Immediately after the credits finished on the first episode of Sons of Anarchy I wanted – no, needed, to watch the next episode. There was no real cliff-hanger of sorts, I just wanted to see what was going to happen with the members of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original Charter (SAMCRO), their families, their enemies and their town. All from one episode I was attached to the characters and what I was seeing. I had already pictured myself with the SAMCRO patch, pretending to be the badass with a conscience. And as of right now I have seen the entire first and second seasons, and what an experience it has been.

Here in Australia our TV networks are run by uninspiring, uncreative and unambitious money-men that cannot see past the instant ratings hit to feed their insatiable desire for the next big opiate-like addiction such as shows about chefs and houses full of fuckwits. In the great United States of America, with its massive TV audience, networks are able to branch out and develop really creative sub-networks. Much like Hollywig has things like Fox Searchlight and the ’second-tier studios’, so too does TV in the States. Channels like these are setup for cable and are on the most part given good injections of power to compete with the established free-to-air channels. We all know HBO for shows like Sopranos (have yet dived into that world), Deadwood (classic) and others I need to watch – why hello there The Wire how are you? Showtime in the states brought me Dexter and Penn & Teller’s Bullshit. Another such channel is FX which is a part of the massive News Corporation empire. FX brought me Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the very soon to watch Justified and the impeccably awesome The Shield. One of the key players in the creation of Shawn Ryan’s masterpiece that was The Shield was until recently unknown player to me, Kurt Sutter. It would be easy to dismiss him as “just a writer” of good TV. But what he has created with Sons of Anarchy is truly epic.

Sutter, by his own admission, is a hard person to deal with. Reading his blog you can get a good sense that this is a guy that does not want to be fucked with and yet at the same time he is very open, honest and often wears his heart on his sleeve. I was asked how to describe Sons of Anarchy and all I could say was it was fucking brilliant, and when pressed harder to elaborate, had to say that it was a show about more than just a bikie club. It is a show about people and how they interact, how long-time friendships, love and bonds can be tested, broken and emboldened. It is a show of Shakespearian merit; no shit I read an article about it and Sutter himself has commented on a desire for a Hamlet-esque arc to the story. It might sound like it would be too much to pull off but it works – my fucking god does it work.

Another question I am asked is “who is in it?”. That is easy at first then I hit a wall. Ron Pearlman and Katey Sagal are the only two names I knew. There were same familiar faces and appearances but that’s about it. In my enjoyment of the show there are three main characters: Pearlman’s Clay, Sagal’s Jemma and Charlie Humman’s Jax. Clay Morrow is one of the original SAMCRO – one of the first 9 men that formed what would become the central figure of the show; the club itself. He was best friends with Sagal’s Jemma’s husband John Teller, a fellow SAMCRO original. John was the president, Clay the vice. In the current time, Clay is president and Jax is the vice. Jax is Jackson Teller, the son of the original president, the prodigal son. The woman in the middle of these two men is the powerful, proud and meaningful Jemma Morrow, formally Jemma Teller. Right here, right now, it has to be said that Katey Sagal’s portrayal of this queen, this dominant woman, the heart, soul and mind of the club, is just simply some of the best acting television screens have ever presented to an audience.

Ok, so you have Clay Morrow as the president. He is married to Jemma. Her son, Jax, is the vice-president. This triangle is the strongest shape within the show and the most important relationships of the whole thing. Sutter has created this amazing dynamic between the 3 of them that just has to be seen to be believed. Clay is ageing, arthritis stabbing at his fingers, making every punch a pain and every grin a grimace. He is losing the iron-clad grip on the control of his club to the prodigious and ambitious Jax. Jax sees the club as needed to evolve into a different kind of beast; something more noble. The amazing thing about all this is that whilst these two men are having their power struggles throughout the first season, they both continue to lead the club. Their ideas of moving forward are greatly different. And then there is Jemma – the queen on the club. She is seeing her son and her husband moving in differing directions and the club losing its way. Like a desperate mother watching her world fall apart, Jemma shows her true strength and manages to bring the two of them closer, despite their efforts to move apart. It is just amazing television.

So it may seem like the show is some kind of tough-guy soap opera with a powerful patriarch contesting his seat with the up and coming son who wants to take over but it is so much more than that. As mentioned earlier it is a show about the bonds that make us who we are. SAMCRO is first and foremost a club; a gathering statement of men. The club is based in a small Californian town called Charming; a quaint little town with bond born of fearful respect and need for the club. SAMCRO wont take lightly to no one dealing drugs or pussy in their town and it is abundantly clear that the town appears to appreciate their vigilante styled justice over the law and order response. The town’s sheriff is Chief Wayne Unser, played by Dayton Callie of Deadwood fame – Charlie Utter to be precise. His deputy is David Hale, a cop desperate to rid Charming of SAMCRO and “do the right thing”. There is great conflict between Unser and Hale; Unser is the old-timer who has grown up in the town alongside Clay and his club. Hale wants to change everything, rid the town of this menace and restore true law and order. It is great to see the evolution of both of these men. Unser continues to work with SAMCRO to the point of no return and Hale’s strong desire to alter the balance in the town is severely tested.

