Sons Of Anarchy

[Sweet Lu]

Sons of Anarchy is an American television drama series created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in Northern California. The show centers on protagonist Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the Vice President of the club who begins questioning the club and himself. Sons of Anarchy premiered on September 3, 2008 on cable network FX. Its second season debuted on September 8, 2009, and it was renewed for a third season on December 3, 2009.

The show's first season averaged 5.4 million viewers weekly making it the network's most successful show since Rescue Me.[

Cast and characters

Main articles: List of characters from Sons of Anarchy and List of gangs from Sons of Anarchy

Sons of Anarchy is the story of the Teller-Morrow family of Charming, CA, as well as the other members of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original Charter (SAMCRO), their families, various Charming townspeople, and the various rivals and associates who undermine or support SAMCRO's legal and illegal enterprises. Sons of Anarchy follows the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club but also features a number of ally and rival gangs, such as the Mayans, 1-9ers, Nords, True IRA and a white separatist group called the League of American Nationalists (LOAN).

Regular characters in season one were (in order credited) Charlie Hunnam as Jax, Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow, Mark Boone Jr. as Bobby Elvis, Kim Coates as Tig, Tommy Flanagan as Chibs, Johnny Lewis as Kip 'Half Sack' Epps, Maggie Siff as Tara and Ron Perlman as Clay.

Regular characters in season two are (in order credited, additions are in italics) Charlie Hunnam as Jax, Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow, Mark Boone Jr. as Bobby Elvis, Kim Coates as Tig, Tommy Flanagan as Chibs, Ryan Hurst as Opie, Johnny Lewis as Kip 'Half Sack' Epps, William Lucking as Piney, Theo Rossi as Juice, Maggie Siff as Tara and Ron Perlman as Clay.

Major supporting or recurring characters include Drea de Matteo as Jax's ex-wife Wendy Case, Sprague Grayden as Opie's wife Donna Winston, Dendrie Taylor as Luann Delany, Kurt Sutter as incarcerated club member Big Otto, David LaBrava as Happy, Dayton Callie as Charming police chief Wayne Unser, Taylor Sheridan as Charming deputy police chief David Hale, Glenn Plummer as San Joaquin County sheriff Victor "Vic" Trammel, Ally Walker as ATF agent June Stahl, Jay Karnes as ATF agent Joshua Kohn, Adam Arkin as LOAN boss Ethan Zobelle, Henry Rollins as LOAN muscle A.J. Weston, Mitch Pileggi as Nords boss Ernest Darby, Emilio Rivera as Mayans President Marcus Alvarez and Tom Arnold as porn producer Georgie Caruso.

Titus Welliver appears midway through season two as Irish gun kingpin Jimmy 'O.[3]

Kenny Johnson, formerly from The Shield, also makes an appearance in late season two as a member of the Sons of Anarchy's Tacoma chapter.

Season one

The Sons Of Anarchy (SOA) is an outlaw motorcycle club with many chapters in the United States and overseas. The show focuses on the original and founding chapter, Sons Of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original[5], referred to by the acronym SAMCRO [6] or Sam Crow. This nickname is also reflected in the original title of the show, Forever Sam Crow.[7]

The Redwood chapter is headquartered in Charming, CA, in a clubhouse adjacent to the Teller-Morrow auto mechanic shop. Led by President Clay Morrow, the club protects and controls Charming through close community relationships, bribery and violent intimidation.

Club members wear vests known as "cuts" (jacket with the sleeves cut off). The SOA patch on the back is a grim reaper wielding an M-16 with a bloody scythe blade and holding a crystal ball with the anarchy "A". Only full members can wear the "patch." Other smaller patches on the vest stand for different things, examples being "Men Of Mayhem," which is worn by club members who have spilled blood on the club's behalf, and "First 9", worn by the original nine members of SOA. Jax has also worn a baseball cap that says "Reaper Crew", and at least two female characters affiliated with the club (Gemma, Tara) have crow tattoos. The sons ride customized Harley-Davidson Dynas.

Club members have "day jobs" in local industries, most of them working at the Teller-Morrow garage, but they primarily make money by illegally importing weapons, modifying and selling them to drug gangs in the East Bay, along with protection runs for local businesses by protecting valuable truck shipments from hijacking.

