The Rest of the Dramas! Sorry for all the lateness.

Ringer - “Oh Gawd, There’s Two of Them?”
Bridget has to tell Andrew and Henry that Siobhan had a twin. It turns out the Bridget’s new sponsor is working for Siobhan and he’s the one who killed Gemma. Gasp! Also, Malcolm escapes. After Juliet boozes, parties, and crashes a car in order to help her friend, Andrew cuts her off of her trust fun. Let’s all have a sarcastic slow clap for Andrew for doing the thing he should have done years ago. Good luck buying drugs when you don’t have access to $10 million. The fact that he didn’t do this in the first place means that Juliet should be taken away from him. Also, Juliet was scandalized and hurt that Andrew didn’t trust her motives. No sympathy. You do hard drugs in high school, you lose all expectation of trust. Overall, this show has really gone uphill.

Episode grade: B

American Horror Story - “Halloween 2”
Ok, Hayden was actually genuinely creepy. When she was rotting from the inside out, that was a nice touch. We are SO GLAD the dog wasn’t in the microwave. That would have been too far. Tate’s backstory is amazingly interesting and we look forward to the flashback and more details. Ben has been thrown out of the house by Vivien, but we hope that he has to come back soon. Out of everyone in that family, he is the one who most deserves to live in the haunted house, and it isn’t because he’s a cheater (although that doesn’t help). We feel bad for the way he has to deal with all that shame. He’s the worst because he has a pattern of covering things up. Everyone messes up in life. It’s how you deal with the aftermath, grit your teeth, and own up to things that decides whether you’re scum or not. No one likes a cover-up.

Episode grade: B

Revenge - “Charade”
Man, this was a good one. We had Nolan’s first takedown, and it was successful. The “Tyler is gay and in love with Daniel” theorists were correct. We liked the whole swapped identity thing, but man, Frank got way too close for comfort there. We, like many others, still aren’t buying the Declan/Charlotte romance, and we wish Declan had been cast by a different actor.

Episode grade: A-
The Secret Circle - “Beneath”
The Circle goes to Henry’s house to look for Jane, because Cassie hasn’t heard from her in days. The crew finds the house empty, but Cassie gets a text from Jane, saying that she is on her way home. The Circle decides to stay the night in Henry’s house. Diana experiences jealousy over Adam not being able to bear watching Cassie kiss Jake on a dare. Faye is jealous of Cassie and Jake’s budding romance. Jake rejects Cassie later, though. It seems that he is more into his witch-hunting team than her right now, but that might change. Henry reaches out to Faye from beyond the grave and Cassie finds his body. Meanwhile, Charles erases Jane’s memory and has Henry’s crystal. Most of these episodes have been heavy on the action and light on the character development. We got more quiet time with the characters during this episode, and we loved that. We also like when Diana starts to show her imperfect side, like when she made Cassie and Jake kiss. Most of all, we thought the music in this episode was really beautiful.

Episode grade: A

Fringe - “Novation”
We pretty much know how the Observers erased Peter now, if we hadn’t guessed already. The case of the week was boring, but the Peter/Olivia/Walter stuff was pretty good. Walter has rejected Peter as his son and a family member that he is allowed to keep. That’s sad, but we’re pretty sure he will come around, eventually, and help Peter figure things out. We’re glad to have Peter back.

Episode grade: B

Sons of Anarchy - “Kiss”
The way things are going, it looks like SAMCRO is going to have no choice but to kick Clay out of the club, which is something we are surprised hasn’t happened a long time ago. Clay gets one step closer to taking out Tara for good.

Episode grade: A-

Parenthood - “Forced Family Fun”
The main drama going on right now is the whole Seth thing. We hope he gets better, and he seems sincere, but this had better not affect Sarah’s new relationship, which is getting cuter all the time. Coffee girl needs to not sweat the small stuff and give Julia a break every once in a while. It’s like she gets paid for every awkward moment that she makes even more awkward.

Episode grade: B

Person of Interest - “Witness”
Reese has to protect a school teacher who saw a Russian mob shooting. Of course, Carter has to get all up in everyone’s business. The whole Carter thing had better turn out to be just as good as the rest of the show. It had just better pan out.

Episode grade: B-

Nikita - “Clawback”
Michael is mad at Nikita for not telling him about his son, even though she told him and pretty much did it right away. Ugh. We are kind of hating the whole Michael’s son thing. The son needs to die. We liked Alex’s plot this week, and we loved that Ryan came back.

Episode grade: B-

Prime Suspect - “Shame”
This episode featured a prostitute who killed, but we were less interested in her than the cop shenanigans that went on in this episode (like when two of them pretended that they were going to hit one of their informants). The team is getting along better, and we like that. The shooter from Grey’s Anatomy guest starred, and he was creepy in this, too.

Episode grade: B-

Grey’s Anatomy - “Heart-Shaped Box”
George’s mom returns and isn’t scandalized by Callie’s lesbianism. She just wants to see pictures of the baby. Aww. We enjoyed all the discussion and memories of George. We like when this show acknowledges its outlandishly crazy past. Jackson dumped Lexie because she doesn’t love him. She should, but she loves Mark instead. Finally, Henry is puking up blood, and that’s not good. We’re not saying we’d be devastated or anything, but it would be sad. Filler, but lighthearted, mature filler.

