The Breakdown
We start off with Jax at a graveyard, sitting against Opie’s tombstone, working on his memoirs. The gang leave the cabin, while Wendy packs her bags and gets ready to head to rehab. We see Clay being buried at the prison while Uncer watches on. Nero gets a wad of money from one of his guys and heads down the street. Tara is hanging out in a motel with the boys.
Roosevelt meats with the DA and tells her that Tara is a no show. They’re not sure if Jax will try to kill her or not, and make finding her a priority.
The gang meets up at the new club, while Gemma pulls Juice aside to find out where his head is at after his apparent suicide attempt. He says he doesn’t want to die, he’s just not sure how to live amongst all of this right now. Jax arrives, and soon after so does the DA & Roosevelt. She asks to speak to Jax alone, and basically tells him that if he kills Tara, it’ll destroy everything around him. Up stairs, the gang asks Jax what they should do if Tara can’t be convinced to not rat, and Jax says they’ll do whatever it is they do then. Afterward, Chuckie says that Marcus Alvarez is outside and wants to talk. He’s a bit upset that Jax didn’t come to him about the gun deal. Jax reassures him that August doesn’t want to upset the balance of things. He tells Jax that they’re setting up in Stockton, which doesn’t make Jax happy in the slightest.
Tara calls her lawyer, and says she’s ready to come in. He leaves the courthouse, and behind him is Juice & Bobby in a very inconspicuous, large, black van.
Nero & Jax meet up in a junkyard to discuss business. First things first, Nero is displeased with Jax lying to him about the murder of the woman at the cabin. Jax doesn’t say much in retort, as Marcus shows up to talk with the One-Niners, and discuss the whole going-ons with the new gun business. Everything seems cool with each other, however, once the Sons leave, the Mayans wipe out the Niners.
Jax gets word about where Tara’s lawyer is, and heads out.
Nero & Marcus have lunch, and he’s not happy about the Niners getting wiped out like that. Marcus presents to him the idea of perhaps retiring.
At the park, Tara meets up with her lawyer, and he tells her that if she gives up the bullet and her testimony, that they can use RICO. She asks the lawyer if they can have a bit of time before it all goes down, as the kids seem to be enjoying their time at the park. He leaves, and soon Abel leaps off the slide and into Jax’s arms, much to Tara’s surprise. They sit down, and she says she’s willing to die, because at least she tried to protect them. Jax says that he isn’t going to hurt her, and she doesn’t have to run. All he wants is for her to save their children.
Uncer shows up at Gemma’s place, and she asks if he was there at Clay’s funeral. He says he was, and that it was just him. Wendy comes out and is ready to roll, saying she needs to stop by her place before they hit the rehab center. They discuss past loves & hates.
Nero meets up with Gemma, and tells her that he needs to be alone. But then he asks her if she’d just leave with him. Get out of Stockton, get out of Charming. Just leave. She says she can’t. He says that he has to. She leaves in quite the huff in the wake of their apparent break-up.
The DA shows up to get Tara, and inside the room is Jax, chilling in a chair like a Bond villain. He says he’ll turn himself in as the supplier of the KG-9s. Just him, not the club, and all charges against Tara are dropped. She agrees.
Jax tells the plan to Chibs & Bobby, and they aren’t happy with this decision, but understand that it’s what Jax wants. He passes the gavel over to Bobby, who’s hesitant, but takes it. Jax says he loves them both, and heads out to see his boys.
Uncer arrives at Gemma’s house, and finds her in a bad place. She tries to leave, but he won’t let her. So she asks him to get her medication from her bedroom, and when he does, she splits.
At the new club house, Uncer shows up to tell them that Gemma has split. Juice says he’ll go find her, and Jax agrees. Outside, Juice says he’ll miss him, and Jax gives him a kiss before telling him that he knows of his betrayal. He knew it was you, JuiceFredo, and you broke his heart. Afterwards, he walks back inside while Juice remains sullen on the sidewalk.
Back at Tara’s house, we see Uncer’s truck is outside. She walks in with Sheriff Roosevelt, and he drops her bags off before heading out. As Tara walks into the kitchen, Gemma makes her presence known. They have them selves a fight that results in Gemma drowning her in the sink before stabbing her multiple times in the head with a meat-tenderizing fork. It’s f****ing brutal. Just then, Roosevelt & Juice run in, as Gemma mumbles that she had to, she had to. Roosevelt lets her know the score, and right before he calls it in bullets punch the blood & breath out of his body, dropping him to the ground. Standing behind him is Juice, and it’s clear that his intentions are to get Gemma out of here and protect her at all costs. That’s a great way to get back into Jax’s good graces. Now you’re thinking.
End of Episode Montage:
Jax says goodbye to everyone. Wendy is in rehab. Gemma shows up to TM and finds Uncer chilling there with a joint. Nero shows up at a meet with the Mayans and the Chinese. Juice ditches all of the evidence in a dumpster some where. Jax arrives to find Tara and breaks down at her side. Then, at the worst of all possible moments, the cops arrive, and we get the logo.
The Analysis
For this episode, I’m only going to give a two-word review:
Holy s**t.
As for the season, well, we sure are headed down a dark path, aren’t we? Just like The Shield, the show starts off light-hearted in a sense, and a lot of fun. As things progress, the anti-heroes karma and whathaveyou start to build up against them, and the walls come down. Although there will never be a more shocking & sadder moment than when my favorite character, Opie died, tonight’s sure gave it a run for the money. Ever since Jax wore the crown at the beginning of season 5, he’s tried his damndest to get the Sons away from guns and away from all the violence that the black-market can bring. However, in chasing that dream, Jax has either forgotten, or never learned a key lesson:
If you want peace, prepare for war.