Sons of Anarchy (Season 1 Finale) 11/19

[faithfool]

Episode: The Sleep of Babies


I know we have a few fans on here. So who thinks Opie gets it? Will Gemma find a way to throw a beat down on that bitch of an ATF chick? Will Jax take off his shirt? Enquiring minds want to know!

Ride into this world....

[Sage Rat]

Em, I don't think it's the finale. The Wikipedia says that there is The Sleep of Babies and then Revelator, with the latter being the finale.

I somewhat hope that they don't do too much in the next few episodes as it seems to me like they're still building things.

[faithfool]

Ah, I see. I could've sworn that's what last week's previews said. < scratches head > Well, I'm glad to hear that then because I'm not ready for it to be on hiatus. I'm crazy about this show!

[ExTank]

I'm liking it a lot, myself. But I was wishing for them to take a page from The Shield and stretch plot arcs out over a few more episodes, and interweave plots a bit better.

This night's episode seemed to move pretty well in that direction.

[faithfool]

I agree that tonight's episode was pretty plot arc intensive, but man did I hate / love it.

SPOILER:

Up until now, Donna's been pretty miserable and rightly so. Then all of a sudden her smiling persona has changed the entire face (heh) of her personality. I so didn't want to see her go, although I got an inkling the second she started talking about Gemma and I was screaming "NOOOOOOOOOO!" at the TV. Of course, I didn't want Op to go either.

And wondered what took the Sherriff so freakin' long to talk to Clay. Argh! Anyway, any speculation on next week? I'm thinking Jax is gonna go medievel on anything in sight.

[The Second Stone]

It's over on the wet coast, so I won't spoiler box. The opening of people waking up, wonderful use of music once again, made clear that one of them was going to take a dirt nap by the end. Opie being the lead's best friend was definitely going to be around next season. We knew as soon as the car switch took place who it was going to be.

Wendy figures Gemma's game out, Jax thinks with his dick. Tara gets dumb and tries to force an issue. Hey, this is a soap opera!

Jax not only knows that it was someone in the club, he knows Clay ordered it and that Tig did it. Excellent film editing at the end showing his eyes darting back and forth, and BTW, good acting. The ATF bitch is continually shown to be almost as immoral as Gemma. The Deputy Sheriff (whose name escapes me at the moment) is beginning a slide into corruption. Give him seven seasons, and he won't even have any of Vic Mackie's barely redeeming qualities. Jax is fed up with corruption. Oh, and they are out of money and guns.

[Cluricaun]

The confusion about this episode being the finale was due to the wording in the preview from last week. They said "Only one episode remaining until the season finale" which is a cheap pop. The show is attracting and retaining viewers very well, I don't know why they would do something so annoying, but they did.

On to the episode; I have this to say: Clay sucks and it's not the character's fault. They're trying to rush too many ideas into this single season that would be much more interesting if allowed to develop a bit deeper over time. Kurt Sutter should have re-written as much of these story arcs as possible after getting renewed for a second season. Not that I want this show to go all Sopranos on us where nothing actually happens for 3 or 4 episodes in a row, but he's trying to cram too much into not enough time. Hopefully this lessens next season.

That being said, after selling off the clubs guns and losing the $25k in a stupid move Clay should rightly be stripped of his patch and shot. Bobby Elvis is screwed for want of legal funding, Opie's wife is dead now because of Clay's ability not to make a decent decision and now the Mayans and the Niners are going to be angling at the club. I can't blame Tig; he's the Sergeant at Arms for the club, that's his job. Jax should know that he has to follow orders no matter how distasteful they are, but his not being consulted as the VP is another glaring fuck up that can be squarely laid at Clay's feet.

Gemma was interesting, but now she's just too meddling to make any actual sense. It's a good role to have in the show, but really, having her do her thing three or four times an episode gets old. I don't know why Jax's two lady friends don't just team up and beat the shit out of her.

I'm interested to see what happens next week, from the looks of the previews there's going to be some excitement, but I don't know that I'll actually be pleased no matter what happens.

[faithfool]

Originally Posted by The Second Stone

It's over on the wet coast, so I won't spoiler box. The opening of people waking up, wonderful use of music once again, made clear that one of them was going to take a dirt nap by the end. Opie being the lead's best friend was definitely going to be around next season. We knew as soon as the car switch took place who it was going to be.

I'm glad Op will be around next season, if for no other reason than I think Ryan Hurst is a very interesting actor.

