Hey everyone! Welcome to episode 69 (LoL) of Girl Of Mayhem. Today we are going to be talking about episode 2 from season 5 of Sons Of Anarchy, titled Authority Vested.
Let me give you guys a couple of disclaimers before we get started. First, I am in no way affiliated with the cast or crew of Sons of Anarchy, I am merely a fan doing a fan podcast. Second, I am not part of an MC, nor have I ever been so any info I get about that lifestyle is secondhand through another source such as the internet.
Ok, I have to start with some kind of sad news, Johnny Lewis, who played Halfsack in the first few seasons has passed away. You can find the article online at the New York Daily Times website, or through a search engine. I have the link posted on Facebook and Twitter, and on http://girlofmayhem.com. I want to thank James for emailing me right away to tell me, and providing the link we have on the GOM website.
Now let me give you guys some ways you can contact me with your feedback. As always, you can email me at girlofmayhem@gmail.com, call me at 559-762-2278 and leave a voicemail, or comment on the website http://girlofmayhem.com. You can also find us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/girlofmayhempodcast and tweet me at @girlofmayhem on Twitter.
Don't forget, I still want all of your feedback!
Today we are going to be talking the second episode from season 5, and I am also going to give you a character analysis of one of our newer characters, Nero (played by Jimmy Smits). I also wanted to ask all of you if you have the SOA app, and if you do, what do you think about it? Can you tell what's new when there's an update? I'm having a lot of trouble with the new app set-up and really want the old one back! If you have it, let me know what you think!
I want to thank Shep for his thoughts on the first episode, he emailed me and mentioned that now it makes sense why they introduced Tig's daughter last season, and thought it was heartbreaking what Pope did to her. I also want to thank James for emailing about Johnny Lewis, and John from Houston for leaving a voicemail. John mentioned that Sutter is having some OMG moments, thought the scene with Tig's daughter was one of the most painful he's ever seen. He also said that Gemma's sex scene with Nero was a "wow" moment and that he hopes they don't overwhelm this season (season 5) with too many plot lines. He likes the direction Tara's character is going, and is worried about Clay sneaking back in. John is going to try to attend "church" over at the Watchers of Anarchy (a fellow SOA podcast - you can find the link on the GOM site).
Now let's get down to business and talk about this episode, Authority Vested.
The description for this episode reads "Jax and SAMCRO are challenged as past sins resurface". The music in this episode includes Hayes Greenfield with Steel House Blues, Fitz & The Tantrums with We Don't Need No Love Songs, Attika 7 with All Or Nothing, and Jack Savoretti with Soldiers Eyes (which plays during the ending montage).
When we open, we are at Opie's. He is sleeping but wakes up when he hears a sound. After grabbing his gun and checking things out he discovers Sheriff Roosevelt at his door. Roosevelt is looking for Jax.
Then we are at Diosa International (Nero's escort service - by the way, I looked it up and diosa means "goddess"). Jax and Chibs are talking about how Tig is still MIA and they need to find him to fill him on what's going on with the warrants. Also during this scene Bobby asks Gemma how long she's knows Nero, trying to gather whether Nero is trustworthy. Gemma mentions she hasn't known him long but trusts him. Carla comes out to go on a job and tells Nero she wants SOA gone (apparently she doesn't do well with surprises). I liked that they called the sex rooms "therapy rooms". Jax questions Nero's motives during this scene and when Gemma tries to vouch for him, I noticed how forceful Jax is in silencing her. Apparently the President patch has given him some power. Jax, Bobby, and Chibs leave to go get Tig after they get a call, and Nero loans him a truck because their bikes will be too auspicious.
Next we are at Gemma's, where Unser is coming to after the beating. We see Clay alone at his own place, Unser calls him to get over there.
At the rail yard we see Tig sitting by the burned bodies. The guys pull up and Tig tells them that Pope did it. He mentions he wants/needs to find Fawn because Pope threatened to kill her too. The guys help him pull Dawn out of the hole with the other bodies.
