The Ultimate Guide to Sons of Anarchy Season 6

Anything and everything you need to know about Sons of Anarchy season 6 before the debut drops on Tuesday night…

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Follow on Twitter @DamonMartin

Sons of Anarchy season 6 kicks off on Tuesday night on FX at 10pm ET/PT with a special 90-minute episode. The new season picks up after the end of season 5 with many of the main characters in certain turmoil, while plenty of new faces join the cast in the penultimate season of the show.

To get you ready for the upcoming season we here at NerdcoreMovement.com are going to prepare everything necessary to know what’s happening to the characters as they enter season 6 with a few reminders from last year, as well as introducing the new cast members that will be joining the show. We will also give you some exclusive comments from some of the cast members with a few ideas of what’s coming up for season 6 of Sons of Anarchy.

Without further ado, read on the Ultimate Guide to Sons of Anarchy Season 6:

Current Characters and Where They Stand

In this section we will explore the main characters in season 6 that you already know and love, giving a little background on how they got to this point, and what’s ahead for them in the upcoming year

Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam)

Where We Were:

In season 5, Jax faced a whole new set of obstacles as he took over the gavel and became president of SAMCRO. He lost his best friend Opie in a brutal murder while the group was in prison, and that single event may have impacted him more than anything else in the history of the show. Jax managed to orchestrate a way to get the Sons out of the gun running business with the Mexican cartel, while also dumping off their coke muling as well. Jax orchestrated the hit to get rid of Oakland gangster Damon Pope, while implicating his stepfather Clay Morrow in the murder.

Where We’re Headed:
Jax will head into season 6 with his club finally ready to exit the gun business once and for all. It was his father’s vision to move the club out of guns, but he died before the move was ever made. Jax has now moved the club away from guns when it comes to the Mexican cartel, but he still has an old Irish friend to deal with.

As Hunnam told us himself back in July, the Real IRA are still a powerful force to contend with and they are going to be back with a vengeance in season 6.

“It’s more Timothy Murphy who plays Galen of the new IRA that I have most of my problems with,” Hunnam revealed. “The IRA are alive and well.”

Jax has a new business in Diosa North with his good pal Nero Padilla to help supplement the lost income from the gun business, but that doesn’t mean guns won’t play a major part in the upcoming season.

Let’s also not forget that Jax is also contending with a pissed off ex-U.S. Marshall named Lee Toric who has an awfully big axe to grind after his little sister was killed by former SAMCRO member Otto Delaney in prison. This all led to Jax’s wife Tara ending up in jail just seconds after she revealed that she was taking a job in Oregon and taking their sons with her. It was a tough moment of betrayal and then loss as she was taken away in handcuffs, and in jail is where Tara will be at the start of season 6 as well. Jax will have to find a balance between dealing with his own anger and trying to find a way to get Tara out of jail. He can’t forget about his ex Wendy either who he drugged during season 5 when she threatened to file for custody of their son Abel. We know

Jax will also be dealing with the fallout from the Damon Pope murder as he faces off with Pope’s second in charge August Marks, who now leads the organization. It’s a safe bet that Mr. Marks isn’t going to let SAMCRO off the hook all that easily after his mentor was gunned down at the end of last season.

Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman)

Where We Were:

Clay tried his best to get back to the head of the table of SAMCRO when he led a charge of NOMAD members to stage a set of home invasions aimed at those closest to the Sons to attempt to get the town of Charming to turn against the club and their new president. It failed miserably and in the process Sheriff Eli Roosevelt lost his wife Rita and their unborn baby when one of the home invasions ended up with her shot to death. When all of his attempts to get the president’s patch back fail, Clay is drummed out of the club, but Bobby saves his life by promising to vote against the members killing him so long as he makes a full confession. Clay has to have all of his Sons of Anarchy ink covered up, and give back anything he has related to the club—part of which is a reaper engraved pistol that he gives to Juice as a gift. Unfortunately, Clay’s gun is used to kill Damon Pope and the elaborate plot revealed pins the murder on him. When Clay turns to his ex-wife Gemma to give him an alibi, she turns on him as well saying he left the house for a few hours. Clay is hauled off to jail, and because he’s being named as Pope’s killer there’s now a $5 million price on his head

Where We’re Headed:

Every promo we’ve seen of Clay heading into season 6 is with him wearing prison fatigues behind bars. There have been brief flashes of Clay speaking to ex-U.S. Marshall Lee Toric, in what appears to be a new partnership aimed at bringing SAMCRO to its knees. Clay also promises in one trailer not to bring anything back on Gemma despite the fact that she betrayed him and helped put him in prison.

