Essentially bringing Easy Rider to the small screen, FX’s Sons of Anarchy (a show created by a prominent writer, actor, and producer on The Shield; Kurt Sutter) chronicles the ins-and-outs of a fictional outlaw motorcycle club known as the Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original (SAMCRO for short), as they attempt to successfully run their illegal arms business, in spite of other competing outlaw gangs, and excessive police interference.
Sons of Anarchy focusses on the core members of the Redwood Original (the club that first started the Sons, before charters began to spring up all across the U.S.), which consist of its President Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman, Hellboy), and Vice President Jackson ‘Jax’ Teller (Charlie Hunnam, Green Street), as well as soldiers Bobby Elvis (Mark Boone Junior, Batman Begins), Tig (Kim Coates, Silent Hill), Piney (William Lucking, Hell’s Belles), Opie (Ryan Hurst, We Were Soldiers), Juice (Theo Rossi, Cloverfield), and Chibs (Tommy Flanagan, Gladiator).
The second season begins with the group still reeling from the events that occurred near the end of the first series; events that saw someone extremely close to the club get hurt as a direct result of the actions of some of its members; events that have obviously caused a great deal of friction within the club, and lead to the club’s President Clay, and Vice President Jax, constantly arguing over club business, and the way to proceed on any number of situations, and forcing the other members (who still don’t know why Clay and Jax are at odds) to take sides.
Season two also opens by introducing a major new threat to the small town of Charming (where the Redwood Original reside); a man by the name of Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin, Chicago Hope), who is a member of the League of American Nationalists (a powerful racist group seeking white-power), and someone who arrives with a seemingly endless amount of money and muscle behind him, all of which he intends to use to stop SAMCRO’s business.
Needless to say the members of SAMCRO aren’t too pleased when Zobelle starts messing with their business; because after laughing off their first meeting (where Zobelle plainly told the Sons that they were to “stop selling guns to colour”) the tone of the series is set; as he has one of the people closest to the club savagely attacked, and begins systematically using not only the numerous local gangs who are enemies of SAMCRO (including both a white supremacist gang, and a rival motorcycle club called the Mayans), but also the local law enforcement, to encroach upon the Sons’ business, and personally hurt the people close to the club.
And while the true enemy is quickly established, he continues to shock and astound audiences right the way through the series, constantly coming up with new, and surprisingly despicable, ways of satisfying his own greed, and harming SAMCRO; who’s real enemy is the threat from within, as the fracture that’s developed between the group threatens to tear the club apart, and pit brother against brother, in the battle to do what’s right for the MC.
The series then takes that general mantra with every episode; building up the reputation of the nefarious Zobelle, for the inevitable confrontation between his muscle and the Redwood Original, creating reasons for Jax and Clay to pull on the tension strings between them, putting the club in a dark place, and placing it on a knifes edge of being ripped asunder by its core members, as well as building on the internal relationships of the club members, their families (Jax’s girlfriend Tara, who’s played by Maggie Siff; of Mad Men fame; gets much more involved with the club this time around, and is recognized as the second highest ‘Old Lady’ behind Clay’s wife/Jax’s mother Gemma; Married with Children’s Katey Sagal), and the back story of numerous characters; particularly Chibs (who’s family and background are both introduced).
This season manages to not only maintain, but successfully amp-up, the pace that flowed through the first season (which was much more episodic than the long-overarching story that’s the setting for the second season), and is even more engaging; because not have audiences spent more time investing in the characters on screen, but each of those characters is becoming more and more developed with every episode, and the individual plot lines for each character, and each episode, have become so gripping and tense, as a result of their harder-hitting nature; because everything that happens here, bar perhaps one or two majorly memorable moments from season one, is much more brutal, more affecting, and not only more potentially damaging to the club, but more emotional for everyone involved.
Emotions are also a thing that sets this series apart from others like it, as unlike many other series that attempt to find a similar tone, the action and the violence isn’t the only thing that sells Sons of Anarchy, and makes it worth watching (even though they are often fantastic, really gung-ho, and some of the most visually impressive moments the show has to offer); as the entire story is driven by the characters emotions (making it easy to relate to what’s going on, despite being set in a world that most viewers wouldn’t dare frequent), and acted to perfection by every single member of the cast.
