This entire post is full of information about season 3, so if you don’t want to know anything…STOP READING!

Instead, go read about my visit to the SOA set (which is chock full of great photos) or maybe you can go pre-order season two on Amazon.com now. And don’t forget to order season one while you’re there (if you don’t already own it)

OK, you’ve been duly warned!

sons of anarchy season 3 partial episode list

From tv.com

Episode 1: TBD
Episode 2: Oiled
Episode 3: Caregiver
Episode 4: Home
Episode 5: TBD
Episode 6: The Push
Episode 7: Widening Gyre
Episode 8: Lochan Mor
Episode 9: Turas
Episode 10: TBD
Episode 11: TBD
Episode 12: TBD

Sons Of Anarchy casting info tidbits

(mostly from the Chicago Tribune)

• Dayton Callie, who plays Sheriff Wayne Unser, has been made a series regular this year.
• Agent June Stahl will be back for us to hate with a fiery passion for four or five episodes.
• Hal Holbrook, who plays Gemma’s father, will be in the first four episodes of the season (probably being visited by his fugitive daughter.)
• Stephen King’s cameo will be in Episode 3
• Paula Malcolmson (former “Deadwood” cast mate of Dayton Callie and Titus Welliver, who plays Jimmy O),  is in eight episodes as the “Gemma” of the Belfast chapter (SAM BELL)
• Speaking of Titus Welliver, Jimmy O’Phelan will be back taunting Chibs and no doubt lots of other people for eight episodes.
• Yet another “Deadwood” alumni will be joining the cast this season: Robin Weigert, (who played Calamity Jane) has a recurring role this year as SAMCRO’s lawyer
• Lots of UK actors are joining the cast for the Belfast story arc. James Cosmo appears as Irish Catholic priest Father Kellan Ashby, Andrew McFee as Belfast chapter president (and SAMCRO original 9 member) Kevin McGee, Ari Verveen as SAM BELL Sergeant at Arms Liam O’Neill and Zoe Boyle as Maureen’s (Paula Malcolmson) daughter Trinity.

Sons Of Anarchy season three set photos: Rippin-Kitten exclusive

As we already know, much of the season will take place in Belfast. While on my set visit I was shown, and photographed, some of the interior sets for the Belfast scenes.

The Chicago Tribune also had some exclusive photos to share. Granted the photos are small, but still worth a gander.

Here they are, some Sons Of Anarchy season 3 spoilers!

The Belfast story line will be very important this season. Mr. Sutter’s blog post a while ago set up the back story for  Charming/Belfast explaining that John Teller set up the Sons of Anarchy charter in Belfast at the urging of Clay and Kevin McGee (a member of the original nine and current Belfast chapter president) in order to run guns for the IRA.

From the start of the season there will be dual stories taking place in both Charming and Belfast, which will eventually converge a few episodes in. It also sounds like we’re going to get a little more backstory about John Teller this season. Kurt Sutter told the Chicago Tribune, “I think people are invested enough in the characters and the world to where they’re open to getting backstory about John Teller (SAMCRO co-founder and Jax’s father) and about this world.”

In the Belfast storyline, Father Kellan Ashby and Jimmy O. will have a very combative relationship. KS told the Chicago Tribune, “It’s really this conflict between these two men (Jimmy O and the priest). They are living outside the box and it’s really mirroring a lot of the stuff that went on last season with Jax and Clay. It’s really all about character and that dynamic. And what happens is, the baby sort of becomes the pawn in all of that.”

James Cosmo (Father Ashby) and Titus Welliver (Jimmy O)

Also, apparently Father Ashby will listen to someone’s confession and eventually he will be forced to condone the ultimate punishment. (TV Fanatic).

And lastly, an SOA show “nsider, snitchesgetstitches left a comment here last week saying the following:

“I work on the show…for obvious reasons my real name aint here. I will tell you guys were wrapping up and there are some big surprises in store for the new season. Kurt is very careful about PR so you wont be getting anymore info other than whats out there…except I will say there is a “vacation” planned to the Emerald Isle which will be interesting.”

Hmm, a “vacation”? Anyone want to take a guess?
I’m going to predict that it will be Jax taking that vacation based on this from Sutter, “In my mind…I knew the Irish backstory was always a very big part of this mythology…It’s like, Jax is in a place where he’s deciding what he’s going to do, and he gets pulled away from all of that with everything that happens with his kid. Yet he can’t ultimately deny the information that he’s going to get in Belfast, and it will continue to impact him. So it seems like we’re going in a completely different direction, but, you know, we’re just continuing to tell the emotional story of our lead character.”

FX’s Sons of Anarchy season 3 live pre-show sweepstakes

Seven grand prize winners will receive:

• A trip for 2 to LA
  
• Tickets to a private Season 3 premiere screening & live webcast featuring Kurt Sutter
  
• $500 spending cash

The sweepstakes ends on August 16, 2010. See the official rules for details and for the love of god, go enter now!

** Rippin-Kitten is in no way affiliated with this contest. We’re just passing on the good word to all you folks.**

Ok, that’s all I got for now. As always, if you got a scoop on some info, spoilers or news about Season three, leave a comment and share with the rest of the class!

It was rumored the last time I wrote about SOA but Entertainment Weekly confirms that FX has announced their fall schedule and the show will return on it’s regular night, Tuesday September 7th. Rejoice, one and all!

You can pre-order Season Two, which will be available August 31st on Amazon.com now, (as well as Season One) and spend the week before the premiere catching up.

Eff the Emmys!

By now anyone that cares about the Emmys knows that our girl, Katey Sagal, was snubbed for a nomination for her incredibly amazing performance as Gemma in season 2. I wouldn’t even bother to mention it if I didn’t honestly think that she deserved the acknowledgment. And I think the majority of us deep in our hearts knew that the show itself would not get a nomination, even if we wanted it to. There’s a lot of good shows out there and it would seem that the Academy chooses to stick with the safe ones.

Dear Emmy Academy: we don't like you, either.

Sutter speaks

Speaking of the Emmys, Mr. Sutter did not hesitate to speak his mind on the issue. In his post “We Don’t Like Your Kind” he reminds us that it’s ok for a show about outlaws to be shut out of the inner circle. Also check out his other recent posts about the controversy of his blogging and how the media spins everything he writes so that he seems like the “Sean Penn of the Blogosphere”.

“My most recent blog is being spun by the rag blogs as an angry rude rant. Sour grapes? Maybe, but clearly honesty makes folks uncomfortable.”- from a recent tweet.

Sons of Nerd-ary?

Comic-con in San Diego is happening July 22-25 and the attendees better make sure they put on their big-boy pants. Making a first time appearance will be Sons of Anarchy series stars Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman and series creator Kurt Sutter. They’ll be there on Sunday afternoon and appearing with the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I could make all sorts of jokes about people who attend Comic-con but I’m not going to because if I was in San Diego I’d be there, too!

Charlie Hunnam prospects for a new movie

Charlie Hunnam is heading back to his native Newcastle to make a movie about his dad. The Sunday Sun reports that Hunnam wrote the script about his dad, Billy. “He has a really, really interesting life and is a real tough guy from a very, very tough corner of England.”

Charlie Hunnam

Charlie is hoping to be as hands on as possible in the making of this movie. “I am thinking I may be able to produce that in a more hands-on way in terms of hiring the director that I want and hiring an actor to play my dad and stuff, and actually fully produce that film, which would be great.”

Hunnam’s other script “Vlad” about Vlad the Impaler (the real-life inspiration for Dracula) is being made into a movie called “Blood” by Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company.

FX’s Sons of Anarchy season 3 live pre-show sweepstakes

SOA fans: there’s a new sweepstakes in town!

Seven grand prize winners will receive:

• A trip for 2 to LA
• Tickets to a private Season 3 premiere screening & live webcast featuring Kurt Sutter
• $500 spending cash

The sweepstakes end on August 16, 2010. See the official rules for details and for the love of god, go enter now!

** Rippin-Kitten is in no way affiliated with this contest. We’re just passing on the good word to all you folks.**

Did you read about my visit to the set of SOA?

In case you missed it, last month I was fortunate enough to be out in California and to spend some time with Mr. Sutter on the set of Sons of Anarchy. You can read about my experience and there’s lots of good photos that I took while I was there (and some shaky video footage that I shot, ha ha).

Have you seen the new Season 3 promo?

Neither have I.

But friends of mine claim they’ve seen it running on FX. If anyone finds it online somewhere can you drop me a line and send me in that direction? Thanks!

Want more?

Follow this link for all my posts, ever, about Sons of Anarchy. You’ll be reading for quite a while…

Casting news: a familiar face returns

Filming for season three of Sons of Anarchy is well underway and we’ll see the return of a familiar face. Taryn Manning will be returning  as Cherry, who we haven’t seen since season 1. A while back on Twitter Kurt Sutter indicated that she secured a role on the reboot of the Hawaii Five-O series. I guess it’s not as big of a role as first thought.

Taryn Manning will be reprising her role as "Cherry" on season 3 of SOA

Fancast reports that a storyline involves the Belfast charter of SAMCRO, populated in part by Keith McGee (to be played by Aussie actor Andrew McPhee, ‘Pirate Islands’) and Liam O’Neil (Arie Verveen, ‘Sin City’). Liam, a source revealed, is “involved” with Cherry.

If you’ve forgotten, when we last saw Cherry she confessed to Gemma that her real name was Rita, she was still “sorta married” to an abusive husband, and she was wanted for grand theft and arson. After narrowly escaping police custody and saying goodbye to boyfriend Half-Sack, she went on the run and disappeared.

Emmy hopes for sons of anarchy

The nominations for the Emmys will be announced July 8th and there’s a lot of buzz and hope surrounding some of our favorite actors on SOA.

Gemma stole the show in season 2, episode 2 "Small Tears"

Opie in episode 2.10 "Balm"

The obvious nomination we’re hoping for is Katey Sagal as Lead Actress in a Drama Series. There’s also a lot of buzz that Ryan Hurst may have a good chance at being  nominated as Supporting Actor in a Drama. *fingers crossed*

Chuck Zito files $5M dollar lawsuit against FX

Chuck who? Chuck Zito, former NYC HA, body guard and “actor”, has filed a $5 million dollar lawsuit against FX, claiming that “Sons of Anarchy” was his idea. According to TMZ, Zito claims he entered into an “implied-in-fact contract” with FX which guaranteed if they used his ideas for a TV show, Zito would be “reasonably compensated and afforded appropriate screen credits.”

Chuck Zito & Pam Anderson (photo lifted from chuckzito.com

So when FX began developing “Sons of Anarchy” in 2006, Zito got pissed claiming that SOA was “substantially similar” to his show idea.

Kurt Sutter is  spewing brimstone and hellfire about the lawsuit in his latest entry at SutterInk.

“Before I dissect the claim, let me say that I know guys like Chick [sic]. He tried to file a legal claim a few months back and it was so preposterous that I believe FX legal simply dismissed it. So he’s pissed and he’s desperate. What we are witnessing now is his “plan B”. And it’s outlaw mentality in full gear. He will take his bogus claim and shop it to every celebrity rag and website hungry for topical gossip, he’ll go on Celebrity Justice, TMZ, any sleaze forum or cable access show that will have him. He will become a bitter, juvenile gnat buzzing in the ear of FX and myself. He will use lies, intimidation, and his big mouth to become such a pain in the ass, in the hope that Fox will throw some money at him to shut the fuck up. It’s not a coincidence that his claim hits while academy members are voting.”

Kurt goes on to say that there’s no way Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox, will ever pay a red cent to Chuck because the “parent company [being Fox] is as stubborn and aggressive” as he is.

That’s for damn sure.

Eight members of a Boston area all female motorcycle club called the East Coast Biker Chicks, will soon be featured in a new television series. Filming for the Biker Chicz docu-reality series is scheduled to start on June 19th during the annual Laconia Bike Week in Laconia NH, and continue in eastern Massachusetts throughout the summer.

Biker Chicz will focus on the positive aspects of the Harley-Davidson biker lifestyle and is being produced by an Oklahoma production company, Blockhead City Entertainment. “Our intention is to produce a happy, feel good television series that will be enjoyable to watch, and realistically capture the true nature of bikers, their spirit and the Harley lifestyle – this series will be just the opposite of what you see in shows like Sons of Anarchy and Gangland,” said Executive Producer Edward Winterhalder.

Winterhalder, a biker personality, author and the creator of the Biker Chicz TV series, has been riding Harleys since 1974. One of the world’s leading authorities on bikers, motorcycle clubs and the Harley-Davidson biker lifestyle; his books about the biker lifestyle are published in multiple languages and sold all over the world. “Because I have lived the biker lifestyle myself for more than thirty-five years, I feel confident that I can accurately capture for TV what really goes on in the life of a biker on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

Lucky Belcamino, the founder and current President of the East Coast Biker Chicks, is excited to be a part of this ground breaking concept. “Thank God someone is finally going to show the world that bikers are ordinary people from all walks of life; regular people that have families and jobs, who enjoy riding Harleys in their spare time and giving back to the communities in which they live when they can,” Lucky said.

Another Harley rider featured in the Biker Chicz TV series, Annie Concemi, who was recently profiled on TLC’s blockbuster series What Not To Wear, was adamant when she said, “Everyone I know is sick and tired of all of the negative television these days, where everyone argues and fights for sixty minutes – Biker Chicz will be a breath of fresh air as far as I am concerned.”

For more information about the Biker Chicz TV series, please go to blockheadcity.com.

I’m 15 minutes late. I’m sweating. And there’s not a soul in sight. I’m in a large parking lot of an innocuous looking industrial building with a line of trailers to my right. I recognize the names on those trailers: Opie, Chibs, Bobby.

*Sigh* Looks like I’m going to have to call him. When he answers the phone I tell him I’m roaming around outside. He says, “ok, darlin’ I’ll come and get you.”

What bizzarro world am I in that I’m in N. Hollywood, standing on the set of Sons of Anarchy and calling Kurt Sutter from my cellphone on a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon?

He comes strolling out in baggy shorts, t-shirt and sandals with the cutest French Bulldog happily running beside him. A polite hello & friendly cheek to cheek kiss. We exchange pleasantries and I learn the little dog’s name is Lumpy. I’m instantly smitten (Lumpy? or Kurt Sutter? I’m not tellin’!).

It’s very difficult to not appear as a smarmy ass-kiss when you meet someone “famous”-especially when you’re juggling an iPhone, professional DSLR and a Flip video camera. But I didn’t have a photographer with me or videographer at my disposal to document this meeting, so I had to suck it up.

We launch into small talk about my weekend trip to California, discuss the demo ride for Honda and how that experience was. He then starts to tell me about the set that we’re on and how the exterior shots will match up to some of the interior shots that he’s about to show me. We head into the office area where all the writing and production work happens. There are a bunch of desks that belong some of the writing staff and I instantly recognize it as the Charming police station.

Then we head into his office and just as we get there he stops in his tracks. “You lost your dog, didn’t you?” I ask. “Yup, be right back.”

I AM STANDING ALONE INSIDE KURT SUTTER’S OFFICE.
Hmm, what can I touch?

There is his desk. There are posters on the wall and family photos, mostly of his lovely wife and baby daughter. I’d better just sit down.