Actor Ron Perlman tells us that the central theme around Clay this season is redemption, but whether that means for himself or for his relationships with those that he loves remains to be seen. Would Clay actually turn rat and help destroy the club he helped build or is his thirst for revenge so ravenous that anybody may be a casualty left in the wake of his destruction?

Gemma Teller (Katey Sagal)

Where We Were:

Gemma had a hard season 5 last year. She woke up in the bed of a strange man who ended up being her new boyfriend Nero Padilla. Her drinking and drug abuse spiraled out of control and she ended up in a car accident with Jax and Tara’s sons in the back of her car. After being banished from their house and family, Jax finds a way to let her back in so long as she helps in finding out information about Clay’s betrayal and eventually setting him up for Pope’s murder. Gemma helps Jax with everything he needs, but she’s enraged when she finds out that Tara is planning a move to Oregon with her grandsons. She threatens to go to the police and tell them that Tara plotted out the entire scenario with Otto in prison to help kill the nurse. At the end of the season, Gemma shows up at Jax’s house and sees Tara being hauled away to jail as she wraps her arms around her son to show support.

Where We’re Headed:

Gemma is capable of anything, so it’s not above suspicion to think that she actually did go to the cops and turn Tara in for murder. At the same time, Gemma knows that if she was the reason Tara ended up in jail and Jax found out he’d never forgiver her for that transgression. It’s more likely that Lee Toric is the one behind Tara’s arrest, but Gemma will certainly take advantage of the situation to help out her son and take care of her grandsons in their mother’s absence.

Gemma is in the midst of a relationship with Nero Padilla, and it seems that will only flourish as season 6 begins (mostly because actor Jimmy Smits signed on as a season regular for this year). She’s also got to contend with the fallout from turning on Clay while he sits in a jail cell. Regardless of whether or not she’s behind Tara’s imprisonment, Gemma will also have to face her daughter-in-law at some point and that situation will only turn volatile. Gemma knows that Tara was ready to leave for good at the end of last season, and going to jail because of her involvement in a club activity will probably only further that resolve.

“I think Tara’s need to exercise herself from the life will push Gemma’s buttons,” Katey Sagal told NerdcoreMovement.com. “I think that, that will not change for me to do that. I think that Tara is the most interesting character because she’s the voice of the audience in a weird way. She sort of like staddles that ‘are they really going to do that? How could I possibly be here while they do that?’. So I think that there will be more conflict, more conflict for Tara in her own being and that will push Gemma.”

Tara Knowles-Teller (Maggie Siff)

Where We Were:

Season 5 saw Tara get a little bit of good news and a whole lot of bad. She found out that the injuries she sustained in season 4 when her surgical hand was crushed in a car door would heal properly allowing her to get back to being a full fledged doctor again. The bad news mounted quickly, however, as Tara agreed to help the club silence former member Otto Delaney from testifying against them in court. Tara volunteered in Otto’s prison, and saw him on a few occasions while witnessing his loneliness and extreme pain from all the suffering he’s done while being a member of the Sons of Anarchy. In the end, Otto decides to save the club by becoming an ineligible witness when he murders a nurse in prison—with a cross that Tara brought him illegally through the prison doors, which implicated her as an accomplice. This was the final straw that broke Tara’s back, so she decided to take a new job in Oregon while also signing a living trust that said if she dies and Jax dies, the children would go to his ex-wife Wendy. Just when she breaks this news to Jax, the police show up at their door and take her to jail for her involvement in the murder by Otto Delaney.

Where We’re Headed:

We know for sure that Tara wakes up when season 6 begins in jail, but she won’t be there all season.

“Yes, I do wake up in jail,” Siff told NerdcoreMovement.com. “I don’t spend all season there, I think that’s okay to say.”

