Sons Of Anarchy Review

Shakespeare meets bikes, guns, booze and everything that screams I live the American Outlaw One-Percenter Biker Outlaw Lifestyle.

Going into this, saying that this is an unbiased review would be a lie. I’ve watched and rewatched this series over and over, putting in over 400 hours of screen time to use. To me, it is engraved into my memory as a television series that will forever and always be top-tier, bringing no other show close. I would remember, eating lunch before school when I was around the age of 11, seated in front of the television in my living room, catching ever episode as soon as it aired, and I couldn’t get enough. As soon as I got found out that streaming sites existed, I watched it all over again. Then, I got Netflix, and watched it all over again. Now I find myself, seated in front of the television in that very same living room, rerunning the show and enjoying every second of it. This is my review on Sons of Anarchy.

“Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love”

This clip is in every way a spoiler. Watch it.

Shot and set in the fictional Californian town of Charming, the show follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club. The show revolves around the lives of the members out of the mother charter, the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original Charter (SAMCRO). The show’s focal point revolves around the Jackson Nathaniel Teller, frequently referred to as Jax. His life puts forth before him the constant struggle of trying to turn the club away from the life of violence and dealing guns, so that they can earn clean. All the turning points and emotional turmoil that he faces while vice president and then later the president of the club, puts you in his shoes, making you constantly feel for Jax and what he is going through. Why he appears to be so torn apart by his loyalty for the club and the direction he wants to take the club in is greatly influenced by his father, talking to him from the grave, after he found a manuscript written by the founding father of The Sons himself, John Teller.

His entire path from then on out is purely based on trying to do it the way his father would have wanted. He tries to see the bigger picture and starts to question the club, himself, and his relationships. The book that John wrote was about SAMCRO and he always intended it to be. Jax started writing his own notebook, intended for to his own sons but in the end, Jax set fire to that very notebook in the opening sequence of the Sons of Anarchy final episode. His father was unable to transform the club, and he had hoped that his son could. He couldn't, and Jax 's aspirations for his children are to no longer to go down the MC path; in the process destroying his own birth right and reputation. And just like with John more than two decades ago to give his son a chance, Jax kills himself. He puts down his blood-covered shoes, putting on his boots as he finds himself recreating the path of his father, on the very same highway, on the very same bike, sacrificing himself for the greater good of what was to come.

There is a certain animalistic nature that draws the viewer in that mixes in the with the very human emotion. It is the nature in which the show is presented, very raw and unfiltered, giving you an insight on what it really is like to be entangled in the violent outlaw life of a biker. The elements of brotherhood mixed with the contrasting elements of betrayal, and the constant need to avenge a wrong are what makes the show so special. The bond that they share on-screen translates emotionally to the viewer making them feel attached in a way to what is going on. The biggest bond that viewers shared in my opinion was with John Teller, and his narrations from the grave. There was something he said that stuck with me and that quote was, “The most obvious was forgiveness. If I was wronged by anyone, in or out of the club, I had to be compensated by money or blood. There was no turning the other cheek. When relationships become a ledger of profit and loss, you have no friends, no loved ones, just pluses and minuses. You are absolutely alone.” Hearing that and seeing the chaos unfold before you in the name of seeking peace for the future, reality and fantasy becomes a blur, you question yourself on how much you are like John and then Jax. He puts into words the excruciating pain that attempts to prevail on, or seek, the higher moral ground when everything surround you is falling apart. So, it is through John's narration that the viewer has a chance to solidify so experience the show's constantly restless paced moral dilemmas. John offers a chance for the audience to observe and ponder.

Some of the most beautifully disturbing aspects Jax is the battle that he fights continuously inside himself, demonstrated in the moments where he knows the rational thing to do and submits to his weaker urges nonetheless, including in the scenes where he executes acts of bloody retribution as part of some code of chivalry that feels misgiving Jax is morally complex; when he understands what's right, he ends up doing what's wrong; he genuinely and intensely enjoys that. In truth, Jax portrays us all and it's not always pleasant. His moral values seem to be feasible, and can be purchased and traded for self-serving purposes. Jax, like his deceased father, is haunted by his own conscience, and can't rest until he accounts for his mistakes. He can try to run from his past and turn over a new leaf, but he cannot redefine his lifestyle. He wants his sons to grow up hating the thought of him, and that is simply how we all feel, moving forward in our own life, looking back, preparing to nurture the next generation.

A wide cast may often create some totally average roles. An unnecessary subject is often not vital to the storyline but creates a more vivid narrative, so their plain, unexplored excursions often go longer than they otherwise would throughout the run of a television series. Nevertheless, writer, producer and director, Kurt Sutter, created several fairly complex personalities with specific motives which both progressed the plot and won the hearts of many fans like myself.