Wendy figures Gemma's game out, Jax thinks with his dick. Tara gets dumb and tries to force an issue. Hey, this is a soap opera!

See, I know it comes across that Jax is thinking with his dick but that's not really how I read the situation. I think that he loves Tara (which I don't get) because he stills views that relationship as somehow pure and untouched. But after what happened with Op and Donna, he's conflicted with his place in things just like he has been over a lot of issues thus far, and feels (at that moment anyway) his destiny should be tied to something that isn't so idealistic, but real. So he goes with the mother of his child to comfort himself and confirm that for at least the time being, he's resigned to settling what's expected of him.

That kind of wife in that sort of atmosphere / lifestyle. Does that make sense?

Jax not only knows that it was someone in the club, he knows Clay ordered it and that Tig did it. Excellent film editing at the end showing his eyes darting back and forth, and BTW, good acting. The ATF bitch is continually shown to be almost as immoral as Gemma. The Deputy Sheriff (whose name escapes me at the moment) is beginning a slide into corruption. Give him seven seasons, and he won't even have any of Vic Mackie's barely redeeming qualities. Jax is fed up with corruption. Oh, and they are out of money and guns.

Agreed about Stahl, although I think she's more immoral than Gemma because she apparently doesn't even have any sense of loyalty to anything to tether her back to doing the right thing. However, I disagree about Hale. I think this character arc is showing him beginning to understand that sheer black and white doesn't always necessarily exist and that being on the Good Guys team doesn't automatically make you better. It's made him infinitely more nuanced and appealing than the cut-out one dimensional macho cop they'd portrayed him as until now.

As to Jax, I don't know yet. He seems constantly pulled in a million different directions each episode. I have no clue which path he'll choose, which is certainly just one of the reasons that I love this show; there's no simple answers and you actually recognize that tug of guilt whenever you root for the supposedly "bad" guy.

[faithfool]

Originally Posted by Cluricaun

The confusion about this episode being the finale was due to the wording in the preview from last week. They said "Only one episode remaining until the season finale" which is a cheap pop. The show is attracting and retaining viewers very well, I don't know why they would do something so annoying, but they did.

I see. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I thought I was losing it.

On to the episode; I have this to say: Clay sucks and it's not the character's fault. They're trying to rush too many ideas into this single season that would be much more interesting if allowed to develop a bit deeper over time. Kurt Sutter should have re-written as much of these story arcs as possible after getting renewed for a second season. Not that I want this show to go all Sopranos on us where nothing actually happens for 3 or 4 episodes in a row, but he's trying to cram too much into not enough time. Hopefully this lessens next season.

That being said, after selling off the clubs guns and losing the $25k in a stupid move Clay should rightly be stripped of his patch and shot. Bobby Elvis is screwed for want of legal funding, Opie's wife is dead now because of Clay's ability not to make a decent decision and now the Mayans and the Niners are going to be angling at the club. I can't blame Tig; he's the Sergeant at Arms for the club, that's his job. Jax should know that he has to follow orders no matter how distasteful they are, but his not being consulted as the VP is another glaring fuck up that can be squarely laid at Clay's feet.

This is all true and not something I'd considered. I like Clay a little too much, that I probably hadn't wanted to lay this entirely at his feet. He deserves it though and you're right on the money about Tig. In general, he repulses me, but what else could he do in that situation? And Jax has got to realize that, which I hope he will because I definitely don't consider him stupid. Hopefully, the confrontation will come at the right place and person.

Gemma was interesting, but now she's just too meddling to make any atual sense. It's a good role to have in the show, but really, having her do her thing three or four times an episode gets old. I don't know why Jax's two lady friends don't just team up and beat the shit out of her.

I'm interested to see what happens next week, from the looks of the previews there's going to be some excitement, but I don't know that I'll actually be pleased no matter what happens.

Yeah, Gemma is one truly menacing chick but they don't need to overplay that and turn it into some female Machavallian power move. I'd like to see her bitch slap Stahl into oblivion, but let the rest take care of itself. Also, can't we keep Wendy and ditch Tara? She's more in-depth and less whiny and I can't ever see Tara completely giving over to the lifestyle. Like Donna needed to do, she should cut and run while there's still time.

About next week, I'm trying really hard to just not think about it. I'd rather let it unravel slowly while I"m watching instead of inadvertently nailing a plot point and then facing an anti-climax because of it. We'll just have to wait and see.