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Red Rose is the twelfth episode of the seventh season of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy, and the series' ninety-first episode overall.
Synopsis[]
Gemma visits her father. Jax learns where she's at and goes after her. Unser gets in his way and suffers the consequences. Juice runs his last deal for the club. Wendy and Jackson get together.
Plot[]
Jax gets up in the morning at Alvarez's garage. His leg hurts him. Meetings with Tyler, Nero and Connor are set. There's another meet with Packer and the other presidents after that. There is no sign of Gemma.
Wendy is settling in OK at Jax's despite the fact it's where Tara was murdered and where she herself OD'd while pregnant with Abel. She and Brooke wonder where Gemma is.
At a truck stop, a trucker, knocks on Gemma's car window to wake her up so she can move her car. She apologizes, moves it, and curls back up to sleep.
The Mayans and Niners reach an agreement to divvy up Lin's territory. Oso offers to help the Byz Lats push back the 222s in Stockton. Nero doesn't like the idea of the Byz Lats peddling Oso's dope, but Fiasco reminds Nero that he's getting out and doesn't get a vote.
Jax says he'll handle Barosky and promises Tyler they'll figure out how to beat back the Chinese that remain.
After the deal is struck, Nero isn't happy that his old gang is getting into drugs, but also knows it's not his problem anymore.
Neither Jax nor Nero has heard from Gemma. Nero is going to Norco for a few days to get the house set up for his son. He appreciates Jax playing peacemaker between the Niners and Mayans. Jax suggests Nero take Wendy and his sons to the farm. Nero says they're welcome whenever. Nero doesn't ask Jax's plans for Gemma, but it's clear he wants to. They focus on doing what's best for Jax's boys.
In the prison infirmary, the guard clears the room and lets in Lin's guys to confront Juice. They share that the Sons gave the Aryan Brotherhood the green light to kill Juice. Lin's guys have another plan. But first, Juice has to endure even more prison rape, which he does like the routine it's become.
At the sit down with Connor, Jax tries to sell Alvarez and the Mayans taking over gun distribution from August Marks. "We deal guns to organized crime. The business model changes with the street," Jax says.
Connor doesn't like it, especially given how far he had to go to sell the Kings on working with the black Niners in the first place. Connor suggests he'll talk to Rourke instead. Rourke's in town wining and dining the Port Authority.
With the Irish gone, Alvarez points out the obvious to Jax: that they have a problem if they don't get the guns. They'll want most of Lin's turf and that's bad news for Tyler and the Mayans.
Tig relays a call from TM: "Chuckie did it."
At the truck stop, Gemma watches a hungry mother fish for spare change in the vending machine. The trucker joins Gemma and introduces himself as Milo. She says her name is Rose and she doesn't have any kids.
Milo's traveling up north to pick up a load of tomatoes. Gemma asks for a ride. Milo asks what's up north for Gemma; she tells him her Dad. He notices her heart surgery scar and shares his own valve replacement. He agrees to give her a ride.
Unser responds to Chuckie's call with his tow truck, but sees it's Jax instead. Jax knows Unser baited him into the punch so he'd have a way to keep him off the street. Jax tells Unser that he knows he feels betrayed. Unser explains he made a promise to Tara to get her and the boys away from the club and he just wants to know what happened to her. Unser asks, "Why are you feeding me nothing but smoke and lies." Jax agrees to tell him the truth about Tara if he drops the charges that prompted the APB.
Jax tells him the truth. "It was Gemma. My mother killed my wife," Jax says. He tells him the full story, that Eli Roosevelt and Juice were outside and when they ran in Tara was dead, Gemma covered in blood, and Juice killed Eli.
Unser wants to call it in, but Jax tells him he's trying to clean up the mess his retaliation made. If the gangs find out about the lie, it could be war all over again. Jax tells Unser that he is trying to put an end to the bloodshed. Jax is spared answering how he'll deal with Gemma when Tig interrupts that the club presidents are ready to meet.
Unser agrees to call Jarry to drop the APB. Jax limps away.