Back at Gemma's Juice and Clay have arrived and are surprised Unser was there just to feed the bird. In a humorous moment, Unser mentions the bird is his closest friend. Clay thinks it's Pope who's behind the break-in. During this part it really hit me how down and out both Clay and Unser are. Once kings of Charming, time has taken it's toll on both of them, and in their own way they are paying for their past sins, at least that's what it seems to me. I also think it's odd that so far Unser's cancer has not been mentioned this season, and I wonder if we are going to get some kind of update on his status with that. A great quote by Unser during this part is "Charmed life, ain't it?".
At the rail yard the guys burn the other bodies (the cop and the cleaner), and we see Tig holding Dawn's burned body like a baby. Very sad.
The bulk of our episode starts off at Diosa. The guys are trying to reach out to Romeo, because he's the only one who can help them. Someone suggests Alvarez, but that's shot down. I'm wondering how much of the Mayans we'll end up seeing this season. As I'm sure most of you have noticed, there are ebbs and flows with how much we see of any given gang. One season will focus more on the Irish, another on the 9ers, another on the Mayans, etc.
Also during this part Jax gives Nero some money. How nice it must be to finally have cash flow instead of doing odd things to piece it together. I guess that's the one good thing that comes from being drug mules. Jax has an interesting comment during this part where he says "All this activity makes me think we're in the wrong business". Clearly he's talking about how busy the escort service is.
At Pope's office, August comes in and tells Pope about the cop and cleaner being dead at the rail yard.
Back at Diosa, the guys meet with their lawyer. Jax is trying to buy more time before they go to jail because they need protection on the inside (they know "black" is coming after them). While in the meeting, Clay calls about the break-in. In a private session between Jax, Tara, Bobby, and the lawyer they talk about RICO and Jax tells her how it's being held over their heads. They need to prove Otto's story is false in order to get Bobby off the hook permanently, and try to fight off RICO.
After the meeting Bobby tries to explain to Jax that the break-ins are not about payback from Pope/the 9ers. Jax has Bobby take Gemma home to deal with the break-in, and the guys have to go find Fawn. It is decreed by the lawyer that Jax, Chibs, and Tig have about 8 hours til they need to turn themselves in.
At Gemma's, Roosevelt is there investigating the home invasion. I thought it was interesting to note that Unser says something about there being 4 of them, when I only saw 2 in the last episode, and at the end of this episode, we see who 3 of them are... Something to ponder.
Again at Diosa, Jax and Tara have a conversation. Jax tells Tara how well she's been dealing with all that's been going on (with the club). Tara starts to get upset when Fawn is found and Jax says he needs to leave to go with Tig to get her, and then stops herself. While Tara is becoming more and more like Gemma, becoming a stronger women, it personally bothers me when she stops herself from saying her true feelings to Jax.
During this part, Jax decides that they should get married. That day. I love Tara's quote when she says "Here? In a brothell? Wanted for murder..." I was kind of upset when Jax brought up that he'd killed a fed for her. The "fed" was trying to rape her, and I would think any man who loved a woman would have done the same. I didn't like the throwing it in her face vibe I got. But I did laugh when he said "Nothing says endless love like capital murder".
Over at Roosevelt's office, Unser stops by. He talks to Roosevelt about the break-ins. He mentions to Roosevelt that it "felt more white". Roosevelt looks offended (I found it highly amusing) and asks "and how does white feel?". Even funnier was when Unser said it was "sloppy" and that the beating was "obligatory". Unser mentions he'll be poking around, and will tell Roosevelt if he finds anything and asks that Roosevelt do the same. I liked their moment when Unser talked about wearing the badge for 30 years and his involvement with SOA.
Meanwhile, Jax and the guys arrive at the house in Oakland where Fawn is supposed to be. Tig starts to take the guys on the porch by force, but they don't have any tattoos and are clearly not 9ers. Then we hear Fawn screaming and they rush in. Turns out, she's having consensual rough sex with her boyfriend. I just want to note, between Gemma's sex scene, the escort service, and Fawn's sex scene, there is a LOT of sex going on this season!