Lumpy comes bounding in the room and showers me with doggy kisses before eventually jumping into Kurt’s lap. Lots of chit-chat about the show, it’s history. He says that he generally doesn’t like people but is so appreciative of the support fans give to him and the show. We are about 10 minutes into the conversation before it dawns on me that I’m a one-man band here and I’d better start taking some pictures and videos. But how do I without looking like an asshole? There’s no way around it.

this is Lumpy

After a few minutes of talking about the show, fan interaction on Twitter and Facebook and the success of season two, we start going through the maze of sets. Some of the sets, like Jax’s apartment, are locked because there was some equipment in there. And Clay & Gemma’s place was not set up at the time. But then we came up a familiar set: the hospital and the hospital chapel, that only had the window in place.

Then there was the clubhouse. This particular set was probably the largest set in the building. He tells me: “We create these actual functioning spaces so that you can put the camera anywhere. As long as you don’t point it up, you’re fine.”

It’s amazing to see how intricately decorated it is. And if I didn’t see all of the lighting equipment above me I’d swear it could have been a real clubhouse. Only it didn’t smell like stale beer and cigarettes!

I start taking photos, there’s so much to see! I take a few of Kurt, but he never really looks directly at the camera even when I tell him I’m taking his picture. He just keeps on talking. I spot The Table and immediately run over to it. It is a gigantic table with that enormous reaper carved into it. I mention that I’ve seen the artist’s website of all his carvings. He says they almost didn’t get that table because they gave the artist (Carver Doug) some ridiculous time line, like two days, to get the table done. But he did it and it’s made of real redwood.

We head off to see some of the other sets. In the space that was set aside for Cara Cara they built some additional hospital space and right next to it a home set for the Ireland storyline in season three. That’s right, an unseen home set!

Rippin-Kitten season 3 sons of anarchy exclusive!

These first photos are obviously of a small store and the following two are interiors of someone’s lovely Irish home.

And because I’m me, not even Kurt Sutter can escape my ball-busting. I think I’m being a smart-ass by asking: “You mean they didn’t send you to Ireland to film all the stuff in Belfast?” He gave me a straight-up answer: “We’re sending two second units to film in Belfast. We’re sending Billy Gierhart, who was my first cameraman on the Shield and has directed two episodes [of Sons of Anarchy] for me now, to film the second unit stuff.”

Here’s more from the Man Himself (sorry for the shaky video footage!):

If the embedded video doesn’t play go here.

I never asked too many questions about the show itself for two reasons: I don’t want to appear pushy trying to get info about the upcoming season and honestly, as a fan of the show I don’t want to know too many details about what’s going to happen! But I do ask about the fate of one particular character: Otto!

If the embedded video doesn’t play go here.

The tour is winding down because we’re running out of sets to look at. We head back outside to look at the exterior set where the Teller-Morrow garage is. “The exterior of that lot we play all the time, which since we’re in the asshole of the Valley here, you know, it’s fucking N. Hollywood. It’s brutal when we’re filming in July and August. It’s like 110 degrees out there and these poor guys are on these Harleys and they’re dressed in leathers…” he chuckles and I interject, “And they hate you cuz those things are hot!”

By this point we’ve made it full circle. He kindly walks me back out to the street where my rent-a-wreck is. I humbly thank him for the taking the time out of his day to hang out with me. He is gracious and wishes me safe travel back to the east coast.

I get into my car and sigh with relief. This was the cherry that topped an incredible, whirlwind weekend trip to California.

If you missed any of my previous posts about Sons of Anarchy: season three, be sure to check them out:
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers
SoA season 3 update
SoA casting news

So, what’s the status of Season 3?

According to SutterInk himself: update: 301 being locked. in post on 302. 303 being edited. 304 being shot. 305 and 306 written. writing 307 and 308. breaking 309. He also wrote a quickie blog post with an update of sorts.

Kurt Sutter's sure to be drinking a lotta this stuff while working on season 3. Photo lifted from @SAMCRO_BLOGGER

By the way, if you’re on Twitter and not following Mr. Sutter then you’re doing yourself a disservice. Plus he’s just a few shy from 10,000 followers. Help the guy out!

Release date for Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy on DVD:

August 31st!  That means you can catch up before season three starts airing! The DVD will include the following special features:

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• The Moral Code of Sons of Anarchy
• Sons of Anarchy Happy Ending Roundtable
• John the Revelator Music Video
• Commentary on Select Episodes
• A Night Out with the Crew at Happy Endings Bar

Sons of Anarchy season 2 on DVD: available on 8/31/10!

You can pre-order Season Two from Amazon.com now, heavily discounted from listed price (and so is Season One)!

SOA season three Casting news:

We already know that season three will have some new faces, including Paula Malcolmson, Hal Holbrook, Kenneth Johnson and even Stephen King, who is an avid motorcycle enthusiast. He recently wrote an article on his website about his experience on the set. Kurt Sutter assured Mr. King that he’d write “a suitably nasty part” for him, put him in all black clothes and on a a bright red Harley-Davidson Road-Glide.

Stephen King will be making a cameo on season 3 of FX's Sons of Anarchy

SK wrote, “I got to meet most of the cast, who’ve bonded into a little family on the ranch locale about an hour from the city where they do the filming…They treated me like a professional, which I most assuredly am not.” Full article available here.

The latest actor to join the cast is James Cosmo. According to TV Fanatic he will appear in a six-episode arc as Father Kellan Ashby, an Irish Catholic priest who will be forced to condone a character’s confession.

James Cosmo will be joining the SOA cast in Season 3

What happened to Half-Sack?

DEAD, DEAD, DEAD.
Sorry folks, I know a lot of you are hoping that Half-Sack isn’t really gone, especially with the promise of him finally passing from prospect to full patch member. But it’s been reported that Johnny Lewis was no longer happy being on the show and requested to be written off.

Alas poor Half-Sack!

Our beloved Half-Sack will go down as a legend and a hero in SOA lore. Gone but far from forgotten…

Life after Lost

Fans of the show Lost will certainly be feeling lost these days, wondering what the heck to watch now that our favorite show is gone. Joe.IE made a list of five shows for Lost fans to try to fill the cavernous void that the end of the show left. SoA was definitely tops on that list. In fact, four out of the five shows on that list is Rippin-Kitten approved (I haven’t gotten around to watching Treme yet…but I’m sure once I do it’ll be 5 out of 5)!

Katey Sagal is on Ausiello’s 2010 Dream Emmy Ballot

Michael Ausiello from EW.com made out his 2010 Dream Emmy Ballot, this one focused on the lead actor and actress in a drama series categories. Katey Sagal made it on the list of picks for Best Lead Actress (Drama). He wrote: “(Sons of Anarchy) Season 2 sent Gemma to hell and back. Heavenly!”

I think we would ALL be happy to see her at the Emmys and even more thrilled to see her take home a statue! She definitely deserves it.

HBO's True Blood begins its 3rd season on June 13th

This isn’t the first time True Blood has done some major flirting with the biker culture. Before the second season of HBO’s hit show hit the air, a slew of fake ads (for real brands) were released in a viral marketing effort, one of them contributed by Harley-Davidson.

I don’t know how prevalent the werewolf biker gang will be in the television show, despite the fact that I’ve read all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels that the show is based on (show creator, Alan Ball, only uses the books as a guideline and has taken a whole lotta creative license with the show). I do have a gnawing feeling in my gut that these bikers will be irretrievably stereotypical.

However, there are some recognizable actors joining the cast.

Grant Bowler

Grant Bowler, last seen on Ugly Betty, has been tapped to play Coot, the leader of a pack of werewolf bikers.

Dawn Oliveiri

Dawn Olivieri, who’s character was killed off of Heroes, shows up as Janice Herveaux, described as a tough-as-nails biker chick who’s protective of her younger brother, Alcide, and is also into horoscopes and psychics.

Don Swayze

Don Swayze (brother of Patrick Swayze) will be playing the role of werewolf biker gang member “Gus” in several episodes.

Andy MacKenzie

And there was a casting call for a part known as Creepy Biker. [insert groans and moans here] The lucky winner of that part is a dude named Andy Mackenzie (who appears in the upcoming MacGruber movie). He doesn’t look so creepy to me. I think he’s actually pretty cute (I have a soft spot for red heads…)!

So if you’re as curious as I am, tune in to the season 3 premier of True Blood on HBO, June 13th at 9PM.

When the hell is season three going to start?
Production for season 3 of Sons of Anarchy kicked off last week and will hit the tube in September this year!

Casting news
Season 3 will introduce a host of new characters, so most of recent news has revolved around casting. A few weeks ago we learned that Paula Malcolmson will join the show for an eight episode arc. She’ll be playing a wee-Irish lass named Maureen, who is based in Belfast.

We also learned that Kenneth Johnson will reprise his role for six episodes as the Tacoma chapter’s Kozik, an SoA club member who has some kind of an unhappy history with Tig.

Paula Malcolmson, Kenneth Johnson & Hal Holbrook will be part of SoA season 3

The latest character revealed is Gemma’s father, played by Hal Holbrook (who was in Creepshow, one of my favorite movies!). He will appear in a four-episode arc, beginning with the premiere episode. His character is 80 year old Rev. Nathaniel Madoc, who has mid-stage Alzheimer’s and is completely unaware that his wife has died. He spends his days in bed watching old Westerns and is delighted to see Gemma when she visits. Also, his dementia has made him a little trigger-happy. Recently tweeted by Kurt Sutter: “first day of production done. hal holbrook was awesome. sweet man. not a false fucking moment.”

There is also a rumor that Titus Welliver may be reprising his role as Jimmy O for a handful of episodes. *Fingers crossed* I love that guy!

Non-casting news
Here’s a small bone for those looking for news about lovebirds Jax & Tara (from EW): Season three will find them reeling from the trauma of season 2. “They’re both struggling with who they are as a couple,” reveals series creator Kurt Sutter. “It’s made them both take a step back. It was a reality check and it will impact everything they do throughout the season.”

Jax & Tara in happier times. Sounds like the honeymoon is on hiatis in season 3 as reality sets in...

And what about Gemma?
After killing Polly and getting framed for the death of Edmond Hayes, Gemma remains on the run but that doesn’t mean she’ll tame down nor will she lay low. “I’m in danger, I killed somebody. There’s an element of danger for everybody,” Katey Sagal tells TV Guide. “Gemma got totally screwed, but she’ll get revenge.” (source: BuddyTV)

Read on for a few additional spoilers.

Back to season 2 for a bit:

When is season 2 going to be out on DVD?
There’s no date yet on when it will be released. Mr. Sutter and the gang recently finished up the DVD commentary and also taped a roundtable discussion. Kurt asked people to send in questions that he randomly selected and answered for the DVD. He received over 2000 questions from fans! Good job answering the call, everyone.

Apparently the season 2 DVD is  available for pre-order on Amazon.com (price is listed at $34.99)!

additional SoA desktop wallpapers available at fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa

SoA in the U.K.
Season 2 of the show will air on Bravo UK very soon. Henry Rollins was interviewed (more like bamboozled) by a guy named Rich Pelley (who writes for The Guardian) who, not only irretrievably annoyed Mr. Rollins, but basically spoiled the fate of  his character, AJ Weston for the UK fans. What a douche.

Mr. Henry Rollins

Random tidbits:
Someone on Kurt’s FB page asked: where the idea of Bobby moonlighting as an Elvis impersonator came from and will we see any more of it?
Kurt answered part of the question: we have to use it sparingly. it costs like 10-20 K to use elvis’ likeness (bobby in a jumpsuit) and another 75-100 K to use a song… crazy how much the presley estate gets paid.

As a lot of you know, Kurt Sutter is a productive Twitter user and is still looking for more followers! He tweets frequently, so if you want to hear some news right from the heartbeat of the show, go follow him! He posted some pictures last week so I’m going to be bold and repost some of them here. (Looks like Charlie’s hair is a bit shorter this year. Enjoy!)

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. I will keep my eyes peeled as more news becomes available!

Related posts:
Sons of Anarchy Season 3 casting news
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers

Ok, so maybe I lied about the zombie part (I was inspired by the book title Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance – Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! Yes, it’s a real book…)

But anyway,  TLC is on a tear of late, taking perfectly good shows (like LA Ink) and hyper-dramatizing them with creative editing, a la Jersey Shore or Real Housewives of [insert city here].

So, why settle for creating drama when drama exists freely? Enter Paul Sr. and Paul Jr…

The new show, “American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior,” begins filming next week and will premiere in August. It will center around the original Orange County Choppers shop, which is still run by Paul Sr., and Paul Jr.’s startup shop, Paul Jr. Designs, which is located across from the original OCC shop in Rock Tavern, NY.

the reanimated corpse of Amercian Chopper

Sr. and Jr. haven’t spoken in over a year, ever since Senior fired Junior from the family business. And if you remember, the two have been in a brutal legal battle over…what else? Cash and control. Senior is demanding the return of Junior’s 20 percent stake in OCC.

According to the NY Post, Junior rode out his one-year non-compete clause and moved into his new shop last week. Father and son remain at odds, with no resolution in sight.

“I’m always hopeful for a reconciliation, but sometimes these things happen for a reason,” Junior told The Post. Senior told The Post, “I’m happy he’s making an attempt to go out on his own, but I don’t feel he’s ever really followed through with anything in his life.”

Are you feeling the drama yet? How about the zombies? Think they’ll be any ultra-violent mayhem? Yeah, me neither…

Malcolmson, a.k.a. Amanda Graystone on “Caprica” and Trixie on “Deadwood,” has signed on for an eight-episode arc in the new season of “Sons of Anarchy.” She’ll be playing a character named Maureen.

Paula Malcolmson as "Trixie" on Deadwood will soon appear on season 3 of Sons of Anarchy

That season won’t air on FX until September, but a bit more casting news has already leaked out: Kenneth Johnson, who played Lem on “The Shield,” will be back in a six-episode arc to reprise his role as the Tacoma chapter’s Kozik, a Sons of Anarchy club member who has some kind of twisted history with Tig (Kim Coates).

Kenny Johnson, who we briefly saw in SOA season 2, will reprise his role as "Kozik"

Production on the third season of “Sons of Anarchy” begins in about three weeks.

story via Chicago Tribute

Dayton Callie, Theo Rossi, Mark Boone Junior and Kim Coates during their USO tour in the Persian Gulf

The eight-day USO tour visited Kuwait and Iraq, and touched more than 2,000 service men and women. Among the installations visited were Camp Arifjan, Camp Taji and Joint Base Balad. This was the first USO tour for the quartet.

In 2009, 157 USO celebrity entertainers traveled to 25 countries and 8 states, entertaining more than 275,000 troops and family members. “Leading up to this USO tour, I was very excited and couldn’t wait for it happen.” said Mark Boone Junior. “Now that it’s over and after spending time with the brave men and women serving on the frontlines, I can say that this trip has exceeded my expectations.”

All photos courtesy (and copyright) of the USO.

The actors came to Iraq to show their support for service members overseas. Kim Coates said, “I loved every moment of this trip, from being in the desert meeting service members to sharing this experience with my cast mates. I know that each of us walked away from our USO experience with a greater sense of how much these young men and women sacrifice on a daily basis. I can’t wait to do it again!”

They all signed autographs, held meet and greets and posed for photos with all service members. Theo Rossi said he was humbled by the experience. “We are a country at war, if you watch the news you know that. But this trip wasn’t about the war. It was about the troops and letting them know that they aren’t forgotten and that we appreciate the sacrifices they make every day.”

