The “S” in SAMCRO stands for SPOILERS here, so tread carefully if you’re not caught up on Sons of Anarchy.
Are you kidding me?!? Of all the things that I thought would never happen in Sons of Anarchy, especially this close to the finale, anyone’s “surprise guest star role” would have been completely off of my list. And yet creator Kurt Sutter has defied his own past words and finally brought his The Shield compadre Michael Chiklis to Sutter’s next greatest accomplishment for the episode “Red Rose.” The man who was never supposed to appear on Sons of Anarchy appeared on Sons of Anarchy. Hope I don’t bump my head on any flying pigs later today.
Kurt Sutter has been transporting actors from The Shield into the world of Sons of Anarchy for years, but Chiklis has been the Holy Grail of actors for the biker drama to bring in. And yet Sutter has been steadfast in his claims that he could never use Chiklis on Sons of Anarchy, as not to somehow defame or overshadow the iconic role of Detective Vic Mackey. And so instead of making Chiklis play a predictably bullheaded gang leader hellbent on claiming California turf, Sutter just casually dropped the generally rugged actor into a delightfully carefree role that allowed Katey Sagal’s Gemma a few moments of genuine pleasure before her brutal bow out.
Chiklis first popped up in the beginning of “Red Rose” as a trucker who finds Gemma zonked out. It would have been a fine cameo just to have him randomly pop by and politely mention that she should get the fuck out of the way of a rig zone, but he comes back later in the episode to chat her up at a truck stop. And what happens then?
A The Adventures of Milo and Otis reference! Chiklis’ name is Milo, and Gemma manages to screw up which animal is which, thinking that the dog came first. (Some kind of a deep-seated instinct in her mind that men always come first? Not likely.) Their conversation is relatively brief, but it involves him cautioning her that he’s not looking for oral sex, her lying about having a son (that wants to murder her and then eventually does) and more oddly sexual comments. Though don’t get him wrong, he’s totally a family man underneath those sunglasses and infrequently gravelly voice. He made his exit without doing anything more sinister than dropping Gemma off where he said he would, and that was all I needed.
Kurt Sutter, you old rascal, you.
While I may be off by a guest actor or two, Sons of Anarchy has cast former Shield actors Walton Goggins, Benito Martinez, Jay Karnes, CCH Pounder, Kenny Johnson, Emilio Rivera, David Marciano and David Rees Snell. Except for Michael Jace, who won’t be doing any kind of acting in the near future, Sons of Anarchy has now featured the entire core Shield Strike Team. Will Catherine Dent or Cathy Ryan show up in the finale? Probably not, but now that Michael Chiklis has made his appearance, everything is okay with the world. Except for Gemma and Unser’s deaths, of course.
