There were many things to love about SAMCRO's golden boy Jax Teller. He was brave, charming, and above all, a farsighted leader. Jax proved to be his father's son as he did his best to try and keep the club clean. Sadly, there were too many moving parts that he couldn't control at once.
Jax's leadership earned him love and respect among his colleagues. However, he wasn't without flaws. Jax proved to be a firm decision-maker when he was first introduced but as the series progressed, he began making choices that left fans baffled. His questionable and shocking decisions continued piling up right up to his death in the final season.
He Killed Jury
Jax's leap-before-looking personality led to one of the show's most undeserved deaths. Compared to other bikers in the series, Jury was pragmatic. What made him more likable was the history he shared with John Teller. The two fought together in the Vietnam War and when they were discharged, Jury formed the Devil's Tribe while JT founded the Sons Of Anarchy.
It was surprising to see Jax killing his dad's friend without finding out if he was indeed guilty of telling the Lin Trian about the gun shipment. The real culprit turned out to be the corrupt Stockton PD officer Charles Barosky. Even worse, Jax tried to claim that he killed Jury in self-defense. This decision led to Jax getting the Mayhem vote.
He Allowed Strangers To Go With His Son
As any father should be, Jax was devastated when Abel was kidnapped. Accompanied by select colleagues, he headed off to Northern Ireland where Father Kellan Ashby had organized for Abel to be adopted by a Catholic couple. The hard-boiled priest felt the couple was more equipped to raise a child.
After all the work he had done in tracking down the baby, Jax had a change of heart when he finally spotted the couple. He decided to let them keep the baby and walked away. Apart from the fact that letting his own son go was cowardly, he also never factored in how Abel's mother Wendy would feel about the matter. Even worse, his decision eventually led to the couple getting killed by Jimmy O.
He Went After The Lin Triad Without Doing Proper Investigations
As the conniving person that she always was, Gemma decided to frame Chris Dun—a member of the Lin Triad—for Tara's death. She definitely knew this would start a war but the only thing that was important to her was covering up her own sins.
Jax, who had proved wise when handling matters like this, saw his wisdom depart him. He believed Gemma's words and proceeded to torture Chris before killing him with a barbecue fork. the same way Tara was killed. This action led to plenty of tensions between SAMCRO and the Lin Triad. Consequently, a war erupted, resulting in more innocent lives being taken.
He Handed Over Tig To August Marks
Pope Partners Inc. made it a habit to bully SAMCRO after the death of Veronica Pope and Jax somehow allowed it. First, Damon Pope captured Tig's daughter and burned her alive. He then organized for a Son to be killed in prison. The much nicer Opie ended up being the sacrifice.
As if that wasn't enough, August Marks told Jax that he still wanted Tig dead. Instead of rejecting the request and protecting his colleague, Jax sent Tig to a torture porn studio then told Marks where he'd find him. Luckily, Marks was only testing Jax's loyalty. Still, being willing to sacrifice a brother to an enemy that had already taken so much wasn't a justifiable action.
He Tried Pushing Tara Away By Cheating On Her
Among the many methods of orchestrating a breakup, Jax's method is the least recommended. Feeling that Tara was better off being away from the club, he tried to end their relationship by cheating on her with adult film star Ima.
Ima had been infatuated with Jax all along and had no respect whatsoever for Tara. Even when Tara found them in a compromising position together, Ima was more than glad that it happened. It was the ultimate betrayal from Jax as he had the option of just being honest with Tara and cutting ties with her.
He Lied To T.O. Cross
Among the many reliable associates of the mother charter was Grim Bastards President T.O. Cross. He was too valued by the club that they made him the first-ever Black patched member.
Jax proved to not be a man of his word when he tricked T.O. into producing his cousin Randall, lying that he wouldn't be killed. Randall was one of the men who had been tasked with beating Opie to death in prison. Jax was well aware that he was only following orders but he still ordered Chibs to shoot him. Worse, he did in front of T.O. If the Sons really wanted to kill a cousin of their associate, they really ought to have done it when that associate wasn't looking.
His Handling Of The Gemma & Unser Incident
It can be argued that Gemma decided to die but Unser didn't. Given the circumstances he found himself in, Jax had the perfect reason to spare both, for the time being. Instead, he chose to kill both.
Unser had been the most reliable ally to the Sons in the series. Jax should have postponed his vengeance when Unser showed up to arrest Gemma. He could have let Unser arrest her then organized for a way to kill Gemma later. After all, the Sons had plenty of prison connections. Instead, he chose to shoot Unser before shooting Gemma.
He Didn't Tell Opie About Tig & Clay's Involvement In Donna's Death
Donna was the first Old Lady to become a victim of the violence surrounding the mother charter when she was accidentally killed by Tig. After June Stahl framed Opie as an informant, Clay tasked Tig with "taking care of the problem" and this resulted in an accidental death.
For a while, Jax knew that Clay was involved but he didn't tell Opie. This felt wrong since Opie had been his closest friend for a while. The man had lost his wife and he deserved to know who was responsible. Jax didn't like Clay either, so keeping his secret was a bit unnecessary.
He Ordered Juice To Kill An Innocent Mother To Stop Her From Talking
The school shooting in Season 6 was one of the most heartbreaking moments in the series. It all traced back to SAMCRO as the automatic weapon that the shooter Matthew Jennings had used had been sold by the club in the black market.
To prevent Matthew's mother Darvany Jennings from talking to the authorities, the club began making plans to get her out of town. Jax somehow felt that this course of action wouldn't serve the purpose so he ordered Juice to murder her without anyone else knowing. Murdering a stressed mother whose son had just committed a mass shooting was an act too evil to fathom.
He Rode To His Death
By the series finale, Jax had become irredeemable. He was going to pay for his reckless actions, one way or the other. He had just gotten the Mayhem vote and the members of Pope Partners Inc. were obviously going to come after him and seek vengeance for August Mark's death. Like ancient kings that had been cornered, Jax chose to go out under his own terms.
This decision felt right to him but it didn't feel right to viewers since he had little kids who needed him. Thomas Teller's mother Tara had just died and now he had to lose his father too. Jax had a couple of options, the best of which would have been to go on the run and into hiding.