Sons Of Anarchy is a continuation of The Shield

[TheRapingDragon]

Be aware that this post will have major spoilers for both shows. I'm not littering it with spoiler tags.

I just finished watching Sons Of Anarchy and before that I watched The Shield. Some of the fun of watching SoA was 'spot the character from The Shield' as so many turned up. Now most would point to Kurt Sutter's relationships as the result of this: He was executive producer and writer on The Shield then created SoA so naturally he would bring across those actors, however I feel he did more than that. I believe Kurt Sutter created SoA as a way to give us updates on characters from The Shield. Although they are given different names in SoA, this is actually their lives after The Shield ends. They are the true main characters and everyone in SoA is merely a bit character used to flesh out the world.

Vic Mackey / Milo - At the end of The Shield Vic gets away with everything but pays a heavy price, namely losing his friends, job and family. After serving his time per the immunity deal, he leaves LA and gets a job as a trucker, changes his name to Milo and tries to rebuild his life. When he meets Gemma he understands her need to run away seeing as how he's done the same thing. He also understands that murder is a necessity.


Shane Vendrell / Venus Van Dam - People wrongly believed that Shane committed suicide at the end of The Shield. Yes he shot himself but the wound wasn't fatal. After recovering in hospital, Shane works with law officials as part of a reduced sentence plea. Shane serves his time, whereby he is turned into a prison bitch (because as the series taught us, Shane is incapable of leading, he is constantly controlled by more powerful people). After leaving prison, Shane decides to become a woman and find a strong man to love. The wig also helps to hide his self-inflicted gunshot wound. As he was always fond of the name 'Cletus Van Damme', he uses a variation on this and becomes Venus Van Dam. In Tig, Shane finds a freak as messed up as him.


Holland 'Dutch' Wagenbach / Joshua Kohn - Dutch was always a little mentally disturbed and terrible with women. The creators of The Shield said that Dutch strangling the cat in one episode was supposed to lead down a darker path but was eventually abandoned, instead trying to turn Dutch into some kind of misunderstood hero. Kurt Sutter was not so scared to tell Dutch's tale. After being picked on once too often at the barn, Dutch gets a transfer to the ATF. He changes his name to avoid a repeat of getting picked on and starts to enjoy his job. Unfortunately, he again gets fixated on a woman and gets too possessive and creepy. He chases her around the country and ends up dead for it.


David Aceveda / Luis Torres - His entire career was built on being a crooked law enforcer. After serving his term as mayor, Aceveda joins the CIA and becomes an operative within the Mexican Cartel as Luis Torres. His ability to appear credible and honest as well as be a criminal aids him greatly in his role as a double-agent.


Claudette Wyms / Tyne Patterson - Always had a bit of trouble with the DA but her lupus wasn't getting any better. Has to eventually give up her captaincy due to her sickness but refuses to quit altogether. Instead she gets a transfer to the DA. To avoid the lupus questions she transfers under her maiden name (Wyms being her second husband's surname) Claudette Tyne Patterson and drops her first name soon after. In Jax Teller, she sees a bit of Vic Mackey but more redemptive and that's why she's so eager to try to help him.


Ronnie Gardocki / Grad Nicholas - Everyone knows the charges put on Ronnie at the end of The Shield would never stick. There was no evidence, other than Vic's statement, tying Ronnie to any of the past crimes. He also has enough leverage of his own to avoid prison. After putting that whole mess behind him, Ronnie transfers to the FBI. To avoid being known as 'Vic's scapegoat' and tarnishing his reputation further, the FBI give Ronnie a codename: Grad Nicholas. Becomes a competent agent and plays by the rules.


Steve Billings / Nameless man ('Chicken man') - Once a scammer always a scammer, as well as a scoundrel, scalawag and slacker. Finally sick of his actions, Billings is fired. Now broke and jobless he loses his home and starts running scams with gangs on the street. The one on SoA was just his latest and again shows that he turns his friendships into opportunities of selfish gain.


Curtis 'Lem' Lemansky / Kozik - Shows Kurt Sutter's belief in reincarnation and God's funny sense of humour. After being blown up in The Shield, Lem's soul travels to another body, Kozik, before eventually being blown up again by a mine. Lem's soul will be forced to travel for eternity, entering bodies that are doomed for explosion. It is punishment for his crimes in life.



Also, general discussion thread to talk about these two shows.