Review: Sons of Anarchy, S5 E6 – “Small World”
Air date: Tuesday, October 16, 10pm ET/PT on FX
Rating:
Violence continues to escalate in Charming but it isn’t the result of random delinquent activity. It’s being instigated by the “personal beefs” several people have. A tense sense of calm pervades the atmosphere although it feels more like a ticking bomb is about to go off at a moment’s notice. As Jax (Charlie Hunnam) pushes SAMCRO to regain a solid footing in the MC community, will his efforts be for nothing because the home invasions are still shaking up Charming? Will the memory of what happened to Opie (Ryan Hurst) continue to mark his path?
The long term emotional stress endured by our favorite Charming folks is getting to them. Let’s examine how Kurt Sutter’s leading characters are handling the pressure in “Small World” because their actions will certainly help shape how this season will end.
Bobby warns Jax about how SAMCRO is divided.
Clay: A Wolf in Sheep Clothing
Clay’s (Ron Perlman) medical prognosis is great yet he downplays his recovery. Although world domination comes to mind, I think he’ll settle for ruling SAMCRO again. Clay continues to excel in playing gullible souls like Juice (Theo Rossi), but he isn’t fooling everyone. Experience is a skill set that should never be underestimated, and based on the details Unser (Dayton Callie) shares with Clay about Rita Roosevelt’s (Merle Dandridge) death, Charming’s former police chief may have set Clay up to get a feel about what Clay is up to these days.
Pope: The Entrepreneur
Is Damon Pope’s (Harold Perrineau) latest coke ‘mulling’ proposal for SAMCRO too good to be true, or is it an enslaving proposition like Clay suggests? I would think the MC members would be excited about such a money-making proposition, but Jax barely gets the votes he needs. A powerful underground force is conspiring against Jax and if you’ve been paying attention, it’s the same person who got SAMCRO into transporting narcotics in the first place. The way Tig’s (Kim Coates) vote has been permanently swayed because of his debt to Jax will ultimately play a huge factor as the story progresses. Coates deserves accolades for how wonderfully Tig drops such subtle hints about his vote. As Bobby (Mark Boone Jr) points out to Jax, the Club is divided and I can’t blame members like Juice for questioning Pope’s deal. It begs the question: Why is Jax on board with this? My bet is it’s less about the money and more about how Pope’s deal stabilizes the balance of power, as the deal moves SAMCRO onto even ground with Henry Lin’s (Kenneth Choi) Triads, the Niners and the Mayans. It’s interesting to note that we aren’t privy to the Galindo Cartel’s take on this so I’ll be anxiously waiting to see if they’re truly on board with the deal.
I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve been enjoying the convos between Pope and Jax. Their working relationship is improving and they both see value in maintaining it. As the topic of home invasions surfaces once again, Pope urges Jax: “Look inside…somebody is trying to compromise you.” If you think that’s meaningful, his word play about the importance of ruling with an iron fist confirms it: “You don’t need money Jackson, just the ability to see the inevitable.”
Things don’t go as Tara hoped during her meeting with Otto.
Jax Teller: The Dark Knight?
After Jax orders his men to find a pipe, we experience a brutal action sequence I never expected to get as macabre as it does. I have to say, I will never again think of “Small World” as the (annoying) Disney song. Instead, I will think about the tip of the dark iceberg that resides within Jax that we’ve been shown. “I got this,” Jax says, channeling Opie’s last words to him in a cold and scary manner. In my opinion, the angry beast inside Jax is only partially unleashed because of Chibs’ (Tommy Flanagan) intervention. Flanagan’s performance is worth highlighting as he’s been solidly portraying the depth of Chibs’ loyalty to Jax. Jax and Tig may have turned a page too, particularly after avenging Opie’s death together. It was also refreshing to enjoy Hunnam’s sarcastic comedic flair, a welcome enhancement to his character. Just when Jax’s darkness was starting to concern me, he shows his commitment to prioritizing his relationship with Tara (Maggie Siff), which seems to be a steep departure from John Teller’s and Clay’s ways.
Tara: The Amateur
Following Jax’s order, Tara tries to get to Otto (Kurt Sutter) and fails miserably. I applaud her bravery and commitment to the club but her naiveté exasperates me. Does she even understand how much the club has demanded of Otto? He’s a dead man who happens to be alive, so I’m scratching my head at why she goes to him without anything to trade. How can she possibly entice him to overturn his testimony against SAMCRO? Did anyone else get nervous about Otto’s warning to Tara not to come back? Considering what he did to Agent Stahl (Ally Walker), I think Tara may be over her head.
