Season six of Sons of Anarchy got off to a stunning start, both in the story and with viewers. The episode drew series-high ratings, beating even shows on network television Tuesday night.
Kurt Sutter’s series drew 5.87 million total viewers, notes Deadline. It scored 3.94 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic, a series record. FX believes that when Live+7 numbers (which take into account viewers who watch the episode on DVR or other formats after the original airing) that it will be its most-watched show since it launched 19 years ago.
EW notes that if you add in repeats, the total viewers on Tuesday night reaches 8.09 million viewers.
You can check out our recap of the shocking 90-minute episode here. The episode featured a boy shooting in a school, which Sutter spoke to EW about.
He explained that he didn’t want to do it for the sole purpose of being sensational, it had to organically fit the story.
“My desire to do this story just felt very organic to the world: These guys deal guns, and there’s a certain amount of disconnect once you put those guns out on the street not really knowing whose hands they’re gonna end up in and what violence that they create,” he explained to EW. “You sorta sell and move on, not unlike a drug dealer who doesn’t really know the emotional impact of their product. And to have a father [Charlie Hunnam's Jax] who’s struggling with boys of his own and questioning the violence of his life, and is this right for his kids — it just seemed like a very organic story to tell.”
SOA stars Charlie Hunnam, who recently scored the lead role in the Fifty Shades of Grey film adaptation.
image: Fox/FX