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Sons of Anarchy Recap: 'Home' hits hard emotionally

By Ian Cullen Sep 29, 2010, 6:43 GMT

08/30/2010 - Katey Sagal and Charlie Hunnam - "Sons of Anarchy" Season 3 Hollywood Premiere - Arrivals - Cinerama Dome at The ArcLight - Hollywood, CA, USA © Tatiana Beller / PR Photos

FX's "Sons of Anarchy" seems to be coming full circle, and for the time being it looks like Jax’s issues with Clay, such a big part of last season, are on hold, and this is more apparent thanks to a touching scene in this episode, which we’ll get to later.

After last weeks revelation that Cameron had seemingly returned to Ireland, and was killed and made an example of, Clay, Jax and the boys head out to pick up Gemma and Tara, and help take care of business.

Back in Ireland, Jimmy O expresses his disapproval of how the Cameron situation was handled, and says they could have done with out him being splayed out for all to see.

Jimmy discusses with the priest his plans for Abel, and expresses his belief that keeping Abel in Ireland will only cause more trouble for them than it is worth, and undermine the work he’s already done in keeping the relations between the IRA and SAMCRO manageable.

During a phone call with Jax, Jimmy informs him that Abel is still in Vancouver, and gets a member of SAMCRO’s Irish Charter to lie for him. Jax isn’t convinced.

Back at Nate’s place, Tara sings the praises of the home where Gemma is going to send Nate. Tara reassures Gemma that its a good place, and he’ll get good care there.

Back in Charming, Jax, despite his reservations about Jimmy O’s information, opts to stick to the original plan of picking up Gemma and then riding to Vancouver in search of Abel. The boys are not going to Ireland just yet.

During the ride to Gemma and Nate, Clay is beginning to have a few issues with his arthritic hands, but puts on a brave face until he stops to let Jax know the situation. In order to help Clay save face, Jax ties Clay’s hand’s to the handlebars of his motorcycle in a poignant scene, so he can continue the long ride north.

Meanwhile Gemma shares some more time with Nate, in which Nate talks about his wife's guilt at the loss of a child, and how she passed the burden of her loss onto Gemma’s shoulders.

At this point Clay and Jax arrive to a warm reception from Gemma, who has missed the two most important men in her life. Gemma asks about Abel, but Jax doesn’t tell her about his kidnapping feeling that its not the right time. Gemma rightly says that it's going to be a “tough afternoon.”

In a conversation with Tara, Jax reveals that the authorities in Charming are pulling the bail on the church assault, and he reveals that he and Clay are going to have to risk jumping bail in order to follow up on a lead concerning Abel.

Clay and Jax explain to Gemma that they plan to relocate her to Canada and give her a new identity until things die down. Nate comes in and expresses his discomfort at Clay being around... Tara isn’t happy that the guys are not telling Gemma about Abel, but Clay says they’ll tell her once she has settled Nate down.

Meanwhile on the way back to Clay and the gang, Piney, Juice and the reaper crew head to a drugs lab, which has been besieged by a local gang of biker punks.

Back at Nate’s, Jax and Tara have another row in which Tara in a fit of anger reveals that she helped Gemma kill Nate’s caregiver in self-defense, and that she along with help from Tig had tried to cover it up. Jax and Clay are not impressed nor happy about this, but more urgent matters put dealing with it on hold as Jax and Clay head out to lend assistance to Piney and Juice at the meth lab. Tig is angry at the two women for blowing the plan to keep it under wraps.

Gemma tells Tara that she’d rather her go back to Charming and take care of Abel than follow Jax up north. Tara gets emotional, and we begin to see signs that Gemma suspects that she hasn’t been told the full story about Abel.

Back in Ireland Jimmy O meets with Maureen, and tells her that he figured Cameron would bring Abel to her. Jimmy tells Maureen that she better decide where her loyalties are or else, and suggests that she finds out the location of the baby.

Piney and Juice - still at the drug lab - are given an ultimatum by the punk biker gang; it goes ignored and Piney and the gang are taken hostage by the thugs just as SAMCRO arrives with more reinforcements than you can shake a stick at, which forces the punks to back down.

The lady that runs the black market drug operations makes a gift to Boone of a needed inhaler medication for his son, and Piney does alright as well and gets an affectionate kiss for his chivalry  and attempts to protect the lady dealer.

In what has to be one of the most heart-wrenching scenes we’re likely to see in the series, Gemma has dropped Nate off at the assisted living home, and has a tough time dealing with Nate’s pleas to take him back home.

Back in Ireland Maureen goes to the Priest and tells him about Jimmy O’s threat, and says that she is worried that her family will get hurt by his actions. Turns out that Jimmy is looking to cut ties with SAMCRO and put their tasks in the hands of the army men, but these are not men we’re talking about. It's boys. The priest explains that Abel is being kept in Ireland as a negotiation chip to bring SAMCRO to the table to discuss what to do about Jimmy. He then asks Maureen to contact Gemma and let her know that her son is safe and in Ireland.

Gemma, meanwhile, has contacted Agent Stahl and said that she has a line on a fugitive, and has seemingly travelled back to Charming, which forces Clay and Jax to head back and try and get there before she does.

Following up on the Priest's suggestion, Maureen places a call to Gemma and lets her know about Abel. On finding out this news of her grandson, and with all the stress and worry of her father Nate, Gemma collapses of a heart attack just as Jax and Clay arrive back in Charming.