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Season 3 | Season 5 |
"Fruit for the Crows" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy, and the series' forty-sixth episode overall.
Synopsis[]
SAMCRO deals with the fallout from a death threat made against Tara.
Plot[]
Juice prays at the site of Miles unmarked grave. Gemma arrives at Tara’s house and finds the death threat on the seat of Tara’s car. Inside the house Gemma asks Tara if the threat could be related to the hospital and Tara disagrees insisting it must be related to the club. Tara wants to call the police but Gemma reminds her that doing so puts the club in danger and insists they call Unser to investigate.
SAMCRO meets with Mayans Northern Cali to deliver ammunition and find out about the cocaine preparation and distribution operation. Clay, Jax, Bobby, Tig are in attendance from SAMCRO and Alvarez, Rafi and Pedro greet them from the Mayans. Clay expresses concern that they are in the middle of a residential area and Alvarez reassures him that the locals are co-operative and that the police department stay away. Alvarez shows them into a house and then down into the basement. In the basement four women dressed in their underwear and face masks are cutting cocaine and separating it into packages for retail. In the next room the cocaine is being hidden inside stacks of tortillas. Tig jokes that the Mayans are living up to a racial stereotype by packaging their drugs in traditional Mexican food. Jax asks how many dealers the Mayans are supplying and Alvarez relates that while they have only 28 at present they plan to triple that number and begin supplying prisons. Bobby asks about the Mayans ongoing heroin trade and Alvarez admits that currently street buying is slow but remarks that the drug trade tends to go in cycles. Jax takes a call from Tara, learns of the death threat and tells Clay that they need to leave.
As SAMCRO exit the house a car rams the front gate and the passengers fire on both the Mayans and the Sons with automatic weapons. One of the Mayans is knocked down by the car; a civilian, a Mayan, and Alvarez are shot. Rafi and Pedro pull Alvarez into cover. The drive by shooters flee and Jax pursues them, taking a handgun from the shot Mayans member.
Alvarez’s wound is in the shoulder and he remains conscious – he orders Rafi to have someone guard his wife and children. Clay asks how far away Alvarez’s gunshot doctor is and Alvarez says they are not too far nodding towards the dead civilian. Clay asks Alvarez to follow him and orders Tig to contact Tara. At Tara’s house Opie and Chibs have arrived for guard duty and Thomas is crying. Gemma takes a call and instructs Tara to bring her medical bag as they head to the clubhouse.
Jax tails the shooters into a warehouse district. They stop and draw open fire on him and he takes cover behind a tanker. Jax hits one of the shooters in the thigh. The other shooter gets back into the car, profanely ordering the rotund driver to move across and then pulling away. Jax approaches the downed shooter and secures his weapon. The car reverses back forcing Jax aside and running over the injured shooter. Jax remounts his bike and gives chase once more.
The rest of the club arrive back at the Teller Morrow garage. Filthy Phil is guarding the gate. Gemma and Tara wait for them with the death threat and the medical bag in hand. Unser pulls in behind the others. Gemma asks where Jax is and Clay tells her he is pursuing the shooter, Gemma is surprised, unaware of the events at the Mayans operation. Rafi and Pedro help the injured Alvarez out of their truck and Tara asks them to bring him into the clubhouse. Unser asks Gemma what is going on and she shows him the death threat and asks him to investigate. Unser confirms that the club is protecting Tara as Clay looks back.
Tara extracts the bullet from Alvarez’s shoulder with assistance from Chibs. Juice arrives and Clay asks him why he left the warehouse. Juice tells Clay that Chibs ordered him to return as the club is on lockdown. Clay asks who is left at the warehousee and Juice confirms that Happy, Rat-boy and V-Lin are still there. Clay asks Tig to call the Tacoma charter for extra support and sends Juice back to the warehouse, instructing him to take additional AR-10 rifles with him.
