Hell Yeah!

So by now, most of you who watch FX have noticed the badass promos we’ve been airing for Season 3.  That can only mean one thing: We’re almost there.  I gotta hand it to our promo people, these promos look SICK, they make me wanna ride a Harley at full throttle and kick the shit out someone out of sheer enthusiasm.

You’ve asked and we’ve delivered.  Take a peek at what we have in store for you this season:

And if that doesn’t make you wanna scream HELL YEAH! Check this one out:

Tell everyone you know, spread the word.  SOA Season 3 is coming September 7th at 10pm.

Only on FX.

We’re baaaaaaaacckkkkkk…

Yep.

ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY

With that said, I hope you’re as excited as we are for Season 3. We’re turning in Episode 308 to the network this week, and writers Chris Collins and Brady Dahl turned in 309 to Kurt. Breaking 311 now, and have 304 in post. We drop Season 2 DVD on August 31^st and DAMN! We’re almost there. Not close enough for some, but trust me, it’ll be worth the wait. I saw a cut of 301 today and I really think we’ve pushed some of our characters to their limits this season. The acting has been phenomenal and terrifyingly real. Our cast came ready to play hardball and hit it out of the frickin’ park. Mark Boone Junior and Kim Coates were born to play Bobby and Tig. And watching our new cast members, Hal Holbrook and James Cosmo, interact with our guys and gals is like watching true masters at work. 

We had a meeting to discuss our shoot in Northern Ireland. We’re sending a 2^nd unit out there to shoot some scenes in a few weeks. Yep, that’s right, we’re going to bloody Belfast, my lads. Sadly, I can’t go, but I’ll blog about it later and I’ll be interviewing Tony Medina, our art director, about his awesome trip. He and our line producer, JP, went earlier this year. So this makes two. Anyway, that’s all I got for you today Crowheads. And remember, don’t believe everything you read on the World Wide Web…

Behind the Padded Room Door:

We got a giant tub of potato chips as a thank you gift from a friend of the show. Here’s a picture of it. The patriotic merch is courtesy of our kind director, Billy Gierhart. Don’t know where the dinosaur came from, but that’s the kinda shit that we got going on around here. And it’s making us fat.

Recap: Na Triobloidi

Sons of Anarchy
Season 2, Episode 213 SEASON FINALE
Recap: “Na Triobloidi”

We kick off the season two finale with Zobelle, Polly, and Weston in Charming PD’s custody and SOA camped outside of the station hoping for an opportunity to finish what they started.  Unser gives Clay an update; Weston, Zobelle and Polly are all being released.  Weston is being released because Chuck was deemed an unreliable witness. Zobelle and Polly are released because, as it turns out, Zobelle is a rat working with the FBI.  Clay gets word to Otto.  This revelation will secure protection for the brothers inside.   Hale escorts Zobelle and Polly out. He offers them protection until they get out of Charming, but Zobelle refuses, insisting that it won’t be necessary.   Right as Zobelle and Polly are ready to pull out, Alverez and the rest of the Mayans pull up, letting SOA know that they will be ensuring that Zobelle makes it safely out of Charming.   The Mayans pull out escorting Zobelle’s car, SOA following. They will not lose Zobelle again.

Unser takes it upon himself to let Weston know that Zobelle was working for the FBI, providing them information on all the AB power players.  Hale interrupts, telling Weston he’s free to go.  He suggests getting out of Charming immediately. Weston tells him that he can’t leave without his boys.

Meanwhile it’s a stand off outside Impeccable Smokes; Mayans lined in front of the store with SOA across the street.  Inside Polly hangs up the phone.  She tells Zobelle that Weston knows he’s a rat.  As he packs money into a bag he explains to her that he knew one day they would find out.  They will go home to Budapest where they will be safe and regroup.  Polly tells him that she needs to say goodbye to Edmond before they go.  Back outside Unser arrives; Hale tells him that he’s calling in the Sheriffs.  Unser tells Jax that Weston is going to see his son. Jax, Opie, and Chibs ride out to get Weston.

