Kiss

Kiss
Season 4, Episode 9
Air date	November 1, 2011
Written by	Regina Corrado & Marco Ramirez
Directed by	Billy Gierhart
Episode Guide
Previous	"Family Recipe"
Next	"Hands"

Season 4
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Season 3				Season 5

"Kiss" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of Sons of Anarchy.

Summary

The Niners have made a new alliance that affects SAMCRO's agenda. Gemma and Unser see the fallout from Clay's actions. Tara plans a trip to Oregon to clear her head, with Jax deciding to escort her up. The Gallindo Cartel gives Clay a means to take out Tara once and for all.

Plot

Jax arrives at the garage to find Chibs and Juice. Chibs shows Jax Juice's neck, the marks from him trying to hang himself. Jax realizes it's not from getting caught on the fence. Juice attributes it to stress from prison, the Russians and shooting Miles. Jax sends Juice away so they can discuss.

"Sons don't kill themselves. The club's going to vote him out, no one's going to trust him," Jax says to Chibs. Chibs tells Jax about in his teens back in Ireland how, for the Irish, he killed a Constable who had been an old classmate and he came close to swinging from a tree himself.

Jax points out there's a difference between thinking about it and doing it. Chibs offers to watch him for awhile, but says they have to get Clay to take him off the cartel drugs. Clay and Jax meet with Alvarez and the Mayans and the cartel's Luis (Benito Martinez). There are two dozen Lobo gang members in town, making alliances for their coke. They don't know who the deals are with.

Henry Lin with the Asian gang has spread into the Niners' territory, LaRoy's turf. Clay wonders if LaRoy is the one branching out, which would explain why he's been MIA the last few times they've reached out to him (like when they were tracking the Sonora cartel shooters). Jax proposes they move up a gun meet with the Niners to see what the deal is. Luis and his three dozen armed men will back them up. Jax points out privately to Clay that Luis' guys will slaughter the Niners if they're dealing with the Lobos. Clay says it might be time to clean house. "Relationships are over-rated," he says.

Gemma calls Piney. But, because he's dead, he doesn't answer. At breakfast at Gemma's house, she asks Opie if he's talked to his dad. Clay sends her away. Jax has Juice doing something at the clubhouse. They discuss the next move if the Niners are working with the Lobos. Jax suggests they let Galindo step in and deal with the two. Bobby grumbles and Jax shouts him down, telling him the club voted the drug deal in and he can either go along, or leave.

Clay takes a call from Gallen with the Irish, in Ireland. He's nervous about supplying guns for the cartels. Clay points out they've bought more in the past two months that all his buyers in the past two years. Clay suggests Gallen sit down with the cartels. He offers to broker what he promises will be a huge deal. Roosevelt drops by Juice at the clubhouse, giving him grief about being out of contact. He sees Juice's hanging bruises. Juice tells him he wants out.

Margaret the hospital administrator visits Tara in her office. She's pleased to hear Tara's going to a conference at Providence hospital in Portland. Tara asks a favor. She takes out the John Teller letters and starts with "If anything happens to me..." saying she should give them to Jax or Piney. Tara looks in the envelope and realizes it's full of blank paper. She knows Gemma took them. Roosevelt reports back to Lincoln, who thinks Juice is testing them. Roosevelt tells him about the bruises and that's Juice is unstable.

Lincoln plays the tape of Bobby telling Otto that Georgie killed LuAnn and that they killed Georgie. They know Georgie isn't dead as they have photos of him taken the day before. They want to turn Otto against the club. Lincoln says Otto has endured more pain and suffering for his organization than any felon he's ever known and this betrayal will push him over the line. Roosevelt is skeptical about them getting anything new from Juice to make the case.