Clay asks Gemma how Tara is doing. He refuses to speculate on the veracity of the threat or any possible connection to Alvarez’s shooting. Gemma asks Opie where his family are and he explains that his children are with his mother but that he has not been able to reach Lyla. Gemma sends Opie to get Lyla from work and Bobby goes with him. Opie asks Gemma to contact Piney. Alvarez asks Tara why Jax was worried about her and she does not answer. As she goes to disinfect Clay explains that she found a death threat. Alvarez reports rumours of the Galindo cartel losing a hit squad. Tig speculates that the threat could have come from the rival Lobos Sonora cartel. Clay believes Romeo would have warned them if this was the case. Juice is doubtful reminding Clay that drug cartels have a history of targeting families. Chibs gets a call from Jax who has tailed the shooters to an apartment complex in Fruit Vale on the corner of 28th and Neale. Chibs says they are on their way and Jax asks him to call LaRoy from the One Niners gang for back-up. Tara asks to speak to Jax and Jax asks her to stay in the Teller Morrow compound. Jax watches the driver and the remaining shooter take a heavy bag from the boot of their car and then follows them back into the apartment building.
Alvarez orders Rafi and Pedro to meet the sons at the apartment building but Clay reassures Alvarez that they can handle it. Chuck comes in and tells Clay that Sherriff Roosevelt is outside and that he is looking for Tara.
Tara goes outside to talk to him and learns that he has heard about the death threat from an anonymous source. She denies any threat, claiming that she is just a little shaken from a difficult morning surgery. Roosevelt offers her protection and she declines. He leaves her with his card. Roosevelt then orders Juice to come to the station for a urine drug test. Clay orders Juice to go to ensure Roosevelt does not return. Clay quizzes Tara about the meeting and is pleased when she tells him she denied all knowledge.
Opie arrives at the adult film studio and asks Lyla to go with him. She refuses to leave work and he agrees to send a prospect to bring her home later. Bobby corners Ima in her dressing room and notices her bruised face. She tells him that Jax was responsible and is afraid when Bobby approaches her. She denies having any involvement with the death threat. Opie takes a call and tells Bobby that Jax needs them.
Juice meets with Roosevelt in his office. Roosevelt reminds him that he is supposed to provide them with a sample of the cocaine. Juice wants to meet the man Roosevelt promised could help him before handing over the drugs. At the apartment complex Jax meets Clay, Bobby, Tig, Chibs, and Opie. Jax has worked out which apartment the shooter is in. Clay is vexed that LaRoy has not shown up. Jax counsels that they should act now before the shooter leaves or gets reinforcements. Jax details a plan to assault the apartment with him, Chibs and Opie going through the balcony as Clay, Tig and Bobby take the rear door. The Sons burst into the apartment finding the driver and several women and children. Bobby clears the rest of the apartment. Jax searches the bag finding only diapers. The driver claims he does not speak English. The women also deny speaking English. When one of the women speaks up the driver is visibly afraid and shakes his head to quiet her. The shooter comes in through the rear door and grabs one of the women. Jax asks the speaker to translate for them and she tells them that he will not listen. The shooter notices her speaking and kills her. Chibs shoots and kills him in response. The driver, no longer able to maintain his pretence, calls out in grief for his sister. The driver tells Jax that he is from Sonora and that the cartel threatened to kill his family there if he did not help them in their assault on the Mayans compound. Bobby tells Clay that he needs to call Romeo. Jax tells his brothers that they need to leave.
At the clubhouse Tara quizzes Gemma about the cartel. Gemma admits that the club is selling guns from the cartel when Tara threatens to ask Alvarez. Tara asks Gemma if it is the cartel that are threatening her and Gemma admits that she does not know. Gemma tries to reassure Tara that the club will protect her and Tara says that she blames the club for her situation. Gemma is curious when Tara says that she regrets signing off on “this shit” but Tara leaves rather than elaborate. At the police station Roosevelt meets with ADA Potter. Potter effuses to meet Juice before he has the sample of cocaine. He instructs Roosevelt to meet Juice and then arrest him for possession when he hands over the sample. Roosevelt is unhappy with the plan because it is entrapment. He refuses to compromise his principles for Potter’s agenda. Potter pressures Roosevelt into accepting the plan with the threat of a formal complaint.