Episode grade: B-

Bones - “Memories in the Shallow Grave”
This was an average, “meh” episode, but it’s adorable to see Bones and Booth as a couple.

Episode grade: C+

A Gifted Man - “In Case of Memory Loss”
Michael comes across a former football player that he operated on a long time ago. The football player has since lost a lot of his memory and become homeless. Also, Michael has to treat a teenage girl who is having trouble coping with her best friend’s murder. Michael helps people. His wife haunts him. This was all par-for-the-course for this show.

Episode grade: B-

Eli Gold, Evil Cupid

Revenge - “Intrigue”
Even the blogger who isn’t super into Revenge had to admit that this was a strong, intense episode. Emily and Nolan sent the video of Frank trying to kill Lydia to Conrad. Conrad fires Frank and tells Frank to stay away from Victoria. Nolan and Declan push Jack until Jack goes to Emily and tells him how he feels about her. Emily rejects him, and we are sad. Lydia is alive! Just in a coma. Tyler continues to ruin Daniel’s life (WHY? Just jealousy? Or is Tyler infatuated with Daniel?), so Daniel ends up passed out on Jack’s bed on his first night of work at the bar. Ouch. Emily tells Tyler off while on a double date with Daniel and her British friend. We like seeing her lose control, especially when it’s directed at douchebags. We loved that the show took a break from the “revenge procedural” formula. If Emily always succeeded in her perfect revenge plots and if that were all that was causing trouble, things wouldn’t be gripping. Now things are a mess, and we like it. We especially want to know what Frank is going to do now.

Episode grade: A-

The Good Wife - “Marthas and Caitlins”
Alicia has to ask Colin Sweeney for help when the firm’s key witness in an important case commits suicide. Sweeney gets info for Cary and, in return, is released from prison. Alicia is asked to hire a new associate, but the girl she picks is ousted in favor of David’s niece. It’s not what you know, but who you know. Just about every subplot was advanced in this episode. Celeste was a lot more fun than usual this last week. Also, most interestingly, Eli Gold promised someone from the Democratic party that Alicia and Peter would be together soon. What dastardly deeds will he have to commit to pull this off?

Episode grade: A-

Sons of Anarchy - “Family Recipe”
Tara wants to relocate for the children’s safety, and Jax thinks this is a good idea. The club gets attacked and realizes that the drug dealing might not have been such a good idea. Clay kill Piney Winston to stop the letters from getting out. Chibs makes progress with Juice on the emotional front (aws). Overall, we were pleased with this one.

Episode grade: A-

The Walking Dead - “Bloodletting”
We will actually respect this show if it kills one of the children. Not that we usually like dead children, but children on a zombie show are just cutesy distractions and potential causes for doom. We liked seeing Shane tell Lori that Rick was shot (this was in a flashback). The man who shot Carl turns out to be Otis, a man who lives nearby and hunts for food. Otis takes Rick, Shane, and Carl to a veterinarian, Hershel Greene, who takes one of six bullet fragments out of Carl. Hershel’s daughter goes to find Lori and saves Andrea from a walker. Hershel’s daughter is kind of a bad ass with a horse. We hope she sticks around. Rick donates blood to Carl and is weakened. Otis and Shane go to the local abandoned school to get FEMA’s supplies that were stored there so that Hershel can operate on Carl. Unfortunately, the high school is overrun with walkers. Otis and Shane locate the medical supplies and gather what they need, but they are chased by a ton of walkers and have to lock themselves into the school to stay alive. That last chase by the walkers and the subsequent barricading of themselves into the school was delightfully frightening. When the show does things like that, it is at its best.

Episode grade: B

Nikita - “343 Walnut Lane”
Percy gains leverage against Alex. Percy also tricks Nikita into thinking she’s found her father, but the man turns out to be a Division agent who infiltrates Birkoff’s house and nearly gets everyone killed. The reason this episode gets a B is that Nikita told Michael about his son. The show didn’t drag the secret out for even one full episode! We are excited by this, and we admire Nikita’s intelligence and honesty. That is not a secret she should have kept for long, and on most shows, she would have. We continue to be amazed that Maggie Q looks to weigh about 75 pounds, but the showrunners expect us to buy that she could beat up a several full-grown men at one time.

Episode grade: B

Prime Suspect - “Regrets, I’ve Had a Few”
A young woman is killed and her body is found in a park, covered with flowers. Jane first suspects her stepfather, but it turns out the stepfather loved her, and it was a park employee who did the deed. He also killed a bunch of other women. The first half of this episode was really slow and tried our patience, but it was worth watching in the end.

Episode grade: B-

Pan Am - “One Coin in a Fountain”
Someone on this show finally has sex that we get to see. It’s Kate, and she steals a crush of Maggie’s for her spy duties, ends up liking him, and sleeps with him. Kate actually acts as a competent spy this week. One of us has decided that Maggie is a bitch and one of us still loves her. Laura spends the episode trying to find the engagement ring she pawned so that she can give it back to her ex-fiancé. Ted helps her get it back. One of us likes Ted, and one of us thinks he’s kind of a creeper. Dean romances Ginny, a passenger who is also the mistress of Pan Am’s vice-president. We loved Ginny and thought she was especially gorgeous. We are still lamenting the lack of Collette storylines.

