‘Sons of Anarchy’ Review: “Stolen Huffy”

‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 5 rides again with its fourth episode of the year, "Stolen Huffy," as Jax is tasked with getting Nero's call girl Emma Jean (Ashley Tisdale) out of harm's way, as the Sons say their tender goodbyes to a fallen brother and Nero makes a deal for the future of his business.

Last week’s ‘Sons of Anarchy’ episode “Laying Pipe” saw Jax struggling with the life-or-death decision of which Son has to die in prison to appease Damon Pope, while Gemma made a power play to get access to her grandchildren, and Clay paid a visit to Nero’s brothel.  So how does “Stolen Huffy”  keep things running?  What more damage can season 5 of ‘Sons of Anarchy’ do?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 5 episode 4, “Stolen Huffy!”

Two young boys ride their bikes by the side of the road, stopping in awe at the sight of SAMCRO passing the other direction on their motorcycles.  One catch’s Jax’s eye, enough to give him pause for the moment.  Elsewhere, Gemma awakes in prison with Carla and the other Diosa girls staring daggers, though her bail is quickly posted.  And who should have come to bail her out, but Wendy!  Running out of friends, Gemma presses Wendy that if she really does want to earn karma points and see her son, she’ll need to go through Jax.

Elsewhere, the Sons arrive back at the clubhouse as Jax explains to his wife that he’ll be the one to tell Gemma of Opie’s murder.  The club holds court over what to do with their Damon Pope problem, someone connected enough that he could kill them all with a phone call, when Jax reveals that their best play is to continue paying Pope his drug dividend, while they search for a way out from his thumb.

Outside, Jax learns from Unser that his mother was arrested in a brothel raid, in turn revealing to the former lawman that Opie was killed in prison.  Meanwhile at the hospital, Wendy runs into Tara walking with Abel and Thomas, choking up at the sight of her son.  Upstairs in her office, Tara remains hostile about Wendy wanting access to her son, before Wendy leaves her with something to chew on: Abel will eventually grow up and learn the truth about Wendy, meaning Tara won’t be able to stop him from seeking her out.

Over at Diosa, Nero, Carla and Gemma clean through the ransacked remains of the office, being evicted by the end of the week, as Jax and Tig arrive.  Gemma explains that her smacking up Clay’s hooker Emma Jean likely led to her calling the police raid, when several of Nero’s enforcers arrive looking for the departed call girl.  Nero misdirects them, but asks Jax in private to find the girl at her hotel and get her to safety without alerting the crew to Nero’s involvement.  After the Sons depart, Carla places a mysterious call from her cell phone.

Gemma arrives at the clubhouse to find Clay working out, and explains what happened to Nero’s business in the wake of their incident with the call girl.  She claims to need distance, something an angry Clay is happy to provide now that he no longer recognizes her, to which she reminds him that he had earlier beaten the hell out of her.  When he goes to leave and get ready for “Ope’s thing,” he realizes Jax failed to tell her about Opie’s death, and brings her up to speed.  Devastated, Gemma briefly collapses in his arms, before running out to weep in the bathroom.

Chibs and Tig arrive at the hotel to find Emma Jean on the job, and quickly usher out her client, revealing that they’re there to protect her from Nero’s men.  Emma Jean insists she didn’t place the call to the authorities, and prepares to leave with the boys, when Nero’s men show up on the spot.  Jax and Chibs speed off, with Emma Jean on the back of Jax’s bike, weaving in and out of traffic with the gang-bangers in pursuit, before the girl’s near slip causes Jax to lose control of the bike and crash.  The four men all train their guns on one another in a crowded neighborhood, though Jax manages to talk the men down by insisting they’ll be the ones to kill Emma Jean, and bloodshed in a street full of witnesses would ruin all of them.  The gang member demands that after her death, the Sons fork over her thumb and a boob as proof of her death, before smacking her to the ground and departing.

When Jax returns to the garage with Emma Jean in tow, Nero quickly figures out that it was Carla who placed the call to alert Nero’s men.  Ignoring Carla’s claims that she was trying to protect him from retalion, Nero walks off as Jax orders Carla be kept prisoner in the garage.  Given all he’s been through recently, Jax shrugs off Gemma’s protests they’d protect Emma Jean, though the girl insists she neither called the cops, or even slept with Clay.

Inside, Jax looks over old pictures when Tara notices one of he and Wendy, and explains that his former girlfriend has been sniffing around about visitation rights.  Tara admits they’ll have to tell Abel the truth about his mother, though Jax insists they wait until he’s older, given the traumas he’s already been through in his young life.

Outside, Opie’s body arrives, dressed and prepared, and Lyla too arrives as the Sons carry the casket into the clubhouse.  The Sons leave Lyla along with the body, though Jax remains behind to assure her that she has a family with the club, one which will always help manage the load of raising the three kids left behind by the fallen biker.  Outside, Nero arrives, and Gemma flaunts their new-found coupledom in front of a nearby Clay, while Jax requests a word with the "companionator."

Upstairs, Jax questions Nero about the lucrative nature of his business, and posits that they form a new partnered venture with the remains of the Sons’ old Cara Cara porn studio contacts.  Nero buys into the idea, reluctantly at first, but stipulates that he can’t do business while the Sons’ have their gun and drug heat hanging over their head.  By the same token, Jax puts forth that he can’t mix business and family, that Nero will have to stay away from Gemma, to which the man ultimately agrees again.

Downstairs, Gemma returns the bail money to Wendy, catching her up to speed on Opie’s death, but advising against the woman paying her respects.  Tara observes Wendy leaving, and gets into a heated conflict with Gemma, but not before Gemma manages to direct the woman’s aggression toward Carla, given her responsibility for Jax’s accident on the motorcycle.  The two woman corner Carla in the garage, and Gemma takes the first swing, but when Carla quickly gets the upper hand, Tara intervenes with a tire iron.  She and Carla continue the brawl, with Gemma overseeing, as Tara gains control by swinging her cast into the woman’s face.

Later, Jax sits on the roof looking at a photo of he and a young Opie on their bicycles, as the Sons slowly pay their respects to Opie by leaving gifts and his prized possessions in the casket with him.  Gemma watches as Nero takes a bloodied Carla away, while Tara smokes another blunt in solitude, and the entire club rises when Jax enters the clubhouse.  Jax places the photo in Opie’s vest and says a final goodbye, as the Sons close Opie’s casket, and respectfully carry their fallen brother to the waiting hearse outside.  Finally, Jax closes the door to his friend forever.

No doubt tonight's moving wake sequence proved doubly poignant to watch for the cast and crew of 'Sons of Anarchy,' given the recent news of real-life cast member Johnny Lewis' passing.  As for the episode itself, the final minutes provide moving tribute to the shocking death that took place last week, though the rest of "Stolen Huffy' suffers a bit of a loss in momentum.  Ashley Tisdale in particular seems somewhat wasted, but otherwise the episode makes for a fine meditation on where things go for the Sons from here.

Did you get your fill of road-rashing ‘Sons of Anarchy’ drama?  Do you still miss Opie?  What did you think about the episode? Join us next week for another all-new ‘Sons of Anarchy’ episode recap of “Orca Shrugged” on FX!