tvdinner&amovie

The premiere of season five of this unbelievably addicting show does not disappoint. The motorcycle gang/vigilante group Sons of Anarchy is in turmoil after murder, betrayal, and revenge reared its ugly face amongst the gang members. The series picks up with the question: How can we rise from the weakening state that the gang has succumbed to?

The season picks up right after Jax Teller, the extremely handsome vice-president of the club, peacefully overthrows president Clay Morrow (his ape-faced step father). This was enacted after learning Clay was responsible for Jax’s father’s death. Throughout season four, Clay embarked on a murderous rampage to protect his secret of betrayal. This rampage included murdering club members and ultimately putting a hit on Jax Teller’s wife, Tara. This pivotal end to season four is exactly what viewers had been waiting for since the start of season one.

Jax’s first mission as new president is to end the beef between the Son’s and rival gang, The Niners. In the conclusion of season four, Tigg, an amusing and somewhat disturbed member of the Sons of Anarchy, takes matters into his own hands–ultimately murdering Veronica Pope in a drive by shooting. Pope is the girlfriend of Niner’s head hauncho LeRoy. It is later revealed in the series premiere that Veronica was the daughter of “businessman” Damon Pope, who is set on revenge against the Sons for the death of his daughter. Damon Pope becomes the new villain in the series as he proclaims that “I will decide who lives and who dies”.

Clay Morrow, inexplicably crippled from an injury due to a bullet in the chest, returns to the Club. Jax is now sitting in Clay seat and makes decisions for the club as Clay watches on with a disgruntled look on his face. Clay remarks to the club that his injury was a means of self defense (Lies!!). Clay claims that Opie, another young club member, accused Clay of murdering his father, Piney, and in an act of extreme hate, shot Clay. The club members meet this revelation with sympathy and shock. Jax looks on and supports Clay’s lie, because the already weakened club is not ready to hear the truth, and it’s now his job to protect the club. Clearly, Clay is not the mea culpa type.

The episode ends with witnesses identifying Jax and other Son’s members as involved with the Veronica Pope murder and the murder of other Niner’s members. Jax is warned with enough time so he and the other accused can make a run for it until a solution to the problem can be found.

• At the beginning of the season, it is clear that Jax Teller wants to rid the club of it’s accepted acts of blood shed and revenge, and return to peacefully running black-market guns. However, as good as Jax’s intentions are, it’s obvious that that dream of “peace” is just a mere memory.
• The mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship between Gemma Teller (Jax’s mother and Clay’s wife) and Tara Knowles-Teller has reached it’s breaking point. Could this be because power has shifted from Clay and Gemma to Jax and Tara?
• Although Clay’s ailments are clearly visible, both physically and emotionally, it’s hard to feel sympathy for the man. Once he opens his mouth, any form of sympathy is blown out the window. There must be a reason for this man’s continued existence, possibly for evil. What poisonous lies will he spit out in order to keep the blame for himself–and possibly–to regain his position as president. He had no problem murdering his best friend, what more is a stepson?
• The new arch-nemesis Damon Pope (Played by Harold Perrineau, who should be familiar to fans of Lost and Oz) poses as an interesting character, as he has proven quite early that he is ruthless and disturbingly just . His “eye for an eye” policy and his god-like statement that “I now choose who will live and who will die” seems to be a great threat to the Son’s and Jax’s mission to end the beef between rival gangs.

QUOTES:

Jax: Maybe that’s my lesson, hold onto the simple moments, there’s not many left.

Jax: I’m not going to turn into Clay.

Opie: That’s not what I’m afraid of. I’m afraid I’m going to turn into you.

When not obsessively catching up with current and ’90’s television shows, aliciawrites19 enjoys nerding out to her favorite books and learning survival skills from horror films.