Tara is truly at a crossroads right now because everything she’s worked for in her career has now been tainted because of her involvement in Jax’s club. The job from Oregon is undoubtedly gone, and the papers she presented Jax with at the end of last season were torn in two the moment she was taken away to jail. Her ultimate goal is to protect her children, and start looking for a way out of this life. That means she’s going to go head first into battle with Gemma, and may cause further strain in her relationship with Jax as well.

How Tara gets out of jail remains to be seen, but we know she won’t be there all year so how her journey behind bars ends will be a major plot point this season.

Tig Trager (Kim Coates)

Where We Were:

Tig was literally put through the worst torture possible last season as he watched his daughter Dawn get burned alive by Damon Pope as revenge for him murdering Pope’s daughter at the end of season 4. As the season wore on, Tig swore allegiance to Jax after he helped spring him from prison under the condition that he would back the president’s play no matter what the vote was about. Tig eventually got vengeance for his daughter when Jax was able to set up Pope, and it was Tig who pulled the final trigger to end his life. At the end of season 5, Tig seems to have found some closure after avenging his daughter’s death while also finding a new pet pitbull to keep him company.

Where We’re Headed:

Actor Kim Coates told NerdcoreMovement.com in July that this season, Tig is back on the leash after being very uncontrollable last year after his daughter’s murder. He’s firmly on Jax’s side, and a fiercely loyal soldier who wants to see his club brought back together after they’ve been torn apart so much these last few years. From the few teasers released thus far for season 6, however, Tig’s role in the murder of Veronica Pope may not be finished just because her father is dead. It seems Pope’s right hand man August Marks still has some business with Tig this year. How that plays out could be a major turn for Tig this year.

Bobby Munson (Mark Boone Junior)

Where We Were:

For the past five seasons, Bobby has been the moral compass for the Sons of Anarchy. He’s always the voice of reason, and tends to always err on the side of caution in any given situation. Last year, he helped Jax lead the club out of the gun running business, but with each decision the new president made, Bobby saw him slipping more and more into the bloody shoes that Clay just left behind. Bobby kept trying to advise Jax, but at every turn he found more and more resistance. Finally in the interest of keeping the club whole, Bobby convinces Clay to admit to all his wrong doing with the NOMAD’s and the home invasion plot and in exchange he will vote against the club killing their former president for his actions. The end of last season saw Bobby tear off his vice president’s patch, leaving it on the table for Jax to find.

Where We’re Headed:

“Old Bobby’s pretty tired of it. All the blood, all the guts, all the why can’t we just love each other? I think he could straighten it out if he was given the means to do it, I think Bobby Munson could straighten it out,” Mark Boone Junior said about his character. “I guess he kind of gave up there a little bit you would think. It was a rough season. That was a very, very rough season last season.”

Bobby giving up the vice president’s patch means he’s back to the table as a regular member, and his relationship with Jax will be frayed as the season begins. Has Bobby finally seen enough and just can’t take an active role in this club knowing how it’s all going to end, or will he find a way to play puppeteer to get them back on the right track? It’s likely Bobby will be a bit of a broken man when the season begins, but he’s always been the glue that held SAMCRO together—can he be that again?

Chibs Telford (Tommy Flanagan)

Where We Were:

Chibs had to witness Opie’s murder alongside Jax and Tig while the trio was in jail under the thumb of Damon Pope. He was bumped up to Sergeant At Arms last year, and he was by Jax’s side most of the season. Chibs is Jax’s right hand man, and he continued to play that role all season long, which is probably a big reason why he’s getting another promotion to start this season.

Where We’re Headed:

What we know about Chibs heading into season 6 is that he’s wearing the vice president’s patch and will now be sitting directly to the left of Jax at the table when the club holds church. Chibs has been by Jax’s side all along, and backs his play with undying loyalty. It seems that relationship will only get stronger as season 6 picks up on Tuesday night.

