If you haven’t already heard, FX recently granted Kurt Sutter an additional episode so that he could see out the current season the way he intended, and for as good as this year has been up until now, it’s easy to see why the network gave in to his demands. Tonight’s show was a pretty pivotal episode in terms of where the rest of the season is headed, and although there were some other important developments apart from the main storyline (like Jax informing Opie that he was leaving the club and Juice agreeing to work with Lincoln to save it), I’ve decided to focus this week’s blog post entirely on the intensifying drama around the Teller/Morrow clan.

Though last week’s cliffhanger may have tried to play coy about whether Clay was actually moving forward with his plan to order a hit on Tara, it was confirmed within the first few minutes of tonight’s episode. I found it a little strange that Clay demanded Tara’s death to be handled cleanly, however, because if he was planning on blaming it on the cartel, isn’t that the complete opposite of what they would do? Regardless, it didn’t take long for Gemma to realize that Clay was up to no good when she discovered that the money was missing, but I don’t think she knew what he had done just yet.

The look on Clay’s face upon learning that Jax and the kids were joining Tara on her trip up to Oregon was priceless, and although he tried to call it off, Romeo said that it wasn’t possible. What he doesn’t know is that Romeo could have easily canceled the hit if he wanted to, but now that he knows that Tara is a potential liability, he’s going to do whatever it takes to protect the cartel – even if that means killing her himself. Of course, as soon as Romeo does come after Tara, that’s surely going to spell the end of the cartel’s relationship with SAMCRO, which is exactly what the club wants anyways.

Still, for as much as that guy was paid to kill Tara, you’d think that he would be a little better at his job. Though he successfully got her into the van, Jax was able to shoot out the tires, prompting Tara to try and escape only to have her hand crushed by the door. As soon as that happened, I immediately knew where the story was headed. With Tara’s career as a surgeon pretty much finished (save for some miracle recovery), Jax will be forced to stay in the club in order to support her and the family. The fact that I didn’t even consider that possibility before is a little embarrassing, but I have to applaud Sutter for doing what was necessary without making it feel like a jumping the shark moment. The emotional ramifications are going to be huge, because I can’t really see how Jax and Tara will able to be continue their relationship when she already resents him for what happened.

There may be a dearth of strong female characters on television, but “Sons of Anarchy” has two incredible ones in Tara and Gemma. The latter really showed her fortitude tonight when, after confronting Clay about breaking his promise to stay away from Tara, she pulled a gun on him and threatened to tell Jax everything. But while Gemma certainly got a few good punches in after he attacked her, Clay did most of the damage, beating her up so badly that she looked even worse than she did after the rape in Season Two. I honestly don’t see how Clay is going to make it out of this season alive, and now that Gemma has finally admitted he’s beyond saving, she’s ready to let him go. Unser would prefer he’s delivered justice by the law, but Gemma believes he has to die, and only at the hands of a Son. But who will it be? Jax, Opie or someone else?