Tara Grace Knowles-Teller in Sons of Anarchy is the most interesting of the characters in the series. All of the deaths of the major characters occur because of her. Mostly, she seems to be another hapless victim of the club, but in reality, there were many points where she could have gotten out of Charming and away from its toxic effects.
In addition, if she had chosen a different path at any given point, she could have saved the lives of everyone else who died in the process due to her death. These are ten of Tara's biggest mistakes she commits in the series, and hopefully, we can all learn from them.
Tara Returned to Charming
Tara grew up in Charming and dated Jax, SAMCRO royalty. She should have realized the full implications of returning home. After all, what did she expect in returning to the town where she fell in love with the son of the head of the town's main motorcycle gang?
It's understandable wanting to recapture those feelings and feel safe from her stalker, ATF agent Josh Kohn, but she could have pursued other options. What about hiring a lawyer to help her navigate the legal landscape of getting her stalker to leave her alone and avoiding Charming altogether? She eventually needed one anyway. She just didn't use her head in this decision, and it's ultimately what got her killed.
Tara Brought in Jax to Help Her with Her Stalker
As if it weren't bad enough that Tara returned to Charming, she had no choice but to shoot Kohn, wounding him. She had a right to protect herself because he was inside her home and violating the restraining order, and regardless of any story he could have concocted, he would have gone to jail at least for a little while. Also, Jax's step-father, Clay Morrow, and the town's Chief of Police, Wayne Unser, were tight. She could have easily convinced Unser to help her based on the fact that she was treating Jax's son, Abel.
Instead, she called Jax to help her with finishing off Kohn and then getting rid of the body, not exactly the smartest move. This got her deeper into it with Jax and rekindled their bond.
Tara Didn't Leave Charming After Her Stalker Was Dead
Yes, it's true, Tara and Jax had a history, and they got to be together one more time after eleven years. What did she expect with getting involved with a member of a motorcycle gang? It's possible she always had plans to pull Jax away from the club, but it became obvious that these expectations were not realistic.
If she returned to her life in Chicago, she could have spared her life and everyone else's around her. Maybe if she had ditched the misguided romantic notions she had that she could have Jax follow her anywhere because of his love for her, she would have been able to live out her life.
Tara Became Jax's Old Lady
This one should have been a no-brainer for the doctor. It's one thing to carry on an affair, but it's another to become cemented into the club. The old ladies had status over the women who were there to make porn movies or as hang-arounds.
It's likely Tara even enjoyed the status, throwing caution to the wind and solidifying her position in the Sons. Either way, she could have pulled away from Jax and the club altogether at this point, but instead chose to go forward. At that point, she was all in.
Tara Repeatedly Overlooked the Truth
All of the mistakes above shows that she overlooked the realities in front of her. After all, in the beginning of their relationship, she chose to know what Jax does from day to day and listened as Jax relayed to her how he spent his day, which was not full of helping old ladies across the street. She knew full well what the club members did.
Tara chose to know rather than to remain ignorant, a choice many old ladies took so that they did not become involved in something that would threaten their own safety and innocence. Yet, she stayed, something that defied logic considering she was fully informed. This mistake is what led her down a dark path from which there was no return.
Tara Thought She Was Too Smart to Get Caught
Otto, bitter and disenfranchised from the group, turned on the club and ratted. Instead of the club arranging to have him killed, which could potentially incriminate the club, Tara thought she was smarter than Otto and the entire legal system. This shortsightedness made her an accessory to murder as Otto killed a nurse with his dead wife's cross, which Tara had sneaked into the prison for him, not realizing it that he intended to use it as a weapon to implicate her and not for comfort.
However, this shortsightedness was not her only mistake. She could have actually escaped with her sons and led a life while Jax did the time for the RICO case she was looking to absolve the club from, but this shortsightedness also leads to her death.
Tara Didn't Account for Gemma
One of the main reasons why Jax could not leave Charming was his mother, Gemma, the epicenter of Charming's toxicity. She had her claws into Jax so deeply, there was never any way that she was going to let her grandchildren and Jax move out of Charming, even though they tried.
Gemma always came up with a reason for them to stay, waiting until the right time to share deep, dark secrets with her son. She knew exactly what to share and when to share it so that it kept her son by her side.
Tara Tried to Beat Gemma at Her Own Game
To get her kids and Jax out of Charming, Tara constantly attempted to undermine Gemma to get her away from Abel and Thomas. Big mistake to try and drive a wedge between Gemma and her family. Not only that, but she tried to discredit Gemma through manipulation and lies, which is where Gemma lives comfortably every day.
Gemma was a born manipulator and had many more years of practice at controlling the people around her. Tara tried to beat a master at her own game. It was just a matter of time until Gemma figured out a way to get Jax to see the truth in what Tara had done so that she could regain her control and discredit Tara.
Tara Underestimated Gemma
Not only did Tara try to beat Gemma at her own game, but she also completely underestimated Gemma on many counts. Gemma was not school smart like Tara, but Gemma definitely could survive almost anything that happened to her, and did, until Jax caught up with her.
Yet, Tara was smart, but she was not twisted like Gemma. Tara underestimated how much hate she created between her and her mother-in-law from everything she did to keep Gemma away from her grandsons. In the end, Tara paid with her life.
Tara Wasn't Upfront with Unser
Despite the fact that Unser hounded Tara to help her with getting her and her children out of Charming, Tara shut out the one person who could have been her full supporter. He loved Gemma, and he was connected to the club, but he was the club and Jax's biggest critic, which was why he was willing to undermine the people he cared about.
All Tara had to do was to keep Unser in her confidence. This move could have saved her life. If Unser was kept in the loop, he never would have told crazy Gemma that Tara ratted on the club. This one mistake sealed her fate and led to the ultimate carnage, the wrath of Jax's fury over Tara's death. Honesty might not have seemed possible within that environment, but honesty with Unser, who was not part of the club, would have been a good idea.