Last year's attempt to add Sons of Anarchy to the line-up of shows failed miserably. I came in late to it, barely knew who the characters were, and it was only after buying the entire first season on DVD midway through the second that I felt confident enough to write about SAMCRO and its associates.
And boy, is it great to have them back.
"So," is mostly 45 minutes of slow burn, despite occasional bits of action/violence (the chase from the marina; Jemma knifing the guy who catches her hot-wiring his car).
But we enter this season finding the characters still reeling from the events of last year (note the blood stain still on Jax's floor), so everything feels sort of numbed and quiet. Maybe too quiet, as the episode culminates in one of the show's more brutal and sudden climaxes. What I liked most about the end is how it suggests a whole other possible direction for the season.
The drive-by shooters at Half-Sack's funeral could've been more IRA guys, or Ethan Zobelle out for revenge, or any number of club enemies. We just don't know.
I'm late in writing this, and watched without taking notes, so I won't have much of anything to say about SOA until next week. For now, I'll say:
- Not a good night for the Charming PD. A little kid gets gunned down, their soon-to-be chief gets run down, and their officers let Jax beat a guy's head against the asphalt.
- And if said beating is a sign that Jax has chosen to be a man of action/vengeance, then all I can say is: good. I'd hate to waste time this season watching him ponder the choice Clay gave him.
- Neat episode title: "So" suggests "So what now," but it's also the first half of the word "Sons," spelled out on the two rings Jax wears. When he visits his dad's grave, we see the "SO" ring sitting on the tombstone, a neat way of suggesting a club divided by the past and present/future.
- I sort of thought Hal Holbrook would have more to do. Maybe next week.
Tom Coombe
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