S07.E01: Black Widower

[walnutqueen]

If the Clown Prince truly loved Tara, he would take their sons, throw up deuces to that life and GTFO of Charming.

 

If the Clown Prince truly loved his sons, he would take them, throw up deuces to that life and GTFO of Charming.

[Empress1]

Right - and he was on that path in season 4, but he's so far gone from that.

Word on Jax and Gemma feeling extra incestuous this ep. When he was driving and holding her hand in her lap, there was something squicky about that, and the way she calls him baby is the way you'd address a lover. (My dad calls me baby sometimes. It doesn't sound like that!)

[TigerLynx]

Gemma is delusional and needs to die.  If Jax dies, and Gemma lives poor Abel and Thomas don’t stand a chance.

 

Unser should have been dead of cancer, a gunshot wound, or sheer stupidity years ago.

 

I see Juice is still crying.

 

Chibs, Happy, Tig, and Bobby are the reason I’m still watching, but they are fools for continuing to follow Jax.  Happy’s gleeful expression and Bobby’s shock when they were watching Jax torture that man to death said everything.

 

Who gets Abel and Thomas if Jax and Gemma die?  Nero?  Wendy?  Children's Services?

Edited September 10, 2014 by TigerLynx

[monakane]

 

Who gets Abel and Thomas if Jax and Gemma die?  Nero?  Wendy?  Children's Services?

 

There are no good options for them.  No one -- including Tara -- ever put their well being first.

[terrymct]

  I think when he does find out it was Gemma, she'll get something simple like being shot in the head - if it's by Jax's hand.

I think you may be right. Here's another question, though. Why hasn't anyone suspected Gemma of killing Tara? Gemma has been against Tara for pretty much the whole series, even plotting fairly substantially against her. Gemma should be the first suspect.

[Raachel2008]

Gemma just set up an innocent man, a member of the Chinese gang, which of course is going to cause a whole gang war. When Jax finds out that Mommy Dearest was really the one who killed Tara, he'll realize what epic level of destruction and pain she's caused to him, his kids, SAMCRO, the other gangs/MCs, and the peace he was trying to broker. He'll lose his mind completely. That's when Gemma will pay and not before.

 

 

You are assuming Gemma will pay, and I have to see or read anything that makes me think Gemma will pay. Sutter is so in love with Gemma that I won't be surprised if she ends raising Abel and Thomas herself I LOATHE Gemma, but I loathe even more that Sutter tries to make her behavior ok. None of those folks are nice people, but Gemma is one of the most despicable and horrible characters on TV ever, IMO.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Raachel2008

[bluebonnet]

I agree with the other posts, it was just a placemarker. I found it more weird they waited a week to bury her. It's not like they had to wait for Terra's family to come there. Gemma said family and Club and Terra's family wouldn't be Gemma's family.

 

Her body was likely with the medical examiner for a few days.  She was murdered alongside a cop and evidence would need to be carefully taken from the bodies.  Then removal to a funeral home where it usually takes a day or two to prepare the body for burial.  A week from death to burial isn't all that strange even with a natural death (depends on a number of factors like religion or travel of attendees, or even the family needing time before being able to properly deal with all of funeral preparations), and a week from death to burial is really quite fast when it concerns a corpse that needed to make a pit stop with the medical examiner.  

[henripootel]

I think Kurt Sutter is going for the whole "how many disgusting, gross, heinous things can I get by the censors" route for this last season.

After Gemma mentioned 'bronzing her clit' I turned to Mrs. Pootel and said (in my best Marge Simpson voice) "Wow, cable tv turned into hardcore porn so gradually that nobody noticed."

Why hasn't anyone suspected Gemma of killing Tara?

Same reason Jax was uninterested in questioning Dun - Kurt Sutter lazy writing.  Might have been interesting if Dun, even under extreme duress, continued to deny involvement.  But that would be require subtlety and there isn't much of that left in this show.  I'm no blushing violet - the 'fire or knife' scene in the first episode was harsh but interesting.  This just left me feeling soiled.  Seriously considering doing what Jax should have done long ago; leaving Charming for good.

Edited September 10, 2014 by henripootel

[Snookums]

Sutter's shock reveal of Gemma outlining how she saw Chinese dude was not earned and it was not believable.  Jax was asked a ton of times about the murder of Tara - including by club members and he always said the "Sheriffs said nothing."   Then, we got the recounting and mea culpa by Jax about how we all got to this point and not a peep as to Gemma being a witness to the Chinese guy.  The entire point of that meeting was to tighten the bonds of trust and he kept this little detail from them.  Sorry, Sutter.  You do not get to do that.