LaRoy (Tory Kittles) and the Niners meet up with the Sons at a garage. They both brought a lot of guys. Jax tells LaRoy they're in the middle of two cartels and their drug business. Luis and his guys come in. LaRoy spits in Luis' face and Jax essentially saves his life by punching him before the Galindo guys can shoot him. Jax whispers at him to be cool and he'll try to get him out alive. LaRoy faces Luis and goes along.

The Lobos approached them last month before the Sons got out of prison. Luis wants them to tell the Lobos they have a big buyer, or he's going to shoot every single one of them. Jax and Clay talk to LaRoy privately, telling him Galindo is a better play and they can't get caught in a cartel war. They promise to talk to Alvarez and find a way to cut in the Niners. LaRoy agrees. Gemma visits Piney at his cabin and finds him dead on the floor. She yells at his corpse, saying she warned him.

Unser joins her. Gemma says it had to be Clay. She tells Unser about Clay lying about where he was last night. Unser confesses that Clay read the letters and Unser burned copies. Unser tells her that Clay thinks Tara and Piney have the originals. Gemma realizes that's why Unser has been hovering over Tara. He wants to call in the sheriff, or the next corpse she'll be standing over will be the mother of her grandchild. He compares Clay to a wounded animal, striking out at threats. Gemma says he just needs her more than ever.

Gemma says their hands are just as bloody as Clay's. Unser asks if Gemma lied to him, too, about the reason Clay wanted John Teller dead -- over ending guns. She says she supported Clay's decision because it was best for her family and the town, but she never knew the details. "I'm going to choose to believe that," he says.

Gemma kisses him in more than a daughterly fashion, but Wayne doesn't respond. She wants to find the letters and prove to Clay that there's no threat. Unser regroups and notices the "LS" markings Clay left on Piney's picture frame. He thinks he can steer the sheriff away from Clay.

LeRoy and his guys meet with the Lobos, who have come with a suitcase full of coke to meet their big buyer. A shot rings out. One of the cartel falls dead, then another. Then there's a hail of gunfire with automatic weapons being fired from every corner. LaRoy and the cartel guys take cover. The Lobos use a rocket grenade launcher to blast holes in the wall and escape. Jax screams with rage as he watches the Lobos get away.

Luis' response is to line up the Niners and prepare to execute them anyway. Clay doesn't intervene. Jax does, saying this isn't Mexico and they have to work with other crews. Jax says they need relationships to move their product. He says LaRoy made a bad choice but changed his mind. "You kill this guy, you're killing everything," Jax tells him. Luis leaves the Niners with a threat.

He and Clay step outside. Luis gives him a burner cell phone with one number on it, for an independent hit man for Tara. He warns him once the hit is put in motion, it can't be stopped. Clay says again that it has to look like something from the outside. Gemma finds Tara at the garage. Tara immediately accuses her of taking the letters. Gemma tells her Unser took the copies on her behalf. Tara denies letting Piney read them. Tara hasn't let Jax read them because of the things about Clay. She admits she's afraid Jax would kill Clay. She thinks Jax's guilt over hating his father would push him deeper into the club once he found out his father was on the right side.

Jax would also learn Gemma was with Clay before John died. Tara asks Gemma if she knew Clay tried to kill JT. "I don't know if Clay killed JT, all I know is that he brought me back to life," Gemma says. Tara tells Gemma she's going to Portland and taking the time to think.

Lincoln, still posing as a Deputy Sheriff, pays Otto (Kurt Sutter) another visit in prison. He tells him Georgie was in Thailand when LuAnn was murdered. He shows him photos of Georgie from yesterday and says he can make arrangements for Otto to confirm it. Lincoln suggests the club didn't kill Georgie because they knew he was innocent. He still thinks Bobby did it.

Lincoln recaps Otto's service for the club: coming in for a six year stretch and earning another 30 years and losing and eye. Now he's on death row. "It seems to me there's a substantial inequity at play," Lincoln suggests. Otto knows Sheriff's Deputies don't have the power to bug infirmary rooms and wonders who Lincoln is. Jax visits Gemma at the garage and tells her Tara is taking the boys to Portland until the cartel mess passes. Chibs comes, asking if they've seen Juice. Chibs can't find him.

