Sons of Anarchy -"Balm" 11/10/09

[Ment]

Man that end scene broke me. Katey Sagal has my nod as best supporting actress. EP title is a bookend to the earlier "Gilead" and so it comes full circle.. Open the gates of hell SAMCRO!!

I guess the viewer is to gather that Darby/One Finger Bater were nowhere to be found else Unser would have mentioned finding their bodies during his talk with Jax.

Chibs has a lot of baggage back in the Old Country. If his ex-wife and daughter get WitPro, I don't see how this doesn't blow back on him and by extension the club...he is a desperate man.

[cheesesteak]

Don't tell anybody, but I kinda welled up during Gemma's confession.

The head Irish dude is really stupid. Why tell Chibbs that you're thinking of raping his daughter? How can anything positive ever come from that?

Ooooh! Zobelle's in trouble! Hopefully after next week's episode, there's been a Nazi extermination in Charming.

I don't understand how there could be no mention of Darby and Captain Index Fingers. Either Charming has the worst crime scene investigators in the world or they escaped. If they escaped, SAMCRO should know because what knucklehead who just escaped an inferno wouldn't tell his boss?

[Rob Helmerichs]

Don't tell anybody, but I kinda welled up during Gemma's confession.
Funny, all I could think was, "What a cold, manipulative b!#@%!" She confessed in order to bring the club back together, and for no other reason.

But yes, it was an amazing performance. And yes, Zobelle is finally going to realize who he's dealing with. Not for long, probably, but in his last moments he will realize the extent of his error.

[Supfreak26]

Funny, all I could think was, "What a cold, manipulative b!#@%!" She confessed in order to bring the club back together, and for no other reason.

But yes, it was an amazing performance. And yes, Zobelle is finally going to realize who he's dealing with. Not for long, probably, but in his last moments he will realize the extent of his error.

No worries, cheesesteak! I'm right there with you!

I don't think she confessed for the club. I think she confessed to protect Jax (from going Nomad) and to bring her family back together and, to me, that made it even more touching. She really didn't want to bring this out in the open but she was so torn up about this Clay-Jax thing that she had to play that card. She's desperate.

What tore me up about that performance was the wordless reaction between Clay and Jax. That slap and squeeze on the shoulder with Clay grabbing Jax's hand nearly had me bawling. As much as they've hated each other they are still family and this attack on their mother/wife will bring them together. At least for now.

It wasn't really the reaction I expected but it was very well done. I expected more rage but I think that's going to come very soon.

I mentioned in the last thread that, with 4 episodes left, they needed to turn the tide pretty quickly. Well here you go. These next 3 episodes are going to be awesome. :)

[chronatog7]

I agree with everything said above.

That scene was intense. It was very well done without over dramatization. Kate has my vote too. :up:

I just hope the final three eps pays out for the build up. I really want SAMCRO to go medieval on The League.

I wonder what Tara is going to do now?

[Gregor]

Katey Sagal is outstanding.

I gotta wonder what Jax grabbing his patches leads to...

[sooperkool]

it signifies him sewing them back onto his jacket and not going nomad. Taking his rightful place in the club.

[marksman]

Very well done. People were all having a hard time at my house with the end scene.

Was a very interesting episode and set up for the rest of the season. Really not much violence in this episode and a lot of characters were not in the episode at all, but it was very good.

I always knew she would use this knowledge when the time was right, but they really did a good job with it.

I am going to try and go look it up since I don't know but does anyone know the name/artist of song at the end?

edit: I found it Mary by Patty Griffin

[Snappa77]

Katey Segal HAS to get nominated next year on every show that gives out awards for television acting. WOW.


Great EP. Great season.

[uncdrew]

Did the healing mud fix his ball?

[pjenkins]

Did the healing mud fix his ball?

if not, the shrooms made him forget about them :)

[cheesesteak]

You can't remove your belongings when you're car is being repossessed?

Why did Tara confess to coaching Chibbs? Her boss couldn't prove it.