Episode grade: B-

Person of Interest - “The Fix”
Reese has to protect a professional fixer (like on Michael Clayton) named Zoe. Zoe has information that she shouldn’t. Carter gets closer to Reese while investigating a murder. This episode was pretty average, but we enjoyed seeing Finch face down a bad guy over drinks in a restaurant. Finch can be scary. Just watch him when he was Ben.

Episode grade: B-

Grey’s Anatomy - “Put Me In, Coach”
Because these doctors have tons of free time, Owen enters Seattle Grace into a softball league to compete with other hospitals. They lose horribly. Richard forces Meredith and Bailey to work together in his old trial. Jackson is angered when he sees Lexie become jealous of Mark, who is dating someone new. Alex attempts to get a judge to speed up Zola’s court date and succeeds. This episode is the definition of filler. Alex is just asking to get sued at every turn. What he did was against HIPPA laws, as well as an attempt to influence a judge. Also, who freaking cares about Bailey, Kepner, and Meredith’s trial? Meredith shouldn’t be on a trial! There are no consequences in this hospital. Some of the softball stuff was funny, and we liked that Cristina put a patient first and is in Teddy’s good graces. Now Teddy wants to find dream surgeries for Cristina, and we can’t wait to see that.

Episode grade: C+

Daniel really doesn't deserve to die....say it ain't so

Sons of Anarchy - “Fruit for the Crows”
Bobby calls a vote for a new president, and Clay allows it, but he isn’t pleased. The club struggles to deal with Tara’s death threat letter and an attack against the Mayans. Juice tries to kill himself. This episode was seriously intense. Does anyone want to place any bets on whether Bobby will be the next character to die?

Episode grade: B

Parenthood - “Tales from the Luncheonette”
Adam and Crosby host Cee Lo Green in their music studio. At first, it seems like Cee Lo and his crew aren’t happy with the studio and how things are going, so Adam and Crosby fight. Adam also made rash promises to Cee Lo and sort of counted chickens before they hatched, making Crosby nervous. However, it all worked out in the end. Julia and Joel announce that they are adopting Snarky Coffee Girl’s baby to Julia’s parents, and Zeek questions whether it’s a good idea. Kristina tries to juggle a new baby with Adam’s crazy schedule and paying attention to Haddie. Drew has his first kiss, thanks to some helpful tips from Amber. Many people probably want kissing advice that good.

Finally, Mark Cyr feels insecure when Sarah lets Seth sleep over and cleans him up. Sarah tries to get money from Zeek to put Seth into rehab, but Zeek thinks that Seth is just tricking Sarah to get cash. Julia loans Sarah the money to put Seth in a private facility. Zeek doesn’t like this, but Joel (rightfully) tells Zeek that the decisions of Joel’s family are theirs. When you move out and get married, it’s important to leave home emotionally and make your own household. We don’t know if Zeek is totally wrong about Seth though… It seems like Sarah is getting set up for another fall. Hopefully it doesn’t kill her new relationship as well.

Episode grade: B

Person of Interest - “Judgment”
A judge’s young son is kidnapped by gang members who want the judge to throw a case and get a guilty defendant off, scot free. Reese appears to the judge and works with him to get his son back. The judge might prove to be an ally to Reese later. This episode entertained us and gave us hope that some storylines might create more overarching plots. We like when Reese reveals himself to the people he is trying to help. It just makes him look all the more mysterious and good. We’re still hoping for this show to get picked up for a full season. Having Michael Emerson on our screens again is just too good to lose.

Episode grade: B+

Nikita - “Looking Glass”
Nothing really grabbed us here, and we DON’T like the fact that Michael has a son. He once slept with a woman and seduced her for Division. Now, Michael feels guilty for using Cassandra and when he sees she is in trouble, he sets up a mission to help her. Nikita is understandably wary, but she helps and saves the day, as usual. The episode ended with Cassandra telling Nikita that her child, Henry, is Michael’s five-year-old son. Michael does not know. If he finds out that Nikita kept that from him, he won’t be happy. Sean and Amanda go on a mission together to do some good and do something unrelated to Division or Alex’s revenge. We guess we won’t be seeing Nathan again. Our money is on Sean for Alex’s new flame. Sean also begins to doubt Division.

Episode grade: C+

American Horror Story - “Murder House”
With horror, you want to be unsettled. You don’t want to be left with a sick feeling though. You want to be thrilled, scared, and excited. You might want to worry about nightmares before you go to bed. But there is an icky feeling you don’t want. This episode gave one of us that feeling. We don’t know why, but we do know that effect knocked the grade down a few notches. The Harmon’s can’t move because they are too poor and can’t sell the house. Ben tries to fire Moira for coming onto him, but Vivien comes down on Moira’s side, calling Ben “paranoid.” All she sees is an old lady, not a sex possibility for Ben.

Someone (probably Moira) starts drugging Ben so that he blacks out and wakes up with memory loss. We liked seeing how Moira died and think it’s creepy/cool the way Constance is keeping Moira from moving on in order to punish Moira for sleeping with her (Constance’s) husband. Hayden shows up, ready to tell Vivien about the pregnancy and move to town. Larry pops out of nowhere and kills Hayden by hitting her over the head with a shovel. Larry buries Hayden and Ben builds a gazebo over the grave. Vivien hears about the house’s first owners: A couple who performed illegal abortions. The ghost of the wife meets Vivien.

