UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT: I’m not a fan of Sons of Anarchy. There. I said it. If you want to send a backlash of emails, feel free to do so here (and I expect plenty from females aged 17-60 who’ve laid eyes on Charlie Hunnam as well as my buddy Matt to fill my inbox). With the Season Six Premiere tonight, there’s been a lot of hype building around the show. Now, don’t get me wrong; I’ve tried to get into the show. I’ve seen up until Season 3 and then I bailed. I have my reasons and we can get into them now.
Too Many Other Good Shows: This is just a fault of the product not being as good as the competition. If this show was made back in 1998 and going up against dramas, it would probably be no contest (and would most likely be on HBO and probably gain some traction…well, until this show would come along and who knows then). This is almost like trying to win an argument that Nasim Kadri is as good a player as anyone in the top 4 of the 2009 NHL Draft. You know why that argument never gets made? Because it’s an argument that you cannot win. When offered to catch up on shows like Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, and even The Bridge (which I’ve slowly enjoyed the grim, dark, and slow pace). Combine that with football season and soon-to-be-hockey season, it’s hard to try and squeeze in this show.
Anti-Hero Burnout: If you follow Andy Greenwald on Twitter and/or read his reviews, he’s grown tired of the anti-hero and, quite frankly, he’s right. For the past decade or so, we’ve grown to root for people that have cheated on their families (Mad Men), been involved in mobs (Sopranos), a serial killer posing as a police lab technician (Dexter), and even cooked crystal meth while taking out the Mexican drug cartel (rooting so much that the internet hates the one voice of reason). But like anything that’s over done, this also feels like it’s a bit much. Yes, the storyline could be great and the characters could be detailed, but at the same time it has the ‘been there, done that’ feel and it gets old (even if what’s happening is fresh).
FX is Too Good: Believe it or not, SAMCRO has FX to thank and FX to hate for this. Without SAMCRO, there’s a good chance FX may not have gained as much recognition as it does up in Canada (exception to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). But since then, they’ve picked up The Americans, The Bridge, and the now favourite American Horror Story. They’ve gained so many other good shows that, unless you’ve stuck with SOA from the beginning, it’s hard to pick it up and fall in love with it immediately. It feels like it lacks the certain character that the other shows are able to pick up and make you fall for.
SOA is Underrated Argument: I don’t buy this argument. It reminds me of the “hockey is a niche sport which is why numbers are never strong”. Poppycock (I really just wanted to use that word). If you put out a quality product (ESPECIALLY now with the internet), people will flock to it and watch it. They will find a way to recap about it and wax on about how good it is. If you think it’s under rated, it’s not; it’s most likely ‘properly rated’ and you just can’t accept the fact that it’s not as high on people’s PVR list as it should be (…says the life long Maple Leafs fan trying to come to terms with the fact that this year they might make the playoffs in a full season in over a decade…might).
It’s on FX: This isn’t the biggest downfall of the show but it’s something I’ve tried to come to terms with; FX is not on the “anything goes” level of HBO or Showtime so it does feel like this show is missing that extra element. It doesn’t have to be anything over the top but there are some scenes that (from what I’ve seen) could have that extra value added if it were on a different network.
Those are reasons why I’m not a fan of Sons of Anarchy. If you happen to be, I hope you enjoy the season premiere tonight and, in the not so distant future, this.
Thanks for reading and stay connected with me on Twitter: @ChrisFudali.
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