Both lead actors Charlie Hunnam (who’s a young British actor that actually got his start in the Newcastle based kids show Byker Grove, yet does a seamless Californian accent), and Ron Perlman (who, by all accounts, now prefers starring in Sons of Anarchy to Hellboy), excel in their roles as the antagonistic club leaders who are starkly different; Clay being very pro-gun-running, having a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of approach to anything he can, and growing more and more stubborn as a result of him struggling to cope with the fact that age and arthritis are slowing him down, and Jax being more of an idealistic visionary who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty (bribing or killing if the situation dictates), but would prefer to take the club down the road of legitimate business; and can both handle their own in the emotional scenes just as well as the action ones; remaining strong and silent, yet fully conveying feelings of concern or upset with minimal facial expression.
And each of the soldiers; from club treasurer and often mediator Bobby Elvis (Mark Boone Junior), and the violence prone Tig (Coates), to club co-founder Piney (Lucking), emotionally damaged Opie (Hurst), Scottish born Chibs (Flanagan), and hacker Juice (Rossi); also manage to portray their roles with a healthy dose of realism, and are all utterly believable in just about every scene they are in; whether that be an action filled one, one that involves drinking or watching porn, or having to tough, emotionally driven, decisions about their personal lives and the club; and whilst they may not all have especially emotional scenes to handle individually, there are several big moments in the series where every major character is involved in hearing a piece of shocking news, or making a tough decision, and not at one single point does any member of the cast let the side down.
But despite how well the club members represent their characters, and how endearing they become, the supporting cast also come across as excellent; Deadwood’s Dayton Callie is more than an appropriate choice for Charming’s Chief of Police (who often goes outside the law to help SAMCRO for the good of the town), Adam Arkin is fantastically business-like and cunning in his role as Zobelle (making him methodical, and very easy to loathe), and Taylor Sheridan’s turn as Unser’s Deputy is now more diverse and realistic than in season one (where he was confined to simply being a SAMCRO hating, by-the-book, official); and it’s Katey Sagal who probably comes off as the best actor of the bunch when watching.
Katey Sagal’s portrayal of Gemma (widow of club founder John Teller, mother of Jackson Teller, wife of Clay Morrow, accountant, top ‘Old Lady’, and general club confidant) was outstanding in the first series, but is even better in season two; as she gets to blow up in anger, suffer some truly emotional issues, watch the club that her husband built get ground down by not only an outsider who wants to hurt her, but the arguments of her new husband and her son, and even have a few laughs; and comes off as pitch perfect in every scene, not simply acting believable, but being Gemma.
The writing on the show is utterly brilliant, and along with shows like Dexter, and Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy is easily of of the best programs still showing on TV; and could easily contend with the likes of The Sopranos, and The Shield, if they were still running, as it is often like a mix of The Sopranos (with the club organization and business being much like that of The Sopranos’ New Jersey Mafia), The Shield (for not only visual and writing style, but the Shakespearian elements of misunderstanding that often put characters needlessly in jeopardy), and Easy Rider (for the rebellious biker element); and is so enthralling, and has enough, action, enough emotion, and even enough humour, to entertain just about anybody.
Picture:
Similar to the DVD release of the first series (because unfortunately U.K. customers are once again only getting the DVD option, whereas U.S. customers have the choice of DVD or Blu-ray), Sons of Anarchy’s picture quality is more than acceptable; having a well represented, and deeply rounded, colour palette that’s rounded off with excellent contrast, and natural looking flesh-tones, as well as a constant layer of thin grain over the image that serves to add a film like quality to the picture.
Where it falls down however is with the level of detail; that is actually very good for DVD, but can be viewed as a little disappointing when realizing that Sons of Anarchy is filmed in HD, and available to own on Blu-ray in the U.S.; and with a few negligible print errors scattered throughout the series (halos being the main issue), and some excessive noise during the darker scenes, but the transfer generally looks very good; having only a few minor issues that most viewers simply won’t notice; and does a great job of representing its source; which, at its core, is a series that is so well made, the problems could ten times worse, and viewers would still want to keep on watching.