Episode grade: B-

Revenge - “Guilt”
Lydia reappears, looking to get her friendships and her house back. The annual Flight 197 victims fundraiser is thrown and Victoria is honored for starting it. Lydia nearly tells the gathered crowd of Hamptonites about how Victoria and Conrad framed an innocent man, but Victoria pretends to be Lydia’s friend long enough to get Lydia to change her mind. Frank, the man working for the Graysons, breaks into Lydia’s apartment and finds her files. Lydia returns home and Frank accidentally throws her out of a window and onto a car. Bye bye, Lydia. Daniel and Amandily rectify their miscommunications, and Daniel tells his father that he doesn’t want to be a part of the family business.

Daniel loses his trust fund and also finds out about how his father cheated on Victoria. Daniel and Amandily have sex for the first time. Conrad tries to win Victoria back with an expensive car, but Victoria gives it to Charlotte in an attempt to reconcile with her daughter. Charlotte takes Declan on a joyride that ends with them both getting arrested when the car was reported stolen. Daniel bails Charlotte out and gets Declan off, and Jack gives Daniel a job at his bar. Great, just what an alcoholic needs: to be surrounded by alcohol at work. Finally, Victoria’s guilt over what happened with David Clarke reemerges. We didn’t like the use of flashbacks in this episode, but we are thrilled that Lydia came back. This isn’t a show that forgets what happened last week, even if it is sort of a procedural soap. We also like how Nolan is continuing to protect Amanda and further her interests.

Episode grade: B+

Everybody Misses Peter

Sons of Anarchy - “Brick”
This one was a little snoozy for us. Maybe it was that there was too much Lyla? Or any Lyla?

Episode grade: C+

Revenge - “Betrayal”
One of us is actually growing bored with this show. It’s too “procedural of the week,” and there is no emotional connection. The other blogger is still fully on board and is obsessed with both Victoria and Amandily. We both think that Daniel is an alright guy, and it’s a shame we know he dies so that we can’t get attached to the character. The actor who plays Declan doesn’t work for one of us, because he comes across as a little boy, not a complicated teen crush.

Episode Grade: B-
Parenthood - “Clear Skies from Here on Out”
Poor Crosby. We rarely say that, but there was no winning in that scenario. We also feel bad for Haddie who got dumped by her guy because he doesn’t feel good enough for her and is ashamed to be around her family. We hope they don’t end like that.

Episode grade: B+

Prime Suspect - “Bitch”
We liked the pilot of this show, and it keeps improving on the pilot greatly. The last two cases have been interesting and satisfying. Of course, it’s easy to root for a main character when she’s up against child nappers and woman beaters. But we just think that’s a smart move to get Jane Timoney a following before she gets axed without cause.

Episode grade: B+

Fringe - “Alone in the World”
Yes, Walter and Olivia totally should start trying to find Peter. This episode had a lot of emotion, which is sometimes missing from this show. The little boy was adorable, as was Walter trying so hard to save him. Furthermore, the case was creepy and Walter’s little breakdown was also unsettling. We like when this show disturbs us.

Episode grade: A-

But Could You Really Sleep with Someone Who Has Also Slept with Your Twin Sister? How Could That Not Be Some Sort of Incest?

Parenthood - “Step Right Up”

The Alex drama has ended! Haddie’s daddy came through and was able to talk the couple pressing charges into dropping them. Julia made peace with the coffee girl, who said that she needed to have a closed adoption, because giving her baby to someone she knew and liked would be too hard, which is understandable. Zeek helped Drew ask out a girl, which was adorable. The man has game.

HOWEVER, one should not give a girl more than one compliment when using Zeek’s techniques. One good one is more than enough. An implied compliment is better if the girl is smart. Many or obvious compliments make the guy seem untrustworthy and like he's coming on too strong. Beware guys: Someone recently made this mistake with Ern. It is irreparable.

Episode grade: B+

Ringer - “If You Ever Want a French Lesson…”

This episode didn’t advance the plot much other than to get rid of Bridget’s bestie and let us know that Andrew isn’t behind the hit on Siobhan/Bridget. Like we even suspected him in the first place? So he and Bridget ended up even cozier. Siobhan knows she is pregnant now. This is turning out like a romance novel you could buy in the grocery store, but we kind of like it. We still want to know what happens.

Episode grade: C+

Sons of Anarchy- “Una Venta”

SAMTAZ is lame, right? Gemma needs better things to do lately, other than running around and making sure John Teller’s secrets are never told and signing up Tara to help her save the park. The past couple of episodes have had one of the best characters on what we would call the sidelines. We’re digging her unlikely ally though. This drug-running thing is bothering us as much as it does some of the club members.

Episode Grade: B-

Comments on some dramas this week: Ringer, Sons of Anarchy, Parenthood, The Lying Game

Ringer was a little better this week. It made a little more sense. Not much, but a little, and it slowed down a bit. What we really liked was the scene where Bridget comforted Siobhan’s stepdaughter and Andrew saw it. Andrew and Bridget are going to fall in love, and we like the idea of that a lot better than the idea of Bridget falling for Siobhan’s best friend’s husband, who is clearly a douchebag.