Even Dayton Callie seemed to be at a loss for words. “Thank you to the men and women who serve this country and thank you to the USO for making this trip happen. I honestly don’t know what else to say, this was an experience of a lifetime and I am so grateful to have been a part of it.”

Kim Coates discusses his experience about visiting service members during a USO tour with a military reporter.

Seems like they had a great time going out there and boosting the morale of all those soldiers.

Kurt Sutter posts an SoA FAQ

Since Mr. Sutter is heavily involved in social networking these days and making himself so accessible to his fans, he hears the same questions over and over and over and over and over and over…well you get the idea. So, he decided to compile a list of FAQ’s to hopefully squelch some of those questions. You can read them over at SutterInk.

As it’s an ever-growing list I can think of one more question he should add to that list pronto:
Ever thought of making Jax’s dad’s journal into an actual book?

Kurt, do yourself a favor and add that to the FAQ! (BTW-the answer to that is this: John Teller’s journal/biography is an ever-evolving document. It won’t be finished until the series ends. Then maybe it will get published.)

New SoA merchandise available

Too many sleazebags have been pirating Sons of Anarchy merchandise. Get the real stuff instead. FX added some new items to FX’s SoA store and it’s worth checking out.

top row: SoA Zippo $29.95, Samcro hoodie $42.95, SoA bandana $11.95, Men’s Teller/Morrow tee $24.95

bottom row: “Property of Redwood Original” women’s tee $24.95, Reaper Crew baseball cap $22.00,  Charming Born & Bred tee $24.95

Did you know?

I doubt there are many of you that are Twilight fans, but did you know that the author of the books, Stephanie Meyer, really really wanted Charlie Hunnam (Jax Teller) to play Carlisle Cullen?

On her website she said: “Second only to Edward on my “passionately decided” list is Carlisle’s character. My favorite: Charlie Hunnam. The reason this actor was able to get such a hold on me was his work as the title character in Nicholas Nickleby. He pretty much was Carlisle in that movie.”

Hmm, well I think we’re all glad that didn’t happen!

fun in photoshop: what the cast of Twilight *could* have looked like...yeah, it looks weird to me, too.

Help Kurt Sutter reach his goal

Kurt Sutter put the call out recently: by the season 3 premier he would like 50,000 fans on his Facebook page and 12,000 on Twitter. Ok, people. You have a mission. Get going.

Related posts:
Season 3 Sons of Anarchy news
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers

Well, news and details about season 3 of SOA still remain slim, but there are a few tidbits floating around out there. Last week Kurt updated his blog (in his jammies and slippers, no less) that he’s finally finding his groove getting back into the writing process:

“I’ve been back with the writers for a month now, and today was the first day I felt like I actually plugged back into the show.  I finished a first draft of episode 301 this week, but it wasn’t until I mulled, sorted and boarded 302 that I felt reconnected to the process of running a show.”

Of course he didn’t leak any details about story lines, but he did end his post by saying:

“Season three of Sons of Anarchy will take us to some new and very different places — both narratively and emotionally. We will reveal some dark Teller family secrets and create a few more in the process. It was John the Apostle who said “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Clearly he never spent a weekend with Gemma Teller.”

Casting news

Taryn Manning, who played Cherry in Season 1,  has been cast in the reboot of classic cop show Hawaii Five-O, which also stars Daniel Dae Kim (LOST) and Alex O’Loughlin. Kurt Sutter tweeted: “happy for taryn manning getting 5-0 gig. hopefully 3 will be the charm for les’ boy o’loughlin. bummed for soa, had an arc for cherry in S3.”

Sons of Anarchy merchandise

If you’re chomping at the bit for some SOA stuff to buy, have no fear. Kurt says “talked to the network yesterday. they r going to have LOTS MORE SOA MERCHANDISE for sale. on the website and IN STORES. i’ll keep you posted.” SA-WEET. Now be patient and stop buying those knock off t-shirts…

SOA knockoff t-shirt: if you're buying this crap...stop it. Stop it right now.

Extracurricular activities

Anybody catch Katey Sagal reprise her role as Helen on Lost? She and Terry O’quinn are two of the best actors on TV right now…

Katey Sagal on LOST (screencap from lost-media.com)

And lastly, we all know that Charlie Hunnam wrote a script for a movie based on Vlad the Impaler, which traces Dracula’s days back to when he was a wee impaler…

Vlad the Impaler

The script was picked up by Summit Entertainment, who we can thank for bringing us the Twilight franchise (take that with as much or as little sarcasm as you like) and now writer Scott Kosar (The Machinist and soon to be released The Crazies) has been asked to take a stab at it. The film is being produced by Mr. I-own-fifty-bazillion-expensive-motorcycles Brad Pitt.

If you got the scoop on some info, spoilers or news about Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy, feel free to leave a comment!

Related posts:
Early Sons of Anarchy season 3 spoilers
Sons of Anarchy season 2 finale

Back in 2003 was the television hey-day for motorcycle fans. Discovery Channel was the place for gearheads to get their fix with shows like Monster Garage, Biker Build-Off and American Chopper. As we all know American Chopper was a reality show chronicling the life of the Teutuls and Orange County Choppers. In the beginning the novelty of the show was how crazy it was to see Paul Sr. & Jr.’s on air bickering, while Mikey offered up the crazy comic relief. Oh yeah, and there were some of the visionary custom bikes dreamed up by Paul Jr.

Paul Teutul Sr. of OCC

The arguments between Senior and Junior were funny and fodder for watercooler discussions. The bikes were interesting and watching the process of building those bikes intriguing. And there was Vinnie, Paulie’s right hand man who was often caught in the middle of the fights when all he wanted to do was build bikes. And Cody, who was taken under the OCC wing until he and Vinnie jumped ship to form V-Force Customs.

Speaking for myself, I probably watched the first two seasons until the show began to get formulaic. There was more focus on the crazy rantings between Paul and Paulie and less on the bikes, which then only became theme bikes for various corporations. Oh and the occasional yuk yuk’s from Mikey, who couldn’t build bikes and couldn’t ride them for a while either. As their bank accounts grew fat so did the ego’s. That’s when I jumped ship. And it seemed that I wasn’t the only one. The backlash began as the arguments became boring, the show switched channels, Paul Jr. left the company and Mikey ended up in rehab. And now Paul Sr. is suing Junior for control over the OCC empire. Yikes.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Even if it’s about 3 years too late. The series finale will air on TLC Thursday, February 11th at 9 PM. Somehow I don’t predict a happy ending. What do you think?

So what do we already know? We know that season three will be back in September and that Kurt Sutter is already back in the writing room. And that he has offered “Coco” a guest spot on the show, which would be surreal but awesome!

I’ve casually scraped my news reader and perused the usual spoilerish sites that would have some juicy morsels to share. I’m not claiming that I am the end all, be all source of SoA news, but here’s a lil sumpthin’ sumpthin’:

From EpisodeInfo:

In an interview conducted with NJ.com, [Kurt] Sutter said that in the 3rd season he wants “to take them into a world that is outside their own, where they don’t have any control, where they are subject to other people’s laws and beliefs and parameters, where they aren’t quite the big fish in the small pond.”

Sons of Anarchy Season 3 Character Spoilers (Buddy TV):

Chief Unser: According to TV Guide, Unser will step down from his post next season, consequently leaving Hale as Deputy Chief. Series creator Kurt Sutter hints that Hale will be put on a tight spot on Sons of Anarchy season 3 and is forced to make tough decisions just as Unser did in the past.

“Unser came to understand… that you have to create relationships with these gangs and turn the other way sometimes and set parameters,” Sutter explained. “You can’t go by the letter of the law or you’re f—-d. Hale [will] have to learn those lessons and how much he’s willing to bend.”

Jax: Losing baby Abel will definitely affect Jax and his relationship with Tara on Sons of Anarchy Season 3. Series creator Kurt Sutter says he wants to “explore what happens to a couple when they’re faced with a tragedy like that….To be honest with you, I don’t know where it’s going to go. Does Tara blame herself? Does Tara blame Jax? Does Jax blame Tara? But that will be a very real dynamic in their relationship.”

Sons of Anarchy episode 2.3 "Fix"

From E! Online:
Kurt Sutter just headed back into the writers’ room and would only tell us this of season three: “I have a baby to find, and that’s all I know.” As for Gemma’s future as an outlaw, Katey Sagal doesn’t seem too worried. “I don’t think it will alter the family bond, but there are so many things that have to be addressed,” she explains. “Gemma obviously doesn’t know what’s happened to her grandson, and she’ll probably go insane when she finds out. I wouldn’t put anything past her. I’m sure she’ll take care of business.”

Kurt Sutter

If you got the scoop on some info, spoilers or news about Season three, leave a comment and share with the rest of the class. I will post updates as I stumble across them.

Related posts:
Season 3 Sons of Anarchy news
Updated 4/28/10! Sons of Anarchy season 3 update

Episode 2.13 “Na Trioblóidí”

Na Trioblóidí means “the Troubles” in Gaelic.

As SAMCRO attempts to rid Charming of Ethan Zobelle and The League permanently, familiar faces present new challenges.

“Adjust and adapt, just like we always do.” – Ethan Zobelle

Sons of Anarchy season finale: Na Trioblóidí

The good:

• the blatant foreshadowing of the rats feeding on the dead crow in the opening shot. Genius.
• Zobelle’s not only a scum bag, he’s an FBI rat. Did you love his MC motorcade as he’s released from jail?
• Unser feeding info to Weston and the motivation behind it. Conversely, Hale’s confession to Weston is equally as gratifying, even though he still tries to land on the right side of the law.
• the (literal) Mexican stand-off on Main St.
• Otto’s revenge
• The surprisingly sad send-off of AJ Weston.
• Warm fuzzies between Jax & Clay over the bloodshed
• The Bitch is Back: Agent Stahl unleashes a major shit storm. In her defense I’d shoot anyone who punched me in the ovaries, too.
• Even though Stahl is setting her up to take the fall, I like the interchange between her and Gemma
• the highway scene where they go after cowardly Zobelle
• RIP Half-Sack. (Saw that coming last week with all the talk of patching him in). Poor kid.
• “I need you.”
• Zobelle…got away? Inconceivable!
• Gemma’s on the lamb with Wayne Unser. Classic.
• Abel’s abduction.

The not-so good:

• After all the time that has gone by it seems weird that that Gemma would pick this moment to go after Polly. But I do love her gun-toting stance as she walks through the door, aims the gun and juts her hip out to one side. So badass.
• Tara’s paralyzed inaction when Cameron shows up at the house. WTF?? She’s not a damsel in distress (as was clearly defined last week). When Cameron stuck Sack with the knife, you’d think she would have done something to stop him (especially since the gun was not in his hand). You know if it was Gemma in that situation, Cameron would’ve been castrated before he even knew what hit him. And letting Cameron take Abel? Oh HELL NO!

Holy mother of all cliffhangers! I should have known better than to expect the season to be wrapped up in a neat little package, but a silly part of me wanted that gratifying television cliche to come to fruition. But this is Kurt Sutter’s show and he isn’t about to give us a neat and tidy season finale. In fact, it was pretty fricking messy all around.

I wanted the League folks to get what they deserved. Let’s face it, Weston: not a nice guy. Polly: not a nice girl. But the bathroom scene with Weston was ugly enough without the addition of his kid being present. Weston was a total shitbag, but a shitbag that, in his own twisted way, loved his brainwashed, anti-semetic kids. And as for Polly, I wasn’t sad to see her go, but I wish it wasn’t at Gemma’s expense. I know…it sets up a lot for season 3.

The final few minutes of the show takes us from long-festering, hell-bent revenge to a heart-crushing kidnapping. Normally, a kidnapping event is a fairly innocuous plot device done a million times over. But the fact that the abductee in this situation is a teacup human mere months old that is as helpless as helpless can get, is what makes it so much more impactful.

Seeing little Abel, legitimately crying as he’s placed on the boat by a vengeful stranger, got me where it counts. Tears! Tears in my eyes, people! This essentially thrusts SAMCRO head-long into a crisis they’re completely inadequate to deal with. Guns, drugs, porn…no problem. But this? No way.

At the end they totally have a what the fuck just happened to us? look on their faces. They look like they just got donkey-punched in the balls. Without Gemma there to help them cope and devise a plan, you gotta wonder what they’re going to do. And we have to wait a whole year to find out!

Ratings:
The finale was cable’s #1 program for the night, with 4.33 million total viewers and 2.99 million adults 18 to 49, according to Nielsen Media Research. The episode was the most-watched ever for “Sons,” surpassing its Season Two premiere, which drew 4.29 million total viewers.

The finale was also the top-rated show on television in the 10 p.m. time period among men 18 to 49, or 1.92 million, and men 18 to 34, or 1.09 million, beating all three broadcast networks.

FX, Fox 21 and 20th placed this ad in all the trades

And as everyone probably knows by now, the network has ordered 13 episodes for the show’s third season, which is scheduled to begin in September 2010 (yippee!!). Also Kurt Sutter reached a deal on a two-year extension to continue his services as showrunner/writer on the show. The cast of regulars are also set to return next season.

I could go on and on about this show but I’ll refrain.  I would like to sincerely thank Kurt Sutter for writing a tremendous season and creating a show, about bikers no less, that makes me feel a little smarter while watching typically brain-numbing tv. It makes me want to crack open his skull and lick his brain. Which probably sounds icky, but the sentiment is sincere.

Instead, I’ll keep following him on Twitter until he gets bored with me and count down the days until September 2010.

Read my other episode reviews of season 2:

Episode 1: Albification
Episode 2: Small Tears
Episode 3: Fix
Episode 4: Eureka
Episode 5: Smite
Episode 6: Falx Cerebi
Episode 7: Gilead
Episode 8: Potlatch
Episode 9: Fa Guan
Episode 10: Balm
Episode 11: Service
Episode 12: The Culling

The entire SAMCRO family goes on lockdown inside the clubhouse as Jax and Clay prepare to battle The League.  A.J. Weston learns the truth about Ethan Zobelle’s business dealings in Charming. Applying what she has learned from Gemma, Tara ensures her position at St. Thomas Hospital.

“I get it now. God wants me to be a fierce mother. That’s my path.” – Gemma

The good:

• Pulling up the gates & manning battle stations at the SAMCRO fortress. You can see the strength in Clay as he speaks to everyone and understand why he’s the club leader.
• the club giving Half-Sack some props and potential patch-in. Ah, foreshadowing…
• how easy it was for AJ Weston to be turned against Zobelle. “We’re here to educate, not provoke.” Weston’s one crazy mofo!
• Chucky’s back with the truth of what happened to Cara Cara
• the high ICK factor of Zobelle confronting Polly of her “afternoon delight” with Edmund. And WHAT was up with that kiss he planted on her?? *shudder*
• more pressure on an already ticking bomb when Weston’s kids get repo’d
• I love the scene of Tara & Gemma discussing God and their paths in life.
• Jimmy O’s ruthlessness
• dead rats. Coulda been you, Chibs!
• Gemma’s influence rubbing off on Tara. She finally standing up for herself! Love the exclamation point at the end of the encounter when she pulls the gun out of her bag. Awesomeness.
• GEMMA! Seriously. I love her. Especially when she calls Chuck “Stumpy.” (oh and it looks like “Porn Girl” Lilah has been accepted into the family)
• Love the old skool rumble and how the alliance with the Asians and the OneNiners plays out. Henry Rollins brings a lot to the table with vitriolic Weston this episode. He’s not generally known for his acting abilities, but you gotta give him props here.
• That last intense scene inside the cigar shop. Clay’s understandable brutality towards Polly & Zobelle, Hale’s panicked uncertainty, Unser’s straddling of the fine line here and SAMCRO gets jipped as Zobelle takes the easy way out, getting himself and his daughter arrested. You want to hit him with a cast iron skillet when you see the smug look on his face as he’s led past Clay.
• The overall amazing use of music in this episode. Talk about evoking emotions. Wow.

