Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven Blu-ray Movie Review

Mayhem.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 2, 2015

Note: Spoiler averse readers should approach this part of the review with caution. I've taken care not to offer too much detail about this final season, but in discussing events of the seventh year of the series, some plot points of previous seasons are overtly mentioned out of necessity.

To be, or not to be, that is the question. . .

Sons of Anarchy has famously trafficked in a Shakespearian ambience from the get go, evoking a kind of modern day Hamlet as Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) tried to come to terms with his legacy and the continuing machinations of his devious mother, Gemma (Katey Sagal). The iconic epigram above from Hamlet’s so-called “nunnery” scene might also be seen as a fitting epitaph for a series which has not shied away from dispensing with characters both great and small over the course of its seven seasons. In fact, Sons of Anarchy’s rather ruthless insouciance concerning whether various individuals live or die has been one of its most defining (and disturbing) elements, and so fans of the series could be forgiven for simply wondering “who’s going to make it?” as the show entered its final season. When a publishing mishap provided a companion book full of spoilers about this very issue before the finale of the series had aired, creator and show runner Kurt Sutter went, well, all SAMCRO himself, lamenting the fact that one of the show’s biggest ever gut punches had been leaked unceremoniously. Those who have been watching the body count accrue for the previous six seasons might consider Sutter’s reaction a bit of hyperbole, for the writing has been on the wall for some time with regard to the life expectancies of at least one or two of the major characters in the series.

Those wanting to catch up on the story so far can read our reviews of previous seasons by clicking on the following links:

Sons of Anarchy: Season One Blu-ray review

Sons of Anarchy: Season Two Blu-ray review

Sons of Anarchy: Season Three Blu-ray review

Sons of Anarchy: Season Four Blu-ray review

Sons of Anarchy: Season Five Blu-ray review

Sons of Anarchy: Season Six Blu-ray review

The horrifying murder which capped (no pun intended) the sixth season of Sons of Anarchy sets up the chaos and, well, anarchy that defines much of the seventh season of this often relentlessly grim and even gruesome series. Gemma has painted (and/or “forked”) her way into a rather desperate corner, and in her ever duplicitous manner, sets Jax off on a fool’s errand, chasing supposed wife killers who of course had nothing to do with the murder of Tara (Maggie Siff). Jax, already a wounded “prince,” becomes something of an avenging angel in this final season, albeit one who initially at least aims for an inaccurate target (or several).

The mayhem (to use the gang’s own euphemistic term) that erupts from Gemma’s subterfuge drives the intervening episodes between this season’s opening and its devastating finale, and in fact that’s one of the central, if ultimately not that debilitating, issues with this wrap up year. This easily could have been a two episode season, without all of the interstitial madness that Sutter works into the proceedings. Instead a number of interruptions simply end up forestalling the inevitable, which is of course a showdown between mother and son.

The body count in this season is perhaps the largest yet, which is saying something for this series. In fact there’s an early scene in this season’s premiere episode where Jax goes to the cemetery to visit a couple of graves, and a wide shot reveals a whole hillside of headstones. I couldn’t help but think, “Well, it’s nice they have the entire former cast of the show together in one spot.” That’s also part of the pacing issue with this season—once the carnage starts in earnest, characters simply start dropping like flies (with a little “help,” of course), in a marauding display of gunfire that simply (literally) kills any plot threads that have been left dangling.

Sutter is perhaps to be forgiven for a certain amount of self indulgence as Sons of Anarchy draws to a close, and it’s incontrovertible that he works up a surprising amount of emotional content as the series wends it way toward its unavoidably tragic conclusion. Once again the series is anchored by formidable work on the part of Hunnam and (especially) Sagal (Sutter’s wife, for those few who may not be aware). CCH Pounder and Annabeth Gish are both excellent in supporting roles as the District Attorney and cop looking into the murder of Tara as well as other SAMCRO peccadilloes, but this season’s major supporting performance honors probably belong squarely to Drea de Matteo as Wendy, Jax’s ex who finds herself thrust into a parental role once again as things spiral (further) out of control.

Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Shot digitally with a variety of cameras (according to the IMDb), Sons of Anarchy continues its longstanding tradition of looking largely impeccably sharp, clear and well defined in high definition. This season ventures outside quite a bit, and the brightly lit California landscapes pop extremely well, with an appealingly natural palette and in some shots fantastic depth of field. Close-ups reveal abundant fine detail. There are occasional slight issues with inadequate shadow detail in some dimly lit interior scenes (something that has tended to plague the series from the first season), but there are no obvious compression artifacts and overall this is a sterling presentation which should easily please the series' rabid fan base.

Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven continues the generally very strong audio presentation of this series with an involving and immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The frequent use of source cues (including The Boss this time 'round) opens up the soundstage significantly, as do effects like clear panning when motorcycles race through the landscape. Dialogue is very cleanly and clearly presented as well, with excellent prioritization, though directionality in this aspect is at times a bit restrained. Fidelity is top notch and dynamic range is similarly very wide.

Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 3:53)

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scene (1080p; 00:49)

Disc Three:

• Deleted Scene (1080p; 1:03)

Disc Four:

• Gag Reel (1080p; 2:41)


• Carpe Diem: The Final Season of Sons of Anarchy (1080p; 1:11:39) is a really good, in depth but spoiler filled assemblage of interviews, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the show. It might have been more accurate to remove that "m" from Diem.


• Anarchy Legacy (1080p; 4:50) offers Kurt Sutter and various executives offering an assessment of the show's legacy, including just the hint that there might be a prequel in the offing.


• Motorcycles of Mayhem (1080p; 5:11) looks at some of the technical aspects of riding the bikes in the series.


• Guests of Anarchy: Season 7 (1080p; 7:02) gives an overview of the many guest stars who appear this season.


• Promotional Shorts: Tattoo Stories (1080p; 18:20) is a group of brief featurettes centered around various characters in the show.

Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite its breakneck pace, there's a certain amount of lethargy and even entropy that creeps into this final season of Sons of Anarchy, two elements that are probably attributable to Sutter's understandable gambit of not getting to the "endgame" too quickly or easily. Several episodes this season are probably at least a mite too long and too filled with ultimately needless detours, but the show builds up to a suitably Shakespearian denouement. (Some viewers may wonder, though, what's up with all the references to the Eucharist? Surely Jax is not a Christ figure, is he?) Sons of Anarchy has been quite a ride (sorry) for the vast majority of its seven seasons, and Sutter brings things to both a close and a head with sometimes alarming alacrity. Performances continue to be viscerally intense even when individual episodes tend toward hyperbolism. Technical merits are very strong once again, and the supplemental package is very enjoyable. For me personally, this final season took just a bit of a downturn, though it's an incremental and perhaps negligible drop. The series as a whole is of course superb and involving. Taken on its own and with a mindfulness of a certain amount of padding that creeps into this final year, Sons of Anarchy: Season Seven comes Recommended.