The Sons return to the clubhouse and Gemma warns Jax that Tara knows about the cartel. Clay asks Gemma about Alvarez. Jax sits down with Tara in his clubhouse bedroom. He explains that he was initially unaware that drugs were part of the weapons deal with the cartel and that he had to accept the drugs to convince Clay to allow him to eventually leave the club. Tara warns Jax not to trust Clay. Clay tells Alvarez that the shooters were from the Lobos Sonora cartel. Alvarez says that he has spoken to Romeo and that Romeo believes the attack was a warning and that he is coming to California with some of his men to ensure the threat passes. Clay asks about the death threat and Alvarez says that the threat was not the cartels style.
Juice finishes the paperwork for his urine sample and Roosevelt arranges to meet him outside the station. Juice attends with the sample as planned. Roosevelt tests the drugs and then arrests Juice just as Potter instructed.
Unser reports his findings about the death threat to Gemma. No other doctors in the area have been targeted. He asks is Tara has involved the hospital administration and Gemma says that would be a bad idea and would draw more unwanted attention to Tara’s involvement with the club. Clay enters as Unser asks Gemma if the threat could be related to the club. Clay refutes any connection. Gemma leaves and Clay threatens Unser, warning him not to investigate any further. At the clubhouse Bobby tells Clay that they have heard back from SAMTAZ and that their president Armando is missing. Clay calls a meeting.
Roosevelt delivers the cocaine to Potter and asks what their next move is. Potter says he will test the cocaine to confirm that it can be tied back to the cartel and that they will then pressure Juice into co-operating. If Juice refuses they will reveal his involvement in stealing the sample. Roosevelt is concerned for Juice’s safety. Potter instructs Roosevelt to release Juice so that his fear can grow.
New prospect V-Lin arrives at the clubhouse having failed to bring Lyla and Piper. He explains that they snuck out of the house while he waited for them. Clay sends Jax and Opie to find Lyla.
Roosevelt goes to Juice’s cell and tells him he has no choice but to co-operate. Juice says only that it doesn’t matter before leaving the jail. He goes back to the Teller Morrow compound and Chibs greets him and tells him Bobby wants to talk to him. Juice is visibly upset and goes straight inside. This prompts Chibs to tell Clay that he is worried about Juice. Clay meets with Juice in the board room and awards him a Men of Mayhem patch for his involvement in killing the Russians and for killing Miles. Clay tells Juice he needs to put the killings behind him and hugs him, telling him that he loves him and calling him son. Clay sends Juice back to the warehouse to meet the Tacoma chapter.
Opie and Jax search Opie's house and Opie realises Lyla has packed quickly and left.
Clay chairs a meeting in the boardroom. He says that cartel soldier Luis is on his way to town with a few guys. They have still not heard from Armando but the Tucson chapter are investigating the possibility that he has been arrested. Jax reports that Kozik will be back in town the following week with the guns and that he knows to be extra vigilant. Bobby counsels that they must be the Lobos Sonora cartel’s next target. Clay is angry at Bobby’s criticism and urges him to do something useful. Bobby responds by calling for an officer challenge – a vote on Clay’s position as president, Clay seconds the vote himself and demands that the vote be taken tonight before storming out.
Juice once again visits Miles’ grave and stitches the Men of Mayhem patch onto his cut. He ignores a call. Opie listens to a ring tone unable to get an answer. Piney loads weapons inside his cabin, also ignoring calls from the club. Gemma gives Phil a shotgun and tells him not to call her Ma'am. Unser goes to the hospital to talk to Margaret about the death threat. Jax watches Tara put Thomas to bed and promises her that they are safe. Jax leaves Rat-boy to guard his family. Juice takes a chain from the truck. Chibs reports that he cannot reach Juice. Juice climbs the tree by Miles’s grave, secures the chain around his neck and hangs himself from a branch. As the SAMCRO logo appears a snap is heard.
Church Meetings[]
(not technically a Church meeting)
(Chibs knocks on door to chapel)
Clay: Yeah? (Chibs enters)
Chibs: I'm a bit worried about Juice.
