Sons of Anarchy always knows how to tug at the heartstrings. Over the course of six seasons, this show depicting a biker gang’s fall from grace took fans down the dark lifestyle of belonging to a motorcycle gang. The show, for the most part, was hardcore entertainment. But, every once in a while, creator and writer Kurt Sutter would write a line or direct a scene that made us want to dramatically fall to the ground and shake our fists in anger.  There was no shortage of sadness. Even when the situation wasn’t necessarily sad, the character had usually gone through something that made you feel all the feelings for them at that very moment. These 10 moments and more are what made this show one of the best series on cable TV.

Jax Forcing Wendy To Do Substances

Jax was a fan favorite but he could be just as ruthless as Clay at times. One of those times was when he felt like Wendy was in a position to gain visitation with their son Abel. Wendy was an addict who had gotten clean, stayed clean and even got a job as a drug counselor. Jax saw her prospering and swept it right out from under her. He had her shot up with substances and essentially left her for dead. Was he trying to overdose her? No, he just wanted her to look unfit, and guess what? It worked.

Opie’s Sacrifice

Opie, Jax, and a few others ended up in jail for the one-millionth time in we don’t know how long. It should have just been another stint in jail. Maybe a little downtime and getting a few things done. It turned out to be much worse than expected.

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Opie offered himself up as a sacrifice for the club. Damon Pope required one death of a club member because of the deaths that took place on the highway in an earlier episode. Jax was going to be the one to die but Opie jumps in and takes his place. He is viciously beaten to death while the jailed gang members and, of course, the heartbroken fans look on 

Tara’s Death

Tara’s death was unforgettable and totally uncalled for. If anyone should have survived this show it should have been Tara. she was basically innocent in all of this. All she really did was fall in love with the wrong man. Jealous Gemma couldn’t stand the idea of Tara being both number one in Jax’s life and her grandkid’s lives, so she killed her.

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A lot more transpired between the two but the root of the problem was Gemma seeing herself being replaced by Tara. She feared her instead of embracing her and it drove her to murder. 

Jax’s Farewell To The Kids

Jax holding his baby boy on the sofa in Sons of Anarchy

Fans of the show knew that as Jax was saying goodbye to his boys that we all knew would never see him again. He knew the only way to leave the gang was to sacrifice himself. He gave up custody of the boys to Wendy and Nero. This heartfelt goodbye would choke anyone up. Knowing that once you say goodbye you will never see your kids again. This may sound selfish but what it actually is is the ultimate sacrifice. There was no way that he was going to be able to just leave peacefully especially with all the crap that the club had gotten themselves into over the years. 

Juice’s Breakdown

It seems as though Juice’s breakdown and betrayal came out of nowhere. One day it was a small thing, next thing you know he’s working for the enemy and screwing the club over every which way. Granted he was forced to do it and watching him do it was heartbreaking. Watching Juice being forced to betray his club and do some pretty ruthless things was cringeworthy.

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He was no longer the juice that we grew to know over the course of 6 seasons. He essentially turned to poison. When the club found out what he did it was even more unbearable. 

Clay & Gemma’s Awful Fight

Who can forget when Clay lost his mind and beat the life out of Gemma. Well almost. She was beaten so badly she was bruised for several episodes. Normally TV shows forget about the continuity and through TV magic bruises are healed and life is anew, but SOA  said: “Nope, no way”. Not only was Gemma bruised up and battered, but the fight was also hard to watch. Gemma is a tough woman but watching Clay strike blow after blow was gut-wrenching. We keep waiting for Gemma to hit back and rise above him and it never happens. It was the lowest point we see her at. 

Otto

Otto was doing life in prison so for him, life was already over. All he wanted was his woman taken care of and loyalty from his club. So many bad things happened to Otto that was heartbreaking in the past. So watching bad things happen to him each season was messed up. Lost an eye, wife gets murdered, he gets abused in jail, he bit off his own tongue.

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A lot of gut-wrenching things. We can’t name just one incident. Otto is in a category of his own he lived an died that way. He may have had a minor role but it was effective.

Jax's Death

Jax’s death was problematic. It meant that there was no way we were ever going to experience the greatness that was Jax again. His death hit hard but only because he was essentially forced to kill himself. If he had any other options and he wasn’t so heartbroken by Tara’s death we could totally see a spinoff of him revamping the club and trying to make it the way his father wanted it. But let's be honest, that wouldn't be much of a spin-off. While hs death was messed up on many levels, it was necessary. One last screw you for the fans to mull over. 

Half Sack’s Death

Half Sack only last 2 seasons. During the time he was on the show he quickly became a fan favorite. He was a prospect for the club and wanted nothing more than to prove he belongs there with Jax and the boys. His death came while he as trying to save Tara and Abel from an intruder trying to hurt them. This death broke out hearts because Half Sack was just a great person. He was a bit of comic relief, he served in the army, he was dedicated and always looking out for the crew. The truth is, he would have made a great member and trusted ally to Jax. 

John Teller’s memoir

Once fans got to know more about John Teller and hear more from his memoir there was an instant connection. We saw the future he wanted to go in with the club, we saw how much uniting all the bier gangs in Charming, California meant to him. The memoir was sad and depressing. It was one of those stories that you knew was going to go wrong no matter what. What makes it most heartbreaking is that Jax got a hold of it and really tried to make it work but someone should have told him that SAMCRO had too many haters and selfish members for this dream to ever come to light.

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