Sons of Anarchy, Season 6, Episode 1
Air date: Tuesday, November 10, 10pm ET/PT on FX
Rating:
A much darker Sons of Anarchy returns with an intense episode filled with gunfire, sex, suspicions, guilt, and hopes of revenge, all wrapped in controversy. Last season, Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) became SAMCRO’s savior. This season, with so much unraveling around him, keeping the MC and his family together seems like a bigger challenge.
“Straw” opens with Daddy Jax time – a touching family moment –but from then on, conflicts unravel left and right at a speed we haven’t previously seen. Here is my take on the top issues Jax and the MC are facing:
We find out Lee Toric (Donal Logue) has an Achilles heel.
Lee Toric
Toric (Donal Logue), a self-confessed proud husband of three wives, has figured out Jax’s power play against Damon Pope (Harold Perrineau). Logue is magnificent as SAMCRO’s antagonist and stands out as the most determined enemy the MC has ever faced. Finding out Toric has an Achilles’ heel is extremely rewarding too!
August Maks
As Jax schemes with Maks (Billy Brown) about how to get rid of Clay (Ron Perlman), Maks throws him a curveball —SAMCRO still owes Tig (Kim Coates) to the Pope organization. The announcement catches Jax by surprise and based on Maks’ commitment to make things right for Pope and his family, Jax better be thinking on his feet as to what he’s going to do about Tig’s fate.
The Persians
Perpetual damsel in distress Lyla Winston (Winter Ave Zoli) needs to be saved yet again. Ugh! This time it’s from Persians – wait, my bad! – I meant to say Iranian pornographers.
Jax makes a lot of quick decisions in “Straw” that may come back to bite him later.
I feel awful for saying this because Zoli is a sweetheart in real life but this has to be the most annoying storyline in “Straw.” It’s another bullshit situation Jax has to contend with and it gets worse when a zombie-looking Lyla lays a thick dose of guilt on Jax: “I want Opie!” As she wails, she repeats it again! After I finished screaming at my TV, I realized the pity party carries on: “I need money, I got three kids now.” Next, Lyla makes it clear she doesn’t take charity. Really?!
As I rationalize why this scene bothers me so much, my dislike comes from knowing it throws Jax into a deeper hole but what bugs me the most is how the conflict feels contrived. Didn’t Opie leave Lyla with $20,000 before going to prison? I know this is TV time, so it’s only been like a couple of months. Are we to assume she burned through the cash already? Are Charming babysitters overcharging this poor woman or does she have an addiction we’re not aware of? Seeing Ima (Kristen Renton) driving a Benz, one has to wonder. I digress but this just shows my dislike for this storyline. Moreover, I don’t like the decisions Jax makes as a result of settling this score but I pity how he’s always stuck having to save random women. I wonder if this is why he keeps on going back to Tara (Maggie Siff). In spite of Tara’s stubbornness and personality flaws, wrong or right, at least she attempts to deal with problems on her own.
The School Shooting
Everyone will have an opinion about the religious, societal, and political implications of this storyline so I’m going to focus on this from a production standpoint. I want to bring attention to what it means to the at-large storylines.
For starters, the way Sutter and his team set up the entire sequence is brilliantly executed. The horror unfolds in careful, deliberate layers with profound elements that create parallels between the boy dressed in school clothes (Tate Berney) and Jax. Physically, the boy looks like Teller and his writing mirrors Jax’s journaling. The Hunnam voice-over connects the two characters:
“I feel like my life has taken a turn. I’m heading down a road I never been down before. Nothing is familiar; the signs don’t make sense. Do I get off the road or do I keep riding? Do I go alone or take others with me? Who do I trust for the journey?”
Somehow, these words leave me with a sense of sadness, wondering how much of the journey Jax and the boy share? The story arcs clearly question the impact a family environment may have on children and in this case, it begs the following questions: Did Jax have the chance to be different? Will Abel and Thomas have a chance to be different? Although we’re not provided answers, and in spite of the overwhelming emotions the episode elicits, I urge you to not lose sight of the brilliance in the storytelling of the scene. Kudos to Kurt Sutter for not playing safe and daring to push the envelope on television!
