Anyway, that sounded like an okay thing to me. What I didn't expect is how literally they meant it. Basically, it is The Sopranos... if that show had been told from the viewpoint of Christopher Moltisanti instead of Tony. And if Christopher had been tortured by a conscience, instead of Adriana La Cerva and a fondness for the ol' chemistry set. And if instead of amoral New Jersey mafiosi they were all amoral California bikers.
Not pictured: Morality.
Take the show's central triumvirate of characters: Jax (Charlie Hunnam) takes the aforementioned Christopher role; related by blood to the Big Cheese, he's being groomed for the top spot... but he's beginning to have doubts. Following in the conniving footsteps of Junior Soprano is Jax's mother Gemma, the twist being that Gemma is played by a woman. (That woman being Katey Sagal, in what must be a towering performance because I actively despise her character. How do you despise Peg Bundy and Leela from Futurama? I don't know but I do.)
And then, as the head of the organisation slash family, we have Ron Perlman as Clay. Clay glowers a lot, smokes big cigars, and appears quite sweaty. He's Tony in leathers and without the symbolic dreams.
Clay also has a Silvio Dante stand-in to confer with - Bobby Elvis (Mark Boone Jr.), whose rendition of "I Can't Help Falling In Love" is a genuinely moving counterpoint to the various pieces of nastiness unfolding over the pilot episode's closing scenes - and a vicious hatchet man named Tig who makes Paulie Walnuts look refined. It has to be said that creator Kurt Sutter has soundly trumped David Chase in the evil sociopath stakes; I cannot stress this enough. Okay, so Paulie's a cold-blooded killer who's not averse to a bit of betrayal and casual prostitute-beating. Fine, whatever. Tig proudly does all that too, but his really big moment comes when, in a very uncomfortable morgue scene, he reveals to Clay that he is in fact a necrophiliac... and Clay barely even pretends to be surprised. Touche, Mr Sutter. It helps greatly that Tig is played by the incomparably sleazy Kim Coates, who I last remember seeing in Tony Scott's The Last Boy Scout, where he played the bin bags to Bruce Willis's dustman in The Greatest Scene Ever (see below).
Now. Having said all of that, I'm going to do the manly thing and completely backtrack. Well, not completely - the template is lifted from The Sopranos, but a template is all it is; you still need to make it sing and dance, which Sons of Anarchy most definitely does. The acting is great across the board. Perlman is superb - hard, violent, and resolute as his character's position needs him to be, there is just a hint of self-doubt swimming around in there, something which I hope season two will explore in some detail. And Charlie Hunnam manages to anchor the show with his portrayal of Jax by making his character likeable and sympathetic, something which his gait alone should render impossible (you'll see). I even had an Idris Elba moment when I realised he was from Newcastle. He does not sound like he's from Newcastle.
And, while it lacks the humour and subtext of The Sopranos, and is not to be taken as seriously as The Wire, it is at the end of the day about a hard-core god damn Motorcycle Club: they call themselves "Outlaws" and each other "Brother"; volumes and volumes of bourbon are drunk (from the motherfucking bottle); girlfriends are called "Old Ladies"; there are at least three other rival gangs trying to kill them and each other; Drea de Matteo is in it (big surprise). In short, it's a very promising start. If I ever manage to downl purchase season two, I'll be looking forward to seeing if they can keep it up.
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