SONS OF ANARCHY 6th Season Finale Review

SONS OF ANARCHY 6th Season Finale Review - CCH Pounder and Charlie Hunnam in Sons of Anarchy

Sons of Anarchy finishes out its sixth season in the usual style that only Kurt Sutter can think of.  Titled "A Mother's Work," that's more apropos than it seems at first.

It's all coming to a huge head as Jax (Charlie Hunnam) ends up paying the price on many of his decisions, from different directions.  His infrastructure outside the club is agitated with his decisions and how he's carrying them out.  In fact, on the outside, looking in, now Jax, with the club behind him, has been making unilateral decisions without conferring with the other clubs.  (Much like last season when Jax was making decisions for the club, without asking, ticking them off.)

With the loose cannon of Tara having this deal to cement with Patterson, the viewer is kept off-balance, wondering just what will come of this, while we watch other acts that are starting to settle up.

And if you stretch it far enough, with all the deal wrangling that DA Patterson (CCH Pounder) had in place, you could put the blame on her for everything that took place tonight in this episode.  Regardless, she puts up a pretty insightful and deep set of points in an early conversation she has with Jax.

And as if this body count this season didn't take enough primary characters out of the picture, ...  well, you'll see.

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SPOILERS Follow after the image

Charlie Hunnam in Sons of Anarchy season finale

SPOILERS

Our ep recap shows us the pertinent details leading up to tonight's season finale of Sons of Anarchy episode, titled "A Mother's Work."

The opening monologue from Jax shows us his remorse about his violent side, of his terror of his present situation, and the loss of his emotional center when Opie was killed.

We also watch Clay's grave being filled in, it was a lonely service.  Tara (Maggie Siff) is hiding in the hotel room, and some of the others from the club going about their business of the day at that moment, like Gemma (Katey Sagal) doing dishes at Jax's place.  None of it, looking any good.

In a strong moment of a symbolic message, Jax runs over a pretty white dove on his ride back into town.  That's pretty f*d up!  Then again, last week was, as show runner Kurt Sutter said, was the beginning of the end.

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Patterson knows that Tara is on the run, and the club realizes that if Tara turned over evidence they'd all be in jail right now.

Gemma and Juice (Theo Rossi) chat, and Juice says he doesn't want to die.  {Could have fooled me! -Bruce}  Gemma tells him to man up. "Vulnerability is a liability."

Patterson shows up at the ice cream shop, as she sums up Jax, saying "what you are, crashing into who you are."  And she pitches that whatever decisions he makes, lands on his family.  She says that from the "flawed mother who has made a lot of mistakes."  She pitches that he needs to "own his place" in life.

{For Jax to own his place in life, he has to step up and be the murderous club president that he's been forced to be over the last season or two.  But he doesn't want to.  He's been trying to redeem himself and lead the club to a better life.  Oh boy.}

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The club talks about Tara, looking to see where she's hiding out, if she's going to rat them out or not.  "She's seen a lot."  And if she won't see the light, as Jax puts it, what needs to be done.

Jax and Alvarez have a heart to heart about Jax's decisions with the gun running.  And Jax is surprised to find out the Mayans are setting up in Stockton.

Tara calls her lawyer, confirming she will meet with Patterson. Abel asks if that was daddy on the phone.  When she says no, his smile turns upside down and looks like a mini-SAMCRO member.

{Tara is on a one-way trip if she keeps this up.}

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Juice and Bobby are following the lawyer, deciding if they should follow him or run him over.

Jax and Nero (Jimmy Smits) meet about the Mayans setting up.  Marks folks show up as do the Mayans.  Then Nero drops the "secrets from friends" card on Jax, and puts it out there.

Jax tells them that despite Marks folks handling the guns, it's all the same.  Mayans are worried about the Chinese, but Jax says he'll get in front of that.

Jax leaves and when Marks folks show the Mayans the guns, the Mayans gun them down, taking the guns.  Even Nero is shocked and leaves the scene.

{And so the decisions and actions that Jax started, have started to show theiur ramifications.  The Mayans are pissed.}

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Jax is even reaching out to Barosky (Peter Weller), asking him to keep an eye out for Tara (Maggie Siff).  He's pretty serious about finding her.  He also tells Barosky about the Mayans shaping up.  They get a tip on Tara's location and Jax bolts, but word on the street about the shooting back at the junk yard is getting around.

Juice and Bobby watch Tara and the lawyer meet about her ratting out on the club to Patterson.

Wayne goes to pick up Wendy, taking her to rehab.  We find a sad story with Wayne, in that he's sticking around in Charming because it's the only place where there's anyone who loves him.  While conversing, Wendy says she always used to feel safe with Jax, that he had a good heart.  And that now, that's gone.  Wayne concurs.

