Sons of Anarchy Season 1 Review

Created by Kurt Sutter

Sons of Anarchy fits into the genre of crime drama, which seems to do very well on tv. Sons of Anarchy's tone sets it apart, though. Choosing not to reach for quite the same slow-burn tension as shows like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, Sons instead chooses to make every episode entertaining. This decision is the reason that Sons will not go down in history as being as great as either of those shows, and it is also the reason why Sons is an incredibly fun, exciting and fast paced show to watch. 

Following a California biker gang through their trials and tribulations, Sons of Anarchy chooses not to tell the story from the leader's point of view, but rather from the young and idealistic Vice President Jax Teller, a new father who is beginning to rethink his stance on many things. Hunnam is great as Jax, taking the traditional "Noble savage" protagonist role and giving it an even greater feeling of edge. He's a man who wants to change, but his situation never truly gives him the chance to, and there's a constant sense of unpredictability to his actions. 

The supporting cast is likewise strong. Ron Perlman is the obvious standout as club President Clay Morrow. Married to Jax's mother Gemma, played with real spunk by Katey Sagal who is clearly enjoying the hell out of the role, Clay is a brutal leader who is trying desperately to hold onto the past which Jax seems to want to move past. Maggie Siff also adds a little something to the thankless love-interest role, aided greatly by the fact that she is given her own exciting and fascinating subplot which culminates in perhaps the season's greatest moment.

Choosing not to have a season-long arc, but instead to follow these characters through their lives, this show's season does not have the feeling of a strong arc. Rather, arcs begin and end at almost random moments throughout the season, replaced by new ones. The show seems to move on an episode-by-episode basis, which leads to a season with very few boring episodes. Every episode has something happen, and they exist for their own purpose, no filler or setup episodes here. This leads to a show that is more exciting than it would otherwise be, but perhaps less dramatically satisfying, as only a few plots really gets built up enough to have a truly satisfying conclusion. 

The show's real weak point, though, is its women. Though the characters on their own are interesting, and they can interact with the men reasonably well, when a woman talks to a woman problems start to show. Female to female conversations are catty and passive aggressive to an exaggerated degree, and it makes the writers room really feel like a men's club who do not know how women actually talk. (Only one episode was written by a woman.)

In the end, though, Sons of Anarchy has great characters, a fully realized setting, and a gritty, violent and unpredictable world which keeps the proceeds consistently interesting. Hopefully later seasons will show an increased ability to write women's dialogue, but even so I know it'll be an exciting show and I hope it can keep the level of entertainment up as it moves the story forward.

Season Grade: A-

Strongest Episode: The Sleep of Babies (Episode 12)

The Penultimate episode of the season contains one of the most tense climaxes seen on television. A perfect storm of things going wrong, it is a truly emotional and tense sequence which is easily the high point of the season.

Weakest Episode: Old Bones (Episode 7)

Not a bad episode, but when the climax hinges on a character who has only had 5 minutes of screen time before this episode, then it's not going to have the kind of weight that the writers want it to.