Another great season of another amazing TV show has come to an end. Sons of Anarchy, definitely one of my all time favorite shows, ended two weeks ago. That means I gotta wait till September 2012 for the next season!
First of all, let me put up this big warning sign for those of you who haven’t watched Season 4 yet….
--- SPOILER ALERT ---
Yeah, I may love to troll sometimes, but I know where to draw the lines. I don’t want to spoil an awesome show for you.
Now coming back to SoA, I’ve been in love with the show since it came out three years ago. I’ve always been fascinated by 1%er (one percenter) Motorcycle Clubs like Hell’s Angels, Pagans, Mongols etc. I still remember painting a patch of one of these MC clubs on my brand new leather jacket using fabric paint back in school. That was in the early 90s. Many of my classmates were still playing with GI Joes then…
There was no internet those days but I got all the info I needed from a series of foreign magazines called Passing Wind or Pissing Wind or something like that which was all about the 1%er MCs (and also had lots and lots of pics of babes & boobs *GRIN*).
SoA is based on the 1%er MCs, and even though the names of the clubs and rivals clubs in the TV show are fictitious (correct me if I’m wrong), they are all (partly) based on actual clubs and events.
SoA is very much the Anti-Hero TV show, where the main characters are actually the “bad guys”, running guns & drugs, dealing in the flesh trade, treating women like property and prone to violence and even murder. The show beautifully depicts what being a 1%er MC is all about and has a loyal fan following among many MC enthusiasts around the world. With “Hell Boy” Ron Perlman playing the role of “Clay”, the President of the MC, I knew right then that this was going to be an awesome show.
Sons of Anarchy season 3 had a good ending, as I already pointed out in my previous post: Chp 354. End of a Season. Stahl is finally killed. The Sons go to prison to serve minimum time. And Tara found the letters JT wrote to Maureen, where he mentioned how he feared Clay will kill him one day because he’s trying to stop the guns deal with the IRA.
So there was suspense throughout the season – Will she tell Jax or not? Will Clay or Gemma get to her first before she tells Jax? How will Jax react if he learns his step-dad and mom killed his old man? Will Piney really tell the club about Clay’s secret? Will Clay have the guts to stop Piney, who is not just JT’s best friend but also the co-founder of SAMCRO?
And then there was the new added spice – the MC finally getting into the drugs trade, something that they voted to stay away from throughout the previous seasons. I wonder what the Nords would say to this, had they still been around in season 4, lolzzz.
And with the drugs came the Galindo Cartel. The whole club, especially the senior members, didn’t want to get involved with any cartel shit, but Jax eventually had to support Clay because he wanted to leave the club and Clay was his only ticket out.
But there are certain incidents in season 4 that I need to point out…
1. The “Black” Race Card
First of all, we know that the Sons aren’t racists. Juice is half Puerto Rican, Prospect V-Lin is chinese, and Hap looks pretty much latino or black. They have done their businesses with the 19ers (Blacks), Mayans (Hispanics), the Nords (White supremacists) and the Lin Triad (Chinese organized crime syndicate) to mention a few.
They are in extreme good relationship with the Grim Bastards (an all-Black MC), and when the Sons were in prison, the Black Guerilla Family (an all-Black prison gang) was protecting them from the Aryan Brotherhood (a White supremacist prison gang).
Apart from that, Chib’s ex-wife is of Irish Black descent, and hence naturally his daughter too. I even remember Bobby hitting it off with a hot African American chick in season 1 or 2 when the Sons went to Nevada to patch-over with the Devil’s Tribe.
So when you consider all these, I think it was really lame of the Sheriff to use the fact that Juice’s dad is black in order to blackmail him. I mean, I really don’t think any of the Sons would have cared if Juice’s dad is black or not. When Juice confronted Chibs about this “dark secret” of his, Chibs too just laughed it off, telling him that what really matters is what his birth certificate says, and that’s “latino” (hence conveniently not admitting whether the rest of the Sons will accept him or not if they know his dad’s black).
Of course I completely understand where Kurt Sutter, the creator of the show is coming from. He had spent a lot of time with different MCs doing research for this TV show. He wanted to showcase the fact that most of these real 1%er MCs are racially exclusive clubs.
What I really like about Kurt Sutter is that, apart from playing the role of Otto, the uber cool SoA member languishing in Jail, he also runs his own blog on blogspot.com and writes about certain events regarding the show. In his blog, he explains about this particular Juice incident. If you’re interested, click here: sutterink.blogspot.com: Black & White of MC’s to read. He was merely trying to bring out this exclusivity criterion that exists in many MCs.
Latoya’s article regarding this issue (How Sons of Anarchy got racism right) is beautifully written too. However, my beef with this incident is not on the actual racism per se (whether it is a part of the show or not, or whether it actually exists in real MC’s or not), but the fact that it’s really difficult for a loyal SoA fan like me who knows every character so well to think that the Club members would turn against Juice if they learn about his dad’s origin.
Characterization, my friends.
