Sons of Anarchy Season 5, Episode 10: “Crucifixed”
Written by Kurt Sutter
Directed by Guy Ferland
Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX
It was clear from the beginning that absolutely nothing in the world of SoA is holy, but just to reassure us of that, Kurt Sutter (aka Otto) brutally stabs Nurse Pam with a crucifix while turning Tara into an accessory to murder in the process. Ensuring to kill his own testimony in the RICO case, while taking Tara right down with him in order to lash out at Jax: brilliant. It’s a little scary what this character is capable of doing trapped inside jail, strapped to the bed; imagine what he must have been like on the outside. And to think of what jail time would do to Tara, with all that twisted darkness we‘ve seen in her lately, the disturbing baby wake-up by stomping on the toy piano in this week‘s opening sequence will surely seem like a soothing awakening compared to what jail might cause her to do. But the aftermath of the bloody crucifixion is yet to come and with Jax and Pope‘s business relations growing stronger, Pope could become Jax‘s option to keep Tara out of the slammer. Which could cause some great conflict in the long run for Jax, as the man who saved his wife would also be the one who requested Op‘s death, or rather that of a son, in the first place. But all of that is pure speculation, what we are sure of is that Jax cares very little about ties and bonds these days, especially when it comes down to avenging his best friend‘s death.
In general Jax seems to be caring less and less about the big picture as he‘s more concerned with securing his seat at the gavel and getting rid of Clay for good (not that that behavior is completely incomprehensible, he‘s just working three too many angles to get there and all those schemes and secrets will surely have to come back to him one way or the other). However it saves Juice‘s head at least for now and the little head to head Jax has with Bobby – who momentarily seems to be the only one who‘s seeing any bigger picture right now – over the potential kill of the giant of a man that was involved in Op getting beaten to death was quite enjoyable. Even though all these changes in Jax‘s character might not be to everyone‘s liking, as few of them are for the better, the results of them are causing some great dramatic development for the show.
On the other hand, who seems to be turning around for the better is Clay. And while the monster inside is without a doubt only taking a little vacation, Ron Perlman does get to show off his skills in acting out the sensitive sides of the character of Clay Morrow. And he‘s quite convincing in his performance of the remorseful Ex-leader of a biker gang during the heart to heart with Juice: “You get to this point in your life, and you start to wonder, are you chasing after shit you don‘t even want anymore? I am exhausted son“. Whether or not he‘s being truthful in his change of character with all he‘s done it might just be ten murders too late. And the odds are not in his favor, as Jax is putting together his plan of attack with Gemma, Juice and Tig in his pocket, and Chibs and Bobby – even if he‘s got concerns – on his side. However Torres and Parada‘s CIA ties might just become Clays lifeline (It‘s still completely incomprehensible how those two ever managed to get employed by the CIA, but what the hell, this show isn‘t about being reasonable). And with Gemma and Juice both being somewhat of loose canons it‘s very much up in the air if Jax‘s plan will play out.
While this extended episode sees quite a bit of development and action it surely feels like it‘s building up to that grand finale that‘s only another few episodes away, let’s hope for a good one, as the dice are clearly still up in the air and it‘s not sure how they‘ll fall.
But what‘s your input? Anyone else out there that was missing some Nero as he was completely absent in this episode. Also when does Pope get to show of his true cold-heartedness again? And what‘s up with crashing and tripping bikes this season, is it just me or does that seem to be a new writer‘s game of who can come up with the best way of doing it?
Merle Fischer