Sons of Anarchy gave audiences a lot to think about over the course of its seven seasons on FX, from the history of the First 9 to Tig's relationship with Venus to how horribly Abel and Thomas' lives would probably be as they aged into adulthood. Rarely did the ever-vocal creator Kurt Sutter and his creative team strive to deliver outright mysteries within the violent chaos, but that was definitely the case with the explanation-defying character simply known as "Homeless Woman." Until now, that is. Sort of.
Kurt Sutter took the time to answer a fan questions during an Instagram Q&A, and somewhat surprisingly took the bait when someone asked him to give "a definite answer" on what Homeless Woman (portrayed by Olivia Burnette) was meant to represent. Of course, Sutter's answer provided slightly less clarity than any fans might have expected. Check it out!
The Homeless Woman - She's the magic that anarchy summons and the mortality it extinguishes. She's the bringer of eternal light and the harbinger of all things dark. She's the ying, the yang and the yong. She's the alpha and the omertà. She's the first breath of life and the final gasp into death. She's the mother, the father, and the holy goat. She is everything you need and nothing you want. She is the chicken and the squirrel and all their broken eggs and rotting acorns. She is the binge, the purge, the hunger and the shame. She is you, me and your Uncle Murray.
"I didn't even know I had an Uncle Murray!" is probably the most sensible response I have after reading through that answer. It is something else, isn't it?
Clearly, Kurt Sutter was having some fun with contrasting thoughts here, saying that the Homeless woman represents the light and the dark, life and death, mothers and fathers, binging and purging. Should our takeaway be that the Homeless Woman truly is some kind of a deity? It's often been theorized that she was a guardian angle of sorts for Jax, albeit one that can affect physical reality. And Sutter himself has hinted at her being Jesus Christ in human form. Of course, she would also have to some Satan in her if she was Jesus Christ, going by the above logic.
Really, after having the Homeless Woman appear as often as she did throughout Sons of Anarchy's run, sometimes enigmatically and sometimes not, there probably isn't a more direct answer that Kurt Sutter could provide at this point after the show has been gone for so long. For those who want to see it as Sutter put it, check out the post below.
The Homeless Character is also perceived to be Brooke Portner's mother, Emily Portner, who was killed during the same traffic crash that killed John Teller. That explanation came later, with Brooke showing up nearer the end of Sons' run, though Brooke didn't even pay her any mind when passing her on the street during one episode. As such, it's quite possible that the woman took that particular form only when appearing to Jax and others who were affected by J.T.'s death. Which would lend itself to the whole "mother and the father" nothing that Sutter shared.
Now the biggest Sons of Anarchy mystery I can think of is "When will we see Jimmy Smits' Nero again?"
Sons of Anarchy is currently available to stream in full on Hulu, thanks to corporate synergy between FX and Disney. And even though Kurt Sutter isn't involved anymore, Mayans M.C. will have Season 3 coming to fans at some point in the future.
