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Sons of Anarchy
SERIES: FX, Wednesday 10:00p (60 minutes)


8.5

based on 22 reviews
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how did we calculate this?

based on 49 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

Official Show Site

Starring Ron Perlman, Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Mitch Pileggi, Emilio Rivera, Mark Boone, Jr., Kim Coates, and Drea de Matteo

The lives of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club are explored in Kurt Sutter's new drama.

GENRE(S):	Drama
CREATED BY:	Kurt Sutter
FIRST AIR DATE:	September 3, 2008

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

Few series have exploded onto the scene with such a rich array of potential stories and inherently interesting characters.

New York Post Linda Stasi

Every character is unique - but almost none compares in strangeness to Bobby Munson (Mark Boone, Jr.), a Jewish killer/gang member/Elvis impersonator. Yes, I love this show.

Newsday Verne Gay

Trade press has labeled this "'Easy Rider' Meets 'The Sopranos,'" which seems apt. Show comes from Kurt Sutter, longtime co-executive producer of "The Shield" (and married to Sagal) so that should give you a sense of tone and texture - violent, taut, well written.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

Gritty and occasionally violent, Sons was created by Kurt Sutter, an executive producer on "The Shield." As "The Shield" prepares to bow out, Sons should capably fill the smart, testosterone-fueled void.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

I do think it has real potential to become a solid dramatic addition to the FX slate, as The Shield enters its final season.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

Sons of Anarchy is bloody, disturbing and maniacally addictive.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

A shockingly good series about a motorcycle gang in the apocryphal California valley town of Charming.

LA Weekly Robert Abele

Sons of Anarchy, an unfailingly coarse yet brashly effective series that burrows into the workings of the titular outlaw motorcycle club.

Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd

There are moments that require you not to think too hard, and some of the black humor doesn't overcome its fundamental nastiness. But on the whole, it's a superior package, intelligently constructed and handsomely executed.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

Sutter has some interesting characters and ideas here, but the intensity isn't there yet.

The New York Times Ginia Bellafante

The show, which begins on Wednesday, is all tattoos and creased leather vests and shock-value chatter, and it isn’t half-bad.

Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith

Set as far as possible from the canyons of New York, the series has a cool, original look--despite its C-movie moments when burly guys in black jackets zoom down the highway to the accompaniment of country metal rock.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

For all its ferocity, and despite some excellent supporting performances, there’s a curious hole at the center of Sons of Anarchy. The character we’re supposed to be most interested in is something of a blank slate.

Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart

It will take awhile to figure out whether Sons of Anarchy was worth the investment of our time.

TV Guide Matt Roush

Well-made, but heavy-handed and hardly inviting.

Variety Brian Lowry

Working with directors Allen Coulter and Michael Dinner, Sutter does bring a visceral quality to the violence, while detailing the club's code and commitment to functioning as an extended family; there's just so little dimension to the characters early on that it's difficult to care.

Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray

It might all have been a bit lifeless, had not Sutter, a writer on "The Shield"--which has so far kept its own tragic hero from speaking in blank verse--not cast his wife, Katey Sagal, as Jax's mother, Gemma.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

A complex and well-built drama that leaves the viewer wondering if there's enough humanity here to make the hard-boiled stories worth following.

Hollywood Reporter Ray Richmond

Sutter packs the early episodes with colorful dialogue but at the same time so much random violence that it crosses the line to gratuitous.

Salon Heather Havrilesky

Creator Kurt Sutter, a longtime writer for "The Shield," has said that he wanted to create a West coast version of "The Sopranos," but the world he created sometimes feels like "The Sopranos" without any discernible moral compass.

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

Hunnam broods magnetically, but there aren't enough reasons to ride along on this incredibly bleak journey.

USA Today Robert Bianco

Sons wants us to care about their hopes and struggles, but gives no clue as to why we might do so.

The average user rating for this tv show is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 49 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

keta b gave it a10:
I love the show, and can't wait for the 1st Season to come out on DVD! I really enjoy the whole story/plot line of Jax an Tara, I think they make a great couple. Keep it up! Can't wait also for the 2nd Season to come out on TV.

Leonardo C. gave it a10:
This show is SOO very real in term's of the biker lifestyle. My Only Quip is the bikes, Different bikers have different tastes in terms of Styles, But They must be Harley Davidson or else it is baloney. American Biker's only ride American bikes! Great show I am in for the long haul.

Rhonda C. gave it a10:
Awesome - different kinda show - keeps you guessing

Nicole B. gave it a9:
Great show! Not as good or as dark as The Shield but still very compelling. A little soap opera-y but still edgy enough to overlook that part. Never watched The Sopranos so I can't compare it to that. Don't understand the people who say they didn't like it - must be brainless reality-TV watchers.

Nicole B. gave it a10:
I am so glad I hae something to watch now, Wenesday is my favorite day of the week. Great show, great job. Looking forward to the rest of season one and more.

Kevin M. gave it a10:
This show is one of the ones I look forward to watching every week. It is controversial, yet at the same time thought provoking. If the idiots that did the reviews had ever been through a rough period in there life instead of being silver spoon b!tches then I'm sure they would appreciate the show more

Jeff C gave it a10:
By far the most interesting thing since Deadwood, which makes me worry that it'll be cancelled. The USA Today critic said the show lacks "a moral compass." Great, a 1% M/C with "a moral compass"? And anyway, there's the document that Jax finds about his father's vision for SAMCRO, a ready-made statement of anti-establishment anarchist morality.

Sons of Anarchy SERIES: FX, Wednesday 10:00p (60 minutes)

Sons of Anarchy
SERIES: FX, Wednesday 10:00p (60 minutes)