Sons of Anarchy: Season Four

The insistence that there exists an underlying poetic or even Shakespearian nature to Kurt Sutter's 'Sons of Anarchy' – the way in which it mirror's legendary tragedies like 'Hamlet' – seems enough to justify the series' inherent repetitive nature. It also allows the program to continue on without altering the characters or their circumstances so much that the basic tenet becomes something more than when Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam) will avenge his murdered father and depose Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman), so that he may seek his rightful place within SAMCRO?

Ultimately, as far as season 4 goes, that growing discord served as an engrossing set up to an underwhelming conclusion, which suggests Sutter and his writers favor last minute twists and story adjustments aimed at granting the status quo time to linger, over finding their way to a more genuine resolution. This was evident in the "surprise" ending that concluded the outlandish events of season 3, which saw SAMCRO venture to Ireland – complete with a hilariously awful Irish version of the show's theme song – to retrieve Jax's kidnapped son, Abel, and ultimately uncover some scintillating details about the role Clay and Gemma (Katey Sagal) played in the death of J.T. Teller (Jax's father).

At that point, the series appeared ready to move forward by pressing the reset button in a way. For all intents and purposes, season 4 of 'Sons of Anarchy' would place the major players in much the same position they were in when the series premiered. Early on, it seemed like a stroke of genius: the members of SAMCRO are released from a short stint in prison to pick up their lives and, more specifically, the battle between Jax and Clay could finally come to a head.

Acceptably, Sutter and his writing team chose to set up the conflict between false father and deceived son around Clay's overreaching ambitions for the club -- which is motivated by a desire to set up a suitable nest egg for him and Gemma, as it is increasingly apparent retirement is on the horizon. Fair enough. What Clay has somehow set up, is a deal with the Galindo Cartel that forces the Sons into making larger gun deals, which provide more profit, but it also means the MC is now a mule for the cartel's cocaine business – something that doesn't go down well with many in the club.

The Galindo Cartel has a familiar, well-worn and decidedly awesome face to it: That of guest star Danny Trejo. As such, Trejo's character, Romero 'Romeo' Prada takes point on the season and acts as a sort of skeleton key for the MC and near mystical problem solver in how he can arrange for information, hit men and manage to show up just when Jax and Opie (Ryan Hurst) are about to be killed by a host of Russian gangsters. To the club, it's all the power of the cartel, but it's later revealed that Romeo is something far more elusive and dangerous.

Meanwhile, Clay and Gemma's paranoia over the letter's J.T. wrote regarding the internal strife in SAMCRO and his feelings that his wife and best friend were plotting to kill him begin to strain their marriage, as Clay's willingness to silence anyone – including Tara (Maggie Siff), the mother (biological and otherwise) of Jax's children – proves too reckless even for Gemma's tastes.

Season 4 also sees the induction of two new characters on the correct side of the law. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lincoln Potter (Ray McKinnon) who is building a RICO case against the Sons, the IRA and the Galindo Cartel, and Lieutenant Eli Roosevelt (Rockmond Dunbar), the head of the San Joaquin Sheriff Department that now counts the fictional city of Charming as part of its jurisdiction. While Potter is essentially the season's big bad, Roosevelt manages to toe the line between adversary of the Sons and motivated peacekeeper of Charming. In his performance, Dunbar (who was also seen in the wonderful, but tragically canceled 'Terriers') exudes a kind of strategic calm that balances the character's need to facilitate justice, while doing so in a manner befitting someone who proudly wears the badge. As is so often the case – especially with Sutter being a veteran of 'The Shield' – law enforcement is typically looked on as being just as corrupt, if not more so than SAMCRO and the cartels. While the issue of corruption in law enforcement is normally nothing more than a plot device to lessen the amorality of the Sons, the notion of an incorruptible figure was alluded to with Deputy Chief David Hale who perished unceremoniously in season 3. Roosevelt now takes on that same principled stoicism, and adds a legitimate genial nature to his method of doing business that works to make Dunbar not only a compelling addition to the cast, but a necessary one to boot.

As the intended payoff to the season's set up grew to such substantial proportions, FX granted Sutter an additional episode to tell his tale – pushing the season's count to 14. What was a moderately compelling, if not repetitive season, became almost completely undermined when, during the two-part finale of 'To Be - Act 1' and 'To Be - Act 2,' Sutter not only bilks the audience out of a promised climax, but also shows his hand so soon in episode 14 that any sort of superficial suspense is completely diluted by the realization that one of the season's major plotlines was nothing short of a lie. Meanwhile, the other major arc fizzles out on the flimsiest of excuses.

That kind of long con may work well within the twisted morality of 'Sons of Anarchy,' but it comes off as a cruel trick when perpetrated against the series' audience.