Unser goes back to his truck and waits for the Sons to leave before he breaks down in tears.
At Jax's house, Nero asks Wendy about coming to the farm with the two boys. He says that Jax is worried about his sons. He plays dumb about Gemma when Wendy asks. They share a good moment of mocking each other, like they've been friends for years.
At Red Woody, Jax sits down with Gaines, Packer and the other presidents. Before they tell him their decision, he opens by admitting he was wrong about Jury, and that Barosky was the rat about the guns. Jax then admits he lied about Jury confessing to him, but maintains that Jury did reach for his gun (which he did). Jax knows it means a mayhem (death) vote.
Packer acknowledges the pain Jax must have been in after Tara's death, but points out Jax is confessing to murder. Jax knows, and doesn't argue. He further says he knows his guys have to vote for mayhem to reinforce the idea that a president killing a president cannot stand. He has one request, that they revoke an unwritten bylaw that's been around since the 1970s. (We don't hear what it is.) Packer agrees and says they'll make sure the vote is unanimous.
Jax closes the meeting: "It's been a privilege to wear this president's patch. Sorry I couldn't live up to it."
After the meeting breaks, Jax tells his guys it's all going to work out.
They get a call that Rourke wants to meet about the port.
Chibs pulls Jax aside, not buying Jax's sanguine attitude about the meeting for a minute. "I know what I'm doing. It's going to be all good, brother. I promise," Jax says.
Milo drops Gemma off at her dad's care facility. Gemma's name isn't on the visitation list and Tara is listed as his guardian. Gemma remains calm and asks the receptionist to confirm she's his only living relative.
Back in his cell, Juice hides a scalpel in a book and tries to keep it together.
Jax, Chibs, Tig and Happy arrive at a shop to meet with Rourke and find Connor's man bound and another man dead on the floor. Rourke says Connor was freelancing. Connor took out Rourke's man and left his behind. Rourke doesn't want the Irish to find out that Connor was going behind their backs to pocket profits from gun side business, "it gives people ideas." Instead, Rourke wants the Sons to kill Connor and in exchange he'll sell the Kings on the Mayan deal.
Knowing that Connor will need cash to go on the run, and that Connor doesn't know Tyler is working with the Sons, Jax suggests having Tyler call Connor to make a big gun buy and grabbing him when he shows up.
Wendy calls Jax to tell him she got a call from Gemma's dad's nursing home that Gemma is there. When she gets off the phone, she tells Nero the same. He races to TM. He asks Unser to go to Oregon, even if it's only to arrest Gemma, knowing it's the only way to keep her alive and that if he goes he'll just make things between Jax and Gemma worse. "This isn't about saving Gemma, it's about saving Jax," Nero says.
Chuckie is nearby and asks to come along with Unser, but he says no. (Chuckie doesn't appear to hear what's going on with Gemma.)
Jax and the Sons meet with Tyler to explain the Connor set-up. In exchange, Tyler wants their help with an assault against the remaining Chinese.
Jax asks Chibs to handle it so he can go up north.
Back at Nate's nursing home, the receptionist lets Gemma go back to see her father. Suffering from advanced Alzheimer's, Nate doesn't recognize her.
Gemma sits down and continues with her confession anyway, apologizing for all the times she hurt him and her mother Rose.
He tells her god forgives everyone. Suddenly he has a memory from Gemma's childhood, of her playing in the flowers in the garden behind their house. Gemma says good-bye.
Back in Stockton, Juice approaches Tully in the cafeteria to talk to him alone. He does not make a move to kill him. Instead, Juice tells Tully the Asians want him to kill Tully. Tully considers. "It make sense. You do realize you lost the element of surprise," Tully says.
"I know Jax has tasked you with killing me and if the Chinese do it, it could impact your relationship with the MC," Juice says, calculating the percentages in his own death.
He gives Tully the scalpel from his shoe. "Just let me finish my pie," Juice says, picking up his spork.
Unser races on the road to Oregon, with his badge and gun on the seat beside him. Jax rides north as well.
