Series Review: Sons of Anarchy (2008 – 2014)

For some reason I am very interested in crime-related stories. Whether they are real or not, they just interest me. And I don’t necessarily mean reading about them on the internet, I mean read books, watch movies or TV relating to crime in one way or another. And one type of crime-related thing that I’ve always had a keen interest in is the world of biker gangs. Hells Angels, Bandidos, you name ’em. So then I found out that my parents had started watching a TV-show about a biker gang. So I got pretty interested and started watching with them. And now that it’s over I thought it could be fun to review it for you people (Sidenote: I know it finished fall of 2014, but the last episodes didn’t arrive here in Sweden until 2015).

Sons and daughters… “Sons of Anarchy”.

This show follows a biker gang in the fictional city of Charming, California, but the main focus is on member Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam). And being part of a biker gang like that sounds fine and dandy… except if you recently have become a father like Jax. It also gets more difficult when he has to balance that and being part of a gang that takes part in criminal activities. The club is led by Jax’s stepfather Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) who might be a little bit corrupt in his ways. So throughout the show we get to see Jax struggle with both being part of this criminal gang and being a decent father. Now while what I explain might sound “meh”, it is actually really intriguing. It is a great set up for a great plot and a great execution of said plot. Every season they have new obstacles to face, new enemies to fight and new situations to be part of. I love the plot and execution of the show.

The characters in the show are some of the best I have ever seen. They are both incredibly well-written and incredibly well-acted. Let’s start with our protagonist Jax. I think Charlie Hunnam was the perfect pick for him. Sure, I never questioned it since I had no idea about this show until about 2010/2011. But I think he portrayed the character perfectly. He gets a lot of development throughout the show. From the not too trigger-happy rookie guy to the great leader/killing machine. That is not a spoiler since I didn’t tell you what happened to him! Now I am quickly gonna go through the main members of the club so this doesn’t get too long. Ron Perlman  as Clay is kind of like a more asshole-y version of Hellboy (Fitting since he played Hellboy). Next is Jax’s mother/Clay’s wife Gemma (Katey Sagal). She is a major bitch through the show. but I can’t deny that Sagal plays her pitch perfectly, she was awesome. Filip “Chibs” Telford (Tommy Flanagan) is the Scottish and awesome sort of best friend of everyone in the club. He is loyal, he is badass and he got an awesome accent. Robert “Bobby” Munson (Mark Boone Junior) is the sort of uncle of everyone in the club. He is a big guy with a big heart and knows how to show loyalty towards his close friends/fellow members. Alex “Tig” Trager (Kim Coates)… such a sick little bastard. I am not kidding, he is a sick fucking guy… butthat is what makes him so awesome. Don’t worry, he can be serious and a good man whenever he wants to. And finally we have Juan Carlos “Juice” Ortiz (Theo Rossi) who is the little guy in the club, but he can kick a lot of ass when he needs to. Every actor is doing a fantastic job in this show and never feel miscast. There are more characters of course, but most of them are sort of back and forth type characters… but they still play big parts. The characters and acting in the show are awesome.

The music in this show is some of the greatest I have heard. Maybe I am just biased considering the majority of the music is rock/metal… but it is still great. The soundtrack is for the most part done by the band “The Forest Rangers”. The badass music fits the badass style of the show. There are also a lot of covers of well-known rock songs such as Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” or Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. We of course also have the main theme tune “This life” by The Forest Rangers and Curtis Stigers… I love it. It fits the show perfectly and is a great musical track overall.

This show is very well-directed. For one, you can see the action happen, it isn’t obstructed by shaky-cam (Woohoo!). The show also got a lot of dark humor mixed in every now and then to keep the mood nice and light-hearted if it’s needed. But the humor is often VERY dark, so maybe all people won’t like it. Another warning I might give is that the show is incredibly violent. So if you are squeamish then maybe not have a look… or have a look and see if you can take it. Here is also a little fun fact; Katey Sagal who plays Gemma is married to the creator of the show, Kurt Sutter who shows up in the show a few times as the character Otto. Another fun thing is that in a few episodes we get a cameo from the founder of Hells Angels himself, Sonny Barger… that’s kinda cool to know. I can also admit that this show have made me cry more than once… yeah, good job. I can probably also say that my favorite season might be the final one. Sure, all seasons are fantastically well-paced, but the final season is so suspenseful and great that it just becomes my favorite. So here is a question; If you have seen the show, which season is your favorite? And who is you favorite character? Mine might be either Tig or Chibs… can’t decide.

This is a show with universal critical acclaim. Now I am not able to give you the overall scores of most sites since they divide by season and have no overall score, but I can still link them. Rotten Tomatoes! Here comes Metacritic! And finally we have an overall score on the one and only imdb.com where it has an 8,7/10.

“Sons of Anarchy” got a great story with a great finale, some great characters/performances, amazing music, great directing/camera work, great action and just a great feel throughout. Final score time! My final score for “Sons of Anarchy” is a 9,92/10 which of course grants it… the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”

“Sons of Anarchy” is now reviewed.

Ride into this world…