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Sons of Anarchy

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This article is about the television series. For the fictional motorcycle club depicted in the show, see Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club.
Sons of Anarchy
File:Soaintertitle.jpg
Sons of Anarchy intertitle
Created byKurt Sutter
StarringCharlie Hunnam
Katey Sagal
Mark Boone Junior
Kim Coates
Tommy Flanagan
Ryan Hurst
Johnny Lewis
William Lucking
Theo Rossi
Maggie Siff
Ron Perlman
Opening theme"This Life" by Curtis Stigers, Bob Thiele Jr., and Dave Kushner[1]
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersKurt Sutter
John Linson
Art Linson
James D. Parriott
Running timeapprox. 45 min.
Original release
NetworkFX
ReleaseSeptember 3, 2008 –
present

Sons of Anarchy is an FX television series starring Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, and Katey Sagal about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town somewhere in Northern California.

Sons of Anarchy was created by Kurt Sutter, a former writer and producer on The Shield, another FX television drama. The show's first season averaged 5.4 million viewers weekly making it the network's most successful show since Rescue Me.[2]

Season two premieres on FX on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 10 p.m.[3]

Story

Season one

The Sons of Anarchy is an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the United States. The Charming local is the original founding chapter of the Sons of Anarchy.[4]

The Charming charter is based out of a clubhouse adjacent to the Teller-Morrow auto mechanic shop. Led by Clay Morrow, the club protects and controls Charming through close community relationships, bribery and violent intimidation. The full name of the motorcycle club is Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original; on occasion, the show will abbreviate it as SOA, though more frequently the club is referred to as SAMCRO (a rough acronym of The Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original [5]) or Sam Crow. This nickname is also reflected in the original title of the show, Forever Sam Crow.[6] The club's leathers also refer to "Men of Mayhem," Jax has worn a hat that says "Reaper Crew," and their logo is a grim reaper wielding an M-16 with scythe blade and holding a crystal ball. Another symbol of the club is the crow. (At least two female characters affiliated with the club have crow tattoos.) As for the motorcycles, the Sons mostly ride customized Harley-Davidson Dyna's.

Club members have "day jobs" in local industries, most of them working at Clay's auto repair shop, but they primarily make money by importing illegal weapons 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 out of Charming, which puts them at odds with the meth-distributing white supremacist "Nords" gang, headed by Ernest Darby. Unlike their rivals, the Sons are relatively diverse and inclusionist, disdaining the Nords' social perspective. The SOA also have to deal with a rival Oakland-based MC, the "Mayans" led by Marcus Alvarez, who control the neighboring territory of northern Nevada. Other groups in SAMCRO's orbit include the San Francisco-based Chinese American mafia, 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 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 attached to the Teller-Morrow auto shop. The clubhouse includes a living area where Jax is currently camped out (since leaving his house to ex-wife Wendy following their divorce), a bar, a pool table and 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.[7] Six of the "Redwood Original 9" members were vets; Clay Morrow was the youngest of the original members. Following John's death in 1993, his widow Gemma later married Clay.

John and Gemma's surviving son Jax (another son, Tommy, died in childhood of the "family flaw", a congenital heart defect) is second in the club's line of succession after co-founder and sitting president Clay. Jax is recently divorced from Wendy, the mother of his son Abel, who is born 10 weeks premature as a result of his mother's Meth addiction. Jax is also connected to Tara, a doctor at St. Thomas Hospital. The two were high school sweethearts.

Season two

Production of the new season began on April 23, 2009;[8] season two will premiere on Tuesday, September 8 at 10 p.m.[3]

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."[9]

In a promotional video for season two Jax and Clay are shown going head to head in a game of chicken on their Harleys. Whether this is actual footage or a separately filmed trailer made to represent the tension between Clay and Jax within the gang is unclear.

Shakespeare influence

Creator Kurt Sutter and stars Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman and Charlie Hunnam at an event for the show in Los Angeles

The family drama is loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet;[10] 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.[11] Clay is based on the role of King Claudius and Gemma as a Gertrude figure. Jax stands in for Prince Hamlet himself; his 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.[12] The drama and characterizations are also enhanced by drawing on Macbeth, another Shakespeare tragedy. Katey Sagal's Gertrude-like Gemma resembles Lady Macbeth because—while it is never entirely clear from Hamlet how complicit Queen Gertrude is in the murder of Hamlet's father—it is obvious that Gemma has willingly participated in the cover-up of the death and may even have encouraged Clay in his treachery. 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."[13]

Lastly, narratively, the Sons are typical antiheroes.

