Sons of Anarchy
Recaps

It was a touching Sons of Anarchy all around, with old friends reuniting, fathers and sons patching things up, and husbands and wives remembering their old spark.

The latest episode - which we've recapped in detail - saw SAMCRO start to patch things up. Now, they are all on the same page and focused on one goal: revenge. Ethan Zobelle's days must be numbered. Read below for a full review of "Service."

What Worked: Gemma's Guns
With an assault on Zobelle likely and their gun pipeline shut down, the crew turns to their personal stashes for weapons. When Tig tells Gemma this, she simply replies, "I'll get mine" and heads to her world famous hat boxes full of pistols.

What Didn't: Prospect's Nuts
Perhaps he was better off as One-Nut. It turns out that the Prospect's testicle implant is not going well. In fact, it's so bad that he drops his pants in front of Tara to show the good doctor his swollen, infected region. Unfortunately, Bobby, Clay and Tig all walk in at that very moment, leading Bobby to remark that Prospect's package looks like "elephant nuts". Tig, not nearly as witty, simply vomits at the sight.

What Really Worked: Piney: Husband and Father
Piney's presumed goodbye to Mary was as touching as the old man can be. He told her that with all his drinking and womanizing, he was never a good husband or father, and that Opie's mistakes are his fault. He tells her to help Opie out and then gives her a soft, gentle goodbye kiss.

What Really Didn't: Tig: Relationship Guru
Perhaps if it wasn't Tig giving the advice, and perhaps if Tig hadn't been about to seal the deal with Gemma earlier in the episode, the advice he gave to Clay would have worked. But something about slimy Tig telling Clay that Gemma needs to know that he still wants her felt wrong. Even though the advice worked and Clay and Gemma patched things up. Still, creepy.

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Fans were treated to a special 90-minute installment of Sons of Anarchy this week. Read all about "Balm" right now.

We needed the extra time to deal with the repercussions of Jax's decision at the end of last week's episode and Gemma's decision at the end of this week's. As SAMCRO readies to vote on Jax's desire to turn Nomad, Gemma realizes that the only way to save the club may be to reveal the awful truth about what happened to her weeks ago at the hands of Ethan Zobelle.

Will her horrible past create a better future for the club?
 
What Worked: Long Roads
Jax may be angry enough at Clay to leave the club, but what will Piney's rage eventually lead to? He hates Clay for destroying his club, for killing his daughter-in-law, for trying to kill his son and for driving Opie down the dark path he is just now crawling back from. Piney's snarl at Jax, "I don't have a long road", shows just how adamant he is about getting vengeance. The montage at the end showed Piney sitting in front of a bottle of whiskey and a handgun; who knows how these three volatile things will combine before the season ends.

Speaking of long roads, the singer Patty Griffin has a song called "Long Ride Home" (which we assume takes place on some sort of long road) and while that was not the song playing over the end montage, was there any song better suited for that scene than Griffin's "Mary"? Well done.

What Really Worked: IRA Administrator
The IRA leader Jimmy O has been whispered about for weeks and his debut delivered. Played with the perfect combination of slime, power and menace by the terrific character actor Titus Welliver (whose Shakespearean name fits this show wonderfully), Jimmy O is truly a force to be reckoned with in Charming.

What Really Didn't: Hospital Administrator
Actually, we may have to side with the old busybody on this one. I mean, the Charming hospital isn't some biker bar, yet SAMCRO seems to spend more time there than at the club. Perhaps she was right to suspend Tara for allegedly lying to keep Chibs in the hospital. But we still can't like anyone whose actions result in Tara spending less time at the hospital and more time having boring conversations with Jax.

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If the rift between Jax and Clay reached a boiling point last week, it became a full-fledged inferno this week.

Or, at least that's the way Jax sees is as the Club's main source of revenue goes up in flames. Will the crew rise from the ashes, and if it does, will Jax still be there with them? Check out a full recap of "Fa Guan" and then our review below...
 
What Worked: Bobby's Banana Bread
Is there anything this guy can't do? He's suave with the ladies, he's kept a cool head during the tension between Clay and Jax, he found leverage to use against the judge and now he not only makes banana bread, but serves it while it's still warm!

What Didn't: Jax's Pudding
If the proof is in the pudding, then Jax's pudding must be lacking consistency. Normally the most thoughtful SAMCRO member, Jax spent the entire episode seeing Clay's hand in everything, from the porn star bust to the fire at Kara Kara.

What Really Worked: New Couple Alert: Opie and Lyla
This budding romance was christened with the sweetest kisses in the history of porn (even if their kids were none too thrilled). The romance has been built up nicely and hopefully it will help bring Opie back from the dark place he's inhabited since Donna's murder.

What Really Didn't: New Couple Alert: Gemma and Unser
Look, perhaps Gemma can't tell anyone except Unser about the inner turmoil she's gone through since her rape at the hands of AJ Weston, but c'mon. Get a support group or something, Gemma. Gemma needs to get back to being the strong, independent Head Old Lady of SAMCRO and Unser isn't going to get her there.

What Really, Really Worked: Lines
Two dynamite lines in tonight's episode. The first, from Jax, came as a retort to Clay's attempts to lay the blame of Luanne's death at his feet: "You are really gonna stand there and lay the guilt of a dead wife on me?" It marked the second time in as many episodes that Jax has come thisclose to publicly outing Clay for his role in Donna's murder. Only this time, Bobby picked up on it. He can't be too far off from putting the pieces together.

