Sons of Anarchy, Season 3, Episode 3, Caregiver Recap

Previously on As the Harley Rumbles, the use baby oil was invoked as the humane thing to do, Cammie Hayes made it back home only to face the most severe consequence for his actions, SAMCRO started getting a sense what the Mayans were up to, and none of us could understand the Irish accents.

I'm particularly long-winded on this recap, so go to the bathroom, pop some popcorn, and tuck in. Overall, Caregiver was about fidelity. By fidelity, I mean loyalty and tests of loyalty. Caregiver opens with SAMCRO engaged in business with the Grim Bastards and they seem to be loyal to each other in a genuine way that serves their mutual self interests. In contrast Luke and his IRA connections are testing the old loyalty John Teller established for the MC in the gun running business. The whole soldier versus army line that Luke feeds SAMCRO makes it perfectly clear that the IRA's loyalty is to its own cause and not SAMCRO. But fidelity cuts both ways.

In the aftermath of the drive-by, the loyalty of the town of Charming to SAMCRO is in question. Now that the violence of the MC has spilled over in the town, can you blame them? The Deputy Chief of Police gets killed, a kid gets shot, and that is to say nothing about the damage done to Chuckie. Oswald has to cut SAMCRO loose because of his political ambitions and it seems like they temporarily part ways in an amicable way. I wonder how long that will hold. With Oswald's land in jeopardy for development if he has to forfeit it if the Sons jump bail.

Let's deal with Jax and his fidelity issues. We know Jax does shit without thinking and can be selfish and immature. He knows he does shit without thinking about the consequences. In spite of that, I generally root for Jax.  In the first episode of season 3, Piney tells Jax that he's loyal, he's good, and he wants the right things. That was true before Caregiver.  But after Caregiver? Not so much. All of that about being loyal, good, and wanting the right things seems to be falling away. Is it Jax's showing the true nature of his character? Or is this what having a missing child does to a person? So far his loyalty to himself seems to be winning out over his loyalty to anything or anyone else.

What makes me think this? It's becoming clear that Jax is talking a good game about tracking down Abel but that hasn't translated into action. Jax tells everyone that he is going to find Abel but if it were so important to him, would he still be sitting around the bar having drinks with Opie in the club house? Would he really let a 3 day old lead to Vancouver grow cold? Would any father with a missing kid sit around drinking and bitching about his girlfriend instead of following down every lead? He says that he's motivated, all fired up to find Abel but his actions don't reflect that. He gets petulant with Luke the Irish guy but it just gets turned into a lot of pacing and sulking. He wants to do the right thing--find his son--but in classic Jax mode, he hasn't been working hard enough to DO the right thing. 

Is he worried about his kid? Is he wondering who is taking care of kid? If the kid is well cared for? Nope -- or if he is thinking those things, it isn't showing. He's worried about Tara wanting to take a leave of absence and what her know-everything old lady status means for the longevity of their relationship. Alert: Jax is questioning the longevity of his relationship with Tara. Cue Ima. What Jax would have done if Juice hadn't opened that email from SAMBEL just then. I'm not one of these huge Jax/Tara obsessed people but Jax being good and loyal doesn't really jibe with wanting to nail a porn star while you're going through some shit with your girlfriend and your kid has been abducted. See Jax being loyal to himself makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

Tara, in spite of her general dumbassery for cutting Amelia loose (Note: I find it hard to believe that Tara is really that stupid. She's been to the school of WWGD and taught by the mistress herself), has proven that if she's in for a penny with SAMCRO by being loyal to the club, then she's in it for a fucking pound. I'm starting to think that Tara is more loyal to club than Jax is because Jax is only loyal to himself. Did she not draw the line no truth/to pussy? Did she run away from the conversation with Jax about taking a leave of absence? Is she apologetic for defending the club and Gemma to Hospital Bitchface? Nope. She's all in, baby. Not without a barfing her guts out. More so than Jax has been with his petulant wavering. The only time we see Tara remotely waver is when she's barfing her guts out after the Guatemalan Hottie is killed/accidentally stabs her self.      

Speaking of Tig's Guatemalan Hottie, the swift, efficiently way that Tig and Gemma decided to call the cleaner shouldn't have been surprising. Gemma had already done the logical heavy lifting to kill her: foreigner with no friends or family that the system wouldn't care about. Easy-peasey. 

We haven't had a lot of information about the sexual fidelity between Gemma and John Teller but this week we got a pretty good idea. It seems as if Maureen and JT had a relationship. The good Father Ashby reminded Maureen that John Teller's family was in Charming. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?  Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh? His cruelty in pointing this out suggested there was something more than a simple fling between Marueen and JT. Could there be something more? Like a love child? Well, meet Trinity. A little simple math would put her around 18 or 19. Right around the time John Teller returned to Charming from Belfast. She could totally be Jax's half-sister, couldn't she? If this is true, do you think Gemma knows? 

And finally Opie and his fidelity to Lyla. Obviously Opie has an old school notion of fidelity, meaning no one sticks their dick in my woman except for me. Lyla's notion of fidelity is somewhat different. She sees sex as a financial transaction while her heart is loyal to Opie. It nearly broke my heart when Opie told Lyla that he didn't want her to end up sad. (Brilliant acting by Ryan Hurst) But what did Opie mean? Sad like him? Sad like Donna was? But this little bit of dialogue is telling about the depths of Opie and Lyla's relationship and it's fucking funny:

Jax:  Looks like you guys are working things out

Opie: I can never tell. Every time I try to talk to her we end up naked

Bobby: Just marry her. That'll stop it.

I just have one question: Why have we not seen any of this Opie nakedness? Whhhhhhyyyyyy? Anyways, I'm totallty Team Lyla at this point. She's might be a porn star, but she's a porn star with heart who calls Piney Pop and picks up the kids from school. But the lack of not talking about things is taking its toll on Opie. He loses his shit at the Chinese porn party. Who thought it would be a good idea for him to be there in the first place?

Odds and Ends:

• So the gun charges are still in play. For the price that SAMCRO is paying per hour, you'd think they'd challenge Charming's motion to revoke their bail based on double jeopardy. Moreover, why isn't their lawyer filing a motion to dismiss if the state's case has fallen apart? Just sayin.
• A nice bit of continuity from season-to-season: the Sons are still running handguns in bedrolls for the IRA. 
• Stephen King was brilliantly creepy and hilarious as the cleaner. From the 80's music to taking the gilded praying hands to feeling up the then-dead Amelia (and you know Tig was jealous). everything. It was a perfect mix of good writing and credible stunt casting that fit with the plot.
• Why does Jacob Hale dress like Rodney Dangerfield? Cheap suit, loose tie, slightly sweaty. 
• Katey Sagal + Hal Holbrook = Amazing. 
• Gemma's stupid bitch line. Referring to herself. 
• Cherry! But why was she wearing a lederhosen/diaper thing?
• How does Gemma's BlackBerry still have a charge? 
• Still needs more Juice.

Just like last week, the screen caps come courtesy of Bobby Elvis' Bake Sale 

What did ya'll think of this week's episode? Also: GEMMA STILL DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT ABEL. ZOMG. HOW LONG ARE THEY GOING TO DRAG THIS OUT?