Series creator Kurt Sutter says Jax's last ride is to mirror his father's death, while executive producer Paris Barclay says Jax made the decision to make sure his sons don't follow his path.
- Dec 11, 2014
AceShowbiz - As fans are coming to terms with "Sons of Anarchy" tragic ending, the show's bosses explain why such horrible thing had to happen. While it was pretty clear that Charlie Hunnam's Jax Teller could not escape his sins, [SPOILER ALERT!] it was the least expected thing that he died by his own hand.
Appearing on "Anarchy Afterword" after the series finale, series creator Kurt Sutter said Jax's death was something he had planned all along. Hunnam revealed they "had talked about there being various potential versions of the ending," but in the end Sutter wanted it to mirror what happened to Jax's father John Teller.
"I had a sense really from the beginning of this ride that I liked the notion of Jax being brought to the same place of his father, but getting it right," Sutter said. "You know what I mean? The idea that he was going to go out in the same way."
On how much he wanted to show Jax's death, he shared, "I wasn't sure how much of it I was going to leave up to the imagination of people. There was a discussion that he's on the road and we see that truck and we leave it sort of open ended. And then ultimately I felt like this has not been a show of' 'what ifs,' to a certain extent. This has always been a show about direct, specific choices and direct, specific consequences. So I realized I needed to be clear in terms of whether it happened or it didn't."
On a different occasion, executive producer Paris Barclay explained why Jax had to kill himself. "This was on his own terms and the way he went out was part of his plan to ensure that his sons hated him," he told E! Online.
Barclay, who filled in for Sutter as director on the finale for several days when Sutter got appendicitis, continued, "A lot of suicide is meant to aim at other people where Jax's suicide was aimed at making his family hate him. He's guaranteed that when his sons find out what happened when they're older, they're going to loathe him, and Nero has been instructed to help them on that path so they don't end up on the same path as Jax. It's finally breaking the cycle."
The last episode of the biker drama was watched by a total of 6.39 million viewers and a 3.3 rating/11 share in adults 18-49, marking the series highs. FX will release the official number after three days' worth of DVR playback can be included.
The cast of the show has filmed a thank you video in which they express their gratitude to fans who had been supporting them and the series through the 7-year journey.
