The Sleep of Babies

"The Sleep of Babies"
Sons of Anarchy episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 12
Directed by	Terrence O'Hara
Written by	Kurt Sutter
Featured music	"Forever Young" by Audra Mae "End of Story" by Fireball Ministry "Stray Bullet Woman" by Greenleaf "No Generation" by Lions "Bodacious" by Mojo Monkeys "Who Stole The Booty" by Boo Boo Davis "White Angel" by Lions
Production code	1WAB11
Original air date	November 19, 2008 (2008-11-19)
Running time	45 minutes
Guest appearances
Drea de Matteo as Wendy Case Ally Walker as June Stahl Ryan Hurst as Opie Winston Theo Rossi as Juice Ortiz William Lucking as Piney Winston Taylor Sheridan as David Hale Sprague Grayden as Donna Winston Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser Emilio Rivera as Marcus Álvarez Dendrie Taylor as Luanne Delaney Keir O'Donnell as Lowell Harland, Jr. Tory Kittles as Laroy Wayne Dewin Jordan as Agent Smith Julie Ariola as Mary Winston Olivia Burnette as Homeless Woman Marcos de la Cruz as Agent Estevez
Episode chronology
← Previous " Capybara " Next → "The Revelator"
List of episodes

"The Sleep of Babies" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the

and originally aired on November 19, 2008 in the United States.

This episode marks the final appearance of Sprague Grayden (Donna Winston).^[1]

Plot

Abel is finally healthy enough to return home. Wendy walks in on a tender moment between Jax and Tara and realizes that Gemma is using her to get to Tara. Wendy confronts Gemma, then notifies Tara that she intends to mend her relationship with Jax and that Gemma is determined to sabotage Jax and Tara's relationship. Having sold all of their arms from Ireland and strapped for cash to pay for Bobby's legal defense, Clay plans to sell the club's own guns to the Mayans. In

, accidentally killing Donna. SAMCRO is quick to arrive at the crime scene, and as everyone consoles a devastated Opie, Jax shoots a furious glare at Clay, and Hale blames a shocked Stahl for Donna's death. Back at their home, Wendy consoles Jax and the two have sex.

Reception

IGN gave "The Sleep of Babies" a 7.2/10.0 rating, stating, "A lot of things are going to change after this. Opie will be a different person, Agent Stahl will be gone and it looks like Deputy Chief Hale is starting to switch into becoming Unser (which was one of the easier transitions). But this episode was the show's chance to show what it was made of, and while some of the execution was good, it was mostly a letdown. If you're wondering where this show falls short, it's right here.".^[2]

Zach Handler of The AV Club gave "The Sleep of Babies" a B rating, stating; "The final scene over Donna's corpse was a beaut. Opie breaking down, Clay just wallowing in his mistake, Jax acting pissed. And man, Hale taking down Agent Smith with one freakin' punch. Hardcore. And how about Unser? That moment when he's talking to Clay while Opie sobs over his wife's corpse, when you realize that Unser knows exactly what happened. The guy may be a weasel, but he's not a stupid weasel."^[3]

References

External links

• "The Sleep of Babies" at
  IMDb