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Russian Roulette; Charming, CA ain’t Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. REVIEW: Sons of Anarchy “With an X” #SAMCRO #SOAFX

Review: Sons of Anarchy, Season 4, Ep. 406 “With an X”

Air Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 10PM E/P on FX

Rating ★★★★★

YES! Now we’re getting back to why I fell in love with Sons of Anarchy – cutthroat, ruthless backstabbing and downright devious underhanded deeds.

Kim Coates as Tig

“This is why mothers should drown baby girls.” ~ Gemma (Katey Sagal). Words of motherly wisdom – there’s the Gemma I know and love. After Tig’s (Kim Coates) daughter Dawn (Rachel Miner), who now goes by Margeaux (“With an ‘X’”), breezes into town telling lies about her sister needing to go to bulimia rehab (really?), poor Tig shells out $12,000 without a second thought. It’s got to hurt knowing your own flesh and blood only visits to swindle money from you, but Tig doesn’t care; he knows when the money runs out, she’ll be back to visit and that’s all he wants – for her to come back. With so many strong characters on the show, Coates is one of the most recognizable and talented but is completely underutilized. I’m not sure what bringing his daughter around was supposed to do – make us empathize with his softer paternal side? This is a show about the seedy lives of biker gangs/clubs not Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I don’t give a rat’s ass about his softer side. I like knowing he’s a hardened deviant who likes being dirty (in every sense of the word).

 

Lyla (Winter Ave Zoli) learns about Opie’s (Ryan Hurst) one-night stand with Ima-slut (Kristen Renton). Say what you will, but Renton plays her part well. She’s cunning, unapologetic, and just plain nasty telling Lyla, “Married pussy’s boring pussy.” Whoa! Tara (Maggie Siff) isn’t too thrilled seeing Ima at the club house either since Jax (Charlie Hunnam) had a little fling with her, too. The stare-down she gives Ima doesn’t hold too much weight for me though. I wish there was more fire behind Tara’s eyes. And again, Gemma steps up with more wise words for Ima, “Bitch, she will rip your little tits off.” I think these gals are messing with a volcano ready to erupt at any moment – as proof when Ima pulls a gun on everyone. I have a bad feeling about Ima and her brand of retaliation, especially after Jax pays her an unexpected visit. As Audrey Griswold would have said it, “God, I missed Jax!”

L-R: Charlie Hunnam as Jax, Mark Boone Junior as Bobby, and Ron Perlman as Clay

There are a few ways to get the truth out of somebody – ask pointedly, play good cop/bad cop, or use intimidation tactics like Russian roulette. Wait, what? Yeah, forcing the Prospects to play Russian roulette to find out who took the missing brick of cocaine is hardcore. This is what SAMCRO does. No bullshitting around; no sir. You can see the tension eating away at Juice (Theo Rossi) as Filthy Phil (Christopher Reed) loses his lunch after Rat Boy (Niko Nicotera) pulls the trigger (no bullet). And the showdown between Miles (Frank Potter) and Juice comes to an explosive bloody head, literally. I don’t know if Juice can pull himself out of this one with nothing more than a bullet hole in his leg and I think Chibs (Tommy Flanagan) suspects something is awry. Juice is jumpy, nervous, and asking Chibs what he thinks about the “black thing” in the club rules. Chibs replies, “Listen, the rules been around since day one; different time; and I’m not saying I agree with ’em all but ya know if we start picking and choosing which ones to follow then the whole thing just falls apart.” While Chibs makes a valid point, there is another side to the coin – maybe the rules need to be adjusted from something archaic and prejudiced. But the catch is, when you start bending and changing the rules, it shows a sign of weakness and leads to dissention in the ranks.

L-R: Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser and Ron Perlman as Clay

Unser (Dayton Callie) is so worried about Tara he leaves a note: “I’m going to hurt you, then kill you, doctor bitch.” While the note has a threatening message, which will provoke Jax to add a protection detail for Tara, does Unser really think Tara will believe some thug wrote it? It’s too well written with proper punctuation. Unser’s suspicions are confirmed when Clay (Ron Perlman) propositions Romeo (guest star Danny Trejo) about taking Tara out. Damn, I know Clay is ruthless but the secrets he thinks is buried in those letters – are they worth killing Tara over? Is there something more damaging behind Clay’s ordering the hit on John Teller and having Unser cover it up? If there was such incriminating evidence buried in those letters, don’t you think Tara would have read it all by now?

 

As much as I enjoyed “With an X,” I feel like so many characters are not being used to their full potential. Trejo is an iconic actor who has so much more to offer than being the leader of a drug cartel – but even so, he’s not been given the chance to truly shine in this role. Flanagan is also a dynamic actor, but I think he’s about to get a bigger part this season with the whole ordeal with Juice. “With an X” really steps it up. So far the season has been a tad dull compared to previous seasons – the episodes dragging like filler episodes to set up the hot and juicy stuff coming down the pipes! With only 13 episodes in a season, we are at the halfway mark and things are finally starting to heat up.

Song at the end is “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go,” by Bob Dylan.

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Photos- © 2011 FX Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.

Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.