Deputy Hale also got in a good one, telling Clay "I know the greater devil when I see it." Hale is smart - he knows exactly who he's dealing with when it comes to both Zobelle and Clay. He's not going to let Zobelle use him to run Clay out of town, but he is smart enough to help SAMCRO against Zobelle.

What Really, Really Didn't: Cracks
This episode set the land speed record for most gratuitous male ass shots. Look, Sons of Anarchy - I'm going to go out on a limb and say that most of your viewers are men. We have male asses. We can see them anytime we want. So if you are going to note that there will be nudity in the episode, let's make it of the fairer sex, okay? Jeez - two prostitution stings and the last hurrah of Kara Kara and the final score was Full Male Ass 3, G-String Females 2. That's a loss in my book.

Following the prison brawl between Jax and Clay, Gemma wants to organize a dinner for the whole club. The meal, a potluck, seems like it's exactly what everyone needs to get back on the same page.

However, the get-together may wind up tearing the club apart for good, as we explain in our review below. We've also posted a detailed recap of events for anyone that missed the episode...

What Worked
The Ball-Off
Or maybe it should be the Ball-On. The Prospect is welcomed back into the club fresh off of his successful testicle replacement surgery. The club's inspection of his new hardware, Tig's comparison to his own, and Opie's expression when he walks in on the whole thing brought some levity to the beginning of a very heavy episode.

What Didn't Work
The Bawl-Off
Tara has finished Jax's father's journal on his vision of the club. She wants Jax to change, but he keeps making the same mistakes. Nag, nag, nag. Jax tells her he loves the club more than anything else, which includes Tara and his newborn son. Awkward, slow start to the episode for these two.

What Worked
The return of Chuck and his newfound mutilation fetish
The Chinese cut eight of Chuck's fingers off so that he could not pleasure himself, his nervous tick from last season. Somehow, Chuck made this work, whether using his finger to poke Georgie's massive bodyguard in the eye or gaining access to his porn studio with a "mutilation fetish" DVD. Two thumbs, or whatever's left, up for Chuck's return.

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It was fitting that much of this week's episode took place in prison, as SAMCRO is beginning to realize just how trapped they are.

A old nemesis made her return and we started to see the possible return of one of our favorite characters. Read the full recap now; let's discuss what worked and didn't work tonight on Sons of Anarchy.
 
What Really Worked
Stahl's return. The show seamlessly brought back an old favorite, the vicious Agent Stahl. She is the perfect nemesis for SAMCRO, and though she was bested by them last season, she made her triumphant return to Charming. She bared her teeth and sunk her fangs deep into the club, picking up on the schism between Clay and Jax right away and bringing the feud that has simmered all season to a boiling point in the form of a prison brawl. It looks like Stahl finally has the upper hand.
 
What Really, Really Worked
Or does she? After a bit of back-and-forth between Stahl and Jax, with Stahl trying to use Jax's son and Tara to get Jax to play ball, he seems to gain the upper hand, noting that her investigation into the IRA must be desperate if she needs the club's help. As if that wasn't enough, as Stahl gets up to leave, Jax casually asks her, "You ever hear from Gome?" Stahl's face freezes in horror; Jax has hit a nerve by bringing up the agent that Stahl now realizes must be dead, and drives the blade home. "Being a fed can be dangerous."

What Worked
Opie's slow thaw. This tough guy routine has gone on for too long in our opinion. When Opie was with Jax, he seemed like a perfect #2 for the club. Since his wife's death, he's been a lost man, turning his back on his kids, on Jax, and embracing the darker side of the club. Maybe his little chat about kids with Lyla, and the subsequent follow-up with Tara, are signs that the old Opie is trying to break through.
 
What Didn't Work
The girls' cold shoulder. Gemma and Tara basically tore Lyla apart when she showed up to pick up Opie's kids, and would not let her leave with them. Just because she's a porn star? Please. Tara is a doctor who treats criminals on the side. Her boyfriend is the second-in-command of a criminal gang. Oh, and she killed a federal agent. And Gemma? She has more hatboxes filled with guns than we have hatboxes. Who are these two to judge anyone?

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Last week, Zobelle and his league of white supremacists dated to mess with SAMCRO.

This week, Clay went focused on revenge. What did he plan? And did it succeed?

Our recap of "Falx Cerebri" has the answers!

FX warned its viewers this week that the latest Sons of Anarchy episode was intended only for mature audiences.

But we got permission from our mothers, sat back and watched an intense hour of television. It was highlighted by a confrontation between Clay and Zobelle, as well as by an episode-ending car bomb.

Catch up now via our in-depth recap of "Smite."

On this week's new installment of Sons of Anarchy, SAMCRO leaves Charming to take part in a charity motorcycle club run.

This might have been okay in the past - but with with the group gone, Gemma finds more trouble with the League.

Enjoy a detailed recap of "Eureka" right now and let us know your thoughts on the episode.

The fallout from Gemma's gang rape on the season premiere of Sons of Anarchy was still being felt on this week's episode of the FX drama.

The incident clearly affected the character's relationship with Clay; while Tara was bothered by Jax'x involvement in Luanne's porn business.

Read through our thorough recap of the latest installment, "Fix," and chime in with your thoughts on this vastly underrated series.