Sons of Anarchy season 4

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Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

Also, there has been some great casting for this season. David Hasselhoff has been cast as a porn star and Danny Trejo is going to be in it. I don't know how you can make a show more badass.

Hopefully they go back to seasons 1-2 and essentially forget last season even happened.  God knows I'm trying to.

And Jax cut his hair.  WTF?  Did we learn nothing from Metallica?

Is it bad that I was hoping they'd never get the kid back just so we wouldn't have to deal with "Jax is a father" storyline?  I thought this was supposed to be like MacBeth and there would be some power struggles going on within the club for the soul of Sam Crow.

Hamlet, not Macbeth.

Oh yeah, you're right.  My bad.

I like that we live in a world where someone is prominently featuring the mugs of Tommy Flanaghan and Mark Boone Junior on billboards.

Loving the bits of casting news I've heard.  Trejo is obviously an insanely good fit, and Rockmund Dunbar and Ray McKinnon as the new sheriff and States Attorney sound very promising indeed.  Despite the letdown of last season, I can't wait to get back to Charming.

He kinda wasn't supposed to be though, right?  Didn't Gemma in S1 comment that Jax was soft?  He was skating in on blood.
 

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Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

They've never really made Jax look like a real biker though. What's with the baggy jeans and white gym shoes? He's always looked like he's going to hop on his bike and ride off to a Eminem concert.

 

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Originally Posted by neoolong 

He kinda wasn't supposed to be though, right?  Didn't Gemma in S1 comment that Jax was soft?  He was skating in on blood.
 

I feel like they sort of floated that idea early on, but realized it didn't make any sense for such a young guy to be VP if he wasn't well liked and respected within the group.  Clay and Tig had their doubts about his hardness early on, but come on, those guys weren't going to be impressed unless he was raping nuns on the police station steps.

Like many of you was disappointed with last season. Didn't care for much of anything. Still, I'll watch to see if some redemption can be made. And I agree that Jax with short hair looks a lot tougher. The white sneakers and baggy jeans still make him look totally out of place with the rest of the biker crew.

Man, I am having a hard time working up enthusiasm for this new season after last year.  Going to have to force myself to remember it's on Tuesday.

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Originally Posted by Ratty 

Man, I am having a hard time working up enthusiasm for this new season after last year.  Going to have to force myself to remember it's on Tuesday.

That's what DVRs are for!  But yeah, this show is officially on a short leash for me.  2-3 episodes in if it smells like last season then I'm getting rid of it.

Season 3 had it's missteps but it wasn't awful. Still better than Supernatural season 6 at least. The ending of the season really saved it. I will be watching.

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Originally Posted by Waaaaaaaalt 

Season 3 had it's missteps but it wasn't awful. Still better than Supernatural season 6 at least. The ending of the season really saved it. I will be watching.

Eh, even if Supernatural was somehow the yardstick we were measuring Sons by (haven't seen it), season 6 is a much more reasonable place to start sputtering out than season 3.
 

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Originally Posted by A-Pathetic 


That's what DVRs are for!  But yeah, this show is officially on a short leash for me.  2-3 episodes in if it smells like last season then I'm getting rid of it.
 

I'm pretty sure the addition of Trejo, McKinnon and Dunbar alone will keep me interested through a few episodes at least.

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Originally Posted by Waaaaaaaalt 

Season 3 had it's missteps but it wasn't awful. Still better than Supernatural season 6 at least. The ending of the season really saved it. I will be watching.

It's all perspective.  The end of the season made me fondly remember the previous seasons, but it mostly made me mad that so much of season 3 sucked.

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Originally Posted by Schwartz 

 Rockmund Dunbar ... as the new sheriff

Too much to hope he got the job after being hired out of the Ocean Beach Police Department.  Still excited to see him tho.

Spent the last few days going through seasons 1-3 of SOA, thus breaking the promise I made to myself after Green Street Hooligans- that is never to watch anything featuring Charlie Hunnam as lead.

