There was no way Sons of Anarchy was going to keep a large chunk of its cast in prison for more than a week or two. But man, did they make the most of the time they had.
"Gilead" was yet another outstanding episode in what's been a really impressive sophomore season for this show.
The term Gilead comes from the Bible, and it also appears in a number of hymns (like the one Kirsten and her school choir sing early in this episode) that talk about finding and providing comfort. Fitting, for an episode where nearly everyone was searching for some sort of comfort, whether it was Opie, who believes he's founded a fellow lost soul in Lyla, or Gemma, who turns to Eliot to help get the boys out of jail.
And of course, there's the six SAMCRO members in prison -- Jax, Clay, Bobby, Tig, Happy and Juice -- who need protection. They turn to one of the One-Niner affiliated gangs, who want some pretty elaborate favors in return (taking out two snitches, one of them in prison, one of then outside). The danger becomes apparent pretty early on when Juice -- having served as bait to help trap the first snitch -- takes an Aryan shank to the back.
But what's the point of protection when the club is falling apart from the inside. Bobby tells Jax he needs to heal the rift between him and Clay. Clay isn't ready to make nice yet. The fight between him and Jax -- brewing for weeks now -- is long and vicious. There's no clear winner, and no real resolution.
Eventually, Eliot comes through for the club, and they return home, quiet and bloodied, with Jax going off on his own. Comfort is still a long way off.
Other thoughts:
- That was the great Devendra Banhart playing over the final scene. I don't think there's a show with a better soundtrack these days.
- Some nice non-verbal acting by Ally Walker in her scene with Jax. I'm referring to her expression when he asks her "Ever heard from Kohn?"
- Poor Trammell. It just doesn't pay to be a lawman in SAMCRO's pocket.
Tom Coombe
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