(S02E01) - "I'm not going to swap one outlaw for another one." How do you turn a group of gruff biker outlaws who deal potent drugs to street trash and hardcore hardware to ruthless killers into a likable group of huggable stud muffins?
That's easy. You make a group of radical white supremacists into their enemies. It's the old "lovable by association" tactic of TV writing. Is the audience not buying your childhood version of Darth Vader? Then throw in a wise-cracking alien that sounds like Pee Wee Herman with Down's Syndrome.
However, in the case of the second season of Sons of Anarchy, it's a pretty sweet power play for a show that already packed more punch than an Absinthe smoothie.
The characters have had a whole season to develop and make their mark, both within the club and with the audience. Now that the viewers know the pieces and the moves that have to make, the game can begin. Except, Kurt Sutter and his gang of scribble jockeys throw in a few more pieces that we haven't seen before, turning this chess game into a bitching round of Operation with a gas powered chainsaw.
The unlikely duo of Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins as Ethan Zobelle and A.J. Weston, the extremely white leaders of a white supremacist movement, make perfect villains for SANCRO. Especially Rollins, who is a scary enough presence when he isn't acting. And this assumption isn't just based on my gut reactions to his freeze-throwing stares and brick wall stances. It's also based on an interview he did with author and journalist Marty Beckerman. The interview lasted 30 seconds and ended with "a wonderfully cheerful comment about #@*&ing my mother." So expect nothing from me but heaps of praise on Rollins and his performance.
Arkin also makes a great villain as the brains to A.J.'s beefheaded braun. He's equally cold and calculating, but in a less callous and confrontational way. He kills Clay with kindness as they make their presence known in Charming, but also keeps no secret about his intentions and beliefs.
He seems almost to be hiding something else, not just from SANCRO and the cops with whom he offers his help to Deputy Chief Hale, but even from A.J. I have a feeling the two might turn on each other and A.J. will probably win since beating a man's head in with the nearest heavy object is more than just a way of life to him. It's his Thursday cardio workout.
Of course, the real focus of the show remains on the club and the bonds between them. Katey Sagal was right. Behind all the bar room brawls and biker beatings lies the heart of a true family with some willing to die to keep it together and others who do what they can to please everyone while trying to worm their way out on their own.
That's probably what makes Gemma's rape scene all the more horrific to watch. It's nowhere near the most graphic thing I've seen on a dramatic series, but it's emotionally hard thanks to A.J.'s indifferent attitude towards the harm he inflicts on her and knowing that Gemma must either tell someone and admit she's weak or keep it bottled up inside her. She also just finished telling Tara not to keep any secrets between her and the club if she wants to stay with Jax, but Gemma knows she can't tell Clay because it would disintegrate the club, their relationship and even their lives.
She has to keep it to herself, but for how long and at what cost? Nothing that dark can stay inside something or someone forever without destroying the thing that's holding it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-09-2009 @ 12:57AM
Tim said...
Up until the last three minutes, this episode felt more like s01e14 than s02e01. Maybe it was because the episode devoted so much time to tying up loose ends, but this didn't feel like the start of a new season.
Note: The acronym is SAMCRO, not SANCRO, for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original.
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9-09-2009 @ 9:19AM
Christopher said...
I agree with you it did feel like the last season picked up right where it left off, but I enjoyed it very much.
9-09-2009 @ 9:51AM
litehousebeacon said...
Actually, the 'C' is for Charter.
9-09-2009 @ 1:33PM
eric f. said...
no, litehousebeacon, as Tim stated correctly, it's Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original. it's on the website.
9-10-2009 @ 11:58AM
Megan said...
SAMCRO doesn't deal drugs. While they run guns and kill people they draw the line at dealing. You obviously don't really watch the show as if you did you wouldn't get that and the club acronym wrong.
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9-09-2009 @ 9:26AM
Adam said...
"Sons" always gets my blood pumping, and tonight was no different....until the end of the episode. Yes, they've done some horrible things on that show, but it's never truly been horrific until tonight. Donna getting it was bad, but it was a mistake. Now "Sons" has its own Armadillo in the form of A.J. Weston. That is one sick puppy, and I can't wait to see him put down. My hope is that he and Tig have a epic faceoff. I've said this before and I'll continue to say it, the scariest thing I've seen in the last few years was a special on white supremacist where they were teaching their kids to hide their beliefs, blend into society, get excellent educations, and exclude people from a place of power. That makes Ethan Zobelle way more dangerous than Weston because Zobelle at least has the element of surprise.
