Sons of Anarchy - S7E12 - Red Rose

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Previously on Sons of Anarchy, ‘Suits of Woe’

10 days. This whole season has taken place in only 10 days. Think on that.

The Shit

Jax readies for the day at the Mayan warehouse, his leg developing a random limp. How ironic would it be for him to die of a random blood clot? Alvarez reminds him that the street needs cleaning up, so the agenda for the day is set: gang presidents first, Irish next, then the presidential forum.

Meeting 1. The gang presidents divide up the city, making uneasy but workable alliances. Tyler requests help with the Triad remainders, and Nero wisely keeps his mouth shut about the new Byz-Lat leader’s move into drugs. They all give the Man Nod to solidify.

Meeting 2a. Connor isn’t about this new plan with the Mexicans considering Jax burnt down his last plan and he’s not too hopeful about getting Roarke’s approval. Alvarez says either they get the guns, or they’ll have to move in on Tyler’s properteh. Ruh Roh.

Meeting 3. Jax straight up admits to the Club presidents that he lied. T2 (Packer) is completely taken aback. They almost look as though they were ready to sanction Jury’s death if he’d just given them an excuse, but now they have no choice but to vote Mayhem. He knows, but first he wants something: throw out an unwritten bylaw. Race, I’m sure. Jax lays his gavel down and apologizes for not living up to the president’s flash. They all look sick, even Tony Curran, and T2 sadly shakes his hand goodbye. Explanatory as ever, Jax only tells his crew, “It’s all gonna work out.” Chibs hyperventilates from lack of info.

Meeting 2b. Jax, Tig, Happy, and Chibs walk into Roarke’s shop to find Connor’s guys beaten to hell. Turns out Connor was side trading and pocketing the money rather than sending it to the IRA, so all the Sons need to do is send him back to the leprechauns and they’ll give the Mayans deal a fair shake. So Hap has Tyler set up an Infamous Jax Warehouse Trap. Tyler’s reluctant, given that the Sons are the only thing holding the Mayans back. He needs help with the Triads NOW NOW NOW. Finally Jax hears him through the noise of his own death wish and agrees, as long as it’s tonight.

Juice

The dirty guard clears the clinic, letting in the Chinese led by Lin’s second. Not Jackie Chan (tm Juice) is super curious about why the AB has orders to kill him after he just did his Club a huge favor by killing Lin. “Jackie Chan’s got another plan,” he announces, starting with Juice’s gang rape. I hate this for many reasons, but mostly because it’s Sutter’s favorite trope to show us that a once vicious instrument of the Club only has one play left, as with his own character Otto.

After spending the day in his cell balled up with his knife and poetry, Juice arrives at the cafeteria, telling Tully flatly that the Asians want him dead, which would create a problem with the MC. Tully takes his honesty in stride, joking, “You do realize you lost the element of surprise.” Juice slips him the shiv, protecting his only family’s interests to the end. Tully accepts gravely. “Just let me finish my pie.” Cherry is a good pie to go out on. Juice stares at his spork, then looks up. Tully nudges his guys to start a fight with the Asians, and as the lunch room explodes, he steps behind Juice. “You went out good, sweetheart,” he says not unkindly, stabbing him. Juice sinks to the floor in his blood. After anticipating his death for so long, it’s almost hard to have feelings about it, but it seems… good? The best he could probably hope for, given the circumstances.

Nero, Wendy, Gemma, & Wayne

Finally their side story plays out. Wayne leaves his key on Gemma’s counter. She’s sleeping in her car at a truck stop between big rigs, awoken by Michael Chiklis (Milo). Later he chats her up. She says her name is Rose and has no kids, just looking for a lift. But hey, she ain’t no hooker, only wants to see her dad. They bond over heart surgery. “Two broken hearts on the road to tomatoes, country song practically writes itself,” she says “As long that song isn’t about a crazy cougar hijacking a truck at gunpoint,” he retorts. Keep laughing, pal.

