TV Review: Sons of Anarchy 1.2 – Seeds

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 11, 2008

Sons of Anarchy, FX, Airs Wednesday 10/9c

Episode: “Seeds” (Season 1, Episode 2)

Synopsis: As the club deals with the aftermath of their illegal arms warehouse attack, the Deputy Chief of Police poses a new threat to Samcro’s reign over Charming. Jax continues to worry about the fate of his newborn son and begins to question the club’s rough way of doing business.

Review: After last week’s premiere of Sons of Anarchy, I was both impressed and worried. The pilot episode was a bold statement from a series that appears to want to live on the edge. The only problem is that now, as we move into the first season, the creative team behind the show would be hard pressed to continue to escalate the drama, for fear of it spinning out of control. In a sense, it is the TV-making equivalent of not showing all your cards up front. With that in mind, episode to seemed like a solid step back, a chance to slow down a little bit and further develop some long term storylines that will eventually escalate into major moments down the road. Among them, we have Jax’s situation with his newborn son and what we now see is a continued connection with his doper ex-wife, whose fate was left hanging at the end of episode one. It appears that she will be sticking around, as will Maggie Siff’s character Tara, Jax’s former flame and the doctor who saved his son’s life. That will create an interesting dynamic once Jax’s ex is done with detox and back on her feet. Of course, there is always her battle with Jax’s mother, played by Katey Sagal, who seems to have more depth to her than any other characters in the series. She’s equal parts motherly figure and devious spinstress, doing everything she can to keep her son, her husband and the control of those within the club family at arms length. Take note now, because her storyline has very clearly put her on a collision course with many of the show’s principal characters, including her son.

While it may not have been as action-packed as the first episode, this second frame seemed to serve its purpose well. We now have a much better idea as to who is headed in what direction, and where those directions will cause some conflict down the road. But that’s not to say that the show has lost any edge — there was still plenty edgy elements — digging up graves, for example — that’s always fun. And while some viewers may be growing tired of the way that the show seems to be generically lumbering along, it is clear that there are many layers to it — layers that could pay off in droves down the road. For now, I’m still watching and holding out hope.

Up Next Week: When the young daughter of a prominent Charming family is assaulted during a visiting carnival, Samcro races the authorities to capture the assailant. Meanwhile a new shipment of guns arrives from their IRA connection with an additional price. Tara’s ex-boyfriend also arrives in Charming, which could create more drama for her and Jax.

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Did you see Sons of Anarchy this week? If so, feel free to discuss below.

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