While it's definitely no The Shield, it is a good show, and it does have that wanna-see-what-happens-next quality. I think what I like best is the sense of humour, it can be really funny at times (e.g. the Coates/Johnson/German Shepherd reveal killed me). To me the writing is a bit like Garth Ennis, if Ennis had slightly less of an imagination and all he ever did was play Grand Theft Auto and produce a TV show about bike gangs. There are many enjoyable character actors having fun just being those guys and spitting out those ridiculous Sutter lines. I liked Perlman and Coates before, but I don't think I really appreciated them until now- some good laughs, as well as some good meaty dramatic moments from them. Hunnam is tolerable, surprisingly enough. Sutter is actually very effective when on screen, and one of the few who I would actually buy as an actual MC member. And some of the most LOL scenes are whenever the camera cuts to David "Happy" Labrava and he's smiling at horrific torture or asking permission to kill a rival gang member in some violent fashion.

My biggest issues with the show would be the cheap gotcha twists it uses sometimes, and how it basically turned Ally Walker's character into a villain from 24. Another thing for me is that instead of making the outlaw biker lifestyle look cool and badass, often it's just kind of petty and retarded here. If the actors were not so entertaining, to me the gang would just be a bunch of scuzzy pricks who reject mainstream society's rules yet still have their own weird, stupid, nerdy traditions like votes and cuts and patches and "old ladies". I think I like the lone biker archetype in my fiction more.

I do like it though. Season three was worth it just for Perlman's "I don't recognize yer bullshit MC". And for big Jim Cosmo throwing a hysterical Hunnam across the room like a rag doll. And for Mutton Chops unceremoniously shoved off the roof (small yelp of surprise from him... long silence... finally a thud). Anyway, it ended well, so I'm looking forward to tonight. Sad that Perlman won't be able to shout "gash!" so much now that a certain character is gone.

This first commercial break felt impossibly long.

Gardocki.

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Originally Posted by Moltisanti 

Gardocki.

no way!

A wedding just isn't a wedding without a triple-homicide.

Only one episode, but can already tell that Ray Mckinnon is gonna be stellar this season.

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Originally Posted by Moltisanti 

A wedding just isn't a wedding without a triple-homicide.

 

Only one episode, but can already tell that Ray Mckinnon is gonna be stellar this season.

not to be a homicide stickler....but I think it was closer to 7

pretty gruesome prison version of above mentioned homicides

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Originally Posted by VTRan 


not to be a homicide stickler....but I think it was closer to 7

 

 

I was mainly speaking of the murders that took place on the sacred tribal land where the ceremony took place.

One episode in and no John Teller voiceover. Like to see a nice long streak get going here.

Oh how I love SOAs 100-point foolproof plans - smuggle a razor blade inside an egg to a solitary-confined Otto (hoping he doesn't just eat the egg) -> Otto half-commits suicide with the razor-blade, being sure to spill enough blood to pour out of his cell door, but not enough to kill him -> get sent to the prison infirmary -> cross fingers that rival crim who stabbed Jax (right?) gets brought into same infirmary -> smuggle a scalpel to Otto -> EAR STAB!!!

Saying that, I enjoyed the ep. Looking forward to the good Rev. Smith being a nuisance to SAMCRO

Sucks that the Tig/Lem feud is over. Now we will never hear about what really happened with Missy. I need to know if Lem is a zoophile!

And is it just me or does Ron Perlman somehow look better than when he started this show? Most reinvigorating spell in prison ever.

also somehow I've never noticed this Ray McKinnon chap before, but he seems great.

Promising enough beginning.  "I promise to treat you as nice as my leathers, and ride you as much as my Harley".  I'm now sad that I'm already married and can't use that...

McKinnon is the stand out of the new faces. By far.

It's nice to have the Sons back. Especially if they get rid of the stupid baby nonsense. Though I'm already missing Sutter's twitter.

