Discussion YMMV / SonsOfAnarchy

Removed:

• Seasonal Rot: The first two seasons are both well liked by the fandom with no complaint, after that it gets tricky:
  • Season 3 has a slow pace and glaring examples of Oireland and The Mountains of Illinois during the gang's trip to Ireland though the season finale is considered one of the best episodes of the series and redeems the series for some.
  • Season 4 is the opposite. It is generally considered an improvement over the previous seasons and takes the characters in interesting directions. Unfortunately, the season finale involves a pretty egregious example of Deus ex Machina, Ass Pull and Plot Armor that negates an entire subplot that had been building much of the season and was seen as one of the weakest episodes of the series.
  • Season 5 has a very mixed perception. The death of Opie early in the season was seen as a brave move by writers by some fans and as a slap in the face to others. On top of that the season ends up ignoring the set up Big Bad for much of the time in favor of focusing on familiar conflicts. The season finale isn't as ill-received as the previous season's but is still seen as going to absurd lengths to avoid killing off no fewer than three characters that were in the line of fire.
  • Season 6 has been giving Season 3 a run for it's money on just how much the fans loath it. The season started off with a controversial scene of a school shooting that many critics felt went nowhere and was used mostly as just another obstacle for the protagonists. Nearly every episode was over an hour and a half of what many felt was needless padding. The story lines got more outlandish and repetitive. It all culminated in a finale that has created a MAJOR broken base for the fandom for it's complete Idiot Plot that led up to the death of Tara and left many viewers with a bad taste in their mouth.

According to IMDB episode ratings (http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt1124373) only Season 3 has a noticeable drop in ratings, so there's no real seasonal rot. Interestingly, season 3's finale is the best-rated episode of the series so far.