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9-09-2009 @ 9:53AM
litehousebeacon said...
Also, it's brawn, with a 'w.'
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9-09-2009 @ 10:09AM
Jen said...
I don't think Gemma has any intention of keeping this a secret from the Club. Even if she wanted to, her mothering instincts will kick in and she will want to make sure that none of the other girls get the same treatment.
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9-09-2009 @ 11:21AM
Gina said...
She wont be able to keep it to her self. If you listened carefully the last rapist gave up his identity. He called her ma'am just like he did in the parking lot. She will not be able to keep it to her self because I have a feeling that Henry Rollins' character will keep popping up around her (scaring the crap out of her) until she spills. Even a strong tough woman like her will be scared of her rapist after being gang raped. I think the white supremacist are counting on her telling and causing trouble with SAMCRO. I think that was the plan. The preview for next week shows the sheriff finding her and taking her to the hospital and calling Clay.
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9-09-2009 @ 12:28PM
collin said...
Excellent review, I must say.
Nicely put.
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9-09-2009 @ 12:49PM
Daune said...
I was glad that Jackson let Clay know that he knows what went down with Donna, and why he was willing to keep Opie in the dark. His rationalization of that is going to come back around with Clay having to deal with how he responds to what happens to Gemma.
They made a big deal out of him saying he'd be lost without her. We already knew he felt that way, but having him say it and repeat it and having a much more successful session than the last time they fooled around, that we witnessed, cemented that they're good with each other, right before the sheet hits the fan, as it were. (And how funny was Project thinking he might be able to go in there with Clay and Gemma, just for a second? Hilarious.)
The reason the season started with the wrapping up of loose ends, I think, is that it showed a man getting vengeance for wrong done to his woman. Juxtapose that against what much of this season is going to be about, I have to believe. It might be worse that Gemma is alive in the aftermath, to watch her man unravel.
On a side note, while I thought this was a powerful episode, and I'm glad to spend some time in Charming again, I had a real problem with the continuity of Gemma being at the party to see Ethan and AJ, and then still at the house, feeding the baby and kissing Tara on the lips. I wonder if they added her interchange to give her an opportunity to identify the rapist through his "Ma'am."
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9-10-2009 @ 8:36AM
Steve said...
You mean Prospect, although he is a project.
9-09-2009 @ 10:16PM
Ric Kaysen said...
Ma'am got her attention, but she focused twice on his distinctive tat. That was the tell.
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9-10-2009 @ 1:39PM
keri5374 said...
I understand why Jax is keeping his secret from Opie, but I think Opie will turn on Jax for not telling him the truth. And I also think that Gemma is going to go ballistic this season and kill those bastards that raped her.
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9-10-2009 @ 3:41PM
fancastfan said...
Henry Rollins is gong to be online chatting live and taking your questions on Tues. Sept 15 at 3 pm ET/12 noon PT to discuss all things "Sons of Anarchy."
http://www.fancast.com/blogs/tv-news/sons-of-anarchys-henry-rollins-live-chat/
You can set an email reminder for yourself at the chat page right now if you want. Then get your questions ready for Henry - you know he won't hold anything back.
(We did a Fancast chat last year, btw, with Charlie Hunnam and SOA executive producer/creator Kurt Sutter and it was great.)
Cheers,
Jim (for Fancast)
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9-10-2009 @ 6:08PM
butch said...
What is the song at the end of the episode called?
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9-11-2009 @ 7:57PM
SOA4ever said...
no butch means the song that is playing while Gemma is getting raped. What is that song? I am also looking for it.
9-14-2009 @ 3:39AM
Anne said...
"Girl from the North country" by The Lions. It's a Bob Dylan Cover.
9-11-2009 @ 4:52AM
teena said...
if you are talking about the end of the first series song at the cemetary ~ its called " John the Revelator" by Gov'mt
Mule. You can get it on Itune..~ observation Opie reinforced to jax he didnt want to kill an innocent man and he trusted Jax. I think there are three direction that are gonna go BANG in this season! Honor your brother is an oath~waiting to watch it spin our
live to ride~ ride to live
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9-11-2009 @ 9:49PM
teena said...
whoops on the misspells but you get the point. Just sittin in the dark checking the incoming on SOA and gettin ready to crash. L8ters
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