TV Reviews #8 - Sons of Anarchy Season 1 (2008)

            Jax, Jax, Jax. Your name is infamous in many of the websites, podcasts and people who discuss Sons of Anarchy. So many bad things said about you. How true are those things? Well actually they are all very true, but we’ll get to that soon. 

            Sons of Anarchy is a show about an illegal biker club of the same name. The show follows the members on how they deal with their criminal activities as well as their family lives. The first season of the show seems to have to 2 distinct parts to it. The first half is mostly one off episodes. Something happens, the club deals with it and it’s ignored in the next episode. I was thrown aback at first by this. It felt very bizarre that they were going in this direction. But then in the second half there was a continuing narrative and that felt right. Actions had consequences and it made for a more compelling show. 

            The members of the club are a strange bunch and for the most part they work as a group. Clay, the leader of the club played by Ron Perlman, is probably the most interesting and layered of them all. And then we have the club vice-president, Jax. Oh boy, I’m sure actor Charlie Hunnam is a good guy, but a badass biker he is not. There is something that is just not convincing about his tough guy act and his voice sounds overly worked on. You get used to him after a while and just laugh about the ridiculousness. 

            The action on the show is fun but sometimes it is so dumb. There are times where there is a huge shootout between gangs and no one gets hit, or at worst someone is grazed and recovers next episode. I understand its TV so your characters have to hang around, but at least have some no name henchmen go down. In addition, the dialogue will sometimes have you make a double take to rethink what you just heard because it was so cheesy and stupid.

            SOA is a show that has many, many faults. But it’s also fun to watch. Much like my love for professional wrestling, there are plot holes and problems that you just cannot explain however it does not diminish your liking of the product. If you get past those things, you can enjoy yourself some SOA.

           

Score: 7/10