Chibs has been promoted to SAMCRO’s VP.
Jax’s journaling continues to be a key storytelling element and it looks as if it’s steadily laying out the foundation of where the story is going. But with each journal entry Jax makes, it feels closer to a goodbye. Case and point:
“The only advice I can give you sons is to examine who you are as men. Figure out what is important to you; know yourselves, know what’s in your heart. Don’t be swayed by fear or history or the opinions of outsiders. Find your own truth; it will lead you to things you love.”
His words could be a warning about what is to come and I hope Jax puts his own advice to good use. With so many balls in the air, Jax should be more mindful of how his quick decision-making impacts his inner circle, especially people like Nero (Jimmy Smits), Chibs (Tommy Flanagan), and his wife Tara.
Speaking of Tara, I now understand better what Siff referred to during her Comic Con interviews about the sense of alienation that exists between her character and Jax. I foresee Jax’s turmoil increasing if he perceives Tara is pushing him away. This is concerning because without her around to ground him, it seems he’s falling apart in the inside. It should be noted that prison time has afforded Tara time to think; especially about how she’s grown stronger, gaining a sense of clarity and resignation. However, I think it’s suspicious that she’s taking things in such a calm manner.
Observations
- While Clay has been diminished to “our other inmate,” Sutter always brings it when characterizing Otto (himself), who makes yet another dramatic appearance when Toric makes good on his promise to make the rest of Otto’s life a living hell.
- Nero proves useful to Jax once again by helping smooth things over with Charles Barosky (Peter Weller), an ex-cop who runs the Stockton docks. I suspect Barosky and Madame Colette’s (Kim Dickens) escort business expansion will bring unnecessary trouble for Jax. Collete and Barosky seem to have a close on-going relationship.
- Bobby’s (Mark Boone Jr.) beef with Jax isn’t going away anytime soon and he’ll do anything he can to reinstate the Nomad chapter.
- Chibs will have to balance his fierce loyalty to Jax and his new role as club VP, which requires him to ensure the Club’s best interests are preserved.
- My heart goes out to Juice (Theo Rossi), who must now show atonement for his past mistakes. I fear Jax and Chibs will be testing him to the limit.
Kim Dickens plays Colette, a fairly seasoned Madame, who gets close to Jax.
- Does anyone else think Wendy’s (Drea de Matteo) continued presence is rather interesting? Her confession to Gemma (Katey Sagal) about how she missed the life has red herring written all over to me. We’ll have to wait this one out to see what the deal is.
- In spite of committing acts of violence against women, it’s ironic how this has become an intensely personal issue to Tig. We all know how volatile he gets when he becomes frazzled and emotional, and it’s unfortunate that Jax overlooks this chronic behavior.
- I feel for the adorable Kristen Renton. Her character, Ima, has become an over-used cliché as everybody takes frustration out on her.
- Expect Isolation to be one of the key central themes this season.
On My Wish List
- An Eli Roosevelt (Rockmond Dunbar) vs. Toric showdown! Charming’s sheriff is a stickler for rules and a crusader against bad guys. I’m sure he’ll have Toric profiled in seconds and once he finds out the former marshal is protecting Clay, I’m hoping for major fireworks.
- Tara to make her power play on Jax and Gemma. Don’t be hateful over my wish; if you think about it, it makes for amazing drama, which is what this show is all about.
With all the characters having so much at stake, lines have been drawn and sides have been taken in ways we haven’t seen before in Sons of Anarchy. For those hoping for the fairy tale here, season six is going to get pretty bumpy for you. As it stands, “Straw” appears to be building up to the moment where Jax puts a final stake in the ground, defining where his loyalties will ultimately lie.
Tune in to Sons of Anarchy Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT, only on FX.
To learn more about the show, visit: http://www.fxnetworks.com/soa and http://www.sutterink.com/.
To check out Kurt Sutter’s Sons of Anarchy video channel on YouTube, go to http://www.youtube.com/sutterinksoa.
