Gut-wrenching
This episode hit me like a glass of icewater on an empty stomach. I watched it back-to-back with the latest episode of the Shield, which didn't help any (my stomach was already in knots), but I spent the whole episode praying that Opie wouldn't get killed. He's one of the show's best characters (and best…

Yeah, that scene was really disjointed, and I'm not sure what it was getting at beyond trying to put some sort of significance on Abel. It may tie into the exchange between Jax and Gemma at the end, where Jax essentially mans up and says "I can take care of my son". Perhaps this is symbolic of Jax stepping up and…

You're welcome.

Yeah, I absolutely love that Hale one-punched Smith and laid him out. Hale is a big, solidly-built dude, and while he's a bit touchy-feely and Dudley Do-Right all the time, that really gave the impression that there's a brute inside of him. I'd like to see more of that.

Absolutely. Of course, the show is always going to draw unfair comparisons to the Shield (because of Kurt Sutter, the show's existence on FX, sharing of cast, and the overall feel) which aren't going to favor SoA in the beginning due to its single-season run thus far, but I'm hoping that it lives up to the potential…

I'm pretty sure Chibs weighs in with Jax — it's pretty subtle, but he's always standing with or sitting with Jax, and tends to enter with him a lot. They place him at Jax's shoulder often, and I theorized that he may be the show's Horatio.

You should absolutely pick up Sons of Anarchy. If the pilot didn't grab you, well… it didn't grab most of the AV Club staff, either, apparently. After much pleading from the readers, they decided to pick up coverage on it again, and with good reason — it is probably the best new series of the year.

I just didn't want to leave his wife out of the question. I don't particularly care for her acting, and never have.

questions for shawn ryan
Okay, so I've got some questions for Shawn Ryan.

Agreed. I think Bobby is covering for Opie and letting it be, knowing that Opie really needs the in and is totally dedicated to Sam Crow no matter how hard it was to pull that trigger.

It's always driven me insane. While calling a planet We Made It! is cute at first, the joke wears old after five minutes. Can we really expect a name like that to stick?

Well, thanks for either the spoiler or the BS Internet rumor.

this makes me sad
Edward Norton used to make only great movies. What happened to that era?

McKey
McKey's friggin' tyrannosaurus mouth still freaks me out.

Clay Theory
Does anyone else get the distinct feeling that Clay isn't meant to survive the season? It wouldn't make me happy if that were the case (I'm a huge Ron Perlman fan), but I keep feeling in my gut that he's going to die before it wraps.

niven, as always
I'm a huge Niven fan and a huge Niven critic, and I have to say that you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. He's more about concept than character, and it seems that every interesting bit of technology, evolution, or science he places in his world is offset by some serious flaw in character,…

As I said to my roommate when we were watching this, "This would be really funny if it weren't equally creepy and fucked up."

Mainly it's good for building muscle mass. It's a strong source of protein. So… essentially, if you want peace, prepare to eat a lot of protein supplements. That's one interpretation.

Still the best new show of the season
I've been saying it for a while now, but it bears repeating — Sons of Anarchy is the best new show of this season, and one of the best shows all-around. It just keeps getting better and upping the ante, and it rewards the viewer with great scenes and solid resolutions. They don't…

I don't have that problem whatsoever — I'm dying to find out how Vic does in the end. I'm not rooting for any particular resolution so much as I'm rabidly watching to see what the ultimate resolution will be.