Sons of Anarchy: "Burnt and Purged Away" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

In "Burnt and Purged Away", written by series creator Kurt Sutter and Dave Erickson, Sons of Anarchy continued its best season to date, delivering an episode that drew on the tension of all the season's storylines with an ending that didn't let us down. The most shocking part was that this wasn't even the season finale.

I had to laugh at the beginning of the episode when both Bobby and Chibs doomed everyone by saying that maybe they would be able to get out of this cartel deal in one piece after all. That was like walking up to Fate and kicking her right in the shins.

The arrival of the Irish, and their rational dissatisfaction with the cartel deal, was a breath of fresh air. It was somewhat humorous to watch Clay have to answer for this deal that had gone so far off the rails. Their arrival had the added benefit of giving the club a good excuse for getting out of the deal with the cartel, although Clay's reaction to that was less than favorable, which was to be expected.

It was not that smart of the Irish to take Jax, Chibs, Tig and Happy along to their meeting with their American contacts, although it did give us one of the funniest moments of the night when Tig understated "That ain't good" at the sight of the young woman running from the house crying. It turned out that the Sons were not OK with the sight of all those adorable babies being sold off, leading to one of the craziest fights ever, as they brawled right there in the midst of the cribs. At least Jax stopped the guns from being used during the fight. We already experienced Gemma holding a gun to a baby's head last season; we didn't need to go through that again.

Potter's case against SAMCRO was set in motion in earnest as Otto signed off on his statement and Ray McKinnon continued to do a great job as Potter. His calm, collected demeanor put the other characters off their game, with the notable exception of Otto. As in control as he tried to be, Potter had a visible reaction when Otto signed the paperwork. It was a small detail, but it said a lot about Potter's investment in the case. I was intrigued with his sudden interest in Mayor Hale too; maybe he will find a way to put a wrench in the Charming Heights development.

It was sad to see Otto turn on SAMCRO, even more so when he read Bobby the list of things that he had done for the club while in prison, which included the crimes that got him both his life and death sentences. Both Juice and Otto were used by Potter, and both made the decision to work with Potter based on faulty information. With Bobby and Juice locked up at the end of the episode, it will be interesting to see how Potter's case unfolds in the midst of the rest of the plotlines that are coming to a head here at the end of the season.

Gemma was the one character who continued to perplex me with her actions. Why would she warn Clay about Opie? A few episodes ago she said Clay couldn't be saved, but there she was, trying to save him. Perhaps she had a plan of her own, and just wanted to be the one in control of what happened. If that was the case, she was blocked at every turn this week since no one followed her advice.

Maggie Siff turned in a powerful performance, even as Tara was lying in a hospital bed. Her defiance of Gemma and the way she watched Jax as he promised to deal with Wendy showed us that Tara was getting back to herself, and I loved that she told Jax the truth about Wendy. Contrary to Gemma's belief, Jax managed to handle talking with Wendy just fine, at least at this stage of the game. We will see what happens if Wendy makes good on her threats to pursue custody.

Another knockout scene was when Clay visited Tara in the hospital; both Siff and Ron Perlman were great. Clay's very presence was menacing, and you could see Tara's mind working to find a way out of her predicament. Just when you thought Clay couldn't be any more threatening with his speculation that if Tara didn't give him JT's letters that she and Jax might never make it out of Charming, he gave her a big smile that was even more frightening. It was impressive that Tara managed to be as calm as she did.

And how about that final scene? Opie and Jax attending Piney's cremation was the perfect setup to the end of the episode. Opie and Jax have been on parallel journeys, although they have been unaware of it. Clay orchestrated the events that led to Donna's death and he also tried to have Tara killed. Clay killed both Piney and J.T. It was a little naive for Jax to expect Opie to quietly take his issue with Clay to a club meeting since I doubt that would be his first stop if he knew Clay had put the hit on Tara. Instead, Opie exploded with the rage that had been building for quite a while and Ryan Hurst did an excellent job showing us what got Opie to that point. I loved the visual of Opie on his bike, dead-set on getting to Clay, while Jax scrambled around trying to find a working vehicle. The sequence perfectly conveyed Opie's determination and Jax's frantic chase.

If Clay really is dead, Perlman turned in a fantastic final performance. His threatening scene with Tara and the confrontation with Opie where he tried, once again, to weasel out of taking responsibility were great. If Clay manages to survive somehow, I think it would be disappointing. Clay played fast and loose with the lives of others and he deserved what he got from Opie.

To quote Opie, "What happens now?" We will be on the edge of our seats, waiting to find out.

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