Jax rises from the roses with an outraged "Jesus Christ!" but Vivica's on the warpath, inquiring of her boys, at the top of her lungs, as to what they might have possibly been thinking. The most giant of her sons (Luther? Vandross?) says, "Sorry, Mom, it was s'posed to be a surprise. We was going to get you the F-350. Super-duty." Vivica's expression softens, and her second-largest son adds, "We know how much you love that truck, Mom. We even had a red one all picked out and shit." Vivica reigns in her temper and says formally to Jax, "My apologies." Jax bows in response, which pleases Vivica. She orders her sons to give SAMCRO their guns, then gestures Jax to hand back the wad of cash, since it belongs to her boys. She peels off a wad of hundreds for his troubles, then adds, "Tell Happy I'll send his mom some tomatoes." As Vivica climbs the porch steps, she calls, "Family meeting! Inside!" Her two big boys try unsuccessfully to menace Filthy Phil, and Vivica bellows, "Luther! Vandross! I said now!" The boys scamper inside, closing the front door (which bears the plaque "#1 Mom"). Tig is in love; he tells Jax admiringly, "That one there? She makes Gemma look like Donna Reed." Jax cracks up and says, "I'm suddenly feeling a little less dysfunctional."

He may want to revisit that thought after his mom finishes laying the family's dirty laundry on his old lady. At the hospital, Tara's made a copy of the John Teller letters and tucked them into her accordion file. As he heads back into her office, who should she encounter sitting on the couch but Gemma? Per her usual behavior, the biker matriarch has figured that the best defense is to make everyone else feel defensive. Gemma shows Tara Maureen's note and asks where Abel might have found such a note. Tara stalls -- a note? Why whomever might it be from? And why would Abel or I have it? -- and Gemma calls her on it. Gemma says, "What I do know is that letters from John Teller would be very painful for my son to read." Tara asks, "Why?" Gemma explains, "John was in love with Maureen Ashby. When we were in Belfast, I found out she had a kid with him. It stirred up all that old shit. I had already fallen in love with Clay. When Thomas died, I -- I didn't care anymore. I didn't even try to hide it. That was a mistake. It put Clay at risk. It was humiliating for JT. Jax doesn't know any of that. Him finding out could set things off with Clay again. John ripped me apart. He spent months at a time in Belfast with her. Left me here, alone, with his sons." I have to hand it to Gemma: in one monologue that appears to be soul-baring, she's managed to draw parallels between herself and Tara ("left me here, alone, with his sons") and exploit Tara's inclination to protect the man she loves. The woman is a pro. If Kurt Sutter ever gets tired of the biker gang angle, he can always retool this show as a procedural with Gemma and Vivica as a team of angry middle-aged moms who roam California and manipulate people for the sheer fun of it. It'll be a cross between "Kate & Allie" and, oh, "Dexter?" I would totally watch it.