October 25, 2012

Quick Thoughts: SONS OF ANARCHY, "Toad's Wild Ride"

I cut Kurt Sutter a big break last season after he backed away from killing off Juice and Clay because his decisions made sense to me. I don't think I can say the same about Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy, and I definitely cannot excuse him for "Toad's Wild Ride," an episode that I mostly disliked.

Let me start with what I did like. I wasn't too pleased when it was revealed that Clay was the mastermind behind the home invasions as a way to belittle Jax's authority, but I have to admit that there were some tense scenes between him and Unser that I felt were effective. I don't know if I trust Sutter enough to follow through with this one efficiently enough, and I have a feeling that Juice is going to end up being a sacrificial lamb, but so far I'm going with it.

Unfortunately, the rest of the episode was a dud. Joel McHale made zero impact as a sniveling con-man, and he was just a small example of how Gemma's plot just didn't work. Admittedly, she had a good scene with her son, but she's spinning so out of control this season that it's become silly. Usually, a fall from grace could be fodder for great drama, but Gemma's never been an interesting enough character to me, so wasting so much time on her downward spiral has fallen on deaf ears. And I'm just going to forgo acknowledging that last scene which was just Sons being Sons.

I wish there was more to dislike about SoA so it'd be easier just to cut bait and this point, but I still enjoy Charlie Hunnam's performance and Jax's narrative. I just wish everything around him was tighter.

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