 

 

It totally was not, for the reasons you outlined. My husband and I were completely bewildered as to what the hell was going on--all we could come up with was Jax wanted to start a war and just cleanse all of Southern California with the blood of the guilty or whatever. But no, I was apparently supposed to take the idea that Gemma literally walked up to a guy, determined that he didn't have a family, go "perfect!" and have her stroll right over to Jax and pull this ludicrous story out of her ass, and have him believe her. For all the usual suspect reasons--she's warped him from the womb, he's numb with grief and rage and not thinking straight, he's clinging desperately to one last lie so as not to utter lose his sanity--but as much as Charlie tried to sell it I had a hard time buying.

 

It is very, very difficult to watch a character have to play stupider then they are. Maybe I could have accepted Jax buying this line of horseshit back in season one or two, when he was still the Brat Prince with no real responsibilities, but that's not who he is now. He's a man, an old, weary multiple murdering drug and gun running tangled up with every dangerous gang of sociopaths on two continents and three countries club-running king, and as much as the show wants us to think that as far as Gemma's concerned he's a little boy still, it's not flying. I get that Sutter wants us to think of this beyond grotesque loyalty as Jax's fatal flaw/blind spot/Achilles' heel but doing it by having the character flip inexplicably back and forth between strategic genius and total moron is very hard to swallow, to say the least.

 

The big point of the show is that people don't  change, no matter how many rounds they go with love or revenge or grief, and that's a perfectly legit stance, and the show has plunged swiftly and grimly downwards in illustration. I've got no quarrel with how much Gemma stays rooted in her utter selfishness cloaked in "fierce motherhood" or the fact that these old, tired guys are clearly so fucking sick of what they're doing but they can't find a way out. The grim joylessness of every plot, every porn party, is totally earned--I was truly impressed by how flat and affectless every person at that party seemed; bored, lifeless, going through the motions of this "wild life" they thought meant freedom. This is how this world ends, not with a bang but silent, hopeless vengeance carving of some random person you decided to believe your shitty, horrible, life-ruining mom about. Standing in the pouring rain over the shallow grave of three complete strangers you just murdered on shitty intel, wondering how the hell you became the kind of person who stands over the shallow grave of three complete strangers that you just murdered. 

 

 The ragged cover of "brotherhood and love" has worn so threadbare that I really can't buy that these guys can wring any meaning out of it any more. I want to see them all walk away. Leave Jax in his empty, dusty throne room. Not towards anything--none of these guys have anything--but just away. 

 

And I really want Gemma to have to face the naked truth with nothing to reach for to cover it up. Katie did a great job with that in the episode--when the DA, hung in a metal armory of jewelry, says "I'm sorry for your loss" you could see that flash of the real, horrible deal of what she did, and what it means--I lose everybody. It's always my fault. Me, I am the cancer of this world I built. And later in the car with Jax it kept crossing her face, what she'd done, to her son, to her son's love. And then he takes her hand and she realizes that once again she's gotten what she wanted and she just decides to go with that. 

 

To have her reach the real vanishing point, where there is absolutely no story to tell, no "her truth" to spin, will be hell for her, and that's where she deserves to end up.

[leisawoo]

I forgot to quote from last page and my wifi connection can be excruciating. That said, a poster mentioned Juice might be the one to tell the truth. All epi, I kept thinking that is exactly what will happen. I bet Juice tries telling jax to redeem himself from his betrayal. I also hope and think that Jax will kill him anyway. Theo's hot but I could never stand Juice.

[Raja]

Not just one but multiple pastors from a local mega church are making a bisexual group sex tape. And the woman produces a gun in bedand starts blasting away.

They are just pushing to see what they can get away with

[monakane]

 

They are just pushing to see what they can get away with

 

The writing seems to be about the shocks and the torture porn instead of character development and story advancement.  I'm hoping the story gets more emotionally satisfying as the series concludes.  I don't mind the shocks and the violence, but I need them to advance the characters and the story.  Last night's episode didn't do that.  

 

Katie was fantastic last night.  The most interesting part of the show was when she was talking to Tara.  It gave me chills.

[BKVega]

Gemma said the funeral took place two days before.  Usually, the headstone isn't ready that soon and there's a temporary marker in place for a while.