Music

Notable songs featured in the series include Bobby's Elvis covers, a cover of "Son of a Preacher Man" by star Katey Sagal, "Hard Row" by the Black Keys which is featured in the opening scene of the first episode, "Can't Get Used to Losing You" by Andy Williams, a cover of "Forever Young" by Audra Mae and the blues song "John the Revelator" by Stigers & The Forrest Rangers.

Characters and gangs

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, as well as the other members of the local Sons of Anarchy charter, their families, various Charming townspeople, and the various rivals and associates who undermine or support SAMCRO's legal and illegal enterprises.

Regular characters in season one were (in order credited) Charlie Hunnam as Jax, Katey Sagal as Gemma, 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, 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.

Ally Walker as Agent Stahl and Mitch Pileggi as Ernest Darby will return, but Drea de Matteo will not appear as Wendy in season two.[14]

New characters slated for season two include Henry Rollins as A.J. Weston and Adam Arkin as Ethan Zobelle.[15]

Sons of Anarchy follows the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle gang most closely, but also heavily features a number of ally and rival gangs such as the Mayans, 9-ers, Nords and True IRA.

Episodes

Main article: List of Sons of Anarchy episodes
Season Episodes Season Premiere Season Finale Ratings DVD Release Date
Season One 13 September 3, 2008 November 26, 2008 5.83 million viewers[16] August 18, 2009
Season Two 13 September 8, 2009[3] December 1, 2009 (est.)

Soundtrack

A five song EP featuring songs from the series was released on iTunes. It's called Sons of Anarchy: North Country - EP.

1. Curtis Stigers & the Forest Rangers "This Life (Theme from Sons of Anarchy)" - 2:22
2. Anvil and Franky Perez "Slip Kid" - 3:49
3. Curtis Stigers & the Forest Rangers "John the Revelator" - 5:34
4. Audra Mae & the Forest Rangers "Forever Young" - 3:13
5. Lions "Girl from the North Country" - 4:11

International broadcasters

Country Channel Premiere date
 Australia Showcase April 2, 2009
 Canada Super Channel[17] October 20, 2008
 Denmark TV 2 February 2009
 France M6 September 2009
 Israel HOT3[18] April 4, 2009
 Norway TV 2 Zebra February 18, 2009
 Switzerland TSR 1 June 8, 2009
 Thailand True Series January-February 2009
 United Kingdom Bravo May 12, 2009
 Italy FX May 7, 2009
The Middle East American Plus Orbit network June 4, 2009
 South Korea XTM July, 2009
 Turkey FX August, 2009

References

  1. ^ Sons of Anarchy Blog: The Sound
  2. ^ Bryant, Adam (2008-10-06). "FX Revs Up Second Season of Sons of Anarchy". TV Guide. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  3. ^ a b c Godwin, Jennifer (2009-06-30). "FX Fall Premiere Dates: Sons of Anarchy, It's Always Sunny Return". E! Online. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  4. ^ Clubhouse 360: Plaques Overlay
  5. ^ "FX Gets Forever SAMCRO". MovieWeb.com. 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  6. ^ "FX Greenlights Forever Sam Crow". thetvremote.com. 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  7. ^ Clubhouse 360 - Framed Vets Popup
  8. ^ Bryant, Adam (2009-03-16). "Sons of Anarchy Revs Up Season 2 with Henry Rollins". TV Guide. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  9. ^ Prep for Season Two Begin, Sutterink, 04-18-2009
  10. ^ Brown, Joel (2008-08-22). "Sons of Anarchy: A motorcycle gang is coming to your house". Meevee.com. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  11. ^ Goldberg, Matt (2008-08-31). "Ron Perlman Interview - SONS OF ANARCHY". collider.com. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  12. ^ McDonough, Kevin (2008-09-03). "Hamlet rides a Harley in Sons of Anarchy". SouthCastToday.com. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  13. ^ Watson, Keith (2009-05-07). "http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/article.html?It_all_goes_hell_for_leather_in_Sons_Of_Anarchy&in_article_id=648624&in_page_id=9". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-05-07. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  14. ^ Team WWK (2009-06-29). "Spoiler Chat: Will Brooke and Julian Make It on One Tree Hill?". E! Online - Watch with Kristin. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
  15. ^ Godwin, Jennifer (2009-05-01). "Exclusive! Adam Arkin Joins FX's Sons of Anarchy". E! Online - Watch with Kristin. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  16. ^ http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2008/12/sons-of-anarchy-rolled.html
  17. ^ http://superchannel.ca/series/view/15774805/Sons-of-Anarchy/
  18. ^ http://www.hot.net.il/HOT.aspx?FolderID=3901&lang=he
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