Filip "Chibs" Telford was one of Sons Of Anarchy's key characters. He appeared in a total of 88 episodes, starting out as the Seargent At Arms. By the end of the series, he had risen to become the President of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original (SAMCRO).
Telford earned the nickname "Chibs" because of his facial scars. "Chib" is Scottish slang for a stabbing weapon. But in as much as he was one of the most respected members of SAMCRO, Chibs kept on regressing rather than progressing. Here is how Chibs kept on getting worse throughout the show.
Choice In Partners
Earlier on in Season 2, Chibs Telford's estranged wife Fiona showed up to take care of him when he was in the hospital. Gemma mentioned that she was not to be trusted. She also mentioned that Fiona was one of the few women in the world that she was afraid of.
Gemma also warned Tara not to leave Fiona alone with Chibs because she might kill him. Chibs had the same fear too. After Fiona, Chibs still continued choosing poor partners. In the seventh season, he dated Lt. Althea Jarry. This was a wrong move because she could have been spying on him.
Getting Too Close To Law Enforcement
Speaking of Lt. Althea Jarry, Chibs risked a lot by involving himself with her. He was clearly in love with her and if she was malicious enough to manipulate him, she could have brought SAMCRO down.
In the second season, Chibs also considered ratting on the IRA to protect his daughter and her mother. After Agent June Stahl learned that Jimmy O had taken Chibs' wife and daughter away from him, he tried to get him to cooperate. Chibs almost did it until he realized that Stahl had altered the documents to set him up.
Dealing With The IRA
Despite the harm that the IRA had done to Chibs in the past few years, Chibs was still willing to continue doing business with them. After the school shooting, Jax made a decision to stop selling guns but Chibs was against the idea.
For a man like Chibs, it was surprising that money came before his conscience. When Chibs discovered that Jax wanted to hand over the distribution of Irish arms to Oakland gangster August Marks, he was furious. He went on to clash with Jax a few times before the two finally got on the same page.
Not Helping Juice
Juice was clearly the most troubled SAMCRO member. Given that Chibs was the person closest to him, he should have helped him become a better man. The two became close after Chibs found out that Juice had attempted to end his own life.
Despite being a father figure to Juice, he allowed him to continue making bad decisions. He never offered proper advice too. In the seventh season, Juice asked him what he should do to get right with the club again and he responded by saying: "If I were you, I’d take that gun, put it in my mouth, and pull the trigger." Cold.
Getting His Hands Dirty
As one of SAMCRO's most capable fighters, Chibs never hesitated to kill when the opportunity arose. Since he was once in the British military, this is somehow understandable. But as the seasons went by, Chibs continued to not value people's lives at all.
In the kind of trade, he was in, those who live by the sword (bullet) definitely die by it. He was lucky to be a surviving character when the series ended but given that he is now a minor character in the spinoff Mayans, the chickens might come home to roost soon enough.
Endangering Himself
Chibs narrowly survived a car bomb explosion set up by Zobell and had to spend much of the first half of the second season at St. Thomas Hospital. This should have made him re-examine his life and vow never to place himself in danger again.
However, this didn't happen. The more time passed, the more of a daredevil he became,. His daredevilry led him to Ireland in search of Abel. While there, he lost his nephew Padraic Telford to an explosion too. This didn't slow him down either.
Loyalty To Jax
After the death of Tara, Jax completely lost it and began to make reckless decisions. Chibs only differed with Jax on the arms deal but in everything else, he was complicit. Even when Jax killed Jury, Chibbs didn't see a reason to turn against him.
After the club voted for the Mayhem Vote after finding Jax guilty of killing Jury, Chibs still didn't kill him. He instead shot Happy in the arm and told Jax that he'll lie to the other presidents that he fired at them and got away before they could kill him.
Never Tried To Connect With His Daughter
Despite giving the impression that he cared about family in the first two seasons, Chibs never really made an effort to connect with his daughter Kerrianne. This was surprising given how most SAMCRO members were big on family and would do anything for their loved ones.
Given that she was raised by his enemy Jimmy O, Chibs should have at least made an effort to connect with her and make up for the lost time after Jimmy did. But he never did this. He was more focussed on work than anything else.
Selfishness
Chibs showed his selfishness a number of times. For example, he became a father figure to Half-sack and began giving him lessons in boxing. Half-sack ended up earning plenty of money as a result and the two became good friends.
However, when it came to the final of a competition, Chibs asked Half-sack to lose just because he had placed a bet on another person winning. By doing this, he showed just how much he cared for himself instead of those he was close to him. Unfortunately for him, Half-sack knocked out his opponent due to anger after seeing Clay getting cozy with Cherry.
Indecisive
Chibs struggled with various decisions throughout the run of the show. When there was a suggestion to enter into business with the cartel, Chibs seemed to entertain it at first only to end up voting against the deal when it was time for the final decision.
He also appeared indecisive in several other moments including those that Jax was mercilessly brutal. Even though Chibs took part in the Jax-sanctioned killings, he often had the appearance of disgust.