True, I didn't even think about that.

[RedHackle]

In fact, if season 7 is nothing but Juice doing push-ups, and Jax shirtless and bloody, with Chibbs talking in the background, I would be happy with that

 

LMAO - I simply can not argue with this.

[Snookums]

a week from death to burial is really quite fast when it concerns a corpse that needed to make a pit stop with the medical examiner.

 

 

And at least she got a funeral. Odds were in favor of her and Roosevelt joining the Shallow Grave In The Woods club.

[leisawoo]

You are assuming Gemma will pay, and I have to see or read anything that makes me think Gemma will pay. Sutter is so in love with Gemma that I won't be surprised if she ends raising Abel and Thomas herself I LOATHE Gemma, but I loathe even more that Sutter tries to make her behavior ok. None of those folks are nice people, but Gemma is one of the most despicable and horrible characters on TV ever, IMO.

I wish Sutter would stop "bronzing" her clit, lol. Or is he gilding it?

[gesundheit]

That was pretty gross how we were meant to shrug off the accidental murders because the victims were morally questionable. (Oh no, pastors who like kinky stuff! No loss to the world!) (Or whatever the point of that was.)

 

The real bummer is that if we're to hope for any good storytelling after this, when Jax finds out about Gemma he is going to let her get away with it. Because if we stick to bad storytelling in this pattern, it'll change nothing. He'll just torture and kill one more person and just keep going as he has been going. Which is dull, despite my desperately wanting her comeuppance. Although I'll appreciate his comeuppance, however it comes.

 

I was so bummed that after Jax's big "speak now if you're not 100%" ultimatum that nobody stood up from that table and said, "Yeah, thanks for the out, because actually I'd just been kinda noticing that being in this particular MC is like the absolute worst thing." I would've cheered.

Edited September 10, 2014 by gesundheit

[bluebonnet]

I don't think we were meant to shrug away the murders of the kinky pastors and the lady.  Even the guys burying them were looking at it with disgust and horror.   

[gesundheit]

I don't think we were meant to shrug away the murders of the kinky pastors and the lady.  Even the guys burying them were looking at it with disgust and horror.   

Maybe not shrug it off entirely, but I do think it was definitely meant to mitigate the tragedy of it.

[daughtersofanarchy]

What I don't get is why Gemma had to make up any story at all about Tara's death.  Apparently no one suspected Gemma of having any part in it, so why is she in such a mad rush to find someone to hang it on.  In the real world, when you tell an iffy story about some suspect you saw, and that story places you near the scene of the crime, you usually become a suspect yourself.  Ask Michael Skakel about that one.

 

Remember after Tig killed Donna and the club selected some random gang guy and told Opie this gang guy was the one who killed Donna, so they could give Opie somebody to work out his rage on?  And they were also hoping to shed some of their own guilt? Is that what Gemma was trying to do with Jax?  She must be way, way off the rails to ever think this was a good idea.

[monakane]

 

What I don't get is why Gemma had to make up any story at all about Tara's death.

 

Does anyone think that Jax was in on Tara's murder?  He wanted her out of the way and he gave his mother that cover story so he could hide it from the club.  

[leisawoo]

I don't know. He seemed gutted when he saw her. Although, that could account for the dead eyes.

[Dusty]

 

That was pretty gross how we were meant to shrug off the accidental murders because the victims were morally questionable.

 

I think the point of that whole bit was to show how Jax shrugs it off.  Everyone else was like "They're pastors from a church, O.M.G.!!!" and Jax is all "Whatevs dude. I'm dead inside in case that wasn't clear."

[gesundheit]

Maybe, who knows. It just felt more like the usual "ha! hypocrites!" stuff from Sutter, and trying to up the tension by having them be community leaders (as in, they'll be missed and so it's an obstacle for the Sons). I didn't feel like anyone in the room looked bothered that they murdered innocent people. Just inconvenienced that they murdered the wrong people and that those people are high-profile enough that someone will notice they're missing.

 

But again, who knows!

[magdalene]

It seems to me we are supposed to shrug off all the deaths and the torture murder of the Chinese guy. I watched that after show special with the incompetent moderator talking with Sutter and Katey Sagal and the way Sagal was talking about her character made me seriously question her sense of morality. Going by her Gemma is basically "misunderstood" and all about protecting her family. It was pretty disgusting to listen to.

[CherryMalotte]

Going by her Gemma is basically "misunderstood" and all about protecting her family. It was pretty disgusting to listen to.