My only nitpick with this season, and it's a minor nitpick, is that Zobelle became too big of a monster too quickly. He has his fingers in too many pots to not be a major target of the FBI.

[Rob Helmerichs]

Why did Tara confess to coaching Chibbs? Her boss couldn't prove it.
She didn't confess, really. She didn't say anything that her boss could use against her.

It is amazing, however, how quickly Tara has adapted to her new life.

[dimented]

It is amazing to me how Jemma took something that the nazis did to her to intentionally tear the club apart and yet she found a way to use it to bring the club together. Just an amazing scene altogether and amazing writing.

[chronatog7]

The question is, was a 90 minute episode necessary? I felt this episode could have been done in a 60 minute ep.

I would rather have a 90 minute ep with lots of action.

Just a thought.:rolleyes:

[Supfreak26]

The question is, was a 90 minute episode necessary? I felt this episode could have been done in a 60 minute ep.

I would rather have a 90 minute ep with lots of action.

Just a thought.:rolleyes:

I thought the same. At around the 50 minute mark, I told my wife that it didn't feel like a 90 minute episode. It felt like a 60 minute ep with more commercials. Seems like they could've done a lot more with it. Way too slow for this show.

Minor gripe, though. I still thought it was excellent TV. That end scene was just awesome. Forgot about the mushroom bit. Very funny stuff. And it looks like SAMCRO found another nice connection selling ammo to go with their guns. These days, that's a good market to be in.

I will miss the porn biz, though. :)

[mchasal]

You can't remove your belongings when you're car is being repossessed?


Yeah, I thought that was a bit out of character for the guys there. Sure they are into all sorts of shady things, but I don't recall them doing things to hurt an innocent (at least at that time) person in the past, not without a "good reason" at least.
Sure it was just a plot device to setup the ammo connection, but Opie was clearly struggling with the whole thing. I think it would have been more in-line if they were helping her unload her "beads" and one of the boxes fell or if FullSack said "hey, let me check out these beads" and opened a box. Would have had the same end result.

[uncdrew]

I thought the same. At around the 50 minute mark, I told my wife that it didn't feel like a 90 minute episode. It felt like a 60 minute ep with more commercials. Seems like they could've done a lot more with it. Way too slow for this show.

Minor gripe, though. I still thought it was excellent TV. That end scene was just awesome. Forgot about the mushroom bit. Very funny stuff. And it looks like SAMCRO found another nice connection selling ammo to go with their guns. These days, that's a good market to be in.

I will miss the porn biz, though. :)

I also thought "seems like more commercials this week" but of course with a TiVo... :)

While it does seem like a silver bullet, I liked the Native American Indian solution. They fit it in well (with the repo) and it all is quite believable. They sell some bullets and shrooms and might get up and running again.

Thing is, it seems like they actually do good business with the garage. And they seem to work. That business alone might really give them good money, or enough to live on. It doesn't really look like they live lavish, high-dollar lifestyles.

Jax/Hot Doctor/Jemma have a nanny, but their house isn't anything great. Opie doesn't seem to have many expenses. Their bikes are certainly paid for. I haven't seen nice cars.

So when they are firing on all cylinders, what's the money pay for? Yes, they party. But it doesn't seem like high-dollar partying. Some booze, some hookers...

[marksman]

Yeah there were definately a lot more commercials this week. It seemed breaks were coming every 6-8 minutes.

I suspect it was a bit of expirement on their part. it is like they had a show good for 1:20 and then just added 10 more minutes of commercials on top of it.

It would have been really annoying without fast forward.

I know around 1:03 mark I said to the people I watched it with, there really has not been any action so far, so I suspected the last 25 minutes were going to be jam packed.

Did not happen, but was still excellent.

I also wondered about the repo thing. I thought they normally would let people get stuff out of a car, but this is a motorcycle club repo company so maybe they don't care.

[mchasal]

I also wondered about the repo thing. I thought they normally would let people get stuff out of a car, but this is a motorcycle club repo company so maybe they don't care.

