Why So Blu?

Sons of Anarchy: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray Review)

After the gigantic cliffhanger that ended the second season, FX has now brought us Sons of Anarchy: The Complete Third Season to the Blu-ray format.  Sons of Anarchy is a television show that runs on the FX network and comes to us from the makers of The Shield (an excellent show, by the way), so you best believe that Sons of Anarchy will not be pulling any punches.  Sons of Anarchy features a great ensemble cast of characters like Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Katey Sagal (Married With Children). How will this season stack up to the previous two?  It’s a tough act to follow, so if you want find out how it went then ride on through.  

The Show 

When we last left off in season two, Jax’s (Charlie Hunnam) son Abel had been kidnapped and Gemma (Katey Sagal) had been framed for murder.  Jax and SAMCRO have to rack their heads together to pull through this mess before the law finally clamps down on the club.  Sons of Anarchy is a great show.  Creator/writer/director Kurt Sutter (The Shield) has once again made me root for the bad guys just like he did when I rooted for Vic Mackey.  They’re a biker gang that has their hands into every kind of pot from drugs, weapons, and pornography.  Make no mistake, the Sons ARE the bad guys which is ironic, because I’m down with them pulling through.

I also want to get something out of the way before I continue.  It is a travesty that Katey Sagal has not won an Emmy Award for her role as the powerful Gemma.  Not only is Gemma one of the strongest female characters on television right now, but she will mess you up.  Do you remember that scene in season one where she hit that girl in the face with a skateboard?  I still get flashbacks from that scene!  Gemma is no joke.

Continuing; Sons of Anarchy also has the distinction of also being the first season where a major chunk of the show takes place in Ireland.  That doesn’t happen until the middle part of the season, though.   Ron Perlman as Clay Morrow commands the screen every time he is in frame.  Again, these are people that you do not want to mess with.  I can feel their toughness through the Blu-ray.

Charlie Hunnam as the conflicted Jax has also grown as a character and as an actor in general.  If you’ve been keeping tabs on the first two seasons, you’d see that he wasn’t always that way.  He grew up fast and kept getting thrown into the fire over and over again.  We also have Tig (Kim Coates) who is just hilarious in his role, and if you stick around towards the end of season three there is a “revelation” that had me in stitches that features The Shield regular Kenneth Johnson.  The set up for it is brilliant, but when it finally pays off it’s just hysterical.  I cannot say anymore on that, because it would border on spoiler territory.

Sons of Anarchy is a very layered show, but it’s best that you watch the first two seasons, so that you can really get the gist of the show.  If you like bikers, choppers, hot biker chicks, etc., then you’ll probably dig Sons of Anarchy.

 

Episodes:

1. So

2. Oiled

3. Caregiver

4. Home

5. Turning and Turning

6. The Push

7. Widening Gyre

8. Lochan Mor

9. Turas

10. Firinne

11. Bainne

12. June Wedding

13. NS

Video  

Sons of Anarchy: The Complete Third Season is presented in 1080p, 1.78:1.  Sons of Anarchy does have some grand production values and the look of the show was spared no expense.  Skin tones look natural; skin imperfections like old scars, tattoos, disfigurements, all have amazing detail.  Softness is never an issue and neither is crush.  Contrast may run a little hot from time to time, but considering that these people mostly live in desert communities it’s really no big deal and only serves to enhance the overall design of the show.  Some of the scenes in Ireland really leap out at you in terms of color depth and separation which adds to the overall presentation of the Blu-ray.  Well done, chaps. 

 

Audio 

Sons of Anarchy: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1.  Here’s an audio track that is extremely aggressive without being oppressive.  Dialogue is exceptionally clean and crisp with no hints of distortion whatsoever.  Gunfire, explosions, and good ‘ol chopper engine noise is handled effortlessly by the sound stage.  You can feel the engine rumble as the LFE handles it without problems.  Ambient sounds are also accurate and you can hear when people are having conversations in the background which does not bleed into the front channels.  Sons of Anarchy is one of the best sounding television shows on the Blu-ray format. 

Special Features 

Sons of Anarchy: The Complete Third Season is fully loaded with lots of cool and relevant extras.  We get roundtable readings of an episode, we get lots of information from creator/writer/director Kurt Sutter on the making of Sons along with behind the scenes footage, deleted footage, commentaries, and my favorite: extended episodes.  There are several episodes which feature footage not seen in their original broadcast version.  Viewers have the option to select which version they want to watch.  The other special feature that rocked was the vignette scenes that hint at what we will be in store for Sons of Anarchy Season 4.

• The Future Begins Now: Four all-new season-spanning scenes show you what’s in store for season four
• Custom Bike Build
• Directing the season finale with Kurt Sutter
• 3 Extended Episodes
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Roundtable Reading

Final Thoughts 

Sons of Anarchy: The Complete Third Season is a beast, but does come down from time to time – you gotta catch your breath a bit, right?  Great acting by all involved, especially Katey Sagal.  At the conclusion of season three I was fiending for season four, which just premiered not too long ago.  The Blu-ray features top notch everything, and special features really worthy of the Blu-ray format.  It’s a winner.

 

Order Sons of Anarchy: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray!