Finally wrapping this series up after a binge watch

My wife and I are just finishing this up on Netflix after a six week binge watch of the entire run.

The essence of the story is that of Michael Corleone in The Godfather movies, i.e. the main character is determined to lead his group out of the gangster life, but ends up morphing into the very thing that he despises. It's a classic theme.

It went on about two seasons too long. Binge watching revealed just how many elements were repeated again and again to no story advantage.

Essentially alliances are formed and broken repeatedly -- typically within the same season or two -- among the main players... SAMCRO, the Mayans, the Niners, the Nazis, the Irish and August Marks.

Every ep or two, there's a meeting arranged between two of the groups which ends in a massacre as one group wipes out the other. Or, the leader of one group pulls out a gun and shoots a couple of the other group's underlings in the head. You'd think at some point these guys might agree to a meeting, but under the condition that no vans or SUVs -- all the better to hide thugs with guns -- be present.

My wife and I laughed at why any of these groups would trust SAMCRO given how regularly they are were betrayed or played by them.

Some characters were inconsistent, notably Katey Sagal's Gemma. I get that we are supposed to be conflicted about her actions and motivations, but, at times she came off as cynical while at other times she came off as a self-made martyr. Two traits that don't mesh in one person.

Similarly, the character of Jax is supposed to be the conflicted anti-hero. However, he never really earns our sympathy, despite all the bro hugs, the earnest looks of caring, the plan to get the club out of gun-running... He's just too quick to kill or lie with no apparent misgivings almost from the start of the series.

That all said, it's still a good show that's worth a watch, but not on par with Breaking Bad or Justified in my mind.