My Official Sons of Anarchy Season 5 Preview

I originally wrote this for the SG Blog but haven't heard back about when it will go up so I figured I'd go ahead and post it here and in the FX group for those interested to read.

Also check out this awesome art work done by my buddy Evan oh and make sure to scroll down to the end to see what Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter had to say about SG!



Long Live the King - Sons of Anarchy Season 5 Preview


Season 5 of the outlaw biker drama Sons of Anarchy will land on TV screens this Tuesday, Sept 11 but before it kicks off let's get ready for what we're all about to see unfold with SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original for those curious) this year.

New Faces in New Places

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has always done a fantastic job of creating new, vital characters to refresh the canvas of the outlaw bikers in California, and as season 5 approaches it appears this year is no different.

Here are some of the new faces that will move into Charming this year:

Jimmy Smits as Nero Padilla – a Latin gangster who will serve as a bit of a mentor to Jax Teller as he takes over the reigns as president of SAMCRO, and also eases his way into his mother Gemma's bed as well.

Harold Perrineau as Damon Pope – A reformed gangster turned businessman whose daughter died in Tig's ill-fated attempt at revenge when he believed gang members from Oakland were responsible for Clay's shooting. Pope will be the main antagonist for season 5.

Ashlee Tisdale as Emma Jean – A high priced escort who gets involved with the Sons this season.

Rusty Coones (founder of the Orange County chapter of the Hell's Angels) as Quinn, leader of the SAMCRO NOMAD chapter – The NOMAD's have been mentioned in several seasons of the show – essentially the bikers who are part of the Sons of Anarchy who belong to no regional charter. This season the Hell's Angels leader takes the role of Quinn giving a face to the name mentioned in SAMCRO lore.

Chuck Zito as Frankie Diamonds – It wasn't long ago that former Hell's Angels member and famous biker Chuck Zito was suing FX and Kurt Sutter for stealing his idea for an outlaw biker show, but now cooler heads have prevailed and Zito will instead take a role in season 5 of the show. Frankie Diamonds is a member of the afore mentioned NOMAD chapter of SAMCRO and he will appear in multiple episodes this year.

The King is Dead – Long Live the King

At the end of last season, former SAMCRO President Clay was laying in a hospital bed after taking two gunshots from Opie after Clay killed his father. Jax found out that Clay was responsible for his own father's death as well and didn't ask, but told him that he was taking over as the head of the table for the Sons of Anarchy.

With Jax taking over, he has a new 'sergeant at arms' with his good friend Chibs now sitting to his right, but there is an empty seat to his left.

The role of vice-president remains open after Jax's best friend Opie no showed his meeting to declare his new-found leadership. Opie was still feeling burnt that Jax didn't let him off Clay when he had the chance, and didn't tell him straight away that he was the one responsible for his father's death.

According to creator Kurt Sutter, Opie's trust issues will continue to play into season 5 as he tries to fine his rightful place at the SAMCRO table…but will it be to back up his best friend Jax or not?

"At the end of last season, as much as I wanted to put Opie at that table, it just didn't seem like true to the character," Sutter explained when speaking at San Diego Comic Con. "We had damaged him and his family so much that it would have been too neat and too simple to put him at that table. So I felt I really wanted him in the wind for a little bit. We'll see him in essence, the club has to gain his respect back, and we'll see at the end of the second episode that start to happen."

The Crying Clown

Last season was the toughest, but most telling for Juan-Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz, as he had to suffer silently as the cops twisted him in the wind with threats of telling his club that he actually had an African-American father unless he turned informant.

The race issues broke down barriers in terms of telling the inner workings of biker clubs, or any social club really, but at the center of it actor Theo Rossi shined as a tortured soul who lived with shame while trying to deal with the fact that he was ratting out his friends at the same time.

"Juice is just the clown crying on the inside. He's trying to act as if, like when he came into that chapel at the end of season 4 and Jax said 'are you alright?' and he says 'yeah, I'm good' and he took that picture of his father and the ATF, and realized it's all good and got rid of the files. You know, that's not the case," Rossi told SuicideGirls in an exclusive interview.

"So this is a guy who's living with secrets and secrets eventually turn to shame and how that all plays out we've just got to watch and see."

A Whole New World

Kurt Sutter has promised at least seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy to truly tell the story he set out to do when the show started a few years ago. As season 5 begins, we truly do witness a new beginning for the show, the characters and how they will develop as the series starts to wind towards it's final days.

As Rossi tells it, season 5 is a whole new Sons of Anarchy – just as exciting, just as riveting, just as great as the four previous seasons – but something entirely different.

"This is a different show now," said Rossi. "Everyday it's like watching something new play out."

Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy debuts at 10pm ET on Tuesday, Sept 11

And Kurt Sutter's response on Twitter to me -



Hope everyone enjoys the season 5 premiere!