Prashant Gupta/FXLast week, we watched tension mount of two main fronts: Jax (Charlie Hunnam) has had enough with Clay (Ron Perlman), and he wants to bring him before the club and get him kicked out, or, preferably, killed. And Tara's (Maggie Siff) boiling point was apparently reached when Otto (Kurt Sutter) murdered a nurse in front of her, with the Crucifix she brought him. And Jax and Tara's relationship? Well, let's just say that the spark is still there, but their idea about the future is beginning to differ.
WHAT WE LEARNED:
Clay Lives—For Now: Jax is at a crossroads in his life. And so is Clay, because Jax has it out for him, and rightfully so. The club brings Clay's future to a vote. Right off the bat, he loses his patch and is a Son no more. But there's the larger issue of, well, the euphemistic matter of Mr. Mayhem. Should Clay meet his end? Everyone votes yes—except Bobby (Mark Boone Junior). And to kill one of their own, the vote needs to be unanimous. Clay lives to see another day, but first he undergoes a brutal beating from Jax. But if Clay gets off with only a bloody face from this whole debacle, he can consider himself lucky.
How to Kill Clay: Jax, still sore over the fact that he isn't able to kill his stepfather, meets with Pope (Harold Perrineau). And, luckily, Pope has a deal for Jax: He'll take care of Clay, a killing by proxy. And what does Pope need in return? The finalization of a deal made long ago: He wants Trager (Kim Coates) dead. Jax springs for the deal, saying that he sees Tig as nothing more than Clay's right-hand man anyway.
Romero's Crew Muddles Plans With the Irish: Just when Jax and the Sons are managing to straighten things out with Romero (Danny Trejo)—and Jax's plan to get rid of Clay appears to be forming—Romero and his crew show up and shoot up the Irish's place. Not only does this mess up Jax's plan to take care of Clay, it makes the Irish turn against Jax and the Sons. And suddenly, Clay has an ally.
Tara Makes Amends with Wendy (Drea de Matteo): Tara has a weird episode, to say the least. Lately she's been concerned about what would happen to the boys if both she and Jax were, I dunno, beaten to death or kidnapped, or perhaps just indisposed for some great length of time. What would happen to the kids? Where would they go? She wouldn't want Gemma (Katey Sagal) to have them, of course, as she doesn't want her kids to grow up to be… merciless gang members, like her husband. So she decides to reach out to Wendy, Abel's mom, and strengthen that relationship a bit. It's a big mistake.
Wendy Disappears with Abel: While Wendy was playing with Abel, she and the boy are kidnapped by Galin's men, because they need the leverage now after that little gun-happy tiff with Romero. Ultimately, Clay gets Wendy and Abel out of trouble. But now Wendy has leverage against Jax and Tara. What horrible parents they must be to let this sort of thing happen, she alleges, somewhat justly. She's going to try to get her kid back. And now that she's clean, and Jax is in a more precarious situation than ever, she has a way.
Clay Is Going to Work With the Irish: Clay knows that even though the club didn't vote to have him killed, that Jax would still like to see that it gets done. So what does he do? He chums it up with Galin. Galin offers Clay a respite in Belfast, a chance to settle down and hide for a bit while Jax cools down. He wants to go. And he wants Gemma to go with him too. He asks her, and she says she'll think about it. But we all know better. We all know what Jax has planned. And Gemma? She wants Nero.
Jax Goes to Wendy's: Jax arrives at Wendy's to apologize, he says. He just wants to talk. But as soon as he steps in the door he wraps his hands around her neck and he begins to strangle her and tell her never to threaten his family again. He then injects a substance, some drug, into her arm so that anything she says about Jax and that wild ride Abel went on will be nullified by a simple drug test. Boom. Wendy's credibility is gone. And, suddenly, it doesn't appear that Jax and Tara have anything to worry about. Well, at least when it comes to Wendy.
ONE-LINERS
"I never wanted anyone to get hurt."—Clay
"All in favor of Clay meeting Mr. Mayhem?"—Jax
"You're good at this—are you sure you want to get out of the drug business?"—Pope
"That was brutal today."—Gemma
"How can you live like this? What is wrong with you?"—Wendy to Tara
"I'm going to give you a beautiful life."—Jax to Tara
"Change is good, right?"—Gemma