‘Sons of Anarchy’ react: The death of [SPOILER] is series’ saddest moment

Image Credit: Prashant Gupta/FX

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t watched this week’s episode of Sons of Anarchy yet, STOP READING. Sorry, West Coast, we need to start the viewer support group now. 

We all knew someone was dying this hour. According to our Inside TV poll, which counted more than 41,000 votes, 39 percent of fans believed it would be Unser. He was followed by Juice (18%), Tig (16%), Clay (13%), Opie (9%), and Tara (6%).

UPDATE: In the comments, some fans are saying they’re going to stop watching the show because it was Opie, a man who’d already lost a wife and his father because of the club, who leaves behind two kids, and who was beautifully played by Ryan Hurst. But as I argue below, and as other readers are articulating in the comments, his death makes sense. Great showrunners aim to surprise viewers, but they also know that fans have to be able to look back, connect the dots, and think, oh, of course. Kurt Sutter set the stage for Opie’s farewell. You may not have wanted it to be Opie, but were you blindsided? Opie admitted he wasn’t sure he was capable of loving anyone when he gave his ex $20,000 to take care of his children in last week’s episode. He told her he was going out-of-town and wasn’t sure when he’d be back. He soured on the club, but Jax was his best friend — that’s who he wanted to protect when he got himself tossed in jail and then thrown into the death match. Maybe Jax was the only person Opie remembered how to love.

The fact that fans are talking about sobbing and feeling as though they were going to vomit means the loss mattered. That’s what you want from a good show. That’s a drama in its fifth season having the power — and the balls — to destroy you in an epic way. When a turn was earned, as this one was, you mourn the death of the character and celebrate the life in the show. As Pope said, the pain will take Jax to a new level. It had to cut that deep.

Now, back to the recap… 

Once Pope had his sitdown with Jax in the Commander’s office, it would have been a cop-out had it not been one of the guys in jail. Pope gave Jax his terms: he’d be taking half of SAMCRO’s cartel payday from now on ($50,000 a shipment), Tig would get life in prison and suffer accordingly, and one Son would die as retribution for the Niner and the cop they’d killed. Once the Son was dead, the witnesses would recant their stories, the murder charges would be dropped, and Jax would be set free “to earn.”

Jax: Come on, man, I’m not just gonna kill one of my guys.

Pope: [Smiles] Yes, you are. Before the next guard shift. The cost of doing battle.

Jax: I’m not goin’ to war.

Pope: You already in it, son.

The Commander told Jax this needed to go down in solitary and the shift Sergeant would walk him through it. To get all four of our boys in solitary, Jax had them pound on the prisoners with ties to Pope in the yard. Both sides were put in solitary, two to a room. (That’s still solitary? Okay then.) Jax ended up with Opie, who knew Jax was holding back something. Opie heard it when the Sergeant came in to tell Jax whichever Son he picked would be put in “the box” with Pope’s guys to fight until he loses. When Jax admitted to Opie he had no idea how to keep everyone alive, and the two sat there in silence — that’s when I started to tear up. I couldn’t figure a way out for them either.

Jax then told Opie the truth about everything — why Clay had killed Piney and why he couldn’t let Opie kill Clay. Now I was panicking. I kept asking myself why is Jax telling him all this now? Was it because he was going to choose Opie and owed him that much? Because he was going to pick himself? Because he couldn’t ask Opie to help him come up with a solution with this weighing on him? When the Sergeant came back for Jax’s decision, Opie and Jax tried to stall. The Sergeant clubbed Jax in the knee, and Opie made a move — until the Sergeant pulled his gun. “This is my hell, b—-. I make the rules. If you don’t pick which guy fights, I will,” he said. Opie asked Jax what he was going to do. “Pick the guy,” Jax answered.

When Jax and Opie reunited with Chibs and Tig, Jax told them Pope wanted Tig inside forever and one of them dead. Chibs asked how they were going to handle it. “I don’t give a s— who Pope is or how deep his reach is. He doesn’t make that call. We decide our fate,” Jax said. The Sergeant entered with other guards and asked if he or Jax was making the decision. Jax looked at the boys and said, “My call.” He turned and was about to punch the Sergeant when Opie said, “No,” stopped Jax, and headbutted the Sergeant. In my mind, Jax hadn’t chosen himself — he’d told the boys they were taking their chances and fighting the guards, who hadn’t handcuffed them, together. But Opie, who’d seen the Sergeant pull his gun earlier, knew it wouldn’t end well. All four boys could die.

