Sons of Anarchy- My Thoughts on Sutter's Thoughts

As you know, I review one of my favorite shows, Sons of Anarchy, over at TV Fanatic. In doing so, I have become even more invested in the series, and hence have spent some time reading what others have thought of this third season.

This morning Mo Ryan of AOL's TV Squad posted a piece on the use of a Hell's Angel near the end of this season, and show-runner Kurt's Sutter's thoughts on the state of the series. After reading the post, and some of the interview with Sutter, I got so riled up that I needed to react to some of the comments by the SoA creator.

I feel like this is one of the negatives of writing and reading about one of your favorite shows. Sometimes you get so close that it is easy to find the problems with it. At times I think that if I just casually watched Sons, I would be enjoying it much more, but then I talk to casual viewers like T-time and Jaydon, and they agree with my stance so I don't feel so bad.

Kurt Sutter and Sonny Barger

Below are some of Ryan's piece and the thoughts of Kurt Sutter. The entire article and transcribed interview can be found in full here. TV Squad - EXCLUSIVE: Hells Angel Sonny Barger to Guest on 'Sons of Anarchy' and Creator Kurt Sutter on the Season So Far, by Maureen Ryan.

The decision to expand the show's universe came from a desire not to simply repeat season 2, Sutter said, and he also thought it was time to delve deeper into the show's mythology and for Jax to learn more about his dead father, John Teller.

First off, no one needs a repeat of season two. It was a truly great season of television, and I probably wouldn't be complaining if season three was almost identical to it, but I'd still be complaining. There are ways to not copy yourself and still make the next season much more entertaining. Just because many critics are noting that this season is way worse than the previous installment, it doesn't mean we wanted a repeat in format. Just a repeat in quality.

I am all for more John Teller back story, and for Jax to find out more about his dead father, but that just isn't happening. There was a good bit about it in the season premiere, which I loved, and now I feel more of it coming on as we get into the Belfast stuff, but there was a good old chunk of episodes there (seven or eight maybe) of very little John Teller information.

"The point of this season, or some of the point for me, was the idea that these guys, when they get to Belfast, they're no longer in Charming. You know what I mean? They are they're little fish in a big pond and they're completely out of their depth," Sutter added. "The point of 'Turas' with that explosion was like, 'Holy [expletive] ... This is the level of violence we're stepping into. This is the world that we're living in now. We're not in Charming. We're not in control.'"

Again it's a great idea, and I understand where Sutter wanted to go with this idea about Belfast being so different than what the Sons were used to in California, but I don't think it has worked thus far. The bomb blowing up the truck wasn't any more disastrous than many of the things that happened in Charming. Just this season Hale had his head ran over by a drive-by truck. Last year Sack was murdered and there were white supremacists wreaking havoc all over the place. A little truck bomb that failed to kill any of the Charming members? The stakes are not all that much greater in Ireland.

As for the season as a whole, "I think it's all going someplace and whether or not it will be satisfying or enough, I don't know, but again, it's really all landing on the mythology this year, so hopefully that will pay off," he added.

I get it. If you are telling a long story in which you can see what the ending will be, you need some type of build up to make the finale that much better. You need time to get to know the characters more, and a lot mythology helps that as well. Whether that has been happening this season, I'm not sure. And yeah the payoff in season four or five may be fantastic, and doing the third season this way might have been necessary, but that doesn't mean this third season has been enjoyable in its own right. If it's just a means to an end, I understand that, but don't also claim that this season has been as good as season two. It just isn't.

"I really have to think in terms of, OK, where are we at and what have we earned and what kind of ride do we want to take them on?" Sutter said in his interview. "Hopefully people will stick around for the ride. My experience so far is that I think perhaps the casual viewer is struggling with this season. The viewer that may be tuned in every three or four episodes in the past might be struggling with it because it is a different environment and people are at a different place."

The fact that Sons of Anarchy has casual viewers that jump in every third or fourth episode is appalling. How could you ever do that? Even if that is true, I don't think they're any more upset than many of the die-hard viewers. It is these people that are so invested, and fell so in love with this show throughout the first two seasons, that have lost a bit of faith. Heading into this season, I had all of the expectations of moving Sons into the top spot in my Power Rankings, but that hasn't happened.

I still love Sons of Anarchy, and I hope that the final four episodes of the season come through in a big way (and since I've trashed it so much in this post, I'm sure tonight's ep will be awesome), but this season has been disappointing to many of us die-hards. You're not going to throw a perfect game every time out to the mound Kurt. Let this one go and wow us in season four.

My review of tonight's Sons of Anarchy will be live over at TV Fanatic tomorrow morning. You can follow me on Twitter as @quietpool. Mo Ryan of AOL's TV Squad is on as @moryan and Sons show-runner Kurt Sutter is on as @sutterink.