The ratings for Ringer this week were low, so it may not stay on long enough to continue improving. At this point, we have stopped hating Bridget, Andrew, and Juliet, and we still want to know what happens and what Siobhan is up to.

Sons of Anarchy was very character develop-y and quiet this week, building to something bloody, no doubt. Clay is a liar, but at least he saved someone from being devoured by flesh-eating ants. Ahh, mercy killings. Have we mentioned that we love Tara? We definitely have.

Parenthood continues to be real and sweet and totally enjoyable. There were few surprises this week, but we loved watching Max trying to fit in at his new school. We liked when he indignantly yelled, “I looked you in the eyes!” after being shunned by classmates, as if following the social rules set out by his mother should be enough to absolutely earn friendship. And poor Julia. We think there was a better way to ask the coffee girl for her baby. Not at work, first of all. We think she will get that baby yet.

The only thing we have to say about The Lying Game is this: We hate unnecessary breakups. But we were surprised at Justin's secret. We thought he was evil or devious or something. Sure fooled us, show.

Ringer: B
Sons of Anarchy: A-
Parenthood: A-

The Lying Game: B

Checking in on Sons of Anarchy

We loved the season premiere, which did a time jump that got all the boys out of prison. We mentioned that we were ecstatic over Tara and Jax’s engagement. We didn’t mention that we were also happy about Clay realizing his time is almost up, but we are. It will be interesting to see how Clay handles that. The violence at the end of the premiere was well-used. Nothing but love for that premiere, yes sir.

The second episode wasn’t as good, but that’s alright. It’s a second episode. The premiere is supposed to be better. We can’t believe Clay would get involved with the drug trade in any way, even if he does need money for retirement. At least Jax got something good out of that… We are surprised the whole gang wasn’t against it. We all got to spend the whole episode rooting against Gemma. Good luck getting out of SAMCRO now, Jax.

We haven't mentioned this show much this season so far, because the only thing to say about it is "it's good." It's always good. It's always tense. Etc. If it's ever bad, we'll let you know. Until then, discuss specifics in the comments of the short posts and keep watching.

“Out” grade: A-
“Booster” grade: B

Sons of Anarchy Premiere

This isn't a show we are going to cover weekly. Probably every two-three weeks. But we just wanted to say that we loved the premiere and are so happy that Jax and Tara are engaged. We love them.

Episode Grade: A-

Sons of Anarchy - Overview and Summary

Overview for people who are thinking of getting into the show - We know lots of you were waiting for us to finally watch this show, but this is a hard one to get into, or at least it was for us. One of us actually had to try watching it three different times. Finally, we gritted our teeth and got through the first seven episodes. Then we were fine with it.

This series increased GREATLY in quality in the second season. While the first season is worthwhile, it’s not as good as the rest of the show. It wasn't until season two that we finally realized what everyone was going on about. Overall, the show is overrated, but still good and worth watching. We will be watching the fourth season. One strong point is that the show has interesting, developed characters. That's important to us.

Here are a few things you will want to know before you watch the pilot. Sons of Anarchy is a motorcycle gang with many chapters. This show focuses on the original chapter, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original or SAMCRO. So when you hear people talking about Sam Crow, they are talking about the motorcycle club chapter that you are watching a show about. It’s not some hidden leader or something.

These guys don’t sell drugs. In fact, they spend lots of time trying to keep drugs out of their little town (Charming, California). They do traffic in weapons, but there is a pretty big vigilante element here. That’s something we didn’t know before, or we would have watched this show sooner. We are all about vigilantes in entertainment.

Jax Teller is the main character. He’s the hot blonde guy. His father, John Teller, started SAMCRO with one of his buddies, Clay Morrow. But John Teller died. Now Clay Morrow is the president and Jax is the vice president. Jax’s mom, Gemma, married Clay Morrow after the death of her husband. Jax is divorced from a drug addict and has a young son who was born with medical problems.

At the beginning of the season, Jax found some old journals of his dad’s. Apparently, John Teller had different ideas for the club than Clay does now. This becomes a point of contention between Jax and Clay, and it sows seeds of doubt and causes friction in the rest of the club members. If you are seeing some similarities to Hamlet, you’re a sharp one, because we really think the show is sort of based on it. Other characters sometimes refer to Jax as a “prince.” We wonder if it will end the same way…

SYNOPSIS AND SPOILERS START HERE
Summary - Before we start, here is a cast of characters to be familiar with as you read

(Besides Jax, Gemma, and Clay, who we have already mentioned):
Tramell- An old cop who has been totally bought off by SAMCRO/is in their pocket.
Hale- a cop
Wayne Unser- Another cop.
Tara- A doctor and old flame of Jax’s. She worked on his infant son’s case.
Josh Kohn- an ATF agent that Tara used to date. He shows up to investigate SAMCRO at the beginning of the show.
Wendy- Jax’s ex wife.
Abel- Jax’s son.
Alex “Tig” Trager- SAMCRO member
Robert “Bobby” Munson- SAMCRO member
Kip "Half Sack" Epps- a SAMCRO member with only one nut
Harry "Opie" Winston- a SAMCRO member
Donna- Opie’s woman
Big Otto- SAMCRO member who spent time in prison for his activity
Luann- Big Otto’s wife
ATF Agent Stahl- An ATF agent.

