Sons of Anarchy Season 7 Episode 3 “Playing With Monsters”
Sons of Anarchy aired its third episode of the final season last night and it pretty much mimicked the plot of the first two episodes. Jax manipulates someone to help him exact his revenge while simultaneously pissing off everyone around him, Gemma continues to weasel her way through life, Juice is even more miserable as his desperation grows and the rest of the cast provides comic relief with a plethora of much needed and precisely timed wise cracks.
Can something of substance happen already? Or at least something exciting? I found myself slightly bored during this episode. Watching these last episodes has been like hearing the Jaws theme song over and over again but never reaching the shark attack. Kurt Sutter’s torturous, slow burning suspense makes the show feel like a slow moving chess game. Jax is moving his pieces around and creating such a big mess that a stalemate seems more likely than a checkmate.
On the topic of Jax’s chess game of revenge, am I the only one that doesn’t quite believe that he can so easily manipulate everyone around him? Last night he effortlessly convinces the Niners to turn on August Marks and mess with the Mayans. Then, he kills said Niners in the Mayan’s warehouse drawing out Mayan retaliation against the Niners. Does Kurt Sutter really want us to believe that not a single character finds it suspiciously convenient that every person who can prove Jax is lying is dead? August Marks does make a comment about this, but is quickly appeased by Jax that all is well. I realize Jax is smart but I don’t think it plausible that everyone else is really that oblivious. My gut tells me there is much more going on that viewers aren’t privy to yet. My guess is that August Marks or even Jury will be the first ones to topple Jax’s chess board.
Furthermore, this episode, as was the case with the previous episodes, seemed to be lacking something. The characters feel a bit distant. Everything is focused around Jax’s plan for revenge. We don’t get much insight into the minds of secondary characters. Not to mention Jax only has one emotion—rage—and even that is so suppressed that at times he seems to be a shell of who he once was. While this annoys me, I can’t help but admit that at least in the case of Jax, his lack of outward emotion is completely plausible. The absence of Tara is not the only rift felt. This absence of the man Jax used to be when he was with Tara is felt as well.
On a side note, the episode opened with a seemingly pointless scene in RedWoody. The SAMCRO boys watch as Lyla films their first production, “Skankenstein.” It was equally disturbing and comical. However, my favorite part of this scene was the very end where Lyla and Jax share a hug. Am I the only one that read a little more into that hug? It may be driven by the hopeless romantic in me or my hatred of Wendy (sorry Wendy fans), but I’m holding out for a relationship between Jax and Lyla. They both lost the ones they love at the hands of a misinformed SAMCRO member and could find peace with each other. While I don’t think Jax will ever move on, I would be okay with him finding some comfort in Lyla.
Even though I want to strangle Kurt Sutter for the torture he is putting me through, I am perhaps more addicted to SAMCRO than ever before. Fingers crossed that next week’s episode picks up the pace.
words_ shannon cooney. pictures_ forbes and flicksided.