Sons Of Anarchy: Season Two (Fox)

The second season of the FX original series about a motorcycle club that practically rules the desert town of Charming, California ups the ante from the hand dealt in the first season. Ron Perlman is club leader Clay, trying to keep control while his son-in-law and heir apparent Jax (Charlie Hunnam), son of the deceased club founder, tries to reclaim the original outlaw philosophy that has been twisted through criminal enterprise over the years.

Katie Sagal and Ron Perlman: this is one couple you don't f**k with

There’s a definite Hamlet element to their relationship, much to the frustration of Gemma (a fierce Katey Sagal), Jax’s hell on wheels of a mom who is married to Clay (their marriage is one of the most loving and dedicated on TV) and devoted to Clay, Jax and the club. That tension is complicated this season when a white supremacist gang (led by Adam Arkin, with Henry Rollins as his glowering muscle) moves in and declares war on the gang while they move into the legal (if still outlaw) porn business. Jax knows that Clay was behind the murder of a club member’s wife from the previous season (a nasty bit of blowback caused by a poorly-considered police scheme to drive a wedge of suspicion through the club) and becomes more confrontational at meetings as he defies Clay and tries to sway the club into a new direction, but he stops short of making Clay’s violation of the club code public for fear of tearing the Sons of Anarchy (aka SAMCRO) apart.

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"Sons of Anarchy" - Born to be wild. The opportunism was learned.

I missed the FX original series Sons of Anarchy when it originally ran on TV last season. It was my loss, as I discovered when I caught up with in on DVD (one of the genuine perqs of the job). Created by The Shield veteran Kurt Sutter, it has a similar sensibility to that edgy cop drama, but this one is total outlaw culture. The Sons of Anarchy is a motorcycle club that practically runs the desert town of Charming, California in a mix of paternal protectiveness and criminal design. Ron Perlman is club leader Clay, who has twisted the rebel philosophy of the original gang into a criminal enterprise of gun running and other illegal activities for profit, and Charlie Hunnam is his heir apparent Jax Teller, son of the gang’s original leader and Clay’s son-in-law. Jax is a loyal lieutenant and a smart kid, but a chance discovery of his father’s memoirs leads him on a philosophical change of heart at the direction the club has taken what was once an idealistic rebellion against conformity. Which doesn’t sit well with his hell on wheels of a mom (a fierce Katey Sagal), who is now married to both Clay and his criminal enterprise. (“That love’s going to kill me,” Clay mutters with a mix of adoration and resignation.)

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