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Jesus Leaves the MC: On the 'Sons of Anarchy' Finale

Spoilers and such for Sons of Anarchy below.

I remember being amused by Breaking Bad's finale, in which it was revealed that showrunner Vince Gilligan did not consider chemistry-teacher-cum-meth-chef to be irredeemable, as so many of the show's critics had posited. Indeed, he turned Walter White into something of a Christ figure, a man who sacrificed himself for the good of his family. It struck me as a fitting ending: Walt was a fundamentally good man driven by need, and then pride, to commit some horribly evil acts.

It was with some surprise last night that I realized Sons of Anarchy showrunner Kurt Sutter was trying to do something similar with Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam). Jax was the head of the Sons of Anarchy, a motorcycle gang that has spent the last seven seasons wreaking bloody havoc throughout northern California. For a while, Jax had tried to get the gang away from its life of crime, believing that to be the path his murdered father had wanted the club to walk. He would later backtrack on that, embracing the gangster lifestyle. And then try to get his family out of it. The show, if we're being honest, was kind of a mess these last few seasons as Jax's motivations shifted willy nilly.

But in these last few episodes—after it was revealed to him that his mother murdered his wife and that his entire existence was corrupted by the MC—it seemed that Jax had rediscovered his purpose. The club can't change. Criminal violence is too inextricable a part of its character to allow for that. And his character is too defined by that lifestyle for him to leave it. He knew he couldn't be redeemed. He was too evil for that. Further, he knew his sons would inevitably follow in his footsteps if he stayed in their lives. So he sent his kids away, settled all family business, and sacrificed himself for their benefit. When I say he "settled all family business," I mean he killed a bunch of people. Just like, um, Jesus I guess.

Sutter and co weren't terribly subtle with their imagery in the finale. Consider this lingering shot as Jax talks to a homeless woman who has served as a specter throughout the show, showing up here and there as a kind of silent witness:

Sorry for the poor image, but if you can't make it out, it's bum wine and stale bread. Truly Jax's blood and flesh. And then there's this image, as Jax rides his father's restored motorcycle head on into an oncoming semi:

It's worth noting that this is the same manner in which his father had died. Jax is the father, the son, and now the holy ghost. Or maybe it's that homeless woman—the least of our sisters—who was Jesus, and she was offering him redemption. Via, um, murder or whatever. Or something. I dunno. Frankly, the whole thing is kind of dumb. Jax already had a stand-in: Hamlet, one of the most tragic figures in literary history. I'm not sure we really needed to drag the Bible into it too.

Then again, it'll get the Bozells of the world all riled up, if they bothered sticking around for the finale. So maybe it was worth it after all? Gotta respect Sutter's commitment to troll game.