. Just kidding…right?!)

Conclusion

So far, this season is going well.  Stolen Huffy (did Jax and Opie steal a Huffy bike as kids?) felt like treading water, where I wish it had pushed the emotional arc of the season forward. Opie’s loss, as a character and the loss of Ryan Hurst, is immense. However,  you can’t fully judge an episode’s content without tying it to the subsequent ones, and you can’t judge a season without it one, being over, and two, in relation to the series arc as a whole. There are most likely reverberations we just haven’t seen yet.

Also, I want to note (as I’m sure I will throughout the season) that the cast is phenomenal. A special note to Ryan Hurst, who made Opie the character I always looked to as the canary in the coalmine, so to speak. He played Opie with an amazing half-concealed brokenness. Charlie Hunnam and Maggie Siff…I mean. The way Hunnam imbues Jax with barely-contained rage, it’s a breathtaking portrayal of a man on edge, a man desperately trying to be good, to be honorable, to do right. Siff’s fragile-but-steely Tara, always on the brink, always bringing herself back—sometimes barely—and maybe not even able to anymore—always commands my attention.