Kurt Sutter’s biker drama Sons of Anarchy hit the road for the final time three and a half years ago after seven seasons soaked in testosterone and gasoline. The curtain came down with protagonist Jax Teller riding off not towards the sunset, but to a tragic fate that mirrored what happened to his father.
When at its best, there was nothing on TV quite like SoA. Its unique blend of violence, intimacy, mayhem, and romance gave it a gritty edge over its competitors, and yet, at times, it was almost Shakespearian in its poignancy.
Later seasons of the FX show divided fans, with some claiming that Sutter sent the gang off on a high, while others felt they went out with more of a whimper than a bang.
A neverending debate on this topic has raged since Jax set off on his final ride, though there is one thing SoA fanatics have to agree on: not everything about the show makes sense.
Sutter was known to play fast and loose with chronology, and thus the bikers rode over a few gaping plot holes on their seven-season journey and some mysteries were never solved.
With all of that in mind, here are the 15 Things About Sons Of Anarchy That Make No Sense.
Why Would Anyone Work With The Sons?
The Sons of Anarchy are a chaotic organisation. Their name alone gives that much away, so why anyone would team up with them and expect to end up with anything beyond burned fingers is a mystery.
Many of SAMCRO's own members have passed away and the same can be said of the countless people who have worked alongside them.
Yet, lessons are never learned. The Mayans, the One-Niners ,and the IRA all strike up deals with the Sons, only too aware of their track record.
It isn't exactly shocking that none of them come out unscathed. How does the club continue to attract collaborators? At best, they are terrible businessmen, and at worst they are agents of chaos who will almost certainly contribute to your demise.
How John Teller Passed Away
How exactly did John Teller meet his maker? This is a question even Kurt Sutter doesn't seem to know the answer to. For a while, it was strongly hinted that Gemma and Clay tampered with his bike, resulting in the fatal accident that claimed his life, though the plot thickened in later seasons.
Indian Hills' charter president Jury White puts forward the theory that Jax's old man sacrificed himself in an act of martyrdom after learning of Gemma and Clay's plot to end him, the idea being that his death would show the club the error of its ways.
In a way, it was both a sacrifice by John and a planned event by Gemma and Clay, but the two things undermine one another.
If John was going to pass away anyway, his sacrifice is less meaningful. However, the list of crimes that Clay and Gemma are guilty of isn't quite as damning if Jax's father's passing was technically of his own accord.
Clay's Financial Situation
Jax's egomaniacal stepfather Clay Morrow makes it clear that his motivation for muling substances for the Mexican Cartel was motivated by his lack of a retirement fund, but how could he possibly be so hard up for cash?
The veteran biker had been dealing illegal firearms for more than two decades. Surely there was good money in that, and if not, why risk life and limb doing it?
So many Sons members and people who get into bed with them -- in both a literal and metaphorical sense -- wind up deceased, so if there's no money to be made in their illicit activities, why are they never short of dedicated members?
Surely camaraderie and biker thrills alone aren't worth putting your hide on the line for.
Juice Ortiz's Fear Of An Outdated Club Rule
Sons of Anarchy's fourth season wasn't a pleasant one for Juice Ortiz, who found himself a puppet to Lieutenant Roosevelt. Using the biker's recently discovered black heritage as leverage, the law enforcement officer manipulates Juice into acting as his mole to help him build a case against the IRA and the Mexican Cartel.
Age-old club rules state that ethnic minorities cannot become SAMCRO members and Juice is so afraid of being outed that he goes as far as ratting on his fellow bikers and even taking one of them out to cover his tracks.
None of this rings true, though, as the current-generation of Sons do not appear to subscribe to ethnic ideology.
They work with characters of various ethnicities throughout the show, and Jax himself once admitted that the club's laws are outdated and in need of revision. Juice should have been aware of these facts.
Milo’s Role In The Finale
Nobody was surprised to see Jax go out in a blaze of glory in Sons of Anarchy's finale. The show hinted that this was his destiny from the very beginning, but nobody could possibly have predicted the identity of the character who accidentally ends him.
Milo, a trucker who was introduced in the penultimate episode, unwittingly mows the protagonist down in his 18-wheeler in the show's final scene, leaving the audience with one question in their collective conscious: why him?
What was so significant about Milo that he played such a pivotal role in the show?
Was it mere coincidence that he had befriended Gemma in the previous episode?
Surely there is a missing puzzle piece that connects all of this, though to this day, it has never turned up.
Gemma Giving The Ring To Abel
In the show's final season, Jax ends up on a warpath with his manipulative mother Gemma after finally learning that she was the one behind Tara's untimely end.
When the truth comes out, the matriarch's life unravels, forcing her to seek refuge in Oregon. When saying her goodbyes to grandson Abel, she hands him her SAMCRO ring, earmarking him as a future member of the club and making it clear that this is the fate that she wants for him.
Hang on a second -- why would Gemma want her grandson to take this path in life? By this point, everything she held dear had come crashing down around her.
Her own son was hellbent on destroying her, and it was all because of her affiliation with the Sons. Talk about worst grandmother ever.
Thomas Teller II's Age
Between seasons three and four, Tara Knowles gave birth to Jax Teller's second son and the couple named him after the protagonist's late brother, Thomas.
That's nice and everything, but either Thomas II must have some weird genetic condition that prevents him from aging at the normal rate, or his physical appearance by the end of season seven is a continuity error.
Jax's first son, Abel -- whom he fathered with Wendy Case -- was 18 months old when his brother was born, and by the final run of episodes, he's approximately five years old and in kindergarten.
This would make Thomas around three, assuming time elapses in Charming at the same rate as everywhere else in the world, yet he's still an infant, unable to walk or even crawl yet.
