The Daily Star - Stay Tuned
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/48542
The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, November 25, 2011 2 coverstory Locked and loaded Hit biker series revved up for fi nale By Dee Underwood TV Media I n the small, peaceful town of Charming, Calif., the streets are filled with beau- tiful homes, happy families and small businesses. But over top of the birds chirping and the kids laughing comes the loud roar of a motorcycle club driving through town. The Sons of Anarchy Mo- torcycle Club, locally known as SAMCRO, is a very close- knit brotherhood of men who ride bikes, wear leather and work at the Morrow-Teller auto shop. Behind the auto shop lies the SAMCRO club- house, which consists of a bar, a pool table, a small apart- ment and the meeting room, called the Chapel. It is so apt- ly named because SAMCRO is very much a religion -- a way of life, a loyalty and a life-long dedication. Hit FX series "Sons of Anar- chy" follows the members of SAMCRO and their families through their lives of crime and redemption. Just last week, the network an- nounced that the series would produce an extra epi- sode for Season 4. The season finale was originally slated for Tuesday, Nov. 29, but with the extra episode, the series will wrap up on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Chapter president and original member Clay Mor- tried to get SAMCRO to be a legitimate business instead of selling guns. After John's death (which happened be- fore the series started) was ruled an accident, his widow Gemma married his best friend Clay. During this sea- son, viewers learned that Clay, and possibly Gemma, was responsible for John's death. Charlie Hunnam stars in "Sons of Anarchy" row (Ron Perlman) is running out of time before his arthritis gets so bad that he can't ride his bike anymore, and he's ex- pecting his stepson and club vice-president Jax to take his place at the head of the table. Jax (Charlie Hunnam) is constantly questioning his place in the club while trying to please everyone else. He is incredibly loyal to SAMCRO, but after finding his father's memoirs in Season 1, he starts wondering if the club is going in the right direction. Now the father of two young boys, Abel and Thomas, Jax is considering leaving the group so he and his family, including high-school sweetheart Tara, can leave town and live in peace. John Teller, Jax's father, was a compassionate man who Gemma Teller, played by Katey Sagal, is very much the matriarch of the group. She is so committed to the club and her family that she will not let anyone cause problems with her "boys." She has commit- ted murder, been attacked, been raped and had a heart attack, yet she stays loyal to SAMCRO. In the earlier sea- sons, Gemma constantly butt- ed heads with Tara, Jax's girl- friend (fiancee as of Season 4) because Gemma thought Tara was trying to convince Jax to leave the club. Between Sea- sons 3 and 4, Tara gave birth to Jax's second son and she and Gemma bonded while Jax and Clay were in jail for gun running. During Season 4, however, Tara and Gemma were back on opposite sides when Tara learns that Clay was involved in John's mur- der. There have been many oth- er changes during this season for both main and secondary characters. The first episode picked up two years after sev- eral members of SAMCRO, in- cluding both Jax and Clay, were released from jail after a A/Auto Boutique B/The Green Giraffe 2 x 2 14-month sentence for weap- ons charges. As the club re- unites, Clay's motives quickly move from loyalty to money when he agrees to ship co- caine for a local cartel in ex- change for protection from another local gang. A new sheriff (Rockmond Dunbar) tries to push his weight around almost imme- diately, enforcing their parole limitations and trashing the clubhouse. He also blackmails club member Juice (Theo Ros- si), which put him in a life- threatening position with his club. Season 2 ended with a cliff- hanger as Jax's infant son Abel was kidnapped and tak- en to Ireland. Last season ended with many of the ends nicely tied up -- the club members heading to jail and the club's biggest enemies being killed. There's no telling how this season will end, but Season 5 is already in the works. Back in 2008, the series started off with a bang -- liter- ally -- when their warehouse exploded in the very first epi- sode. Since then, the show has tied crime to some of the most wholesome values a person can possess. Writer, di- rector and cast member Kurt Sutter says his inspiration came from William Shake- speare's epic play "Hamlet," and many of the key plot ele- ments are there -- Clay killed John and married Gemma, while Jax, much like Hamlet, struggles to find his place. Chirstopher's Coins 2 x 2 hollywoodQ&A By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: I would like to know what happened to "The Playboy Club." Will it be back any time? I really liked that show. A: Sadly, now's the time of year when devoted TV fans start getting their hearts broken. A little more than a month into the new season, the networks start culling the herd, cancelling those new shows that weren't posting high enough numbers. Every single one of these shows was loved by somebody, but even a show that brings in a million faith- ful viewers each week is still considered a failure. That was the fate of "The Playboy Club," which NBC can- celed after just three episodes. Critics generally agree that it was a soap opera-style show, a format normally aimed at women, attached to a brand that appeals to men. The re- sults were shown in the ratings, which dropped steadily each week. The show's creator, Chad Hodge, said the show would have done better on cable and hoped to move the show to NBC's sister station, Bravo, but the network reportedly showed no interest. Infamous Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner agreed, writing on Twitter that "it should have been on cable, aimed at a more adult audience." The show's rapid demise made it the first major cut of the new season, but it was followed pretty quickly by a list of other big names. A/Crazy Tom's B/Allstar Auto Wash 2 x 3 Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com.