“Welcome to Ireland.” – McGee
“Lochan Mor” is the episode that everyone has been waiting for since the finale of Season Two. And while it would be a tad unfair to call the 90-minute mega-sode a disappointment, I have a feeling that fans and critics alike may find their expectations difficult to live up to. The problem isn’t with the episode per se; the issue lies with the dichotomy that the show has created for itself.
By splintering, sending some characters to Ireland while others stay in Charming, SOA might be cutting its nose off to spite its face. Last week, I agreed with the show’s decision to send Gemma (Katey Sagal) along with Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and Clay (Ron Pearlman) (and just about everyone else in SAMCRO aside from Tig, played by Kim Coates) to Ireland. But the problem in doing so is that it leaves virtually no one in Charming that the audience cares about. All the cool stuff is happening in Belfast, so it becomes frustrating to keep having to come back stateside.
Ireland in the world of SOA is a lot like Charming. Cinematic, yet cartoonishly larger than life. Full of bikers, gangs, cops on the take, drive byes and betrayal. After battling their way through the countryside, SAMCRO and their SAMBEL escorts arrive in Belfast and the club’s compound to a standing ovation.
The one bit of happiness in their arrival is Chibs’ (Tommy Flanagan) reunion with his family. He hasn’t seen Fiona (Bellina Logan) and his daughter in god knows how long and when they embrace he promises not to let them go again. When (and if) SAMCRO heads back to Charming, Chibs’ family will be with them.
Maureen (Paula Malcolmson) does her best to welcome Gemma, Clay, and Jax with open arms, but when she introduces Trinity (Zoe Boyle), Gemma’s already chilly demeanor freezes completely. “This is my home, a wee bit of respect would go a long way,” Mo says and Clay and Jax seem to concur. But Gemma has no time for pleasantries or family reunions; she wants her grandson back. Maureen can’t really help beyond pointing them in the direction of Father Kellan (James Cosmo) and promising that “questions will be answered.”
If Mo and Gemma’s introduction was cold, Jax and Trinity’s was anything but. In fact, I was starting to get pretty freaked out at certain points in the episode, thinking that the half-siblings were going to bang. I recognize that Gemma and Maureen agree that “the truth about John will only distract Jax,” but if they don’t tell them soon they might end up with a half Irish, half American, three-eyed grandson on their hands.
Jax finally has a sit down with Father Ashby. The priest tells Jax that Jimmy O (Titus Welliver) plans to cut the Sons out of the gun business and sell to the Russians instead at a higher price. Kellan needs Jax, an outsider with motive, to kill Jimmy to keep the IRA from further splintering. He explains that he had to hide Abel to keep him away from Jimmy, who would use him as leverage with Jax. “You kill jimmy O’Phelan and I promise Abel comes home into the arms of a loving family.” Most, if not all, of what Kellan has to say sounds like the truth, but the devil is in the details. And he intentionally omits one big detail. What loving family will Abel be coming home to? We see the infant in the orphanage scooped up by a young couple and it seems less and less likely that Abel will be coming home with Jax.
Back in Charming the stakes just don’t feel as dire as in Belfast. The writers seem convinced that we (the audience) are invested, even remotely, in Tara, and that just isn’t the case. Her character has been dead weight for a while now, and by separating her from the main storyline the show emphasizes this all the more. She is expected to step into the role of Gemma, even doing the books at Teller Morrow in her scrubs, but she cannot be expected to carry half of the show.
Lyla approaches Tara for advice on where to get a discreet abortion. Tara can’t think of anywhere off hand so she asks her boss, who assumes the abortion is for Tara. This whole scenario struck me as ludicrous. Has no one in Charming ever heard of Planned Parenthood? Boss lady suggests a clinic and Tara accompanies Lyla (who signs in using the name “Sarah Palin”, which made me chuckle). When Lyla goes in for the procedue, Tara makes an appointment of her own. Fine, great, Tara is going to have an abortion. At this point I don’t even care. If people are getting restless about a story about the kid Jax already has, how do expect people to get all jazzed up about a storyline about a storyline about a fetus?
I’m modestly more intrigued by the string of SAMCRO adversaries that Jacob tries to recruit to put together a team to take down the Sons and make Charming his. He starts with Hale, then works his way to Salazar and Darby. His goals, for now are modest. He wants to extort Lumpy and eventually force him out of his boxing gym in order to buy up the entire block of businesses for some nefarious business venture or another.
We do get further confirmation that one of the prospects is indeed Leo Fitzpatrick (better known as Telly from Kids or Johnny from The Wire). The bummer is I don’t know if we will be seeing him again because he bails when bullets start flying at Lumpy’s. Again, this storyline is decent, but it pales in comparison to the action taking place across the pond.
This is going to be a constant struggle for the remainder of the season. How is SOA going to manage to keep its Charming folks relevant while the meat and potatoes are in Ireland?
Some stats and info about Sons of Anarchy, “Lochan Mor”
TV SHOW – Sons of Anarchy
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 3, Episode 8
AIRED ON – October 26th, 2010
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.