If there is one thing that makes the show special, it has to be the music score. The sound of Sons of Anarchy is unique in its own way. Almost every episode ends with a song that fits the scene well, usually long and emotional, be it through the lyrics or through the actual music. Every single song that us used throughout has a deeper meaning to it. There is a religious theme throughout most of the music scores that occur during a tragic or violent event, showing a major contrast, almost proving that amongst all the chaos, all they really want deep down is to repent. No matter how loud that calling is, they always fall back to their roots of putting family first. In this instance, the MC being family. Be it the hollow acoustics of a guitar or the chilling vocals of a choir, there is not a song that seems out of place during the entire seven seasons of the show and works like a dream. Without the music score, Sons of Anarchy would have been a completely different show.

Given that the show is influenced by Hamlet, the last thing you would think of is having Shakespeare affiliated with a motorcycle club. The final episode even ends with a direct quote from Hamlet that being, “Doubt thou the stars are fire; / Doubt that the sun doth move; / Doubt truth to be a liar; / But never doubt I love” which directly relates to the love that Jax and John had. The very same love that of a father, his love for his children, his love for his bike, his love for his brothers. At the centre of all the violence and sacrifice, it is all fuelled by the raw emotion of love. With seven seasons of turmoil filled with revenge, lust, mayhem, slight instances of humour, all coming together to play a part in showcasing humanity.

Aside from its poetic roots, a lot of the story’s narrative ties back into godliness or the lack thereof. The show starts of with Gemma looking at religion in almost an insulting fashion, grows to seek the truth and learns to love what she perceives as God. She has a twisted mindset on how religion works and, in some instances, uses it as an excuse to commit serious acts of violence.

Looking at the show from the outside, there is also a suggestion that Jax is a modern-day All-American version of Jesus. There is a homeless woman pictured throughout the series, cloaked in her blanket, almost mimicking the Grim Reaper patches that the Sons proudly wear on the back of their cuts. She resembles almost an angelic-like figure, being there to push the main characters in the direction that is intended. During the first season, Jax wakes up in the graveyard, the day of Donna’s funeral. This homeless woman gives him the blanket to cover himself with. During the last episode, the same woman gives him the exact same blanket as he covers himself and sits on the courthouse steps, ready to kill Marks. In this, he embodies the image of the Grim Reaper. She tells him that it is time to die. The camera pans to what she is eating. It is a bottle of cheap wine with a torn piece of bread, signifying the image of The Holy Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ. With Tara and Opie dead, his puts the lives of his children in the hands of Lyla, and gives her a kiss on the forehead, much like Jesus did when he was about to die and put told John that his mother was also John’s mother and to take care of her. The ending of the final episode shows Jax, getting on his father’s bike. Stopping by the memorial carved in stone on the highway, he talked to his dad one final time, and says “I know who you are now. I know what you did. I love you Dad” which in its totality sums up the moments before Jesus died and asked “Father, father, why have you forsaken me?” He shoots the car door of the police officer that comes to question him, mounts the bike, and rides off, as more and more police vehicles and helicopters pile up in a chase after him, just like the Romans did Jesus. He made sure to follow his father’s path right until the end, leading up to the ultimate sacrifice of self in death. This mirrors the death of Christ to save all sinners. He rides right into a semi-truck on his father’s bike, leaving the same way he did, with his arms spread open and letting the road take his life. It is worth nothing that that is the very same pose that your everyday Christian associates with the crucifixion of Christ himself. Even the last words of the truck driver that hits Jax are “Jesus!” And with that, Sons of Anarchy opens with the same scene of two crows picking on a piece of trash, only this time they are picking on bread, as Jax’s blood runs on the streets, meeting the bread and having it soak into the bread, once again symbolising the Holy Eucharist and the sacrifice of live for the betterment of mankind, in this case, his children and his club.

A small anecdote that sums up the entire series, and should very well sum up what you take away from it is something Chibs said earlier in the series. “It is important to not let our hearts be louder than our reason.” Love, love deeply, but above all, think. It is when emotions take over that you find yourself lost, down a hole that you’ve barrelled down in and are too deep to come out of. Love is a beautiful thing and like two sides of a coin, is also dangerous.

With the explicit nature of the show, almost numbing you to how detached it is from reality with all the senseless murder and meaningless sex paired with a laundry list of vices, amongst it all, to mix it in with the very real element of religion, puts a whole new perspective on how people, religious or not, perceive right from wrong. It makes you think about how you judge someone else for their sins, who they are, and in the process are blinded by your own self-righteousness because you are so consumed by your own guilt that you are blinded by your love. Your love for someone, something and a pure dedication to believe that because of that love, you are better than the next person.

If you couldn’t have guessed it earlier, obviously I would give Sons of Anarchy a solid five out of 5 stars. There was and never will be a television series that will come close to Sons in its genre and sits on a pedestal of its own. There is not a moment where I am not on the edge of my seat, compelled by everything going on, emotionally hanging by the strings of the master of puppets behind the show. Completely immersed in the outlaw biker world of the Sons in the town of Charming. I told you I was biased.