Kurt Sutter should surprise no one anymore. The man has shown from his days writing for FX’s hit cop drama “The Shield” that he is more than willing to delve into dark and horrible material that most viewers and writers for that matter shy away from. Last night’s premiere of the second season of “Sons of Anarchy” was certainly no different.
After being left with a cliffhanger from last season in which we see the lines that have been drawn between Jax Teller, played brilliantly by the English actor Charlie Hunnam (Green Street Hooligans and Undeclared), and Clay Morrow, played by Hellboy actor Ron Perlman. Both Jax and Clay are part of the Sons of Anarchy, better known as SAMCRO, a motorcycle gang that runs guns up and down the west coast of California and keeps their small town of Charming isolated from the other dregs of the outside world, i.e drugs and prostitution.
As revealed from last season, Jax (vice president of SAMCRO) and Clay (president of SAMCRO) have grown close since Jax’s real father had been killed and Clay married his widowed mother. However, after Clay targets one of the group’s own and the best friend of Jax, Opie, wrongfully and accidentally kills his wife, Jax decides that it is time for the change that he knew needed to come after reading a book his late father wrote about the state of the Sons.
After watching last night’s premiere, I am left with one thought and one question: Why is this show’s season only 13 episodes long? I know that FX prefers its shows to be half seasons and Sutter may be more comfortable writing a storyline for that amount of time, but all I know is that I don’t want to keep waiting nine months in between the Sons of Anarchy.
The second season picked up about three weeks after the funeral for Opie’s wife Donna and Opie has come back looking for revenge on who he believes killed wife, only Jax, Clay, Gemma (Jax’s mother and Clay’s wife), Piney (Opie’s Father) and Tig, the member of SAMCRO who killed Donna are aware of the painful truth. Knowing that the truth would crush Opie, both Piney and Jax agree to go along with Clay’s version of events, which is that a member of a rival motorcycle gang, the Mayans, killed Donna while taking revenge on the Sons for a botched gun deal.
We also see the relationship has blossomed between Jax and his old flame Tara as they both try to raise Jax’s son Abel. Tara wants the truth from Jax about what he does and Jax hesitantly obliges, telling her of the murder he just helped commit on Opie’s behalf.
Bobby, played by Mark Boone Junior (Batman Begins, 30 Days of Night), who is casted perfectly as is the rest of the crew has been released from jail and a party in his name is interrupted by the new gang into Charming, a group of Neo-Nazi white supremacists who want the Sons to stop selling guns to the blacks in the One-Niners and the Mayans.
After being brushed off by SAMCRO, this group targets Gemma, played by Katey Sagal, and in one of the most horrific scenes to ever be aired on basic cable television, we see her repeatedly beaten and raped as she is strung up in front of a chain link fence in a warehouse.
The believability of this scene only shows how perfectly the writers, directors and cast have developed the characters and storyline in just 14 episodes. As a loyal viewer of “The Sons of Anarchy” I can simply not wait until next week to see what form of revenge the crew will take upon these hate mongers.
FX has found the perfect show to take the place of “The Shield” and if Sutter shows that he can keep up the act without his buddy and co-writer Shawn Ryan, the show will gain the recognition and following it deserves. The original storyline along with the fantastic acting of Hunnam, who soared in Green Street Hooligans, Perlman, who could not fit any better into this role and Sagal, whose grasp of the bitchy mother and hard-assed female figure has not been seen in any other show, make the “Sons of Anarchy” one of the strongest and most solid shows currently on the air.
Sons of Anarchy Premiere Approval Rating: 4 out of 5
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