‘Sons of Anarchy’ “Small World” Preview, Plus Details on Last Night’s Cameo!

Fans of 'Sons of Anarchy' were in for quite a treat with last night's "Orca Shrugged," as the series lifted its dark mood to showcase one of the more classic 'Sons of Anarchy' capers, complete with an absurdly wild cameo appearance.  But as the show heads into the midpoint of its fifth season, are the laughs running out, and SAMCRO headed for disaster?  What does the latest preview for next week's "Small World" show?

'Sons of Anarchy' season 5 might have been good for a few laughs last night, but it looks from here on out that things will only get darker and more dangerous.  SAMCRO might be in bed with Jacob Hale Jr., thanks to the efforts of one Venus Van Dam ('Justified's' Walton Goggins), but the recent string of home invasions will take center stage now that Sheriff Eli Roosevelt has a personal stake in the matter.

Will Roosevelt's rage derail the club's new business venture?  What new pain will Damon Pope inflict on SAMCRO?  Will Joel McHale finally turn up?  Check the new preview of 'Sons of Anarchy's "Small World" below!

But speaking of Ms. Venus Van Dam, what did Walton Goggins have to say about his now-legendary cameo appearance, having previously been a part of 'Sons' creator Kurt Sutter's series 'The Shield?'  Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Goggins explained the back-story of his jaw-dropping appearance:

Kurt, at one point, had done an interview with somebody and said the only two people who I could never have on the show are [Michael] Chiklis and Goggins, because of how closely relatable they are to their characters on The Shield. It would be very hard for our audience to accept them as anybody else. I called and said, “That’s bulls—! Come on!” And we went back and forth, like how would we do it? I wouldn’t want to do it as anything that would be compared to The Shield. And then I just said to him, “I’ll do it if I can be a transgender. I would like to play a transgender.” He said, “No, you wouldn’t.” I said, “Oh yes, absolutely, I would. Let’s do it as a transgender.” This conversation was like a year and a half ago.

He texted me while I was filming [Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained] down in New Orleans, and he said, “Were you serious?” I said, “About what?” He said, “Are you going to play Venus Van Dam?” I said, “Have you written it?” And he said, “Yes.” I said, “Send me the pages.” And I just fell in love with her immediately. It was really important to both of us that we really go there, we make her a three-dimensional person with feelings. Sassy, sweet, smart, and beautiful. Try to make her as beautiful as I can be — it takes a lot of work for me as a straight man much less as a woman to be anything close to beautiful. We had such a good time. He had written her in a way that I would want to hang out with her. It’s a woman who I would want to be around.

What new surprises do you think the rest of 'Sons of Anarchy' season 5 has in store?  Did you recognize Walton Goggins?  Give us your 'Sons of Anarchy' thoughts in the comments!