Prashant Gupta/FXLast week's episode ended on something of a jarring tangent: Masked men broke into the home of Eli and Rita, shooting her and leaving her grasping to life. On the business front, Jax and Nero solidified their new prostituting partnership, and most of the episode was spent watching the events surrounding what it takes to blackmail the mayor into renting them ideal operating space. Which worked. So what's SAMCRO up to in this week's episode? Find out now!
WHAT WE LEARNED
Rita Is Dead: Well, it didn't take long for the show to build hope that Rita (Merle Dandridge) might make it, and then swiftly take it away. Soon after Eli (Rockmond Dunbar) arrives at the hospital where she's in intensive care, the doctor informs Eli that she's gone. SAMCRO is under more pressure than ever to figure out who's behind all the recent home invasions, and Jax (Charlie Hunnam) talks with Pope (Harold Perrineau), who swears he knows nothing, but will try to get to the bottom of it. Can Pope be trusted? Probably not, but Jax wants to trust him anyway on account of their new partnerships.
Hey, Wanna Traffic More Drugs?: Pope has a proposition for Jax and the MC: Since they're already dealing in such a high pound amount of coke, are they interested in taking on more? In exchange he'll throw another $100,000 to the Sons, but Jax isn't so sure, as the guys are trying to get out of the drug game. Because it keeps screwing them over. To sweeten the deal, Pope offers Jax (and only Jax) an extra 2 percent of his own profit. And that could make things a bit interesting.
The Messy Fall of Carla: Yikes. A robed Gemma (Katey Sagal) walks into her kitchen to find Carla (Wanda De Jesus) sitting at the table. There's a gun on the table, and before we know it, she pulls the pistol on Gemma. Nero arrives, unaware of what Carla is up to. She has some odd requests for the pair: Get naked. Get in bed. Start getting busy. And do so with the gun with the gun pointed at you the entire time. What's the point of all this, exactly? A fed up Nero rises from the bed demanding answers, but Carla quickly turns the gun on herself, apologizes and claims she wanted to go out watching Nero do his thing. Carla pulls the trigger and her blood goes everywhere. A distraught Nero takes off, leaving Gemma to clean up the bloody mess.
Snow Globes Are Deadly: Pope is actively trying to gain the trust of Jax, and sets the Sons up for a revenge kill, the weapon of choice happens to be a snow globe. Jax tells Pope that he and the boys are in. And since the guys are pals now, Pope makes sure to inject a bit of his own advice on the topic of these pesky home invasions: Look on the inside. All these mysterious attacks are hitting close to home.
And Then the Twist: Clay's behavior seems odd throughout the ep. After getting a thumb's up from the doctor about his breathing—and even getting permission to no longer use an oxygen tank—he continues to do so, lying to Juicy, saying the news from the doc wasn't good. He then helps Gemma clean up Carla's body, even treating Nero with a little respect during an obviously tough time. But at the end of the episode, we once again see Clay's dark side: He has something to do with Carla showing up at Gemma's. Why exactly? We don't know. But the truth usually has a way of crawling out of the dank pits these characters tend to bury it in.
ONE-LINERS
"I'm just a businessman, son. Our most profitable business has been narcotics. Always has been." —Pope
"Attacking a cop's wife? That ain't smart." —Wayne
"My club is never gonna be anyone's boy." —Jax
"Staying in Pope's sunshine is good for all of us." —Jax
"Hope you're happy, bitch." —Gemma
"You reap what you sow." —Eli