At the safe house Stahl makes Edmond set up a meet with his father, Cameron.  They will meet at the wharf.  Down at the wharf, Edmond answers a hidden cell phone; Cameron’s on the other end of the call and tells Edmond the only way out of the situation is to kill Stahl.  Edmond ends the call before Estevez can get to him.  He tells him that this was a test, that his dad will meet them back at the safe house.   When they get there Edmond tells Stahl that it has to just be the two of them, no radios, his dad has scanners and if something is off won’t show up. Stahl agrees it will be just she and Edmond in the house.  Edmond goes to the restroom and retrieves a gun from a vent.  He walks out, pulls the gun on Stahl but can’t pull the trigger.  She takes the gun from him and fires a shot at his chest, blanks. She tells him she has been one step ahead of him this whole time.  Edmond punches Stahl in the gut and takes off for the back door.  Stahl pulls her weapon and shoots Edmond in the back, killing him.

Jax, Opie, and Chibs catch up to Weston and watch as he and his son, escorted by Eglee, pull into a tattoo shop.  Opie makes a call to the shop owner telling him to get Weston into the bathroom.  Irish Freddy agrees and purposely jams his tattoo needle into Weston’s back.  Weston heads to the bathroom with his son Cliffy where they are met by Jax, Opie, and Chibs.  Weston, knowing his fate, sends Cliffy away reminding him to never talk to cops.  As soon as the boy is gone, Jax takes Weston into the stall and finally takes his revenge, unloading six rounds into Weston.

Gemma and Tara, escorted by Half-Sack, load groceries into the car.  Gemma spots Polly and decides to follow her.  They end up at the safe house. Stahl hears Polly come in and hides.  Polly sees Edmond on the ground; grabs her gun and goes to him.  Gemma tells Tara to go home, this is something she needs to do, alone.  Tara leaves and Gemma walks into the house gun drawn.  She sees Polly over Edmond’s body and tells her to drop the gun.  Polly makes a move to shoot Gemma, but Gemma gets a shot off first, killing her.  Gemma collapses on the couch only to see Stahl emerge, gun drawn.  Stahl radios to Estevez saying that Gemma Teller just killed Edmond and Polly. Stahl tells Gemma that she knows about the rape and is sorry.  She tells Gemma to go, she’ll give her a head start to take care of what she needs to before the authorities arrest her.  Gemma goes, she calls Unser - she needs help.

Back at the clubhouse Jax share the news that Weston is dead.  Juice calls - Zobelle is on the move, SOA heads out.  They surround Zobelle and his Mayan motorcade and open fire.  Zobelle flees. Jax tells the Mayans to save themselves and go.  They do and SOA take off after Zobelle.  Zobelle pulls into a deli-mart crowded with children for a safe haven.  SOA camps out in the parking lot, patiently waiting.  Zobelle calls Hale for help, unfortunately that deli-mart is outside of Charming and Hale’s jurisdiction.

Half-Sack arrives at Jax’s house.  He tells Tara that the cops swarmed the safe house- he doesn’t know what happened to Gemma.  Tara calls Jax.  As she’s talking to him Cameron comes in, knife in hand, and disconnects the call.   Cameron tells them Gemma killed his son.  He makes a move towards the baby – Half-Sack tries to intervene and Cameron plunges his knife deep into Half-Sack’s belly killing him.  Tara looses it.

Meanwhile, Jax tells Clay that something’s going on and he, Opie, and Chibs race back to his house.  When they arrive they find Half-Sack’s body on the floor and Tara tied up in the nursery.  They untie her and she tells him that Cameron took Abel.  Jax calls Clay – Cameron took my son.  Clay tells the boys and they head out leaving Zobelle to go free. Opie knows where Cameron is headed – the wharf.  SOA take to the road. It is a race against time, they rip through traffic trying desperately to catch up to Cameron and find Abel.  They arrive at the wharf only to see Cameron’s boat fading into the distance.  Jax collapses in desperation as his brothers try to console him.

A Look Behind the Scenes: Ka-Boom

As we near the end of another great season let’s take a look back at one of the best explosions of the year and how they did that.

Episode 205 “Smite” ended with a bang as we blew up a minivan in our own backyard.   The set up: Chibs gets in to move the van. When he turns the engine over he hears the familiar sound of the battery winding down and knows what’s coming next.  Acting fast, he makes a run for it as the van detonated into a fiery explosion.  Chibs is thrown into the air by the force of the explosion, landing unconscious in a pool of his own blood.