Gemma takes a cab to her dad's house.
Back in Stockton, Juice finishes his cherry pie. Tully's guys create a distraction and Juice stands up and waits for Tully to come up behind him. Tully tells him "You went out good, sweetheart" then stabs Juice repeatedly in the neck. Juice drops to the floor and quickly bleeds out, his pain finally over.
In Oregon, Unser reaches Gemma first. She's going through old photos. She won't tell him she's saying good-bye, but it's clear she is. She's lost in her nostalgia and serenely ignores Wayne's attempts to reason with her, even after he kindly tells her he has to arrest her.
"Jax is on his way. If he finds you here I don't know what happens," Unser says. "I do," Gemma says with acceptance.
She tells Unser to do what he needs to do, but points out going quietly with him isn't her style. Unser is dialing his phone when Jax walks in.
Jax wants to be alone with his mother, but Unser refuses. He tries telling Jax he already called it in, but Gemma shouts that he didn't.
Unser draws his gun, prompting Jax to draw his. "Haven't we had enough of this? Look where we are now, what we've all become. This has to end here," Unser says as they aim at each other.
Jax agrees and lowers his gun, telling Wayne to go home. "I can't do that. This is all I got left," Unser says.
Jax emotionlessly raises his gun and shoots Unser through the heart.
Gemma remains calm and doesn't shed a tear or even look surprised at Wayne Unser's death. She picks up a photo of her dad, comparing him to Jax. She asks who else knows and if he talked to Nero. She starts talking like she's already gone. When he asks, she tells him where to find another copy of his dad's manuscript.
Gemma says she loved Tara, but admits killing her. "All the other things because of the lie. I never saw any of that coming. I know there's no apology that can touch what you're feeling," she says.
She asks his permission to go out to the garden and means it as a request of where to die. He follows her as she stops to smell the roses. Jax chokes back tears as he lifts his gun, then lowers it.
Gemma keeps her back to him, waiting. "I love you Jackson, from the deepest, purest part of my heart. You have to do this. It's who we are, sweetheart," she says.
"It's OK, my baby boy. It's time. I'm ready," she says.
Jax takes aim and shoots his mother through the back of her head, in the garden of house where she grew up.
(Closing montage to Ed Sheeran singing "Make it Rain.")
Jax rides home after killing his mother. The Sons take out five Chinese on the streets. Wendy checks on the boys in bed. Juice lays on a slab in the prison morgue. Tig, Chibs, Rane, Allesandro, and Tyler gun down a group of Chinese playing cards in a gambling hall.
Nero comes home to Gemma's house and cries for her in her bedroom.
Jax returns to his house, the blood of his mother and lifelong friend all over his clean white shoes. Wendy joins Jax, kisses him, and soon leads him to the bedroom.
In a house up in Oregon, Wayne Unser lies dead on the floor surrounded by Gemma's childhood memorabilia.
Jax and Wendy are seen making love in the bed he used to share with Tara. Jax murdered his mother and one of his best friends only hours before.
We see Gemma one last time, dead among the roses she used to love, some of the white ones splattered with her own blood, and totally alone.
Church Meetings[]
(not technically a Church meeting)
Jax: It makes sense for the Niners to push Lin's territory into ghost town. Say, everything south of Brockhurst.
El Oso: That ain't an even split.
Chibs: Hey, the Mayan manpower's gonna be tied up moving guns. And you're gonna have to cut back on your H trade. You know that.
Tyler: We got subsets in all those neighborhoods. We'll move in quick.
Alvarez: I can live with that. As long as Niners know they gotta pay, same price like everybody else.
Tyler: As long as you give us priority. Sell to us first.
Alvarez: Fair enough.
Nero: What about Stockton? With me stepping down, Triple Twos, they're gonna be pushing on Byz-lat blocks.
Fiasco: Yeah, they already are, homes. We're down to a dozen guys. No way to recruit. Streets are waiting to see if we stay alive.
El Oso: We can help you with the Twos. Dante's a punk. Got no problem stepping on him 'till you guys crew up.
