“We’re living in goddamn Juarez here.” – Gemma
Is it possible for an episode of television to be simultaneously awesome and terrible? It’s hard to say whether “Family Recipe” is terribly awesome, or awesomely terrible. There is just so damn much to digest. I think many of the scenes are very well done, particularly on the part of the actors. The stuff I don’t care for mostly falls under the category of the writers giving into their most pulpy, campy instincts.
Regardless of whether you like “Family Recipe” or not, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t an extremely important episode for Sons of Anarchy. So much stuff happens and the plot is pushed so far forward that it’s probably fair to say that this is the most action-packed episode the show has done all year. I won’t bother to try to recap all of the events from “Family Recipe”, but I’ll pick out and discuss some moments that stood out to me as being noteworthy for one reason or another. Please feel free to talk about any scene you want in the comment section.
First and foremost, Juice is alive. As much as I like Juice and the performance that Theo Rossi gives, I was kind of hoping the writers wouldn’t do this. Having the branch break and save his life is a total cop out. Why wouldn’t they just let him die? Is there some big plan in mind for him beyond this trite “ratting out the club” story they have given him thus far?
If the writers won’t let Juice go gentle into that good night, they could have at least let him cast the deciding vote in Bobby’s (Mark Boone, Jr.) presidential challenge. Instead they had to ruin a great, tense scene (the vote) with a trope to end all tropes: the well-timed drive-by. Let’s pretend the Sonoran cartel didn’t shoot up the clubhouse and the vote went down. Here’s how I see the votes going: Tig (Kim Coates), Clay (Ron Perlman), Jax (Charlie Hunnam), and probably Happy (David LaBrava) would vote for Clay. Bobby, Piney (William Lucking), and Opie (Ryan Hurst) would vote for Bobby. That leaves Chibs (Tommy Flanagan) and Juice as the swing-voters. The writers could have had Chibs vote for Bobby, making Juice’s vote the tie breaker. Wouldn’t that have been a better reason to keep Juicy alive than having him mope around Charming the entire hour?
The second “Awwww, come on. Really?!” moment of the night comes after the Sons capture one of the Sonoran hit men. They call Torres (Benito Martinez) to come help them get some intelligence from the hostage. When he arrives, he shoots the guy up with sodium pentothal. Truth serum? Really? Come on, guys. You can do better than that.
The episode isn’t all groaners, though. Sprinkled throughout are some really great, moving scenes. I really like Clay’s speech at the fundraiser. He’s capable of delivering a rousing public address when the moment requires it. I also like that the show seems to be positioning Elliott Oswald (Patrick St. Esprit) to take on a larger role in the episodes to come. I’ve always found Oswald likable, and if he becomes mayor, it may give Clay a believable means with which to hold onto power in Charming.
I appreciate the quiet, subdued reaction Jax gives to the news that Tara (Maggie Siff) is leaving town. I imagine that this is probably the most realistic reaction for Jax at this point. He’s not to going to yell and scream and beg her to stay. He knows she’s right and he’s going to let her do what’s best for their family.
Lastly, how did everyone feel about the whole “Chucky’s Chili” business? I’ve gone back and forth on it, but I think I’ve concluded that it was pretty awesome. Sure, cooking a human head and feeding it to cops is campy as all hell, but ultimately it provides some much-needed comic relief from an otherwise extremely serious hour of television.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. RIP Piney. You will be missed old man.
Some stats and info about Sons of Anarchy, “Family Recipe”
TV SHOW – Sons of Anarchy
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 4, Episode 8
AIRED ON – October 25th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FX
GENRE – Drama, Crime Dramas
CREATED BY – Kurt Sutter
CAST – Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Mark Boone Junior, Kim Coates, Tommy Flanagan, Theo Rossi, Dayton Callie, Maggie Siff, Ron Perlman, David Labrava, Jimmy Smits, Drea de Matteo
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.