Free @sutter!

That wasn't a bad way to start a season off at all.

Really don't understand why that episode needed to be extra-sized.  It was the least intense the show has ever been, but not the least enjoyable, which just goes to show what a superb ensemble they've built up.  The only time I started tapping my foot was when Jacob Hale showed up to talk vaguely about his vague plans for Charming's vague future. 

I got way too excited when I saw David Rees Snell in the credits.  To think that even 5 years into The Shield, I was convinced he was the weak link in that cast.  Now I squeal and clap when he pops up as a guest star.

always good to see Gardocki on the small screen, he needs more work

found it a bit funny that he was playing an ICE agent

anyone else thinking, at least for the shared universe's sake, that it should have been Mackey in a suit and tie. now THAT would've been awesome. not like hes that busy anyways

either way, here's hoping he pops up in a few more episodes this season

oh and as far as McKinnon goes, man, totally took me off guard when he revealed he was a state attorney. i had heard he would be appearing but never looked into what exactly his role would be. he was great, and after all the over the top villains they've featured in past season, his quiet, paranoid, cigarette-smoking bike-riding lawman is the perfect change of pace, and i think he'll compliment the new sheriff perfectly.

especially with Danny Trejo popping up next week.

Ronny obviously cut a deal and offered his valuable insight.

An ok opener, but I'm not really gripped by the yuppie housing development drama.  The way US house prices have gone it's likely that Charming residents could afford them anyway.   And even if more yuppies do move in, it means more dollars spent in Charming shops.

Snell is probably the only regular Shield actor I really truly couldn't give a shit about. Such a non entity.

It's good that FX is loyal though. So far for Shield/SOA crossovers I got: Karnes, Johnson, Snell, Ally Walker, David Marciano (though that was such a quick appearance it barely counts), Frances Fisher, Emilio Rivera, the dude who played Hector Salazar... think that's all of em

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Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

 

Ronny obviously cut a deal and offered his valuable insight.

 

An ok opener, but I'm not really gripped by the yuppie housing development drama.  The way US house prices have gone it's likely that Charming residents could afford them anyway.   And even if more yuppies do move in, it means more dollars spent in Charming shops.

Clay actually commented on this when he was talking to Wayne. He was pissed that Hale was messing up Charming so he can build houses no one from Charming can afford.

Yeah the one thing Clay has always feared coming into Charming was as he put it "old white money". He feels once that comes SOA will lose control. Hale is trying very hard to do that very thing. He wants to make alot of money by opening Charming up to rich folks. He knows that the sons will stand in the way of this. This is why he worked so hard to hard the local Charming department dismantled.  He wants the Sons out so he can sell all the land. 

theres a lot of acting crossovers from Shield, but dont forget about Deadwood

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Cheers-Jeers-Sons-1024018.aspx

add McKinnon to that list

Hope Benito Martinez will have more to do than being Trejo buddy #2.

Awfully nice of those Russians to basically do nothing as they were beaten and killed.

Dunbar was a delight while trashing the clubhouse.

McKinnon again with the steal.

"Good morning."

"Not if you're Russian."

"Go be the badge."

Opie's line to Jax was great too. "I should have stayed in bed. With my pornstar wife."

I have to say, this is a very promising start. A whole lot of people, playing a whole lot of angles and no babies around except to be fed.   

Those were all good, but my personal fave line of the night was Mark Boone's "THE WAHEWA WILL WANT RETRIBUTION".

Also liked Perlman talking about Sagal's dead ex and his "gay poetry". And that freaky face Trejo makes whenever one of his characters is killing someone never stops being funny. McKinnon reminds me of an old English lit teacher I had.

Good episode, looks like they're taking the story in all sorts of fun directions. Gotta love how most members of the club seem to have no qualms about supplying machine guns and frigging RPGs to fuck knows who for fuck knows what, but they draw the line at coke. Because that's just going too far! Such strange, hypocritical rules these characters have.