Fiasco: Really? That'd be a big help.
Nero: Yeah? Big help? What you gonna want for that big help?
El Oso: Don't think it's just my charitable heart? (silence) Push our dope. Grow the business east.
Nero: No, we ain't about that. We ain't never been about that-
Fiasco: Yeah. We can do that. (to Nero) You're gone, vato. We gotta survive, que no?
Jax: Sit down with the Mayans. Talk, see if we come up with a plan that works for everyone.
El Oso: And what about Barosky?
Jax: I got him. Keep him in the dark.
El Oso: The Chinese power base is gone but they still have a lot of players on the street. They already been reaching out down south. We gotta shut that down before we slam into Triads.
Jax: Understood. We'll figure it out as soon as we nail down guns. Are we good with all this? I need everyone's word. (everyone silently agrees) All right. Let's go drink some piss warm beer. (everyone gets up to leave)
Chibs: Sorry, brother, I'm gonna have to put you in the van. The APB. They're gonna be looking for your glide.
Jax: Yeah. Rat. Take my bike to Red Woody. Take Quinn and Montez. Wait for Packer.
Ratboy: Okay, brother.
Jax: Thank you.
Jax: I'm sorry for keeping you waiting.
Packer: It's okay. Quinn showed us some Red Woody rough cuts. Business is good.
Hench: Beats cranking a wrench, huh?
Jax: Has it's moments. I know you've talked and you have your recommendation. Before you deliver it, I'd like to say something.
Packer: Of course.
Jax: I was wrong. We found out from Lin it wasn't Jury who told the Chinese about the guns. It was Barosky.
Monroe: How did he know where the guns were?
Jax: He runs the port. And Barosky had so much to lose by betraying us, it didn't make sense. I guess he saw the writing on the wall with the Mayans. Looking to cash out before he gets pushed out.
Gaines: Then how could Jury have confessed to you if he didn't do it?
Jax: Because I lied.
Packer: Shit.
Jax: I was so bent around this idea of revenge. Jury was just one more thing that got in my way.
Monroe: And your guys are still claiming self-defense?
Jax: Yeah, he reached for his gun. And maybe he was gonna kill me, maybe not. I never gave him a chance to decide. I loved Jury. And I killed him.
Monroe: You know this means a mayhem vote.
Packer: Jesus, Jax. I know the pain you're in because of Tara and we all understand your need for vengeance. Maybe that fueled this mistake. But what you're saying here is out-and-out murder, brother.
Jax: Yeah.
Gaines: Mayhem has to land.
Jax: I know.
Hench: Does your charter? We know how much they love you. Your lineage to J.T.
Packer: SAMCRO needs to know if this vote goes the wrong way. President killing a president. It sends a dangerous message.
Jax: I'll make sure they vote the right way. Protect the organization. But I'm gonna need something in return. There's an unwritten by-law been around since my old man held this gavel. I want SAMCRO to throw it out.
(cut away to SAMCRO talking)
Packer: Yeah. You make sure that vote's unanimous, and we'll honor your request.
Jax: Thank you. It's been a privilege to wear this president's flash. I'm sorry I couldn't live up to it.
