Review-Sons of Anarchy-"Oiled"

Jax’s son Abel is still missing, Gemma’s now holed up with her senile father and the the Sons were just targeted in a drive-by shooting that claimed the life of Deputy Hale…whatever is a MC (motorcycle club) to do? Well, if you’re the Sons of Anarchy, you try to get as many answers as you can in the most creatively violent ways possible! The episode featured all kinds of fun yet awful scenes, ranging from the Sons conducting motor cycle races inches away from a rival gang member buried up to his neck in the dirt to Gemma’s aforementioned senile father nearly shooting the Sons’ resident pervert, Tig Trager, in the ass as he put stones to a cute Guatemalan broad.

In fact, even though the episode wasn’t horribly compelling, I want to praise it (and Sons of Anarchy on the whole) for managing to sneak in a lot of humor for a show about violent bikers. The scene with Bobby getting bitched out by his ex-wife, the personification of the “redheaded rattlesnake” nickname he used to reference her, was simultaneously chuckle-inducing and cringeworthy. (After watching it, my friend Rich commented aloud, “Wow, she really was a redheaded rattlesnake.” And I, just to be safe, shoved both of my ring fingers into a cigar cutter ala Darkman so that no wedding ring could ever be placed upon my hand. What can I say: It was a powerful scene.) Gemma referring to her father’s treacherous Guatemalan nurse (the very same that Tig was nailing) as a “greedy little Guatty” also drew a laugh from me.

The episode gets a thumb’s up, though not an emphatic one. Picture a drug-saturated, later-years Elvis being asked in his drug-soaked haze to indicate whether or not he wanted to include “Kentucky Rain” in the night’s set. Too high to speak, he simply holds out his fist and, after five or so seconds of effort, his thumb eventually stands erect. It’s that kind of thumbs up. I’d tell you what to expect next week on the show, but my DVR cut off the “coming up next” chunk at the episode’s end. Why would God let such a thing happen? *spoiler alert* There’s probably going to be some motorcycle riding.