Thinking he’s got a tow truck pickup, Unser gets trapped into meeting Jax. What’s up with him baiting Jax last episode? Unser comes unhinged: He promised Tara he’d help, and here it’s come to this. Jax needs the charges dropped so he can finish his work, finally dropping the Gemma bomb.

Wayne keeps a straight face and says he’s got to report it. Jax counters that he’s about to clean it all up, and if Unser tells everyone the whole war was a lie, this new peace isn’t going to settle. Wayne agrees to call Jarry. As the boys pull away, he finally breaks down alone.

 In a vulnerable moment after the president meeting, Jax asks Nero to take Wendy and the boys to the farm. You can almost see Nero’s shoulders broaden a little more as he takes the Teller family mantle. There’s always room under the Dad Sweater for orphans and whores. No offense, Wendy. Later, Nero and Wendy chat over coffee. He’s mum on Gemma’s whereabouts but Wendy agrees to go to the farm.

At the nursing home, Charisma Carpenter tells Gemma that her dad’s at church and furthermore his conservator is Tara, so she has to double-check that Gemma’s really his daughter which, for some unknown reason, is not in the paperwork. Offscreen, she calls Jax’s house, which leads to Wendy innocently calling Jax to share the news, followed by her telling Nero. Which sends him speeding to the garage, where he pleads with Wayne to go up and arrest her. Finally Wayne agrees, asking if Nero still loves her. Nero says, “It is not about saving Gemma. It’s about saving Jax.” Chucky sends his love, too. BTW, Chucky’s finished repairing JT’s bike.

After setting up Wendy as his new conservator, Charisma lets Gemma in to see her poor dad who doesn’t know her at all. She apologizes for disappointing him, all the bad things she did. There she goes again spilling her guts to emotionally fragile people. “God forgives everyone, sweetheart,” he smiles, remembering how much she loved flowers as a child.

Now at her dad’s home, Gemma sifts through old photos, listening to the record player, when Wayne arrives. Showing him a 5^th grade essay on the Second Amendment, she won’t go back, even when he half-heartedly arrests her. “Not really my style, sweetheart. You do what you have to do.” As he dials the local cops, Jax walks in. Wayne claims he’s already called it in, but countered by Gemma, he draws his gun. Jax of course does too. “What happens now, son?” he asks one last time. They both tear up, regretful. This moment, this law keeping, this woman: it’s all he has left. A hole blows through his chest. Polonius after all.

Jax steps gently over the body, sitting down. Gemma goes on showing him photos like they didn’t just kill their best friend. The record ends and silence falls. He wonders where JT’s manuscript is—in the storage locker with her sons’ birth certificates. She loved Tara, but it did happen. She doesn’t try to apologize, just nods, asking to go out to the garden. It’s wild and beautiful in the dark, full of white roses and chirping crickets. He follows behind her, choking up, and draws. He falters, crying. She finishes her work, perfecting her monster: “I love you, Jackson. From the deepest, purest part of my heart. You have to do this. It’s who we are, sweetheart.” Still facing forward, she pushes again, “It’s ok. My baby boy. It’s time. I’m ready.” She bows her head. And he shoots. The crickets begin again.

 

Suttertage

Jax heads back down the road as his crew helps wipe up the Triad leftovers. Wendy checks on the sleeping boys. A sheet covers Juice’s face. Tyler and Tig wipe out another room full of Triads. Nero lets himself into Gemma’s, crying on the bed. Jax arrives at home, taking off his cut and his blood splattered white tennis shoes, setting them aside. Wendy sits beside him, beautiful in a white nightgown. They kiss sadly, desperately, and she leads him to the bedroom for one last glorious camera pan across Dat Ass.

Dead Wayne lays next to three trinkets: a mother doll, a two-child Hummel figurine, and a goblet—another Hamlet parallel to Gertrude’s death from the poison cup. We pan through the garden; first the red roses for Tara, then the white, splattered in blood all the way to the ground where Gemma fell.