2. The 14th Episode Shocker
I was biting my nails and sitting at the edge of my seat for thirteen awesome episodes. And then came the final episode of season 4. Just when DA Potter was about to launch the RICO assault against the Sons, the Kings and the Galinda cartel, Romero and Luis appeared and revealed that they’re CIA!!!! Holy $hittt!
I mean, if the Galinda cartel had been working for the CIA all along, why did they not even try to stop Potter’s RICO operation before? Why wait until the last minute?
And yes, I can picture Benito Martinez to be a cop because of his “SHIELD” background, but Danny Trejo as a CIA agent? Seriously? That really puts Machete and Johnny-23 to shame.
And you know what? Apparently, THIS was what Kurt Sutter intended all along! In his interview with Inside TV, Kurt mentioned that the CIA is known to play war games and take sides when two big cartels are fighting with each other, so that they will have control over who controls the drugs & arms money. He was afraid people might catch that on, and this was when Inside TV asked Kurt, “Was that one of the advantages of casting Danny Trejo as Romeo? I don’t think anyone would think of him as being Government Issue.”
Yup, you had me fooled there too. Shocked me real good, Kurt. But somehow, it left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth…
3. Season 5: What lies ahead?
As the episode ends, we see Tara dethroning Gemma as the new queen of SAMCRO while Jax takes over the Presidency, the two of them becoming mirror image of a much younger JT and Gemma (or is it JT and Maureen?).
Jax now knows that his step-dad killed his dad, and is also responsible for what happened to Piney, Gemma and Tara, but he cannot kill him because he needs Clay alive to keep the guns deal with the Irish going. No Clay means no guns deal. No guns deal means the Galindo cartel (aka CIA) will stop protecting SAMCRO from the Feds, who have enough evidence to close down their entire charter.
He also doesn’t know that his mother and Unser are also involved in the death of his father. Tara knows this. Gemma knows that Tara knows. Season 5 is going to be interesting!
And we don’t know if Opie is pledging his loyalty to Jax (but 100 bucks says he will be).
Also, the girlfriend of Laroy, head of the 19ers that Tig killed, happens to be the daughter of Damon pope, the most dangerous and powerful gangster in Oakland. So there is definitely going to be retaliation from Oakland in season 5. Oh how I wish Damon Pope is played by either Samuel L. Jackson or Michael Clarke Duncan. Please please please please!
Apart from this, season 5 will definitely show more of cartel retaliations from the Lobo Sonora Cartel too.
Oh yeahhhhhh, I can’t wait!!!!! SoA FTW!
First of all, let me put up this big warning sign for those of you who haven’t watched Season 4 yet….
--- SPOILER ALERT ---
Yeah, I may love to troll sometimes, but I know where to draw the lines. I don’t want to spoil an awesome show for you.
Now coming back to SoA, I’ve been in love with the show since it came out three years ago. I’ve always been fascinated by 1%er (one percenter) Motorcycle Clubs like Hell’s Angels, Pagans, Mongols etc. I still remember painting a patch of one of these MC clubs on my brand new leather jacket using fabric paint back in school. That was in the early 90s. Many of my classmates were still playing with GI Joes then…
There was no internet those days but I got all the info I needed from a series of foreign magazines called Passing Wind or Pissing Wind or something like that which was all about the 1%er MCs (and also had lots and lots of pics of babes & boobs *GRIN*).
SoA is based on the 1%er MCs, and even though the names of the clubs and rivals clubs in the TV show are fictitious (correct me if I’m wrong), they are all (partly) based on actual clubs and events.
SoA is very much the Anti-Hero TV show, where the main characters are actually the “bad guys”, running guns & drugs, dealing in the flesh trade, treating women like property and prone to violence and even murder. The show beautifully depicts what being a 1%er MC is all about and has a loyal fan following among many MC enthusiasts around the world. With “Hell Boy” Ron Perlman playing the role of “Clay”, the President of the MC, I knew right then that this was going to be an awesome show.
Sons of Anarchy season 3 had a good ending, as I already pointed out in my previous post: Chp 354. End of a Season. Stahl is finally killed. The Sons go to prison to serve minimum time. And Tara found the letters JT wrote to Maureen, where he mentioned how he feared Clay will kill him one day because he’s trying to stop the guns deal with the IRA.
So there was suspense throughout the season – Will she tell Jax or not? Will Clay or Gemma get to her first before she tells Jax? How will Jax react if he learns his step-dad and mom killed his old man? Will Piney really tell the club about Clay’s secret? Will Clay have the guts to stop Piney, who is not just JT’s best friend but also the co-founder of SAMCRO?
And then there was the new added spice – the MC finally getting into the drugs trade, something that they voted to stay away from throughout the previous seasons. I wonder what the Nords would say to this, had they still been around in season 4, lolzzz.
And with the drugs came the Galindo Cartel. The whole club, especially the senior members, didn’t want to get involved with any cartel shit, but Jax eventually had to support Clay because he wanted to leave the club and Clay was his only ticket out.
