Things are starting to get very edgy for the boys from SAMCRO. As the fourth episode of the steller new Sons Of Anarchy season kicks off, we find the boys starting to feel the consequences of their actions, and the actions of each other.
Una Venta starts off with Tara finding Jax, writing in his journal, something that I am sure will soon become a major part of the show. Jax tries to brush off this sensitive side, but something tells me that The Prince is holding something pretty big in those pages. We kick off with the boys loading the truck full of guns for the first drug exchange with the cartel and heading off to a bike show where they plan to make contact.
We find that Clay’s hands are getting worse and worse every day, with his grip on the bike, and the club, quickly slipping from him. Within the first five minutes Gemma and Jax both have to help Clay inject his meds to keep his hands going. With this becoming a more constant point of Sons Of Anarchy, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Clay loose his Presidents patch by season’s end.
The boys settle into a truck stop with the Arizona charter of The Sons and are quickly shocked to find them dealing crank. Jax is also shocked that a life member was killed, and his best friend left the club. Elsewhere, Gemma finds an unlikely friend with Roosevelt’s wife, Rita, who runs the local nursery, and sympathises with her crusade to save gardens in Charming.
Jax suspects foul play and confronts Clay and the boys at the bike show, saying that the two ex-members of the Arizona chapter would have never signed off on dealing crank, the boys concur and agree to deal with it later, after Romeo (Danny Trejo) bails on the meet, because of the tail on the clubs.
SAMCRO are then given a little show as the Arizona boys loose the tail for them, blowing up barrels of gasoline in front of the police tail. Though the boys believe it’s local law enforcement, we find that it was in fact D.A. Link Potter that was running the tail on the boys. SAMCRO then go off to find the living half of the two ex Arizona chapter members.
The boys are informed that the two ex-members found out that the Arizona V.P. and Sergeant of Arms were cooking drugs, months before it was passed by the club. Then, the dead Arizona member was gunned down by the Arizona V.P. and Sergeant of Arms, and the other told to leave the club, or he would be exposed for sleeping with a club member’s wife.
Piney then confronts Tara about JT’s letters in order to try and gain leverage and save the club for going down a road of no return. Tara holds out but is quickly interrupted by Gemma, who convinces Tara to put her name to the board to save the Charming Gardens. However, Tara and Gemma are quickly interrupted as they find out that Piney has passed out.
SAMCRO confront the Arizona chapter about the deceitfulness by the V.P. and Sergeant of Arms, and leave it to them to deal with their own internal problems.
Piney recovers from his attack caused by a lack of oxygen and is told that all his drinking is catching up with him. He once more asks for Tara’s help, who gives the broken Piney some information about J.T. not wanting to run guns in the club anymore, and the meeting he set to get out of the gun running business, that he never attended because he was killed. Before Tara can elaborate any further, Gemma once again interrupts, confronting Piney telling him to let the past stay dead, for his sake.
Link Potter makes a visit to Otto in prison letting him know that at the time of his wife’s death she was having sex with Bobby, and tries to convince Otto that it may have been Bobby who was responsible for his wife’s death.
The Sons then go off to make their first drug run for the cartel, where they are thanked by the Arizona president and told that his chapter have re-voted and will continue to deal drugs, because every member who was not convinced at the first vote, is now happy with the money. This result shocks Clay and has Jax wondering if SAMCRO will opt out of the drug business once Clay steps down. As the episode ends, the boys load the trucks for the first drug run and head for the point of no return.
It will be interesting to see how SAMCRO deals with this new found challenge and heat that transporting drugs brings. The boys already look uneasy at the first drug run, but only will time will tell if they can come to terms with their new found income.