Sons of Anarchy’ season 7 roars out its 6th episode of the final year, “Smoke 'em If You Got 'em,” as Jax attempts to take advantage of shifting alliances between the Mayans and Aryans, while Gemma makes her way back to Charming, and Juice attempts to broker a deal.

Last week’s ‘Sons of Anarchy’ installment, “Some Strange Eruption,” saw Jax's best-laid plans with the Chinese forced to a head by the latest attack, while Juice continually unraveled in isolation, and Nero's loyalties became torn. So, how does “Smoke 'em If You Got 'em” keep the series rolling toward its inevitable conclusion?

Read on for your in-depth review of everything you need to know about ‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 7 episode 6, “Smoke 'em If You Got 'em”!

I’m going to keep this one relatively brief, given that ‘Sons of Anarchy’’s final season  has now, in its 6th episode and ostensible midway point, has fallen into something of a repetitive holding pattern. I wrote last week how the truth of Tara’s death between Gemma and Juice has wrought all manner of chaos near and far, with enough bodies dropped to reasonably declare a state of martial law upon Charming, while vaguely any one even suspects the source of the chaos as Gemma’s one (or many) lies.

And so, Jax continually robs Peter to pay Paul, splitting loyalties between the Aryan Brotherhood, Mayans, Niners and Chinese toward a presumable endgame of eradicating the man who supposedly ordered his wife’s murder, though things only seem to get worse with each successive move. Meanwhile, Juice continues to spiral into worse standings, this week finally reaching the end of the line with an ill-calculated ploy to trade club secrets to the Mayans. Gemma retreats further into guilt-laden mania, this time roping in ‘Glee’ star Lea Michele for a thankless and befuddled appearance.

At least this time around, Juice’s last death-row moments with SAMCRO will finally bring about some kind of end to the cycle we’ve been on for about three episodes now, as will Unser learning from Eglee that Jax and SAMCRO were present for the Neo-Nazi shootout that took her partner's life and nearly claimed her own. It’s hard to imagine Unser as any kind of truly effectual moral hero for the series, given his perennial post on the outskirts of the action, but Gemma’s anger over confessing to Jarry will surely bring about some of that old righteous fire, especially once the truth about Tara inches closer to coming out.

Jimmy Smits’ Nero also gets some strong moments for the hour, ping-ponging between his loyalty to the Tellers and that of his Mayan brothers, even extending a bit of humanity toward Juice given their mutual prospects in the Mayan closet. Juice recognizes his own cowardice wholeheartedly, seemingly accepting his fate at the hands of the club by the end, but Nero will no doubt carry the torch from the fear glimpsed in Theo Rossi’s eyes, and the suspicious circumstances of Gemma’s helping the boy escape town.

Elsewhere, the sharks continue to circle even before Juice is allowed to say a presumably final peace, what with Lin remaining a liability in custody, August Marks’ inevitable reprisal, and the unpredictability of Marilyn Manson and his Aryan friends. Somewhere in there, Jax and the Bastards dropped a whole host of bodies to leave on Marks’ partners’ doorsteps, floating the prospect of merging their memberships at some point, though the idea’s racial progression ends up somewhat muted by the hail of bullets.

Next week will presumably see the season kicking into a much higher gear, and not a moment too soon, even as we imagine episode lengths might jump to a full two hours. For now at least, the pot continues to roll, as we wonder what’s going to start finally cooking. Oh, and Wendy still loves Jax! That’s probably going to be relevant, somehow.

Well, what say you? Did you get your fill of road-rashing ‘Sons of Anarchy’ action?  What did you think about tonight's latest, “Smoke 'em If You Got 'em”? Join us next week for another all-new ‘Sons of Anarchy’ review of season 7's latest “Greensleeves,” and stay tuned as we bring you additional coverage on season 7 from cast and crew!

More From ScreenCrush