After tonight’s special 90-minute episode, I think we can all agree what direction the show is heading in. While it may have appeared like Ethan Zobelle would be the primary villain of the season, it’s beginning to look more like his appearance was a roundabout way of introducing Jimmy O. As played by Titus Welliver (Silas Adams on “Deadwood” and the Man in Black from “Lost”), Jimmy O certainly looks like the real deal, and the fact that he has a history with Chibbs only ups the ante. From what I gathered, he’s not only the face behind the IRA’s stateside gun operation, but he’s also the man who stole Chibbs’ wife and gave him that infamous Glasgow smile. Chibbs had hinted that Jimmy O was in town last week (though we didn’t actually know it was him at the time), so it’s no surprise that as soon as he was released from the hospital, he paid Cameron and Edmond a visit to question them about their recent dealings with Zobelle.
Jimmy O finally reveals himself to smooth things over, but what none of them realize is that ATF is listening in on the whole conversation. After striking out with both Clay and Jax earlier, Agent Stahl decides to go to Chibbs for help in bringing them down. It probably wouldn’t have worked any other day of the week, but considering Chibbs had just been insulted by Jimmy O in a variety of ways (calling him an errand boy, threatening to sleep with his daughter, etc.), it didn’t take much convincing to get him to strike a deal. Still, Chibbs has gotten quite a bit in return, including charges on the Sons dropped and immunity for his wife and kid. Meanwhile, Stahl gets started on her arrests, and the first person she goes after is Edmond, presumably because he’ll be the easier of the two to flip. Of course, I’m not entirely convinced that a member of the True IRA would break that easily, so we’ll have to see how this pans out.
Meanwhile, as Clay and Tig investigate a possible new source of ammunition (and shrooms, naturally) from a nearby Indian reservation, Jax goes about putting the finishing touches on his transfer request. He still needs a unanimous vote from the club in order to officially go nomad, but that hasn’t prevented him from getting all his ducks in a row. Though he goes to a handful of people for help in making up his mind – including Piney, who tells him that the club will “die bloody” if he quits, and Gemma, who talks to him about the possible meaning behind John’s transcript (which Jax describes as a “half angry manifesto and half MC love letter”) – the final decision ultimately falls to Clay.
