Sons of Anarchy Review: "Firinne"

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Now THAT was the episode I've been looking for from what has been a mostly lackluster third season of Sons of Anarchy. "Fírinne" had entertaining stories, both in Charming and abroad, it answered some of my questions, and major consequences rippled throughout.

Over in Ireland there was major fallout from the O'Neill/Jimmy bombing, things heated up between Gemma and Mo, Jax and Trinity finally got down and dirty with some incest, and Jackson realized that baby Abel might be better off staying in Belfast.

A Son of Anarchy

Let's begin with a couple of back to back scenes that were two of my favorites of the season, and maybe the series so far. Once SAMCRO was finished watching and videotaping Liam get tortured to no end, Jax continued his streak of being hard as sh*t and put O'Neill out of his misery with a couple of quick bullets.

The boys' plan to trap Jimmy and his crew inside the building and set it on fire was great, but what if Mr. O'Phelan had gotten stuck in there and burned up like that one dude did? What kind of a plan would that have been Jackson? Pretty lazy story telling, but at the end of the day the Sons got their hands on Jimmy O and we got to one of the scenes I am talking about.

The rooftop shootout scene was great for so many reasons. Since we first got to Belfast this is what we had been waiting for. A showdown between SAMCRO and Jimmy's IRA faction. I mean you had studs like Chibs and Opie just standing straight up and firing their guns at people, you had some dudes ducking for cover, and then you had McGee popping out from nowhere to join in on the action. 

What was so great about McGee's moment is that no one really knew what his intentions were at that point. Even the old man himself was yelling and shooting at Jimmy, but isn't that whose side he should have been on? Amidst all of the confusion Jimmy got away as Jax chased after him.

With Jimmy gone and McGee now trying to escape, we came to second of the fantastic back to back scenes. With McGee trying to escape down the ladder down the side of the building, old man Clay Morrow caught up with him. The anticipation of this entire scene was hard to handle. McGee was First 9! A founding member! I kept wondering, "can they actually kill this man?!?" 

Well in a chilling moment, Clay simply asked for his cut, gave him a kiss on the cheek and gently pushed him off the building to his death. I was absolutely speechless. 

The deaths of Liam and McGee were exactly the shake up that I needed to see in order to say this show was making some major moves. These may have been characters we just met this season, but it's been eight episodes or so, and they were members of the Sons.

I don't care if you've gone rogue or not, killing a fellow Son is a huge deal.

Finally! Finally Gemma and Mo got all up in each others faces about this John Teller business. There was way too much tension between these two ladies for them not to come to blows at some point. Between Mo telling Gemma John needed to come to Ireland for some loving, and Gemma calling Mo a whore, I was surprised a few punches were not thrown. It's a good thing their children shacking up in the room next door put a stop to the fight.

YESSS! This was the moment we were all waiting for right? Jax and Trinity having a late night smooch sesh? I literally couldn't stop laughing out loud as the half brother and sister were sucking face. This is what all of you get, especially you Gemma, for not putting an immediate stop to this. Even after Gemma and Mo walk in on the two youngsters getting ready to do the deed, they still didn't immediately think to stop it. 

What is wrong with them? The truth is not that big of a deal to tell them, especially since Jax's reaction to it is exactly as I predicted it would be. As Gemma told him that his dad cheated on her and had a kid with Mo, Jax pretty much said, "Cool story Hansel." The only bad part about JT having a kid with Mo to Jax was that Gemma waited so long to tell him about it.

Let's have a round of applause for those of us that predicted that Kellen keeping Abel from Jax time after time would actually make sense in the end. I should have had more faith, because I credited it to just wanting to make Jax chase and chase again for his baby. It all worked for me. Kellen had a great respect for John Teller, and this was his way of showing it.

He couldn't protect Jax from the lifestyle, so he's going to try and protect Abel. But now with this in his head, does Jax still want to bring his kid back home? Or does he agree that Abel would be better off with a nice Irish family? 

Meanwhile, back in Charming, we also had a nice plot that brought together Tara's story with that of Tig, Piney and Kozik. I'm all for a good kidnapping, but the way the three Sons went about it was just awesome, and having Kozik basically seal the deal with Alvarez was a great way to show his worth to the club.  Without a doubt, Tig will begin to soften on him, and by next season Kozik will become a member.

After a couple of disappointing episodes in Belfast, "Fírinne" brought Sons of Anarchy right back where it belongs as must see TV. I'm really looking forward to the final three episodes of the season, how about you?

Firinne Review

Editor Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 (111 Votes)

Dan Forcella is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode 10 Quotes

Never, ever, lie to the club!

Mo

Right, right. So I guess it's the truth we're after.

McGee

Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Episode 10 Music

  Song Artist
A Night On Earth The Tossers iTunes
Devil At the Wheel Crud iTunes
Drowned Ruby Friedman Orchestra iTunes