Season 1
The Mayans destroyed one of SAMCRO’s weapons warehouses and stole some guns. During the birth drama of Jax’s son, Gemma gave Wendy drugs so that Wendy might kill herself with an overdose. She survived, Dr. Tara suspected what happened, and we got to see that Gemma is one stone cold bitch. But we love her.

Meanwhile, Jax found his father’s old journals and started wondering if the club shouldn’t be into so much illegal activity. SAMCRO then went to Nevada to deal with gun trafficking business. Clay and Half Sack slept with a girl named Cherry. Then there was a shoot-out with the Mayans. Also we found out that Kohn, Tara’s ex, has been stalking Tara since they broke up.

After some of SAMCRO’s guns were used to kill three people, Clay was arrested for aiding and abetting. Gemma found out that Clay cheated on her with Cherry, so Gemma beat Cherry with a skateboard. Then she was arrested for that. We hope that you are starting to see that Gemma is the best thing about this show. She’s a loving mother to Jax’s face, but you had better not cross her.

Since a restraining order didn’t work, Jax threw Kohn through a window to get him to stay away from Tara. Kohn was then arrested for breaking the restraining order, which didn’t do wonders for his career as an ATF agent. In fact, it ended it. Kohn went to Tara’s to try to rape her, but she shot him in the stomach. Jax showed up to help and ended up shooting Kohn in the head after Kohn called Tara a “biker slut.” Then Jax burned Kohn’s body and had sex with Tara. We hope that you are starting to see that Jax is the second best thing about this show.

The True IRA was another gang in the Sons of Anarchy universe, and SAMCRO was pretty friendly with them/they did gun business together. Opie was supposed to do them a favor and kill someone, but he messed it up, so Bobby had to do it. A little girl saw the crime and the two men were arrested, but SAMCRO members grabbed her to prevent her from testifying.

ATF Agent Stahl questioned Tara, Cherry, Luann, and Donna. Cherry was arrested, but Unser helped her escape. Big Otto attacked Stahl because Stahl was going to destroy the club on racketeering charges. She lived and set Opie up to look like an informant. Tig and Clay fell for the trick. Clay ordered Opie killed, but Tig accidently killed Donna instead. They set it up to look like a rival gang, the One-Niners, killed Donna.

Then Hale told Jax the truth about Stahl setting Opie up. Jax figured out what happened. He went to find SAMCRO members about to kill the little girl witness and stopped them. Then Jax threatened the witness, paid her off, and told her to get out of town. The first season ended with Jax deciding that he didn’t like the way Clay was running the club, that his father wouldn’t approve, and that Clay has lost his integrity. John Teller’s journals were passed to other club members.

Cue Season Two. More characters:
Ethan Zobelle- LOAN’s leader. LOAN is a white supremacist group.
AJ Weston- Ethan Zobelle’s henchman
Polly- Zobelle’s daughter who has an affair with Edmond Hayes during this season
Jimmy O- the head of the IRA, a gang
Edmond Hayes- IRA member
Cameron Hayes- IRA member and Edmond’s father

A new gang, The League of American Nationalists (LOAN), started trying to get rid of SAMCRO/drive them out of town. The leader, Ethan Zobelle, arranged for Gemma to be grabbed and raped as a message to SAMCRO. Gemma kept quiet about it so that Clay and Jax would stay out of trouble rather than seek revenge. Big Otto, still in prison, asked SAMCRO to help Luann out because she started a porn studio. Cops raided her studio and another pornographer was also giving her trouble. Jax proposed that SAMCRO become a partner in Luann’s business, offering her and her colleagues protection. He thought it would be a pretty good way to get legitimate money as well.

Jax and Clay, meanwhile were still at odds. LOAN planted a car bomb and nearly killed Chibs, hoping that SAMCRO would retaliate. Clay ordered retaliation and Clay, Jax, Bobby, and Tig were arrested after trying to attack Ethan Zobelle. Agent Stahl came sniffing around again, trying to get information on the IRA from the jailed SAMCRO members. They kept their mouths shut, but Stahl provoked a physical fight between Clay and Jax.

The members got out on bail. Clay declared that he wanted SAMCRO to get out of Luann’s porn business. After that, the porn studio burned down, and Jax suspected Clay of the arson. Jax told the club members that it was time for him to “go Nomad.” Gemma told Jax about her rape so that he would stay in the gang and so that she would give Clay and Jax a common enemy. Then Tig ruined the new peace by telling Opie that he killed Donna. On top of that, Chibs promised Stahl that he would help her take down the IRA and its leader, Jimmy O. This was successful and Jimmy O was apprehended. Opie spotted Chibs meeting with the ATF and told the club. Chibs also came clean about it.

SAMCRO found out that Ethan Zobelle really wasn’t in the game because he was racist. He wanted to get in on the Hispanic Mayans’ prison heroine trade. SAMCRO alerted AJ Weston, Zobelle’s enforcer, to these facts. Weston was really racist and didn’t want to do business with Hispanics. AJ Weston and Ethan Zobelle were enemies after that. But then AJ Weston was arrested for setting Luann’s porn studio on fire.