But there are certain incidents in season 4 that I need to point out…
1. The “Black” Race Card
First of all, we know that the Sons aren’t racists. Juice is half Puerto Rican, Prospect V-Lin is chinese, and Hap looks pretty much latino or black. They have done their businesses with the 19ers (Blacks), Mayans (Hispanics), the Nords (White supremacists) and the Lin Triad (Chinese organized crime syndicate) to mention a few.
They are in extreme good relationship with the Grim Bastards (an all-Black MC), and when the Sons were in prison, the Black Guerilla Family (an all-Black prison gang) was protecting them from the Aryan Brotherhood (a White supremacist prison gang).
Apart from that, Chib’s ex-wife is of Irish Black descent, and hence naturally his daughter too. I even remember Bobby hitting it off with a hot African American chick in season 1 or 2 when the Sons went to Nevada to patch-over with the Devil’s Tribe.
So when you consider all these, I think it was really lame of the Sheriff to use the fact that Juice’s dad is black in order to blackmail him. I mean, I really don’t think any of the Sons would have cared if Juice’s dad is black or not. When Juice confronted Chibs about this “dark secret” of his, Chibs too just laughed it off, telling him that what really matters is what his birth certificate says, and that’s “latino” (hence conveniently not admitting whether the rest of the Sons will accept him or not if they know his dad’s black).
Of course I completely understand where Kurt Sutter, the creator of the show is coming from. He had spent a lot of time with different MCs doing research for this TV show. He wanted to showcase the fact that most of these real 1%er MCs are racially exclusive clubs.
What I really like about Kurt Sutter is that, apart from playing the role of Otto, the uber cool SoA member languishing in Jail, he also runs his own blog on blogspot.com and writes about certain events regarding the show. In his blog, he explains about this particular Juice incident. If you’re interested, click here: sutterink.blogspot.com: Black & White of MC’s to read. He was merely trying to bring out this exclusivity criterion that exists in many MCs.
Latoya’s article regarding this issue (How Sons of Anarchy got racism right) is beautifully written too. However, my beef with this incident is not on the actual racism per se (whether it is a part of the show or not, or whether it actually exists in real MC’s or not), but the fact that it’s really difficult for a loyal SoA fan like me who knows every character so well to think that the Club members would turn against Juice if they learn about his dad’s origin.
Characterization, my friends.
2. The 14th Episode Shocker
I was biting my nails and sitting at the edge of my seat for thirteen awesome episodes. And then came the final episode of season 4. Just when DA Potter was about to launch the RICO assault against the Sons, the Kings and the Galinda cartel, Romero and Luis appeared and revealed that they’re CIA!!!! Holy $hittt!
I mean, if the Galinda cartel had been working for the CIA all along, why did they not even try to stop Potter’s RICO operation before? Why wait until the last minute?
And yes, I can picture Benito Martinez to be a cop because of his “SHIELD” background, but Danny Trejo as a CIA agent? Seriously? That really puts Machete and Johnny-23 to shame.
And you know what? Apparently, THIS was what Kurt Sutter intended all along! In his interview with Inside TV, Kurt mentioned that the CIA is known to play war games and take sides when two big cartels are fighting with each other, so that they will have control over who controls the drugs & arms money. He was afraid people might catch that on, and this was when Inside TV asked Kurt, “Was that one of the advantages of casting Danny Trejo as Romeo? I don’t think anyone would think of him as being Government Issue.”
Yup, you had me fooled there too. Shocked me real good, Kurt. But somehow, it left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth…
3. Season 5: What lies ahead?
As the episode ends, we see Tara dethroning Gemma as the new queen of SAMCRO while Jax takes over the Presidency, the two of them becoming mirror image of a much younger JT and Gemma (or is it JT and Maureen?).
Jax now knows that his step-dad killed his dad, and is also responsible for what happened to Piney, Gemma and Tara, but he cannot kill him because he needs Clay alive to keep the guns deal with the Irish going. No Clay means no guns deal. No guns deal means the Galindo cartel (aka CIA) will stop protecting SAMCRO from the Feds, who have enough evidence to close down their entire charter.
He also doesn’t know that his mother and Unser are also involved in the death of his father. Tara knows this. Gemma knows that Tara knows. Season 5 is going to be interesting!
And we don’t know if Opie is pledging his loyalty to Jax (but 100 bucks says he will be).
Also, the girlfriend of Laroy, head of the 19ers that Tig killed, happens to be the daughter of Damon pope, the most dangerous and powerful gangster in Oakland. So there is definitely going to be retaliation from Oakland in season 5. Oh how I wish Damon Pope is played by either Samuel L. Jackson or Michael Clarke Duncan. Please please please please!
Apart from this, season 5 will definitely show more of cartel retaliations from the Lobo Sonora Cartel too.
Oh yeahhhhhh, I can’t wait!!!!! SoA FTW!
4 comments:
Drawing a blank on SoA but that Danny Trejo always pulls a bad-ass cholo. "Machete" was a good over-the-top one.
You SHOULD watch it!!! Its awesome :)
Use to watch it on TV. Twas alright.
Hmuhnawm.. :-)
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