'Sons of Anarchy': Will Clay survive?

If you’re not caught up on Sons of Anarchy, stop reading now.

If you are, have you recovered from these last two weeks? I was physically out of breath watching “Hands,” the Nov. 8 episode in which we endured the painful wait for Clay’s hitman to make his move on Tara and saw Clay beat Gemma. Last night’s episode, “Call of Duty,” piled onto the tension. To wit, we witnessed the return of Wendy (whose desire to see Abel made Tara feel even more trapped in Charming and re-shatter her hand); the landmine death of Kozik (so actor Kenny Johnson could focus on NBC’s Prime Suspect, which has now been benched); the resignation of Tig as Clay’s sergeant-at-arms (because he can’t be the right hand of a man who’d use his left one to pound on Gemma); the realization that Juice never had to turn rat because he wasn’t in danger of being kicked out the club (Chibs said if his birth certificate says Hispanic, all’s well); the turning of Otto (though he hasn’t signed off on the incriminating tales he told about Bobby yet); and the revenge seething in Opie’s eyes (Unser told him Clay killed his father).

When that 90 minutes ended, I let out an anxious, high-pitched yell that I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding in because I was too focused on the TV. Then, I laughed. I love when TV produces a physical reaction, and the last two episodes have made me feel like I’m with the Sons in that subway car at the end of Speed, hoping that if we go hard and fast enough we’ll jump the track we’re on, slam into a lot of s— as we try to surface, but still be breathing when the dust settles.

Is there any chance that Clay survives this season? Who should do the deed? Vote below. Defend your pick in the comments.

Read more:

Ken Tucker reviews “Call of Duty”

Ken Tucker review “Hands”

‘Sons of Anarchy’ news on our Inside TV blog