SAMCRO is back in another exciting season of Sons of Anarchy. The sixth season picks up right where the last season ended. Clay has been set up by Jax to take the fall for Pope’s murder, and is headed for jail. Tara is also headed for prison as an accessory to Otto’s murder of his nurse. U.S. Marshall Lee Toric (Donal Logue) is out for revenge for his sister’s murder and tries to use this situation to get Tara or Clay to give up the club.

Meanwhile, after an assault rifle is used in a tragic school shooting, the DA is out to prove that the Sons were involved in the sale of the gun, and enlist the help of corrupt former policeman Charles Barosky (Peter Weller). Jax tries to distance the club from this by moving it away from guns and into more legit lines of business, including porn. However, at the same time he struggles with family and club drama—such as the custody of his children now that Maggie is in prison, what to do about Clay, and pressure from Pope’s men who want Tig to pay for Pope’s murder. And Juice must once again prove his loyalty to the club after his betrayal last season.

In its sixth season, this series is better than ever. This penultimate season was one the series most exciting and gruesome yet, but the creators know how to balance the action and tense drama with some humor. Just as things start to get a bit heavy, we see the return of the hilarious Venus Van Dam (Walton Goggins) to help lighten the mood. I like that the series was given the freedom to run over the usual 46-minute boundary as needed this season, with many episodes clocking in at over an hour. This gave the creators the freedom to leave in a lot of the little moments that help add realism and emotion to the scenes. The series has some pretty powerful music montages that may not have been left on the cutting room floor had there been a more strict adherence to standard broadcast runtimes. There are some pretty amazing and important events that happen this season, including the loss of some major characters. However none of this feels gratuitous and the scenes are really in service to the larger, overall plan for the series. The series also makes great use of its amazing cast of guest stars.

The Blu-ray presentation looks and sounds amazing. While the series already looked great on the HD FX channel, it looks even crisper on this 1080p Blu-ray, and the lossless DTS-MA soundtrack really brings the viewer into the action. The Blu-ray contains a great selection of bonus features, including audio commentaries on the season premiere and finale, three editions of FX’s Anarchy Afterword after-show that aired after 3 key episodes, four deleted scenes, a gag reel, a tribute to three of the major characters killed this season, and clips from a benefit Q&A/concert held for fans.

This is one of the series’ finest seasons, and is definitely worth picking up and checking out before the final season airs this fall on FX.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (13:11:49)

• All 13 episodes of Season 6: “Straw”, “One One Six”, “Poenitentia”, “Wolfsangel”, “The Mad King”, “Salvage”, “Sweet and Vaded”, “Los Fantasmas”, “John 8:32”, “Huang Wu”, “Aon Rud Persanta”, “You Are My Sunshine”, “A Mother’s Work”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French, Dutch

Extras:

• Audio Commentaries
  • “Straw” (1:03:35)
    Series creator Kurt Sutter, director Paris Barclay, and actor Jimmy Smits provide an interesting running commentary on the season premiere. The guys talk about the sensitive subject matter of the episode and provide a lot of behind-the-scenes tidbits about the actors, the sets, and some of the challenges they faced with actor availability and how the course of the season changed as a result.
  • “A Mother’s Work” (1:21:06)
    Executive producers Kurt Sutter and Paris Barclay, and actors Maggie Siff and Katey Sagal provide an entertaining running commentary on the season finale. They bring a lot of humor while discussing one of the show’s most emotional episodes.
• “Anarchy Afterword” on Select Episodes
  Anarchy Afterward was a live after-show that aired on FX after the new episodes premiered. The guests would break down the events of that night’s episode and answer questions from fans who called in. The series was hosted by Chris Franjola.
  • Season Premiere (45:12)
    Guests include series creator Kurt Sutter, stars Jimmy Smits and Kim Coates, and actress Margaret Cho.
  • “The Mad King” (44:04)
    Guests include series creator Kurt Sutter, stars Theo Rossi and Tommy Flanagan, and actress Retta.
  • Season Finale (59:50)
    Guests include series creator Kurt Sutter, and stars Katey Sagal and Maggie Siff.
• Deleted Scenes (7:39)
  The first two discs of this collection each contain two deleted scenes. These are interesting, fully-produced scenes that add some more background into the events of the season, and don’t just feel like Blu-ray filler. It’s great to see them included here.
• Gag Reel (2:57)
  A fun gag reel that includes sets falling apart, prop malfunctions, forgotten/flubbed lines, crack-ups and lots of cursing.
• The Reaper Calls (7:05)
  Executive Producer Kurt Sutter talks about this season’s three major character deaths. Also includes interviews with Katey Sagal, Maggie Siff and Charlie Hunnam.
• “Sons Ford Sandy” (19:55)
  Footage from a fan/hurricane Sandy charity fundraising event held in New Jersey. Executive Producer Kurt Sutter and stars Kim Coates, Theo Rossi and Katey Sagal talk about the tenth episode of the season and field questions from the fans in the audience. Then Katey Sagal takes the stage to sing an original song. Also includes interviews with fan winners Rosiland Jaussi and Kevin Orozco, and moderator Oriana Schwindt.

Final Thoughts:

Sons of Anarchy is in top form in its penultimate season. The season is the perfect blend of drama, action and humor that the series does so well. This amazing season takes some shocking twists and turns, and shouldn’t be missed. The Blu-ray presentation is excellent, and the discs contain a great selection of bonus features. This release comes highly recommended.