With Sons of Anarchy continuing to draw large audiences on FX, it’s little wonder that the network gave a multi-season pick-up (three more seasons) to the show, for season four of the biker drama proved to be its most compelling and intense yet. The heavily serialized storylines, despite dealing with cutthroat motorcycle clubs doing despicable things to often despicable people, continue to grab a viewer and never let go. Once you get pulled into the activities of the SAMCRO chapter of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, you can’t not know what happens next, and that’s the entire motivation for any great drama series.
Sons of Anarchy: Season Four (Blu-ray)
Directed by Paris Barclay et al
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2011
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 656 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, French, Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $ 69.99
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Review Date: September 1, 2012
The Season
4.5/5
Sons of Anarchy had presented its motorcycle club as a tight-knit autocracy with its major interest not in drugs or prostitution as many groups have notoriety in the headlines for trading in but rather in gun running and weapons supplying for any groups with the cash to make it worth their while. But with club president Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) losing his grip literally (severe arthritis in his hands) and figuratively (club members not happy with the way he’s running things), he needs to make a big score before retiring and that means dealing with drugs and the Mexican cartels. Stepson Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) is likewise anxious to get out of the club and the town with two young sons constantly under the threat of danger. So, one of the thrusts of the season is the club running drugs from Mexico to California but not dealing. However, even that activity has a way of backfiring on the members, and the season is awash in brutal attacks, rituals murders, and surprise assaults. It’s a brutal, violent, and unforgiving world being portrayed in this rough and tumble drama, and the production does not back down from the mayhem between the various motorcycle clubs and street gangs inhabiting the town of Charming, California, and outsiders who are drawn to the town once the drug cartels move in.
There are other problems that SAMCRO must face this season. A new sheriff in town Eli Roosevelt (Rockmond Dunbar) lays down the law and keeps a conspicuously close eye on the goings and comings of the club members. Tied in with this is an ongoing RICO inquiry by U.S. Assistant District Attorney Lincoln Potter (Ray McKinnon) who’s investigating IRA ties to SAMCRO (they supply the weapons that the Sons trade in) and wants to bring them all down. To do that, he finds a wink link in the club: “Juice” Ortiz (Theo Rossi) who has hidden his mixed racial background from the club and now is threatened with exposure unless he plays ball with the prosecutor and the sheriff. Apart from outside turmoil, the slight fissures within the Sons begin to widen during the season due to almost half the membership objecting to the involvement with the cartels and with a stack of letters which Jax’s fiancé Dr. Tara Knowles (Maggie Siff) has that prove Clay’s involvement in the murder of Jax’s father many years ago. Clay’s focus is split between keeping his club together and getting those incriminating letters back under any circumstances even if it means killing Tara.
The show’s four top-billed actors all have an outstanding season, and Maggie Siff and Charlie Hunnam do their best-ever work during these fourteen episodes. Their emotional journeys throughout are riveting and with the grip of imminent peril coming closer and closer as the season runs on, watching their intensity and connection is really something special. (It’s shameful that neither received richly deserved Emmy nominations for their work, but the number of potential drama contenders in these leading categories is truly staggering, and the show has never seemed to be on the Accademy’s radar.) While season three gave Katey Sagal as Jax’s mother possibly greater material that she has in season four, she’s still a magnetic presence, and she’s matched every step of the way by Ron Perlman’s desperate Clay, a character who reaches his personal and professional nadir this season. Theo Rossi also steps up and really delivers the emotional goods throughout the season as his role as a mole within the club takes a huge toll on his emotional well being. New cast member Rockmond Dunbar also earns points for an interesting performance as the new town sheriff.
Here are the fourteen episodes which are contained on three Blu-ray discs in the season four set. Names in parentheses refer to the participants on the audio commentary for that episode. An episode marked with an asterisk (*) indicates an episode which can be viewed in extended mode.
1 – Out (creator Kurt Sutter, director Paris Barclay, star Charlie Hunnam)
2 – Booster
*3 – Dorylus
4 – Una Venta
*5 – Brick
6 – With an X
7 – Fruit for the Crows
*8 – Family Recipe
*9 – Kiss
10 – Hands (director Peter Weller; Kurt Sutter, stars Maggie Siff, Katey Sagal)
11 – Call of Duty
12 – Burnt and Purged Away
13 – To Be, Act 1 (Kurt Sutter, stars Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Mark Boone, Jr., Dayton Callie, Theo Rossi, Kim Coates, Tommy Flanagan, Ryan Hurst)
14 – To Be, Act 2 (same participants as Act 1)
Video Quality
4.5/5
The program’s 1.78:1 widescreen television aspect ratio is delivered in 1080p using the AVC codec. As dark and gritty as the storytelling is, the video quality couldn’t be sharper or more detailed. There are outstanding amounts of details to be seen here: in hair, clothes, the grain of the leather vests and jackets, and every scar and bit of ink the bikers sport. Color is realistically hued, and flesh tones are completely natural. In a sequence or two when low light conditions prevail, the image gets a bit cloudy and less distinct in appearance, but it’s a minor inconsistency. Episodes have been divided into varying chapters depending on the length of the episode, but generally they run 12 or 13 chapters.
Audio Quality
4.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix does feature discrete effects from time to time panning across and through the soundstage and seems an improvement from the sound quality of past seasons. Music is also piped through the front and rear channels immersing the viewer in the rock, pop, blues, and hip-hop music soundtrack. Explosions and gunfire get more than adequate depth in the LFE channel while dialogue comes through loud and clear in the center channel.
Special Features
4/5
There are audio commentaries for four of the episodes (see episode list above for participants). The commentaries for episodes 1 and 10 (cast and crew) are the most informative as the actors discuss their characters and the journey over four seasons. Peter Weller’s commentary for episode 10 includes too much describing what’s on screen and character motivations which we’re already privy to. The commentaries for episodes 13 and 14 are more a group of good friends swapping stories and teasing one another rather than anything much pertaining to the making of the episodes. Fans, of course, will want to hear them all.
All of the bonus material is presented in 1080p.
Each of the discs contain deleted scenes in montage form. Disc one has thirteen scenes running 12 ½ minutes. Disc two contains seven scenes running 7 ¾ minutes. Disc three features four scenes running 3 ¼ minutes.
There are four episodes which offer extended cuts in addition to the televised cuts. The viewer may choose which one he wishes to view. See list above for the episodes in question.
The season four gag reel runs 2 ¾ minutes.
“Piney’s Farewell” features actor William Lucking discussing his character of Piney who bids adieu during season four. Other members of the cast and crew also state their admiration for the veteran actor in this 7 ¼-minute tribute.
“The Fans of Anarchy” focuses on Mark Mitteer and Myra Lowe who were chosen winners of a fan contest by creator Kurt Sutter and were flown to Hollywood to a meet and greet with the cast. This feature runs 4 ¾ minutes.
“Anarchy at the House of Blues” details a fundraiser that was held to raise money for John O’ Brien who died leaving his wife and children with no income. Featured are song numbers by Katey Sagal and by Curtis Stigers (who sings the show’s theme song) in this 10 ¼-minute vignette.
“SOA Gear” is an app which can be downloaded onto an i-device and used to sync with the episode to see gear shown on screen for sale on-line.
In Conclusion
4.5/5 (not an average)
Compelling drama with a decided edge and bite (what other series kills off a number of its regular recurring characters during a season?), Sons of Anarchy: Season Four stepped up its game and scored bigger this season than ever before. Fans of the show will be extremely pleased in the quality of the episode presentations and with the generous selection of bonus features on hand. Recommended!
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