SAMCRO keeps meth traffickers and drug dealers out of Charming, which puts them at odds with the meth-distributing white supremacist "Nords", headed by Ernest Darby. SAMCRO also has to deal with a rival Oakland-based MC, the "Mayans" led by Marcus Alvarez. Other groups in SAMCRO's orbit include the San Francisco-based Chinese mafia Lin Triad, led by Henry Lin, the Italian American Cacuzza crime family, the True IRA of Ireland, which supplies them with illegal Russian-made guns, the One-Niners, an African American street gang (who also appeared on The Shield, thus possibly putting the two in the same fictional universe) to whom SAMCRO sell weapons, and various affiliates in the state prison system, where many members of the club have been incarcerated at one time or another.

The club operates out of a clubhouse on the same lot as the Teller-Morrow auto shop. The clubhouse includes a living area (where members sometimes crash for the night), a bar, a pool table, a kitchen, a workout room, and the "chapel", a room with an elaborate conference table made of redwood that has a reaper logo carved into the top. The club also owns a secluded cabin in the woods and formerly had a warehouse outside of town where they assembled the illegal weapons. They start the series looking for a new warehouse space and end the first season with most of their finances tied up in building a new one.

John Teller and Piermont "Piney" Winston co-founded SAMCRO in 1967 following their return from service as paratroopers during the Vietnam War.[8] Six of the "Redwood Original 9" members were vets; Clay Morrow was the youngest of the original members. John died in 1993, and his widow, Gemma, married Clay.

John and Gemma's son, Jackson (Jax), is Vice President of SAMCRO. Jax is also connected to Tara, a doctor at St. Thomas Hospital. The two were high school sweethearts.

[edit] Season two

Production of the new season began on April 23, 2009.[9] Season two premiered on Tuesday, September 8 at 10 p.m. WST.[4] It premiered in the UK on 28 April 2010 on BRAVO. According to Kurt Sutter, "This season is all about internal alliances. For me, the big antagonist this season is just a catalyst to ignite the deep, primal conflicts within the club. Lives will be threatened, sides will be taken and SAMCRO will become the biggest threat to the SAMCRO."[10]

The season opens with the arrival of a new threat in Charming, white separatists (who claim they are not supremacists) called the League Of American Nationalists (LOAN for short).[11] Led by businessman Ethan Zobelle and backed by Zobelle's enforcer, A.J. Weston, the two seek to drive the Sons of Anarchy from the town of Charming and gain a foothold in the Northern Californian heroin trade. They involve themselves with a group of wealthy would-be developers (including Deputy Chief Hale's brother, Jacob) looking to expand the town beyond the sort of "Small Town USA" status maintained by SAMCRO. The duo make their intentions known when they walk into the garage and tell Clay that he is done "selling guns to color." Zobelle then arranges for the kidnapping and sexual assault of Gemma, with his own daughter, Polly, orchestrating the kidnapping, and Weston and two other members of LOAN gang-raping Gemma as a warning to SAMCRO. But the warning goes undelivered when Gemma chooses not to tell Clay or the club what happened. Instead, the only ones who know the truth are Chief Unser (who found Gemma after she was raped), Tara (who treated her injuries), and later, Deputy Chief Hale. LOAN spends the rest of the season trying to undermine SAMCRO within the community and drive the club to self-destruction.

The animosity between Gemma and Tara has cooled and even turned into a bit of respect for each other. This is largely due to Tara’s help with Abel and with Gemma after her rape. Gemma tacitly gives Tara her blessing to be with Jax by telling Tara to demand complete honesty from Jax in order to ensure that their relationship can survive Jax's dual loyalty towards Tara and the club. Unfortunately, while Jax and Tara grow closer, Gemma and Clay’s relationship struggles, and Gemma struggles with the after affects of her rape, complicated by the fact that Clay knows nothing about it.

From prison, Big Otto reaches out to SAMCRO, asking them to help his wife, Luann, and her porn studio after a raid from law enforcement and intimidation from a rival pornographer, Georgie Caruso, threaten her business. Jax proposes that SAMCRO become partners in Luann’s porn business and offer protection to her and her performers, a move he hopes will raise money for the club legitimately while they re-build their other revenue streams.

