I am currently doing my yearly rewatch of the story of SAMCRO (on S4 Ep 5 right now) and a few things have occurred to me…

1) Gemma is the real villain of the piece as her actions constantly lead to chaos, all in the name of her “family”. But her arrogance is astounding. Her surety that she knows best causes a lot of pain, and the fact that she thought killing JT was okay says volumes. I find it interesting that she got so self righteous about Maureen Ashby when she and Clay were messing around.

2) It’s amazing to me how quickly Jax abandons JT’s ideal vision. I dunno if it’s because of the static he gets from some in the club about rubbing Clay the wrong way. But since Jax is smart, you would think he could separate the message from the man.

3) It’s insane how much pressure gets placed on SAMCRO throughout the series. Logically, they should have broken apart on a few occasions, yet SAMCRO endures.

4) I love everything about Ireland and its cultures, but the trip to Belfast felt like a wrong turn. And for me, it made the Irish less intimidating since they couldn’t deal with a bunch of bikers when they want to get an entire nation to move out.

5)The disadvantage of a rewatch is you see how things will go completely after a brief reacquainment. I find myself constantly barking at the TV when yet another character does something dumb, self destructive or creates effects that will end up badly in the future.