A doctor, a wife, a first lady of S.A.M.C.R.O., Charming's Tara Knowles (Maggie Stiff) wore many hats. Sometimes fans loved her as a strong independent woman who was from Charming, but she seems to have escaped the tumultuous life that this small town breeds and nourishes. She wants to be a good mother to her two children and leave the life of drugs and death behind.
Then there are other times when fans hate what she has become. The harder she tries to escape the life of S.A.M.C.R.O. the worse she becomes.
Here are five times we felt bad about Tara and five times we hated her:
Clay Takes A Hit Out On Tara (Felt Bad)
At the end of Season 3, Tara finds letters from John Teller (Victor Newmark) implying that Gemma (Katy Sagal) and Clay (Ron Perlman) would be responsible for his death if he is killed. Clay finds out that Tara has the letters and puts a hit on her so that the information in the letters would be revealed.
On a trip to a medical conference in Oregon, along with her son Abel, Thomas, and Jax, the assassins hired by Clay try to kill her.
Tara Punches Margaret In The Face (Hated Her)
After Gemma lets Tara know that she is officially Jax's (Charlie Hunnam) "old lady", she informs her that she should not take anything from anyone. Tara decides to exercise her newfound power and confront Marget (McNally Sagal), a hospital administrator. After they exchange words, Tara ends up choking and punching her in the face. Tara threatens Margaret, letting her know that she knows where she lives, where her kids go to school, and informs her that the cops are on S.A.M.C.R.O.'s payroll.
Previously Margaret filed a hostile work environment complaint against her and has her hospital privileges suspended. Tara made her retract her complaint.
Tara Gets Attacked By Her Ex-Boyfriend (Felt Bad)
ATF Agent Josh Khon (Jay Karnes) becomes infatuated with Tara and begins to stalk her. She gets the help of Jax who beats him to a bloody pulp and runs him out of town. Khon returns to Charming and attempts to rape Tara. During the terrifying assault, she shoots him in the stomach leaving him lying on the floor bleeding. She calls Jax to help her and he decides to end it permanently by putting a bullet in his head.
Tara Derives A Plan To Kill Clay (Hated Her)
While in the psych ward, Tara tells Gemma that she knows about the plan to get Jax to kill Clay and hide the John Teller letters to prompt Jax to stay president of S.A.M.C.R.O. Tara gives Jax a blood thinner to inject into Clay's bloodstream who is recuperating at St. Thomas Hospital.
In front of his mother, Tara demands Jax to kill Clay and come back and get her and her boys so they can leave Charming forever.
Tara and Margaret Get Kidnapped (Felt Bad)
Tara, pregnant with Jax's baby, considers having an abortion because their relationship is far from great. She gets Margaret to drive her to the clinic, but they get kidnapped by Hector Salazar (Jose Pablo Cantillo) the ousted Calaveras MC leader, and his girlfriend Louisa (Tara Macken). She convinces Hector to let Margaret go by cutting his girlfriend's throat and threatening to let her die. Hector lets Margaret go, but Tara kills her anyway making him much angrier. He takes her to Jake Hale's (Jeff Kober) office and holds Jake and Tara hostage. Jax saves the day and Tara decides to keep the baby.
Tara Succumbs To the Fact That She Is In S.A.M.C.R.O. Forever (Hated Her)
At the end of Season 4, after Jax and Tara's plan to kill Clay fails, Tara stands behind Jax as the head of S.A.M.C.R.O. There is a scene of them at the table, reminiscent of a photo of Gemma and John Teller indicating that she is the "first lady" of S.A.M.C.R.O, dethroning Gemma.
At their wedding, Tara and Jax use the rings that belonged to his father and Gemma. As a power move to control her family, Tara makes sure that Gemma has limited access to her sons, Abel and Thomas.
Abel Gets Kidnapped (Felt Bad)
Cameron Hayes (Jamie McShane) supplying guns for white supremacists finds out that Gemma killed his son Edmond and goes into a monstrous rage. He holds Half Sack (Jonathan Kendrick Lewis), Tara, and Abel hostage at gunpoint. Hayes goes to kill Abel with a kitchen knife but Half Sack tries to save him. He kills Half Sack and ties Tara to Abel's cot. Then he kidnaps Jax's son fleeing to another country.
Jax pushes her away because he feels like she is somewhat responsible for Abel's kidnapping.
Tara Lies About Her Pregnancy and Miscarriage (Hated Her)
After Tara is released from County Jail, she reveals to Gemma that she is pregnant with Jax's third child in an attempt to bar Gemma from gaining custody of her boys in case she went to prison. In a hospital room, they get into an argument where Gemma slaps Tara, and Tara slaps her back. Gemma tells Tara that she is lucky that she is pregnant implying that she is not going to fight her. To Gemma's surprise, Tara lets out a loud yell and throws herself against the corner of the table. Everyone rushes in and sees Tara lying bleeding on the floor from a bag of blood Tara had secretly planted beneath her dress. With Margaret shouting that she saw Gemma attack Tara, the police take Gemma into custody.
Tara Gets Killed (Felt Bad)
Does anyone deserve to get stabbed in the back of their head with a carving fork? Unfortunately, that was Tara's final scene on Sons of Anarchy. Gemma thinks that Tara is going to turn Jax in, and send everyone in S.A.M.C.R.O. to jail. They get into a fight, ending with Tara getting stabbed, repeatedly, in the back of the head and drowning her in a sink full of ice water. It ends with Gemma sitting beside her dead body on a filthy kitchen floor.
Tara Becomes Like Gemma (Hated Her)
Tara begins to manipulate everyone around her becoming more and more like Gemma. She cuts Gemma out of the family after she drives drunk and gets into an accident with both Abel and Thomas in the car. Later Tara becomes increasingly paranoid about her family being threatened, so she agrees to let Gemma back into her good grace if she gets information from Clay in a plan to undermine his leadership.
Tara also devises a plan to get rid of the Rico case involving Lowen, Bobby, and Jax. She volunteers at Stockton State Prison and asks Otto to recount his Rico statement. Otto agrees if Tara brings him his late wife Luann's crucifix. In a very violent scene, Otto uses it to brutally kill a nurse.