We come back from the commercial and we are still in Oakland. Tig is talking to Fawn, and she realizes Dawn is dead. She starts screaming that she hates Tig, and hits him. They pull him off of her. Jax talks to Fawn's boyfriend, and gives him some money (not sure how much) to get her out of town. Chibs is instructed to stay behind and make sure Fawn gets out, and Jax is going to call Nero to come pick him up. I want to say that for the record, as suspicious as Jax was of Nero, he sure is taking advantage of the favors Nero can offer!
Next we see Bobby and Clay in the van, and Clay has Bobby bring him to Opie's. Bobby clearly does not think this is good idea, and during this part Bobby mentions how he doesn't think the club will vote Clay out for killing Piney (although they should! We all know why they won't but COME ON, GET CLAY OUT!). We then have a scene with Clay and Opie in Opie's backyard. Opie is CLEARLY not happy to see Clay, saying "What the hell is this, Clay?". Clay is not stupid enough to try and say he's sorry (and we all know he isn't anyway). He talks to Opie about how Opie needs to support Jax, and he tells Opie that it's "his time" at the table. He also tells Opie that the guys are turning themselves in.
Nero comes to pick up Jax in Oakland. Nero has a stop to make. On their way to the stop, Jax asks Nero about the escort business. This leads me to believe Jax either wants to start his own, wants a piece of Nero's, or is looking for a way to get out of the guns/drugs. Considering that SOA has been in the porn business before (are they still in any way?), this isn't that far fetched.
Also in this part we find out that Nero still has his "crew" (gang?), but doesn't run them anymore. Most of the people he ran with are dead or in jail. We learn that Nero had spent his 30's in Chino, and there he kicked his drug habit. They pull up to Saint Emilio's Home For Physically Challenged Youth.
Unser is at Teller-Morrow auto, when we see him he appears to be questioning Wade (the mechanic who also had his home broken in to). Gemma calls him in to the office, while they're having a conversation SOA's lawyer comes in with the marriage certificate for Jax & Tara. Gemma looks surprised, she of course didn't know. She says she will drop it off to them. (For a second I didn't think she would!)
Then we are back at the youth home where we see Nero with a disabled child, and he's giving him a gift. Jax goes to have a cigarette and we see that the 9ers are watching from and SUV. When both him and Nero are in the car they have a conversation about the problems their children face. Both men had women who used drugs during pregnancy. Nero's son has spina bifida (caused from the mother). As they're leaving Nero states "We got admirers". The 9ers are following them. Jax offers to get out, but instead Nero takes them on a car chase where he plays chicken with them, the 9ers lose and crash, and Nero manages to lose the tail. "Sorry, I don't get out that much" Nero tells Jax after exclaiming how fun it was.
The next thing we see is the filming of a porn scene. Ima and Lila are in it. As the director yells cut, we see Opie who is waiting for Lila. He needs to talk to her, asks her if she can watch his kids for a few weeks. He gives her 20grand to do it. She asks him if he ever loved her, and he basically replies "I don't know if I love anything", assumingly trying not to hurt her.
Gemma is at Diosa and she brings Jax the marriage license. When he looks the other way she goes to talk to Tara. Although Gemma is upset, she brings Tara the rings from her marriage to JT. Gemma has a very true line during this part when she says "There is no one else who understands what you are going through right now better than I do". I also noted that she called Jax her "only son", which struck me for some reason. Jax is clearly her only LIVING son, but I would think she would count Thomas as her son, even though he's deceased.
We move on to the marriage ceremony (where the Judge seems bored and is rushed). Jax allows Tara to take off his "SO" and "NS" rings in order to put on the wedding ring. Chibs speaks briefly, and after the vows are done Romeo calls.
Our next (and final) scene in the main part of the episode is the guys meeting with Romeo and Luis. Jax tells them about Pope setting them up. He requests they use their connections to protect the guys while they're in jail, he also requests they work on making the charges disappear. Jax has some great lines during this scene when he says "I am trying to survive, it ain't easy living on both sides of the fence, you know that".
