14 DAY TRIAL // Last night, FX aired the final episode in the seventh season of “Sons of Anarchy,” which was also its last. Called “Papa’s Goods,” it offered closure both to leading character Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and to the fans who had been on this insane, terribly violent ride with him all along.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but it was nonetheless a memorable journey. And it ended just the way it was supposed to, all things considered: the series may have lost some of its luster in recent episodes, but this was perfect ending for it, no doubt about that.
Before reading any further, *please note that this editorial contains major spoilers on the “SOA” series finale, so stop right now if you’re not caught up with season 7 yet.*
This said, in my opinion, Jax Teller had to die on the series finale, not because that’s what we, the fans, have been waiting all along, but because he simply had no reason left to survive the events in “Papa’s Goods,” not after all the damage he’d done. So here goes.
Jax Teller stood for nothing anymore
At the beginning of the journey, Jax Teller’s purpose within SAMCRO was to try and carry out his father’s mission, the one that got him killed at the hands of Gemma and Clay, namely to get the motorcycle club out of the illegal gun and drug trade.
For several seasons, we see him struggle to get the SAMCRO business to go legit, or at least a bit more legit than guns, even if that means becoming a prostitution ring. At the same time, we see him struggle to reconcile this part of him that wants out with the one that will for ever be a Son, because he’s aware that in leaving, he’s turning his back on his brothers.
The dichotomy is exploited to the max in the first 4 seasons and it’s honestly a pleasure to watch: the conflict is so painful at times that it threatens to tear Jax apart. In season 5, when Tara starts making plans to move away from Charming, and this way, offer her 2 kids the chance at a normal life, Jax begins to lose the compass that’s maintaining balance within him.
With Tara’s death at the end of season 6, the final season of the series sees him unravel like never before: this is a man who has nothing to lose anymore and whose only thought is of getting even with all those who wronged him. Not even his 2 sons will be motive enough for Jax to get out and try for a clean life: with Tara, he’s lost the part of himself that still lied to him about the possibility of getting his own happy ending.
No possibility of redemption left
Perhaps worse than this is the fact that, in the penultimate episode of the series, Jax goes past the point of no return, when he shoots Gemma in the head, after finding out that she was the one who murdered Tara in the previous season – and then tried to cover it up with lies. As Gemma tended to do with everything she didn’t like.
Heartbreaking to watch, it was perhaps one of the most outstanding moments in the entire season, one that reminded me of how solid the show had been throughout the first 2, maybe 3 seasons.
Dubbed “Hamlet” on bikes, “SOA” was at first like the little engine showing massive potential for greatness, which was lost when FX decided to give series creator Kurt Sutter a free reign, and he ditched intensity and originality for the shock factor and silly twists meant to drag a storyline on.
The mother-son relationship, captured so beautifully along the series in various iconic scenes (the Gemma rape storyline is perhaps my favorite, the scene in which she confesses to Clay and Jax what happened in the warehouse), was again at its best in the “Red Rose” episode.
Just as amazing was the fact that, before dying, Gemma, like the master puppeteer / great matriarch that she was, managed to manipulate Jax one more time, by practically telling him to murder her. In doing so, she also did away with his final shot at redemption, pushing him beyond any hope of salvation.
No sense of purpose anymore
By the final episode, Jax had lost everything but SAMCRO – and even that wasn’t the club that he wanted, not to mention that it was badly crippled as well. Jax was like the little boy who played with matches and then realized he had set everything around himself on fire – everything but himself.
With Bobby gone, the conscience of the group, with Tara and Gemma gone, with Unser gone (perhaps the most innocent victim to meet their end at Jax’s hand), and the realization that he’d long stopped caring about making the MC legit, Jax had no sense of purpose anymore.
Where before he would tell himself that he was selling drugs and carrying drugs for his family, because he wanted to make enough money to be able to offer them a decent life, he suddenly realized he didn’t have a family to provide for anymore. So he entrusted the boys to Wendy and Nero, knowing that they were better off than with him – thus saving them from a fate as his own – and drove head-first into an incoming speeding truck.
A romanticized anti-hero
Indeed, Jax Teller wasn’t as complex an anti-hero as Walter White or even Nancy Botwin, and he was romanticized from beginning to end, from his initial attempts at getting straight to his over-the-top death.
But it was all in the spirit of what “SOA” had become and because of it, a most fitting end. I rooted for him even when I started misliking the show (with a passion, at times) and I still hoped he would survive, even though common sense told me he couldn’t. He had no more reasons to live, he deserved to die.
And if you think about it, it’s best that his journey ended while it still had some kick to it, because “SOA” would have probably gone really sour if it stayed on the air for another season.