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Originally Posted by Disciple_72 

 

So far for Shield/SOA crossovers I got: Karnes, Johnson, Snell, Ally Walker, David Marciano (though that was such a quick appearance it barely counts), Frances Fisher, Emilio Rivera, the dude who played Hector Salazar...

adding Acaveda

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Originally Posted by Disciple_72 

 

Good episode, looks like they're taking the story in all sorts of fun directions. Gotta love how most members of the club seem to have no qualms about supplying machine guns and frigging RPGs to fuck knows who for fuck knows what, but they draw the line at coke. Because that's just going too far! Such strange, hypocritical rules these characters have.

I think it is at least based in a practical place, as it's considerably more difficult for the club to survive once their on the DEA and ATF radar simultaneously, not to mention that the drug market is more crowded than the weapons one (they have enough friction with the Niners and Chinese as clients without becoming outright competitors).  Of course, living this lifestyle has to take a toll after a while and it makes sense that they've built up a certain level of hypocritical elitism to separate themselves from the "scumbags" they're always dealing with.

I'm liking the situations being set up for this season, but it's lacking the trademark intensity so far.  The law is expressly biding its time before making a move (although Dunbar bides like a motherfucker in this ep), and the Russians have not only been comically ineffective, but the beef the club is settling with them occurred almost entirely off-screen, so it's not like watching them get offed is anywhere near as satisfying as seeing Nazis or Jimmy O get theirs.  I imagine things will pick up when the cartel steps up as the primary antagonists, but for now the stakes seem low compared to the bangs the last two seasons opened with.  I like that they're building tensions within the club, but there's still a bit of a honeymoon period with the guys coming back and there's no secret as potentially explosive as Donna's murder or Jax working with ATF underlying it. 

The wires are all in place, but none of them have gone live just yet.  Given that slow burns have never been this show's specialty, I'm surprised how well it's working anyway.  And that's pretty much all down the camaraderie between the guys.  Hunnam especially has made great strides in the last 2 years.

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Originally Posted by Schwartz 

I think it is at least based in a practical place, as it's considerably more difficult for the club to survive once their on the DEA and ATF radar simultaneously, not to mention that the drug market is more crowded than the weapons one (they have enough friction with the Niners and Chinese as clients without becoming outright competitors).  Of course, living this lifestyle has to take a toll after a while and it makes sense that they've built up a certain level of hypocritical elitism to separate themselves from the "scumbags" they're always dealing with.

 

The way they had Juice bring up those added heat concerns at the start of the episode, it was like he was just trying to bolster the case that the club shouldn't be messing with drugs in the first place. A "but what about..." thing. There was a strong sense of moral outrage, especially from Piney ("we never have and we never will!") and Bobby (who apparently views it as some kind of cancerous activity that will kill the club). Actually through the whole series, there have been little moments to suggest they view gun running as this good, honest business relative to all the other stuff they could be involved in. Jax obviously wants things to be different, but so far he's the only one. I know Kurt Sutter does his research when he writes this show, so he's probably basing it on something real, but it is odd. Kind of reminds me of that old thing of how supposedly in prison, assault and murder and bank robbery are often seen as "respectable" crimes, meanwhile the kiddie diddlers have to watch their backs.

As far as secrets that could harm, seems like Clay has a biggie, no? And so Tara has one. And now Gemma too. Plenty of secrets I think. Sure, Jax finally learning the truth about his father's death is probably being saved up for much later, but that doesn't mean another club member couldn't find out (hopefully it continues to eat away at the club member until the true burden of keeping that secret is revealed during a tragic/hilarious magic mushroom fueled breakdown... just sayin)

One thing I forgot to mention about the episode, Sagal says the word "gash" like it's the sweetest thing you could ever call someone. Just doesn't come natural to her like it does with Perlman.

