Anyone watch the second-season premiere of Sons of Anarchy last night?
I’ll admit, I was slow to catch up with the, um, charms of this garish pulp-novel of a TV series during its first season. This time around, though, I realized: Oh, it’s supposed to be a garish pulp-novel of a TV series! Last night, creator Kurt Sutter got Sons off to a roaring start, and much of the acting is fantastic, from Charlie Hunnam’s sensitive-souled biker Jax to new bad-guy guest star Adam Arkin as a business-suited white supremicist. (Am I alone in thinking Arkin is one of the most underrated actors in television?)
This is one of the few series that can get away with subplots that would be lurid fantasies, were they not so vivid. As the season proceeds we’ll see the motorcycle club get more involved in overseeing a porn company — lots of opportunities to have extra loose women around for consensual sex.
But the scene that was most shocking last night was, of course, the scene of non-consensual sex: the brutal gang-rape of Katey Segal’s Gemma. Meant to send a signal, as they say in this sort of show, to the Anarchy club, this horrid act will play out over the season with devastating, surprising results. But in the meantime, I’d like to know what you thought of the premiere in general, and of that scene in particular. Me, I thought it wasn’t cheap exploitation, but sent us a signal that the title of this series really means what it says: anarchy can break loose at any time.
And be sure to read the marvelous Mandi Bierly’s exclusive EW.com interview with Charlie Hunnam here.
At the time it was happening I thought, “Oh Boy you are gonna pay for this”, but then in the previews for the rest of the season it looks like Gemma is not going to tell the MC about what happened. I relate this to the Soprano’s episode where Melfi was attacked in the parking garage. For weeks after that, I was just waiting to see what Tony would do when he found out. But alas, Tony never gets told and the intriguing story line fades away. I hope SOA does not do the same, but I am pretty sure it is at least going to take a few episodes for the story to come out which I do not like. The scene is upsetting and leaves the viewer wanting instant redemption. I will watch next week, but I do not think the redemption will come soon enough which is a smart move by Sutter because it will keep me watching. All in All and intriguing start to say the least. Like the Shield, this series seems to go for the Shock and Awe effect early and then take the whole season to clean it up, but I still want them to clean up the shock from last years finale.
I thought the same thing! When they were gang raping her, I thought “Oh man, they just signed their death wish”. But I agree with you, I think Gemma is going to try and cover this up for a while but sooner or later it’ll have to come out and then it’ll be a bloodbath. At least that’s what I’m hoping for….
Side note, little surprised Jax is letting Opie think that Mayan killed his wife. I thought he would think Opie deserved the truth…
I think Jax does feel Opie deserves the truth – just not until Jax figures out how to handle it. I kinda get the impression from Jax that he’s working things out slowly, from the inside out to get retaliation for Donna’s death.
If Opie learns the truth – that Clay tried to kill him and killed his wife instead, he will go crazy. It will fracture the club (who think it was a failed hit by the Mayans) and will be war within the club.
The whole point of the Sopranos rape scene was that it was more important for Melfi to retain her integrity by NOT telling Tony than it was for her to get her catharsis by siccing her Mafioso patient on her rapist. There was also the fact that doing so would have put her in Tony’s debt on some level. It wasn’t meant to be an intriguing storyline. . . it was a terribly uncomfortable way to test Melfi’s character.
I’m right with you. I’m just getting into this series too and I really did enjoy the episode last night. I had read that something would happen to Gemma and I kind of saw this coming, but I look forward to how it plays out through the season. But I’m actually a little more drawn to the story of Opi and whether or not he finds out Clay was trying to kill him when Donna was killed. And this show does have some great acting.
I thought last night’s premiere was amazing and that final scene with Gemma gritty, brutal and shocking…setting the pace I think for the rest of the season. I can’t wait. Poor Gemma. But she’ll be more than okay I’m thinking and it won’t be Clay or Jax that cuts that guys….off. But maybe Gemma herself. Can’t wait for the next one.
The rape scene was so disturbing that I didn’t sleep well. I can’t wait for SOA to find out what they did. I don’t think revenge will come until the end of the season though. In not telling her family, Gemma is going to cause all types of problems for her and Clay – it’s inevitable. A woman cannot heal from this type of violence without love and support from family. In keeping it a secret, Gemma is hurting herself and her relationship.
Sons of Anarchy is back in a big way. The inner tensions of the group are already smoldering, and then you add the white separatists and you’re going to get a huge flare-up. Yes, that final scene was tough and uncomfortable, but as J.J. said, The Shield and The Sopranos have had similar shocking moments. That final scene just means the new guys are serious and things are going to get ugly between the two groups. The other big lurid scene was the body disposal by Jax. It played out gruesomely but with the same casual air as when Tony and Christopher disposed of Joey Pants’s character’s body on The Sopranos in season 4. Yeah, this season, the ante’s been seriously upped and hell will be paid in a big way. A good start so far.
I thought the premiere was great! I also think that Gemma isn’t going to tell the MC but I think from the previews for the season that Chief Unser is going to do it. I don’t know why she wouldn’t want to have Clay take care of it but it’s awesome she got a good look at the tattoo of one of the rapists. I will be happy when she gets to make the rapists pay for what they did. I’m also intrigued how Jax is going to let Opie know about Clay and Tig being behind the killing of Donna. Jax didn’t waste any time getting right to the point about it with Clay! That was great that Jax stood up to Clay about it.
Gemma’s character is a control freak. Whether that means waiting to tell the gang or looking for the tattooed man herself- she is grasping for her own kind of control of this sick and brutal situation first. It will be interesting to see how this progresses. Of course I want instant redemption, but c’mon people- it’s only episode 1. There’s a long, wild season ahead.
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Never really watched the 1st season. My roommate has ben hooked on this show since day one. I decided to give the season premiere lastnight a shot and I gotta admit I wasn’t disappointed. Pretty solid show. I’ll def keep watching.
I have to give Kurt Sutter a lot of credit, because although I knew that something bad was going to happen, the rape wasn’t what I was thinking at all… I was a lot more worried when I saw Opie bend over with the knife in his hand, that was well played by everyone involved… Honestly, I don’t see how I could love this show any more than I do right now!
SOA is my favorite show, I think Gemma keep the secret about the rape, she will probably tell Clay they just roughed her up a bit. But she will get her own revenge. Gemma is a cold hearted B**ch and she will make them pay.
Simply put, Sons of Anarchy is one of the best shows on television. I feel awful for Gemma, and am 100% certain Clay will get his revenge in a spectacular gun fight of sorts.
I am a huge fan of SOA and last night’s season opener was mind blowing and awesome! The rape scene left me completley speechless and to the point where I had a hard time going to sleep and cannot wait to see what happens when SOA finds out what happened to Gemma,unless she ends up telling everyone,and these guys who committed this act will get dealt with,not now,but at the end of the season!!
This is one of the best shows on TV right now and last night’s episode proved exactly why. Anything could happen this season. And IMO Henry Rollins was an awesome addition to the cast!
This season premeire was the best! I was so shocked that Gemma was raped. I am hoping that when the rest of the club finds out, they will gut every one of the white trash that hurt her. Katy Segal’s performace was great. I think that Jax made the right decision not to tell Opie just yet. But when Opie finds out about Clay and Tig, Jax will be right there next to him to give Donna the revenge she deserves.
As soon as a I read an EW interview with the creator of the show I knew Gemma was going to get gang raped. He said, “the last minutes of the show are going to be hard but, there will be a huge payoff in the end. It was disturbing to watch, especially with my wife sitting right next to me… it reminded me so much of that Sopranos rape scene.