Anarchy's 'Call of Duty' brings Opie, Unser and Tig to life, some thoughts

By April MacIntyre Nov 16, 2011, 5:51 GMT

Episode 411, \'Call of Duty,\' is a bit of a play on showrunner Kurt Sutter’s love of gaming, and the massive arsenal the club amasses to fight the cartel back and get Charming back to a manageable hamlet.

Exceptional writing and acting once again as FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” is painting SAMCRO president Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) into a big fat corner.

Leading the way is our Gemma (Katey Sagal) and her banged up face, exacting the right emotional responses from all the men who love her: Jax (Charlie Hunnam), Unser (Dayton Callie) and Tig (Kim Coates).

Fans of the series understand the implications of what I just said:  Tig never finished what Gemma started with him but it’s still there, that unspoken lust monster; Unser wars with a paternal and carnal set of feelings for a woman he has known since childhood and Jax adores his mother, but knows who she is better than all of them.

Episode 411, 'Call of Duty,' is a bit of a play on showrunner Kurt Sutter’s love of gaming, and the massive arsenal the club amasses to fight the cartel back and get Charming back to a manageable hamlet.

Sutter as Otto had his come to Jesus with Fed Linc Potter (Ray McKinnon), making a deal to give up the Sons after he swallows the lies that Bobby (Mark Boone Junior) was responsible for the death of Luanne.

Sutter can act, and played his scene with the right amount of resignation and grief, not overwrought or too angry.  Could you imagine Matt Weiner in an episode of “Mad Men” playing one of the characters? It’s not easy to straddle writing and acting.

Finally Juice (Theo Rossi) tells someone about his black dad, and has a great moment with Chibs (Tommy Flanagan) who reasons with him and reassures him. But the relief hasn’t registered yet, as Juice is still dancing for Potter.  The whole notion that Juice feared being ousted because his dad was black is still a hard one for me to go with.

The minefield claims Kozik, (Kenny Johnson) as his death takes the body count for SAMCRO to three (Miles, Piney and now Kozik) and we bid adieu to the lighthearted SAMCRO member who sort of completed Tig.  We shall mourn not seeing his beefy arms ever again in his revealing cut with no sleeves.  The guys took his death pretty well, considering his body was in pieces and had to be gathered up to bury. A few stiff drinks and some downward gazes, then back to business.

The reintroduction of Wendy (Drea de Matteo) was interesting and slightly predictable. I am going to say something that will make SAMCRO fans heads explode a bit: I think she deserves to know her son Abel (I said know, not take). She cleaned up, got her degree, has a job and is truly sorry. Tara may have raised Abel that time she was in recovery, but everyone deserves a second chance if they prove themselves worthy.

Tara’s hand smash was less about Wendy and more about Tara’s frustration at her entire predicament and her feelings of helplessness with all the factors affecting Jax and her boys’ lives. Wendy was just the spark to cause her explosive breakdown.

Piney is finally discovered by poor Opie, the most set-upon Son next to Otto. Unser follows to help him through the shock and essentially sics him on Clay. Unser wants Gemma free and clear of him and defied her wishes to pin the death on the Mexicans.  Ryan Hurst finally has some really meaty scenes coming up to show off his mad skills. 

One of two things will immediately happen:  Clay Morrow will be taken out by Opie, Jax, Tig, or Chucky (I had to) OR he will escape and disappear into the ether like Darby, Ethan Zobelle and Dondo. (Does anyone else miss Mitch Pileggi’s Darby? I loved that character).

Wild cards are the ongoing RICO case and being put away, but Sutter loves to feed his fanbase red meat, and the coliseum throngs are braying for blood.

I bet it’s a Son who does the deed, but wouldn’t it be delicious if our Gemma was the trigger man? That would be heavy.

Three more episodes will tell us where we leave season four, and I feel in my heart it won’t be a neat Christmas package of revenge that so many want.

This is okay by me, because I want to salivate for season 5, and beyond.

Make me twist in the wind @SutterInk! Do your worst. I hate obvious endings and I pray he keeps us all guessing so that the show builds to an even bigger draw.