User Reviews

I am currently binge watching the last three seasons on DVD, and every episode deserves a positive review. I'm just focusing on this one because I was so impressed by the death of Otto. Damned fine lion, as Hemingway might say.

For years I thought Otto was an embarrassing character. I mean, come on! Kurt Sutter is the series creator, and he casts *himself* to play the baddest biker of them all. And then every other episode he turns up and does something gruesome or terrifying to remind everyone how great he is.

But this season was different. The writers managed it brilliantly so that you actually see Otto broken down, bit by bit, like Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984. But of course in this episode there's a stunning reversal. Otto has the most powerful last hurrah I've ever seen. The way he charges the drawn guns of the guards in the last second of his life is the way Hemingway describes the wounded lion meeting his fate in "The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber."

Damned fine lion.

And can I saw a word about Clay? It caught me totally by surprise the way he sets Otto up for his final moment of glory. If there was ever a guy who only looks out for Number One, it's Clay. But look at what he's risking, turning over his last weapon to Otto when he's a marked man himself. And when he says "no more, brother" you really feel it's a double message. No more torture and humiliation for Otto. But also no more cowardice and compromise for Clay.

Damned fine lion.

Oh, and about the title. "The Mad King" could refer to the IRA jerk who keeps trying to push Jax around. But I think it really refers to Otto, who's a king (with the heart of a lion) right down to the very last second of his life.

Damned fine lion.

Again lots is happening. I am happy that IRA is so into Clay and it can get him out. I hope he will stop being so nice then, gets very ruthless and pays back to everyone. Although right now I also have to worry about him actually getting out. Jax's conversation with IRA was a bit worrisome. Also Gemma telling what happened in the prison to Nero could end badly. Why did she even tell him, how can she be in love with that soft loser, he is nothing compared to Clay.

Tara trying to get her kids out with Wendy is also a good plot which I hope will unfold soon. And the explosion at the end will sure be a bigger push for her trying to get them out more. It was an awesome scene, so much action and making the viewer worry.

The Sons of Anarchy are a hard core one percent motor cycle gang. They are drug runners, violent and occasional murderers. There is no denying this. However, with dealings with the IRA they are in a whole different ball game. Tonight's episode proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt as the Ira flex their muscles and consequence is devastating. It does however make for compelling viewing. We also watch Tara's continual plot to get her kids away from Gemma and the club. Wendy, Jackson's former wife and a former heroin addict is used as pawn as both matriarchs easily manipulate her. Like the Sons and the Ira she is quite simply out of her league. The two good forces meet for the first time D.A. Paterson and Eli Roosevelt but even they clash. Paterson wants results, Eli wants truth. My life is about year 9 English essays, mortgage payments and which episode of Dora might two year old might like. I love to slip into the Sons for a little escapism for a while. On that front, this episode really delivers….

Everything that happened in this episode has happened before in past episodes. Gemma is forced by prison guards to have sex with Clay while they watch. This same scenario happened in season 5, when Carla tried to force Gemma and Nero to have sex while she watched. And let's not forget, Jax wanted her to sleep with Clay to get info from him and Gemma being raped in season 2.

The explosion at the club. There was already an explosion in a previous season, when a van was planted in their lot exploded. They've also been shot at.

The betrayal, the broken deals... same old same old.

Gemma doing everything to keep "her boys" in town, same old same old. Thing that doesn't make sense is, why does Gemma want the boys to stay in Charming? Why couldn't she just move out of Charming herself? It's the dumbest "problem" they created for Gemma. She's not part of a club, she's not with Clay anymore. If she wants to be near the kids, she could just move with them. This "she's not taking my family away" story line is so weak. Had they done a story line where Tara was getting a restraining order, maybe it would have more weight. But not letting your son, daughter in law and grand kids move to another state after they've been kidnapped, almost killed, threatened doesn't make sense and the writers, since the beginning, haven't given Gemma a reason to be this way, a reason why she doesn't want to leave Charming. She doesn't work, has no friends, no other family in the area. Why stay? Also, we're suppose to believe she cares about family, yet we haven't heard anything about her father since they killed his caregiver and put him in a home. This is yet another example of lack of detail in writing, why wouldn't Gemma just move? Why wouldn't she want the grand kids away from the violence? Why not go to her father?

Another bad move, Wendy. She was a strong character and they suddenly weakened her. Why? She wanted to see her kid and now that she's given the chance to have custody, without a battle, she's hesitant? She wanted the kids out of Charming, she told Tara to be safe, to watch out for Gemma, and now that it's all happening, she's doubtful? All because of a few nice words from Gemma, who she knows to be manipulative and self centered. This makes no sense at all character wise, and it's just more of the same.