Follow @sonsofanarchy, @sutterink, and @FXNetworks and tweet using the hashtag #SOAFX.
Photos © 2013 FX Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
elleL
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I sometime’s wonder if people writing these articles about shows actually watch the show. The boy who did the school shooting got the gun from Primo,one of Nero’s crew. Which Samcro gave to Nero’s crew last season..
Lyla never had a crack or meth problem. The vials Opie found in her car was cocain. Jax and the guys went after the persians because Lyla is his best friends widow, and no neither Lyla’s kid who’s probably 5 at the oldest nor Opie’s kids maybe 7 or 9 are old enough to stay by themselves.
But I do wonder how she went thru 20 grand in such a short time.Maybe she used it to pay off some of the bills, mortgage,car,funeral,,,,,some people say the ATF agent Stahl paid them off,,,but the ATF only paid enough to get him out of the rears,not the whole thing because they were trying to make him look like a rat.Plus having 3 kids to take of sure as hell ain’t cheap.
Tig hasn’t commited any act of violence on a woman,he just screws alot of them..and he never killed Pope’s granddaughter, it was his damn daughter.She was Leroy’s girlfriend. And he only killed her becuase he went off half cocked because of Clay,Jax and Unsers lie about who really shot Clay.
And the bikers cover their faces to keep the air hitting them which is cold as ice when riding a bike,and if they breath that cold air it could potentially give them pneumonia,,,and also it keeps bugs and crap out of their mouths and noses.
Author
Hi Selena,
First of all, thank you for taking the time to read the article as well as the comments. We all live very busy lives so I appreciate it when someone takes the time to read something that I’ve written (including the comments!).
In reading your response, something didn’t quite click right so I feel compelled to respond. Also, I’m not sure if some of your comments are meant for me or for Myra but I think there is some confussion about what was being discussed or to the extend it was.
For the record, I’ve been watching the show since it first aired. For my reviews, I watch each episode about 3-5 times. What I don’t do is watch every season over and over and given that I’m human and bound to make mistakes, there are times where I forget details. This is the case when a storyline isn’t particularly appealing to me and I have to force myself to pay attentiong to its details -just like the case of the vials in Lyla’s car. In regards to that whole Lyla discussion, I didn’t enjoy that story arc and I hoped it was apparent that I was sarcastically poking fun of it. Then, in my response to Myra, since she didn’t like the arc either and because I know her personally, I upped the knitpicking component a level up. The comments weren’t meant to be a technical discussion about character facts but its my way of having fun with it because what ultimately bothered me is how contrived the arc felt. I don’t lose sight however, that the conflict was introduced for a reason; we’ll have to wait to see what at-large repercussions it will have. I’m glad to see we agree blowing through 20K in a few months seemed a bit too quick!
Regarding how the gun will be connected to Nero, I was working under the assumption that the connection was clear from the moment Arcadio, Nero’s cousin (Dave Navarro – or Primo which is the Spanish word for cousin) greets the blonde boy. What I was referring to the incident being traced back to Nero’s crew and how Sutter will set it up is as follows: I’m dying to know what concrete evidence (if any) the authorities (local, federal) will manage to get their hands on. So far, it’s all circumstancial. I should add that, in the past, I’ve really enjoyed how Kurt has handled ATF-Federal storylines so I highly anticipate learning how law enforcement will try to build a case against Nero’s crew, Nero and/or SAMCRO. This situation will be particularly different because I expect community outrage to play a strong factor in how the authorities hande the case.
Now in regards to Tig committing acts of violence towards women, we can agree to disagree but I can’t think of a more violent act than taking someone’s life. To be clear, I’m not saying Tig purposely targets women to kill them, I don’t think that is the case. However, I find it ironic that Tig has taken the life of women who meant a lot to the men in their lives (Opie and Pope) and then, it came back full circle when it happened to him. In addition, just like the other men and as expected, Tig also has issues coping. I see Myra’s point in thinking Tig’s paid enought when he watched his daughter die (and the manner in which she was killed) but the issue here is Maks. He smells something foul regarding the circumstances of Pope’s demise and I doubt he will to let anything slip by especially coming from Jax or SAMCRO.