There is a lot that can be said about Jax (played by Charlie Hunnam), the heir apparent to the now fragile SAMCRO. He has an almost Kurt Cobain-like look to him; much to the enjoyment of the ladies? Speaking of which there has been way too many shots of naked men’s bums. This show needs some boobage, STAT! Jax is torn between his love of his child, mother, missus, club and friends. He finds a book written by John Teller, his father, one of the other first 9, and it forms the basis of Jax’s internal struggles. It is a pretty cool story-telling technique to have this book as the internal dialogue for Jax. Doesn’t matter what he does or thinks or feels, he is confronted with choices to make on a constant basis. He can’t just change SAMCRO like he feels the need to; he has to work for the change and grow the club in the new direction. And to add weight to his life he is reuniting with the true love of his life Tara; a doctor at the local hospital who has fled back to her home town of Charming looking for protection, safety and calm. But she only gets one of those.

I could talk about all of the members of SAMCRO. There is ‘Tig’, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the club; basically he is the guy that Clay gets to do all of his dirty work – with an emphasis on all of the dirty work. Bobby Elvis is an older member of the club, loves his impersonations of the King and is a great middle man in lots of the conflict between the club. Half-Sack is a prospect, still paying his dues to the club. Juice appears to be the technical wizard; the guy they turn to for surveillance and research. I have neglected two other members, and for good reason.

They are Opie and Piney. Piney is Opie’s father, again one of the first 9 of SAMCRO. Opie is also Jax’s bestest friend. The story weaves such a strong bond between Jax and Opie and its very believable if any of you have those really close friends. In a powerful narrative direction, Jax and Opie are forced to deal with some serious fucking shit. I can’t go into it as it would spoil it. Piney stands back and watches the issues between his son and Jax; he also stands by and watches and comments on the rifts between Jax and Clay.

There is so much going on in this fucking show I have barely touched the surface. I really like these characters. I have a healthy admiration for most of them. There are those that annoy me as they cannot see past their own stubborn ways, unable and unwilling to change even the slightest thing. The amount of times this show really built up the emotional impact of the main events with a great soundtrack is something worth mentioning. The use of music is deliberate and direct. The songs really add to the weight of emotion in a scene.

Basically, just watch this fucking show. Give the characters a chance to grow on you – took me one episode – and let their world enter yours. The world of SAMCRO is not entirely different to your own – it’s just painted in leather and motorcycle grease. The fundamental emotional issues that they face are all familiar – again, it’s just the contexts that change. I love this show and eagerly anticipate the season 3 premiere in September. Looks like Dexter has a bunch of new friends.

24 Season 1

According to Wiki, 24 is “an American conspiracy thriller television series”. But it is much more than that. It is not merely a television series; it became a way of life for 24 episodes a year over the last nine years (nine years, eight seasons, thanks writer’s strike!). Whole years of TV viewing were based around the broadcast schedule of 24. Things would be put aside. Life was placed on hold. Friends told to fuck off. Phones taken off the hook. Nothing was allowed to prevent the experience – until now. After nine years of the most enjoyable TV of my life, 24 has come to an end. In reality, it was the only thing that could stop it. Now it is all over.

There are so many things about 24 that will remain with me; the characters, events and stories. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to mention some memorable characters from 24 you may need to be prepared to pull the trigger. Every character served a purpose, had intentions and emotions.

24 Season 2

President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) was a character of such strength that at times he nearly stole the show. His character was so honourable and respectable despite the evils he was forced to face. Haysbert played him with a strength of character, will and honour that would lead me to vote for him without a second’s thought.

As Palmer became president and presided in that capacity for the first few seasons, he was always a constant. Whilst the shit hit the fan and Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland’s best work) and his Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) buddies had to save the day, Palmer remained a constant. Whilst he was not always solid in his conviction, he always made the right decisions; the right calls were made when he was put in a fucking horrible position. Some of Jack’s CTU buddies would change from season to season. The amount of people running the CTU offices changed a lot, but a few stand out.

24 Season 3

George Mason (Xander Berkley) started off as an annoying weasel-y boss that kept the book in between Jack and saving the world. It was great to see such a by-the-book guy transformed into a national (international?) hero. Following on from Mason were many other people stepping into the director of CTU chair. Some died, some were fired and all had to deal with JACK FUCKING BAUER.

