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/.

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