The not-so good:

• This is the last we see of Titus Welliver’s Jimmy O this season
• only ONE episode left!

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
Surprisingly the numbers were down slightly this week, according to TV by the Numbers. It was still the number one cable show with adults 18-49 for the night.

Articles:
SoA at salon.com

Next week:
Episode 2.13 “Na Triobliodi”
It’s here! The 90 minute Season 2 finale! The second season ends with SAMCRO trying to get rid of Ethan Zobelle and his cohorts once and for all.

Chibs makes a secret deal with Agent Stahl in order to protect his wife and daughter. Opie learns the true circumstances that led to Donna’s death and seeks both revenge and reconciliation.

“The outlaw had mercy.” -Opie

Sons of Anarchy season 2 episode 11 "Service"

The subtitle to this episode should have been True Confessions of the Sons of Anarchy. Wow. Everyone has laid their cards out on the table this week and things have now gotten verrrry interesting.

The good:

• Gemma’s gamble pays off and the Jax/Clay rift is closed and sealed tightly. I got the warm fuzzies seeing Clay holding Abel while they discussed killing their enemies…
• Tara’s diarrhea-of-the mouth string of openess to Jax. I actually had to giggle at her moment of craziness.
• the sticky groping make-out scene with Tig & Gemma that says so much without saying anything at all. Tig needs to feel something other than guilt, Gemma needs to know that someone still desires her after she convinced herself that Clay will reject her since she was violated.
• Tig’s inevitable guilt-consumed moment of spilling the beans. I wanted Opie to beat on him a little more, not take off after the blame was placed on Agent Stahl. But if he didn’t go after her he’d never have found out about Chibs’ deal
• I love how all the various plot points are beginning to come together, like when Jax realizes that Zobelle is in bed with the Mayans and the implications of that partnership.
• Opie’s confrontation with Stahl had me on the edge of my seat, especially when he handed her the empty magazine. Whoa. Ally Walker’s performance was great in this scene.
• Gemma’s flirtation with religion boils down to the poignant conversation she has with the priest, which I would say directly impacts the scene she shares with Chibs later on. In fact, this episode it’s reiterated that she is *the* female epicenter of the club.
• the “Guy-Love” scene with Opie and Jax. So glad to see them getting along again.
• Ryan Hurst. Good lord he is great.
• Clay, in a sense, is starting to “get it.” Finally.

The not-so good:

• I kind of expected Jimmy O. to be more full of piss & vinegar during the chat with Clay. Perhaps this is a quiet facet of the character.
• As much as I love how Opie handled everything with thought and quiet rage, didn’t you just want to see him go bat shit ballistic on everyone? But of course, that would be too obvious of a reaction for this show, right?

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
Update: TV by the Numbers says: Tuesday night’s Sons of Anarchy tied The Jay Leno Show with a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating and beat ABC’s the forgotten (1.8).   Tuesdays are Jay Leno’s best ratings  of the week, too (so yeah, SOA’s 18-49 numbers beat the Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday airings of The Jay Leno Show).

Follow SutterInk on Twitter
This is a carry over from last week, but deserves to be repeated. If you’re on Twitter, a fan of the show and not following Kurt Sutter, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. He’s not only a direct line to the show itself, but he’s also candid, frank, brutally honest and still somewhat approachable (if you’re respectful and not a babbling idiot). He’s looking to build his Twitter followers, since there’s no official Twitter account for SoA.

There’s even some incentive: “loving the power of twitter. no SOA twitter account, so help me grow Sutterink. want 5213 followers by the finale. signed scripts for number(s) 3666, 4069, 5213.“

As of today’s post he is up to 4059 followers, so start following @sutterink and you could win a signed script!

Sons of Anarchy: Most Shocking Moments
TV Without Pity has posted a photo gallery of them.

Interviews
Katey Sagal, mother of Anarchy
Katey Sagal, mother of Sons of Anarchy
Arkin digs into role on Sons of Anarchy
Kurt Sutter: Celebrity Podcast Interview with the “Sons of Anarchy” creator

Next week:
Episode 2.12 “The Culling”
The entire SAMCRO family goes on lockdown inside the clubhouse as Jax and Clay prepare to battle The League.   A.J. Weston learns the truth about Ethan Zobelle’s business dealings in Charming.  Applying what she has learned from Gemma, Tara ensures her position at St. Thomas Hospital.

An extra-long episode billed as a 90 minute show is really about 54 minutes of content. If you don’t like extra commercial breaks then you might want to consider watching the next 90 minute episode (season finale) from your TiVo or DVR.

Agent Stahl takes notice at the handsome profits SAMCRO is reaping from the repo business. Meanwhile, the Jax-Clay standoff forces Gemma to make a difficult decision.

“This is just a detour on a very long road.” -Jax

Opie in episode 2.10 "Balm"

The good:

• Piney makes a poignant return
• Chibs giving the ATF a heart-attack when he confronts Edmund about the guns and HELLO TITUS, I mean, Jimmy O!
• I am liking Agent Stahl this season for her cheeky yet no bullshit approach
• learning the amount of damage that Jimmy O has caused in Chibs’ life (not to mention how diabolical he truly is when talking about Chibs’ daughter. Ewww.) “We both know he’s the devil.”
• the scene where Jax & Gemma discuss him going Nomad is so amazing. As my Twitter friend, @robdale tweeted to me: “one of the most subtle SOA scenes is when Gemma asks Jax if he was going to tell her about going Nomad. She tells him to sit down. He goes into her office and sits down and removes his hat. Suddenly, he is just a boy talking to his mom.”
• brass and fungi
• Chibs’ limits pushed beyond his control
• when Jax apologizes to Clay for assuming he was responsible for the fire at Caracara, Clay is less than responsive. It’s a juxtaposition of the prior scene with Gemma: she’s Jax’s loving mother who will do what it takes to keep him around. Clay is the evil step-dad that wants to remove a giant obstacle, which at this point is Jax.
  
• “It’s cowarm!“
• the minute Gemma says to Unser “you need to protect the club” we know exactly what she plans to do. And it made me squirm in my seat.
• Opie’s coming out of the death spiral he was in, even if it’s a result of getting involved with a coke-head porn star. Think it’ll last?
  
• Tig & Halfsack’s very different experiences on the “serious fungi”
• I have no words that could do justice to the final scene of Gemma’s confession to Jax & Clay. The acting is so unbelievable in the most subtle way possible: through their eyes. Tara’s silent encouragement. Clay’s realization of the suffering his wife has been going through. Jax’s hurt and anger that someone could defile his mother so completely.

  The stillness of the scene is what makes it so powerful. You can feel the tension in the room and the stunned silence of everyone when Gemma drops this bomb on them. That they didn’t react in what could have been formulaic television drama makes it so much more powerful (sure Jax has that one outburst slamming his hand on the table, but let’s cut him some slack. He’s had an incredibly shitty day that just got an assload worse).

  I guarantee there wasn’t a dry eye in anyone’s house after Jax gets up and takes his mother’s hands in his own.

  And the irony is that this one act that Zoebelle thought would tear SAMCRO apart will actually have the opposite effect. If Gemma had told them straight out right after it happened, the outcome might have been what Zobelle was counting on. We’ll never know. She kept it secret for so long to maintain the club’s stability. By picking the moment before it almost fell apart irrevocably would hopefully bring Jax & Clay back together. It was a big gamble on her part and when Jax grabs his patches on his way out of the door, it looks like it’s going to pay off.

The not-so good:

• We still don’t know whether Chucky or Darby died in the fire at Caracara. I’m assuming this info will be revealed in the near future.
• Poor Tara, despite doing right by her man and the club, she still gets cornholed at the hospital by being put on suspension
• Abel. It’s a nitpicky thing but we all know that kids take up a lot more time than this kid does. He must sleep a lot. And spend a lot of time with the nanny.
• Only 3 episodes left of the season!

The interesting:

• For a second time, Jax is referred to as the “Prince”-this time by Agent Stahl.
• Does Gemma really think that John Teller committed suicide or does she know that he was murdered by Clay?
• Opie twice makes reference to Clay as Jax’s “father”. At first I thought that he was so wrapped up in his own familiar turmoil that he was trying to imprint it on everyone else, but in watching it again it occurred to me that he’s trying to use the father/son bond (as loose as it is) to remind Clay & Jax of the basic nature of their relationship. This reminder, on top of the anvil that Gemma dropped on them at the end of the episode, helps build the bridge that closes the rift between them.
• Good GOD if Katey Sagal doesn’t get some sort of Emmy nod it will be a crime! The show itself has already been overlooked for a People’s Choice Award…
• I think Charlie Hunnam needs a nod for his performance as well. Katey Sagal is so good as Gemma that she can overshadow others easily. In “Balm” Charlie has takes Jax and boils him down to what he really is: a scared kid. He looks to his elders for advice all episode long. He finds some solid advice from Gemma and Bobby. But twice he’d gone to the only father figure he has looking for acceptance, and twice he was shot down. Clearly the decision to go Nomad was not something he truly wanted to do, evident by the dejected look on Jax’s face after the vote is unanimous for him to go. He had hoped that the club would fight for him to stay. And then of course there’s that final scene…whew! Nice job.

Sons of anarchy news

I’m keeping the news aspect light this week since my observations of the episode were so lengthy.

Ratings
TV by the Numbers reports that the 90 minute episode averaged 3.38 million viewers, making it basic cable’s most watched show in primetime with adults 18-49. Compared to its season one average, Sons has shown an increase of 64% in total viewers.

Follow SutterInk on Twitter

If you’re on Twitter, are a fan of the show and not following Kurt Sutter, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. He’s not only a direct line to the show itself, but he’s also candid, frank, brutally honest and still somewhat approachable (if you’re respectful and not a babbling idiot). He’s looking to build his Twitter followers, since there’s no official Twitter account for SoA.

There’s even some incentive: “loving the power of twitter. no SOA twitter account, so help me grow Sutterink. want 5213 followers by the finale. signed scripts for number(s) 3666, 4069, 5213.“

He’s roughly got 3600 followers at the moment, so start following @sutterink and you could win a signed script!

What he has to say about “Balm“:
“Glad people dug balm. Knew I wanted to play out that reveal and have gemma use it to help heal. So proud o my cast and my beautiful wife.”

“To all you fucking whining about the commercials last night-90 minute ep is a seven act structure. More act breaks, more ads. It ain’t hbo.“

See? Brutally honest and frank.

Next week:
Episode 2.11 “Service”
Chibs makes a secret deal with Agent Stahl in order to protect his wife and daughter. Opie learns the true circumstances that led to Donna’s death and seeks both revenge and reconciliation.

Whoa!

Fa Guan: Chinese for “The Judge”

When SAMCRO’s adult-film business becomes a hindrance to the club, Clay seizes the opportunity to revive the gun-running cartel. As Jax and Clay continue to clash over club activities, their relationship reaches a new level of antagonism.

“I’m going Nomad.” -Jax

episode 2.09 "Fa Guan"

The good:

• the short, yet completely devastating opening scene of Jax visiting a physically (and now mentally) broken Otto. Kurt Sutter may be a fantastic writer, but in this scene also a fantastic actor with all of the subtleties conveyed. He’s in jail for the club, his wife died because of the club and while the club is all he has left, he wants nothing to do with the club. Extra twist of the knife in the heart seeing the wheelchair in the foreground as Jax walks away. Ugh!
• maybe its just me, but the fact that Bobby made banana bread is really awesome
• Clay’s complete contempt for Jax & the porn biz (it’s “dirty”-really Clay? Running guns and killing people is tolerable though)
• Zobelle still trying to muscle Hale into working together and Hale’s surprising reaction of going to Clay to handle the problem. Wonder how Hale is going to justify jumping into bed with the club further down the line and maintain his integrity. Or will he end up just like Unser?
• Tig’s position with Clay is (ironically) threatened by Opie, who we see teetering on & almost going beyond the point of no return. The scene at the judge’s house was intense to say the least.
• Chibs & Tara working the hospital system
• Darby gets his come-uppance
• the return of the homeless girl from last season, who seems to be an enlightening guide to Jax and Gemma
• another instance of Gemma looking for peace in church
• god bless Charlie Hunnam’s derriere!

The not-so good:

• being reminded that Unser is an ill man and the fragile mortality of this great character
• I’m stuck at the casting road block of Mitch Pileggi as that sleaze-bag Darby. I still see him as A.D. Skinner on “X-Files.” I guess now it doesn’t really matter!
• Did Chucky make it out of the fire? If not, I don’t accept that…

And a few observations that amuse me: I think this is the first episode that we actually hear Jax referred to as the “Little Prince.”

Holy sexcapades: you gotta love how far Kurt Sutter pushes network television with all of the sex scenes in this episode. It makes me wonder what this show would be like if it were on a cable network…

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
TV By the Numbers says last night with a 1.8 adults 18-49  rating (same as last week) and 3.5 million viewers (up a touch from last week). It will again be the #1 scripted drama on cable this week.

Monsters & Critics sent a letter to John Landgraf, the president of FX, asking where the order is for Season 3. Read: “John, where’s the beef?”

How does Charlie Hunnam feel about being naked on the show? E!Online asked him:
“I’m very glad that I made the choice to have the back patch tattooed on me. Me and Opie (Ryan Hurst) both have it. I’m very glad, because it’s always exciting to see that piece of artwork, because otherwise it would just be me standing there, totally gratuitous.” (We’ll take it.)”

gratuitous nekkidness!

The fighting Irish
As we already know, SoA have a tie in with the IRA when it comes with gun-running and we learned that some even more high-profile members are coming stateside. Last week we met Fiona, who is Chibs’ (ex?) wife and one of the few women who scares Gemma. She is 3rd generation IRA and the woman behind the ominous, Jimmy O (played by the fantastic Titus Welliver), whom we’ll have the pleasure of meeting next week.

Ask Ausellio: You must tell me when Gemma tells SAMCRO what happened to her on Sons of Anarchy! —Cindy
Ausiello: …the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth comes out in the Nov. 10 episode.

Speaking of next week: a 90-minute episode!
Episode 2.10: “Balm”
Agent Stahl takes notice at the handsome profits SAMCRO is reaping from the repo business. Meanwhile, the Jax-Clay standoff forces Gemma to make a difficult decision.

Potlatch: A leader holds a feast for friends and family in their home. The main purpose is the re-distribution and reciprocity of wealth.

With an already-dwindling gun supply in question, SAMCRO takes extreme measures to procure weapons for a customer. The revenge that is sought following a theft at Caracara Studios puts one diva at risk. Tara’s professional and personal lives begin to collide.

