Game Of Thrones Meets Yellowstone In FX's 7-Part Crime Drama Series
In the 21st century's golden age of television, no two shows captured the popular prestige TV zeitgeist quite like Game of Thrones and Yellowstone, and the best elements of both series are hugely present in FX's seven-season crime drama series. Game of Thrones and Yellowstone are both widely credited with repopularizing their respective genres, high fantasy and the neo-Western, for the small screen, but their successes are more multi-layered than people might think.
With Yellowstone's sweeping Montana vistas and Game of Thrones' epic battles and fantastical Westeros setting, both shows have the cinematic quality of a silver screen blockbuster movie. However, those alone aren't enough to capture viewers and get them to stay; it's the gripping human drama, the backstabbing for the Iron Throne or the Dutton family tearing itself apart from the inside, that keeps the series at the top of the pop culture heap.
Sons of Anarchy, the seven-season biker gang drama created by Kurt Sutter, airing on FX from 2008-2014, perfectly captures that formula. Set in the fictional Charming, California, the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original (aka SAMCRO), defends their NoCal town with a John Dutton-like fervor from outside threats like drugs and rival gangs.
However, though SAMCRO may present a united front, just like the Duttons, the Lannisters, or myriad other Game of Thrones houses, beneath the surface lies a lethal power struggle. At the heart of it is Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the club's young vice president, who, upon the birth of his first child and the discovery of a manifesto written by his SAMCRO founder father, wants to steer the Sons of Anarchy in a more legitimate direction.
This does not sit well with certain members, including Jax's stepfather and SAMCRO president Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman), who derive power from the club's criminal activities. While it was huge during its run, since Sons of Anarchy ended in 2014, the show isn't talked about nearly as much as Game of Thrones and Yellowstone, despite its similar themes and much more satisfying conclusion.
Sons Of Anarchy Is One Of The Best Crime Drama Series Of The 21st Century
Like the word "iconic," "Shakespearean" has lost its meaning due to overuse. What the term really means when describing prestige TV drama is a series centered around a power struggle as intense as it is intimate, and often on a grand political scale. While Game of Thrones and Yellowstone certainly fit this description, the Bard's influence is even more directly seen in Sons of Anarchy, much to the show's merit.
Many have dubbed Sons of Anarchy as "Hamlet on motorcycles," and you don't need a degree in English literature to see the character comparisons. The morally grey idealist Jax Teller is our 21st-century Hamlet; his power-seizing, widow-marrying Claudius-esque stepfather is Clay; Gemma Teller-Morrow (Katey Sagal), Sons of Anarchy's answer to Gertrude, uses her matriarch status to maintain control; the doomed Opie Winston (Ryan Hurst) is Jax's best friend with Horatio-level loyalty; and Tara Knowles (Maggie Siff) suffers from the fate of Ophelia as Jax's love interest.
It's not just that these characters are stand-ins for their Hamlet counterparts; it's the exquisite performances of the actors that carry the show's emotional heft and keep the audience engaged. Moreover, through its gritty, 21st-century crime drama lens, Sons of Anarchy proves that Hamlet's themes of corrupt power and the trappings of loyalty and legacy — also crucial to Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy — are just as relevant today as they were over 400 years ago.
Taylor Sheridan Became A Screenwriter Because Of Sons Of Anarchy
Yellowstone is the show that launched Taylor Sheridan's hugely successful and prolific career as a TV series creator, writer, and executive producer, and interestingly, it wouldn't have happened without Sons of Anarchy. Before Sheridan became a screenwriter, he was an actor, with the biker drama being one of his most well-known credits.
Sheridan played Deputy Chief David Hale in Sons of Anarchy, first appearing in the show's second episode before being brutally killed off in the season 3 premiere. Hale served as a moral compass of sorts and was an antagonistic figure for the club, making him a perfect dramatic foil to Chief Wayne Unser (Dayton Callie), a loyal ally to SAMCRO.
However, despite being such an integral part of the series, Sheridan felt his wage was unfairly low, and when he tried to negotiate for a higher salary, he was refused. Rather than continuing to star on one of TV's most popular crime dramas while being forced to work a second job, Sheridan quit acting entirely and decided to start telling stories rather than appearing in other people's.
Sheridan first found success as a screenwriter in movies, writing acclaimed scripts for Sicario (2015); Hell or High Water (2016), which earned him an Oscar nomination; and Wind River (2017), which also served as Sheridan's feature film directorial debut. Then, in 2018, he and John Linson captured lightning in a bottle with the premiere of Yellowstone, launching Sheridan into TV superstardom.
Though it's a shame Sheridan left Sons of Anarchy the way he did, and the Yellowstone co-creator may hate to admit it, the former's influence is clearly seen in the latter. This isn't a dig at Sheridan but, ultimately, an appreciation of masterful TV storytelling.