SAMCRO confronted Ethan Zobelle for the rape. Hale (a cop, remember?) showed up on the scene. Zobelle told the cop that he had narcotics on him so that he (and his daughters) would be arrested instead of killed by SAMCRO. Zobelle was released and sought protection from the Mayans. It was also revealed that Zobelle was an FBI informant. Jax shot Weston and killed him.

Edmond Hayes, IRA member, was being held by Agent Stahl, who was using Edmond as bait to get his father, Cameron. Edmond tried to kill Stahl and escape, but Stahl shot him. Polly Zobelle was shot by Gemma at a safe house, and Stahl witnessed it, but she let Gemma go. That way she could frame Gemma for shooting Edmond. Cameron Hayes thought Gemma killed his son because of this, so he broke into Jax’s home, stabbed Half-Sack, and kidnapped baby Abel.

SAMCRO went after the Mayans and Zobelle. The Mayans retreated. Jax got a call from Tara and went home to find Half-Sack dead, his baby gone, and Tara tied up. Meanwhile, Chief Unser helped Gemma get out of town and Ethan Zobelle ditched the Mayans and caught a plane back to Budapest where he came from. Jax went to Clay for help tracking down Cameron and his son. Cameron took to a boat. SAMCRO made it just in time to see the boat getting away.

Season Three:

Gemma hid in Oregon with Tig. They went to see Gemma’s father, Nate, who had dementia, and Gemma took him to live in a nursing home. Tara went to visit Gemma and helped her kill Gemma’s father’s caregiver. Masked men did a drive-by shooting at Half-Sack’s wake, and Deputy Hale was run down by a car. SAMCRO had an upcoming hearing for weapons charges, but they agreed to jump bail.

Cameron liquidated his assets and went to Belfast. He confessed his sins to his cousin, Father Ashby, who has connections to both Jimmy O and the main IRA group. Ashby had Cameron killed and planned to put Abel up for adoption. SAMCRO hired a bounty hunter to find Abel, and then they received an email telling of Cameron’s death. After talking to Jimmy O, Jax came to the conclusion that Cameron left Abel in Vancouver.

Gemma went back to Charming, not knowing about Abel’s kidnapping. Father Ashby’s sister, Maureen, gave Gemma call to tell her that her grandson was safe. When she heard this news, Gemma had an arrhythmia and collapsed in the parking lot of the auto-shop (Teller-Morrow) where most of SAMCRO have day jobs. When Gemma recovered, Tara told her that she was six months pregnant with another of Jax’s spawn. Gemma went into police custody.

Without telling the other club members, Jax made a deal with Stahl to save his mom and have the weapons charges against the club downgraded. In exchange, he offered up Jimmy O and the IRA. Oswald, a wealthy Charming resident, agreed to get SAMCRO over to Belfast. Jax broke up with Tara, and Tara caught him in bed with a porn actress, Ima, the next morning. Jax said that he wanted to drive Tara away, to protect her. Tara thought it was because Jax hated her because of what happened to Abel.

Enter Hector Salazar, a former president of the Calaveras MC, yet another gang. He was recently booted and he was still sore about it. He started watching Tara and Jax. Gemma found out that John Teller cheated on her and had a daughter with another woman in Belfast. Tara helped Gemma escape from police custody and made an appointment to have an abortion. Gemma went with SAMCRO to Belfast. Ashby told Jax that he should kill Jimmy O (because the IRA don’t like the way he does things) in exchange for Abel.

Stahl advised Jax not to kill Jimmy O and helped Jax dig up info on Ashby. After their first attempt to kill Jimmy O went awry, SAMCRO had to engage in torture in order to find out who warned Jimmy O. Ashby told Jax where Abel was, but he also said that Abel should be adopted by someone other than Jax so that Abel could avoid life with criminals. Jax agreed and left Abel alone with a new family. But then Jimmy O killed those adoptive parents, took Abel, and tried to exchange Abel for the opportunity to escape back to America. Ashby traded himself for Abel, and Abel was returned to Jax.

Hector Salazar kidnapped Tara and her boss, Margaret, on their way to an abortion clinic and said that he would return them in exchange for the murder of one of his enemies and $250,000. Tara attacked Salazar’s girlfriend and got Margaret set free in exchange for the girlfriend’s life. The girlfriend died anyway.

SAMCRO returned to Charming and started looking for Tara. Gemma told Stahl that unless Stahl stopped dealing with Jax, Gemma would tell everyone about how Stahl murdered Edmond. Salazar kidnapped Jacob Hale, Jr., another cop. Hale, Jr. was trying to take over the Charming Police Department with another, larger police department. In order for Hale, Jr.’s takeover plans to be thwarted, Salazar needed to be taken alive, but Jax shot Salazar during a stand-off.

Stahl shot her partner, on purpose, and blamed Edmond’s murder on her dead partner to get Gemma off. Jimmy O hooked up with Russians in order to escape to South America. SAMCRO paid the Russians $2 million to hand over Jimmy O, but the money was counterfeit. Jax let Stahl in on the deal so that she could arrest Jimmy in exchange for a reduction of SAMCRO’s prison sentences. Jimmy was moved before Stahl could get there and arrest him, so she went to the SAMCRO clubhouse. There, she took Jimmy O into custody. SAMCRO was arrested and taken away in an ATF van. Turns out SAMCRO knew about Jax’s dealings with Stahl, and they were cool with it.