“Change won’t happen quick, or without blood, but it’ll happen. It has to.” -Jax

Sons of Anarchy "Potlatch"

The good:

• Nutical!
• the Pandora’s box that opened with the break-in at Caracara
• Chucky’s back, sans 8 digits (“I accept that“)
• The “Irish bitch” is back, we meet Mrs. Chibs
• This time around, Tom Arnold is wonderfully sleazy as George Caruso
• Walking into a Mayan ambush at LaRoy’s
• tension within the ranks of the League
• Tara’s worlds in a power struggle
• Zobelle’s logic in supplying guns to the Mayans
• the rift within SAMCRO gets just that much wider

The not-so good:

• Ah, Luanne…we hardly knew ye
• only 5 episodes left this season!
  

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
TV by the Numbers reports that SoA is a hit with adults in the 18-49 and the 18-34 age bracket, being the only scripted drama in both top ten lists of shows.

File this under my own personal excitement: apparently another “Deadwood” alumni (and recently of Lost, playing Jacob’s enemy), Titus Welliver, will be joining SoA for a few episodes. The other alumn is, of course, Dayton Callie who plays Chief Unser.

Titus Welliver & Dayton Callie from HBO's now defunct "Deadwood"

I have to give a shout-out to Michael Ornstein, who plays Chucky and is a fellow MA resident. From Boston.com:

Here’s a good reason to watch the FX biker show “Sons of Anarchy’’ tonight – one of the show’s guest stars is one of our own, a resident of the Barnstable village of Cotuit. Actor Michael Ornstein, who moved with his family to the Cape a few years ago, appears in the show for the second season in a row as Chuck Marstein, an accountant with an unusual sexual issue. “It’s a very unique tick,’’ Ornstein explains with a giggle. “It’s a big problem.’’ Ornstein, 46, tells us he’ll play Marstein in four episodes this season. The work on “Sons’’ has had him traveling between the Cape and Los Angeles, but he says he’ll be home in the Bay State to watch the show tonight. “Maybe my kids can stay up a little late to watch,’’ he joked.

When you recognize quality but don’t watch it: SOA vs NCIS: sadly this kind of logic is why some really great shows are no longer on the air

The Watcher voted SoA’s theme song one of the best on tv: “This Life” from “Sons of Anarchy” – Curtis Stigers is better known as a jazz saxophonist and vocalist, but he does a great impression of an old-fashioned blues singer here. The song is a perfect fit for the show, but it stands on its own, too.

SoA theme song voted one of the best on tv today

The big buzz of the week past is how SoA beat out (actually, I believe the adjective I saw used was “crushed“) Jay Leno in the 10 o’clock time slot for Tuesday night . Seems like lots of folks in “the industry” are shocked by this fact, although I can’t really figure out why. Kurt Sutter sounds off as to why it ain’t Jay’s fault on his blog at SutterInk.

Women's Sons Of Anarchy 'SAMCRO' T-shirt

And if you want to show off your love for the show, there is now official Sons of Anarchy merchandise for sale. The official store has t-shirts, pint and shot glasses, hats and much more to choose from.

Next week:
Episode 2.9 “Fa Guan”

When SAMCRO’s adult-film business becomes a hindrance to the club, Clay seizes the opportunity to revive the gun-running cartel. As Jax and Clay continue to clash over club activities, their relationship reaches a new level of antagonism.

From the Scriptures, “Gilead” means hill of testimony or mound of witness, a mountainous region east of the Jordan River, situated in the present-day Kingdom of Jordan.

“You know, this club needs a healing, brother. And you’ve got to be the one to deliver it.” -Bobby to Jax

The boys are locked up in the slammer with no friends to watch their backs. Opie’s up to his elbows holding down the Teller-Morrow fort, trying to fulfill Clay’s requests & on top of it, his own kids. Gemma struggles to find solace while doing whatever she can to get her boys out of jail. Everyone is trying to make sense of it all and find some inner peace.  **Spoilers ahead**

Jax in episode 7 "Gilead"

Clay in his prison duds

The good:

• the vulnerability of SAMCRO in jail
• Helloooo Agent Stahl
• the Zobelle/IRA connection: guns
• Juice’s comical “romantic” endeavors
• Gemma calling in the favor on Elliott Oswald & the really sweet interaction with his daughter, a rape survivor
  
• Opie stepping up to the plate for the club
  
• Tara calling Lyla “porn girl” (it made me snicker)
  
• Agent Stahl’s tactics putting a bigger rift between Clay & Jax, leading to the inevitable blow-out
  
• the palpable tension and parting of ways when the guys get home, leaving Gemma & Tara perplexed
  

The not-so good:

• Juice getting shivved for his troubles
• Plan backfired and Sheriff Trammel getting popped.
  

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
TV by the Numbers reports that last week while Sons of Anarchy didn’t make the weekly cable top 40 by viewers (it was 49th, 3.312 million) it was the number three show with adults 18-49 on cable, trailing only ESPN’s Monday Night Football, and TBS’ coverage of game one of the NLCS between the Phillies and the Dodgers.

Sons of Anarchy was the only scripted show in the 18-49 top 10 last week and was also the only scripted non-animated show with adults 18-34 last week, coming in 8th.

Charlie Hunnam on Carson Daly
Kurt Sutter posted this video interview on his site last week. Somewhere in the swirling voids of my mind I knew that Charlie was English, but hearing him speak normally threw me off a little!

And speaking of…here’s an eyeful of man candy featuring young Mr. Hunnam for you ladies! Aww…so cute!

Next week:
Episode 2.8 “Potlatch”

Zobelle’s business dealings with SAMCRO rivals exacerbate divisions in the club, which is already riven by the Jax-Clay split. And complicating matters further, Georgie Caruso’s (Tom Arnold) thugs attack Luanne’s studio. Meanwhile, Clay comes to an agreement with Elliott Oswald; and Chibs’ estranged wife shows up at his hospital bedside. Tara’s professional and personal lives begin to collide.

Falx Cerebri: n.
The scythe-shaped fold of dura mater in the longitudinal fissure between the two cerebral hemispheres.

“I got a bad feeling we’ll be walking right into a trap.”- Jax

A fortuitous quote in the first 5 minutes of the show. This episode’s title is representative of the conflicting leadership styles of Clay & Jax: Clay’s hellbent, emotive retaliation efforts vs. Jax’s strategic, overly-thought out plan. This time around, Clay wins out and sends the club out on a duck hunt for Zobelle & Weston. **Spoilers ahead**

episode 6: Falx Cerebi

The cop & the criminal

The good (and SO much of it!):

• Chibs is ok
• The Hale/Jax connection
• Tara’s look of realization as to why someone planted the car bomb
• Radioactive pee
• Seeing more of Polly Zobelle this week and realizing the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
• Weston’s brain-washed kids
• Could I love Gemma any more? Taking Tara under her wing, the hatbox collection (and the toy surprises inside!) and shooting up Trampy McTramp’s car
• Hale blackmailing Polly
• The well-planned ambush of SAMCRO

The not-so good:

• We’re just about half-way through the season!

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings:
TV by the Numbers reports that ratings stayed flat from last week (3.763 million) but up with adults 18-49, completely beating the pants off of ABC’s “The Forgotten.”

Kurt Sutter tweeted about the overall numbers for Season 2: “Sons of Anarchy season 2 avg. 3.7 million P2+ and 2.6 million A18-49, gains of +68% and +77% vs. season 1. Very impressive.”

**Spoilers**

E!Online is reporting that someone on the show is gonna get whacked in episode 8, “Potlatch”:

Brace yourselves, Samcro fans, because in an upcoming episode of FX’s ultragritty family drama Sons of Anarchy, someone close to the club gets dead. Majorly dead. Blood and brain matter dead. And when you learn who it is, your heart is going to break a little. So is it Chibs (Tommy Flanagan), who just took a car bomb to the head…or could there be someone else on the chopping block?…The good news is the death ain’t Chibs. The bad news is that it’s somebody else about whom the club cares deeply.

A lot of people are guessing that perhaps the unfortunate soul is Unser, but according to E!Online’s Spoiler Chat: We don’t want to give away the farm too early, but here’s another big hint: If you guessed a man in uniform, you guessed wrong.
Uh oh.

Next week:
Episode 2.7 “Gilead”
Since The League has SAMCRO members behind bars, the club must make new alliances in prison to survive. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent Stahl uses this imprisonment to test Jax and Clay’s relationship.

Kurt Sutter tweeted yesterday: “next week’s ep 7, gilead, probably my favorite of the season. clearly “oz” was my favorite show. i think fontana is a genius. i aspire…”

“These guys…they’re monied and connected: both sides of the law.”

SAMCRO finally realizes how big of a threat the League is to them, not that they were being subtle about it. I don’t know how you guys felt while watching, but there were a lot of “holy shit” moments for me for sure. **Spoilers ahead!**

more headbutting between Clay & Jax

The MC is clearly divided between the two men.

The good:

• The League’s tenacious ferocity towards SAMCRO
• Poor Otto…
• Tara’s ride: SWEET
• Learning that the blond girl who lured Gemma is Zobelle’s daughter
• Gemma reading an excerpt of John Teller’s book
• Unser divulging to Hale what happened to Gemma
• Jax letting Tara read The Life and Death of SAMCRO
• The explosive end

The no-so good:

• OPIE! I miss the Opie we knew last season. I know the evolution of his character is serving a purpose, but…

Sons of anarchy news

Ratings for last week’s episode “Eureka”
In last week’s update I mentioned that this episode was the second highest in ratings after the season premier. TV by the Numbers reports that SoA averaged 3.76 million viewers (up in viewers from the previous week’s 3.49 million for “Fix”). The show is beating FX’s other shows Damages and Rescue Me by a fairly wide margin. So, keep watching everyone!!

Full episode list for season 2:
Episode 1: “Albification”
Episode 2: “Small Tears”
Episode 3: “Fix”
Episode 4: “Eureka”
Episode 5: “Smite”
Episode 6: “Falx Cerebri”
Episode 7: “Gilead”
Episode 8: “Potlatch”
Episode 9: “Fa Guan”
Episode 10: “Balm”
Episode 11: “Service”
Episode 12: “The Culling”
Episode 13: “Na Trioblóidí”

Kurt Sutter attends Sonny’s 71st
Over the weekend Kurt Sutter attended Sonny Barger’s 71st birthday party and received permission to write a blog entry about it. Really interesting peek into a world I will never know.

A while back, I got wind that Sonny was a fan of Sons. My initial response was relief. Perhaps the same relief David Chase [creator of the Sopranos] felt when he got a gift basket instead of a dead fish from his Italian brethren.

My husband had met Sonny Barger a few years ago when he photographed a portrait of him at a bike rally. Knowing how things typically work around Mr. Barger, I feel comfortable in saying that Kurt Sutter is blessed to be welcomed into that circle with open arms.

Read the entire post over at SutterInk

IESB.com visited the SOA set and has not one, not two, but THREE great interviews to read:
Ryan Hurst (Opie), Theo Rossi (Juice), Kim Coates (Tig) and Mark Boone Junior (Bobby)
William Lucking (Piney)
Tommy Flanagan (Chibs)

Special Effects
From last week’s episode, the crew smashed thru a ratty motel to liberate Tig from the bounty hunters. Here’s a little tidbit of that event from behind the scenes. From the FX SOA production blog: “they got to build AND destroy one of the many sets you see in the show. It is oddly satisfying – so I’m told – to build something only to crash a flatbed truck right into it.”

I was sure satisfied while I was watching it…

And something to ponder: why are SO MANY people offended by the fact that Jax wears WHITE sneakers?
The amount of comments that fly around about the stupid sneakers is stunning to me. In fact, it has resulted as one of my highest commented posts on this site, and I have also seen it happen on other sites as well. I don’t get it!

Next week:
Episode 2.6 “Falx Cerebri”
After the explosion, retaliation is a go as the tension between Jax and Clay begins to boil over. Despite best efforts, the rift between Jax and Opie widens as Clay further embraces him. Jax works with an unlikely partner in a last ditch effort to protect the club.

Rescue Ink receives a tip about a man allegedly mistreating his young dog. The guys drop by unexpectedly and find the man’s puppy living in a basement in deplorable conditions. The team is contacted by New York Animal Care and Control about an unusual case. Rescue Ink comes face to face with a school of illegally-owned flesh-eating piranhas.

Rescue Ink investigates a home where two dogs are chained up and basically ignored. The older dog, a Rottweiler, is suffering from exposure and malnutrition. One Rescue Ink member bonds with the Rottie – but will the dog pull through and learn to trust people again?

Find out tonight at 10pm on the National Geographic Channel.

Related posts:

• Rescue Ink exclusive interview unleashed
• Rescue Ink: an in-your-face-approach to animal welfare
• Rippin’ news
• this fall: Rescue Ink “Unleashed” will air on NatGeo

“If you come across something that don’t make you miserable, enjoy it.”

Dayton Callie as Wane Unser

Last night we were drawn deeper in the turmoil swirling around the members of (and those touched by) SAMCRO. Clay’s arthritis is getting worse, he & Jax are butting heads more and more, Tara’s life is almost becoming divided by her relationship with Jax (doctor vs. “old lady”), Gemma’s torment, Unser’s struggle with doing the right thing, Opie’s drifting allegiance and then there’s Tig (“Assault and indecent exposure inside a livestock transport”)…

The good (and a LOT of it):

• Tara’s epiphany
• Gemma pulling the gun
• Clay vs. Jax
• seeing Unser’s strengths for a change while trying to take care of Gemma
• the rescue (gotta love Piney!)
• seeing the Oregon chapter of SoA
• the humanization of AJ Weston
• the chilling exchange between Clay & Jax

The bad (not a whole lot!):

• Gemma’s weakness once again exposed: her compassion for the parent/child bond (and this is bad mainly for the sheer frustration of it all). I really wanted to see her put one in the back of Weston’s head!

Sons of Anarchy: Eureka

Did anyone out there watch the HBO show “Deadwood”? Is it me or do you also have a hard time distinguishing Dayton Callie’s Wayne Unser from his character Charlie Utter? I think I have a brain wire crossed somewhere…

Sons of Anarchy news

It’s a been a pretty slow news week around here.

Ratings
Eureka was the 2nd highest in ratings after the season premier. Beat networks in 18-49 men.  Nice job!

Kurt Sutter’s request to The Boss falls through.
There was a particular Bruce Springsteen song that he wanted to use for the season finale of the show but the Boss’ legal team kept swatting him down.

Kurt Sutter

From Sutter’s blog:

So some of you have been aware of my tweets about the Springsteen song I wanted for the finale. I won’t mention the song, suffice to say it’s one of Bruce’s more obscure rockers.

Because of the accelerated pace of our production schedule we were initially declined. Bruce is on tour and they needed a bigger window to get his approval. Someone at FX has a direct line to his manager so we were able to cut through to someone who can make a decision. I made that call yesterday. Here’s the problem, Bruce does not allow commercial covers of his songs. Part of our musical signature on Sons is to use obscure songs from little known bands and to do covers of classic 60′s and 70′s tunes. Partly because the costs for masters of iconic music is astronomical. To get the master cover from Sony for the Bruce song I wanted would have been upwards of $75,000 for one use. That’s my music budget for three shows.

So alas, we won’t be using the Bruce song in the finale. But what’s been true for the tenure of SOA holds firm in this situation as well. We didn’t get the song because there is a better choice out there.

Special Effects
Here’s a behind the scene look at how they crafted last week’s explosion of the house meth lab.