Opie had told Lyla that he wasn’t sure he loved anything anymore when he asked her to watch his kids. In his mind, he was already dead inside, so he was the one who should make the sacrifice (since Pope wouldn’t allow Tig to). Jax loves his kids and Tara; Chibs had nothing to do with this mess. “Throw him in,” the Sergeant said. As Opie was led away, Jax screamed and tried to stop it, but Chibs and Tig held him back. The Sergeant had pulled his gun again. The Sergeant gave Opie a pipe and told him, “Keep it interesting, s—head.” He must have bet that the Son would last longer than a second against Pope’s four men. Jax beat on the glass and called to Opie. “I got this,” Opie said.

In the comments, I would love for everyone to describe your experience watching this next part of the scene unfold. It’ll be therapeutic knowing that at that moment, I wasn’t the only one who not only teared up but also paused, shouted an expletive or two, and picked up a pillow to hold. You can be honest. I’ll admit that I actually left the room, pillow in hand, and paced and whimpered before pressing play again. When I finally resumed watching, I sat as far away as I could from the screen. Opie did okay just long enough to give you the slightest hope. But the biggest guy grabbed him from behind, and another guy punched him and took the pipe. He struck Opie hard in the face, and Opie collapsed as our boys watched. Jax fought back tears, and Chibs beat on the glass wailing. Opie got back up to his knees, ready for his execution, and kept his eyes on Jax. Tig turned his back, he couldn’t watch. The only sound was Opie’s heavy breathing until the swing and the snap of his neck. Chibs again beat on the glass and wailed, but Jax turned to face us. As we saw one of the guys continue to beat Opie’s lifeless body over Jax’s shoulder, Jax’s chin quivered. Was he still fighting back tears or was it from the anger? His eyes had already turned steely. I say the latter.

The Sergeant walked Jax to the Commander’s office. How much control did it take for Jax not to slam that guy’s head into a wall? Instead, Jax warned him: “I’m gettin’ released. There’s nothing you can do to stop that. I’ll find out who you are and where you live, and then I’m gonna kill you.” Not looking at him while he said that made it even more chilling. Pope was waiting for Jax in the office. Stone-cold Jax told Pope there was a new plan. He’d get the club to sign off on splitting their money with Pope, but he wanted Tig on the outside. Knowing Jax saved his life, Tig would be in Jax’s debt, which gives Jax an internal advantage. “And when I’m done, you can send him out the same way you did his kid. ‘Cause I really don’t give a s—,” Jax said.

“There you go,” Pope said. “Finding the hidden advantage in an unfortunate circumstance. Using pain to take you to the next level. Those are the things that turn players into kings.” Now I understand what Kurt Sutter meant when he said Nero would be a mentor to Jax but Pope would also become an example for him. Pope agreed to the terms and told Jax to keep Tig on a short leash. Jax told Pope the home invasions had to stop as well, and Pope told him those weren’t his doing and better not be the Niners’. Pope’s parting words: “Be smart, Mr. Teller. It’s who you are.”

Jax told Chibs they were getting out the next day, so he should figure out who they owe favors to and get intel on the Sergeant. He told him Tig was going with them but didn’t tell him how. Jax then told Tig, who knew it should have been him in the box, that he’d gotten him cleared. In exchange, Jax wants Tig to back his every play and never vote against him again — which Tig is cool with. Jax neglected to tell Tig that Pope gets to kill him in the end. Was that because Jax has no intention of letting that happen, or because he really doesn’t care about Tig now that he’s watched Opie, his best friend, die because of him? I’d like to think the former, but I fear the latter.

NEXT: Gemma and Tara wage their own war, plus Juice provides much-needed comic relief

View the original article here

Adam Hanft: Michelle Obama's Eleanor and Oprah Moment

Adam Hanft: Michelle Obama's Eleanor and Oprah Moment HPFB.init();
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Adam HanftPolitical Columnist, CEO of Hanft Unlimited

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There were two figures who stood, invisibly but powerfully, behind Michelle Obama as she gave her speech last night. Two women, generations apart, speaking through a third.

The first was Eleanor Roosevelt, who invented the concept of the modern first lady, and who in fact operated at a level of personal involvement and passion that has still been unequalled. (Mrs. Roosevelt gave 348 press conferences of her own, at which no male reporters were allowed.)

The second was Oprah Winfrey, who became the first African-American celebrity to command vast cultural attention -- and achieve enormous influence -- by using her personal story as an inspirational vehicle that encouraged others to accept and overcome their own struggles.

Mrs. Obama's speech deftly wove together the leadership role of the first lady as created by Mrs. Roosevelt, and the culture of introspection, emotion, and confessional drama that was the daily conversation on Oprah's couch. Of course, the role of race can't be ignored in this confluence of influence; Eleanor Roosevelt was a famous fighter for the rights of African-Americans. Oprah, of course, used to be the most famous black woman in the world.