 

Yeah, Gemma is misunderstood  like Manson is misunderstood.  And I ain't talking Marilyn.  

 

Wow that was pretty brutal, Sutter has put the volume to 11 totally.  It's not that I need a kinder and gentler Jax and Club, but at this rate there won't be anybody left in Charming or the West Coast area for the Irish to get their gun trade from.

 

I didn't care for the Bohemian Rhapsody cover, but did enjoy the Association's Never My Love cover...very pretty and poignant. 

[Guest Accused Dingo]

It seems to me we are supposed to shrug off all the deaths and the torture murder of the Chinese guy. I watched that after show special with the incompetent moderator talking with Sutter and Katey Sagal and the way Sagal was talking about her character made me seriously question her sense of morality. Going by her Gemma is basically "misunderstood" and all about protecting her family. It was pretty disgusting to listen to.

Thats why i take these programs with a grain of salt. KG is a good actress playing a tough roll and to not play it like a mustach twirling villain, she actually needs to find some humanity in her. Explaining that is not easy and the irony is that actors are often better actors then explainers. Especially to a fandom that in large believes the character actually is a psychopath. Personlly i think that Gemma "thinks" what she is saying is true which is the exact thing that makes her dangerous.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Accused Dingo

[Stratego]

I agree that Juice will be the one who tells the story to Jax about Gemma killing Tara, and that he killed the cop.  We have the foreshadowing of Jax killing Venus' mother after he learned about all of the vile things she did to Venus (and others)--he just drew, aimed, and fired--one shot to the head.  No fuss, no muss, and no feelings at all.

I believe that that is Gemma's fate. 

 

We saw the scene with Abel and his complete disconnect with everyone.  Something will happen to/by him.  Jax's sons will likely play a huge role--probably what propels everything to the climax.  Jax is hugely attached to his sons, as much as he is to SAMCRO.

[psychoticstate]

It seems to me we are supposed to shrug off all the deaths and the torture murder of the Chinese guy. I watched that after show special with the incompetent moderator talking with Sutter and Katey Sagal and the way Sagal was talking about her character made me seriously question her sense of morality. Going by her Gemma is basically "misunderstood" and all about protecting her family. It was pretty disgusting to listen to.

 

In that case, all of SAMCRO is "misunderstood."  They all believe in what they are doing, for whatever reasons but it doesn't change that they are all fairly despicable and morally bankrupt individuals.  Even my beloved Chibs.

 

I think Opie was probably the most moral out of the entire jacked up group and look what SAMCRO did to his family and then to him.  Jax has never been "normal" but I think he started going off the rails when Opie was killed and now he's just "fuck it" with everything.  I feel horrible for Abel and Thomas because they are thoroughly screwed.  I worry that Gemma will be last (wo)man standing, with those boys, and the cycle will just start all over again.

[Gudzilla]

I did find it interesting they didn't put Teller on her marker, just left her as Knowles.

Since Gemma put together the funeral i'm not surprised.

 

I really want Unser to realize his Gemma love caused Tara's death.

 

I want Happy to survive... like a lot.

[JenLily]

 

But no, I was apparently supposed to take the idea that Gemma literally walked up to a guy, determined that he didn't have a family, go "perfect!" and have her stroll right over to Jax and pull this ludicrous story out of her ass, and have him believe her.

 

This isn't how I took what happened at all.  I think everything was planned very calculatedly by both Jax and Gemma.  Here's how I saw things go down:

 

Gemma told Jax earlier on, either while he was still in jail (Patterson made some throwaway comment when she was talking to him about how his mother was the only one he was willing to see) or maybe while they were in the car after he was released but before we the viewing audience joined their convo, that she saw someone who looked Chinese near the house the night of Tara's death.  How she got the intel that there was a legit reason the Chinese might do something like this, I don't know.  Could've been from Juice, as someone speculated earlier, or from some other demon witchcraft this woman performs to get the info she is somehow always privy to when it comes to club business.  Who knows.  However, she couldn't give him any specifics as to who it was because, obviously, she's making all this up.  So Jax comes up with a way for her to "identify" him.  Hence, inviting Lin's crew to the welcome back party.  Note how disconcerted the rest of the guys were when he threw that out there during the meet with Lin and Alvarez (something I believe he did to lull Lin into a false sense of security in order to convince him to bring his crew around, not because he gives a rat's ass about the gun business at the moment).  They rolled with it, God love 'em, but it was clearly unexpected.  Also note that he specifically told them to make sure his mother was at the party.  Then that night she looked around, picked the first easy target she saw (kid sitting alone at the bar) and indicated to Jax that was the one by having a conversation with him.  From the get-go he was operating on the premise that "Chinese killed Tara" because his mother had already convinced him of that.  She just needed to find a specific person to aim him towards.

