TV Review: Sons of Anarchy 5.5, “Orca Shrugged”
rating: 3
If theres one thing season five of Sons of Anarchy is severely lacking, its proper pacing. The seasons first three episodes hit the ground running, arriving at the sort of game-changing narrative climax thats normally reserved for a season finale. That break-neck momentum came to a grinding halt in last weeks installment, and unfortunately, Orca Shrugged doesnt do much to pick up the pace. To have momentum, of course, you must also have a solid direction for your narrative, and frankly, its starting to feel like this season of the show is lacking in that arena as well. Jax is making moves to salvage his club by moving it away from gun-running into something thats much more sustainable for the long haul, but aside from that, what else is there to latch onto? Tara and Gemma appear to have made amends, Tig has failed to be the wild card the premiere set him up to be, Popes been dormant for the past two episodes, and Clay has remained powerless. For a show that does complication so well, the last few chapters have been surprisingly devoid of them. Opies death was a seismic event a final, utterly devastating turn in a plotline that has been present since the very beginnings of the show, and more than any other, has represented the decay and inevitable implosion of SAMCRO. Following that huge moment, the shows reverted back to moving plot pieces around. Were five episodes in, and theres no central conflict, no indication of where things are headed, and no real drama to speak of. The thing thats so frustrating about all of this is that the show had all of those elements available to them in the Opie storyline, but instead chose to move past it in favor of something that, as of now, feels like the very start of a season as opposed to the fifth chapter of one. In summary, there isnt a whole lot to unpack in Orca Shrugged, aside from a development in the home invasions plotline. Chief Roosevelts house is the latest target, and in the midst of the invasion, his wife is injured. This will likely result in an increased pressure from law enforcement against the club, but at this point in the series, is the threat of police involvement or a prison sentence something that should be taken seriously? These guys have been thrown into situations with law enforcement for the entirety of the series, yet time and time again, the writers have concocted ways to either eliminate or undermine any threat that comes attached to it. Its a dead end, and does nothing to increase the tension this series usually has in spades. In fact, almost everything happening right now feels like a dead end a far cry from what the show was closing in on only a few episodes ago.