The Show
The first season of Sons of Anarchy was essentially a modern day retelling of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," with the royal family put in the guise of a motorcycle club in the not-so-aptly named fiction town of Charming, California. The story revved along to a seemingly climatic conclusion, but it veered off course a bit in season two - introducing new villains and a making the nearly implausible plots all the more implausible. Yet the show remained stupid addictive fun as the motorcycle crew straddled the line between being bad and really bad. There were porn stars, who also did some straddling, plus white supremacists, IRA gunrunners turned kidnappers, corrupt ATF agents, good cops, bad cops and more of that whole Hamlet thing as stepfather and stepson move closer to a showdown that better come in season three. Charming indeed.
The Picture
Season two looks as crystal clear as the first season's outing on Blu-ray, and actually it is quite an improvement over the broadcast version. While F/X is available in HD, the Blu-ray's 1080p 1.78:1 presentation is actually a step up. The second season featured the same somewhat desolate settings, but the boxed set brings out the best and the worst. The flesh tones of the characters, many of whom look all too much the part of less than upstanding citizens, are quite accurate, and you can tell that most of the ink is actually real. The tattoos have that faded look, as does the leather that nearly all the main and secondary "heroes" sport.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 channel soundtrack is once again a serious step up from how most heard it on TV. The cocking of the guns, the roar of the bike engines and the other ambient noises are loud and clear, yet never overwhelm the center channel's dialog. This isn't the most immersive soundtrack, as the producers don't go overboard, but the engines sound accurate, as do most of the guns.
The Extras
And as with the first season's Blu-ray it seems that someone rode off with the bonus material. There is an short piece on "The Moral Code of Sons of Anarchy" featurette, along with a "Sons of Anarchy Roundtable" featurette, both of which give some insight into the show and its characters. As a bonus there is commentary on select episodes. This still seems a bit of light considering, but for a TV boxed set it is a reasonable amount of extras.
Final Thoughts
The second season took off in a very different direction, but by the end of the season creator Kurt Sutter got it back on the straight and narrow (he directed the season two finale). The Blu-ray, which includes improved audio and picture will let you ride with the Sons - and trust me, this is the only way you'd ever want to hang out with these guys.
Product Details
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