Entertainment Weekly has picked up on a big scoop for this week’s episode. According to their source, “a very important person within the SAMCRO family will die.” Who will it be? EW doesn’t know, and obviously, Kurt Sutter and Co. are not saying. However, EW claims to know someone in the SOA camp to who has confirmed six SAMCRO members who “may be on the chopping block.” (Italics mine)
Here’s the six, and the odds of one of them dying (spoilers if you actually trust my theories).
Wayne Unser (5-1) — Unser seems the most obvious, if only because he’s the most expendable character in the SAMCRO family right now, what with being old and having cancer. However, he just began an investigation into the home invasions which looks to form a season-long arc. Moreover, any good writer who has a character with cancer — in remission or not — will bring it back before the character dies. That way, there’s two forces of death converging, which would create the most suspense. I’ll give Sutter the benefit of the doubt that he understands that.
Tig Trager (15-1) — Absolutely not. If Damon Pope was going to kill him, he would’ve killed him in the opening episode of the season. Tig has some major comeuppance coming, and it’s not like Kurt Sutter to take that sort of revenge away from a character. As you recall, he let Opie pull the trigger on June Stahl at the end of season three. You’d imagine he’d give Tig the same opportunity with Damon Pope. Tig is the most safe of the bunch, I think.
Clay Morrow (10-1) — He’s half dead anyway, can’t ride his motorcycle, and is on the outs with half the club, but he’s also one of the lead characters on the show. That doesn’t make him immune, of course, but if Sutter was going to take out Clay, it would’ve been a lot better to have done so at the end of last season. It could be that he’s compensating for that anti-climax, but then again, SAMCRO still needs Clay for their deal with the Irish. It doesn’t really make narrative sense at this point, especially with the home invasion subplot and a lot of unresolved questions with Gemma. Plus, he’s Claudius. Claudius isn’t wasted in the middle of the story.
Juice (8-1) — Maybe. But again, Sutter had his chance last year when Juice tried to kill himself. But then again, Juice hasn’t really provided much this season. But then again, if you want maximum impact from a character death, you want that character to mean something. Juice is not involved in anything heavy right now, and he’s not really a big part of the intersecting story lines. It’s possible, but I don’t think so because a good writer will bring a character front and center before killing him.
Tara (10-1) — It’d be nice, wouldn’t it? Most of us would love to see Tara die. But, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Sons of Anarchy is clearly based on Hamlet, and it’s too early in the series (expected to end after season seven) for Ophelia to die. Unless, and this is important if Sutter is truly sticking with the Hamlet plotline: Tara isn’t Ophelia. Ophelia would actually be the daugther of one of Clay’s most trusted advisers. That would likely be Tig, which would mean that Fawn is the real Ophelia, in which case disposing of Tara would make sense. However, I don’t think that Sutter is going to remain that faithful to Hamlet. It would be cool, though, and it would fit with my theory that Jax and Tara got married in the last episode in order to create more sympathy for Tara before she got whacked.
Opie (2-1) — If it is any of the six fingered by EW, I’m sad to say that it’s likely Opie. Why? Well, technically — and this is a cheat — we can rule out Chibs and Tig, because they are seen in the still image with Joel McHale’s character, who hasn’t been introduced yet. It’s unlikely that he’ll be introduced in episode three because Chibs and Jax are in prison, therefore Tigs and Chibs must survive prison.
Who else is in prison with them? Opie. We also know there will be a showdown in prison with the Niners, in which Opie will be involved. It also makes the most narrative sense. This is how a writer’s mind works: Bring a character back into the fold, create as much sympathy for him as possible (which is why Opie punched out Eli to get into prison to protect Jax), and then pull the f***king rug out from underneath us. It also gives Jax — and all of SAMCRO — the biggest incentive to take their revenge upon Damon Pope. DO IT FOR OPIE. Plus, Opie has already settled with Lyla and arranged for her to have the kids. That’s pretty good foreshadowing.
Opie goes out a martyr, breaking out hearts in the process.
(Source: EW)
