Catching Up- Sons of Anarchy Season One

I'm glad that I already cemented out The Perspective's January Power Rankings (due out tomorrow) because if I had waited until I finished the first season of Sons of Anarchy I would have had a tough time keeping it out of the top ten. Seeing as though I am not caught all the way up, that wouldn't have been fair. Unless it has a Heroes-ian second season collapse I can see the FX action series climbing the charts by the time March rankings come around.

Not since the days of Danny McCoy have I thought that a character was so incredibly cool. Jackson Teller, the lead character of Sons, is without a doubt one of the studliest dudes on television. As Vice President of the Sons motorcycle gang, he is as hard as they come. But as a brand new father and woo-er of his beloved Tara Knowles, he is as sensitive and loving as they come. The angst he shows in having to do some of the dirty work involved with the gang is unbelievable. The fact that he wants to legitimize the club (as per his late father's wishes) gave me as a viewer something to root for the entire season. In the season one finale, after pummeling one of his brothers, he shows up at a funeral in the most amazing fashion. It was as if he was saying, I am that much better and sweeter than all of you that I can do whatever I want. Jax alone is worth watching Sons of Anarchy.

I have currently only watched the first two seasons of Sopranos. From this point on all of my comments are going to be comparing Sons to Sopranos and noting how much better Sons has been. In regards to my previous rant on Jackson Teller, what makes it better than Sopranos is that he is so much better than Tony himself. Tony, with his anxiety attacks, trips to the psychiatrist and babbling to Carmella have a tendency to make me not enjoy him.

Also unlike the first two seasons of Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy has an ensemble of characters that I really enjoyed. Other than Paulie, there is not one member of Tony's mob that enjoyed throughout the entirety of the first two seasons. I liked Pussy in season one (maybe due to the other things I had seen Vincent Pastore in) but as an informant in season two he was garbage. I think what makes each one of them so good, is that I've already gotten a feeling for who they are, which I have yet to get in the Sopranos (with the exception of Michael). Even though I hate Clay and his inability to correctly run Sam Crow, I absolutely love to hate him as a character. Tony Soprano's uncle Junior on the other hand has just been useless so far. I tend to not care at all when he is on the screen.

And finally the style and pace of the show itself has been much more enjoyable. So much stuff has happened during the first 13 episodes of SoA. Maybe just as much happened in Sopranos, but it sure didn't feel like it. The action keeps coming at ya and coming at ya, but they still make time from slow and emotional moments (like all of the time Jackson spends with his newborn baby).

Looking forward to banging out season two.