Sons of Anarchy' Succeeds As A Soap Opera Geared Toward Guys

The first episode of the final season for FX's biker drama Sons of Anarchy begins with a familiar scene: gang leader/hero Jackson "Jax" Teller brutalizing a man in jail, interspersed with images of his gang and family living life — including his mother caring for his sons — with a mournful tune playing in the background

Airing on Tuesday, Sept. 9, sons ofanarchy season 7 it's a bracing way to bring viewers up to speed since the show's action-packed season finale last year. That's when Jax's wife was brutally beaten and stabbed to death in their home — by Jax's mother, in a crime that was covered up from everyone by another member of the gang.

But the opening is also a potent reminder of just how Sons of Anarchy has managed to become one of FX's highest-rated series. (The episode where Jax's wife was killed by Katey Sagal's Gemma Teller was the second-highest-rated episode of the show's history). FX reports that the sixth season averaged 5 million key viewers (age 18 to 49) — and 3.6 million of them are men.

Sons of Anarchy works, in part, because it's sons of anarchy season 6sons of anarchy designed as a soap opera for guys, wrapping emotional stories of family love, betrayal, sacrifice, scandal and murder in a mix of high-adrenaline outlaw action.

For every scene with a shooting or beating — and there are a lot — there are also moments of misguided love, tangled loyalties, complicated friendships and deadly family politics