Hey, you think Sheriff Unser might be in love with Gemma? The thought hadn't really occurred to me until tonight, but it makes a certain kind of sense. At the very least, he's protective of her, and it's been interesting so far this season seeing how he tries to do right by her while still clinging to the few shreds of dignity he as left as a lawman. Back when Sons started, the series seemed to be writing the character off as a joke, impotent proof of the power of the Sons in Charming and not much else. But there's more to him, I think, and as the show's gone on, he's fast becoming one of its strongest characters. There was a surprising amount of dignity in his voice tonight when he promised Gemma, "I ain't gonna let nothing else bad happen to you." It's a silly promise to make—might as well offer the stars and a time machine while he's at it—but there's no reason to doubt his commitment. Even Unser has his lines, and we may be seeing soon enough what happens when people keep crossing them.
Unser is one of the few people left in Charming who seems to have all his brains intact. Jax and Clay's uneasy peace goes through the wringer one more time in "Eureka," when Tig crashes, has a receptionist rat on him, and gets snagged by some bounty hunters on an outstanding charge ("Assault and indecent exposure inside a livestock transport" in Oregon) forcing the club to spring him. Clay, who's arthritis is worsening, wants caution, while Jax thinks the best move is to charge ahead before the situation goes beyond their control. They both have a point, but it's clear that the argument that follows—one that ends with Clay shoving Jax, and Jax shoving back—is less about saving Tig than it is about the shit that's been buried between these two guys ever since Jax found out about Donna. Further back than that, even.
There hasn't been much mention of Jax's dad's manifesto, the one Jax found last season and Gemma burned, and what with Donna's wrongful death being a big red flag to pin conflict on, I'm wondering if we'll be returning to the philosophical underpinnings of SAMCRO anytime soon. It would be a shame to miss that; Jax's dad's murder is going to out sooner or later, but what I'm more interested in is what the dead man really wanted for the Sons, and what the club has become in Clay's hands. Jax has always had more potential than he's ever realized, which is one of the reasons Tara decided to stick with him. But what "new vision" could he bring in, and what sort of changes would it mean? The Sons' illegal activities make for solid television (Tig's rescue tonight ranks up there as one of the series' best action set-pieces, even if it was over fast), but is this really why the club was founded in the first place? Finding out Gemma was basically responsible for bringing the bikers to Charming makes you wonder what her interests in all this are as well, and how much those interests have changed. Enough to get her first husband killed, at least.
Gemma's got her own problems now, though. Recognizing Weston as one of her attackers, she spends most of the episode following him around, and then almost shooting him from a port-a-john. She can't go through with it because he's talking about his kids. It's a rough moment, but rough or not, it's good to see her at least trying to take some action to get herself well again. Even mostly knowing she wouldn't pull the trigger, having her get so close was tense stuff. This whole episode kept the screws tightened, which is good. While it's fun to see the SAMCRO boys goofing around about Half-Sack's fake new testicle, Sons works best when it doesn't let you get too comfortable with how much everyone's enjoying themselves.