0 Television (SOA)

I don't have cable television currently. This is the first time since I was in high school that has been the case. I am not, contrary to popular belief, some new age hipster trumpeting my coolness by my ignorance of television. I am cheap. I get free internet currently through my apartment building and I see no reason to pay for a cable TV package.

In place of sports and reality television, I stream shows and movies on Netflix or get them on disc. I also bought an HD antenna to watch shows playing on the major networks. I always meant to watch television shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men before, but invariably I would turn on some sports program or some sit-com and watch them instead. Since moving to New York, I have watched Arrested Development, Parks and Rec, Sons of Anarchy, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and I am currently in the process of watching Game of Thrones and The Wire (again). I think that if I had cable, I would not have even scratched the surface of these shows. It is a real time commitment to sit down and watch a show and if you are an easily distracted person such as myself, borderline impossible.

So without further ado, I am going to use this space to write my thoughts about one of those TV shows. As you can tell by the title of this post, the current subject is Sons of Anarchy (SOA). SOA was a show that I was at first wary about watching. I wasn't exactly sure why, but a show ostensibly about a motorcycle gang didn't really interest me. A good friend of mine from college persuaded me to watch it, and it was streaming on Netflix, so I figured it wouldn't hurt for me to watch an episode or two to see what I thought. Wow. I was dead wrong. The show has some Shakespearean overtones, specifically Hamlet. You have a son's father dying and the mother remarrying albeit under suspicious circumstances. You have a very interesting cast of characters and a setting, the Central Valley of California which is largely unknown to your casual television watcher. I also like the subtle touches, such as naming towns in the show after CCR songs. You also have underlying themes, like the encroachment of development on small towns, law and order and it's usurpation and imposition by outlaws, and the concepts of family (both literally through blood ties and figuratively through the bonds of brotherhood that the gang fosters) that are brought up and showcased, but ultimately left up to the viewer to decide their thoughts about them. The law and order motif fascinates me; The local police are in bed with the Sons of Anarchy and the Sons are the real source of authority in the town. They keep the town clean of drugs and violence and in exchange they are not bothered. The sheriff is at their beck and call and with the exception of one officer in the police department, the rest of the town is as well. The show uses episode arcs to tell a story, introducing new characters as well as introducing the viewer into what seems a semi-realistic world, that of an outlaw motorcycle gang.

My only complaint is that the show seems somewhat limited by being on FX. If it were on a platform like HBO or Showtime, I think it would be more believable. These people are in a biker gang. Sex, drug and alcohol abuse and violence should be endemic. Colorful language should flow out of their mouths like a spigot. This is hinted at but not directly shown throughout the seasons. Being on a more flexible network would make this show even better.

I'll have more thoughts on this later. I haven't seen the show in 3 or 4 months and I have to start Season 4 when I clear up my queue.