Anyone still watch this show? Season 6 premiered last night with a controversial scene that was truly a WTF moment in TV. SPOILERS Dave Navarro's girlfriend's kid shoots up his elementary school. It came out of nowhere.
Not really, it was known the season would start off with a school shooting. I havent watched yet but I knew about that a couple of months ago.
CyC put an [R] in the title. It was a pretty enjoyable episode but that school shooting was so disconnected from the rest of the show that it just didn't work imo. Scratch that, it's Dave Navarro's kid. So we'll get more Dave Navarro on the show. Whee. Good to see Jeanette from Treme get some work though.
So will Tara or Clay rat the club out? I feel pretty bad for Otto - since the get go of the show he has not had good luck (prison, beat down, losing an eye, losing Louan, getting screwed, literally and metaphorically).
The school shooting will be connected though. The gun was from SAMCROs gun business, it will be a large part of the show's end game, I think.
A really good interview with Sutter about the premiere: http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/10/sons-of-anarchy-season-6-premiere/
Obviously the fallout from the shootout becomes a large part of the season. The build up was awful though, just Dave Navarro's kid wandering around town with no real indication that he's going to do something like that. It's a cheap stunt. We didn't care about the kid before the shooting, won't care about him after. Now, I've watched every show of the series and I usually turn my brain off much the same way I did watching 24. But to use school shootings as a prop, to not make us care about the why but in the what happens to Samcro, a little distasteful imo. And I think Sutter is a p*ssy because he could have given the kid a backstory but as he says in the interview, he's not going to and he's not gonna getting into the politics of it. I also get the sense from the interview that he really, really cares deeply about how he's perceived against other showrunners. Although the line about taking one in the ass for the show is a good one. I did see him and the entire cast at SDCC and while they got a huge response, it wasn't quite Breaking Bad levels. I'm sure it was like that the past few years too. And maybe that's been why he feels like he needs to ratchet it up each season rather than delivering on a solid Act 3. Anyway, rant over. I'm still going to watch. Back to the show, I think Tara and Clay would rat out the club but Clay is more likely since going into genpop means getting shanked by the Oakland gang. Tara would do it, but only if it guaranteed getting her kids back and I don't know if the ex-Marshall could arrange that.
We're not supposed to care about the kid, he just acts as a binder between all the players and what will happen in the future. To be honest I don't care about the kid or why he did it. He was just a tool used to accelerate the demise of the club.
Why does the kid need a backstory? Its not important in this context. Who he is and why he did it has nothing to do with SAMCRO. It is the tool he used in the crime which is important and they will establish that link in coming episodes. I think it is unfair to judge that action within the show without seeing how they follow it up. This could be a really intriguing storyline is done properly. I liked how it is was done. I had known about the school shooting beforehand but I kinda wish I didnt because you got the sense that he was going to be a victim of something and they pulled it the whole other way. Actually, I think it is pretty clear Sutter doesnt give a ******** how he is perceived other than by the fans of the show. He has made that pretty clear with his words and his actions.
Why did the kid have to shoot up and actually spill blood in the episode? Since we aren't supposed to care about the kid but what happens to SAMCRO, you could have had the exact same outcome by just having the kid get caught with the weapon in school. Or, if blood must be shed in the name of the Teller family drama, you could have had the kid's mother reacting to a news story on TV about the shooting as she realizes it's her son. Then Dave Navarro calls Nero, Nero and Jax watch the Breaking News on TV and Nero turns and says to Jax, "That was one of the guns you gave us." End of episode. More tension, less following the kid around, no shots of the kid's arms revealing that he's a cutter, and no sequence of him spraying blood on the classroom's windows. You advance the story without having to resort to a cheap sensationalist stunt. I like SoA well enough but over the last few seasons life has become so devalued on the show to be practically worthless. Which is fine, I'll watch a show filled with violence but I can't then be expected to give a crap when Opie gets killed. Anyway, the kid shot a bunch of people in class, the show's moving on so I'll move on. But I still think Sutter cares about his rep amongst other showrunners and I bet it influences the rest of SoA's run on television. From that article you posted:
Let me be flippant and state that Sutter has a lot more in common with Otto than he may lead on. The scenes with the young kid is the final jump the shark moment for this show. It was gratuitous and completely unnecessary. At first I thought it was some flashback Jax was having regarding his childhood. It's extremely lazy writing to use this as an excuse to question their gun running. Total nonsense particularly how violent, scheming and manipulative Jax has gotten. This show should have been resolved two or three seasons ago. It's just hanging on and the plot and the actions of the characters makes less sense every episode, every season.
Sutter calling TV critics "half cunts" for not getting his show - http://sutterink.blogspot.com/2011/12/critics-lamentwhat-is-sons-of-anarchy.html
The only people that I know who like this show are rural western Illinois white trash who drink and drug themselves to death.
Kurt Sutter is spot on. What was in poor taste? Lastly, it did a lot to advance the story. The heat that is going to be brought onto them once they trace the origin of the guns will hurt the club. Jax was trying to make things better, this will definitely make them worse.
Hmm, Upstate middle class white man here who rarely drinks and has never done drugs. Thanks for steroetyping.
Jax make things better? That is laughable. Have you been watching the show? Jax shoots his ex with heroin to get her from seeing his kid with her. Jax cold bloodily killed several people to protect his club and because he has anger issues. He use to talk about wanting a way out. His character which was likable for his aims to escape the club and give a normal and better life to his sons has become as bad as Clay.
Is it just me, or does anyone else still feel some sympathy toward Clay? It's almost like with WW from Breaking Bad, but I can't help to feel some connection to his character, even though he did some horrible sh*t...
Jax has wanted to make things better, but he's failed, and that's part of the story. It's the old, Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. He has good intentions, for the most part, but the means to justify the end aren't always righteous.
First, they have been talking about doing a school shooting or something similar since like season 2 or 3. So, it is not some ploy that they came up with in the off-season. They dont need cheap ploys, it keeps increasing in ratings. Second, the show was always intended to go 6 or 7 seasons. For most shows, 5 or maybe 6 is enough but as long as you arent extending it out to extend it out and had intentions from the start, I dont have a problem with it. Third, Jax becoming that way is part of the story and I knew he would fall into those things because it is part of being the President no matter how hard he fights it. He very much reminds of a biker Tony Soprano.
Not really. The one difference between Jax and Clay right now is that Clay was always about himself first or at least from the point of his life we have seen. Jax is still very much for the club and his brothers. I wonder if that will slowly fade too.
I actually like the running plot of Jax slowly turning into Clay over the last few seasons. Best part of the show imo. Well, now that Dave Navarro and his lady have been conveniently removed from the show, things should improve. The most intriguing thing for me this new season is Bobby starting a Nomads chapter. How that's going to play out against the SAMCRO chapter is going to be interesting.
The problem is that this show no longer has any characters I give a shit for. As far as I am concerned all of the adults need to go to prison for a very long time.