The combination of these two strands -- and the emotional self-confidence of the second would not have not possible without the pathfinding courage of the first -- is the reason the speech was rapturously received by some, and well-accepted by others. As E. J. Dionne Jr. noted in the Washington Post: "As a general matter, her speech was a big hit: good enough that even Fox News was kind to her."

Mrs. Obama began by recounting her travels across America. Eleanor Roosevelt was the first wife of a president to travel and make speeches on her own. The first lady spoke of "teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay" and "people who become heroes at a moment's notice... flying across the country to put out a fire."

That was her Rooseveltian syntax. Then she pivoted directly to the Winfreyian; she spoke, from a mother's point-of-view, about bringing up her daughters in the White House.

"While I believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country... and I was certain he would make an extraordinary president... like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance."

Then she goes full-on Oprah schmaltz:

"So when people ask me whether being in the White House has changed my husband, I can honestly say that when it comes to his character, and his convictions, and his heart, Barack Obama is still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago...

...I didn't think it was possible, but today, I love my husband even more than I did four years ago...even more than I did 23 years ago, when we first met."

Woven into this were moving vignettes of her father's physical struggles with MS, and his extraordinary work ethic. This was both a spoken and unspoken rejoinder to the Republican attack on her husband for "gutting" the work requirement for welfare recipients. How could anyone whose father valued work so much, be married to someone who values work so little, she implicitly declared.

"...every morning, I watched my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker, prop himself up against the bathroom sink, and slowly shave and button his uniform.

And when he returned home after a long day's work, my brother and I would stand at the top of the stairs to our little apartment, patiently waiting to greet him... watching as he reached down to lift one leg, and then the other, to slowly climb his way into our arms."

This is a very modern kind of sharing, though it clearly be scripted and politically-motivated sharing theater. Mrs. Roosevelt never spoke about her marriage or really all that much about Franklin (for reasons which are now obvious.) She lived in an era that was free of public introspection; it was rare for her to speak as personally as she did in her radio broadcast on the day after Pearl Harbor, which actually came before her husband's famous "Day of Infamy" speech:

"I should like to say just a word to the women in the country tonight. I have a boy at sea on a destroyer, for all I know he may be on his way to the Pacific. Two of my children are in coast cities on the Pacific. Many of you all over the country have boys in the services who will now be called upon to go into action."

Mrs. Roosevelt took on major issues, many of them controversial, the most scalding of the hot-buttons, and spoke ringingly in her voice. In that way she was even more modern than Michelle Obama, whose causes are largely domestic and non-controversial, like childhood obesity and the inarguable goodness of growing your own zucchini.

So as we expected, there wasn't much political red meat in this speech -- other than a few not-so-veiled references to "playing by your own set of rules" which invoked the luxe, influence-rich world of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital.

And there certainly was no policy in this speech. There was no talk of "how." That will be left to those later in the week, including her husband, who will lay out the policy prescriptions for job creation and deficit reduction and the roadmap to a vibrant economic future.

This was a speech about "why." Why Barack was the right choice then (the ancient year of 2008), and why he is the right choice now. Michelle Obama -- a historical figure in her own right -- compellingly supplied her personal, emotional justification for the "why." She did that by putting her story, and the president's, in the ultimately American context of personal, odds-defying achievement. She argued that understanding leads to action.

"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it... and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love."

While the subtle gay marriage reference was pitched to the base -- those who were in the hall, and those beyond the balloons -- it was also perfectly tuned to the frequency of independents and undecideds.

The speech called back all the reasons that America voted to let her husband start the job. That moment and that national choice, those emotionally plangent chords -- far more than arguments about Medicare or "who built that" -- will determine whether he gets to finish the job. It was the right pitch to make.

If President Obama is given his chance, it will be fascinating to watch whether a second term liberates the first lady from the controversy-free confines of the vegetable patch. (Which, by the way, was Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden.)

It's doubtful. While we can expect to see Michelle Obama on the campaign, defending her husband and going after the Republicans, her advisers will be cautious about squandering her popularity with vitriol.

If the Obamas are returned, White House advisers will seek to maintain her popularity, and use it strategically. Which means we'll see less Eleanor and more Oprah. So we'll have to wait for the Obamas to leave the White House whether Mrs. Obama wants to assume a broader and more vigorous role in the national dialogue. That's something we've always known she was capable of, and which was affirmed last night.

   

Follow Adam Hanft on Twitter:www.twitter.com/hanft

FOLLOW POLITICS Like 159k   Get Alerts #ad_bottom_article_text {margin-bottom: 15px} Inside DCElections 2012Democratic ConventionOprahThere were two figures who stood, invisibly but powerfully, behind Michelle Obama as she gave her speech last night. Two women, generations apart, speaking through a third.The first was Eleanor Roos...There were two figures who stood, invisibly but powerfully, behind Michelle Obama as she gave her speech last night. Two women, generations apart, speaking through a third.The first was Eleanor Roos... More in Politics...
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of our newest badge: Community Curator. View All Recency |  Popularity HUFFPOST SUPER USEROOOOOMY238 Fans 6 hours ago ( 3:35 AM)From last post regarding Obama comes from poverty....

