海角大神

As far as responses to last week鈥檚 bloodbath go, the deaths of wind up being filed under 鈥渋nevitable鈥� 鈥� which is pretty much where they should be filed, considering the half-cocked and foolhardy way Toric was conducting his revenge against the Sons. And, well, there really wasn鈥檛 much of Otto left by the time 鈥樷�� rolled around, so his demise felt more like putting a wretched creature out of his misery than anything else.

But Otto鈥檚 final actions managed to bring another inevitability to season 6 of , by听allowing CCH Pounder鈥檚 Tyne Patterson to take point on the growing legal case against SAMCRO, which stems from their connection to the gun used in the season premiere鈥檚 school shooting. So far we haven鈥檛 seem much of Tyne that would make her more of a character than Donal Logue鈥檚 Toric 鈥� who wound up being 听 than a fully fleshed-out personality 鈥� but aside from a similar level of drive and desire, the DA seems to share few qualities with the unruly marshal.听

That鈥檚 a good sign; just to keep the series fresh, the Sons sometimes need to tangle with opposition that isn鈥檛 willing to do anything in pursuit of their goal, and as the issue with the Irish Kings escalates, having who is limited in her line of attack because she also wishes to uphold the law makes for a more compelling conflict and character. Again, we don鈥檛 know too much about Tyne at this point, so she could wind up being as bent as Toric was, but so far that doesn鈥檛 appear to be the case.

Speaking of the Sons鈥� conflict with the Irish Kings, while Galen continues to descend further into the realm of grinning madman, his rival attempts to broker for peace. But rather than depict Jax鈥檚 attempt to call a truce with the rest of the Kings鈥� white-haired decision makers as a shift in the character鈥檚 thinking about moral concerns stemming from the KG-9 used in , it鈥檚 depicted more as a logical and practical move.

Ultimately, the move blows up in his face (literally), as Jax鈥檚 attempt to pass off the gun business to August Marks is seen as an insult by the Kings and also puts in a bit of hot water with his veep. Seeing a character鈥檚 good intentions 鈥� driven by self-preservation as they were 鈥� come back and bite him could result in some compelling drama. It will be very telling in terms of Jax鈥檚 growth how he responds to the bombing of Teller-Morrow and, more importantly, why he chooses to do whatever it is he plans to do.

The conflict with the Kings leads back to . Thus far the Sons have attempted to get out of the business primarily for the purpose of avoiding future legal worries. That works well within the context of the series and this season鈥檚 narrative, but the storyline hasn鈥檛 really discussed the ramifications of the larger gun culture outside the somewhat limited framework of Jax & Co. not wanting to go to jail. And for a series that seems to have certain storytelling goals, that aspect continues to feel like a great opportunity that鈥檚 just waiting to be seized.

Kevin Yeoman blogs at .