Next week:
Episode 2.5 “Smite”
While Jax and Clay lock horns (and line up support) over how to deal with Zobelle, Tara finds herself ensnared in Gemma’s emotional struggle in the aftermath of her attack. Meanwhile, SAMCRO gets help from an unlikely source.

By now there have been countless articles and blog posts written about Rescue Ink, but in case you haven’t been introduced to them, they are a group of tattooed, biker-types who were all friends that banded together to form they’re own animal rescue group.

Because they are not affiliated with any other organizations they do not get any kind of state funding, therefore they rely heavily on donations (and many times end up reaching into their own pockets). They answer only to themselves and because of that they are not tied to any kind of bureaucratic policy. Basically, when they show up to deal with a situation, they get results by any means necessary (within the law, of course). And chances are they don’t need to show up again.

With the whirlwind of a media blitz for Rescue Ink that happened last week, I had the pleasure of being able to interview Joe Panz, Big Ant and G.

Joe Panz from Rescue Ink

[RK]: I assume people make some snap judgments about you guys as being scary biker dudes.  I’m wondering, what is their reaction when they find out that you rescue animals?

J. Panz:  We are scary guys; we just rescue animals. You can’t judge a book by its cover. Right, Ant?

Big Ant:  Yeah, that’s right.  We’re tough guys and we’re showing that tough guys can do a good thing.

G : Our image works.  It does the job; it gets the job done.

J. Panz:  Listen, when we show up at your house, we give you a moment of pause. We make you think. You don’t know who brought us there, you just know we’re there and you know we’re there for a reason.  The reason is there’s a problem with you and an animal.  So you’re going to listen to us and you don’t want us to come back.  You’ll never know who called us, so you’ll know somebody’s always watching.

Big Ant: After we fix the situation, I might say, we usually never get invited back for some reason.

G:  After we educate them, right?

J. Panz:  Yeah, we never had to show up for a second time, not yet. But we do check up.

[RK]: Obviously Rescue Ink relies heavily on donations from the public, and the motorcycle community as a whole is known for being very generous and supporting a lot of these different causes.  Have you guys ever tapped the community for fund-raising, like in the form of a bike raffle or benefit rides?

Big Ant:  We have our own. We try to do fundraisers on our own.

J. Panz : We try to do fundraisers as much as possible but I tell you the truth, lately we’ve been going to everybody’s fundraisers, raising everybody [else] money and neglecting ourselves. That’s why we’re trying to send newsletters out now and telling everybody exactly what we’re doing trying to raise money for specific animals that need help and medical attention right away. We’ve just been running ourselves ragged trying to help everybody because right now with the economic times being the way they are, everybody’s crying for help. We’re just spread very, very thin trying to help everybody out. Quite frankly, we hope the TV show promotes awareness and people will start to donate so we could do more for the communities, and more for the animals and more for the other rescue groups.

[RK]: It makes me wonder now that you guys have your own television show, whether this national exposure will encourage the biker community to step up and organize some rides to help you out.

Big Ant: Yeah, I’m very well known in the biker community so I get a lot of feedback that everybody’s behind us.  Like Joe was saying, the money’s tough but we do have good backing and hopefully it just gets better.

G:  The thing is now we’re the ones that get called on to help and now the helpers need help. So we hope that everybody will go to our donation page and help donate, and help us so we can help others. We don’t want to stop here. We’ve got a long way to go.

J. Panz: There’s a lot of animals out there and a lot of people that need help. No shortage of that.

Big Ant from Rescue Ink

[RK]: Does it surprise you when people you show up to help turn violent on you when you’re just there trying to do the right thing (like in the 1st episode-the guy who was shooting feral cats with a pellet gun)?

J. Panz: You can’t fix stupid. People react however they’re gonna react. We negotiated with the guy but he decided to do something else when we left. We came back and we tried to help him out and tried to do the right thing, and he didn’t want to do it.  So we let it be known to him that if he continues this course of action, we’re gonna have a problem and it’s gonna escalate real quick.

Big Ant: We gotta feeling that every time he picks up a pellet gun, he probably has us in mind.

J. Panz: Yeah, I just want to say the thing that sets us apart from other rescue groups, anybody can take an animal out of an abusive situation.  The person abusing an animal could just get another animal.  What we do is we address the problem at its source.  We talk to the person abusing the animal. They’ll go from an animal, which can’t defend himself, and can’t talk and lives in the moment. What we do is we nip it at the source.

Big Ant: That’s why we stop it where it starts.

[RK]: So because of that approach, do you feel like your organization is more effective than say other rescue organizations?

J. Panz: We do whatever is necessary. We don’t leave a note on your door. We don’t give you a ticket.

G: We don’t go through the red tape.

Big Ant: We don’t sit and just talk about it. We go and do it.

[RK]: I’m sure you guys have seen a lot of really horrible situations on the calls that you’ve gone out on, and I’m wondering if there’s any particular situation that has stuck in you head over all this time that you could share.

Big Ant: The worst was the 180 cats, right? Yeah, we had a house with 180 cats and we had to actually catch every cat to get them spayed, neutered, and that one pretty much still sticks in me.

[This is the case that I heard of earlier this year that enlighteded me to the existence of Rescue Ink. Read the original post here.]

J. Panz: It’s still going. It’s an ongoing thing. I think there’s like 40 cats left and we’re down to adopting them out.

Big Ant: But we were at one point, if we’re doing adoption events every weekend, we got them out.  With that case, these people called all the rescue groups and as soon as they heard 180, they hung up on them and said, “Well get back to you.”  That’s the difference with us again.  They called us.  We showed up at their door.  They were surprised.  They were like, “I can’t believe that you’re here.”

J. Panz: And we didn’t have the money. We didn’t know how we were gonna do it; we just did it.  We still owe people money probably. I don’t want to talk about it. It was a Cat-tastrophy!

G from Rescue Ink

[RK]:  I assume this is your full time job that’s going on, rescuing the animals. How are you guys supporting your families?

J. Panz : [It's]…very, very difficult.

Big Ant: Yeah, we’re trying to do our work as much as we can, but if something comes in, we’ve gotta go. That’s it.  Money, yeah, we need the money and everything but suffering and suffering has to stop. You know?

[RK]: You guys are actually still trying to juggle your jobs and rescuing?

J. Panz: Well it’s not really juggling anymore; it’s trying to pick it up from off the floor.

G: Trying not to lose it.

J. Panz: Yeah, which we’re all struggling. We’re all struggling. You know what the problem is? Everybody sees a TV show and everybody sees this and they think we’ve got millions of dollars. That’s not the case. It’s not the case at all. We struggle with every single time we go out on a rescue. We struggle; you’ll see it on the TV show.

We get money to pool out of our pocket to get gas. We pool our money to eat. We go to rescue some horses and we’ve got to come up with $500, but you know, who’s got $20? Who’s got $7? Who’s got $100? We come up with the money and then we’re like, “I can’t believe we just spent our gas money. How are we gonna get home?”

Big Ant: And believe me, we write a lot of IOUs.

J. Panz: Yeah, we write them on ice cubes, on nothing that sticks! [laughs] No, we pay all our bills. You’ve got to give us time and we pay everybody.

Big Ant: Yeah, in time we’ll catch up but with donations, it would make it a lot easier. We could go into the situation a lot happier, and then we could go do what we’ve gotta do and not worry about the money. Let’s worry about the animal.

J. Panz: Yeah, you know what it is? Every single time there’s a phone call, every single time there’s an e-mail, there’s money attached to it.  When a rescuer calls and says, “Listen, there’s an abusive situation over here.  A guy let the dog out. He ran across the street. He got hit by a car and the dog’s been crying for three weeks now and the guy’s telling us get the hell out of here. He says he doesn’t have the money to fix the dog and he’s not letting anybody else help him, and this, that, and the other thing.”

We have to go in there and talk to this guy and get the dog out of there and get him medical attention.  That’s gonna cost $1,500 to $2,000. We find ourselves putting out an e-mail blast to try to raise the money and we’re already gone on the rescue. We don’t wait for it; we’re just hoping it comes. Then by the time we get back, we’re like, “Okay, how much are we in the hole now?”

The other rescue groups, they do whatever they can too.  They say, “Thank you.”  We say, “You’re welcome.”  But the plain, simple fact is we’re not a city organization.  We don’t get funding from the city.  We get funding from no one.  We get donations, that’s it.  This is what people have to realize.

[RK]: At least your money is actually going to help animals and it’s not towards an advertising budget that sends direct mail pieces to people who are just going to throw them away.  I hate when I get those in the mail.

J. Panz: One guy came in and goes, “What are you gonna do?  I’ll sue you.” We’re that guy’s nightmare. Sue me?  Go ahead, go ahead, sue me.  That’s why it doesn’t matter. We’re there to take care of a situation by any means necessary, within the means of the law. I have to keep on throwing that in there because the lawyer will get mad at me if I don’t. It’s the way things are. You don’t send a boy scout after a bad guy.  We never said we were angels.  We’re just there to help and we’re on your side.

G: By us showing how much we’re struggling, we’re telling other people that no matter what situation you’re in, somebody’s out there worse off than you and that’s what we do. We know we’re all struggling but we make sure we make the rescues.  We make sure we go try to save a pet’s life or an animal’s life.

J. Panz: And people too.

J. Panz: There’s a lot of times we go into a situation where there’s abuse, but the abuse isn’t really the fault of the owner due to the fact that they don’t have enough money to feed the animal. They don’t have enough money to feed themselves. Remember that old woman?

Big Ant: We went to her house and the dog bowl was full. The cat’s dish was full. She actually had a couple of rabbits. Everybody was fine. We were like, “This is fine. I don’t know what’s going on.”  The refrigerator happened to open and there’s nothing in there. We went through her cabinets. She had nothing to eat so she was feeding the animals, but she had nothing to eat.

So of course, what’s the next thing we have to do?  We all pool as much as we had in our pockets and went to the store and we had to get this lady food. We said, “What did you eat today?”  She said, “I ate some cereal this morning.”  We help everybody and everything that needs help.

[RK]: Okay so I have a totally silly question for our last question.  I have a lot of girlfriends now that are seriously crushing on all of you guys and I’m wondering, are you going to appreciate all of that additional female attention?

J. Panz: Well, it’s always appreciated, the female attention.

G: We got a couple chick magnets on our team.

J. Panz: The only person you’ve got to watch out for is G.  Everybody gravitates towards G.

G: Yeah, okay.

Big Ant:  All I’ve got is bill collectors and stalkers after me.  That’s all I have.

J. Panz: It’s nice to have people appreciate you.

Big Ant: That’s right.

Rescue Ink airs Friday nights at 10pm on the National Geographic Channel. The official Rescue Ink website (which just got a shiny new make-over) can be found at rescueink.org (where you can make donations online) and you can follow them on Twitter @rescueink or get updates from the National Geographic Channel @NatGeoChannel.

Related posts:
Rescue Ink: an in-your-face-approach to animal welfare
Rippin’ news
this fall: Rescue Ink “Unleashed” will air on NatGeo

“Nobody likes seeing Mommy and Daddy fight.”

Sons of Anarchy episode 2.3 "Fix"

Last night’s episode was a definite set-up to further some drama and tensions for what we will see as the season progresses. Gemma’s ordeal is clearly taking a toll, not only on her, but also on her marriage. Clay is about as understanding as Clay can be…but a man has needs, as we can clearly toward the end of the episode. Tara & Jax: are they doomed lovebirds? How much can she take of seeing the world that he lives in? (And is it only me or do these two totally lack onscreen chemistry? I feel like every scene is forced.) Ethan Zobelle continues to be a meddlesome meddler and, of course, got Deputy Hale eating out of his hand.

The good:

• Bobby singing “Hava Nagila” as Elvis
• Gemma mentoring Tara about the ways of the club & how to keep her man
• The mounting strain between Gemma & Clay, resulting in a smashed window
• Opie’s blatant disregard for self-preservation
• More of Charlie Hunnam’s butt!
• Tara’s expression when she & Jax were “caught” in the act

The not-so good:

• Mr. Rollins was absent this week

Sons of Anarchy news

Ratings:
Well it would appear that there was a 19% slippage for the second week, which is a little more than one usually likes to see after a premiere, although it was seen by 3.7 million viewers, 3 million of which were adults 18-49. Among total viewers, the show held up slightly better, dropping 14%. Those are still great numbers for FX and remember, the premiere was up 95% over last year.

TV Squad recently visited the set of SoA during some final writing sessions for the second season. While they didn’t learn anything telling, they do hint that the show so closely follows Shakespeare’s Hamlet that each season will almost mirror each act of the play. Now although I’m a little rusty on my Shakespeare (although I did love it in high school), I’m pretty sure that I remember the final act of Hamlet being a blood bath. They don’t call them tragedies for nuthin’.

Monsters & Critics has a refreshing interview with supporting actor Kim Coates, who plays Tig, the resident psycho and loyal follower of Clay. When asked about how season two was shaping up for “Sons of Anarchy,” and especially Tig, Coates noted his conversation with Kurt Sutter.

“Kurt pulled me aside before we started shooting,” Kim said. “He told me that it was going to be a funny year for him, that he had kind of lost his ‘mojo’ and was in a bad place over the thing with Donna.”

Initially, you know, (Ron) Perlman and I were late cast additions to the series, and the shaping of Tig was a process, I had to trust Kurt that, well, I am very careful with my bad boys, and I wanted to strike the right balance of humor with his tough as nails attitude, he’s a psychopath!  A lot of the stuff he does is sick, but interesting to watch.  But I wanted Tig to also have heart, but the Donna thing of course was wrong on so many levels, and Tig this season really has a hard time with it…he’s lost his way a little.”

Season 2 finale is in the can!
The filming of the final episode of SoA wrapped this week and Kurt Sutter is now in post-production. Some of his tweets (@sutterink) from this week are very telling of how things went and a hint of the carnage we’ll likely see in the finale:

another huge day. lots of gunplay and blood. 8:37 AM Sep 14th

day 5 of 8 (9?). HUGE fucking episode. who wrote this monster? i’m shooting pretty damn efficiently and still dropping scenes everyday. 8:32 AM Sep 15th

i directed the finale last year, but this one is way more proactive. a 90 minute indi-thriller. every scene is pretty much an action beat. 9:56 AM Sep 17th

day 8 of 9. starting late, finishing later. it’s gonna be a very bloody day. in front and behind the cameras. 12:06 PM Sep 18th

last day of shooting. good morning. on sked. just wrapped HR for the season. 1:14 PM Sep 21st

been trying to get use rights for a springsteen song for the finale. keep getting shot down by their legal team. need a line to bruce. about 12:30 PM Sept 23

post 212. the script is not a fucking blueprint. every word serves a specific purpose. dropping lines and adlibs drives me fucking nuts. 9:50 PM Sept 23

Here’s a peek into next week:
Episode 2.4 “Eureka”
When SAMCRO heads north to Eureka on a “charity” club run, they find more than just bike trouble when they cross state lines. The need to act fast causes the tension between Clay and Jax to rise. And with Samcro out of Charming, Gemma’s left in a tight position with The League.

“Unraveling the matriarch will destabilize them. They’re all little boys who need a strong mommy.”

A lot of Twitter feedback from last’s episode was that it was “boring.” I disagree. The thing that everyone has to keep in mind with Sons of Anarchy is that the writing is very sophisticated (despite the subject matter) and there’s more happening in the show then following a group of lawless, badly-behaved bikers. There’s a lot of stuff going on that you have to pay full attention to, a lot of it very subtle, and if you don’t you can get a bit lost.

