Sons of Anarchy (2008– )

A man in his early 30s struggles to find a balance in his life between being a new dad and his involvement in a motorcycle club.

Creator:

Kurt Sutter

Stars:

Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Mark Boone Junior

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Charlie Hunnam	...	Jackson 'Jax' Teller (70 episodes, 2008-2012)
Katey Sagal	...	Gemma Teller Morrow (69 episodes, 2008-2012)
Mark Boone Junior	...	Robert Munson (69 episodes, 2008-2012)
Kim Coates	...	Alex 'Tig' Trager (69 episodes, 2008-2012)
Tommy Flanagan	...	Filip 'Chibs' Telford (69 episodes, 2008-2012)
Maggie Siff	...	Tara Knowles (69 episodes, 2008-2012)
Ron Perlman	...	Clarence 'Clay' Morrow (66 episodes, 2008-2012)
Theo Rossi	...	Juan Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz (66 episodes, 2008-2012)
Dayton Callie	...	Chief Wayne Unser (62 episodes, 2008-2012)
Ryan Hurst	...	Harry 'Opie' Winston (54 episodes, 2008-2012)
William Lucking	...	Piermont 'Piney' Winston (52 episodes, 2008-2011)
David Labrava	...	Happy (47 episodes, 2008-2012)
Christopher Douglas Reed	...	Philip 'Filthy Phil' Russell (33 episodes, 2010-2012)
Winter Ave Zoli	...	Lyla (31 episodes, 2009-2012)

Storyline

Sons of Anarchy, aka SAMCRO, is a motorcycle club that operates both illegal and legal businesses in the small town of Charming. They combine gun-running and a garage, plus involvement in porn film. Clay, the president, likes it old school and violent; while Jax, his stepson and the club's VP, has thoughts about changing the way things are, based on his dead father's journal. Their conflict has effects on both the club and their personal relationships.

---

Plot Keywords:

motorcycle | gun running | motorcycle gang | fictional town | california | 

---

Taglines:

Let freedom ride

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

FX Networks

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Forever Sam Crow

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

SutterInk, Linson Entertainment, Fox 21

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tig's fear of dolls is called Pediophobia. Creator Kurt Sutter suffers from it in real life.

---

Goofs

The show is set in a fictional San Joaquin County city, but all the Teller-Morrow Automotive tow trucks have a 925 area code. None of San Joaquin County is covered by the 925 area code, its neighbor Contra Costa County is.

---

Quotes

Jackson 'Jax' Teller: [voiceover, reading his fathers memoirs] A true outlaw finds the balance between the passion in his heart and the reason in his mind. The outcome is the balance of might and right.

---

Crazy Credits

Season 3 episodes "Lochan Mor", "Turas", "Fírinne", and "Bainne" used an Irish rendition of the main theme song.

---

Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: 2010 Tournament of Champions Quarterfinal 1 (2010)

User Reviews

Excellent drama

I almost didn't give this show a chance because Hollywood rarely offers up fully developed biker characters, much less decent or realistic plots about outlaw biker clubs. If there's a Harley and black leathers in the shot -- bad guys killing and doing bad things -- their work is done. Not so with Sons Of Anarchy.

While you will find all of the above elements, they're woven into a much richer fabric that brings each and every character to life in 16 million colors and full resolution, rising above the stereo-typical black-and-white portrayals of VGA-rendered knuckle-dragging villains.

And the casting! Katy Segal is phenomenal as Gemma, the widow of club founder and wife of present club runner, Clay Morrow, played by Ron Pearlman. Gemma's son, Jax, played by Charlie Hunnam, butts heads with his step-father's vision for the club.

But what really sets this biker drama apart is the context. The bikers are all natives of Charming, childhood friends in a small town. They've kept the town free of corporate tentacles and development, partly so they can run their legal and illegal businesses free of interference (gun-running and porn), and partly because the town itself might as well be a club member. The characters have deep roots to the townspeople who fear but also trust them to a degree, at least in the sense that it's sometimes better to deal with the devil you know and sometimes it's even handy to know the devil. The Sons have 'profitable arrangements' with certain local law enforcement officials, including the Chief of Police played magnificently by Dayton Callie, better known as Deadwood's Charlie Utter.

Conflict arises from neighboring clubs, gangs and criminal organizations trying to horn in on the action, and to an Aryan businessman and politician, played by Alan Arkin, who wants to set up shop in Charming and take out the Sons of Anarchy so he can take their place at the top of the criminal heap.

As if this wasn't fodder enough, Ally Walker joined the cast in season two as ball-breaking FBI agent June Stahl, going after the Sons and IRA gun runners who are selling to the Sons. Her quest, made painfully personal, by a meeting-gone-wrong with an imprisoned club member.

The action is gritty, the anti-heroes are plentiful, the characters are full-bodied and the writing is Class-A. Let Sons of Anarchy become your newest guilt-free pleasure and you'll find yourself heading into it full throttle.