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I’ve watched Sons of Anarchy since it debuted in 2008, to my various roommates’ bemusement and my own surprise. I’m no real fan of motorcycles or lawlessness. But the series’ premise was said to be inspired by Hamlet, and I am a sucker for all things Bard. Six years into a seven-year bid (creator Kurt Sutter has said season seven will be Sons‘ last), we’ve strayed from the Shakespearean blueprint, only to return to it with a vengeance in the season finale. “You knew this was coming”: these words are the refrain of the episode, and really, the show’s entire run.
Sadly (or not, depending on how much you hated Tara), no. Gemma’s attachment to—hell, obsession with—her son was still very much present in this series recapitulation. Gemma faced losing all of the men in her life: her estranged husband was dead; her boyfriend dumped her in a halfhearted attempt to stick to the straight and narrow; and she was led to believe, erroneously, that Tara has ratted out Jax and the club (in an effort to get her sons away from the Tellers’ life of crime). Drunk and stoned, she broke into the Knowles-Teller home, then beat and stabbed Tara to death. “It had to be done,” she gasped when caught by the sheriff.