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Originally Posted by Disciple_72 

The way they had Juice bring up those added heat concerns at the start of the episode, it was like he was just trying to bolster the case that the club shouldn't be messing with drugs in the first place. A "but what about..." thing. There was a strong sense of moral outrage, especially from Piney ("we never have and we never will!") and Bobby (who apparently views it as some kind of cancerous activity that will kill the club). Actually through the whole series, there have been little moments to suggest they view gun running as this good, honest business relative to all the other stuff they could be involved in. Jax obviously wants things to be different, but so far he's the only one. I know Kurt Sutter does his research when he writes this show, so he's probably basing it on something real, but it is odd. Kind of reminds me of that old thing of how supposedly in prison, assault and murder and bank robbery are often seen as "respectable" crimes, meanwhile the kiddie diddlers have to watch their backs.

 

As far as secrets that could harm, seems like Clay has a biggie, no? And so Tara has one. And now Gemma too. Plenty of secrets I think. Sure, Jax finally learning the truth about his father's death is probably being saved up for much later, but that doesn't mean another club member couldn't find out (hopefully it continues to eat away at the club member until the true burden of keeping that secret is revealed during a tragic/hilarious magic mushroom fueled breakdown... just sayin)

I don't doubt that considerable research has been done, but the show still presents a highly romanticized view of biker gangs.  In reality the Sons would most likely be running their own meth labs and would've worked with the Aryans instead of leading a rainbow coalition to drive them off.

As for Clay's secret, yeah, I guess it could do some damage, although if Clay just keeps denying and denying it's not like there's going to be a lot of hard evidence from 20 years ago just laying around.  Given how successfully they managed to smooth over Donna's murder, it hardly seems guaranteed to rip the club apart at the seams.  Sure, one is an accident and the other is the premeditated murder of a founding member, but they're going to put some more work into expounding on that difference and come up with some concrete proof that needs hiding if that's supposed to be the big secret eating away at the club.

But what's more, JT's death is nothing new.  It's been there since the pilot, and it was there while Jax was hiding his father's memoirs and while Clay and Tig were hiding the plot/hit on Opie, and when Jax and Piney were hiding the fallout and when Gemma was hiding her rape and when Chibs was contemplating ratting to Stahl and when Jax was seemingly doing the same (which turned out to be a cheat, but they used it to establish the stakes for the whole season).  It's been on the backburner for too long to compete with the urgency of prior storylines.

And just because I forgot to mention it, I loved the way Perlman played the bit where Gemma teases him about screwing Juice.  For a moment it seems like a genuine display of alpha-male anger, then "...don't turn what Juice and I had into something cheap and tawdry."   The whole crew deserves credit for how they are able to be credible tough guys while also having genuine senses of humor (for advanced courses on the technique, refer to professors Gandolfini and McShane).  The writing supports it, but a less talented cast wouldn't be able to walk that deceptively tricky line so adeptly. 

Yeah, it has been said many times but this show has phenomenal cast and characters. I don't think that out of the whole club there is a single character that I'd have a problem with devoting a whole episode to.

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It's not quite the new Donna/Tig/Clay situation yet, but I'd say they took it off the backburner when it became the big season three cliffhanger. Clay and Gemma's possible involvement in Teller's death was only hinted at before and was brought up a total of two, maybe three times in the previous seasons. But now a few episodes into season four and already we have Clay looking rather worried, Gemma looking even more worried and going through Tara's shit behind her back, hidden police reports, and Unser knowing something about what happened. They're building to something, there has to be some kind of movement on that plot this year.

And one more note about the club's weapons business vs other ventures, then I'll drop it: I think the funniest and strangest example of Clay sticking to his (ahem) guns was when Jax tried to get Clay to think about porn production as a legit, profitable, harmless business, but Clay was like I DON'T WANT THE SONS INVOLVED WITH NO GOD DAMN COME FACTORY. I kept waiting for a puritanical Perlman outburst that never came.

I made this