Opie, struggling to deal with Donna’s death, throws himself fully into the MC and, consequently, becomes increasingly distant from his children. Opie’s relationship with Jax also becomes strained as Opie, who is unaware of Clay’s role in Donna’s death, becomes increasingly loyal to Clay and distant from Jax. Later on, Opie becomes involved with Lyla, one of Luann’s performers, who is, herself, a single mother. This development is not received well by some involved with SAMCRO—particularly Tara and Gemma, who do not think Opie’s children should be around a porn star.

Fueled by SAMCRO’s role in Donna’s death, the rift between Clay and Jax continues to widen, with Jax challenging most of Clay's decisions. Clay warns Jax that if Jax does not drop the subject of Donna’s death, he will kill Jax. When a L.O.A.N. car bomb nearly kills Chibs, Clay demands immediate retaliation. But retaliation was what L.O.A.N. wanted, and several members of the MC, including Clay, Jax, Bobby, and Tig, are arrested in a botched attempt to attack Ethan Zobelle. While in jail, Agent Stahl from the ATF returns in an attempt to get SAMCRO to rat out their IRA connections. Although they don't give up the IRA, Stahl succeeds in provoking Clay and Jax into a physical confrontation in jail. Out on bail, the divisions in the club only get worse. Further complicating matters is SAMCRO’s suspicion (later confirmed) that their IRA contacts are starting to sell guns to L.O.A.N. instead of the MC. Also, the Mayans are pouring on the pressure, receiving free guns from L.O.A.N. in order to wage war on the Sons of Anarchy.

When Luann is later murdered, presumably by rival porn producer Georgie Caruso, Clay holds Jax personally responsible. The tension between Jax and Clay reaches a breaking point when the porn studio burns down shortly after Clay announces he wants SAMCRO out of the porn business. Jax initially believes that Clay had the place torched (it was actually L.O.A.N.) and announces that he is going to "go nomad," which means that while he'd still be a member of the Sons of Anarchy, he would no longer be a part of any particular chapter of the club. Most of the SAMCRO members are upset with Jax's decision but ultimately vote in favor of him going nomad. After the vote, Gemma has Jax and Clay sit down in her home, where she reveals that Weston and LOAN members raped her. As Jax leaves her house, he takes back his SAMCRO tag, symbolizing his intent to stay in Charming rather than go nomad.

Gemma's revelation brings Jax and Clay back together. The two inform the other member of SAMCRO what happened to Gemma and the MC begins to plan their revenge. The club, however, nearly falls apart again when Tig, overcome with guilt, confesses to Opie that he murdered Donna because Agent Stahl and the ATF had made it look as though Opie had become a rat. At the same time, Chibs agreed to help Stahl take down the IRA and its head, Jimmy O, who is in town to repair the IRA's relationship with SAMCRO and who Chibs had a long and dark history with. Based on information supplied by Chibs, the ATF was able to apprehend Edmond Hayes, who they then wanted to use to apprehend his father, Cameron, and Jimmy O. Opie later witnessed Chibs leaving a meeting with the ATF and informed the club of what he saw but asked them to confront Chibs before acting. Chibs, already having doubts about becoming an informant, revealed to the club what he did after having a heart-to-heart talk with Gemma.

Meanwhile, the Sons learn that Ethan Zobelle's true intentions were not racially motivated but were to get in business with the Mayans on the prison heroin trade. The MC was able to exploit this information when they reveal it to AJ Weston, who was deeply committed to his racial beliefs and would not tolerate doing business with the Hispanic Mayans. This caused a split between AJ and Zobelle. Unfortunately for the club, they were not initially able to capitalize on this split as their first attempts to take down Weston and Zobelle were thwarted by Deputy Chief Hale. First, AJ Weston was arrested in connection with the fire at Luann's porn studio. Later, Hale arrives at Impeccable Smokes as the Sons are confronting Zobelle. In attempt to save his and his daughter's lives, Zobelle informed the police that he was in possession of narcotics and is arrested. However, both were released by custody and Unser learns that Zobelle, unbeknownst to both the ATF and Weston, has actually been an F.B.I. informant for the past three years. With the loss of Weston's support, Zobelle turned to the Mayans for protection. Weston, however, was on his own and was eventually gunned down by Jax.