{It seems that with everything he's done, Jax has become that which he despised... the new Clay.}

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Maggie Siff in Sons of Anarchy season finale

It's a classic moment when Abel goes running past Tara, yelling Daddy!  The look on Tara's face, when she realizes she's been found, is justifiable, frightening and righteous, all at once.

Their heart-to-heart is about the kids fate with the club, what she's seen him become and her own situation.

Rather than doing what everyone is expecting, he asks her to stay and take care of the kids.

{This still leaves the evidence (the bullet) in her possession.}

Nero asks Gemma to leave town with him, and she won't.

Patterson, Eli and her lawyer show up at Tara's place.  But Jax is there.  And he's willing to turn himself in, if Patterson will lay off Tara.  He says he'll meet her at his house at six.

{This could leave his club in a bad way if they're truly left without him.}

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Jax can't ask Tara to take the hit for the club, and gives the gavel to Bobby, with Chibs as his right-hand man.  Jax lets them know Juice can't be trusted.

{And I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop on this one.}

Wayne tells Gemma what's going on.  She's already pissed that Nero is dumping her.  She up and disappears on Wayne.

Tara goes home, but Gemma is waiting for her.  And things don't go well for Tara, stabbing her in the back of the head with a carving fork, killing her.  Eli finds her in the kitchen, next to Tara's body.

Gemma thought Tara was ratting.  No one filled her in that Jax was turning himself in!

Eli starts to make the call on his radio, but Juice caps him with two rounds in the back.  Killing Sheriff Roosevelt (Rockmond Dunbar).  (Told ya he wasn't long for this show.

{OMG!!!  I knew someone was going to die.  Tara was smiling and it was a freaky thing to see on SoA!!!}

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We watch Jax have a teary farewell with his club to ride off to his meeting with Patterson, to turn himself in.

Nero is forced to make a decision about his future, and he shows up at a meet with the Mayans and Chinese.

Juice is getting rid of murder evidence*, probably hoping to get in good with Jax.  Can we say hail mary?

Gemma is at Wayne's, crying for her horrible mistake.

(*Did you catch the homeless ghost girl walking by the dumpster with a baby carraige now?)

Jax finds Tara's body, and Patterson finds him crying over her body, Eli's body is next to them on the kitchen floor.

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And this, is how Kurt Sutter leaves us hanging with the sixth season finale of Sons of Anarchy, with Tara dead, Jax sitting on the crime scene, Juice probably not long for this world with the club, the other clubs building up to fill the void that SAMCRO is leaving.

This is how we're headed into season 7 of Sons of Anarchy, leaving us to wonder how much time will pass between events now and the season premiere of season 7.

And of everything else that's gone on, what will become of Jax's kids next season?  Wendy??? And my guess, is that Jax won't be confessing anything.  And his moral compasses are all gone, first Opie, now Tara.  Gemma has lost it, Tara is gone...  I'm thinking Gemma might be off his Christmas list.

Stockton seems to be a new focal point.  That's Barosky's territory.

There's a lot that has to, or could or should happen next season.  And will Gemma have to hide from Jax now?  It's bad enough that Nero is pissed at Jax about his subterfuge with having Juice kill Darvany early on in the season, I can't imagine where things will go.  I just can't.

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Jax's opening monologue:

"There are lessons to be found here. But mostly I do this so you can know me. Lately as I write these I realize they're as much for me as they are for you. This is the one place I can be completely open, the pen and paper has no judgement, no vote, it simply receives my truth and allows me to turn the page. And today this is my truth.

I am terrified a great deal of the time. Afraid of what I've done, of what I'm doing, and of what I might have to do. It's not a crippling fear, in fact it's just the opposite. I thrive on it. I crave it. I need that rush of terror to get me out of bed in the morning. It's in my DNA.

I have tremendous remorse for the acts of violence I've committed, both planned and spontaneous. But I think what brings me the most sorrow is that I've learned to justify this behavior. I always find a reason, a cause, a need that allows me the karmic lubrication to stuff my guilt into a savage compartment. I've become the thing, the one I hated. And with that awareness comes periods of days sometimes weeks when I have to avoid looking into a mirror. My self hate is so deep so palpable I fear I'll lunge at my own image, shatter the glass and cut myself with shards of broken reflection.

Since my best friend was killed I've lost my center. Ope was always my pull back to true north. Now my doubt and sense of fraudulence bark so loudly in my head that most of the time I can't hear anything else.

Love, camaraderie, freedom, all the things I want from this life are lost in the din.
Forgive my indulgence sons, but today may be a day we both remember, a defining day.
And I want you to look back at this entry and know that at the very least your father was completely honest. So you know I speak the truth when I tell you that you are the most important thing to me. I will never hurt you, never abandon you.

I love you Able. I love you Thomas. More than anything or anyone and I always will.

Everything I do is for my sons.
"
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