Papa's Goods

I’ve never actually watched Sons of Anarchy, but from what I’ve read it is yet another show centered on an anti-hero that ended without a “happily ever after”.

The anti-hero in Sons of Anarchy is Jax Teller, and, like many of the anti-heroes we see on television, he’s a man who works to manage his family and his job. In Jax’s case, he’s the Vice President (and, later in the series, the President) of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original (SAMCRO).

As of December 2014, the final season of Sons of Anarchy was the most watched season of FX’s history, averaging 7.54 million viewers. Having premiered back in 2008 to an audience of 2.52 million viewers, Sons of Anarchy’s viewership exploded by 200 percent in the end.

And it was a bloody end.

It’s really not surprising though. Most anti-heroes don’t get to ride off into the sunset. And, indeed, Jax Teller doesn’t. Instead he rides off into a semi-truck.

Jax’s suicide is, according to Sons of Anarchy producer Paris Barclay in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, a sacrifice. The character even states in the final episode that he wants his kids to grow up hating the thought of their father.

Barclay furthered that point, saying that Jax wants to make sure his kids won’t want that kind of life for themselves. His sacrifice, therefore, is for his children.

While suicide typically isn’t viewed as a sacrifice a parent makes for their child—and many fans felt that Jax was actually abandoning his kids instead of saving them—in the world of an anti-hero, where morals are so twisted, it is not too difficult to understand that Jax was doing what he thought was best.