5 out of 5
Josh and I have waxed on and on about shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men, and for good reason. They are both part of a new crop of shows pushing the envelope in what can be done using the medium of television. Sons of Anarchy may not quite rise to the level as AMC's juggernauts, but it's still one of the best shows on television today.
SOA is loosely formed around the story of Hamlet. The concept of applying one of the most legendary plays by The Bard to a leather-clad motorcycle club is completely bizarre, and shouldn't work nearly as well as it does. The story revolves around Jackson "Jax" Teller, the vice-president of a motorcycle club that has a long-established criminal empire reaching out from the small town of Charming. Jax enters into the series with strong doubts about the future of the club, which has been heavily involved in gunrunning and other violent pursuits.
Teller is played by Charlie Hunman, and unfortunately represents the first season's weakest link. Hunman isn't a bad actor. He just had the misfortune to be cast alongside some absolutely brilliant performers. When he's by himself or talking to most of the cast, I don't notice. When he finds himself in the same room with Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman, he feels like an amateur among giants.
And that's it. That's my only real complaint about the show. The writing is excellent, the production detail and focus remind me of the love and attention given to shows like Deadwood, and it may be one of the first seasons of television I've ever seen that doesn't stumble once. (Let's take a moment to expunge from our memory any Breaking Bad episode involving Marie's kleptomania. We good? All right.) Every episode of the 12-episode season is beautifully crafted. They're all good. When Perlman or Sagal get the chance to stride onto the set, the show becomes brilliant.
The show revolves around a violent world, and there is never any doubt that these characters are headed for a Happily Ever After. The horrifying penultimate episode can't be described as shocking, because the buildup to the event is carefully engineered and delivered so that you find yourself watching in terror as you are unable to change what you know is going to happen. The violence in this show is carefully tailored to the situation and the character. Jax is a seething cauldron of barely contained rage, and his explosions of aggression are always stunning. Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) doesn't have nearly as many violent moments. He doesn't have to. Perlman carries himself with such a sense of barely contained menace that his every action is pure intimidation.
SOA is a show that a good friend has been insisting I watch for a while, but I resisted. I was an idiot to do so. Smart, polished, and riveting, this is one of the greats on TV today, and I'm locked in for the rest.
SOA is loosely formed around the story of Hamlet. The concept of applying one of the most legendary plays by The Bard to a leather-clad motorcycle club is completely bizarre, and shouldn't work nearly as well as it does. The story revolves around Jackson "Jax" Teller, the vice-president of a motorcycle club that has a long-established criminal empire reaching out from the small town of Charming. Jax enters into the series with strong doubts about the future of the club, which has been heavily involved in gunrunning and other violent pursuits.
Teller is played by Charlie Hunman, and unfortunately represents the first season's weakest link. Hunman isn't a bad actor. He just had the misfortune to be cast alongside some absolutely brilliant performers. When he's by himself or talking to most of the cast, I don't notice. When he finds himself in the same room with Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman, he feels like an amateur among giants.
And that's it. That's my only real complaint about the show. The writing is excellent, the production detail and focus remind me of the love and attention given to shows like Deadwood, and it may be one of the first seasons of television I've ever seen that doesn't stumble once. (Let's take a moment to expunge from our memory any Breaking Bad episode involving Marie's kleptomania. We good? All right.) Every episode of the 12-episode season is beautifully crafted. They're all good. When Perlman or Sagal get the chance to stride onto the set, the show becomes brilliant.
The show revolves around a violent world, and there is never any doubt that these characters are headed for a Happily Ever After. The horrifying penultimate episode can't be described as shocking, because the buildup to the event is carefully engineered and delivered so that you find yourself watching in terror as you are unable to change what you know is going to happen. The violence in this show is carefully tailored to the situation and the character. Jax is a seething cauldron of barely contained rage, and his explosions of aggression are always stunning. Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) doesn't have nearly as many violent moments. He doesn't have to. Perlman carries himself with such a sense of barely contained menace that his every action is pure intimidation.
SOA is a show that a good friend has been insisting I watch for a while, but I resisted. I was an idiot to do so. Smart, polished, and riveting, this is one of the greats on TV today, and I'm locked in for the rest.
