Kim Coates looks ahead at the remainder of Sons of Anarchy season 6, his almost death one episode ago and how the theme this season is darker than ever before….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
For the biggest part of seven days, fans of Sons of Anarchy had to sit in anxious torture wondering what fate was about to befall Tig Trager after his club president sold him out to a group of Oakland gangsters looking for revenge.
With Tig sitting all alone in a warehouse, August Marks — the man who has taken over Damon Pope’s empire — struts in with a few guys in tow and it looks like the former sergeant at arms has finally met his match. Lo and behold as the next episode begins with Jax just getting up in the morning, he’s greeted by a knock on the door and Tig Trager standing just outside waiting to be let in.
It was an emotional cliffhanger one week earlier and a wave of relief as Tig walked into Jax’s kitchen, unaware of just how close he came to meeting his ultimate end. As it turns out August was just testing Jax’s loyalty, and he may let Tig off the hook for murdering Pope’s daughter a couple of seasons back, but the tension in those few moments were as taut as anything that’s ever happened during the show’s history.
It’s also crystal clear now that Jax is starting to turn towards a dark path first discovered by his stepfather Clay where leadership entails mistrust, lies and disloyalty towards those that are supposed to be like family.
Kim Coates, who plays Tig Trager on Sons of Anarchy, won’t down play just how bad things have already gotten for the club this season, and he says it continues in a downward spiral as each episode plays out. He says it started with the controversial school shooting that kicked off the season, and much like creator Kurt Sutter has said time and again about the event, it wasn’t done for shock value — it was a catalyst to finally prove how a violent life of gun running can land all the way back at suburban doorsteps.
“We’re fucked. I mean it,” Coates told NerdcoreMovement.com. “The only way, and I don’t know what’s really happening at the end of the season or not, but the only way Kurt Sutter can get away with showing what guns can do in such a violent way like he started this whole season off with, there’s got to be a means to an end. Why did he do that? Why in this country that is so fractured with its gun laws and lack thereof, why would he do something like that? You want to know why I think that was, it’s because in dealing with something so violent, the violence will come back and bite you in the ass.”
The deceit currently running through SAMCRO’s veins like a virus plucking off members one by one won’t end any time soon either. Coates teases that the body count is about to get even higher and by the time Sons of Anarchy ends its run a year from now, there may not be but a lone member left standing through the carnage.
“I really think this brethren, this brotherhood is in disarray and I’m not kidding, it may be called the Son of Anarchy by the end of this season because I don’t know how we’re going to get our shit together,” Coates said. “I don’t know how we’re going to make peace with the Irish. Get ready, shows 5 through 11 are just flying by the seat of their pants, and no one comes out unscathed, no one.”
Last week alone, Sons of Anarchy said goodbye to three vital cast members including Sutter’s own character Otto, who had lived and died about three lifetimes worth of torture while surviving in prison, as well as two other members who were gunned down in Galen’s bloody act of vengeance when the Sons tried to get out of running guns for the IRA. Much like last season when longtime favorite Ryan Hurst had to say goodbye to Opie one final time, it’s an emotional moment for the cast to let go of a friend.
The toughest part about acting on Sons of Anarchy is knowing that at any time your number could be up, and while they can all mentally prepare for what’s ahead, it never gets any easier.
“We’re losing two or three more (this season) and it’s been painful,” Coates teased. “It’s a very weird thing when you’re on a hit show like this. We’re very lucky and blessed to be surrounded by great actors who are all going to end up dead. I think we’re all going to be gone by next year.”
There’s no telling where Sutter is going to take this journey by season 7, but he’s not one to let things just stand idly by while the world moves around his characters. While the next episode that airs on Tuesday night might be called ‘The Mad King’ the overwhelming theme for season 6 might best be described as ‘There Will Be Blood’.