[Guest Accused Dingo]

I was way too tired after last night to give my review (these long episodes are going to be the death of me so I probably am not going to watch them live anymore)

But my reaction is that the season is off to a pretty good start. There was no way that Jax was going to find out Gemma was the one who killed Tara right off the bat unless Sutter literally wanted to turn the show into a terminator sequel. Plus we would lose Gemma as a villain and better or worse she is a good villain, The down side of this particular format of storytelling (the audience knows what each character is doing at all times even when they don't tell each other) is that the audience often know more then a particular character and when they don't do what we want them to do...veer right when the villain is to their left even if they have every reason to veer left we think they are idiots...Jax has no reason to suspect his mother of killing Tara. From what I remember they were on decent terms and besides the fact that Tara was suspected of being a snitch no one in the club wanted her dead.

When Jax find out its going to break him in two. It will be interesting though. Honestly I don't know Who or how I want him to find out. But however he finds out it will probably be in the worst way imaginable. That's how it usually works.

Who ever suspected that the junkie whore would be the best case scenario for Jax's two boys?

<____edited for clarity

Edited September 11, 2014 by Accused Dingo

[Fallacy]

JenLily is correct about how it all played out with the "Chinese killed Tara" story. I will just add that Juice is indeed the one who gave Gemma the information on the Chinese and came up with the story to pin Tara's murder on them. Gemma thanks Juice for the story when she talks to him at Wendy's apartment. She makes the comment that she owes him for giving her "the story." 

 

Gemma must have told Jax the story when she visited him in prison prior to this episode. And yes, when Jax was asking the club if they were all in, he was referring to the fact that he was about to start an open war against the Ling crew. They agreed and the rest of the plot continued. There's a moment after the meeting with Ling and the Mayans when Jax tells Chibs and Bobby that "things were happening more quickly" than he had thought they would. So yes, the club knew what was up because Jax told them during their last "church" meeting near the beginning of the episode. Also during the party when Jax asks the Reapers to pick up the random member of Ling's crew, their president demanded to know why. That's when Gemma tells him and us, the audience the story. But if you look at Jax and the other SAMCRO members none of it is news to them. In fact, they all look sad and haunted that they have to think about Tara's murder at all.

 

ETA: I also can't stand the thought of Wendy raising those boys. She is not a good mother as she is still very much a junkie who just had a relapse two weeks prior to this episode and didn't complete this last rehab plan. I have a feeling she's going to start using again, once again caving under the pressure of all the secrets. This time she's keeping Juice's secret. Last season it was Tara's but I have a feeling the results will be the same. And we know Nero will try to help because that's what he does; he helps women in need (see Venus, Gemma, Wendy, his crazy sister, and all those prostitutes who he is now pimping because he can at least protect him). He's the new "hero" on the show but he's just as corrupt as the rest of them, which we've known since he admitted to Jax at the end of season 5 that he had the money to buy the farm and retire with his son all along. He just can't leave the game. So he's a fucked as the rest of them. 

Edited September 11, 2014 by Fallacy

[SuzWhat]

I was very happy to see the return of nero's gangster cardigan. That due is fine as frog's hair.

[faceupandsing]

Count me as one of the confused as to how exactly the whole blaming random Chinese gangster for Tara's murder went down. My first reaction was that blaming the random for Tara's death was solely for the Grim Bastards President so that he'd go along with the kidnapping. I thought Jax asked Gemma to find one of Lin's men to blame it on because he wanted to start a war. Either he believes he has nothing left to live for and just wants to cause some damage on his way out as retribution for all that MC life has taken from him and convinced his club to go along with it, or because he thinks he can maneuver SOA to come out on top of the chaos of war. I'm secretly hoping Jax has his suspicions about Gemma in relation to Tara's death and is just waiting for the right time to strike. Because otherwise it's just Jax being stupidly ignorant about his own mother's abilities  and I'd like to think after six seasons he's learned at least a little. 

