A vortex is the kind of phenomenon that pulls everything in vicinity towards its center. It is destructive and all-consuming with no regard for damage. And in tonight's "Widening Gyre" we saw a group in SAMCRO creating such a phenomenon. Their increasingly misguided, relatively narrow-sighted and not-so secretive actions have slowly sucked everyone around them into one big mess. But what's interesting is that this isn't new for the Sons of Anarchy. Hell, it's been going on since John Teller was in Belfast more than two decades before.
While John Teller's history is by no means the crux of the entire show, his tale is certainly at its base. The time he spent in Ireland, his relationship with Maureen, his disengagement from SAMCRO and ultimately his demise have been floating around in the ether this entire season. While Jax has always been painted a picture of a father who stood up for the good and the just, we're starting to see a very flawed man. And Gemma was right, secret babies are a terrible idea. Maureen's daughter Trinity, Jax's half sister, is testament to a lifetime of bad decisions/ indecision. Granted, one of their birth's, most likely Jax's, made John realize a life in a gang is no life at all, and it's tough to pass judgment on a guy/ character we've never met. But it's becoming increasingly obvious John Teller was no saint. His actions have effected the history of the SAMCRO universe in a way we're only starting to realize.
Like father like son. Jax is smart enough to realize allegiance to a gang is no life for anyone. Yet rather than disengaging from the downward spiral, he's almost embracing it. How else to explain his turning on Tara with increasing acts of defiance. Almost saying to her, "Look at this life. Look how bad I am. You don't want this." It's a childish mentality. It would be easy to say Jax is acting out because of the loss of Abel. I can buy that to a certain extent. But really he is just a lost kid who grew up too fast and without a father. Who's pointing this kid in the right direction? Certainly no one in the club. Not his mom, she's got her own issues.
Issues like escaping from the hospital/ jail in a last ditch effort to save Abel. But she couldn't do so without the opportunity to suck Tara even deeper into the Gemma-vortex. Gemma's no idiot. She's played Tara like a fiddle this entire season even right down to guilt tripping her about the good doctor's Son in the oven in order to lam it once again. But Gemma is Gemma and her on the run most certainly implies some other agenda. She's the first to say she wants Abel back and needs her family altogether. I think that's half her battle. The other half wants to simultaneously shield Jax from the truth about John Teller while getting some answers of her own.
And this all leads to SAMCRO finally getting the band together, hopping on a plane and heading for Belfast. Though, they weren't able to do so before completely compromising Unser, leaving girlfriends behind, possibly starting another turf war, causing a high speed chase, and jumping federal bond. It's all in a days work for a group of guys who act first, don't clean up later. Now they have a whole new country to lay waste to under the the guise of club agenda. It's just a Widening Gyre.
Some other thoughts:
- The more they're in the show, the more I could do without the Grim Bastards. It's not that I don't appreciate another gang, but I just don't understand their greater purpose. For the moment they are a inconsequential medium between SAMCRO and the Mayans. Much of their story could have been written as just another offshoot of SAMCRO. Introducing an entire gang, within the Sons' geographic universe, who we've never even heard of before is a bit much to swallow. Biker gang overkill.
- Was Jax just talking openly with the Mayans (one day old truce remember) in the bathroom in front of the guy they just beat up, giving away useful intel, one of the stupidest decisions ever? The whole scene was even a little hokey with Jax talking about going away while the Callaveras leader listened and looked out of the corner of his eye. It all seemed a tad corny.
- It's hard not to feel for Tara throughout all of this. No one has been had there world turned more upside by SAMCRO than her. I've never particularly cared for Tara's character throughout the history of the show. It may be more a personal preference than an indictment on the writers or Maggie Siff, but I couldn't help but feel for her tonight. I mean she walks in on Jax postcoital, aids and abets Gemma, is probably going to need to escape a hit from the Callaveras and even gets slugged by the chief of medicine. Rough day all around.
- I'm having a little trouble wrapping my head around the whole Irish contingent and where exactly each group's motivation lies. It doesn't help that I can only understand half of what they're saying.
