Earlier this year, stumbling around on Hulu, I came across Sons of Anarchy. Many who know me, know that I’m a huge fan of the History Channel’s Gangland and NatGeo’s Outlaw Bikers shows. I can probably name a dozen national and international motorcycle club names without even thinking about it. Needless to say, my curiosity was piqued and I had myself a mini SAMCRO marathon (mini because Hulu only had rights to the last 5 episodes or something like that). In most of the episodes of Gangland and Outlaw Bikers, only a hint of a member’s personal life is given – usually it’s only a mention of how a motorcycle club’s women are referred to as “old ladies” and not as wives or girlfriends. Sons of Anarchy was going to be a fictional depiction of life as a member of a violent motorcycle club in a fictional and ironically named town in northern California.    

Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) & Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam)

Sons of Anarchy, specifically, the members of SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original), is a motorcycle club located in the town of Charming in northern California. The story’s main character, Jax Teller (played by Charlie Hunnam), wrestles between an ideal that founding member John Teller, Jax’s father, had for the club and the indefinite future under Jax’s stepfather and current president, Clay Morrow (played by Ron Perlman).

The first season saw Jax become a new father to a sick child, leave his addict wife, and struggle with the return of an old girlfriend. He was also given a manifesto that was prepared by his father, that outlined his thoughts on the purpose and future of SAMCRO. As he reads through the document, he finds that many of the ideals that his father had envisioned for the club weren’t being realized or that the club was acting in exact contrast to what his father wanted for the club.

Gemma Teller Morrow (Katey Sagal)

Gemma Teller Morrow (played by Katey Sagal), plays a huge role as the family matriarch, Clay’s old lady, and club mother. She is not a woman to be played with. She’s as protective of her family and her club as a mother tigress is with her cubs. She gave the final push for Jax’s junkie wife to leave town, even providing Wendy (Drea deMatteo) with a hypo full of junk so she could commit suicide (it was a junkie od that led to the premature birth of their son, Abel). As luck would have it, the surgeon who operated on Jax’s newborn son was an old girlfriend from highschool, Tara Knowles (played by Maggie Siff). From the start, Gemma was in Tara’s face that she’d better be careful around Jax and that if she tried to hurt him again, there would be heavy consequences. When Abel was finally allowed to come home, Gemma was there as the dutiful grandmother to help take care of him, and keep a close eye on the budding rekindled romance of Jax and Tara. Season two provided an extraordinary season opener that left Gemma an almost broken woman. A clash between clubs led to an attack on Gemma, forcing her to find assistance and support from Tara that would have one think that a bond may have been forged.

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