Stahl’s van didn’t make it. Unser (a cop) stopped Stahl’s van due to there being an IRA threat on the road. Stahl’s colleagues left to investigate and she was left alone with Unser and Jimmy O. Chibs, Opie, and others showed up. Chibs killed Jimmy after cutting his mouth like The Dark Knight’s Joker, and Opie killed Stahl. They set things up to make it look like the IRA’s fault. Jax and Clay made up, and Jax supported Clay’s vision of the club over his dead father’s. Father Ashby’s sister, Maureen, put some letters in Jax’s bag. Tara found them and read them. John Teller had written to Maureen that he was afraid that he was going to be killed by his wife and Clay, and that the two were close.

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And that’s all. This is by far the hardest post we've ever written. Please add more in the comments if you think we missed something important or want to expand on a character/characters. We were trying to keep it short, but this is sort of a convoluted, action-packed show. And we DID finish watching it in just two weeks. It’s enough to make our heads spin, but we’re ready for season four. Weeeee!

Season 1 Grade: B-

Season 2 Grade: A-

Season 3 Grade: B

For Sons of Anarchy Fans

Three episodes in, we've just figured out what Sam Crow is (SAMCRO). Haha, we feel dumb. We just kept thinking, "Who is this Sam guy who seems to rule all?"

Bad Bloggers

For the past five days, one of us was busy travelling 3,000 miles and moving into a new apartment and one of us DIDN'T HAVE INTERNET. It was horrible. But that has been rectified. We will be playing catch-up for a few days.

Also, we just found out that Sons of Anarchy is on Instant Netflix now. Yessssss. We have until September to watch it (so we can be caught up).

Big Ick Factor

Ern once tried to watch Big Love and only made it past two episodes. Why? The subject matter, of course. There is a huge Ick Factor for us in thinking about polygamy. It's wrong and weird and cheating. Also, it gives Mormons a bad rep. We know plenty of Mormons, and none of them are polygamists, and we have yet to meet one who is a boring jerk. We view Mormons the way the South Park guys do: most are awesome as people, but we can't get onboard with stuff like the whole "Native Americans are actually Jews" thing. Most of them actually manage to live out the tenants of their faith, unlike a lot of religious people, and they can usually be counted on to supply your party with jello and booze-free fun. Steroetypes aside, the point is, we approve. Polygamy doesn't need to be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of that particular religious sect.

But we've heard rumors for four years that this show is good. It's HBO, one of our most intelligent readers (Cat) likes it, and it's the final season. So one of us is going to lunge forward and force herself to get into it. Past the ick factor and beyond. One of us will be caught up by the series finale and will be able to post about the show as a whole and the ending. We'll keep you updated as to how it goes. And after that, Sons of Anarchy catch-up. And then Nikita.

Commenting on Stephen King's 2010 Favorites

Stephen King put out a list of his top ten TV shows of the past year, with commentary. You can find his list, with pictures and his commentary, on the "recent interesting links" page. We've listened to this man ever since he dogged Stephanie Meyer's "writing." Just kidding. We've listened to him ever since he said, "I'm sick of people saying something is 'Harry Potter for adults.' Harry Potter is Harry Potter for adults." No, wait. We misremembered. We've loved him since our teenaged hands got a copy of The Gunslinger.

He usually has good taste in TV too. He turned us onto Breaking Bad a few years ago, so we will pay attention to his list. The commentary here is ours, duh.

Steve's List
10) Morning Joe - We've never seen it, but it sounds awful. Pat Buchanan is on it? You couldn't pay us to watch something with him, and both of us are Christians (Catholic counts as Christian).

9) Boardwalk Empire - Typical guy pick, Uncle Stevie, but we agree. For the most part.

8) Spongebob Squarepants - Stephen King WOULD like this. Ha. We've laughed at a few episodes before, but it's never been a favorite, even when we were kids.

7) Sons of Anarchy - We have GOT to catch up on that before next season. Way too many people we respect say that it's great.

6) Dexter - Not it's best season this year, but still enjoyable.

5) Damages - One of us has never seen it. The other one watched it like it was her job back in seasons one and two, but it got a bit too ridiculous for her. Should we catch up?

4) The Event - Ugh, disagree. Was he paid to plug this? It's been getting lots of promotion lately (in a lame attempt to save it), especially on E! Take away this life support and let it either survive on its own or die. IF ONLY it were comparable to LOST and 24.

3) Breaking Bad - Agree

2) The Walking Dead - We JUST started catching up on this (we've seen about 1.5 episodes), and so far, we agree. It's better than all the new shows combined.

1) Friday Night Lights - Surprising first pick from Stephen King (over the horror and other weird shows), but we approve. It's nice to see FNL get some love from a celebrity in its final (tear) season.

If you ask us, this list is missing The Vampire Diaries. If he can dredge up some love for Spongebob and Pat Buchanan.... And TVD is WAY more clever than The Event. TVD kept TV good for us this whole lackluster fall season.