Let me begin by saying that I am not a writer by trade or hobby (as you'll see below) and that my thoughts may be a little scatter-gun at times ...
I also would like to mention that I absolutely adore Sons Of Anarchy, the first four seasons were some of the best TV that I've seen for a while and I'd even go so far as to say that it was my favourite series of the last few years (Game of Thrones included!) ... and this is what pains me so much about what I have to say about season 5 so far (up to episode 5).
* WARNING mild spoilers follow *
What was once a gritty crime drama punctuated with truly shocking scenes is now a gratuitous violence & comedy sketch show. The story has lost all purpose and now only seems to exist as a vehicle for another scene of a brutal beating or to get a cheap laugh. In previous seasons we could always see what the goal was, but now it feels like the writers have no idea of where this is going and are winging it at every step of the way. Each episode feels like a standalone entity written as if funding could disappear at any second; it's almost like they couldn't risk trying to stretch a serious storyline out over multiple episodes, just in case!
Characters lack depth and have schizophrenic mood swings - something as serious as the death of a core character appears to be forgotten about by the character's best friends only one episode later where they joke around with trans-gender prostitutes and carry on as if everything is OK with the world. It used to seem like we knew what they were thinking and what their motivations were, but what once were deep and well-defined personalities are now like mannequins, wheeled out to perform a cabaret and then stuffed back into a storage cupboard. We also have the random bikers we've never seen before who are suddenly part of the MC "church" meetings and apparently we should take seriously! Where did this lot come from? Did I miss a key scene somewhere?
I'm wondering if the original writing team got fed up of waiting for funding of season 5 and went off looking for work elsewhere - I guess I should go look that up really!
I should of course bear in mind that we're only a handful of episodes into the season and maybe they can bring it back on track before the end. In all honesty though, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last season, whether that happens naturally through the storyline or because funding disappears is yet to be seen though.
Come on people, bring back the drama and tension of the first four seasons!
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