 

If Gemma can't get her own personal retribution I just want everyone to die. No one is particularly rootable or redeemable in my mind and I just want them all to pay for all the horror they've caused to their families and the community at large. I'm sticking with this show because I've invested six seasons worth of time already, but if anyone is left standing at the end of this all I'm going to feel a little let down. 

[bluebonnet]

Since Gemma put together the funeral i'm not surprised.

 

Probably has more to do with Tara's legal name still being Knowles.  Grave markers aren't usually personalized as they are just temporary markers put there by the gravediggers, filled out by whatever funeral director was in charge of overseeing the body to burial.  They would have received the body from the medical examiner, where Tara's legal name would have been used.  As far as I recall, Tara was still always called Knowles, at least in professional settings.  

[WatchrTina]

 

I could easily do with half-naked bloody Jax.

The fact that I don't even remember that Charlie was half-naked in the episode speaks volumes.  I watched both torture porn scenes from behind my fingers so I guess that's how I missed that.

 

I have to say, I would have been very impressed with the show if they had had Juice shoot Unser in the first episode.  THAT would have been ballsy and it would have been a-okey by me because I have not forgotten that it was f**king Unser who told Gemma all the mis-information that turned her into a loaded weapon with the safety off.

 

Last season I actually could wrap my brain around why Gemma did what she did.  I hated it but I could also feel a wee bit of sympathy for her terrible mistake (F**king Unser!).  After seeing this episode, I give up.  Someone kill her please!  She is vile.

Edited September 11, 2014 by WatchrTina

[spaceytraci1208]

I see Juice is still crying.

Ha! Seriously, they should have let his ass swing when he tried to kill himself in Season 5. I don't understand the point of him tying up and gagging Unser...does he plan to just hold a gun to his head the rest of the season contemplating how he's gonna get out of this one?

 

 

Unser should have been dead of cancer, a gunshot wound, or sheer stupidity years ago.

 

 

He must've gone to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Edited September 11, 2014 by spaceytraci1208

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Poor Roosevelt, in my mind he's reunited with his wife and child.

[ToniG]

Unser, you need to die now.

Seriously?! After that Gemma/Tara fight, you want us to believe there's no evidence linking Gemma to the crime?

In the scene with Jax and Gemma in the car, I thought Jax might know the truth, and was playing along with Gemma for the moment, but no. He believes her lies.

Juice is the only person alive who knows what Gemma did. When she was sitting next to him on the sofa, I thought he was a goner. That's not a good position to be in.

Like others have said before me, I hope Gemma gets what she deserves, but I think I will be sorely disappointed that I spent seven seasons watching crap.

[Cubsfan]

Since this is based on Hamlet, I am seeing myself being very disappointed at the end.  Gemma will walk away, covered in Teflon, as usual.

[magdalene]

Since this is based on Hamlet, I am seeing myself being very disappointed at the end.  Gemma will walk away, covered in Teflon, as usual.

Actually, if this show is based on the plot of Hamlet than both Gemma and Jax should die.

 

Dare I hope?

[larapu2000]

Thats why i take these programs with a grain of salt. KG is a good actress playing a tough roll and to not play it like a mustach twirling villain, she actually needs to find some humanity in her. Explaining that is not easy and the irony is that actors are often better actors then explainers. Especially to a fandom that in large believes the character actually is a psychopath. Personlly i think that Gemma "thinks" what she is saying is true which is the exact thing that makes her dangerous.

 

Yes, y perception of the way that Sagal explained it on the aftershow is that Gemma believes that she isn't a psychopath, because she can rationalize all of her choices, and therefore, never claim responsibility.  I certainly didn't see Sagal thinking Gemma's not a psychopath, but as an actress, she has to find the reasons inside of Gemma to create the humanity of a person that is one.

 

And HELL YES, there is physical evidence in that house.  Skin/blood under Gemma's nails, Gemma's hair and clothing fibers, and further, the lack of any physical evidence aside from the people that lived there and the grandma that came by a lot also says something about the crime.  No forced entry.  Killed with a carving fork, which would indicate a crime of opportunity or passion, which means that the criminal would be someone with a personal beef with Tara.  Even IF Tara and Gemma were considered to be on good terms when Tara died, I find it impossible to believe that Tara's hospital friend didn't tell the police about her troubled past with Gemma, which would put her on the top of a short list of suspects.  The police on "Pretty Little Liars" are better than the clowns at the Charming PD.

