A note: I'm only through the fifth season, and the sixth season is currently airing. But don't worry about spoilers, because I'll keep this review confined to the characters and just a little bit of the first season.
Clay Morrow, President of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club: Redwood Original.
 |
| Ron Perlman was born for this role. |
First, an explanation because it took me a really long time to figure this out: Sons of Anarchy is a large motorcycle club, spanning the west coast. The branch that this show focuses on is called Redwood Original, and they frequently call it "SAMCRO" (acronym for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original.) which sounds like Sam Crow and it's confusing. Anyway, Clay here is the president of SAMCRO, and the best friend of its founder, John Teller. Unfortunately for John, he's been dead for a long time and Clay is now married to John's wife, Gemma. Clay is the Claudius in this production of Biker Hamlet, and he represents everything that John didn't want for the club. Clay is about brute force and pure capitalism, and he spearheads the club's illegal activities-- most notably, running guns for the IRA.* Clay is calculating but not very smart, and he consistently makes decisions based on force and/or money, rather than reason. He's a dangerous man, for sure, but the show does kind of hilarious things like making him use reading glasses whenever he has paperwork (he is a middle aged man, after all) and running club meetings according to Parliamentary Procedure. Trust me, you haven't lived until you've seen bikers debating gun trafficking using motions and seconds like it's a school council meeting and everyone has soccer practice later.
* Hands down the most ridiculous thing about this show is their insistence that the IRA are major players in American gun trafficking. It's not 1982 anymore guys, and the current IRA is hardly capable of organizing a bake sale, much less gun running on another continent.
Gemma, who is part Gertrude/part Lady MacBeth.
 |
| Katy Segal has come a long way from Married...with Children. She's equal parts amazing and terrifying in this role. |
Gemma is SAMCRO's matriarch, part Clay's unofficial second in command (no women allowed in motorcycle clubs) and part mom to all the bikers, meaning she sets desperately needed boundaries and also gives hugs when needed. Quite frankly, she's like 2 minutes away from posting their artwork on her fridge and/or smacking them upside the head, depending on the situation. She is a woman who will do anything to protect her family, and she can be quite terrifying if she thinks there's someone in her way. And if you are in her way, you just might get a skateboard to the face.
Jax, our Hamlet.
 |
| It's hard to tell from his death glare here, but this actor is in Pacific Rim playing the sweetest puppy dog ever to save the world from giant monsters while inside a giant robot. And yes, it's as awesome as that sounded. |
Jax is the main character, and if like my husband and I you really like watching alpha males with anger management issues, you'll love him. Jax is Gemma's son with John, but he's very close to his step-father Clay. However, Jax has some serious reservations about the direction that Clay has taken the club (mostly: ever more dangerous illegal activities) and the series starts with Jax wrestling with his feelings towards SAMCRO. He's the official Vice President, meaning that should Clay step down, Jax would "inherit" the presidency. Really, the democracy of the club is a thin veneer over a monarchy, and Jax is the heir apparent. Jax is a great character: he's remarkably politically adept which makes him a great player within the club's hierarchy, but in everything else he is a self-described "mediocre mechanic with a GED," meaning he doesn't have much of a chance of being anything great outside the club. Where Clay sees everything as a choice between "profit or kill the motherfucker," Jax can think several moves ahead and is more concerned with long-term consequences than short-term profits (something he clearly gets from his momma). However, Jax has a pretty flexible moral code and a lot of anger issues, so be prepared for him to do some seriously questionable stuff. Also, you see his butt a lot, so there's that too.
Tara, the town's only doctor.
 |
| No, really. I have no idea what her specialty is, but she does everything from neo-natal surgery to emergency triage and you never see another doctor in the entire hospital. She's it. I have the same problem with Jack on Lost-- it's like TV writers don't understand that doctors have specialties beyond "doctoring." |
Tara is Jax's high school girlfriend, someone who made it out of their small town (the ironically named Charming) but has returned for reasons-that-are-revealed-so-I-won't-spoil-them-here. She made it big and now she's struggling with the pull of her "old" life (mostly Jax and his pretty eyes. It's understandable. He's pretty dreamboat-y). Tara provides some much needed balance for those immersed in SAMCRO-- she's the one who will point out that if you're getting shot at, MAYBE YOU SHOULD CALL THE POLICE NOT CARRY OUT AN ELABORATE REVENGE PLAN, JAX. She's smart, and while she's not perfect (she gets unnecessarily bitchy about some porn stars that the bikers befriend, acting like they are all secretly child murderers-- for someone who spends all her time with a biker gang, she sure is judgey) she's an excellent voice of reason.
There's a lot more to the show-- like Juice, the sweet-but-dumb biker who just wants approval from SOMEONE, or Tig, the resident pervert, or Bobby, the chubby Elvis impersonator with an actual head for business, or Opie with his adorable hair and good nature. It's a very male-heavy show (Tara and Gemma are pretty much it as female characters go) but overall, it's an excellent way to spend a few hours.
Verdict: Perfectly Awesome. (Also great? The soundtrack.)
No comments:
Post a Comment