There certainly could be an "I don't care" aspect, but it seemed like Opie did care. There was a moment where it seems that he was considering unhooking the car and leaving. I'm pretty sure the bank/finance company has no legal claim on the stuff in the car and is obligated to return it.

[maggie2101]

The ending of this show was riveting and made me cry. My husband came home from work during the final scene and even though he doesn't watch this show he sat down and watched it in silence.

I can't wait to see next week!

[bengalfreak]

Wow, fantastic episode. I'm surprised at the negative comments about the episode length. I thought it justified 90 min. very well. Not every episode has to be wall to wall violence/action, nor should it be.

[bengalfreak]

I'm pretty sure the bank/finance company has no legal claim on the stuff in the car and is obligated to return it.

Yes, I'm sure they are. But of course, SAMCRO will respond that the vehicle was empty.

[Mr. Soze]

Amazing episode. I had a feeling it would end the way it did when Gemma saw Clay tell Jax he wanted him out. Still, it was very powerful stuff. Mrs. S. was totally tearing, and I think someone was peeling onions near me. The music track alongside it was very well done.

Something tells me that a certain hospital admin has a freight train headed her way.

I didn't notice the nudity this episode. When Opie and the porn girl got it on, I was praying that it wouldn't be Opie's ass. :eek:

[cheesesteak]

I didn't notice the nudity this episode. When Opie and the porn girl got it on, I was praying that it wouldn't be Opie's ass. :eek:
Lila has a very nice booty. I applaud the director for his decision making.

[Shaunnick]

Lila has a very nice booty. I applaud the director for his decision making.

She's not very pretty though. I hate to say that about an actress because so many beautiful women in TV get knocked on for not being 10's but she has a very plain face.

[cheesesteak]

She's not very pretty though. I hate to say that about an actress because so many beautiful women in TV get knocked on for not being 10's but she has a very plain face.
I think she's great looking.

[chronatog7]

Thing is, it seems like they actually do good business with the garage. And they seem to work. That business alone might really give them good money, or enough to live on. It doesn't really look like they live lavish, high-dollar lifestyles.

Jax/Hot Doctor/Jemma have a nanny, but their house isn't anything great. Opie doesn't seem to have many expenses. Their bikes are certainly paid for. I haven't seen nice cars.

So when they are firing on all cylinders, what's the money pay for? Yes, they party. But it doesn't seem like high-dollar partying. Some booze, some hookers...

I thought SAMCRO was getting the money to build a new warehouse, which was burned in EP1 season 1. Besides that, I have not idea. Don't know if Charming also has a 10% unemployment, like the rest of the country, lol.

[Linnemir]

Thing is, it seems like they actually do good business with the garage. And they seem to work. That business alone might really give them good money, or enough to live on. It doesn't really look like they live lavish, high-dollar lifestyles.

Jax/Hot Doctor/Jemma have a nanny, but their house isn't anything great. Opie doesn't seem to have many expenses. Their bikes are certainly paid for. I haven't seen nice cars.

So when they are firing on all cylinders, what's the money pay for? Yes, they party. But it doesn't seem like high-dollar partying. Some booze, some hookers...

Ah, but remember season 1?? One of the things that Stahl did to get the club upset with Opie was to pay off his debts - they were in the hole on the mortage, one of the vehicles was about to be repo'd, and the grocery store would only take cash from Donna. Opie was in hock up to his eyeballs because of the lack of income while he was in jail.

Which makes me wonder - why didn't the club help support Donna and the kids while he was taking one for the team???

[Rob Helmerichs]

I'm not sure they've put much thought into the club's finances. It seems to vary according to the plot's needs of the moment...

[Ment]

The club is definitely poor with liquid assets. From getting a loan from Luann in the previous season to when the girls were busted for prostitution last EP at the hotel and wanted to get bailed out Jax was like ''Let me just get an advance on my trust fund.' With the porn biz burnt to the ground and the gun-running operation stalled, SAMCRO is hurting.