Again, thank you for reading and commenting! I hope we can continue the discussion because this is going to be a very complex season for Sons.
Well, I submitted before, but don’t see it either. Hmmm.
Well written review. You managed to catch what some of the reviewers (like Yahoo! TV) did not on the school shooting. One fo the good things about Kurt is that he can so much visually; we saw a lot of build up with the young shooter. We saw throughout the piece his solitude/isolation from others. We saw his scars/healing scars from cutting himself. We saw his writings and his drawings clearly indicating this was a child who felt out of touch and unloved by those around him. We saw his familial isolation in that his mom was still asleep while he was on the way to school, and how Primo (David Navarro’s character) tried to reach out to the child and wasn’t acknowledged.
The problem I have with the ending, which might be resolved later, is how did the child, who is in some way related to Primo of Nero’s gang, get his hands on SAMCRO’s stock of guns? As I recall from S5, Nero’s crew never got the older Russian automatic weapons. I’m sure this is something that Kurt will address.
Yes, I too bristled big time about Lyla’s whining and crying for Opie. Jax is already guilt ridden, going into that abusive porn shop was her choice, so why scream that she wanted Ope and that she needed money. Hello? Where’s the 20k? Possible answer, due to her bein’ at a loss over Opie’s death, she used it to buy meth or whatever was in those vials on the floor of the Prius in S3. That would blow (no pun intended) through 20k pretty quickly. Additionally, while Ima got her ass in a sling with the club or sleepin’ with Ope in S4 and for turnin’ a gun on Gemma, it really annoyed me that Jax etal was treatin’ Ima like a leper when she brought Lyla to them. Gemma’s slammin’ Ima’s face into the bar was totally uncalled for, and IMO a bitch move on Gem’s part. It shows just how ruthless Gemma can be, reminding us of her takin’ a skateboard to Cherry’s face.
Toric has a drug problem as well. While there have been complaints that was too much Toric in the final montage, I think it was there to show us that Toric has vulnerability; he has a drug habit (heroin?) which leads him to delusions. Seeing him nekkid against the mirror, facing whatever demons he was imaginin’, shows that vulnerability. Kudos to Bob Thiele and Kurt Sutter for the use of Gregorian chants while Toric was shooting up.
It would also be helpful to know WHY the bikers were covering their faces on the ride, and why some of the SAMCRO crew, (Bobby, Juice, Phil, and Ratboy) were with them. And where was VLin? (probably in the pack of bikers, but we never saw him!).
Some reviewers say there too many loose ends still left loose from S5. I don’t think so. I think that Sutter is stringing us along as he always does. One thing I’ve learned about his style is never to second guess him.
That bein’ said, as a major Tig fan, it really annoys me that there but for the fact that Pope’s daughter didn’t keep her legs together (or Laroy didn’t use a condom), Tig is placed BACK in jeopardy because he unknowingly killed Pope’s grandaughter! Jesus Christ! Tig more than paid for his sin by watchin’ his daughter get burned alive!
And while many will say that the only reason that the S6 premier achieved such high ratin’s is due to curiosity over Charlie Hunnam in 50 Shades of Grey, I’m going to point out that historically speaking, all the premier eps have gained in viewer ship. I should know, being one of the first fan challeng winners!
A great article, Elle. Thanks for lettin’ me voice some observes of my own.
Author
Thank you so much Myra for sharing your perspective with me. I realize the schools shooting topic is controversial on itself but we don’t do any service to ourselves as a society to sugar coat it and pretend all is well – I admire Kurt for his bravery in going there. As far as the sequence is concerned, I was honestly flabbergasted at how careful, well-thought and deliberate it was. It takes great minds and a great time to pull that off. Within the subject matter, it could have not been more tasteful. I agree with you, Kurt is a gifted storyteller and the efficiency of his scripts and visuals it’s impressive (He’s also smart enough to surround himself with great talent and this certainly helps).
As far as how this gun will be traced to Nero’s crew, I can not wait to see how Kurt sets that up. I suspect a lot of heads are going to roll from all camps!
