2. Sons of Anarchy
Seriously, if you've never seen Sons of Anarchy before, then I command you through the mystic power of the inter-web to address this issue immediately. Thats right, immediately! Stop reading this right now. Shut down your browser and get over to your DVD store (or Netflix if youre a big fancy pants) and watch it. All of it! All five seasons. Im not joking! Don't worry about me. I will wait. If you're reading this at your place of work, fake illness or demand a holiday. You deserve it! To those that have already seen it, how good is that show? Thats not a rhetorical question. It's a real one. The correct answer to that question is, "It's amazing, Tom!". This contains a general overview so relax no spoilers. The show is essentially about a bunch of bikers who have their own code of ethics. By day - they're just a team of mechanics that will fix your banged up Fiat Panda in their legitimate (but manly) workshop. By night - they ride big-ass Harley Davidsons, drink beers, shag women, fight rival gangs, evade the police/FBI/CIA and try to stop anything they perceive as a threat to their town, their business or their club. The main pay-horse of these outlaws is the illegal transporting and supply of guns all over their territory, but over the course of the show the gang get more fingers in pies than The Dandy's Desperate Dan. Central to the show is Perlman's character Clay Morrow, the head of the Charming chapter of the Sons of Anarchy. In essence, he's a total bastard with a closet full of skeletons, and yet I still root for him. While he may be devastatingly ruthless, he clearly has reasons for his actions, and he does possess the ability to be compassionate and remorseful. At times you can almost see how conflicted he is internally, battling to decide whether or not to protect his beloved club even if it means betraying the loyalty of his biker brothers. While he may be the one holding the gavel at the head of the table, Clay is slowly losing his grip both figuratively and literally. Physically, age is beginning to catch up him, arthritis afflicting both of his hands and making it harder for him to ride and be one of the boys. On top of this, the young Jax Teller (the SOA's Vice President) is presenting a potential future for the club which is more modern and idealistic. Jaxs savvy, diplomatic style directly clashes with Clays more, shall we say, traditional style. The young VP is exclusively looking at the big picture which entails getting out of the illegal gun trade all together. This initiative is further sweetened with the almost certain significant decrease of bloodshed and mess for all involved. Morrow is wise enough to foresee this and we see him struggle with the fact that times are a changin' and that he may no longer be whats best for the clubs future. He too is looking for the endgame (or his version of it) and wants to make enough bank to hang up his boots for good. Clay's (at times) arcane approach of leadership can yield lucrative results but simultaneously is a magnet for more problems and disparity within his men. Essentially Clays previous attributes are slowly becoming the main threat to his crown. At times I swear I know what his character is thinking. Little idiosyncrasies reveal themselves at pivotal moments, his sad eyes closing slowly, returning open with almost a glazed look, as if to prepare himself for his next heinous act with a tinted protective layer. Sometimes its a small facial expression, a twitch, a sigh, a growl. Whichever it is, we see him carry the weight of his increasingly burdened conscience throughout the show, and youre never quite sure which way or how far hes going to go. Perlman is simply brilliant in what I believe is his greatest role yet. His presence is felt in every scene he is a part of, regardless of whether he is the main focus or not. To summarise - watch Sons of Anarchy!