'Sons of Anarchy' finds another gear - andreikirilenkotattoo on TV

In today's column, I continue to sing the praises of "Sons of Anarchy," which has a sensational episode coming up tomorrow night:

There�s been a lot of talk lately about how setting an end date can be a shot in the arm to a drama series. �Lost,� �The Shield� and �Battlestar Galactica� all took major upswings in quality after their creators were allowed to start planning toward a specific finish. When you don�t have to worry about being on the air past a certain date, you can take greater risks, not worry about maintaining the status quo � or, in some cases, about keeping characters alive � and the stakes feel higher, the drama richer.

FX�s �Sons of Anarchy� has somehow reached that higher gear without having the finish line anywhere in sight. It�s in only its second season, one of the most successful scripted shows on cable (it made headlines a few weeks ago for finishing ahead of Jay Leno in the 18-to-49 demographic), and FX no doubt wants to keep it on the air for a long, long time. (The cable channel, which tends to be conservative about renewals, has yet to formally order a third season.)

But �Sons� creator Kurt Sutter (a Jersey guy and former �Shield� writer) doesn�t seem to be worrying about the long-term right now.

You can read the full review here. If you're not watching and like good drama, folks, you need to start.

And, obviously, I'll be doing a more thorough review after the episode finishes tomorrow night (which will be around 11:30; it's a super-sized ep).