Tonight’s episode marked a pivotal turning point in the season, as truths were revealed and more than a little blood was shed. But before I get to all the Irish-based drama, it’s probably best just to get the Charming stuff out of the way. There’s not a whole lot happening apart from Tara and Margaret’s recent kidnapping, and while they wait to find out what kind of demands Salazar is going to make for their safe return, Tara takes the opportunity to ask about Margaret’s tattoo. It seems that Margaret used to be quite the groupie, and even began dealing drugs for the guy she loved. They even OD’d on heroin together on Christmas Eve of all days, and although she survived, she keeps the tattoo as a reminder of her mistakes.
It was another nice moment between the two women, but it’s a little silly to think that it took an event like this for Margaret to open up to Tara – especially considering how judgmental she was of her in the early days. Of course, none of that will matter if SAMCRO can’t meet Salazar’s demands, and while they have no intention of killing Alvarez as requested, Kozik suggests they ask Alvarez to help them create the illusion that they have. The Mayan boss isn’t too pleased about SAMCRO making a house call, but after Kozik practically begs for his help, he finally agrees. The only problem is that the $250,000 that’s supposed to be in Alvarez’s safe isn’t there, so they’re going to have to come up with the ransom money another way.
Meanwhile, over in Belfast, Father Ashby has received word about the attack on SAMCRO and visits Jax with news from the IRA. If the Sons can prove that Jimmy was involved in the car bombing, the task of killing him will no longer fall on the club. But first, they need a confession from one of his men, and Jax knows exactly where to start. When McGee overhears Clay talking about the possibility of traitors within SAMBEL, he warns Liam to get out of town, but not before throwing him under the bus in order to save his own skin. With Liam on the run, the Sons turn to the only person who might know something about his whereabouts: Cherry. She tries to protect him at first, but after Gemma convinces her that Liam had a hand in Half-Sack’s murder (at least indirectly, anyway), she tells SAMCRO about the money she found in his jacket and where he’s probably hiding out.
McGee calls to warn Liam just as SAMCRO is closing in on his location, but before he can get away, Jax tackles him off his bike. Sean Casey joins them shortly after to conduct the torture portion of their interrogation (which is being taped to provide proof to the IRA), and after getting sliced up quite a bit, Liam eventually cracks, confessing not only to his involvement with Jimmy, but McGee’s as well. Jimmy was hoping to stop the interrogation before Liam squealed, but he arrived too late, so instead, he ordered his boys to shoot up the place. Fortunately, SAMCRO is one step ahead of them, locking them inside the building and lighting it on fire. I still can’t believe that Jax let Jimmy get away so easily in the ensuing shootout, but McGee wasn’t so lucky. He claims that he only did for the money, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a traitor, so Clay takes his cut, gives him a hug, and shoves him off the building. Suffice it to say that Liam was killed as well, which means that the Belfast charter is now short two officers.
Cherry doesn’t seem all that affected by Liam’s death now that she knows he’s a traitor, but Maureen is clearly upset about McGee, and she’s not afraid to take it out on Gemma and SAMCRO, who she feels is responsible for all the bloodshed. They were pretty darn close to launching into a full-fledged cat fight, too, but it’s probably a good thing they didn’t or they may have never walked in on Jax and Trinity about to have sex. Watching them kiss was uncomfortable enough, but I’m just happy the writers didn’t take it all the way. That brief moment between Gemma and Maureen after the discovery was also great, agreeing that unless they wanted “a three-headed grandchild,” they better tell Jax and Trinity the truth about John.
And as if that little revelation about his father wasn’t enough, Jax is fed another story by Father Ashby about how John never wanted the MC life for his sons. But since John died before he could make sure that didn’t happen, Ashby has turned his focus instead to protecting Abel from SAMCRO by giving him up for adoption. Infuriated by Ashby’s confession, Jax stabs Sean Casey in the leg and grabs his gun, holding him hostage until Ashby gives him the address to the orphanage. It’s hard to imagine SAMCRO’s relationship with Ireland ever going back to normal after this, but Ashby really does think he’s doing the right thing. Perhaps he has a point, but that doesn’t give him the right to take a son away from his father. Unfortunately, Ashby seems to have succeeded in implanting a seed of doubt in Jax’s mind, but does anyone really think that Jax would just give up on finding Abel after all he’s been through? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