Credits[]
Main Cast[]
- Charlie Hunnam as Jackson 'Jax' Teller
- Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow
- Mark Boone Junior as Bobby 'Elvis' Munson (credit only)
- Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser
- Kim Coates as Alex 'Tig' Trager
- Drea de Matteo as Wendy Case
- Tommy Flanagan as Filip 'Chibs' Telford
- David Labrava as Happy Lowman
- Niko Nicotera as George 'Ratboy' Skogstrom
- Theo Rossi as Juan Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz
- Jimmy Smits as Neron 'Nero' Padilla
Supporting Cast[]
Special Guest Star
Guest Stars
- Michael Ornstein as Chuck Marstein
- Emilio Rivera as Marcus Alvarez
- Marilyn Manson as Ron Tully
- Rusty Coones as Rane Quinn
- Mo McRae as Tyler
- Hayley McFarland as Brooke Putner
- Jacob Vargas as Allesandro Montez
- Rey Gallegos as Fiasco
- Olivia Burnette as Emily Putner
- Ivo Nandi as Oscar El Oso Ramos
- Ron Yuan as Ryu Tom
- Bob McCracken as Brendan Roarke
- Hal Holbrook as Nate Madock
- Scott Anderson as Connor Malone
- Tony Curran as Gaines
- Charisma Carpenter as Carol
- Jack Cameron White as Monroe
- Kevin Gage as Hench
- Jason Barry as Declan
Co-Stars
- Evan Londo as Abel Teller
- Ryder Londo as Abel Teller
- Alan O'Neill as Hugh
- Vic Stagliano as Night White Guard
- Nikea Gamby-Turner as Black Female Guard
Deaths[]
- Unnamed True IRA member - Shot in the head by Connor Malone (Offscreen)
- Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz - Stabbed in the neck multiple times by Ron Tully
- Wayne Unser - Shot in the chest by Jax Teller
- Gemma Teller Morrow - Shot in the head by Jax Teller
- Unnamed Lin Triad member - Shot by Happy Lowman
- 2 unnamed Lin Triad members - Shot by Ratboy Skogstrom
- 2 unnamed Lin Triad members - Shot by two unnamed Niners
- 12 unnamed members of the Lin Triad - Shot by Chibs Telford, Tig Trager, Rane Quinn, Allesandro Montez, Tyler Yost, and an unnamed Niner
Notes[]
- The title refers to Gemma's white roses being stained red with her blood.
- Last appearance of Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz. Wayne Unser and Gemma Teller Morrow both appear as corpses on the series finale, Gemma appears briefly in Mayans MC pilot episode, Perro/Oc.
- This episode features the deaths of three main characters, the most out of any episode (or season) in the series. With Bobby Munson's death earlier in the season, Season 7 breaks Season 6's record of two main character deaths (Clay Morrow and Tara Knowles) with four main character deaths (Bobby Munson, Juice Ortiz, Wayne Unser, and Gemma Teller Morrow). Previous seasons only killed off one main character each (Season 2 with Half Sack Epps, Season 4 with Piney Winston, and Season 5 with Opie Winston). This record would be broken at the conclusion of the next episode, with Jax's death bringing the total to five.
- This record would be broken by Mayans M.C., the Sons of Anarchy sequel, in the finale episode of the show, 6 main characters of that season were killed. Isaac Packer, Miguel Galindo, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes, Obispo 'Bishop' Losa, Hank 'Tranq' Loza and Gilberto 'Gilly' Lopez.
- Michael Chiklis (Milo) played Vic Mackey in The Shield. Chiklis is the eighth alumni who worked on The Shield where Kurt Sutter served as an Executive Producer before creating Sons of Anarchy after Jay Karnes (Agent Josh Kohn/Dutch Wagenbach), Kenny Johnson (Herman Kozik/Curtis Lemansky), David Marciano (Chicken Man/Steve Billings), David Rees Snell (Agent Grad Nicholas/Ronnie Gardocki), Benito Martinez (Luis Torres/David Aceveda), Walton Goggins (Venus Van Dam/Shane Vendrell) and CCH Pounder (Tyne Patterson/Claudette Wyms).
- With Chiklis' appearance, Catherine Dent (Danny Sofer), Michael Jace (Julien Lowe), Cathy Cahlin Ryan (Corrinne Mackey), Glenn Close (Monica Rawling) and Paula Garces (Tina Hanlon) are the only main cast members from The Shield who didn't appear on Sons of Anarchy.
- Gemma uses her mother's name as an alias when she introduces herself to Milo. Prior to this episode, she used the alias in Sovereign.
- This episode marks the return of Nate Madock, last seen in the Season 3 episode "Home" (This also spans a 59-episode gap between "Home" and "Red Rose").
- As of this episode, Jax is the oldest living member of the Teller family.
Featured Music[]
- Ed Sheeran - "Make it Rain"