This 60-second scene took hours of planning and preparation.  With explosions everything must be planned and double checked to insure not only the actor/stuntman’s safety, but also the safety of everyone on set.  You get one shot at a stunt like this, take a look and see how it comes together.

Recap: The Culling

Sons of Anarchy
Season 2, Episode 212
Recap: “Culling”

The episode opens as Jax, Tara, Clay, Tig, Gemma and the rest of the club prepare for lock-down.  The clubhouse has turned into a safe haven for Samcro and their loved ones. Clay addresses the large crowd in the barroom – you are here because you are family. No one else is going to get hurt on my watch.

At chapel Clay lays out the plan to get his guns from the Irish without the ATF interfering.  He assures Chibs that Jimmy will know who the real rat is and he and his family will be safe.

Jax and Opie find Weston at Impeccable Smokes. They inform him that Zobelle is supplying weapons and selling heroin with the Mayans.  Weston goes to their gun  warehouse to check things out for himself.  He’s pissed when he realizes that the guns are gone. As he gets on his phone to make a call he hears voices in the back room.  Weston pulls his gun and bursts in the room. Ule and two Hispanic women are packing heroin.  With out hesitation Weston kills both women and turns his gun on Ule.  Ule tries to tell him that Zobelle has sanctioned this, but before an explanation can be given, Weston ends his life.

Meanwhile, SOA shows Jimmy O. ATF photos of Cameron and Edmond with Zobelle.  Clay tells Jimmy his plan. Then Clay and Jax meet with Laroy and Henry Lin.  They propose a solution to all of their problems.  Laroy and Lin help SOA defeat Zobelle and Weston and in return SOA will push out the Mayans and divvy up their territory between them.  Laroy and Lin are all for more money and friendly boarders.

Back at the clubhouse Chuck has resurfaced. As Tara bandages his badly burned hands, Chuck tells them that it was Weston who set the fire at Caracara.  Unser agrees to take him in to give a statement so that SOA can collect the insurance money.

Polly gets back to the shop and is questioned by Zobelle about her relationship with Edmond.  Weston comes in, gun drawn, demanding answers from Zobelle.  Zobelle tries to show Weston his big picture, but Weston, the purist that he is, only sees it as a betrayal. Weston lets Zobelle know that he is on his own and leaves. Outside he gets a phone call, his kids have been taken away by child services.  Weston rushes to Charming PD just in time to see the Child Services van pull away.  Jax walks up to Weston. He lets him know that he is the one who did this. Weston is pissed.  Jax gives him a time and a place – they’ll fight till only one stands.

Jimmy O. shows up at the safe house for his gun pick up. Stahl is watching. Jimmy’s van heads out, Stahl gets Edmond, and follows the van to make her bust.  As soon as the coast is clear SOA roars in opening the garage door to reveal Jimmy O. and the guns are still there.  SOA load the guns into the van. Clay and Jimmy shake hands, all is good between them.  Clay, Jax, Chibs, and Bobby head to the army surplus store for their arranged ‘pick-up’.  As soon as the Sons enter the store Stahl gives the word to take the van and arrest them. But when she goes into the store and opens the seized crates, all she finds is two dead rats. Edmond freaks at the sight of them. Screwed again, Stahl is forced to let SOA go, she has nothing on them.  She goes to Edmond, he motions to the crate and tells her that Jimmy knows. He’s dead.

At the clubhouse, SOA gear up for battle.  They mount their bikes and head out to the back woods of Charming and wait for Weston and his guys to show up. When they do, it’s on.  A brutal no-holds-barred fight.  As the fight rages, Hale and his guys rush in with lights ablaze.  Taking in the situation, Hale arrests Weston for arson in order to save his life.  The Sons are pissed.  If they can’t have Weston they will move onto Zobelle.  Clay makes the call to Unser.  Unser calls off his men who are babysitting Polly at Impeccable Smokes.  SOA pulls up and pressures Polly, demanding to know where Zobelle is. She swears she doesn’t know.  Zobelle enters.  Clay tells him his fate, but before he can make good on his promise Hale enters.  Zobelle thinks quick and tells Hale he is in possession of narcotics and to arrest him. An Officer locates a brick of heroin and Hale takes Zobelle into custody, in turn granting him a stay of execution.

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