As the Sons of Anarchy series finale approaches on Tuesday night, Katey Sagal says that fans can expect a very satisfying end and they won’t be disappointed at all….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Following seven seasons and appearing in every single episode, actress Katey Sagal will not be around for the series finale of Sons of Anarchy after her character Gemma Teller-Morrow met her demise in the penultimate episode of the show a week ago titled ‘Red Rose’.
It was the end of a very long and arduous journey for a character whose mythology goes back to the very creation of the series. Gemma was not only the central, alpha female but the matriarch of the lead on the show Jax Teller, but really a mother figure to everybody who appeared on the series in one form or another.
Now as the series finale gets ready to air on Tuesday night at 10pm ET on FX, Sagal is finally letting go of Gemma as she gets ready for the next stage of her career. It’s a hard story to finish, but as it turns out her part was done one episode earlier than the finale.
Still, she’s well aware of how the series will come to an end considering she’s married to the creator of the series, Kurt Sutter, not to mention Sagal stuck around for those final days to say goodbye to the other family she’s had for the past seven years.
The pressure to deliver a series finale that wraps a show up with a nice bow is seemingly the goal of every serial drama these days whether it’s ‘Breaking Bad’ or ‘The Sopranos’. Shows are often remembered in a positive or negative manner based solely on that one episode — ‘Dexter’ would be a perfect example of this philosophy. Whether the serial killer with a heart of gold show was great for much of its run on Showtime, the universally panned finale left viewers with a palpable sting due to such a cringe worth ending.
Sagal won’t give away any spoilers to the finale, but from her point of view and knowing the story as well as she does having been there since the beginning, she believes fans will be very happy with the way Sutter wraps up ‘Sons of Anarchy’ with the series finale on Tuesday night. There are always going to be a few unhappy fans, but she sees this as the perfect culmination to the tale of Jax Teller and his motorcycle club.
“You’ll be really satisfied with the ending,” Sagal said recently when speaking with reporters on a conference call. “I think Kurt has even spoken about this, but he was trying to approach it like another episode, like the story keeps going.
“But I think it’s very satisfying and it was very satisfying filming it and I will say that for Charlie (Hunnam) and myself. Both of us sort of felt — you’ll have to talk to Charlie, but he liked it, too. It was satisfying for all involved, that’s what I’ll say.”
The final few episodes that have already aired wrapped up the story arcs for many of the beloved characters in the ‘Sons of Anarchy’ universe. Sagal’s character Gemma met her end last week along with Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser and Theo Rossi as Juice Ortiz. That adds onto the body count which already claimed Mark Boone Jr, who played seminal club member Bobby Munson.
In the end, this story was always about Jax Teller’s journey so this really does come down to his last ride.
When Sutter first spoke about the series when it began he said he got the idea based on a sort of modern retelling of the Shakespeare classic ‘Hamlet’ and for those that haven’t read the play, the lead character dies in the end. It’s like a devil’s mark that’s been stamped on Jax since the beginning of the show, but whether or not he makes it or doesn’t make it still remains a mystery.
Sagal is legitimately excited to see the fan’s reaction to the ending because she believes it’s everything, everyone could have hoped for and maybe a little bit more.
“I’m excited for them to see the conclusion,” Sagal said. “I feel like this season overall has been so strong in character development. It’s now that there’s not action, there’s a lot of action, but there’s also a lot of character to character conversation and slower beats.
“And I think the whole season just has a more fluid approach, so I’ve really enjoyed watching this year and I think that all the characters have been serviced really well. I just think it’ll be really great for fans. I don’t think they will be disappointed at all.”
‘Sons of Anarchy’ comes to an end on Tuesday night at 10pm ET with the final episode titled ‘Papa’s Goods’. Make sure to come back to NerdcoreMovement.com after the finale for a full episode recap and then Wednesday for a final episode of the Sons of Anarchy podcast, Charming’s Most Wanted.