Roosevelt takes Juice to meet Lincoln in the secret ATF joint task force room. He shows him all the photos of all the club members on the walls, from SAMCRO, the Real IRA and more. Juice takes it all in and jumps on Roosevelt, pounding him. As another officer rushes to pull Juice off the Sheriff, Lincoln cooly steps up on a table out of harm's way.

Bobby tells Jax he did a great job today, saving LaRoy and taking the cartel down. Bobby says the club can't lose him. Bobby knows Jax is siding with Clay. Bobby reminds Jax of the violent way he deal with Ima the porn star after her tryst with Opie. "Your solution to a problem will always be a club solution," Bobby tells him.

Jax goes to Clay with his new knowledge, saying he wants an exit strategy for the cartel. He says he'll come up with one, then he's out. He wants to broker the gun deal with the Real IRA and Romeo then get out. Clay reminds him he promised to ride out his term, but Jax throws the bad cartel deal back in his face. "It looks like we both lied, then," Jax says pointedly, and goes to leave. Clay tells him "doctor p----y" is clouding his mind.

Jax looks at his step father like he wants to kill him, then leans in. "If you ever talk that way about Tara again, I will pound those half dead hands so far into this table, you won't ever be able to hold that gavel again," Jax tells him. A now-cuffed Juice listens to Lincoln lay out his two years of Rico investigation, saying he has enough to shut down every charter. Juice realizes he needs him. Lincoln wants the Real IRA. Juice says he's never met them. Lincoln knows they're coming to town to meet with the cartel. Lincoln wants to know where the meet will be.

Juice says he won't know, but Lincoln says if Juice gets him the info, he'll take the Sons out of his Rico case. Some Sons will go to prison, but the club will survive. Clay finds Gemma outside the club at night. He joins her on the swing set. He says it was a rough day.

"I live with so many lies, Clay," she says. She does it to protect what they have, but says she can't lie to him. She tells him she went to the cabin and knows why he did it, that he read the letters. Gemma suggests they keep it between themselves. She says she talked to Tara and knows she'll never give Jax the letters. Gemma promises to get the letters when Tara gets back. She promises she won't let Tara hurt the club or their family, but she wants Clay to promise he won't hurt Tara. He says OK.

She makes him look her in the eye and promise again. He does. He tells her he loves her and everything he does is for her. Back at their house, Tara packs up. Jax tells Tara he's coming with her. He says he's out, but just has a few things to tie up. Clay says good bye to Gemma, she drives home. Clay takes out his burner cell phone Luis had given him to contact Romeo's contract killer. He opens it and dials.

Credits

Main Cast

• Charlie Hunnam as Jackson 'Jax' Teller
• Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow
• Mark Boone Junior as Bobby 'Elvis' Munson
• Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser
• Kim Coates as Alex 'Tig' Trager
• Tommy Flanagan as Filip 'Chibs' Telford
• Ryan Hurst as Harry 'Opie' Winston
• William Lucking as Piermont 'Piney' Winston
• Theo Rossi as Jean Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz
• Maggie Siff as Tara Knowles
• and Ron Perlman as Clarence 'Clay' Morrow

Supporting Cast

Special guest stars

• Rockmond Dunbar as Eli Roosevelt
• Ray McKinnon as Lincoln Potter

Guest stars

• Emilio Rivera as Marcus Alvarez
• Tory Kittles as Laroy Wayne
• David Rees Snell as Agent Kessler
• Benito Martinez as Luis Torres
• David Labrava as Happy
• McNally Sagal as Margaret Murphy
• Hank Cheyne as Lobos Sonora lieutenant
• Timothy V. Murphy as Galen
• Bob McCracken as Roarke

Co-stars

• E.R. Ruiz as Gill