'Sons of Anarchy' review of "The Mad King"

It finally takes events from Sons of Anarchy episode titled "The Mad King" to wake up Jax that this club isn't just about him, but there are other guys sitting at the table with him.  I think he finally started getting it.

He's also learned that getting out from under the gun trade with the Irish can be deadly and more of a bitch of a problem than he anticipated.

Clay, thought to be out of the picture, becomes a more integral piece of this entire pie.

And then there's the DA and that pesky call-girl murder, and the school shooting.  Wow...

Read on for my recap/review of Sons of Anarchy episode, titled "The Mad King."

SPOILERS ensue...

We open to Jax (Charlie Hunnam), Tig (Kim Coates) and other SAMCRO guys watching different locations that the Irish might show up at, as they're on the look out for Galen (Timothy V. Murphy) and Connor (Scott Anderson).  They attacked our prospects and there will be retribution.  While it's lock down at the shop, and everyone is bunking in the club, protected from the Irish.

Clay (Ron Perlman) gets put in gen pop and later gets a message from the Irish.

Nero (Jimmy Smits) is holed up in his place, guns in place, ready.

No one finds Galen but Jax finds an associate and learns that Galen has left but Connor is still around.

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The "San Juan" DA chats up Eli (Rockmond Dunbar), asking about Nero and the fire out at the supremacists cabin, where they found the guns planted by SAMCRO.  She's hankering to find a bad guy, Eli seems uncomfortable being in the middle of this.

In the club lockdown, Tara's (Maggie Siff) worried about Gemma (Katey Sagal) and her intent. It seems many of the ladies are worried about her.

Eli follows Jax and Nero to Colette's (Kim Dickens) "house," but Barosky (Peter Weller) drives him off and wants to know why Eli was following them.

Wayne (Dayton Callie) lets Tara know that he suspects her club exit strategy and he's willing to help.

Jax and the boys catch Connor.  But Jax's plan is not to do harm, but to reach out to the Irish Elder Council and broker an understanding and peace.

But Galen is sitting there at the table and looks to convince the elder council otherwise.

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Gemma checks in on Wendy (Drea de Matteo), looking for more dirt on Tara's will.  Wendy asks why she's doing this, Gemma says she just wants the family back the way it was.

Wendy is starting to crack in this scheme concerning the kids and keeping Gemma in the dark.

Gemma and Clay meet to talk, in a conjugal  visit.  She brings $500 to get time with him.  Clay tells her the Irish are planning to shut the MC out, and that's probably not a peaceful kind of "shut out."  But then something goes weird with this arranged conjugal visit and the guards come in and force Gemma to have sex with Clay.  It's either that or with one of them.

WTF?

Clay is murderously pissed, but Gemma plays smart and says he'll do nothing because he's be no good to anyone if he's in the hole.  (The Irish are planning to spring him.)

The Irish's plan to have Clay run point hits Jax and he realizes that means trouble.

He calls the Irish Elder Council (for lack of a better name) to ask if they have made a decision, and the reply is that they'll call by 8 his time and they'll have an answer for him them.

(Live comment:  I'm crapping my pants thinking this is a bad setup.)

Gemma told Nero (I presume) the details of what went down in prison.

And at the last second, Jax was starting to get everyone to the table to "take the call," when he sees something and puts it together and evacuates the club just in time before a slew of explosives go off, destroying the club house.

That's one hell of an answer from the Irish.

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