I really wanted to begin this week’s post with a big “I told you so,” but based on the comments from last week’s recap, it appears I wasn’t the only one who believed that Juice was still alive after attempting to commit suicide. He even seemed ready to give it another shot right away until he was interrupted by Chibs and Tig, who were sent out to round him up for the impending vote. Of course, that didn’t stop Juice from going back later the next night to try again, but this time around, Chibs followed him out there, and he wasn’t happy with what he found. Juice clearly has a death wish, but if he’s willing to kill himself, then why not just take his chances with the club? Sure, their methods are more brutal, but there’s always the possibility that he’ll be forgiven as well.
It’s definitely one less distraction the club could do with at the moment, especially after the vote for the president challenge was delayed following the attack by Lobos Sonora, who shot up the clubhouse and delivered a bag filled with the heads of members from both SAMCRO and the Mayans, including Tucson president Armando. Dirty Phil was able to shoot one of them before they got away, but he wasn’t a very cooperative hostage – at least, not until Galindo’s right-hand man gave him a dose of truth serum and he fingered one of the Mayans as a spy feeding the cartel information. But while Alvarez wanted the traitor killed on the spot, Jax suggested that they use him to set a trap for the Lobos at the warehouse instead. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned, with the Lobos managing to stay one step ahead by taunting them with a truck containing the bodies of the headless victims in the back. Could there be another rat in the group?
Who knows? But with the lives of the Sons and their families now officially in danger (and Roosevelt sniffing around the clubhouse), the last thing that Clay should be worrying about is the looming threat of John Teller’s letters. Though Piney tells him that the recent string of attacks is a great excuse to pull the plug on their new business venture, Clay refuses to believe that Romeo will let them just walk away. But if Clay doesn’t think that they can free themselves of the cartel now, then how does he plan on ever getting out? Or does that become someone else’s problem after he steps down?
I’m actually a little surprised that Piney didn’t say anything about JT’s death to Jax when he visited him at the cabin, because he had to have known that Clay was never going to follow through with their deal. He was thisclose to telling Jax, and for some reason, I had this bad feeling that it would be his last chance, because he seemed so vulnerable to a Lobos Sonora attack up there in the woods all alone. Instead, it was Clay who took advantage, shooting him dead in the chest after Piney refused to give him the letters and painting a bloody “LS” on a picture of the club to make it look like the cartel was responsible. It’s not going to take long for someone to figure out that the murder doesn’t follow their MO, however, and I can think of a few people who would have reason to believe that Clay was behind it. And now that Piney’s dead, this could have major ramifications on the outcome of the president vote.
Other thoughts from the episode:
* Clay might have been able to take care of Piney, but Tara is going to be a lot harder to silence if she decides to skip town, which is looking more and more likely after Jax gave her his blessing to accept that job opportunity. Of course, she may feel obligated to stay in Charming if she suspects foul play with Piney’s death, especially now that she has Roosevelt’s protection.
* Chucky has always been a pretty offbeat character, but tonight’s episode was one of the weirdest and most darkly comical subplots involving him yet. You have to respect his quick thinking when it came to hiding the decapitated head in the chili pot, but actually feeding it to a few of Roosevelt’s men reached new heights of disturbing. And to think, I was actually looking forward to winter for the sole reason of eating some chili.