Yesterday I posted some advance thoughts about Sons of Anarchy‘s season four debut and about the path it’s taken in the three years leading up to it. No time for a long writeup of the premiere, “Out,” but here are a few things that I found encouraging about the first episode (I’ve been sent the first three episodes but am watching them one at a time, so no foreshadowing here):
* I’m especially glad this season seems to be shaking things up on the law-enforcement front. I love Dayton Callie—and he’s still doing great work as isolated, suffering Unser—but I feel the show had done as much as it could with his enabling SAMCRO from the inside. Much more interesting now to have the Sons policed by an apparently straight-arrow and savvy lawman, and so far prosecutor Potter looks like an intriguing, slyly threatening alternative to loose-cannon Agent Stahl.
* As I wrote yesterday, it’s promising to see the stirrings again of division between Jax and Clay (and the ghost of John and his letters hovering over the show). My question now is whether this continues to play out, or whether Jax’s talking about wanting to get out—eventually—is a way of acknowledging the issue while also saying that it won’t come to a head until the series’ endgame, perhaps several seasons out.
* Paris Barclay, on board SoA as a producer, brought a confident hand on the camera as he usually does, especially in the bravura opening sequence.
* The situation with the Russians quickly advanced beyond the Cold War stage. Thoughts on where that’s all headed?