Gemma stole the show in episode 2 "Small Tears"

Cultural Learnings wrote a fantastic post about last night’s show. It’s more than a typical episode recap. I highly recommend giving it a read. Do not read it if you didn’t see the episode as it would SPOIL your viewing.

See? I said SPOIL as in, possible SPOILERS ahead!

Highlights:

• One word: Gemma. I don’t think I have to say anything more.
• Seeing show creator, Kurt Sutter back as jailbound Otto
• the uncomfortable scene of Tig & Opie being “pals”-made my skin crawl
• great Sopranos reference

Lowlights:

• Crashing that sweet Cadillac
• Tom Arnold. He’s sleazy, but not sleazy enough as a porn mogul

Sons of Anarchy news

The season premier sets a ratings record:
The second season premiere of Sons of Anarchy on FX debuted to a series high Sept. 8.  Anarchy drew 4.29 million total viewers, including 3.03 million P18-49. The program grew 95% over its series premiere in the key 18-49 demo, the largest increase ever for the second season premiere of an FX series.

Screen Rant has some tid bits to share about the show

• When SoA premiered, it drew in 1.5 million viewers, despite going up against a Sarah Palin speech.  These numbers were the highest since Rescue Me premiere for the network.
• Clay (Ron Perlman) is based on King Claudius & Jax on Hamlet. It’s not quite Hamlet, but it would seem to be the guiding force of inspiration for the series.
• Before Sons of Anarchy, Ron Perlman had never been on a motorcycle.

Monsters & Critics interviewed Henry Rollins recently. Here’s an excerpt describing his physical transformation for the role of AJ Weston.

M&C: Your physical transformation is noted…you had a more lithe, yoga lean physique that you previously shared was due to a more vegan diet you adopted the past ten years.  Tell me what your training and changes entailed when you signed on for this role?

Henry Rollins: I was asked if I could put on some more muscle for the part. I upped the daily caloric intake and lifting poundage. Hopefully I got the size they were looking for. I don’t train like that anymore, it’s hard on the frame and I don’t really need the mass.

M&C: At the TCA’s, you shared that the cast and crew were exceedingly kind and talented.  Whose performances within this series have impressed you the most, and which particular scenes were the hardest for you to shoot personally in this complex second season?

Henry Rollins:  I think that all of the cast are very talented. Charlie Hunnam and Ryan Hurst stand out in my mind as being exceptionally impressive. The hardest scene for me was the assault scene in episode one. It was very important to the plot, but it was a relief when it was behind me.

It was not an enjoyable experience.

Rollins at the premiere for SoA

M&C: Will your character have more curt power struggle exchanges or face-offs with Darby, the reigning Charming supremacist?

Henry Rollins: Darby and Weston don’t like each other and it’s a small town, so there may be some future friction, you never know.

M&C: The tattoos you have, which are yours, and which are transfers applied by the makeup department?  The one on your lower neck, what does it symbolize?

Henry Rollins: Only one tattoo is applied to me for the part.

It’s the life rune at the base of my neck. Here’s an explanation: http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/groups_national_alliance.asp.

M&C: How long do we get the pleasure of AJ Weston this season, will he remain in Charming until season three?

Henry Rollins: The lifespan of AJ Weston is not in my hands.

E! Online
I have to link to this article at E! Online because I just love the title: What the hell just happened on Sons of Anarchy?!

Charlie Hunnam promises a major showdown between Clay and Jax
TV Guide reveals their take on season 2 and bits of an interview with Charlie Hunnam:
“There’s going to have to be a reckoning at some point, and Jax tries to do it in a way that’s the least damaging to the club,” Hunnam says. “But it builds and it builds and it builds to this violent confrontation. It’s a pretty hairy sequence, but I think it’s worth the wait.”

Isn’t it great to have something to look forward to every week?

What can I say about last night’s episode? Whoo doggy! And there was an unscheduled full moon last night: helloooo Charlie Hunnam bum shot!

gratuitous nekkidness!

To be honest I had higher expectations for the season premier. First of all, there were way too many commercials for my liking and I thought the “horrible event” was a bit…cliché (but I think maybe I have more of a Teflon coating than most viewers). However, I do expect the show to escalate over the season, much like it did last season, and I think we’re all in for some good storytelling. 

Highlights:

• Katey Segal still great as Gemma. And how many black, lacy shirts do you think that woman has in her wardrobe? Amazing.
• Rollins, Rollins, Rollins! He brought amazing coldness to his character. And unlike the majority of the SoA cast, those tattoos are real, kids!
• The title for last night’s episode was “Albification” which by definition means: the act or process of making white.

What did you guys think of it?

Sons of Anarchy news: warning some SPOILERS ahead

EW says aside from Katey Segal’s Emmy-worthy performance as Gemma, there are 5 things to watch for in Season 2:

1. The arrival of recurring guest stars Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins. They play white separatists determined to do whatever it takes to get the club to stop selling guns to gangs. “It’s no mystery how that’s gonna unfold ultimately,” Hunnam says. “It’s gonna be bloody.”

2. A brutal final few moments of the season premiere. Something happens to Gemma that will make you want to punch someone and/or your TV. Just know it serves a storytelling purpose. “There’s a slow build in the resentment between Clay and Jax that comes to a head in the middle of the season in a very explosive and violent manner, and we needed something that huge to bring us back together. The event is concealed from the vast majority of the club until Gemma realizes that she needs to pull the trigger and finally reveal this awful thing that happened to her in an attempt to unify us,” Hunnam says. “I think it was a very smart thing that [creator Kurt Sutter, Sagal's real-life husband] has done actually. I totally agree that it could potentially put people off a little bit because it is just so horrifying, but if you stay put through the course of the season, there’s a really nice payoff at the end.”

3. Jax getting the club involved in the porn business. Big Otto’s wife Luann runs into trouble keeping her porn studio afloat, and Jax brings the club in as a partner to bail her out. In addition to affording an opportunity for much-needed levity, it gives Sutter a chance to fulfill Hunnam’s one request for season 2: That Jax play a much bigger role in the day-to-day mechanics of the club. “Through the course of the first season, Jax was very reluctant to engage in a lot of the business of the club, mainly running guns, which is something I always liked that he was against. But I also felt like Jax is a gangster, and gangsters like to make money. He needs to prove that if he was the president of the club, he’d be a strong leader, bring in some money, and do a better job than Clay.”

4. Jax’s son, Abel, being a quiet baby. Drea de Matteo, who played Abel’s mother, Wendy, is headed to Wisteria Lane, which means Jax is now a full-time father. “Which is fun, but boy, it’s kind of hard working with babies,” Hunnam says. “It’s all adorable and very sweet when they’re cooing and inquisitive and playing with my beard and grabbing my hair. They stay at that level for a couple of minutes, and then they get bored and start crying and we have to bring in a rubber baby. We’ve just opted for Abel sleeping a lot.”

5. Two shower scenes! Jax is committed to making his relationship with Tara (Mad Men’s Maggie Siff) work, though their ongoing issues ruin what could’ve been a romantic shower scene in the season premiere. But, Hunnam promises, “the second shower scene later in the season is a little more hot and steamy.” The actor doesn’t have a problem with nudity. “I had such a baptism of fire since my first job was [the UK] Queer as Folk, and I had to be 18-years-old, fully naked, and engaging in pretty graphic sex scenes with another man,” he says. “After that, anything that Sons of Anarchy can throw at me is pretty much a cakewalk. I’d still say the baby is more difficult.”

Katey Segal & Ron Perlman as "Jemma and Clay"

Ron Perlman has been making the rounds with two similar sounding but different enough interviews, one at Pop Culture Zoo and one at IESB.com. I liked hearing his take on the show and of his character, Clay. Oh, and it would seems he’s finally put some decent time in the saddle and gotten a little better with his riding skills!

Chicago Tribune thinks SoA has definitely upped it’s game this season.

“The pacing is better, the plotting is tighter and the supporting cast is full of gems.”

TV Gal from Zap2It falls into the camp that is too squeamish to watch SoA:

“I’ve watched the second season premiere and the show simply isn’t for me. But I can appreciate why so many of you enjoy it and I’ll continue to check in on it as the second season progresses.”

She should just stick to Vampire Diaries and So You Think You Can Dance. This show is way out of her league.

Clay & Jax, Sons of Anarchy Season 2

*Tweet tweet*

Kurt Sutter is on Twitter (at least for the time being until he deletes his account “’cause i will feel frivolous and shameful“): @sutterink
Katey Segal is also on the tweets as well: @kateysegal

SoA Party in a Box giveaway is still happening!
The FX network is encouraging fans to throw Sons of Anarchy viewing parties and are having a Party In a Box giveaway! All you have to do is register and the first 100 fans to register will get an exclusive Sons of Anarchy Party-in-a-Box with branded party gear including SOA shot glass, banner, tattoos and more.

Kurt Sutter, Ron Perlman, Katey Segal & Charlie Hunnam

So I’m gonna ask the readers of my blog to help spread the word. Sons of Anarchy season two, premiers in one week — Tuesday, September 8th, 10pm on FX. I know in this digital age of DVRs, streaming downloads and iTunes, destination television is a dying event. But that number next Tuesday is an important number for the network and studio. All that advertising, marketing and promotional material you have seen around your town and on your TVs is pointed at that one night. A high number serves them in terms of advertisers and overall perception of the show. I couldn’t have asked for a better campaign and marketing strategy. FX has done an amazing job. I’d love to see all that hard work pay off for them and the show.

My request is good old fashioned “word-of-mouth”. Tell your friends, family, co-workers about the SOA premier next Tuesday. Help me get bodies in front of the tube. And if you know someone with a Nielsen box, I’ll personally call them and invite them to watch. I’m not kidding, send me their number and I’ll call them. I feel confident that the first episode of the new season will not disappoint

I want to thank you in advance for your loyalty and support. I am constantly blown away by the enthusiasm and devotion of the SOA fans. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I love this show and I love its fans.

I know I’ll be watching it in real-time! Will you?

There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of anticipation for next week to get here already so we can delve back into the brutal world of Charming and into the tumultuous clubhouse of SAMCRO. I know that for me, personally, I’ve probably forgotten how heavy & violent the show really is and I’m getting myself geared up for the culture shock of being thrust back into that world again.

Sons of Anarchy back on next week!

Thar be spoilers, Captain!

If you don’t want to know anything about season 2 events, stop reading now!

What will be be seeing in season 2?

Season 2 picks up where the first season left off. SAMCRO is in turmoil, they still have the ATF buzzing around their noses and the gun running biz is all but extinct. Jax & Clay are now in the midst of a Mexican standoff and that leaves the club divided.

If you’re a fan of Opie, like I am, you’ll be glad to know that he’s sticking around this season, full of appropriate drama and dedicated to Clay, which I’m sure will put a strain on his friendship with Jax.

SoA: Opie wallpaper

It’s been alluded to that there are other chapters of Sons of Anarchy in other areas of the country, and we’ll see SAMCRO team up with SoA Oregon to team up for some crime.

SAMCRO will also dabble in the porn biz this season. They will help Otto’s old lady, Luann, run her adult movie business. This will lead to a series of half-nude girls hanging around to entertain the fellas. According to E! News, one of the characters, a seemingly sweet single mom, will make a move on Opie; while another aggressive actress wants Jax  for herself. Tara doesn’t like that very much, naturally, and you will love what she does about it.

Oh, and apparently we won’t be seeing any of Wendy, played by Drea DeMatteo this season. I don’t think I’ll miss her much.

While the Mayans were SAMCRO’s enemies last season, this season they take on the Aryan Brotherhood (led by Adam Arkin & Henry Rollins) who want to destroy pulverize SAMCRO by any means necessary. And they’ll go to any extreme to do so. Let’s face it, the Sons of Anarchy are not good guys, but these guys are worse.

Sons of Anarchy

And what about that “horrifying event”?

There’s no other information other than it’s “Horrifying. Terrifying. Stomach-turning.” YIKES.

Enter for a chance to win a 2009 Harley Davidson FXD Dyna Superglide
visit: fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/bikegiveaway

Enter for a chance to win a Sons of Anarchy gear pack giveaway
visit: fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/gearpackgiveaway

SoA Party in a Box giveaway!
The FX network is encouraging fans to throw Sons of Anarchy viewing parties and are having a Party In a Box giveaway! All you have to do is register and the first 100 fans to register will get an exclusive Sons of Anarchy Party-in-a-Box with branded party gear including SOA shot glass, banner, tattoos and more.

Until next week!

The countdown is ON for the season 2 premier episode “Albification.”

Sons of Anarchy season 1 is now on DVD.

Catch up on the first season so you don’t get left in the dust when season 2 begins! Many critics still refer to SoA as “the Sopranos on 2 wheels”-which I think is a lazy way to describe the show. I very much believe it’s majorly influenced by Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” over anything else.
Read Express Night Out’s review and Icon Vs. Icon chose season 1 on dvd as it’s Pick of the Week.

Katie Segal on her character & the upcoming events of the season

Katey Segal at the FX Screening of Sons Of Anarchy

I really like her. I like that she’s flawed but she doesn’t think that she is. She’s survived a lot, and people like that tend to live in a lot of denial. She knows how to get through life in her way, and she doesn’t question it. It’s just, “This is how it is.” For instance, I don’t think Gemma’s ever been to therapy. She’s not that girl. What you see is what you get.

Something very dark happens. The club is going to go through some turmoil — when you live an outlaw lifestyle, that’s the risk you take. As my husband says, this season is all about loyalties. Henry Rollins and Adam Arkin are on the show this year, and they … well, I don’t want to say too much, but they’re not really good guys.

Adam Arkin & Henry Rollins talk shop

Adam Arkin on FX's Sons of Anarchy

Henry Rollins on FX's Sons of Anarchy

By now we all now that Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins are joining the cast to stir the pot in Charming. Arkin insists his character, Ethan Zobelle, is a White separatist, not a supremacist. Henry Rollins describes his character, AJ Weston as a “knucklehead”.

“Being an American who is very aware of race, I’ve been around those knuckleheads for many, many years,” Henry explained. “In the music world they come to your shows, it’s awful. I’ve heard the rationale, I can’t support it but it’s interesting to hear it and wonder how insane these people are.”

FX’s Sons of Anarchy Season 2 Premiere Screening

The screening for season 2 took place at the Paramount theater on Monday night in Hollywood, CA. View all the red carpet arrival photos!

Kurt Sutter, Katey Segal & Charlie Hunnam at the SoA premier (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America)

Throw your own Sons of Anarchy viewing party

The FX network is encouraging us to throw Sons of Anarchy viewing parties and to help the cause they are having a Party In a Box giveaway! All you have to do is register and the first 100 fans to register will get an exclusive Sons of Anarchy Party-in-a-Box with branded party gear including SOA shot glass, banner, tattoos and more.

Until next week!

If you need a refresher or want to do an SoA crash course to catch up before season 2 begins, season 1 was released on DVD today! Seriously, if you’ve never seen the show before and are interested in watching it you really should watch season 1 because season 2 expects everyone to know what is going on.

additional SoA desktop wallpapers available at fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa

From this point forward is a spoiler zone.