Juice Ortiz (Theo Rossi)

Where We Were:

Juice has had a rough time of it these last two seasons. He was forced to turn rat after the police found out his father was black (which he thought would turn the club against him, as it turns out they really didn’t care much), and the guilt from dealing with this ended up with him attempting suicide. Juice doesn’t die and eventually is let off the hook from the cops when their case against SAMCRO falls apart. The evidence doesn’t go away, however, that Juice was an informant and Jax finds out about it. Instead of getting rid of his rodent problem, Jax uses Juice as a way to get to Clay. Juice helps set up Clay for the murder of Damon Pope, although at the last minute he tries to warn his former mentor of the betrayal coming his way, but by then it was already too late. Juice is welcomed back into SAMCRO with open arms by Jax, who says he’s proud of him, but it’s obvious he’s being ripped apart for everyone he’s had to turn against to get to this point.

Where We’re Headed:

Juice is still looking for acceptance at the beginning of season 6. All he’s wanted through everything that’s happened is to help his club and find the brotherhood he signed up for all those years ago when he joined. Unfortunately, Juice has been used, chewed up, and spit out so many times that what’s left of him might be unrecognizable this year. Rossi says that there’s only so much one person can take before it finally rips them apart, and what comes back together may be a completely different anomaly.

“It’s just so long you can kind of feel bad for yourself and kind of wallow in that before things go. I think that this year you’re going to see a really, really different side of Juice,” Rossi said. “There’s always a breaking point and we’ll see if that happens to occur.”

Nero Padilla (Jimmy Smits)

Where We Were:

Nero was introduced as a new character in season 5 where he hooked up with Gemma after a drunken night on the town, but he soon becomes an invaluable ally to the Sons after they call on him for a place to hide after being implicated in a crime by Damon Pope. Nero begins to develop a sort of mentor relationship with Jax, and after he loses the original location for his escort service called Diosa, he teams up with SAMCRO for a new spot with all new talent including some help from Opie’s widow Lyla and the former employees of Cara Cara (the porn warehouse formerly funded and protected by SAMCRO). Nero also finds himself pulled back into his old street crew after another gang starts moving into their territory. By season’s end, Nero realizes that he could have gotten out of this life a long time ago, but the action is addictive. Throughout the course of last season, Nero also manages to loan a lot of money to the club for payoffs and other endeavors so they are definitely in his debt. Nero also manages to welcome Gemma into his bed and into his home as the two of them start a relationship just as the season comes to a close.

Where We’re Headed:

Well, we know for sure Smits signed on as a regular this year so there will be plenty of Nero in the upcoming season. He’s featured prominently in the promos for the new season, and he appears to be continuing his role as mentor to Jax as he tries to lead SAMCRO into a new age as president. Nero’s still running Diosa North, but he’s going to have his hands full with Gemma because anyone that gets mixed up with her will have plenty on their plate. His old crew might still come back around this year as well, so there’s no telling where Nero will end up by season’s end.

Lee Toric (Donal Logue)

Where We Were:

Lee Toric was introduced last season as the former U.S. Marshall, who was pushed into early retirement after being known as a ruthless and brutal law enforcement agent, and now has a grudge against the Sons of Anarchy after his little sister was murdered by their former member Otto Delaney in prison. Toric has a creepy, calm demeanor but gasoline running through his veins that can be lit at any moment. He paid Tara a visit before the end of last season to warn her and the club that he’s on their trail, and after watching Otto bite his own tongue off to prevent testifying, Toric has to find a new way to get at the Sons.

Where We’re Headed:

Unfortunately, actor Donal Logue only signed on for about half the season so it’s hard to say how much or how little he’ll be featured this year. What we do know for sure is that he’s approaching Clay in jail and trying to get him to turn rat against his old club. He almost assuredly also had a hand in Tara’s arrest on conspiracy to commit murder charges, and will probably interact with her in jail as well. Toric is a dangerous adversary because he has all the tools of law enforcement on his side, but none of their rules because he’s retired and no longer under their employ. What long-standing effect he will have on SAMCRO will certainly play out in the opening few episodes this season.

New Faces in Charming This Season:

Every season of Sons of Anarchy will inevitably feature a new group of cast members joining the old favorites. This year there’s a laundry list of actors and actresses guest starring or returning to the show. In this section, we’ll take a look at who they are and what we know about them thus far.

CCH Pounder

Former co-star of The Shield (where she worked with Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter), CCH Pounder will join the cast of the show this year portraying Tyne Patterson—a San Joaquin County District Attorney who runs head to head into the violent bikers. She’s expected to debut in the second episode of season 6.

