Better late than never! One of my new obsessions "Sons of Anarchy"

I know, I know, I know I climbed the bandwagon pretty late with Sons of Anarchy already being in it´s 6th season. But I still like to tell you what I like about it and why I think you should at least give it a try. For people, who don´t know me: I usually watch drama shows like > Homeland, Dexter (concluded), Breaking Bad (concluded), Scandal, True Blood or Under the Dome. As you can see they all have something in common: good acting.

I´ve red about Sons of Anarchy (SOA) before and knew that it was about this biker gang story and this is what kept me from watching it. In my mind I couldn´t really imagine what the storyline could be, so I just finished the article and paid no further attention to it. But as you red in one of my "Charlie Hunnam - Christian Grey" posts I just had to give it another try and thank god I did.

So I´ll just give you a quick overview what the show is about and who plays who and then I give you my two cents why I think you should check it out!!

SOA plays in Charming, CA where the motorcycle club is domiciled. The story is constructed around the character Jax Teller

(portrayed as you know by now by my new celebrity crush Charlie Hunnam)who at the beginning of the series is the Vice President of the biker club also known as SAMCRO. He has a problem about the way Clay Morrow

 

, president of the club (who is also his stepfather) leads the club. Morrow got the club involved in illegal weapon deals and Jax is concerned how long it will take until his stepfathers leadership will get the club into serious trouble. When he finds part of his dead fathers (John Teller) letters Jax realizes, that during his time as club president he was strictly against weapon deals, because he knew once weapons where involved, that deals like durg deals where not that far off and that was something he did not want to have for his club. As Gemma,

 Jax´s mother notices a change in her sons behaviour concerning questioning the route SAMCRO is taking she tries everything to tone down his attempts to "sabotage" the Sons. If all of the club business isn´t already enough, Jax has to deal with an junkie ex-wife (Wendy Chase)

 who overdoses while pregnant. Their son Abel (love the name by the way) is born way to early and with a heart defect that is soon fixed with the help of yet another one of Jax´s exes: Dr. Tara Knowles.

 Those two seem to have a lot of history and this is a clear problem for Gemma in the first few seasons. So another big part of the storyline are the numerous gang related fights with other rivaling gangs like for example The Mayans or "The Irish". And there it comes trough, the violence! At first I have to say it was a little bit of an overkill for me but once you understand that in this world it doesn´t really work like in the "real one" where you try to talk it out. The world that the Sons live in is ruled by violence and intimidation and this is just how it is. I really liked it how the producer Kurt Sutter created the character of Tara as someone that most of the viewers could relate to, at least at the beginning of the first season: she seems to struggle with the way things are handled inside the club and she is not shure, in what extent she can trust Jax. She has a huge problem with the violence and in her book she thinks that no one has to die for something that someone else has done! In Gemma she has someone she can talk to, but knowing that she´s from the "inside" too, you can imagine what happens: nothing really. The only thing that she asks from Jax is that he tells her the truth, and with that she means everything! And this is what she gets and what makes their relationship so special, the trust.

This leads me to one of the main themes that is covered in the show: FAMILY

Not only are the SOA a big family that would do everything (and when I say everything I mean it) for each other but also the Teller family story is very interesting. Other then the rest of the SAMCRO family Jax seems to have some kind of conscience, that is different then the others....not that he has a problem with killing or hurting people, but he has an other view on things than the others, especially as the president Clay. When it comes to his family life you do not see a brutal, calousness man but a loving father who wants to protect his kids from everything bad the club is doing. As you can imagine this is not the easiest task, because family makes him weak and his enemies know that! Also Jax has a very special relationship to his dead father that is intensified thanks to the letters that he reads.....I really don´t want to spoil anything but these letters do not just effect him but also Tara, Gemma, Clay and a bunch of other people. The are some very big secrets in them that a lot of people try to keeps under wraps with a vengance!!

This is what I love about the show:
The way that the characters interact with one another.....there is a clear hierarchy inside the club and everyone knows exaclty what they can and can not do (what doesn´t keep them from trying it ;) ). But when the chips are down they will walk trough fire for each other. The acting job is also incredible! It doesn´t happen very often that you see so many talented people in one place and here it is certanly the case! Me personally, I think it´s way harder to play a bad/ evil character then a "normal" or average person. Not everyone can pull of the tough guy or in Gemmas case the tough woman. Let me tell you a little bit about Gemma: She is portrayed by Katey Sagal who most of you probably know from "Married....with Children" (German: "Eine schrecklich nette Familie") as Peggy Bundy. If you thought Peggy was a tough, selfconfident woman, you have not met Gemma!! That woman is more bad ass than most of the club members! She isn´t really part of the club but actually kind of runs it as the "mother" of the gang. A lot of crazy s*** has happened to her, I dont want to spoil here, but she never once considered to turn her back on her second family. I think this is mainly because a big part of her family will never under any circumstances leave the club: Jax! So she pulls herself together every time and puts herself behind the club and keeps on going.
Another thing that I love is that most of the communication seems to be quiet. As weird as this sounds but there are a lot of scenes where the characters do not say much and just communicate trough vision. Yet again, great acting!!

Kurt Sutter really understands good television the way he tells the stories it makes everything so authentic (which again this would not work without the great actors of the show). He´s not affraid to approach difficult themes, for example all kinds of violence (once you check out a few season you´ll know what I mean). Also Sutter for me is the king of plot twists....before I watched the show I was pretty good in recognizing things before they happened, but with this guy you really never know whats coming. He even has the guts to let fan favourites die, because he feels it will take the story to the next level!! I caught myself more then once screaming out "He did not just do that!" and after the first shock I realized that the producer really knows what he´s doing.

Okay after all this conversation, why this show got ME hooked here are a few thoughts why you should check it out:

- it´s always good to try something new....I did and I´m thankfull ;)
- I hate to tell you again, but the main reason I love the show is just the fact that the acting int his show is amazeballs
- love sarcasm?! WATCH WATCH WATCH
- bikers, leatherjackets, tough guys/bad boys, weapons....kinda sexyyyy ;)
- TATTOO´S
- if you are kind of sick of the predictable story telling and need some action in your life, check it out!
- family secrets are always a good reason to watch a show
 - you just have to see Jax Teller  aka. Charlie Hunnam holding a baby!;)
and last but not least:
Charlie Hunnam!!! :)

I can only recommend you guys to tune in and check it out!
Let me know if you checked it out or if you are already watching...what do you love about the show?

Let´s talk tv!

xoxo Nici

(source of all pictures and gifs: Tumblr)