Created by Kurt Sutter
2008 - 2014
A violent biker gang, crooked cops, drug dealers, and a whole lot of montages. With a cast full of interesting characters and plenty of untimely deaths and plot twists, Sons of Anarchy may have its fair share of issues but does enough things right to make it an entertaining and addictive show throughout the majority of its seven seasons.
The main cast are mostly great, with Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman in particular standing out, but there is one huge blight on this mostly engaging cast: the main character himself. Not only does Charlie Hunnan obviously struggle with his American accent, but the character itself never quite feels fully realized. Just imagine a half-baked Tony Soprano knock off with a Will Smith strut wearing a biker jacket. I think he only got the lead role because of his abs -- which the show flaunts regularly.
Plot-wise, the show also doesn't go into too experimental of territory, but following the internal and external conflicts of his biker gang is still very much enjoyable. While it does begin to drag a little by the end with its ultra-long episodes, and the third season set largely in Ireland is so weak it's almost enough for you to call the whole thing quits, a good portion of the show branches into strong directions and finds root in some tragic, tense, and even hilarious stories. It does take itself pretty seriously most of the time, though, which can push it into some melodramatic territory.
Some of the technical aspects of the show were pretty poor especially in regards to editing and uneven video quality, but overall the show doesn't feel cheaper half-assed at all. There was an obvious effort put into telling this story, even if there were times it got a little lost in itself. I became fatigued by the ever-present tough guy biker talk, but you can't really blame a biker show for writing characters who talk like bikers. I didn't care for the main character, but most of the rest of the cast were pretty great. It's not a great show, but I liked it. Perlman and Sagal made it all work for me in the end.
My Grade: C+
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