Another guy that had a similar start but redemption was swift and rewarding was Bill Buchanan (James Morrison). Whereas Mason had a slow burning redemption path, Bill rode the way to redeeming his officialdom attitude with a clever mix of protocols and presence. Another hero for us all. And who could forget Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower from Transformers – cut the hard lines!!!). He would take a bullet for the president – regardless of who it was – and then put that bullet in his gun and shoot himself again just to make sure it didn’t hit the main man.

24 Season 4

CTU was full of interesting characters. Some were tought bastards (never as much as Jack) such as Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), Curtis Manning, Chase Edmunds and Cole Ortiz. The only one of those I just mentioned that was coo was Tony, but more on him later. Its kinda funny because Jack actually kills Curtis and cuts Chase’s hand off. From memory Chase was putting one in Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert SCHWING!), Jack’s big-breasted blonde daughter. The fact that she ended up at CTU was hilarious and Chase chose the wrong hairy cave to explore cause Jack was not happy! Speaking of girls, Jack certainly had his share after season one. Moving on from the tragic death of his wife, Jack managed to get his end into quite a few birds. The most recent couple of seasons he had been getting the leg over Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) an FBI agent with big cans, freckles, a huge forehead (we are soul mates!) and red hair. Still give her one I reckons.

24 Season 5

24 had some strong female characters as well, such as the aforementiond Renee. Kim ended up being a bit stronger. President Taylor was a strong woman however she didn’t have the strength of character of David Palmer. The most important female character in the whole show was Chloe O’Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub). Chloe, much like the other secondary characters, almost stole the show from Jack. Chloe would have to be the second main star. She started off on Jack’s bad side, however she ended up becoming the most important person in Jack’s life on so many occasions.

Chloe had an attitude that was just hilarious. She was never content with being told what to do when she knew that the ‘boss’ was being a dickhead and this invariably meant she was doing things for Jack on the down-low. The amount of times Jack had to call Chloe and say “Chloe its Jack. I need you to upload that to my PDA. But there is a mole in CTU” would be huge. So awesome.

24 Season 6

And Chloe would make us all laugh when she looked disgruntled and upset with the goings on. She would always stick up for Jack, the point where she would often be “put in holding” and grilled by her superiors. She did the right thing by Jack, which was the right thing for the world. I mentioned Tony Almeida before and need to explain why this guy was also awesome. Tony was one of Jack’s fellow CTU agents and the shit he has been through is incredibly similar to Jack. He has lost love ones, hated America, blamed himself but always, always, was with Jack. In a later season he was painted as the bad guy but eventually it became the Jack and Tony show. It was great because we could never accept that Tony would turn on the USA, CTU, Jack and the ‘right’ thing to do. Tony, like Chloe, would often be forced to choose between the CTU way, the wrong way and finally the Jack way. Inevitably, he chose the Jack way, as he should.

24 Season 7

Jack Bauer. Jack. Agent Bauer. Call him what you will, but know that if he has to, he will torture you for information. I have seen Jack torture so many people that it became a way of life. Jack has tortured terrorists, double agents and women. Jack has killed thousands of people. Jack has killed his superiors when he had to, his fellow CTU agents when called upon and many goons. Jack did what he had to do to get the job done. His single focus to protect the USA and the President never faltered. Sure, he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, but instead of bitching about it, he just chucked some more ammo in his satchel bag (so awesome) and headed off into the chaos. I have never seen a dude go through that many different phones and PDAs either. That isn’t a really fair summation of him though, because as the seasons progressed, Jack seemed to become more and more detached from this single vision and the impact all of these days had on him eventually took their toll.

24 Season 8

24 had anything and everything bad happen. Nuclear bombs went off. Planes were crashed. Viruses were released. People were assassinated. Shit hit the fan. And it did not matter what Jack was doing at the time, but he would be kicked into action. Whilst he may have had concerns about saving the world again and again, he always managed to fit right back in. He was the man and the one people should have listened to, which makes me think, if people did what he said when he said it, the show would have been over in only a few hours. NOW! I need the codes NOW! I need the location of the terrorist NOW! Give me the access key NOW! Where are the hostages NOW! So much Jack needed and wanted NOW! that it almost became one long frustrating day for him that would never end. But I mentioned before that the show has ended. It seems to have ended on it’s own terms, which is ideal. Events no longer occur in real time, and that is really sad.

The show was exceptional, enjoyable, engrossing, exciting and energetic. But I think the thing that will remain with me the longest was the shared experience I had whilst watching the show. To be able to share the above emotions with my friends and family have given these memories an unbreakable and impregnable hold on my mind. I will miss Jack, yes. I will miss the adventure. But what I will miss the most is dedicating a weekend to watch it in large chunks with those closest to me and sharing that. And those experiences have all been thanks to what has been the longest days in Jack Bauer’s life.