And it would really piss off Gemma. She’s the only person Clay really has to fear.
Exactly, all good points.
What I’ve always liked about this show is that all the characters seem like they’re trying to be good, honorable people, they just have different codes - it seems very realistic in that respect. Folks on the show struggle with decisions and more often than not, they make the wrong choice out of self-interest or a notion of preserving some greater good.
I think that’s why Gemma is so appealing. Even when her emotions get the better of her cough skateboard cough she doesn’t agonize over a course of action.
Kobal2, yeah, Jax was a bit of a snot to the “Prez,” Clay gave him a death glare! I always feel a little sad for Clay, he obviously loves Jax. It seems like Clay is proud of Jax but deeply disappointed that he has failed to mould his stepson in his own image.
Clay, Gemma, Tig, they’re more ruthless than Jax but they all do their best to protect the club. Like Sage Rat said, that’s Jax’s primary goal too. Jax doesn’t know how to deal with Clay and even with Piney acting as his conscience, I don’t think Jax will make a substantive move. Instead, Piney and maybe Oapie will end up dead this season leaving Jax the with the hard choice of making things right or keeping the club together.
Clay has a lot invested in Jax, it’ll take a lot for him to give up on the kid. Gemma keeps pointing out that Jax is veering off their course and Clay always denies that there is a problem. I thing you’re right though, once Clay decides Jax is enough of a threat, the boy had better watch his ass.
Poor, half-smart Clay, I don’t think he can pull off a hit on Jax without Gemma’s help and again, you’re right, she’ll probably jump ship and feed Clay to the wolves. In that situation who does she reach out to? You know she won’t be straight with Jax or depend on him to kill Clay. I can see her manipulating Darby into some dirty deeds.
I just went back and watched Season 1. One thing that strikes me is that, in terms of Hamlet, S1 doesn’t progress further than Act 1.
Theoretically, we have all of the following to still take place:
Jax acts like he’s insane or does something to evade getting killed by Clay
To be or not to be at Dad’s grave
Jax gets sent off to England (Ireland/Nevada?) to be killed, but switches himself out
Ophelia (Tara/Wendy/Cherry?) commits suicide
Polonius (Unser/Piney?) slain by Jax accidentally
A duel with Polonius’ son (Hale/Opie??), with bad tidings for all
If they stick to Hamlet, I would say that we can safely expect to see a third if not fourth season.
But, another thing I noticed was that in The Revelator (S1 finale), Jax wakes up on the steps of a mausoleum marked Patmos, which is where John the Apostle supposedly received a vision. Jax then goes to the funeral and is given his father’s book again. It seems rather odd to throw in a single reference to Jax as John the Apostle if they aren’t going to carry on with that theme.
There’s quite a bit of dialogue in S1 about Jax being “messed up” and “going through some shit” because of Abel’s difficult birth. Maybe not insane but he acted weird.
Jax stood at John’s grave with the book that’s been exacerbating his doubts. Maybe they couldn’t figure out how to give Jax a “To be or not to be” without making him sound like a whiny tool.
In any case, you’re right, they still have quite a lot of ground to cover. I dig the shit out of both of your Polonius theories! I like the idea of Jax killing Piney, that would be wrenching. Still, it would be way more interesting to see Jax and Hale duke it out than watching Jax slay the Oapie_puppy.
Good spot. I’d say they’re referencing John Teller as John the Apostle. I don’t know my Bible stuff that well but…John the Apostle is famous for not denying Jesus, founding churches, and writing/receiving the book of Revelation. Where could they take Jax/John the Apostle parallel?
Thinking about it more, I don’t think Opie could be Laertes. I suspect he’ll be Horatio/Polycarp.
If it’s Unser/Hale as Laertes Polonius, then Ophelia would have to be Tara. But another possibility is that Half-sack will be Laertes. We’ve already seen him as a damned good boxer, and Hamlet does end with a duel. Figure that someone comes in to mentor the prospect and get him thinking straight, then Jax does something which gets the mentor and Cherry killed, Half-sack is going to be a damned tragic figure. The show-down between him and Jax would be a good one because you’d really feel like he deserved to take Jax out.
If Half-sack is Laertes, the best guess for who Polonius will be (of the current cast) would probably be Bobby Munson. I could certainly see him and Gemma talking stuff over as the fellow Jew-brains of the outfit. And he’s certainly a somewhat humorous and laughable character. We’ll have to see if he takes a liking to Halfie.