Agent Stahl continued to hold Edmond Hayes in an attempt to use Edmond to lure and arrest his father. Cameron, knowing the situation his son was in, told Edmond that he needed to kill Stahl. Edmond had a gun stashed at the safe house he was staying at and tried to shoot Stahl but was unable to pull the trigger on her. However, the ATF was already aware of the gun's presence and Stahl informed Edmond that they had loaded it with blanks. Edmond then attempted to escape ATF custody but was gunned down by Stahl. Shortly afterward, Polly Zobelle, Ethan's daughter who had been having an affair with Edmond, arrived at the safe house. She had been followed there by Gemma. At the safe house, Gemma shot and killed Polly. Stahl witnessed the shooting and let Gemma escape but then proceeded to frame her for Edmond's shooting. After learning of Edmond's death from a police scanner that said Gemma killed Edmond, Cameron broke into Jax's home, tied up Tara, stabbed Half-Sack, who was assigned by Jax to protect Tara and Gemma, then kidnapped Abel.

Meanwhile the rest of the Sons had ambushed Zobelle and the Mayans forcing the Mayans to retreat while Zobelle fled on his own. The Sons followed him to a Deli some distance along the highway, possibly the next town over. Zobelle attempts to hide himself amongst children who had just arrived off of a school bus. The Sons chose to wait until the children had left before making their move on Zobelle, who has called Deputy Hale only to be told his daughter was found murdered and that he would be sending officers to assist him. After getting off the phone with Zobelle, Hale instructed his department to ignore what he had said to Zobelle.

Earlier, Tara called Jax to tell him Gemma was on the run only to be interrupted by Cameron. Concerned, Jax returned to his home where he discovers the body of Half-Sack (actor Johnny Lewis wished to move on.)[12] Distraught, Jax notices Tara is no where to be found and frantically searches the house for her only to find her tied up and gagged next to Abel's crib. After ungagging her Tara tells Jax that Abel was taken by Cameron. Jax calls Clay who returns to help track down Cameron without killing Zobelle. The Sons pursue Cameron who makes his way to the docks where he takes Abel and boards his boat. Chief Unser, after receiving a phone call from Gemma, is last seen driving in his police cruiser with her past Charming's city limits, apparently running off with her. Ethan Zobelle is seen quickly getting on a chartered plane back to Budapest without his dead daughter, Polly. The season ends with The Sons arriving just as Cameron is leaving the docks with Clay comforting a screaming Jax.

[edit] Season three

According to series creator Kurt Sutter, FX will be picking up season three of Sons of Anarchy,[13] and season three will deal with SAMCRO's roots.[14] The third season is slated to premiere in September 2010.[15] Additionally, Sutter wants to "take [the Sons] into a world that is outside their own, where they don't have control, where they are subject to other people's laws and beliefs and parameters, Where they aren't quite the big fish in the small pond." [13]

Award-winning actor Hal Holbrook has officially signed on for a four-episode arc, in which he will portray Katey Sagal's character's father, making him the first official guest star of the third season. Stephen King has officially landed a role on Season 3.[16][17][18] Plans for Taryn Manning to return in season three and reprise the role of Cherry were shot down after Taryn was booked for the remake of Hawaii 5-0. Kurt tweeted "happy for taryn manning getting 5-0 gig. hopefully 3 will be the charm for les' boy o'loughlin. bummed for soa, had an arc for cherry in S3." It has since been announced that Manning will appear in at least three episodes of third season.[19] As of July 2010 it has been announced that several scenes, relating to an arc which will feature in season three, were being shot on location in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Belfast scenes will begin filming on Monday 19th July and probably finish filming on the Thursday or Friday of the same week. Sons of Anarchy will begin airing Season 3 on September 7th, 2010

[edit] Shakespearean influence

Creator Kurt Sutter and stars Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman and Charlie Hunnam at an event for the show in Los AngelesThe family drama is loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet;[20] indeed, star Ron Perlman has said, "I'm sure they’re going to stick to the structure of Hamlet all the way to the end (of the series)." .[21] Clay is based on the role of King Claudius and Gemma as a Gertrude figure. Jax stands in for Prince Hamlet himself. Jax's reflective questioning of the SOA culture, brought on by the birth of his son, references Hamlet's melancholy over the death of the king. Additionally, Jax "communicates" with his dead father by way of his late father's unpublished journal/manuscript; Hamlet, of course, literally communicates with the ghost of his father.[22] Creator Sutter has said of the Shakespeare element, "I don't want to overplay that but it's there. It was Jax's father who started the club, so he's the ghost in the action. You wonder what he would have made of the way it turned out. It's not a version of Hamlet but it's definitely influenced by it."[23]