Clay: Worried how?
Chibs: This thing with Miles, the sheriff riding him, boy's checked out. We gotta pull him off this cartel shit.
Clay: Send him in, will ya? (stands up and retrieves "Men of Mayhem" patch from safe while Chibs gets Juice)
Juice: (enters) What's up?
Clay: Shut the door. (Juice shuts door) Have a seat. (Juice heads to back of table) No, over here. (Juice sits next to Clay) You know, most days this life is riding around, getting shit done. Some days, it's more than that. Some days, we ask our guys to do shit very few men could do. (puts Men of Mayhem patch on table) That's what this means. The way you handled the Russians, this hard thing with Miles, I'm proud of you.
Juice: Thanks.
Clay: But now you need to put it behind you. You understand me?
Juice: Yeah. Yeah, okay.
(Clay and Juice stand up, Clay hands Juice the patch)
Clay: Hey. You earned this. (hugs Juice) I love you, son.
Juice: I love you.
Clay: Head back up to the warehouse, Tacoma should be there by now. Just make sure you keep them on their toes.
Juice: Right. (smiles and leaves)
Clay: Talked to Luis, he's on his way up here with a few guys.
Opie: Any word on Armando?
Clay: No. Could of been picked up by state police. Tucson is into it.
Jax: Kozik will be down next week with the guns. I gave him the heads up, told him to keep his eyes open on the ride.
Bobby: Well, we'd better do more than keep our eyes open. Lobo Sonora knew exactly where to hit the Mayans, that makes us the next target.
Clay: And if we are, we'll handle it.
Bobby: Like Alvarez handled it?
Clay: You know, instead of sitting on your fat ass complaining about all the shit I'm doing wrong, why don't you do something that actually helps this goddamn club?
Bobby: Yeah? Like calling a vote?
Clay: Little late for that.
Bobby: I'm not talking about the cartel. Officer challenge. Your leadership is compromising this club. I want a vote. New president.
Clay: Second! Get Juice and Happy back here. Call Kozik and Piney and get their proxies. We vote this shit tonight. (smashes gavel) (Clay kicks chair while leaving with Tig)
Deaths[]
- Unnamed Mayan - Run over by Lobos Sonora
- Unnamed Mayan doctor - Shot by Lobos Sonora
- Unnamed Mayan - Shot by Lobos Sonora
- Unnamed Lobos Sonora member - Ran over by fellow Lobos Sonora
- 9 unnamed members of Galindo hit squad - Butchered and burned by Lobos Sonora
- Unnamed woman - Shot in the head by Lobos Sonora
- Unnamed Lobos Sonora - Shot by Chibs Telford
Credits[]
Main Cast[]
Supporting Cast[]Special Guest Stars |
Guest Stars
Co-stars
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Notable Quotes[]
Tara: Normal people call the authorities when their lives are threatened.
Gemma: You don't have a normal life baby, you have this one.
Tig: Yeah tortillas, thats embracing the stereotype man.
Clay (on giving Juice his Men of Mayhem patch): You know most days this life is just riding around getting shit done, some days it's more than that, some days we ask our guys to do shit very few men could do, that's what this means.
Bobby to Clay: Office challenge, your leadership is compromising this club, I want a vote, new President.
Gemma: Don't call me Ma'am.
Featured Music[]
- 4to Poder - "Aque No Se Esta Jugando"
- Social Distortion - "Machine Gun Blues" (plays as Jax tails the shooters into the warehouse district)
- Moreland & Arbuckle - "18 Counties"
- Amplified Heat - "Dirty Love No Romance"
- Dave Kushner & Olmeca - "Anarquia" (plays as the Sons storm the apartment)
- Tara Holloway - "East Side Story"
- Black Pistol Fire - "Bottlerocket"
- Southern Bitch - "Freeway"
- Katey Sagal - "Strange Fruit" (as Juice hangs himself. (The song was made famous by Billie Holiday and the lyrics are drawn from anti-racism poem by Abel Merepool))
- (Song played as SAMCRO enters the Mayan compound at the beginning of the episode is missing)