After Jax and the guys leave Romeo and Luis have a private conversation and Luis asks what happens if they can't get the guys protection in jail. Romeo says "Let black kill him, go to plan B" to which Luis replies "We don't have a plan B" and Romeo says "We will".
Our ending starts at the clubhouse with the guys waiting to be picked up by the Sheriff.
Jax says goodbye to Bobby, and then we hear the cops arrive. Jax says goodbye to Tara, and then to Gemma. We see Gemma consoling Tig, saying that she'll make sure Fawn is okay. When everybody goes out to meet the cops, that's when we see Opie arrive (and our ending montage begins).
Opie punches Roosevelt, therefore getting arrested. When asked what he's doing Gemma replies "he's staying close". Meaning he's listening to what Clay told him and staying close to Jax and the club. It's ironic that Gemma knows the exact wording, but she's been around the life for so long that it's not surprising.
Then we see the nomads who were patched over (GoGo, Greg the Peg, and Frankie Diamonds) dumping Clay's safe. And we see Frankie examining the documents that were inside the safe (marriage certificates, etc).
We then see the guys (Jax, Opie, Chibs, & Tig) inside the "bus" going to jail. Jax asks Opie "Is this you becoming me", to which Opie replies "How'd I do", and Jax says "Not bad".
We see Tara, Gemma, Bobby, etc at the clubhouse watching them leave.
Our next scene is Gemma at Nero's place, asking him "Is this okay?" (meaning is it ok that she's coming to him for comfort).
We see Clay, alone again, with his oxygen tank and drink, once again, a la Piney.
We see Pope in his office looking at Jax's arrest record.
Finally, our last shot is of the guys on the "bus". During this ending montage, Soldiers Eyes by Jack Savoretti is playing (a VERY good song choice!).
And that's it for episode 2 from season 5 of SOA. Please don't forget to write or call in with your thoughts on this episode!
The next thing we're going to talk about is a character analysis of Nero, played by Jimmy Smits.
I'm going to start with Jimmy Smits' bio and then move onto details about and thoughts on the character.
Jimmy (which that's his real first name, not James, actually Jimmy) was born in Brooklyn, NY on 7-9-1955. He is 6 feet 3 inches tall. He was married to a woman named Barbara from 1980 to 1987, and has 2 kids, a boy and a girl. He has been with Wanda De Jesus since 1986, so over 26 years (and yes, partly during the time he was still married to Barbara, but I'm assuming that maybe they were separated). Jimmy has a Bachelors degree from Brooklyn College in theater, and has a Masters degree from Cornell (impressive!). A fun fact is that he was named the "King of Brooklyn" in 1991 at a festival.
As far as TV, Jimmy has appeared on popular shows such as Dexter, The West Wing, LA Law, and NYPD Blue. He has also been in movies, such as Star Wars Episode II and Star Wars Episode III.
Now onto our character.
We've been given a fairly good background on Neron "Nero" Padilla, although I'm sure we still have a lot to learn. We know that he is part of a gang (not sure which one but there is speculation that it's called Majestic). He used to run it but no longer does. Most of the people he used to hang around with are dead or locked up. He spent his 30's locked up himself, in Chino. He had a drug habit but kicked it while he was in Chino. He does not appear to be married, but we know he has a son. His son has Spina Bifida and lives in a group home for the physically challenged. He now owns Diosa International, an escort service. He takes 25% of the cut from the girls of their in-house customers, and 30-40% when they have outside calls. And that's our general background.
Here are my thoughts:
Nero definitely seems kind of sweet and goodhearted. He's offered up assistance to Gemma, Jax, and the club, without really asking for anything. And his sons story can really pull at heart strings. But my prediction is this character is going to turn. Something is going to happen to change the way we view him. I don't think Sutter just brings in characters who are "nice guys". I have no idea what will change, or what will cause the change, but I see it coming. And I'm thinking it will be this season. I would love to hear what the rest of you think of Nero, and also what kind of job you think Jimmy Smits is doing playing the character.
Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone is doing well, and I hope to hear from you before the next episode!
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