Sons Of Anarchy: "Small Tears" - The A.V. Club

About that new space… It seems like Jax is trying to take more control over the club this season, and when he brings the idea of partnering up with Luann to the table, he does it with the air of a man who already knows the answer to his questions. The motion passes—only Clay puts up even a half-hearted debate—but Clay takes Jax aside after the Mayan assault to tell him he needs to think through his actions more carefully. He's got a point. Earlier in the episode, before going to lay a beat-down on Georgie for insulting the club, Jax blows up at Luann for daring to question him. She's still nervous when he meets her later on, and it gets you wondering about Jax's temper again. He wants to pretend like this Opie stuff is going to get passed over, but how long is he going to keep his temper in check? How long before Clay pushes him on something and he snaps and says something he shouldn't?

And hell, how long before Opie, who does a pretty good impression of a suicide when he marches into Mayan gunfire during the stand-off, goes off the rails? He tells Tig he's been having dreams about prison again, violent dreams, and when he wakes up, he's glad to wake up—until he remembers Donna's gone. Tig tries to comfort him, and Opie's buying, but it's just one more lie. What makes it work so well is that Tig is sincere about wanting to commiserate with Opie, and the story he tells is almost certainly true; it's just, since he's responsible for Opie's grief, how much comfort can he really give? (I'm hoping we get more of Tig this season. He's one of the most interesting characters on the show, and Kim Coates always brings the awesome.)

The "Small Tears" of the title refers to injuries to vaginal injuries Gemma sustained during the rape; slight wounds that will heal quickly, or so Tara says. But a thing can look healed and still not be healthy. Gemma does her best to put up a good front, but she flinches when Clay comes to see her, and she nearly tells everything to Neeta, the new housekeeper/nanny (which, to me, was the episode's one real weak-point; am I forgetting some kind of connection these two had?). She's strong, but that doesn't make what happened to her any easier to move past. "Tears" ends with Gemma and Jax on the clubhouse roof. "You okay?" "Yeah." It's a nice, quiet moment for them both; but it's still a lie.

Grade: A-

Stray Observations:

• Funny how Tara has to almost immediately violate her "completely disclosure" agreement with Jax.
• "Cumdog Millionaire." Heh. (Also, Luann to Jax: "Life was so much easier when I was just sucking dick.")
• Nice nod from Jax with "You think I brought you here to Adrianna you?" Explaining the reference would mean spoiling it, though.
• Was that Kate Segal singing the "Ruby Tuesday" cover at the beginning?
• Funniest bit of the night: Tig waking up with some woman on top of him, rolling her off him (and off the bar they were both on) and saying, "I love you" after she lands.

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