Paul Risker reviews the sixth episode of Sons of Anarchy season 5…
The curtain rises amongst the episode best described as the bloodbath of season five…
And so the season five body count rises. As I write this I have no idea of the total number of souls mowed down by the pen of Kurt Sutter and his writing staff in the five episodes thus far. At a rough estimate I total the body count to be no less than five, allowing for flaws in my numeracy skills and gaps in my memory. Inevitably the five deaths in Small World is quite a striking body count figure to swallow. What would be interesting when Sons of Anarchy finally wraps is to total the deaths and compare it to the total body count in another show where a mass number of individuals were mowed down: The Wire.
But even in its forty-five minute running time death comes in many forms for the unfortunate or not so unfortunate SOA victims. Mother (Rita Roosevelt) and child die tragically in surgery, Carla – who we learn is Nero’s sister after forcing Gemma and Nero into bed together – puts the gun to her head and pulls the trigger. When Jax, Tig, Bobby and Chibs go after the prison guard responsible for Opie’s death, Tig shoots the wife whilst Jax tells them “I’ve got this” and repeatedly pounds the guards head with the snow globe playing the tune “It’s a small world.” As far as Jax is concerned, the wife is just collateral damage, and once again we see the violence propensity Jax possesses.
That the home invasions finally claim their first victim was essential to move the story forward. It’s necessity bookends the episode, Rita’s death escalating the home invasions, and demanding the revelation that the new additions to SAMCRO’s California Charter are the mysterious troublemakers, with Clay the puppet master pulling the strings. But it is not only their strings he is pulling. There are those strings of the characters both seen and unseen, the town’s reaction, the hate swinging towards SAMCRO represented by Eli and other characters we are acquainted with.
The last time we saw Eli’s wife (pregnant) with their first child, she was being wheeled into surgery, shot by one of the masked home invaders, and following her death Eli tracks down SAMCRO and runs Bobby off the road. Jax understanding his pain, diffuses the situation, though Eli warns him, “I’m gonna crush your club.”
There is an indelible question mark left by this showdown between Sheriff and the President of the outlaws. Could Rita’s death be the moment the spark is lit for an alliance between Jax and Eli. Jax certainly appeals to Eli’s rational side when he tells him that he and Pope have, “Reached an understanding. One that stops getting people killed. Why don’t we consider the same thing? Help each other find these scumbags that are s****ing on our town.”
Following an earlier meeting with Pope, Jax puts Pope’s offer of a new deal to the club. The motion to accept Pope’s offer passes by only a single vote, the new members and Juice backing Clay’s NO vote. Bobby offers Jax an immediate warning, perhaps more of an observation, but his words are ominous as he warns the table is dividing.
In a previous review Juice was described as an important piece on the season six chess board, and his backing of Clay to vote NO only further suggests that he will become one of the characters to shape the season six denouement.
Clay as the conniving snake continues to play out, keeping his oxygen tank close so as to lure everyone into a false sense of security, to play the wounded animal, despite an improved state of health from his doctor.
Early in the episode, there is one of the great Uncer and Clay exchanges, both reading each other’s mind, toying with one another through their non-committal choice of words; reluctant to say what the other knows. If Juice is of any significance in the season’s story arch, Uncer along with Pope, both of who deduce that the home invasions are coming from within keeps him firmly at the centre of the season’s unfolding drama. Perhaps the only question remains, will Clay murder yet another friend?
Small World is up until yet the bloodiest episode. Well maybe not the bloodiest, but the episode that sees the highest death toll. It serves to escalate the home invasion story arc to permit the curtain to finally be raised. But before the inevitable squaring off between Jax and Clay that will soon follow, we are left a little while longer to anticipate the inevitable, our anticipation simmering.
Paul Risker is co-editor in chief of Wages of Film, freelance writer and contributor to Flickering Myth and Scream The Horror Magazine.
Originally published March 14, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