Kim Dickens

Dickens joins season 6 of Sons of Anarchy to play Colette Jane—a seductive and professional madame who runs into Jax and Nero this year. She’s expected to debut in the first episode on Tuesday night.

C. Thomas Howell

Howell will play Frank Eagan—an ATF agent with questionable loyalties. After dealing with Agent Stahl for the biggest part of three seasons, it’s hard to imagine this guy being any worse!

Steve Howey

Howey will appear in two episodes of the show this season as Hopper—a hardcore North Vegas member who crosses paths with SAMCRO.

Bridget Regan

The Beauty and the Beast star is expected to have a minor role in multiple episodes this season most likely playing an escort.

Peter Weller

Weller has been a director in multiple episodes of Sons of Anarchy but this year he’ll step in front of the camera instead while playing Charles Barosky—a crooked ex-cop who is now the boss overseeing the Stockton ports. He butts heads with Jax and the club this season.

Trailers for Season 6 of Sons of Anarchy:

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Official Tagline for Season 6:

“Having framed Clay for the murder of Damon Pope, Season Six begins with Jax’s leadership uncontested, but his family life suffering from his single-minded pursuit of John Teller’s vision. Jax must find a way to keep Tara from going to prison for conspiracy to commit murder while rebuilding his club and breaking from the cycle of violence and greed that ultimately led to his best friend’s death.”

Kurt Sutter’s Exclusive Message About Season 6 — This Gets Bloodier Than Ever

There’s no better way to sum up what we’re about to see in season 6 of Sons of Anarchy that from the show’s creator himself. Kurt Sutter spoke to NerdcoreMovement.com ahead of the season debut, and says that the violence this year is ratcheted up even higher from past years, which means the stakes are raised to a whole new level.

“I think what’s happened is we’ve had five seasons now where we had a lot of big personalities and a lot of relationships and a lot of conflict, and I think as you head towards the end ultimately all of those things start to intersect,” Sutter said. “It was never my plan to have this be a more violent season than the past, but as the stories were breaking and we look up at the board and we say okay here’s this guy with the club and then we had season two this happened, season three this happened, so the mythology has gotten bigger and that relationship has gotten more complicated. I think as a result of that you just innately have a lot more conflict that you’re going into each season. It’s why it gets bloodier to a certain extent from season to season.”

New Post Show Debuts Tuesday:

Don’t forget the new Sons of Anarchy post show will debut this Tuesday night at 11:30pm ET/PT on FX.com directly after the season debut ends. The show called “Anarchy Afterword” will run for the season debut, the season finale and one other episode during the season. The online exclusive show this week will feature special guests including Sutter, Kim Coates, Jimmy Smits and comedian Margaret Cho. The show will run 30 minutes as they discuss the season premiere and what’s coming up this year on Sons of Anarchy.

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Final Word and Final Goodbyes

While the core group of actors and actresses have stuck around Charming for the past five seasons, it seems all bets are off (except for Jax of course) for anybody else surviving this seasons. The show took a dramatic turn last year when Opie’s head was caved in by a lead pipe in prison, and it’s a brutal reminder that nobody is safe on this show. While Sutter may not be ready to turn Charming into Walder Frey’s banquet room after a wedding, he’s not afraid to kill off popular characters if that’s what the storyline dictates. Executive Producer Paris Barclay says the death toll will probably surprise a few people and there are more than a few characters who will start season 6 in fine health, but won’t even make it to the midway point.

“I think I can get away with this one—the people who start in the first episode of season six don’t even make it to episode seven,” Barclay teased. “It just doesn’t always work that way and this season is going to be even more brutal.”

There will also be a very controversial part to the season debut titled “Straw” where a news story ripped straight from recent headlines will make its way to Charming. Sutter is capable of anything so keep your eyes peeled for this heart wrenching moment when season 6 kicks off on Tuesday night.

There you have it folks—anything and everything you could possibly want to know about season 6 of Sons of Anarchy as we head into the debut. Make sure to tune in on Tuesday night at 10pm ET/PT on FX and then return here for our official recap and review of the new episode!