If you’re a fan of the series SONS OF ANARCHY then you’re probably aware of most of what happened in this season and want to pick it up on DVD to watch it again and again. If you’re not a fan then you probably haven’t seen it yet. I fell into that category and now find myself recording the third season which just began. This is a solid series that may take the low road, but remains interesting if nothing else.
The Sons of Anarchy are a motorcycle club (what most would consider bikers), officially known as SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original). This group is the original band, the beginning of the club, though most have passed away. Originally started with 9 members, the club has expanded and as we’ve learned in season two is even international. Comparisons to the Hells Angels would be expected, but knowing their reputation for dealing in drugs and more the link isn’t really there.
The Sons deal mostly in illegal weapons and small time extortion, tending to protect the small town of Charming, CA that they live in rather than do it harm. They keep out drug dealers and meth heads, keeping the streets safe even if they do use a bit of violence to do so. The story never turns lose of the fact that these are dangerous men who do dangerous and illegal things and yet you find yourself rooting for them. Perhaps it’s the biker mystique that has long been associated with freedom and a life without care. But those two things aren’t found with the Sons as they have as many problems as anyone.
As I said, I never saw season one, but from what I gathered, club president Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) made the decision to take out a member named Opie and by mistake that member’s wife was killed. At the same time, vice president Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam) was trying to decide what to do about the club having read his deceased father’s “manifesto” wherein he discussed the fall of the club should things continue down the path they were at the time of his death. Jax knows of Clay’s orders but doesn’t let the club know. He’d rather attempt to save the club than see it destroyed from within. Add to that the fact that Jax’ mother Gemma (Katey Sagal) is now married to Clay and the plot thickens.
But that’s just how the new season opens. Not only does Jax have to contend with attempting to reshape the club in a new mold, he has to continue helping with the old. While attempts by the ATF to shut down the Son have failed, setting up a new source isn’t easy. Ties to the IRA are slow moving and personal grudges between members of both groups won’t make for nice bedfellows.
Worse yet is the arrival of someone new to town, a businessman with ties to a white supremacists group known as the League Of American Nationalists (LOAN). Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin) is sly and cunning, something the Sons haven’t faced before. Hiding any connection to this group from the locals, Zobelle has plans in motion that will change the face of Charming forever. With his hooks already dug into the town’s mayor, Zobelle will use this force to shut down the Sons and take over the town, allowing all the things the Sons prevent from running rampant and taking his cut as well.
Along with this storyline we find the Sons becoming involved with a legitimate business due to the wife of one of their imprisoned members coming to them for help. That business is the porn industry and while it may be unsavory for most, it’s a legit moneymaker that the Sons need while trying to restart their arms business. It’s a business that Jax brings the Sons in to and that Clay wants nothing to do with.
The crux of the show pits Clay and Jax against one another for various reasons. At the core is the knowledge that Jax has of Clay’s actions as well as the resentment he has for the man his mother married. But both men deep inside want nothing more than for the Sons to continue on. They just have different ways of seeing how that will happen.
Toss in the IRA double dealing, an ATF agent with a personal grudge, a chief of police who helps the Sons as often as possible and a deputy chief trying to keep things straight and you have a decent drama going on here. Best of all it doesn’t rely on weekly fist fights of motorcycle chases to hold a viewers attention. It actually offers a story and some great acting to go with it. Perhaps the biggest surprise to some will be Katey Sagal’s portrayal of Gemma, a woman who sees herself as the mother figure for the club, trying to keep it together as well as keep the two men who mean the most to her from killing one another. Forget Peggy Bundy, this role offers Sagal something that she can display her acting chops with. And when a twist in the story involving her comes out (sorry, for once no spoiler on that one), you’ll feel so involved in her tale that you can’t help but feel for her.
As I said, the series revolves around a group of men who choose what most of us would avoid for both a lifestyle and for a profession. But as for offering great drama it delivers in spades. The show will hold your interest from beginning to end. I for one found myself watching it and thinking, perhaps I’ll put in the next disc and see what happens. The next thing I knew it was 5AM and I’d spent the entire night watching the second season and setting the DVR for season three. It is that good.
A word of warning for parents: the show is seen on FX and like many of their other series is definitely not for kids. Slight nudity and extreme violence are the norm for this group and visible throughout the series. Just a warning for those uninformed.
No comments:
Post a Comment