She’s still staying mum on the subject, but after Clay tells her about their expanding business relationship with the Irish, Gemma decides to try and save Jax’s skin before any more harm is done by turning herself in. Not that it will do her any good. Stahl has already exonerated Gemma of all the charges (apart from fleeing custody, which has landed her a few months under house arrest), so there’s really nothing she can do. Nevertheless, Gemma promises Stahl that deals like the one she made with Jax never work out because there’s no trust, and it’s going to end badly for one of the parties involved. If only Gemma knew just how right she would be…

With the hours ticking away until Jimmy is out of SAMCRO’s reach for good, Clay visits Otto at Stockton to set up a meet between him and Lenny the Pimp. Lenny agrees to reach out to his Russian contacts, but warns Otto that while they’re certainly not loyal to Jimmy, it’s going to take a hefty sum for them to flip on him. And as Clay soon learns, he wasn’t kidding, as the Russians ask for $2 million in exchange for Jimmy – money that the club simply doesn’t have. Thankfully, those boxes that Chucky has been trying to show someone for days just so happens to contain $5 million in counterfeit bills. It’s apparently from his time working for Henry Lin, and though he was supposed to destroy it, he decided to keep it instead.

But there are too many inaccuracies in the fake bills to pass it off as real, so Jax suggests that they pad the bags of cash with real money. Stahl is more than willing to give him the $250,000 he needs to sell the illusion, but only if he gives her the location of the drop and promises to stay hidden. The plan was for ATF to intercept Jimmy after the Sons made the trade, thus completing Jax’s end of the deal, but with all the preparation going on at the clubhouse – the letters, Tara’s secret involvement, and Unser’s favor to Clay – I just knew that something potentially big was about to happen.

What I didn’t realize is how many twists and turns would be involved. The drop itself went smoothly, but then the club moved Jimmy to Tara’s car so that ATF wouldn’t get him, and Stahl was furious that Jax had played her. He claims that he was just trying to keep her honest to ensure that she signed off on her end of the deal before handing Jimmy over. The deal is legit – giving SAMCRO a reduced sentence of only three years (and parole in 14 months) – so Jax agrees to sign the document that officially recognizes him as an informant. Before Stahl gives him the paperwork for their lawyer, however, she demands to see that Jimmy is still alive. With no other cards to play, Jax takes Stahl to the clubhouse, and as expected, she turns on him by telling the club that he’s been working with her all along.

Talk about burning bridges, but Jax had to know that she would try to screw him over eventually, didn’t he? That was the main question swirling around in my head as Jax, Clay, Tig, Bobby, Juice and Happy were filed into the back of the ATF truck. Something just didn’t seem right, though, and when the rest of the Sons were shown speeding along in a bus with sheer determination painted on their faces, everything started to make sense. The clincher for me, however, was Unser’s resignation scene, because they made a point of showing him take that revolver from the drawer. Of course, I thought that Unser was going to kill Jimmy as a favor to Clay, but his only job was to get Stahl and Jimmy alone and let SAMCRO do the dirty work.

Chibs finally got his revenge on Jimmy, giving him a Glasgow smile before stabbing him in the chest. And as for Stahl, well, it was always going to be Opie who killed her, wasn’t it? That didn’t stop her from begging for mercy again, but this time, Opie followed through on the threat, and the whole thing was made sweeter by the fact that he did it the same way Donna was murdered. The attack was even made to look like retribution from the Irish. Chibs painted an IRA blood mark on Stahl’s car, Kozik punched Unser in the face, and Opie ripped up the document proving that Jax was a rat.

Then again, even with Jimmy and Stahl dead, that doesn’t change the fact that the club is still pissed at Jax. Or are they? In perhaps the biggest twist of the night, it was revealed that Clay and the guys were in on it all along. They certainly did a good job of hiding the truth (especially from Gemma), but it makes me wonder how long this has been going on. Has Clay known about Jax’s deal with Stahl since the beginning, or did he bring him in on the plan after they returned from Ireland? We’ll probably never get a definite answer, but it’s something that really should be addressed. After all, it’s not like they’re going to be particularly busy in prison – assuming, of course, that next season doesn’t pick up immediately after their release.

Still, I think that setting Season Four in prison could yield some interesting developments, although the one I’m most curious to see explored is the implication in John Teller’s letters to Maureen that Clay and Gemma were the ones responsible for his death. It’s something that was hinted at back in Season One when the show was being compared to “Hamlet,” and I’m glad to see that Sutter hasn’t forgotten about it. Kudos to everyone involved for reminding viewers why “SOA” is one of the best dramas on TV.

Though the season finale left quite a few cliffhangers for fans to dwell on during the winter months, there was at least some feeling of completion with the death of AJ Weston. After the sheriff’s department was forced to let him go because Chucky’s testimony didn’t hold up, Weston is warned to get the hell out Charming as fast as he can. Before he leaves, however, Weston convinces Hale to set up a supervised visit with his kid, and when Jax catches wind of the news, he intercepts him to deliver his revenge. At least Weston took it like a man, because the same can’t be said of Ethan Zobelle. Of course, that’s because Zobelle is a different kind of monster completely. In fact, it turns out he’s an FBI snitch, which forces Hale to cut him loose as well, only for Zobelle to go run to the Mayans for protection.

While the Sons wait out a seemingly inevitable showdown with the Mayans in the middle of town, Zobelle plans his getaway to Budapest. His daughter wants to say her goodbyes to Edmond first, though, and it turns out to be an unwise decision, because Gemma follows her there and shoots her dead. What Gemma doesn’t realize is that Agent Stahl is also in the house – still trying to get her shit together after she killed Edmond during an attempted escape – and now Stahl has framed her for both murders. She’s nice enough to give Gemma a head start, but that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. After all, regardless of when he gets caught, it’s going to be pretty difficult to prove her innocence when the only other witness in the room is not only the real murderer, but a federal agent as well. Getting the Sons out of those gun charges is one thing, but how are they going to get Gemma out of this mess? You’ve got me, but for the time being, Wayne seems content with the idea of running away with her.

To make things worse, Cameron apparently has some kind of police scanner in his car that allows him to listen in on federal channels that you’d think normal people wouldn’t have access to. Regardless of its validity, Cameron overhears Stahl calling in the shootings to her fellow ATF agents and decides to follow Half-Sack back to Jax’s house with a plan to kill Tara. When he arrives, however, he discovers Jax’s baby and takes him instead (a son for a son), but not before stabbing Half-Sack. Though I wasn’t pleased with his death, Alan Sepinwall’s interview with Sutter sheds a little light on the situation that should put most fans at ease. I never like when shows kill off characters because the actors want out of their contracts, but at least he went out with a little honor trying to save baby Abel.

Of course, that’s a pretty moot point now that Cameron’s gotten away on his boat, conceivably headed back to Belfast, but the real salt on the wound is that Clay had to let Zobelle go scot-free when they received the call from Jax. It’ll be interesting to see if Sutter brings back Zobelle in the future, because while he might have lost this round, he just doesn’t seem like the kind of person that would just lay down and admit defeat – especially considering SAMCRO is responsible for his daughter’s death.

So, just to review: Half-Sack is dead. Gemma is on the lam. Zobelle is free. And Abel has been kidnapped by Cameron. Yep, that sounds like the kind of finale you’d expect to see after such an incredible season, and though I may not be completely happy with every single plot development, just knowing that Sutter has already figured out where it’s going is enough to convince me that it was all necessary. Now all we have to do is wait…