“Small World” feels like a season one episode in which the action scenes are components of a bigger puzzle we have yet to decipher. This makes me excited because I enjoy being an active viewer trying to guess how the parts fit into the whole. I love how what’s left unsaid in the episode is more important than the half-truths and lies. Somehow, I have a feeling some characters are going to find themselves in a check-mate situation.
Tune in to Sons of Anarchy Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT, only on FX. For more on the show, visit http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/.
Follow the show on Twitter @sonsofanarchy, using the hashtag #SOAFX.
Photos © 2012 FX Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
elleL
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Tommy Flanagan has been awesome this season. The compassion he brings to the Chibs character is amazing, and definitely needed to help off set the anger and murderous ways of the Sons. I loved the way that he stopped “Jackie” from completely turning the guards head into mush, and the way he made sure that Tig was OK. He is a perfect Sgt at Arms.
Author
Hi Carrie – Yes! I’m really pleased Flanagan has been getting a lot of screen time. I’ve had the chance to interview him twice and he couldn’t say very much about his role. However, I’m sort of glad now because we’ve been seeing Chibs’ role grow slowly but surely. He’s one of Jax’s loyals although you can tell the Jax’s press-forward efforts are starting to take it’s toll on Chibs. I love how his character is a true brother the MC guys.
I’m anxious to know what else we can expect for his character, I hope such a sense loyalty doesn’t come at a high price for Chibs.
Thank you!
I knew from the opening of this season that sneaky Clay was playing everyone for a fool… I feel that this may be the last season for Clay even though I adore Ron so much <3 I will not be sad for his characters demise… So many twists and so much blood being spilled already… I cant wait to find out what is in store… Love this show so much!!!! Best of the best with the casting Mr Jimmie and Harold are excellent choices for guest casting… Love me some Harold !!!
Author
In a recent interview, Hunnam stated it was hard for him to do some the Clay-Jax scenes due the (fictional) animosity between their characters as Hunnam does admire Perlman. I’ve been blessed to meet Ron twice and he is awesome, his sense of humor is witty and bold. He’s just great. I think there will be quite a bit more blood coming in the 2nd half.
And yes to the casting comments – Both Jimmy and Harold have been amazing. As Sutter told us reporters in an FX call this season, he does consider the guest stars’ entire body of work when casting his characters. He wasn’t wrong about Perrineau and Smits!
Thanks for taking the time to share your reactions 🙂
Some good one liners last night…
“I got this.”-Jax
“I have a proposition for SAMCRO.”-Pope to Jax
“Does it involve bonfires and children?”-Jax to Pope
Sad to see Rita die. I liked her.
Clay pretending he is still desperately sick…so when the 3 doing the home invasions die or get caught he can deny involvement citing he is too ill to have been a participant?
I should have felt bad for the prison guard’s wife who was murdered. She WAS an innocent party in all of this. But I didn’t feel bad for her. Beside the fact she could have ID’d the club members, her a-hole husband helped kill Opie. Good riddance to her.
I have been a Tara basher since the beginning but even I’m surprised that she is winning me over this season. I always loved/appreciated her love towards Abel, the boy who is not her bio son-but she most definitely does love him as her own. I used to see her as a whiner and way too clingy with Jax. She seems to be breaking free of that now and I’m liking her for it. I DO think she is going to get down on her knees for Otto next week. She is clinging to the hope that Jax will do what he needs to and get out of the club so they can start their new, club free lives together. Which of course isn’t going to happen for at least 2 more seasons, if ever.
I have a bad feeling about Wayne…
Author
Hi Stef – Isn’t it interesting what Sutter does to us: hardly anyone has felt bad regarding the collateral damage (the prison’s guard wife)? We’re that vested in these characters and we don’t care they are outlaws, ha! It’s funny you’ve mentioned how your feeling have shifted about Tara as my situation is the opposite of yours. I’ve been a fan of Tara since S1 and this season she’s annoying me greatly with her bad decision-making. However, I applaud Sutter’s choice of not making her the goody-goody/perfect heroine.
To be fair, I also think Jax retains a glimmer of hope he could have a life outside the club too. Hope can be a great asset (or a dangerous mirage) to people. We’ll have to wait for the next two seaosn to figure out what will be for the Tellers.
Thank you for your comment.
I really enjoy reading your re-caps of these Episodes. Not only do you hit every scene and put it into perspective for me, you capture the creative writing process of the genius Sutter! Thank you I look forward to these every episode!
Author
Hi Sandy – Aww, your words mean so much to me because I do work hard for these reviews. And we’re in total agreement in regards to the genious of Sutter. There is something to be said about someone’s ability to create a universe in which so many people inmerse themselves into and have come to care so much for these characters year after years. Thank you for your support (which you’ve provide me ever since my very first reviews!)