Smallscreen News

FX's 'Sons of Anarchy' ends, season five musing begins, some thoughts

By April MacIntyre Dec 7, 2011, 21:00 GMT

Allow my tangential musings momentarily, as this is an important thing to consider with regards to this series. The 1% MC world represents the last unbridled bastion for true anarchists, the ones who avoid the cultural norms as they carve out their destiny (legally or not).

Sons of Anarchy ends, season five musing begins.

God do I love the twisted darkly funny and flawed FX drama that uses a bucolic town in NorCal, claiming it as the new epicenter for organized crime.

Showrunner and New Jersey native Kurt Sutter, for all his talents in front of the camera and behind it, has effectively shifted the collective perspective that the East coast or Chicago as the domain of all things organized and shady in the USA, and transported the action to the West.

Allow my tangential musings momentarily, as this is an important thing to consider with regards to this series. The 1% MC world represents the last unbridled bastion for true anarchists, the ones who avoid the cultural norms as they carve out their destiny (legally or not).

You could even argue that the rebellious, brash essence of America as a collective idea, or as a destination to outsiders, is perversely wrapped up in the cuts that SAMCRO wears, as they live, work, prosper or perish by their own actions, beholden to no corporate master or European style cradle-to-the-grave safety net. 

Eat what you kill! Their world is exactly like a juicy all-American western, where men are judged on a different set of criteria than the traditional Scorsese heavy gangster/mob New York P.O.V. 

This may seem irrelevant to you with regards to this series, especially if you’re braying for neat resolutions for Clay to be dead, or Jax and Tara to live happily ever after, but it has become an undercurrent for me in thinking about how the seasons have grown, the characters developed and the possibilities of what may come next. 

If Shakespeare were around and had a taste for modern westerns, this series would be all up in his DVR.

Season four was the natural fallout of natural human resentments, bubbling under the surface for decades, and of corporate status quo running over the little guy. Season five was replete with racial extortion, war guns, corporate pantsing, landmines, pedophile sex dolls and Chucky's special chili.

The long bitter Irish arm of Maureen Ashby (the visual keynote for the finale, seen in picture with John Teller) wounds Gemma's (Katey Sagal) pride one more time and gives Gemma's acolyte Tara (Maggie Siff), who loves Gemma on a certain plane, leverage to free Jax (Charlie Hunnam) from Charming.

But Charming and "the life" are quicksand that swallows anyone in its orbit, and the fact of the matter is that Tara and Gemma will spar over power behind the throne in season five.  SAMCRO is their bedfellow. Jax strives for better but Tara is the alpha and omega of his lofty ambitious musing. He told her best this season, it's all he knows.

There is an interesting schism in the fan base of this series. Observed are the male biker aficionados who love the action, mayhem, gore and guts of the show, and the women who hang on to the psychological underpinnings of the love affair between Jax and Tara, and the externals that threaten that idealized Romeo and Juliet love affair. 

For me, the juice lay somewhere between, and since seeing just the first episode from season one, I still believe this grand story is Gemma's, not Jax, in a part written by a man who loved Katey Sagal so much, he envisioned a proper character that would go down in the annals of TV history as one of the best penned female roles brought to life. 

Sutter accomplished that, and Sagal has delivered consistent restrained yet fierce moments in a teleplay that ensnares bikers, cubicle workers, blacks, whites, Latinos, women, academic elites and blue collar audiences in a loyal patchwork of fandom that have a shared passion.  I've never seen such a diverse demographic for any TV show out there, with the exception of Sesame Street.

Gemma's ruthless machinations have fueled this story, regardless of the deals brokered by the men with the IRA, 9ers, Mayans or Russians. 

So Jax spares Clay because he must keep everyone out of jail - and the IRA deal will only happen if Clay is the parlay with the Irish. Jax took the gavel; Otto Delaney succumbed to Linc's (Ray McKinnon) artful truth bending and Bobby (Mark Boone Junior) pays the price in prison.  Juice's racial sword of Damocles is removed, and Opie is licking his wounds and figuring things out in his time. Tig is demoted, and left confused and still Clay's boy. Happy (David LaBrava) and Filthy Phil (Chris Reed) are pulled in deeper and Chucky (Michael Marisi Ornstein) is the club's secret weapon and cook.  Chief Unser (Dayton Callie) is the pipeline between Gemma and what the boys do, but Clay may have designs on Unser's usefulness next season, we will see.

Through lies and omission, Tig erroneously kills Laroy's girlfriend, the daughter of Damien Pope, a plum role yet to be cast Oakland heavy who most certainly will target Tig or another SAMCRO member for a kill in season 5. 

When will Jax tell the club the truth about Piney and Clay's involvement? This is to be determined. When will the actions against the Russians from Opie's ill-fated wedding to Lyla be answered? Next season hopefully. What about Darby (Mitch Pileggi), or Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin), or Otto's actual death sentence now expedited per his request?

Hopefully we keep him around for another year. All thoughts for season five and beyond.