I finally got around to checking out this show and just finished the finale. I definitely enjoyed it. It’s like Mad Men for me in that I don’t like a lot of the characters, but I find them fascinating. I think Clay and Tig are absolute monsters, but at the same time, I know they’re monsters with hearts, and I can empathize with them at times. When Clay cried over what happened to Donna, I cried. When Tig and Clay had their moment at the stables, again, I teared up.
And Gemma, wow. That’s definitely a love/hate relationship for me. I hate how manipulative she is, and much of the time I think what’s she’s doing is wrong, but she does everything out of love; even when she hates someone, it’s because she loves someone else, which is wonderfully twisted. She’s mesmerizing, and I love the fact that I can very rarely figure out what game she’s playing. I’m usually clueless as to whether she’s being sincere or whether she’s being manipulative, or hell, both at once.
For me, personally, the loyalty and family shit is extremely warped. There comes a point where that level of loyalty and expectation is more selfish than selfless, and these people are way past that point. (I felt the same way watching the D’Angelo storyline on The Wire.) It’s still compelling, and I care about the relationships between these people, but sometimes it’s hard for me to give a damn if they can continue to have each other’s backs over running guns and murdering people. Granted if they were all about saving kittens from trees and beating up rapists and puppy kickers, it wouldn’t be nearly as compelling. This show makes me root for these guys and hope they get away with everything, and then every once in a while I stop and realize who I’m rooting for and what these people have done. That’s admirable writing.
One thing that drove me crazy about the “Opie is a rat” storyline, though: I specifically remember them all talking about the mark going to church with his wife and then fucking his black girlfriend afterward, the implication being that they were going to kill him wherever he hooks up with the girlfriend. Why did it never occur to any of them that the girlfriend could be the witness? She never came up again when the club members were discussing the issue, which made me yell at the TV on more than one occasion. They knew she existed, but they somehow never made the connection that she was probably still inside the motel room (apartment?) when Bobby shot the guy?
I also got the impression that Clay, at least, had been around the block enough to realize exactly what the ATF agent kept saying, which is that they’d soon find out whether or not Opie was the witness. They really couldn’t hold out for a couple of days in order to avoid murdering someone they cared about? ATF already had whatever information Opie provided, and I don't think he would've been beyond their reach even when he was revealed as the informant (had that been the case) given some of the shit this club has pulled off in the past. Those two storyline issues made the club’s reaction seem incredibly reckless and stupid, and made the ensuing violence feel like even more of a tragic waste.
And finally, Jax. For at least the first four episodes, that stupid swagger and the constant pissyface drove me up the wall. About halfway through the season, I realized I was warming up to him, and I’m not entirely sure why. Hell, I’m not even sure how I feel about the way his character was written. Violent hothead streak aside, he just seemed too mushy and sweet, and it never really seemed like his hands got dirty, at least in comparison to the other guys. He just stood around making bitch faces while everyone else did the dirty work. By the end of the season, I felt like they were pushing the “Saint Jax the White Knight” angle way too hard. I was so completely rolling my eyes at the funeral, with everyone else in black, and Jax with his pristine white t-shirt swaggering up and glaring at everyone.
Maybe his character would have worked better if viewers could have seen more of the “old Jax,” because I have a hard time believing this guy was ever hardcore. Yeah, silver spoon and all that, but are viewers supposed to see it that way, or are we supposed to think he earned every bit of his authority? He and Tara both make a lot of references to what he used to be like, but it’s hard to imagine, at least not without a lot of mental effort.
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