STACK Jul #129

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046 JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi
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As Sons of Anarchy speeds towards its final season, Jax Teller and the
SAMCRO gang will find their lives and world irrevocably changed.
A s far as biker odysseys go, Sons of
Anarchy makes Easy Rider look like a
day trip. And given the epic nature of
the journey, it’s not surprising that the series
has endured more than a few speed bumps
over the years, along with the occasional
mechanical meltdown – yes, the Irish excursion
in season three still rankles. But as with many
American drama series, now that the finish line
is in sight, creator Kurt Sutter and the rest of
the gang have dramatically raised their game.
The key to SOA's success lies in its
characters. Along with their propensity for
violence and illegal, life-threatening activities,
the SAMCRO gang are bound by a strong moral
code and unbreakable commitment to the
club – both of which will be tested to the limits
before the seventh and final season.
The sixth and penultimate season is one of
the strongest – and bloodiest – installments yet,
and without wanting to spoil the surprises in
store, let's just say that a number of the series’
biggest story strands are finally resolved, and
two cast members who've been with the show
from the very beginning won't be returning for
the final season. Moreover, Season Six features
the punchiest cliffhanger finale in the series'
history.
Season Six opens with Clay (Ron Perlman)
and Tara (Maggie Siff) both in prison on trumped
up murder charges, and under pressure from
renegade lawman Toric (Donal Logue) to
give up SAMCRO. Meanwhile, Jax (Charlie
Hunnam), is still determined to get the gang
out of the gun-running business, something
that becomes even more of a priority when it’s
discovered that a pupil who carried out a high
school massacre used a weapon that can be
linked to SAMCRO.
As well as the regulars, newcomers to the
show this season include former RoboCop
Peter Weller as a cop-turned-crime boss, Kim
Dickens (Treme) as a brothel madam, and CCH
Pounder (The Shield ) as an ambitious DA.
Sons of Anarchy remains something of a
guilty pleasure – the testosterone levels are off
the chart and the violence gets progressively
more graphic each year – but Sutter has always
strived to bring a Shakespearean dimension to
this gang of not-always-noble bikers.
"I don't want to overplay that but it's there,"
he has said. "It's not a version of Hamlet but it's
definitely influenced by it."
So, will SOA's own conflicted prince, Jax
Teller, meet a similar fate to Shakespeare's
hero? We'll find out in the seventh and final
season.
"I would say that this is the season coming
up where Jax needs to decide," Sutter told The
Hollywood Reporter. "There is no more debate.
I think it's the season where he's in or out."
[ Sons of Anarchy] is not a
version of Hamlet but it's
definitely influenced by it
UNEASY
RIDERS