‘Sons of Anarchy’ Review: ‘Sweet and Vaded’

My how the tables have turned on this week’s episode of Sons of Anarchy. In “Sweet and Vaded,” Gemma has finally gotten out-Gemma’ed and we finally see Tara’s plan go into effect.

This episode focused greatly on being a parent. There were many scenarios that showed different child/parent relationships and how far a parent would go for a child.

While Jax is a father to his two boys, he also considers SAMCRO his baby. He is rebuilding his club, which has now relocated to a candy shop. I love having beer and licorice, so this place will probably take off. And seriously a candy shop? Can Sutter be less obvious? This episode is all about children, parents, and the club ends up in a candy shop? Of course they do!

Jax extends membership to the new recruits Bobby has pulled together, and they wholeheartedly accept. Jax also finally makes Rat the prospect a full-fledged member. Jax appears to be a proud dad that is beaming with pride that his club is finally coming together and rebounding from their devastating losses.

We also learn Venus has returned to enlist the club’s help in getting her nephew Joey out of her abusive mother’s care. We later learn that Venus has a son from her days as a boy, and that she fears her son will suffer the same abuse she did by her mother. Venus’ mother is a bit of a pervy, nasty bitch troll from hell. The woman forced Venus into child prostitution and makes Joan Crawford look like an angel who just disliked some wire hangers. Vincent, Venus’ former self, even makes an appearance, as she will do anything to save her son.

SONS OF ANARCHY Sweet and Vaded — Episode 607 — Airs Tuesday, October 22, 10:00 pm e/p) — Pictured: (L-R) Tommy Flanagan as Filip ‘Chibs’ Telford, Walton Goggins as Venus Van Dam, Mark Boone Junior as Robert ‘Bobby’ Munson, Adrienne Barbeau as Alice — CR: Prashant Gupta/FX

When the club finally gets control of the situation and Joey out of harm’s way, Venus mother Alice (played brilliantly by Adrienne Barbeau) goes on a verbal assault of her former son.  As a juxtaposition of a transgendered woman trying desperately to save her son, Alice berates Venus’ rescue attempt. She spews the hatred Venus had heard growing up, and talks of how much Joey will hate his father when he learns the truth, as the sins of the father will inevitably hurt the son. Jax ends the rant by shooting Alice in the head. He encourages Venus to be honest with Joey and break the cycle, but Venus believes protecting the boy from the truth is the right thing.

It was interesting to see Jax lose his cool at hearing Alice’s speech. Jax grew up without a father, and hearing Alice disrespect Venus as a human being pushed him to a breaking point. Watching a mother ridicule her child, and keeping her grandson from his father so to speak, flipped a switch in Jax. He killed a mother, which must have been difficult considering he shares an extremely strong bond with his own mother.  He saw the mother for what she was: a bad parent, and more so a horrendous human being. Ironically, Jax does not even realize that this situation mirrors his own situation, as Tara is planning on taking his children from him, and Gemma being a dominating, controlling force in his life with regards to his family and the club.

Our two main mommas finally faced off this week, after months of going back and forth with fake truces and bonding moments that sucked. Sorry they did. Gemma and Tara are at their best when they downright hate each other. Unfortunately for both of them, I currently detest both women as the moment stands albeit for different reasons.

Tara unleashed the fury and set Gemma up, and somehow it actually worked. While it was amazing to watch, this plan was seriously ridiculous and I thought I was watching General Hospital. Was it a good episode of General Hospital? Well yeah, but for a show that is so visceral and real, I don’t expect there to be a staged miscarriage, an arrest, and the quickest drawing up of legal documents in the world to take place.

Gemma confronts Tara and Margaret about the custody issues. Wendy had just warned Gemma that Tara would give custody of the boys to Margaret, and not Wendy. So Gemma flies off the handle, tries to choke Margaret to death, and then runs after Tara. Tara hides in an office, puts a packet of blood near her cervix, and is ready to deal with Gemma. Tara admits to Gemma she is going to take the boys away, and she will never see them again. Gemma slaps Tara, and when she mentions she won’t hit her again because she is pregnant……Tara decides to ram herself into the table and scream for help. …. What. The. Fuck….. Everyone comes in shocked and appalled, Gemma gets arrested, and Jax arrives confused and saddened he has lost his daughter.

Now, does Tara have every right in the world as a parent to protect her children? Of course she does. Does she have to stage the most elaborate miscarriage and set Gemma up for a crime she didn’t actually commit? NO! What a f–king asshole! I don’t even like Gemma right now, but this plan was basically evil. She’s making Jax think she had a miscarriage and his mother was the cause of it. There is a special place in hell for this bitch, and it’s going to be a shared cell with Gemma for all eternity. Tara has officially become what she hates….Gemma with a bad haircut, and uglier clothing. Now Jax has chosen his wife and children over the mother he has consistently sided with. He signs the paperwork preventing Gemma from ever going near the children again. As with Alice, Jax has eliminated his mother from the equation. Helping Venus rid himself of his mother helps Jax quickly decide to rid himself of his own mother.

How will Gemma react next week when she learns of Jax’s decision? Will Jax figure out that it’s really weird that the lawyer ALREADY HAD THE DOCUMENTS PREPARED? Can he buy a clue? Will Gemma call out Tara for being a huge liar? Will Tara have to kill Unser because he is being an annoying asshole questioning her judgment? More importantly did Tig and Venus have sex because inquiring minds want to know?! Tune in next week for an all new Sons of Anarchy!