In the 9th episode of season 2, Clay makes a possible reference to Hamlet when he states "I'll handle the little prince," a reference to Jax. In the next episode, Jax is again referred to as "the prince", this time by Agent Stahl. There are also several references to Clay as King and Gemma as Queen. At one point, Opie refers the rift between Clay and Jax as Jax wanting to be King.[24] When the SAMCRO families are in lockdown inside the clubhouse during Season 2, Clay directs personal requests from the women and children to come to "my queen" (in reference to Gemma).[25]

so if you love SAMCRO (and if you are a true fan, you know what that stands for) than add as you like. Reposts are not an issue here. Enjoy.

[Sweet Lu]

got to love SAMCRO

[COP11]

I ordered this on Netflix and I love this show! Henry Rollins does a great job also

[Leira]

I LOVE SoA!!! The whole cast is amazing and Charlie Hunnam is so gorgeous. I can't wait for season 3!

[Sweet Lu]

i do get a kick out of it that he is the one that seems to be dressed the most fashionably (for a member of a biker club)

[Leira]

lol he is pretty fashion conscientious, isn't he? in an interview, he said he hung out with some real bikers to get a feel for his character and he noticed they don't wear leather boots and leather jackets. His American accent isn't too bad either.

[Sweet Lu]

I love FX casue they always seem to do a really good job researching the subject their shows are about.

and true about the jackets. It's msotly jsut the regular people who ride bikes that wear the jackets. And I agree about his accent, it's pretty flawless. Plus Jax is just a kick ass character. I love him and Tara together, and I can't wait to see what they do to that guy that kidnapped Abel.

[Leira]

oh man, I teared up big time. Hunnam is a great actor and just that look on his face at the end of season 2 *shivers*. Great performance from the whole cast. too bad halfnut got killed off, but I read as an actor, he was looking for other options anyways (guess Cherry won't need to be coming back around again. LOL).

I agree that FX researches pretty well and Kurt did a great job with the script. I still find it weird that he has his wife playing someone else's wife/lover although Gemma and Clay are a great couple. Also, I loved Kurt's cameo as Otto in the first season where he bashed in that b***h's face was great. supposedly, the portrayal of the 1%er life is pretty spot on. my best friend has been dating a biker for awhile and the both of them love the show. He has his friends come over now and again when its playing. according to them, its pretty accurate. though I'm not sure what they'd know about gangs and illegal dealings

[COP11]

And Katey Sagal does a great job too. And even though its only on the show, she shows how women with scars can still be sexy!

[Sweet Lu]

katey is the best. Even at her age, she still has that air of sexuality about her.

I loved it when Otto did that to that B. I hate that girl. Especially after she got Donna killed by trying to set up Opie. And now she goes and frames Gemma. grrrrrrrrr. somebody take her down and take her down hard.

and as a parent, that finale sent shivers through me. i can't even imagine the amount a greif any parent would go through if their child was stolen from them, but the whole cast did such a great job of making it seem and feel real.

[COP11]

I agree. I just finished watching the last episode. Can't wait for September. I think thats when the new episodes start

[Sweet Lu]

yes it does. right after Rescue me.

it was great when it was The Shield, than Rescue me, than Sons of Anarchy.

[COP11]

I laughed my ass off in Season 1 when they put Juice in that diaper and put that "slightly retarded child needs adopting"sign on him. Too funny! And Tig grew on me. I think he's my favorite. Kim Coates did good playing him.

[COP11]

Juice

[Sweet Lu]

lollll. i loved that one. especailly the deputy sheriff's reaction when he saw him

[AnaBBarrosFan]

this show.

[Sweet Lu]

and we got a month to go for it. yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[AnaBBarrosFan]

The plot is amazing, and the actors are spot on... but I have to say the main reason I watch is for this right here:

[COP11]

Charlie is hot!!! I would do him in a second

[COP11]

And there's something about Tig...