Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Sons of Anarchy (season 4)

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Country of origin
  
United States

Original network
  
FX

No. of episodes
  
14

Original release
  
September 6 (2011-09-06) – December 6, 2011 (2011-12-06)

The fourth season of the American television drama series Sons of Anarchy created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in California's Central Valley. The show centers on protagonist Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the then–vice president of the club, who begins questioning the club and himself.

Contents

Season Four premiered on September 6, 2011, on cable network FX. The season premiere ("Out") by series executive producer and principal director Paris Barclay and written by series creator and executive producer Kurt Sutter was one of the highest-rated telecasts in FX's history.

Cast and characters

Sons of Anarchy is the story of the Teller-Morrow family of Charming, California, as well as the other members of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original (SAMCRO), their families, various Charming townspeople, allied and rival gangs, associates, and law agencies that undermine or support SAMCRO's legal and illegal enterprises.

Main cast

  • Charlie Hunnam as Jackson "Jax" Teller (14 episodes)
  • Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow (14 episodes)
  • Mark Boone Junior as Robert "Bobby Elvis" Munson (13 episodes)
  • Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser (12 episodes)
  • Kim Coates as Alex "Tig" Trager (14 episodes)
  • Tommy Flanagan as Filip "Chibs" Telford (14 episodes)
  • Ryan Hurst as Harry "Opie" Winston (13 episodes)
  • William Lucking as Piermont "Piney" Winston (9 episodes)
  • Theo Rossi as Juan-Carlos "Juice" Ortiz (13 episodes)
  • Maggie Siff as Tara Knowles-Teller (14 episodes)
  • Ron Perlman as Clarence "Clay" Morrow (14 episodes)

    • Special guest cast

  • Rockmond Dunbar as Lieutenant Eli Roosevelt (12 episodes)
  • Ray McKinnon as Assistant U.S. Attorney Lincoln Potter (12 episodes)
  • Danny Trejo as Romero "Romeo" Parada (8 episodes)
  • Kenny Johnson as Herman Kozik (3 episodes)
  • Drea de Matteo as Wendy Case (2 episodes)
  • Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Vivica ("Dorylous")
  • David Hasselhoff as Dondo ("Brick")
  • Sonny Barger as Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz ("To Be, Act 1")

    • Guest stars

  • Tom Arnold as Georgie Caruso (2 episodes)
  • Randolph Mantooth as Charlie Horse (2 episodes)
  • Keith Szarabajka as Victor Putlova ("Out")
  • Rachel Miner as Dawn Trager ("With An X")
  • Olivia Burnette as Homeless Woman ("Hands")
  • Brian Goodman as Huff (Vice President of SAMTAZ) ("Una Venta")

    • Production

    Although Sons of Anarchy is set in Northern California's Central Valley, it is filmed primarily at Occidental Studios Stage 5A in North Hollywood. Main sets located there include the clubhouse, St. Thomas Hospital and Jax's house. The production rooms at the studio used by the writing staff also double as the Charming police station. External scenes are often filmed nearby in Sun Valley and Tujunga.

    Reception

    Alan Sepinwall stated that the fourth season risked predictability by returning to a successful formula of storytelling, but he nonetheless preferred those episodes to those of season three. Maureen Ryan reviewed the fourth season positively. She praised the addition of Lincoln Potter (played by Ray McKinnon), comparing the character's quality to that of Breaking Bad's antagonist, Gustavo Fring. The A.V. Club called the fourth season more "focused" and "operatic". AV Club reviewer Zack Handlen was fond of the season but felt disappointed with the finale, saying it featured a "lousy case of dictated convenience, of an arbitrary and unbelievable reveal used to shift characters around to where the writers want them to be for next season, as opposed to where they might land organically." However, the review did praise Charlie Hunnam's performance in the finale. TIME said the fourth season was the strongest since season two, but the show needed to end sooner rather than later. TIME also agreed that the finale's contrivances were sometimes too visible, stating "it’s the principle: you can only turn up alive at your own funeral so many times before it starts to lose its impact."

    Home media release

    The fourth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on August 28, 2012.

    References

    Sons of Anarchy (season 4) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA