Sons of Anarchy (season 3)

The third season of the American television drama series Sons of Anarchy created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in California's Central Valley. The show centers on protagonist Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the then–vice president of the club, who begins questioning the club and himself.

Sons of Anarchy premiered on September 7, 2010, on cable network FX. Season Three attracted an average of 4.9 million viewers per week, making it FX's highest rated series ever at the time, surpassing FX's other hits The Shield, Nip/Tuck, and Rescue Me.

Plot

Days after the events in the season two finale, Gemma is hiding up north in Rogue River, Oregon with Tig, while the club tries to sort things out in Charming. The club tries to close in on Cameron's trail, but find that he has liquidated his assets and apparently fled the country. Gemma and Tig visit Gemma's father Nate (Hal Holbrook), who suffers from dementia. During that time, Nate walked in on Tig and the caretaker being intimate. Nate thought it was his late wife and shot Tig in the back of the arm. The caretaker was spooked about the gun and did some research on Gemma and saw that she had a $25,000 reward for any information about her. Gemma had to tie her up in the basement or else she would have told the police. Tara comes up to patch up Tig and sees what Gemma did to the caretaker. Like an attentive doctor she releases one wrist to get the blood flow back. The caretaker then hits her over the head with an oxygen tank and escapes upstairs with a knife to go after Gemma. Tara wakes up and hits her over the head with a statue and then Gemma pushes her against the wall, but accidentally the knife stabs the caretaker and she dies. Tig has to call a guy to clean up the body so Jax does't find out. At the end of Half Sack's wake, masked men commit a drive-by shooting and fatally run down Deputy Hale.

Having fled to Belfast with Abel, Cameron confesses his sins to his cousin Father Ashby, an intermediary between Jimmy O and the True IRA Council. Ashby subsequently has Cameron killed, and suggests he will give Abel up for adoption.

The Sons hire a bounty hunter to try to track down Abel, and they believe he and Cameron are in Vancouver. SAMCRO has an upcoming bail hearing for the weapons charges, but they agree to jump bail. SAMCRO receives an email showing Cameron dead in Belfast.

After Jax consults Jimmy O, SAMCRO believes Abel remained in Vancouver when Cameron left for Belfast. Gemma struggles when she takes Nate to his new assisted living home, and returns to Charming to reunite with her grandson, still unaware he has been kidnapped. Father Ashby's sister Maureen contacts Gemma, at Ashby's request, to tell her Abel is safe in Belfast. Upon learning of her grandson's abduction, Gemma suffers an arrhythmia and collapses in the Teller-Morrow lot. Tara confides in Gemma that she is six weeks pregnant with Jax's child. Jax makes a deal with Stahl behind SAMCRO's back. In exchange for his mother's freedom and the downgrade of the pending weapons charges against the club, Jax will deliver Jimmy O and his IRA contacts. Oswald agrees to smuggle the Sons to Belfast. Jax breaks up with Tara and the next morning, Tara walks in on Jax in bed with pornstar Ima.

The recently ousted and humiliated former president of the Calaveras MC, Hector Salazar, begins surveiling Jax and Tara. After discovering John Teller had an affair in Belfast that produced a daughter, Gemma escapes from police custody with the help of Tara and Tara's boss, Margaret. Tara and Lyla both make appointments at an abortion clinic. Gemma leaves with SAMCRO on their trip to Belfast to find Abel, where Jimmy O already anticipates their arrival.

On SAMCRO's arrival in Northern Ireland, Ashby tells Jax that the IRA are tired of Jimmy's profiteering ways, and suggests Jax kill him in exchange for Abel.

Stahl helps Jax uncover information on Ashby and SAMBEL, and warns Jax not to kill Jimmy O. SAMCRO plans to surprise Jimmy O on a protection run, but he is forewarned and attacks the Sons with a planted bomb that kills several SAMBEL members. SAMCRO tortures Liam until he reveals that he was privy to Jimmy O's plans, as was McGee. Jax kills Liam, and shortly afterward Clay pushes McGee from a rooftop; both are revealed to SAMBEL as traitors. Ashby tells Jax Abel's location, but suggests Jax allow him to be adopted so he will not be forced into the club life. Jax chooses to leave the child with the family, until Jimmy O kills the adoptive parents and abducts Abel, intending to exchange him for safe passage to America. Abel is returned to Jax after Ashby trades himself for the baby.

Jacob Hale, Jr. uses intimidation tactics to continue urban development in Charming. Salazar abducts Tara and Margaret on their way to the abortion clinic. He informs Piney that he will return them in exchange for the murder of Alvarez and $250,000.

Under the influence of Jacob Hale, Jr., the San Joaquin Sheriff's Department will soon take control of the Charming Police Department. Tara attacks Salazar's girlfriend and negotiates Margaret's freedom. Later, Salazar's girlfriend dies.

With the hearing for weapons charges looming, SAMCRO returns to Charming, with the task of finding Tara. Gemma threatens to reveal Stahl's murder of Edmond unless Stahl ends her dealings with Jax. Salazar takes Jacob Hale, Jr. hostage along with Tara. Unser indicates the need for Salazar to be captured alive to implicate Hale and save the Charming Police Department, but during a stand-off, Jax kills Salazar. Amidst the chaos, Stahl intentionally shoots her partner Tyler to protect her lie. Opie proposes to Lyla. Now in the USA, Jimmy O seeks the help of the Russian Mafia to aid his escape to South America. Stahl falsely tells Internal Affairs that Agent Tyler shot Edmond and framed Gemma, admitting that Gemma was wrongfully charged.

Jax and the Sons meet the Russians and pay $2 million for the exchange of Jimmy O, although most of the money is counterfeit. Jax tells Stahl the location of the exchange so she can intervene and arrest Jimmy, but Jimmy is moved to a different location before she can. Jax assures her that he will give her Jimmy if she reduces their prison sentence, to which she agrees. Stahl arrives at the clubhouse to arrest Jimmy. When Clay asks how she knew he was there, Stahl indicates that Jax is a rat, which outrages the club, whose members call Jax a "dead man". SAMCRO is arrested and loaded into an ATF van, with Jax isolated from the other club members.

Unser stops Stahl on the roadside as she transports Jimmy and warns her of an IRA threat further down the road. Her fellow agents leave to investigate, leaving her alone with Unser and Jimmy. Soon afterward, Piney, Chibs, Opie and Kozik arrive. Chibs gives Jimmy a Glasgow smile, and then kills him. Opie kills Stahl in the same way his wife died, with an SMG burst to the back of the head, after reminding her that she was responsible for Donna's death. Proof of Jax's dealings with Stahl is destroyed, leaving the club with the documents provided by Stahl to reduce their sentence. The scene is set to look like the IRA is responsible. In the ATF van, Jax learns of Stahl and Jimmy's demise as the prospects following the ATF van ride past and beep a Morse code signal "A-F-F-A" ("Angels Forever, Forever Angels", a tribute to Sonny Barger, who plays Lenny the Pimp). He smiles, as do the rest of SAMCRO, revealing the club knew of Jax's plan from the beginning. Tara, meanwhile, finds and reads the letters Maureen had put in Jax's bag. In them, John Teller writes to Mo of his awareness of Gemma and Clay's closeness and his fear that they will soon murder him. The season ends with Jax rejecting his father's original vision for SAMCRO and embracing Clay's rule.

Cast and characters

Sons of Anarchy is the story of the Teller-Morrow family of Charming, California, as well as the other members of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original (SAMCRO), their families, various Charming townspeople, allied and rival gangs, associates, and law agencies that undermine or support SAMCRO's legal and illegal enterprises.

Main cast

• Charlie Hunnam as Jackson "Jax" Teller (13 episodes)
• Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow (13 episodes)
• Mark Boone Junior as Robert "Bobby Elvis" Munson (13 episodes)
• Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser (11 episodes)
• Kim Coates as Alex "Tig" Trager (13 episodes)
• Tommy Flanagan as Filip "Chibs" Telford (13 episodes)
• Ryan Hurst as Harry "Opie" Winston (13 episodes)
• William Lucking as Piermont "Piney" Winston (10 episodes)
• Theo Rossi as Juan-Carlos "Juice" Ortiz (12 episodes)
• Maggie Siff as Dr. Tara Knowles (13 episodes)
• Ron Perlman as Clarence "Clay" Morrow (13 episodes)

Special guest cast

• Paula Malcomson as Maureen Ashby (7 episodes)
• Ally Walker as Agent June Stahl (7 episodes)
• Kenny Johnson as Herman Kozik (7 episodes)
• Mitch Pileggi as Ernest Darby (3 episodes)
• Stephen King as Bachman ("Caregiver")
• Sonny Barger as Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz ("NS")

Recurring cast

Guest stars

• Leo Fitzpatrick as Prospect Shephard (2 episodes)
• Bob McCracken as Brendan Roarke (2 episodes)
• Keith Szarabajka as Victor Putlova (2 episodes)
• Dorian Missick as Pony Joe ("SO")
• Olivia Burnette as Homeless Woman ("Bainne")

Production

Although Sons of Anarchy is set in Northern California's Central Valley, it is filmed primarily at Occidental Studios Stage 5A in North Hollywood. Main sets located there include the clubhouse, St. Thomas Hospital and Jax's house. The production rooms at the studio used by the writing staff also double as the Charming police station. External scenes are often filmed nearby in Sun Valley and Tujunga.^[1] Interior and exterior scenes set in Northern Ireland during season 3 were also filmed at Occidental Studios and surrounding areas. A second unit shot footage in Northern Ireland used in the third season.^[2]

Episodes

Reception

Some critics felt the third season was dragged down by the previous season's cliffhanger.^[16][17] James Poniewozik of TIME called the season three premiere "breathtaking" and praised Sagal’s performance with Holbrook.^[18] He later stated that Abel's disappearance helped return the show to its central problem: Jax's allegiance to the club.^[19] Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker agreed that Holbrook and Sagal’s scenes were "beautiful". He also commented that the series handled themes of loyalty and family especially well.^[20] Maureen Ryan commented that the third season divided critics and fans alike, suggesting the expanded Belfast cast made it harder for the audience to invest in the characters' journeys.^[21] Ryan later questioned the credibility of Hector Salazar's story, noting that he was inferior to other villainous characters such as Stahl, Zobelle and Weston. However, she praised Ally Walker's performance, comparing her character to The Shield's Vic Mackey.^[22] Critic Alan Sepinwall said the season was "interesting but uneven", noting that the plot gained traction in later episodes.^[23][24] Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter said "Sutter should be applauded for shaking things up", calling the slower pace a "creative necessity".^[25]

Home media release

The third season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on August 30, 2011.^[26]

References

External links

• Sons of Anarchy at FXNetworks.com
• Sons of Anarchy at the Internet Movie Database
• Sons of Anarchy at TV.com