Consider yourself warned! On to the juicy stuff:

More about the “horrifying” event that occurs in the premiere

Something worse and more distressing than the castration or the blowtorch tattoo removal in season one is going to happen at the end of the first episode. If you can bear to watch, it will certainly make you think and wonder what will happen next.

I do know that this event includes newest bad guy, Henry Rollins. In a recent interview he was asked how difficult filming that particular scene was and his reply was:

It was a little much. It was tough to shoot, for all of us — the whole crew and all the actors involved. It was not cool. It was part of the story and we had to do it, but it was a huge relief when they said, “Okay, we’ve got it. That’s all we need.”

Henry Rollins on his character

I’m an awful man, named AJ Weston. He’s a neo-Nazi, white separatist, white supremacist type. He has no redeeming social qualities, except that he likes his kids. Past that, he’s incorrigible and awful. My boss is even more awful because he’s a Machiavellian character, played by Adam Arkin, who is brilliant. I’m a bad guy that does bad things, and my enemy is the Sons of Anarchy. And, they hate me too, believe me.

Opie fans rejoice

Ryan Hurst will be back this season as Opie, despite the fact that his character’s wife was assassinated last season, which surprisingly makes Opie’s commitment to SAMCRO even stronger. “Opie is a guy who needs a task,” series creator Kurt Sutter says. Opie’s task will find him getting even closer to Clay, which will most definitely have an impact on Jax’s emotional arc this season.

Enter the SoA bike giveaway

Go to fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/bikegiveaway to enter for a chance to win a 2009 Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Superglide!

And while you’re there don’t forget to enter the Sons of Anarchy gear pack giveaway!

As of August 17, you can head on over to fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/gearpackgiveaway to register for the giveaway where five winners will win the prize package, which includes:

• Tour Master Nylon Cruiser III-Large Sissybar Bag- a heavy duty, weather-resistant bag with nylon construction and a hinged lid providing storage space and easy access.
• Gift Certificate for a case of AMSOIL 20W-50 Synthetic Motorcycle Oil- a high performance engine, and primary chaincase lubricant.
• Gift Certificate for S&S Single Bore Tuned Induction Kit- kit features two forward facing, tuned length induction tracts and dual air filters to increase both horsepower and torque.
• Bobster® Gunner- eyewear that converts from sunglasses to goggles with lenses that darken in the sun.
• Find It Now Security System- an anti-theft tracking device that will ALERT, LOCATE, and RECOVER your ride if it is moved or tampered with.
• Vega XTS Naked Half Helmet- featuring aggressive cutaway styling and exceptional fit with a plush, super absorbent interior.
• Iron Horse Magazine- subscription to the #1 motorcycle magazine for the motorcycle enthusiast.
• ZANheadgear® Neodanna -Bandanna with neoprene face mask to ensure full coverage of the face and neck.
• ZANheadgear® Flydanna®- Head wrap with a tail and ties; perfect under a helmet.
• Sons of Anarchy Reaper T-shirt

Everyone is definitely anticipating the return of SoA. Even though the first season started out a little slow, I have a feeling that all of the media buzz and critical acclaim will pull in a ton more viewers for season 2, which is very much the same phenomenon that happened to season 2 of HBO’s True Blood.

Until next week!

I first heard of and wrote about Rescue Ink back in January this year and they have been on my radar ever since. Rescue Ink are reformed “bad guys” who love animals and have dedicated their lives to rescuing them from abuse.  They also take the time to educate bad pet owners, no matter what it takes.

Rescue Ink "Unleashed" premieres on the Nat Geo Channel Sept. 25th

Last year the NY Times wrote an article (a really great read and I highly recommend viewing the slideshow that accompanies the article) about them and caught the eye of National Geographic, who approached them to chronicle their animal saving adventures.

Tattoos and kittens: a photo from the NY Times slideshow

I am jazzed to see them get the recognition they deserve. You can’t deny that the juxtaposition of scary looking dudes saving cute lil fuzzies, while “educating” the rotten, neglectful pet owners isn’t a great cocktail for good tv!

Coming to an abuser near you!

Rescue Ink is always looking for donations to help their cause. You can donate at their official website and can also find more info on their myspace page.

Related post: Rescue Ink: an ‘in-your-face approach’ to animal welfare

This week we’ve got a little inside scoop about the over all story arc:

According to Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, friends tell him that FX’s headbanging outlaw motorcycle club series was the talk of the annual Sturgis Rally in South Dakota. Here’s some inside info on SOA from the cast and producers at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California (with additional info  gathered from a variety of sources including sutterink.com, the SOA myspace page and variety.com):

• Kurt Sutter has more or less a seven-season plan in mind for Sons of Anarchy, assuming that the largess of FX allows him to go on that long.
• The events of the season premiere will send one character on an unexpected spiritual journey.
• Per Kurt Sutter, Opie (Ryan Hurst) is ”a guy who needs a task,” and he’ll actually recommit himself to Clay this season, which plays into Jax’s arc this season.
• Maggie Siff revealed that high school acquaintances/friends Opie and Tara finally share a scene this season.
• Ron Perlman has finally mastered motorcycle riding and during one episode, which is largely set on the road, he was able to be in every single shot.
• Big Otto (the imprisoned club member played by Kurt Sutter) will appear several times this season.
• Tara and Gemma (Katey Sagal) will be drawing closer this season, but oddly enough, Jax and Gemma haven’t had many scenes together this season.
• Regarding the new white supremacist separatist character, Adam Arkin declares he is the “conceptual artist” in charge of violence; Henry Rollins does the actual skull crushing. Rollins promises that punches will not be pulled—you will see the aggression onscreen, live and bloody.
• Rollins says that his character’s, A.J. Weston, only redeeming quality is that he loves his children.
• Tom Arnold will be showing up in some sort of recurring role.
• There is a “horrible event” that happens to one of the crew on the season premiere. Jennifer Godwin, over at E-online wondered if it would turn away fans. It’ll rock folks a bit, in a good way, but if they stick around, they’ll see that it wasn’t gratuitous and that it indeed fuels the emotional engine of the season.
• Jax fans should be more than happy to see a buck-nekkid Charlie Hunnam in a shower scene toward the end of the season-two premiere, with his character sporting a new tattoo with the name of another character on the show.
• Sons of Anarchy season two premieres Sept. 8 at 10 p.m. on FX.

photo by D. Craig Harris (follow him on Twitter @d_craig_harris)

Until next week!

Coming into the home stretch. Writing 211, prepping 210, filming 209, editing 207, mixing 206.

This is that time of year where the story road gets very narrow. All the narratives start to intertwine and come to a head. It’s been a tough season for all our characters — emotionally and physically. I think it will be very satisfying for the loyal fans and hopefully intriguing enough to attract new viewers. The finale (which might be 90 minutes) will be pure BLOODY fun.

The premier episode, Albification, went out to critics. I’m already hearing buzz about the “horrifying event” that happens to one of the crew. Jennifer Godwin, over at E-online wondered if it would turn away fans. I’d say it’ll rock folks a bit, in a good way, but if they stick around, they’ll see that it wasn’t gratuitous and that it indeed fuels the emotional engine of the season.

FX has their TCA panel this week — Television Critics Association. Charlie, Ron, Katey, Maggie, Henry Rollins, Adam Arkin and myself will do a Q & A for critics about the upcoming season. Then critics will get the next four episodes to review.

I have to say, getting reviewed is such a mind-fuck. I try to stay detached — not take the bad ones personal, not be over-satisfied with the good ones — but man, it’s difficult. Not sure how others handle it, but I hate the fact that I’m deeply impacted by the opinions of others. Some of it is human nature, some of it is my emotional immaturity. The truth is there are so many variables that dictate the tone of a review, that only an idiot would take them to heart.

So here I sit, the idiot. Let the mind-fucking begin. More to come.

Poor Kurt. It must not be easy to east shit and play nice in that kind of area day after day to do what you love.

Here’s a whole bunch of promotional photos of the cast. Seeing Rollins in there makes me giddy!

It gives a little hint to what we can expect this upcoming season. Looks like lots of trouble for SAMCRO and even more trouble (deservedly so) for Clay. And there’s even a glimpse of Mr. Rollins (as a cop, perhaps?) in there, too!

Click on the image to view the trailer!

Here are three official season 2 Sons of Anarchy promos to scratch the itch you guys might be having right about now. We can expect new episodes for season two to begin 09-08-09! Click on the photos to watch the videos.

Promo 1: Jax vs. Clay

Promo 2: Harley 360

Promo 3: Jax 360

Related posts:
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Pics from the set of Sons of Anarchy season 2
Sons of Anarchy season 2 update
More info about Sons of Anarchy
Shooting begins for SoA
A punk rock legend joins the cast of SoA

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In the thick of it. Just started shooting episode 204. I’m writing episode 206 and 207 and editing 201 and 202. Love my job, even when it’s crushing me. Here are some non-spoiler pics. I have my PA, John snapping away on set, so hopefully I’ll update more frequently.

Related posts:
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HBO partnered with marketers for an ad campaign promoting the second season premier of its series “True Blood.” Agency Digital Kitchen created ads for fake products targeting vampires from real brands like Ecko Unlimited, Geico, Gillette, Harley-Davidson, MINI and Monster.com. The ads maintain the brands’ logos and creative style while featuring made-up vampire-themed copy and products.

"Outrun the sun"

I am a big fan of the show and think the idea of the fake ads is kind of fun and playful. I can’t wait for the new season to start on Sunday, June 14th!

See more of the fake ads and the original article at Creativity Online.

Jesse was there in person for the finale, had a minor verbal exchange with Dennis Rodman about being an alcoholic and threw his hat in Annie Duke’s corner.

Someone in Jesse’s camp posted this picture on MySpace and I couldn’t resist sharing this pic of Jesse and Trump throwing up the horns.

Trump and the Dead Man

It was fun while it lasted and I’ll have to endure a few empty weeks without my Jesse James fix until “Jesse James is a Dead Man” hits Spike at the end of the month. But until then, I just found this info on Spike.com:

On Tuesday May 12th at 8 ET/ 5 PT Spike.com gets taken over by Jesse James as he attempts an impossible stunt, live for the world to see. Jesse will ride a high-powered “Nitro Bike” which can reach a speed of over 200 MPH down a runway. Sounds easy right? Well, this motorcycle will be strapped with two military-grade bazookas on each side and at the end of the runway will be a brick wall. The challenge: ride the bike down the runway, fire both bazookas, and safely continue through the disintegrated wall. Will Jesse survive or will he be a Dead Man? Tune in to Deadman.Spike.com to find out.

Another update from Kurt Sutter’s blog:

“We start shooting season two on Monday. Had our read-thru this week. It was great to see everyone around the table again. Not to gush, but it’s such a cool fucking pack of folks…

So we continue to try and generate quality material and the cast and crew continue to bond. It’s a great fucking set. Guerrilla film making with everyone firing on all cylinders. I saw it happen with Chiklis, Walton and Kenny [of The Shield] and it’s happening on SOA as well. The actors have become family and in our case, a club. Charlie, Ron, Boone, Kim, Theo — they all hang out, drink, play golf together. Girls too. Katey, not unlike Gemma, has become the maternal glue. It’s just in her nature to take care of those around her….

Had a great meeting with an actor today whom I hope will be be playing Ethan Zobelle. Zobelle is a new proprietor in Charming and the leader of an ultra conservative organization. Can’t reveal any names until the deal closes, but this guy is a fascinating actor from a very talented family. That character shoots Friday so I hope it closes early this week.

Well, lucky for us Kurt Sutter, creator and writer of FX’s Sons of Anarchy recently updated his blog and gave us a little nugget regarding the upcoming season of the show.

“We’re pretty much on schedule. My goal was to have four scripts written and approved by the time we start shooting and we’ll do that. Have various drafts of the next four being written and well start breaking stories for 209 next week.

The first episode starts shooting on the 27th. Guy Ferland (who directed more episodes of The Shield than any other director) is directing 201, Albification. Guy did an amazing job on episode 107, The Pull, last season. I’m thrilled to have him kicking off season two.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about what the 201 title means. I can tell you it’s a theme for the season.

My entire, talented cast is back (with the exception of a few, whose agents and managers are twisting my fucking arm for more cash that we don’t have and ultimately undermining their clients whom I won’t be able to afford) and we’ve added a few new characters. As you probably have read, Henry Rollins joins us as AJ Weston. He’s a prison hard Aryan walking a fine line between ultra conservatism and violent racism (if a line truly exists). His boss and the brains behind the organization is Ethan Zobelle. That role is still being cast.

As I’ve said in interviews, this season is all about internal alliances. For me, the big antagonist this season is just a catalyst to ignite the deep, primal conflicts within the club. Lives will be threatened, sides will be taken and Sam Crow will become the biggest threat to the Sam Crow.”

Spike has posted two new clips on their site for our viewing pleasure!

Punk rock legend, Henry Rollins,  joins the cast of Sons of Anarchy season 2!

A legend in the punk rock world (and an icon from my misspent youth…I can’t tell you how many shows of his I’ve been to!) is joining the cast of Sons of Anarchy for a six episode arc. That’s right, just when I thought I couldn’t get any more excited I just learned that Mr. Henry Rollins is joining SoA this upcoming season.

If you didn’t grow up listening to punk music in the 80′s then here’s a brief bio on Mr. Rollins. He is a singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, stand-up comedian, author, actor, activist and publisher. He was the front man for punk band Black Flag in the 80′s and has since formed the Rollins Band, written a few books, done a ton of spoken word & stand-up tours, has a lot to say about social and political issues (whether you agree with him or not) and even has his own show on the Independent Film Channel.

He will appear in six upcoming episodes of Sons of Anarchy and will play a new antagonist in the show who poses a deadly threat to SAMCRO. Even Kurt Sutter is excited to have him on the show. From his blog, SutterInk:

“I fucking love Henry Rollins. Been a fan for years. From Black Flag to his one-man shows. He’s a super smart cat with exponential intensity. So excited to have him on the show.

I don’t want to say too much about who his character is right now. As we get closer to air, more information will be revealed. Suffice to say, Henry will fucking chew it up.

While Henry’s better known for being an angry, little man and not known for being a fantastic actor, it’s sounds like he won’t have to stetch his acting legs too much. He just needs to have a bad disposition and scowl a lot. I think he’s pretty good at both of those things.

And now for your viewing/listening pleasure is “Liar” by the Rollins Band.

Kurt Sutter recently posted an update on his blog about the progress of writing for season 2:

I’ve finished a draft of the first script and my writers are in the process of writing 202 and 203. We’ve broken the first four episodes and have a pretty solid handle on the arc of the season. Two weeks ago, I pitched the big ideas to the network and they loved them. It’s cool when your boss is also a fan of the show. I don’t just get “that’s good for the network”, I get “that’s great shit for the show”. They had very few notes on the first script, so we are off to a good start with the story-telling. My hope is to have four scripts approved by the time we start production at the end of April.

Obviously, I can’t give anything away, but I as I’ve said in a few interviews, this season is all about alliances. We are going to explore and exploit the bonds we have with our brothers, our family, our country and our god. As I was writing this first script, I smiled when I realized that I get to channel all my twisted Catholic angst into a show about men who play God. I love my fucking job.

Still uncertain exactly when season two will air. A lot depends on FX’s development slate. I will keep you posted.

It’s always a good sign when the writer himself is giddy with twisted excitement!

Related posts:
A punk rock icon joins the cast of SoA
More info about SoA
Shooting begins for SoA