Audio:
Coming by way of a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, the soundtrack for Sons of Anarchy’s second season is perfectly balanced, and delivers pitch perfect dialogue that’s not only the most important element of the mix, but consistently crisp and clear, and never once gets overshadowed by the mix’s music; which accurately represents the season’s many heavy-rock songs, to enhance closing montages, and perfectly convey the series’ brilliant, Emmy-nominated, theme music.
The rear speakers are also active on a number of occasions, and contain a few ambient effects, but generally remain too quiet overall, as does the show’s bass; as while the LFE channel does become active during gun battles, when Harley engines are roaring down the streets of Charming, and when explosions can be seen and heard, it’s never quite as weighty, powerful, or imposing, as it really should be.
Overall however, the 5.1 sound-mix for Sons of Anarchy: Season Two is more than respectable; accurately conveying every sound it should; with the only real problems occurring from a level of preference; as the rear effects and bass are there, but just need to have the volume turned up a few notches.
Extras:
Also like the show’s first season release, Sons of Anarchy’s second season comes bundled with a large array of extras that consist of several audio commentaries on select episodes; which all prove to be entertaining listens, being led by series creator Kurt Sutter, and filled with the majority of the main cast, all of whom provide humorous on-set anecdotes, several jibes at one another, and plenty of interesting production information; a fairly humorous gag-reel, and a roundtable discussion; where the cast members answers question that fans of the show sent in to Kurt Sutter’s blog, Facebook, and Twitter, account, in a feature that contains some interesting information, and a couple of good jokes, but does seem to drag on somewhat.
There’s also a collection of deleted scenes available for certain episodes; most of which were trimmed for time issues,and may be interesting to some fans, and seem tedious to others, so aren’t entirely essential viewing; and an in depth look at the moral code of Sons of Anarchy; how that compares to the code of real-life biker clubs, how the biker community views the show, and what research was undertaken to ensure that SAMCRO always has a realistic feeling, and never unduly offends those it aims to represent.
All in all fairly fairly extensive and well rounded collection that is sure to whet the appetite of fans, and keep them satisfied until the third season airs on TV (which will be on September the 7th in the U.S., and at an unconfirmed date in the U.K.), as it’s interesting, informative, extremely easy to watch/listen to, and fairly extensive.
The Bottom Line:
It’s difficult to convey the sort of show that Sons of Anarchy is; as it’s likely that a large number of people will pass it over, either not being totally swung by the concept of the show, not knowing enough about it, or being turned off by the comparisons between it and The Sopranos, or The Shield; but it’s the sort of show that will have anyone hooked as soon as they’ve watched just one or two episodes; because it’s so well written, so well acted, so different (as while it might borrow style elements from other shows, or take a similar format, Sons of Anarchy is clearly its own show), and ultimately seems so real, that viewers genuinely care what happens to the characters, and want to see how they get out of the extraordinary situations they find themselves in.
It’s a shame that U.K. viewers can’t appreciate the same home media quality as those in the U.S., but as far as DVD releases go, Sons of Anarchy’s second season does everything it should; having picture and audio quality that is more than solid, and only has a couple of negligible niggles that most viewers wouldn’t even pick up on, a great selection of special features (the moral code features is a stand out one, and the audio commentaries are some of the best ever included on any release; being tremendously easy to listen to, and still rather informative); and presents the show just about as well as any DVD transfer could.
Sons of Anarchy: Season Two is the entire package; it arrives on an impeccable DVD set (the artwork on the box is even worth mentioning as it looks appropriately, and impressively, cool), thoroughly ups the ante from the first series in terms of storytelling, hardship, emotion, and action, and is a show that’s truly gripping for a number of reasons; including it’s style, acting, direction, writing, and action; and one that any fan of The Sopranos or The Shield is guaranteed to love, and almost anyone else is bound to get something out of; meaning it’s a show that’s easily one of the best on TV at the moment, and one that comes highly recommended; if you haven’t seen the first series buy the box-set of both seasons (which you’re bound to thoroughly enjoy), and if you have, but aren’t sure if the second can hold up to the first, buy it, and you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised, as season two is even better than season one.
