The only issue I have is with this. I haven't seen it for a while but I recalled some coolness on Dutch's part, a kind of "Sorry, Dany, but that ship has sailed" albeit friendliness. The intention of his flirtation with Billings' lawyer (according to Sean Ryan in the DVD commentaries) was to suggest that he'd be hooking up with her down the road, which is why they cast Jay Karnes' real life wife in the role.

IDK, maybe, but the Shield was Sean Ryan's baby, and while Kurt Sutter definitely left his mark on that (according to Sean Ryan, all the most messed-up, horrific & warped stuff came from Sutter), they aren't the same creators and they have different visions. Ryan's other work has been different, and you could actually see The Shield as a hybrid or halfway work between Ryan shows and SoA. Speaking of Ryan's shows, I would strongly recommend you find Terriers on iTunes, or the internet or something. It was excellent, the Firefly of detective shows, starring Donal Logue (Lee Toric from SoA, with the guy who played Eli Roosevelt in a supporting role, and his real-life sister again playing his TV sister, but with a slightly bigger role than the prison nurse on SoA).

Not that I'm saying you're wrong, but that's definitely the way this season has started off, showing Jax making horrible decisions, and making no bones about Gemma's toxicity.