Sons of Anarchy

[Big Flannel]

I lied, I'm watching it now.

...if this shit ends the way that Jordan and I thought it would... I'm gonna be pissed.

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You've gotta be fucking kidding me...

Well, Jordan I hope you're as disappointed as I am.

Fucking Sutter couldn't come up with a better ending than you and I did.

I'll post more after I smoke a cigarette.

[CTN]

gonna start watching it now. probably gonna get sleepy before it's over.

Will finish tomorrow morning.

[Big Flannel]

.
.
.
.
.
.
*Exhale*

Ok, I get that the two most difficult parts of storytelling are the beginning and the ending. I have several writing projects that stuck in limbo because I have an idea of where they end but I'm not willing to put my name on something that I may have a shower moment about later on down the road and realize that the ending I chose wasn't perfect. (A shower moment is when you have a revelation - wait for it...while taking a shower)

I strongly suspect that Sutter is destined for one of these moments. After the first two years of expertly crafted and unpredictable storytelling Sons of Anarchy slowly became more convoluted with increasingly complex plotting and bizarre pacing, all while losing sight of the original point of the show: Yes, these people do bad things; but they're generally good people. They have families, principles, and above all else - brotherhood. These qualities are what made it so easy to cheer on Opie while exacting revenge on Stahl or feel the moral impasse of Jax when he gets a glimpse into a life for his son where he's being raised by a family who's tree isn't rooted in the blood-soaked soil of the criminal underworld.


Now, looking back on the last few seasons one has to wonder what the Hell went wrong in the writer's room.

You get movie length episodes that mostly consist of outlaw political exposition with healthy doses of blood thrown in between more scenes of people talking. Plot points that are brought to the forefront of the show and never get picked up again, and a two hour series finale that falls flat with a predictable ending.

Unfortunately, Sons of Anarchy ran out of money. At the end of season five, Sutter said that the show would have seven or eight seasons depending on how long it took him to tell the story he wanted to tell. As of 2 or 3 months ago, when asked why he decided to end the series, he explained that the production costs had ballooned out of control and that he still hadn't decided how he would end the show.

What we got was the byproduct of that mentality: A rushed production and a finale with 80 minutes of filler.That's how the Sons of Anarchy lost their way.

[CTN]

I dunno man.

Sometimes an ending is just an ending. And this was IMO way better an ending than for example the finale of Dexter.

All the thorns in the sides of the club needed to be dealt with. The only problem with that is that if those issues were dealt with, it would all blow back on Jax.

If he wanted to keep himself alive, it would've created more issues as a result of trying to protect himself from that blowback.

So this ending ties up all those loose ends, and does so the only way possible that is able to put an END to it once and for all - kill the fuckers, and kill Jax.

Done. It wasn't the most entertaining ending. But it was a firm, VERY firm resolution - which ultimately feels a lot more satisfying to me than some bullshit money sink with flash and explosions and a blaze of glory that doesn't really resolve anything. I also enjoyed how completely blunt the very very end is. Smack, into a truck. Jesus chick with the bread and wine was weird though. Wtf was all that about?

[Big Flannel]

I guess she's supposed to be be shesus or something.

I've just come to expect the unexpected from Sutter and this was a bit of a let down.

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I guess my biggest qualm with the ending is that I just didn't feel anything while watching it. No excitement or anything.

I wasn't expecting Jax to live, (how could he survive?), I was just expecting a little more depth to the writing I guess.

Maybe I'm the problem.

[CTN]

I don't think it was supposed to be exciting.

It's actually very somber.

Jax knows he has to die, and all he has to do before that is wrap up all his business. That's what the finale is - with a heavy heart, he wraps up all his shit, makes sure his family and club are all safe, and ends it.

Pretty uncomplicated as far as series finales go. I think it was a good way to go out. Better than trying to wow everyone.

[Big Flannel]

I get where you're coming from, but I didn't feel the somber vibe of it at all. The whole time I was watching it, it felt like just another episode.

YMMV and all that, but I really think that the episode failed to hit the notes that it was trying to achieve.

[CTN]

All endings do, these days, it seems.

[Big Flannel]

True, dat...