Yaidunno. I scanned the Wikipedia page and all I could think of was that he taught Polycarp. But maybe there’s some popular legend about John that didn’t make it into the Wikipedia?
LMAO, best line ever!
Yeah, I’m in the same boat, I have no idea about John the Apostle. shrug Guess we’ll find out. Interesting idea about Half-Sack, I’d sure like to see him play a greater role.
If the schism between Clay and Jax widens, which side will each club member choose?
Piney, Juice, and Chibs seem like they would throw in with Jax. Normally I’d put Oapie in that crowd but I think Jax is going to drive Oapie away by being too secretive.
That leaves Tig and Bobby firmly on Clay’s side. Half-Sack and Oapie are up in the air.
What does everyone else think?
It’s a completely minor point, but the name of the character is Opie, not Oapie. Normally, I wouldn’t bother bringing it up, but you’ve been calling him that throughout the thread and it’s driving me a little nuts.
Thanks for pointing that out, sorry I drove you nuts. 
While I appreciate there being some Hamlet parallels, I’ve heard there are some Macbeth ones too. I hope they don’t go too far with it though - if it just becomes Hamlet - in a Biker Gang! that will take a lot of the enjoyment away from me. That sort of thing is fine for a movie or even miniseries, but doesn’t work for a full out series.
Heya, looks like Tom Arnold has lost some weight. Man’s looking good.
And it looks like the Supremacists are hypocrites. Whoda guessed? 
Just saw ep. 2.
Well wouldn’t you know : just after Tara gave Jax a big lecture about not keeping secrets, a huge one lands right in her lap. It’s gonna be amusing watching her dance from one foot to the other, to say the least.
- Ep 3 –
Well so it looks like Opie is dealing with a death or killwish, but I’d say I’m more interested in whether Tara is going to go full-on Neo-Gemma or not.
If Hale becomes Unser, Tara becomes Gemma, and Jax becomes Clay, then the cycle just perpetuates itself.
When does Otto get out of jail? Though I’m a bit worried that Luanne is going to kill Bobby because of his discovery.
Opie’s fun to watch when he’s living on the edge. Jax has already mother henned him too much, Opie’s going to end up firmly in Clay’s corner - echoes of the Lowell situation. Opie’s not a dim bulb though, when he discovers Clay’s involvement with Donna’s death the shit will hit the fan. If Opie keeps rocking the darkside, they could actually set up a cool showdown between Opie looking for revenge and Jax protecting Clay.
The Gemma/Tara moments are hugely entertaining. I can see where lots of folks would find Tara annoying but I actually like her quite a bit. She tries to be “good” but at the same time, you can tell she’d really like to throw all in and be the best ass-kicking old lady ever.
steeples fingers Exxxcellent.
Well that’s where we’re headed, right? Hale, Tara, and Jax nosedive, they become everything they don’t want to be only to pull up at the last second for a Season 2 finale. After we’ve been entertained and the major conflicts of the season straighten everyone out, the writers can basically cough and reboot the series from square one setting up the exact same tensions. Except this time we the viewers will understand why it’s bad for our intrepid youngins to emulate their predecessors.
When the porn skank confronted Tara and Tara took off, did anyone else wonder if she was going to come back with a [del]skateboard[/del] weapon?
If Luanne kills Bobby it’ll be 'cause she screwed him to death. I about died when he complained that he was sore. Surly Otto can’t get out of jail all that soon what with the spectacular rearranging of Agent Stahl’s face.
My only question from last night is would Bobby really hide something from Clay over getting laid? I mean, c’mon. Those guys have chicks out the ass (heh), I can’t imagine him being willing to eat whatever trouble erupts over this just because Luanne (!) gave him a good working over.
I assumed that Bobby would help her continue to skim and take that as hush money - he did say he was strapped for cash. Maybe when he’s back on his feet he plans to give Luanne up to the club. I know what you mean though, if they hadn’t mentioned Bobby’s money trouble I wouldn’t have guessed he’d deceive Clay and the club in that fashion.
Oh I’d forgotten that what started this whole mess was that Bobby was broke. So yeah, you’re undoubtedly right. Thanks for the insight.
Maybe Bobby and Luanne cooking the books will give Agent Stahl reason to come back to town. I always see that actress and think, “Hey, that’s the Profiler…the Profiler is hot!”
Yeah, my head about exploded when she squeezed the two other guy’s butts. Stahl is a bit different character from what I knew her for. 