What Happened To The Disputed Church Land?
One of season seven's main subplots sees the Sons embroiled in a dispute with local crime boss August Marks (played by How to Get Away With Murder's Billy Brown) over a patch of land that the kingpin was hoping to acquire.
Marks and his crew attempt to take the church property -- which was owned by a minister who was accidentally taken out by the bikers -- forcefully by threatening the owner's family.
The Sons, however, swore to protect the minister's wife and son and they intervene by using leverage to have Marks thrown in jail.
The crime lord is never seen or heard from again and nor is his gang.
Although this works out well for the minister's family, what became of the disputed church land is never divulged. It makes no sense that Marks's gang would simply let the matter slide, but this is a plot thread destined to dangle.
Chibs And Jarry’s Relationship
Sons of Anarchy has its fair share of odd couples, but Chibs's relationship with lieutenant Althea Jarry in the final season is a head-scratcher even by the show's bizarre standards.
The question of why in the world a law enforcement officer would hook up with a SAMCRO member weighs heavy from the start.
However, things take a turn for the ridiculous when the pair consummate their relationship on top of a police car in broad daylight with Jarry still in uniform, no less.
After winning the award for SoA's least convincing couple, Chibs and Jarry's relationship fizzles out, but the question of whether the Sons cut her out is left to linger.
Cops who get on the wrong side of SAMCRO "tend to go away" and she simply disappears after informing Chibs about the APB on Gemma.
Wayne Unser’s Cancer
Police chief Wayne Unser is a key figure in Sons of Anarchy, walking a tightrope between his allegiance to SAMCRO and his duty to do what's right for Charming throughout.
His love for Gemma is ultimately what leads to his demise, although his death certificate technically has it down as a gunshot to the chest courtesy of Jax Teller.
Given how he meets his end, it's worth asking whether there was any point to his cancer diagnosis in season one. Granted, it's what puts him on course for retirement and the treatment he undergoes is what forces him to sell his house and move into a trailer, but was he not approaching retirement age anyway?
As a subplot, the cancer storyline ultimately added little to Unser's arc.
The Club’s Plan To Go Legitimate With Diosa
Jax Teller's vision for the Sons involves succeeding where his father before him failed. The protagonist hoped to one day steer the bikers in a more legitimate direction, one which leaves the arms-dealing ways of old firmly in the rearview mirror.
In the later seasons, he believes that the key to achieving this is partnering with an organisation that goes by the name of Diosa International.
Here's the ironic part: Diosa is actually an adult service, albeit one that attempts to paint itself as catering for more discerning clientele.
So Jax's plan to go legitimate involves teaming up with an escort service, a category of business that is illegal under California law if the escorts are paid for their adult services, which Diosa's ladies most certainly are.
The Characters Who Simply Disappeared
Many Sons of Anarchy character's got the end game that they deserved, whether that means a fatal bullet wound or living to tell the tale of their exploits with SAMCRO. Other characters, however, seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth.
Kyle Hobart, the Sons member who was excommunicated for leaving Opie to face the heat after they committed arson together, is a good example.
Although his former gang members later make him face the heat in a very literal way as punishment for his transgression, he's never seen nor heard of again after they dump him outside of St. Thomas Hospital with some nasty burns.
Chibs' wife and kid also ceased to exist after season three -- they're barely referenced afterwards, and the same can be said of Jax's half-sister, Trinity.
Granted, none of these are major characters, but it would have been nice if their stories were given satisfactory conclusions.
Damon Pope's Demise
Following his introduction, kingpin Damon Pope is positioned as the greatest threat the Sons have ever faced. He was responsible for one of SoA's most shocking moments when he burned Tig's daughter Dawn, and the final battle with him was hyped up since then.
The showdown, however, didn’t deliver.
Jax follows Pope and his entourage-- who have kidnapped Tig with the intention of taking him out-- to a garage and guns down his men without breaking a sweat.
Pope himself also offers minimal resistance, going to ground under a shoulder barge from a bound Tig. Jax then hands the gun over to his friend, allowing him to take his revenge.
Considering that Pope was supposed to be such a dangerous threat, his downfall didn't live up to the hype. It was the equivalent of reaching the final boss in a videogame, only to take them out with a single shot.
Nobody Suspecting Gemma Of Taking Down Tara
Gemma got away with taking out Tara until the bitter end, when her grandson Abel spills the beans.
Her cover story about the Chinese being responsible for the doctor's tragic demise is swallowed hook, line, and sinker by Jax, but a quick glance at the crime scene should have told him that the hit was carried about by somebody less professional.
The presence of Eli Roosevelt's body at the same location should have revealed it wasn't a planned hit, as even the most rudimentary amount of intelligence work would have flagged up law enforcement at the scene.
Also, how was Gemma not chief suspect when she had a motive to take out Tara?
At this point, Jax may have been unwilling to believe that his own mother was capable of destroying his other half, but there were enough red flags for somebody to have figured it out.
Jax's Limp
In Sons of Anarchy's penultimate episode, there's a scene in which Jax Teller stumbles and limps as though he's suffering from foot pain. In story terms, there was zero explanation for this, as at no point does the protagonist injure his foot on screen.
Director Paris Barclay waded in on the matter in an interview with Yahoo! and confirmed the limp was actually the result of a toe injury that Charlie Hunnam suffered.
They weaved it into the story as a psychosomatic wound to represent Jax's life unravelling.
"We thought it is kind of interesting that Jax, on this day when things are really wrapping up, and he has so much to do, wakes up and has some little physical infirmary," he said. "That's kind of interesting and provocative in a way. Charlie was the one who sold it to us as an idea, how this could be some sort of psychological."
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Can you think of any other things about Sons of Anarchy that don't make any sense? Sound off in the comments!