[Madding crowd]

I used to complain about this on the TWOP boards, but I still don't see what is in it for any of these club members. The majority of motorcycle clubs are law abiding guys who just like to ride. The others are in for money or drugs. These guys are not drug addicts, appear to have no money or no life to spend it on if they did, and they and everyone they love are in process of killing or being killed on a daily basis. Yes, MC clubs have each other's backs; but to commit to a way of life that will lead only to death or prison makes no sense to me at all.

 

I watched all the previous seasons so I will see this through; but the lack of even one likable character makes it difficult. I know we are supposed to be rooting for Jax, but I just want him far away from his kids and hopefully they can be raised by a good person who can adopt them. 

 

I also don't buy Katey's explanation regarding Gemma. She said Gemma is not a psychopath because she is aware of what she is doing. Psychopaths are aware of what they are doing, they just don't care. Do we think Charles Manson was not aware of what he was doing? Katey does a good job of playing Gemma, but she can't justify her actions because there are no justifications.

 

I used to like Juice somewhat but he has become a cowardly killer like the rest. I almost hate Unser worst of all because he was a law enforcement officer and now is just a cowardly lackey for Gemma. And I had to cover my eyes during the torture scenes which means they were brutal since my favorite show is The Walking Dead and I have never covered my eyes once. If the scenes fit in naturally with the story it would make sense, but there was no real reason for the man in the wheelchair or the Chinese guy because it's obvious that Jax will somehow found out it wasn't him and then Gemma will just find another target.

[Insomnia]

ETA: I also can't stand the thought of Wendy raising those boys. She is not a good mother as she is still very much a junkie who just had a relapse two weeks prior to this episode and didn't complete this last rehab plan.

To be fair, she didn't relapse so much as Jax forced it on her, if I remember correctly. And while she might have did willingly do something after (I honestly can't remember), she had been clean up until that point. She didn't fall off the wagon by her own choosing, so it's really not something to say about her character and whether she could look after the boys or not.

 

 Even IF Tara and Gemma were considered to be on good terms when Tara died, I find it impossible to believe that Tara's hospital friend didn't tell the police about her troubled past with Gemma, which would put her on the top of a short list of suspects. 

 

Didn't she get the fuck out of Dodge though, somewhere around the time of the "miscarriage"?

[MrsRafaelBarba]

When Opie died, think the Hamlet plot went out the window.

[Stratego]

SOA has required a substantial amount of suspension of disbelief--in fact it is a premise of the entire show.  Most murder victims know their killer.  Police generally start with next of kin and work a circle around the victim to ID the possible suspects.  A huge anomaly is that there were two victims in the same location yet one was shot twice from behind and the other was stabbed repeatedly with a serving fork!  Given Roosevelt was the C.O.P. there would have been multiple resources used to investigate these crimes--not just the Charming PD.  But, suspension of disbelief...

[bilgistic]

But the whole bit with chaining a black guy in a wheelchair for crissakes, to a motorcycle and dragging him down the street and having the rest of the MC standing around and chuckling about it - it was just too repugnant for me. I don't know if I know how to explain; there are ways to show that someone is bad without making them so bad as to make you feel unclean by watching it.

For me to say this might seem a little ridiculous given all that goes on in this show, but that scene for me was so over the top in terms of race and history--a white man dragging a black man behind him in chains. I feel like it's never okay to show certain things in certain ways, and definitely not in a humorous light, as that was portrayed. It left me ill, like much of the episode; I literally had a stomachache afterward.

[Artsda]

 

 

Didn't she get the fuck out of Dodge though, somewhere around the time of the "miscarriage"?

 

Yes, she left town. 

 

Wendy's the best choice as parent for the boys. She had gotten herself educated and clean. She only fell off when Jax forced her off the wagon and then the timeline was short between that and Tara's attack on her. She's shown herself more stable than Tara and Jax combined despite her drug addiction.

[Dusty]

 

To be fair, she didn't relapse so much as Jax forced it on her, if I remember correctly. And while she might have did willingly do something after (I honestly can't remember), she had been clean up until that point. She didn't fall off the wagon by her own choosing, so it's really not something to say about her character and whether she could look after the boys or not.

 

She didn't fall off the wagon a couple seasons ago of her own choosing but last season is all on her.  And she's only been in rehab for NINE DAYS.  I wouldn't trust her with the kids just yet.  Honestly though, I'm not sure how I feel about Wendy taking in the boys, if that's what happens.  I think I'll need to see how she develops this season.