Link: Article | Came the Hero

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Here is an interesting Link: FactCheck.org : Obama White House 'Full of Wall Street ...OOOOOMY: From last post regarding Obama comes from poverty.... Link: Articlehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/OOOOOMY/michelle-obamas-eleanor-an_b_1859116_184332224.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USEROOOOOMY238 Fans 6 hours ago ( 3:31 AM)"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it... and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love"

Michelle......Stop with the poverty bit...the car had rotted out parts, shoes too small and that Table..Now try this different truer version
Obama was raised by his grandparents one of which was a banker, he went to the top private school in Hawaii. It had swimming pools and tennis courts. It had photo studios! They both attended elite schools. Michelle went to Whitney Young. Whitney Young was a public magnet school for Chicago’s upper class. That’s where Michelle went to school. Barack went to Punahou, which is the private prep school for the top strata of Hawaii society.
Then they were both accepted to Ivy League schools despite having, uh, less-than-stellar credentials. You might say that they were affirmative-action admissions. But they didn’t come from poverty.OOOOOMY: "Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it... andhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/OOOOOMY/michelle-obamas-eleanor-an_b_1859116_184331724.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments…    new comment(s) on this entry — Click to refreshLoading comments… 1 2 3 4 5 See All Highlights in × people have highlighted this! Huzzah! This text has been highlighted.

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HOT ON TWITTER2RgnQXLokElFimSGDV8i8f8ym0hHXTufiJKomeBLqmM3QvAVQ0trgDrc%2BaNUFZ3B1 of 2 RT @aol Bill Clinton asks voters to give Obama another chance http://t.co/zL7HJ7Me via @HuffPostPol aol Bill Clinton asks voters to give Obama another chance http://t.co/zL7HJ7Me via @HuffPostPol Retweet RT @aol Now live on the air: Today's edition of @huffpostlive! http://t.co/2ynVWIOc aol Now live on the air: Today's edition of @huffpostlive! http://t.co/2ynVWIOc Retweet HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES Celebrities On Lunch Boxes, From The Beatles To Justin Bieber (PHOTOS)Video Beyonce, Kim Kardashian And Other Faux Celebrity Friendships (PHOTOS)Kanye West Celebrity Weight Loss: Stars Who Lost Weight For Movie Roles (PHOTOS)Celebrities National Cathedral Scales Back 9/11 Anniversary CommemorationSeptember 11 Anniversary D.C. Officer Won't Be Charged For Alleged Threat Against Michelle ObamaMichelle Obama White House Backs Blacklisting Militant OrganizationTerrorism Simpson-Bowles References In Obama, Biden DNC Speeches Vex Media, ProgressivesDebt Senator John Kerry Got Jokes (VIDEO)Democratic Convention Joe Biden Speech: Vice President Misuses The Word Literally (VIDEO)Joe Biden more big news pages »   Sign up by clicking here. Questions? Find out more: offthebus@huffingtonpost.comSend us your robocalls!#ofb_widget{top: 0;}#ofb_widget.fixed {position: fixed; top: 15;}var OffTheBus = {post_join_actions_url:'/gadgets/campaigns_post_join_action.php?campaign_id=',Init :function() {jQuery('#ofb_widget').css('display','');},Report:function(){if (!HPUser.is_logged_in()){QuickLogin.pop();}else{jQuery.get(OffTheBus.post_join_actions_url + "114",function(data){huff.use('modal', function(m){ m.show({ content: data, width: 750, })});HPUtil.EvalScript(data);});}},Mail:function(){huff.use('modal', function(m){ m.show({ url:"/web-services/offthebus/signup.html", width: 585,height:525, })});},Join:function(id){//add contributor to campaignsjQuery.get(OffTheBus.post_join_actions_url + id,function(data){huff.use('connect/modal', function(connect_modal){connect_modal.init(function(){huff.use('modal', function(modal){modal.show({theme:'connect_modal',content: data,width: 750,height: 550});});});});});},};jQuery(document).ready(OffTheBus.Init);jQuery(document).ready(function () { jQuery(window).scroll(function (event) {var top = jQuery('#otb_module').offset().top - parseFloat(jQuery('#otb_module').css('marginTop')); var y = jQuery(this).scrollTop();if (y >= top) { jQuery('#ofb_widget').addClass('fixed'); } else { jQuery('#ofb_widget').removeClass('fixed'); } });});
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