Scott,
Yeah, I'm about halfway into season 5 now and we're still kind of reeling from the Very Bad Thing that happens at the beginning of the season. Season 4 was super awesome and intense, but the finale was kind of a dud and pretty much deflated the season with a Russo-esque twist right off the bat. Even my wife, who isn't someone that watches with an eye for story structure and stuff like that, commented that the twist was pretty nonsensical in a lot of ways. Season 5 is just such a downer that we're actually slowing down the binge watching a lot. Season 3 was like a WWF PPV from the Attitude era: Shitty undercard, fantastic main event. Season 4 was WCW: Crazy good buildup and workrate, and then a disappointing finish.
Please do avoid discussing spoilers past season 5 here because I'd rather not accidentally have the rest of the show ruined for me before I finish it up by the end of next week or so, though.
What does any of this have to do with Daniel Bryan?
ReplyDeleteSurprised you enjoyed season 4 so much. That was the season where I really started to get down on the show. The season 3 finale was incredible though.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was pretty crazy when Gemma woke up to see Al in bed next to her. And then as soon as they made it off the island, turned out everything had happened inside Jax's snowglobe.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I learned from watching Sons ... don't get attached to any character lol
ReplyDeleteI am excited for the post-series discussion
ReplyDeletelol u mad bro?
ReplyDeleteKind of like your comments?
ReplyDeleteNo, they stay about the same.
ReplyDeleteGemma spends the night at Nero's shouting "YES YES YES".
ReplyDeleteNot at all. Just pointing out that a show decreased in quality at a record pace.
ReplyDeleteIf you think it's stupid and nonsensical now, just wait. It keeps getting dumber and dumber.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do like SOA, I'd recommend anyone to go look up episode synopses on Amazon. Pretty much every episode is Jax struggle with a decision to pull his club in another direction.
ReplyDeleteIt really did. Always felt like it could've been a great show that was remembered. Instead, they settled for an action packed biker show that had to include a high speed chase in every episode. And they ask the viewers to pretend that it makes sense that the cops would never investigate a town with like 100 murders clearly related to a few biker gangs
ReplyDeleteThe Road to WrestleMania?
ReplyDeleteI binge watched the whole show in about 4 weeks. It all boils down to "someone says/does something. Someone else finds out. They promise not to tell. They tell. Then someone dies. Musical montage. Jax whispers, then shouts, then more people die. Cliffhanger"
ReplyDeleteSetting aside the grenade launching and machine gun fights they had in broad daylight (that seemingly never prompted anyone to call the police), the cops never thought to say pull one of them over and search them for illegal guns or anything that would lead to parole violations and jail time.
ReplyDeleteThey were all on federal parole for like the last half of the series. Somehow that didn't impact their lives at all.
ReplyDeleteWhichever season they did the Ireland/ baby plot almost made me quit watching. So boring!
ReplyDeleteThe whole series was that really. They recycled it over and over again. He wants to get out, but doesn't want to abandon the club (even though he could live a simple life married to a doctor making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year legally and would avoid being shot at daily).
ReplyDeleteThey were under federal investigation for gun running. The feds wanted to be able to bring down the entire chain going all the way back to Ireland. Just nailing individual club members here and there for parole violations would have impeded that investigation. I'll admit that it's not a perfect coverall explanation, but if you go over the timeline of active sheriffs & federal agents hanging about, it pretty much covers the bulk of the show.
ReplyDeleteThe entire Ireland baby rescue was to me the worst stretch of the series.
ReplyDeleteStick it out, man. The show keeps spiraling into darkness & heartbreak, and you'll be all like "oh it's gonna be that way, is it? Well bring it on--I can take it!"
ReplyDeleteThat happens like 3 seasons before the end. They remain on parole for the rest of the series. So fucking dumb.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm trying not to be too spoilery. There is a pretty clear thread of the feds being there keeping the locals back, the D.A. then entering the picture because of a certain shooting, and then taking into account who the sheriff is in the final season. Yes, there is a brief stretche where Sheriff Roosevelt could/should have been pulling guys off the street for parole violations, but most of the time his hands were tied.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's basically where it started getting dumb as fuck and aimed at the stupid audience.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's not how that kind of stuff works. They should've just put a talking dog in the show. Would've been more realistic.
ReplyDeleteWell if you want to be nitpicky the show really should have ended when they all went to prison. If you're not on board for the 18 month time jump and them getting out...
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the music montage at the beginning where the characters are just going about their day, getting their kids ready for school, having a beer at the bar, saying goodbye to a loved one, but it all carries more weight because something really messed up happened at the end of the last episode.
ReplyDeleteScott just skip the entire last season. Trust me.
ReplyDeleteThe Ireland arc was shit and boring (and that Irish theme variation was more stereotypical than Finlay's face theme), but it was so worth sticking it out for how they got the drop on Stahl in the end.
ReplyDelete"This is what she felt."
*blamblamblblam*
*1.2 Muta*
Seasons 1-3 occurred over around 6-8 months whi
ReplyDeleteUm....no.
ReplyDeleteSeason 4 to me is great because of Clay's heel turn.
ReplyDeleteThat season was like sitting through a whole undercard of Boogyman, non-Matt Born Doink, Mantaur and Ding Dong matches just to get to the Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker Hell in A Cell.
ReplyDeleteIf it weren't for Lost shitting the bed in the final season and Dexter becoming laughably atrocious for it's final two seasons, I'd say SOA was the worst show that I'd watched every episode of. First few seasons are excellent, 4 and 5 are okay and then it just becomes dumb and hateful. There's literally NOBODY to root for by the final season - I hated them all and wanted an earthquake or bomb to take Charming off the map.
ReplyDeleteStill gotta love they had Stephen King as the Cleaner.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, I'm suffering through Season 3 now. So dull after an awesome first 2 seasons.
Am I the only one that liked season 3?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that kind of the point though? It's a show, about a 1%er motorcycle club. You aren't suppose to like them.
ReplyDeleteI may be the only one who loved the show from beginning to end. What gets me is when someone says that the show got bad (it didn't), but won't offer up what THEY would have done.
ReplyDeleteIt's like me, I liked the finale, many I've seen online were like "LOL, dummm as shit brah".
Eh...it's like being in the creative business can be a really shitty ordeal. Someone is always going to find something wrong.
Season 4 was great because of Ron's acting.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah Scott, keep with the show till the end. There's always going to be those shows where half really liked it and half really hated it. Find out for yourself.
Scott mentions the very bad thing at the beginning of season 5.Obviously we won't spoil anything for him, but I long for the days when that was the worst death I saw on the show.
ReplyDeleteI obviously won't mention names, but to this day I still can't get the sound effects of that meat fork out of my head.
Originally you were absolutely supposed to side with Jax and root for him as the Hamlet archetype. Once the show gotsuccessful and thus extended beyond it's natural story, everything fell apart and all the characters either became psychopaths or absolute morons. I mean, hell, they made me hate UNSER and he was the nicest and best one!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this show, really did. But midway through season 6 I had to tap out. Congratulations to anyone who stayed the distance. I heard the final episode was a great metaphor for SOA being crushed by a far superior show.
ReplyDeleteI don't hate the storylines, but they seemed so much slower than other seasons
ReplyDeleteI felt every season had the formula of start out slow, finish strong.
ReplyDeleteYes. It was almost Last Season Dexter Awful. IMO.
ReplyDeleteLove the name and avatar; to me, the flip side of SOA was always Justified, who's never had a bad episode that I've seen. Killer cast, the smartest writing since Breaking Bad, and a kick-ass theme song is just the icing on the cake.
ReplyDelete