Exactly what kind of network retraints are being put on the guy? This is the top rated FX show. He can do anything he wants and they won't cancel it. Seems like he is just trying to make excuses for a lame season.

I still don't get Gemma's motivation for not telling Jax that Trinity is his half-sister (funny the things you think about as you are raking leaves for hours on end). I mean, adultery is par for the course for the motorcycle gang, and it is pretty much expected by the "Old Ladies". I mean, she can't be trying to protect the memory of Jax's dad... afterall, I could have sworn there was an episode in a previous season where Clay, the guy currently banging his mom, went and got a BJ from someone at a party that he and Jax were at and that didn't seem to bother Jax all too much, or the fact that his best friend fucked a pornstar pretty quickly after they cleaned her brains out of his truck, or even he himself he broke it off with the doctor and 14 seconds later was tagging his own pornstar cooch... so clearly finding out out that his dead old man fucked some Irish bird 20 years ago and spawned a child shouldn't come as a total surprise to the guy. All I know is that genital warts surely run rampant in SAMCRO.

It's also the show the network president's wife is on. I can think of a number of cases where being the darling of a network means increased (and sometimes intense) scrutiny and meddling. Success has a thousand authors, many of whom actually get the idea that they need to make a contribution. Look at Will & Grace -- it got a little critical and commercial attention, and NBC ran it straight into the guest star hell ground.

She seems to think from what I can tell this revelation will lead him to discovering some sort of huge secret she doesn't want him to know about. I have to agree with the many who have bemoaned the idea he might actually be Clay's son, but something like that would certainly be a possibility. It would have to be some sort of huge revelation. Then again, what I don't get about that would be how it's some huge shock to her that Trinity is John's daughter.

Thanks for the blog link TallGuyMe. It sounds like pretty straight talk to me, and I'd hardly call it whining. I know exactly where he's coming from. It's a lot more complex than just ignoring their input and saying, "I'll do whatever I want -- they're not going to cancel me." They're his client and they're paying his bills. Of course he wants to keep them happy, but he'd like to do it without selling his soul. So far, he hasn't found the balance. People who haven't been in similar situations can of course flippantly resolve the issue, but people who can relate to dealing with millions of dollars and the acting careers of the people on the show know it isn't quite that easy.

Ally Walker's a good looking woman. I've been watching Season 1 of Southland on DVD and I notice she has a role there as well (TNT, not F/X).

I haven't been totally turned off this season. I can do without the Belfast/Baby stuff, but there's still a lot I like about the show. It feels like a downturn, but I haven't reached the point where I feel it has jumped the shark. Gemma is always a joy to watch as are Jax and Clay. If I read tomorrow the show was canceled and they aren't going to air any more episodes, I'd be disappointed. Not because of unresolved story, but because I'd miss the characters.

I hear you MikahC, but depending on how the series progresses I could easily see the kidnapping of Able being the show's jump the shark moment.

I don't think that's a spoiler but yeah they had brother-sister incest, mother-son incest, stepfather-daughter incest and father-son incest so it's definitely not ground breaking

People here are often very sensitive about talking about even past spoilers from another show in a different show thread. Lots of folks around here have missed shows and go back for them on DVD, so I find it's best to be extra careful.

I don't think the kidnapping of Abel itself can possibly be a jump the shark moment. The jump the shark moment would more likely be when the big bad motorcycle gang figures out the priest has the kid and doesn't get that resolved within about 3 minutes. They're a fucking motorcyle gang. They have castrated people and burned people alive. Actually now I'm really getting pissed off about the show's direction.

I picked the kidnapping of Able because it was so out of left field and sensationally done. I never watched Nip Tuck regularly but from what I saw it seems to be part of Sutter's MO to stir things up by having characters "go crazy" and do completely illogical shit to drive the plot. That worked for N/T because that show was stocked to the gills with loony tunes.

SOA characters aren't exactly normal. I've previously said the show makes alot more sense if you imagine every character is a alcoholic/meth head. But the Able kidnapping only makes sense in a bad 8-ball/PCP kind of way.

Sutter had nothing to do with Nip/Tuck. He was a writer on The Shield.

Whoa! I must have missed that episode!

My bad. I watched even less of the Shield than N/T, but from what I saw the characters seemed pretty grounded.