The Televangelist: ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ Season 4, Ep. 12

• FX
• Riding through this world ...

“Burnt and Purged Away” was supposed to be the penultimate episode of the season before “Sons” was awarded an extra hour of storytelling just a few weeks ago. It’s inconceivable how the season could have ended with just the one more episode after everything that happened in this hour. The club spins further into chaos, each of the members orbiting away from each other and the club itself like planets escaping from a solar system. Bobby is in prison, Tig has given up his rank and his loyalty to Clay, Jax is on his way out, Juice is in a cell, Piney is slain, Opie is murderous and, to quote Tig, “Miles and Kozik are dead.” But is Clay? Opie opened fire to end the episode, and though Jax threatened to kill Opie if he harmed Clay, Opie took his shots while he could. Were they enough? And what will be Jax’s response? The episode closed with Jax giving Opie an incredulous look, but what action will he take against his club brother?

It’s actually difficult for me to go back and take into consideration anything else that happened in last night’s episode, because I took up an entire page of notes just writing “OMG!!!!!” with large strokes. There are essentially two time periods now, before the shooting and after, and I have a feeling that next week will rain down with more emotion than we will know how to handle. The final act was a culmination of everything that had been building for seasons but that came to such an explosive head in the last dozen episodes. Kurt Sutter told us that this season finale would feel like a series finale, and I predicted that only the death of Clay could take us there emotionally. Even if Clay doesn’t die (yet, anyway), how can the club ever come back together? The conversation Jax, Clay and Bobby had about the change in leadership was, I believe, a clue. With Bobby as President and Chibs as VP (and Happy as Sergeant At Arms, a natural fit. Although given Bobby and Tig’s new relationship I think Tig would pick up his old post again), the club would already be set for calmer times. We’ve never seen Bobby take a leadership role, and I think the club under him would be a much more laid back affair, a la the club that J.T. had always envisioned. But of course, as we know, Bobby is in jail and will probably stay there for a long time. With the implosion still so fresh, it’s hard to survey the damage. We don’t know what the result of the multiple fallouts will be, and with that in mind, it’s almost impossible to imagine what the future may hold.