Tonight is the first Tuesday night of the rest of my life without any new Sons of Anarchy episodes coming next week or next year. On one hand I’m okay with that for now, since Season 7 dealt some major blows while also treading ground on useless storylines. But on the other, I can no longer look forward to seeing what happens to a bunch of dudes that I would almost certainly never actually get along with in real life. (Except for maybe Happy.) For all the deaths that Kurt Sutter has delivered to fans, the death of the show itself is the one that hurts the most.
Except for that little spot in the middle of my forehead that’s just pounding with increasing intensity as I think about that goddamned homeless woman and her bread and her wine. That pain is actually physical.
“I did what I know how to do.”
What Jax literally means is, “I killed Gemma because my only reaction to anything is inflicting pain upon others.” But this also explains his free-as-a-crow-now method of suicide, which puts a shit ton of cops in danger – seriously, that was too many cops for that area. He chose to ruin a trucker’s life by driving his bike into the front of his rig. I get that Jax is going for poetic justice by following in his father’s footsteps (because he’s been doing that for the entire show, just not on J.T.’s bike until now), but paying respects to the rock wall was all he really needed to do in J.T.’s memory. Especially considering he burned everything else up, in an effort to destroy all M.C. connections that Abel would potentially learn about later in life.
Are we all on the same fire-licked page that Jax’s death was a total cop out, both for the character and the show? He spent the entirety of “Papa’s Goods” saying goodbye to everyone and everything, so it was obvious he was taking a long trip somewhere. But everything built up to the Mayhem vote, from the rooftop conversation between Jax and Chibs that we didn’t get to hear, to everyone’s tearful “yea” votes. At what point were people legitimately sad that Jax was going to kill himself? I guess I understand that none of the Sons were in a place to actually murder Jax – not even Chibs, whom Jax treated like a doormat sometimes – but the Mayhem fakeout was such a drag. I feel like Jax’s death should have warranted many more paragraphs in this recap, and really I’m just mad at him for leaving his rings on top of tombstones instead of giving them to living people who might cherish them. Ugh. You fucked it all up again, Jax.
Side note: How amazing is it that Michael Chiklis, who made a surprise appearance last week to give Gemma a ride, is the guy who ends up killing Jax, albeit unintentionally? The Shield’s lead actor kills Sons of Anarchy’s main character, which is really perfect in a way that it doesn’t deserve to be.
The Future
Well, Chibs is now charter President, and he’ll presumably no longer be bedding Jarry Jarry Bo Barry, as they had a breakup where a newly hardened Chibs tossed out a few ominous threats about law enforcement’s survival rates.
T.O. “Taddarius” Cross is now a patched-in member of SAMCRO, with the “No Black People” ban lifted once and hopefully for all. I’m guessing Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s character will be a prospect at some point. That was a really nice table vote to kick the episode off. I miss those.
Connor will be working with everyone he needs to, since Jax put an end to the IRA ties by blasting Roarke and his goons. Jax also killed August Marks in front of a courthouse, as well as rat bastard Barosky, so it doesn’t seem like SAMCRO will have too many major threats coming their way in the future. Except the ones that do anyway, because that’s how this M.C. shit works.
Nero and Wendy have taken the boys to the farm in Narco, and even though Jax didn’t want Abel or Thomas to have any lasting relics of the SAMCRO life, Abel still has his ring. And he’s twisting it around and thinking, but his thoughts are probably like, “Does this reflection of my face taste as good as my face?” Because that kid is the worst.
Final Thoughts
I’m really going to miss Kurt Sutter’s storytelling. Even when it made me shake my head in anger or dismay, it still got me going more than damned near any other show on TV. “Papa’s Goods” wasn’t the finale I hoped for, but my hopes have always been in flux. What matters more is it wasn’t the finale I dreaded it would be, and I actually felt closure at the end of it, even if it was the kind of closure one feels after having the flu. I bid Sons of Anarchy the fondest of farewells, and can’t wait to see if that prequel series ever comes into being. I don’t want to be done with SAMCRO forever.
Stuff That Fell Off the Back of the Bike…FOREVER
I can’t be the only person who thought that Jax would burn a literal bridge down before this episode was done.
I guess I see why you didn’t burn them shoes, Jax, but why even throw them away?
“Humiliation is very hot.”
“Tell me about it.”
That chase scene was straight out of a video game, right down to the baby dolls making noise as they crashed through them.
I kind of wanted to see Nero punch a hole in a wall or something. His close-out felt weak.
“He’s Irish. They’re born beaten up.”
Did this series ever introduce the fact that Gemma got a ride from the guy who drove the truck that killed J.T.? I feel like that should have happened.
Happy took a bullet in the arm with all of the reaction of a couch being sat on.
Tyler spinoff? Any takers?
Sucks that my last memories of Gemma are of her looking like something out of an unreleased Grudge sequel.
You guys see those crows flying straight in perfect lines as Jax was ridin’ through this world all alone?
That’s Redwood Original, bitch! Thank you guys so much for reading my thoughts about Sons of Anarchy over the past few years. It’s been a blast, though not one that you have to scrape out of the grill of a truck. Watch out for familiar homeless women drinking wine. Peace!
