We pick up right where we left off with SAMCRO, as new characters are unveiled, several plot lines are thickened and there’s a new president behind the Gavel, Jax Teller. The season premiere to the fifth season of Sons of Anarchy draws plenty of interest to say the least. Several characters are going through some hardships. Most importantly, there are new challenges and dangers that lie ahead after this
episode reaches it’s climax.
The situation that takes place in Charming this season is that Gemma is going through tough times after getting nearly beaten to death by Clay back in season four. We are introduced to her in a sex scene surrounded by several blond prostitutes laying around and Nero, played by Jimmy Smits (“NYPD Blue”) having one of the coolest and most intriguing character introductions on television. The best line of the episode is “I’m all about the love,” which were his words. The shows creator Kurt Sutter who is also married to Katy Segal in real life, always seems to bring his comical genius to the show. He showed it here.
Another new character that is introduced in this episode is Damon Pope, played by Harrold Perrineau (“Lost”). Pope will play a major role in this season. His character is soft spoken and his demeanor and style reminds you of a Frank Lucas business man gangster type. Although he does not light up the screen in this episode, his approach brings enough spark that would keep the audience interested.
Although this episode was a 90-minute premiere, it did drag on most of the time. How ever the character developments and story arcs were put together tightly. Sutter does a great job of creating an arc that will play out smoothly throughout the season, and he gets the job done here. Several parts of this episode that stood out were Clay admitting that he killed Piny- his honesty causes a bit of friction of between him and Tig, who puts together an excellent emotional performance as he witnessed his daughter get burned to death at the hands of Damon Pope. Although you could see that coming from a mile away, it was Tig’s performance that made that scene work.
Overall this episode was good enough to keep the audience interested to keep watching this fifth season. The main plot line that seems to be in tact is how Jax will handle the firestorm that is headed his way, along with the responsibilities that come with being President of SAMCRO. Will he be like Clay, or his Father, or will he be himself, and run things his way? So far, Jax and the gang seem to be in a heap of trouble especially with the police, after their involvement with murdering of Pope’s daughter.
While the smoke settles for now, you could be sure that the fire will rise again. From the looks of it, this season will be as good as the rest. Things are just getting started, and Charming will be ringing gun shots and explosions in no time.
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