Regarding Lyla, we’re on the same page and thanks for the reminder about thee drugs. I had forgotten about that but even that situation, I still struggle with this story line. To take it a step further, aren’t her and Opies’ kids look old enough to stay at home by themselves and not be needing as many sitters? In the state I live, you can stay on your own starting at 12 years old. I’m nit-picking I know and I’m aware it sounds cold to think that way but that whole scene irritated me so much. However, I don’t fail to see the big picture, there’s a lot of fallout that is coming with this Iranian problem.
I loved too the Gregorian chants in the Toric scene! I will be highly anticipating if anyone in SAMCRO or their allies figures out his weakness.
Poor Tiggy, he’s falling apart and no one can tell. The same applies for Juicy Juice.
Regarding Gemma, I’ve gone from liking her to despising her. I have not respect for her.
There’s been a lot of whining about the episode from the critics’ side and fans – Support and outcries for Jax’s cheating. Overall, I think Sutter is doing a great job in de-romanticizing these outlaws this season. People want the fairy tale but in that world, is a fairy tale realistic?
Thank so much for your note and your support, I love the discussion 🙂
I love how you hit on the Lyla thing. I too had to wonder why she complained that she needed money. Granted, she’s a widow, with three kids, but Opie gave her 20 grand last season. In SOA time, only three or four days has passed since the S4 finale, like you, I can’t believe that 20 grand got blown THAT fast. However, Lyla was also usin’ crack or meth (remember the small vials on the floor of the Prius in S3 when Lyla and Opie met?). With losin’ Ope, I can see that she could’ve blown a lot of that money by goin’ back to her habit. I’m sure Sutter will cover this. But her whole ‘woe is me!’ thing was grating.
Yet, it also set the stage for SAMCRO to go after the sadistic porn guys. Tig is still dealin’ with Dawn’s brutal death, and the Iranian he killed taunted him with his daughter screamin’ “Daddy, stop!” in their confrontation. It’s no wonder Tig went off and drowned that guy in the tub full of yellow vinegar and then pissed on him. Jax made a major mistake in havin’ Tig handle the Iranian. That’s the problem with Jax, he thinks he can lead, but his judgement is way off the mark. (Can you tell I’m not enamored of Jax?
I agree that a Roosevelt/Toric face off will be monumental, and a must see. The torment of Otto made my rear end clench up. It was hard not to laugh at Toric’s line to Otto that his friends would keep coming.
I’m also annoyed by the fact that Auggie feels it necessary to take out Tig to make things right for the Pope family, just because Pope’s little darlin’ couldn’t keep her damn legs together and got knocked up by Laroy (and didn’t anyone ever tell Laroy to use a raincoat?)! Tig has paid dearly for his mistake, IMO, by watching his daughter burn alive. A death for a death. The bill is paid. This shows a ruthless side to Pope’s gang that they want further retribution for somethin’ even Pope didn’t know about!
Yet, I trust Sutter to pull all the lines together in one way or another. This is HIS story that he is telling. So I try not to read too much into it. Even if I did tweet that ‘cock is a much less soft sounding word than dick.’ The contrast was right there – Gemma used the word cock, and on her, it fits. Madame Collete is more genteel, so naturally she would use dick. Contrast is part of Kurt’s way.
One other thing that I wanted to point out; one other reviewer complained that there wasn’t enough build up to the school shooting. He wasn’t watchin’, was he? We saw plenty of lead up, especially in the few seconds before the kid walked into the school and the gun went off. We saw the kid’s cuts on one arm, we saw his drawings and writings in his notebook. We saw his solitude throughout the day, even in his home life. All those things were enough to tell anyone bein’ attentive that some shit was going to fall.
My one big question on this, due to the teaser indicating the gun was one of SAMCRO’s stash, is how did the kid get it? We know that the young man was one of Nero’s gang’s kids (played by Dave Navarro, right?), but Nero’s crew never got the guns from SAMCRO in S4, did they?
A well done review, as always my dear. Hope y’all don’t mind my ramblings.