The following article contains major spoilers for Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy
As fans of the FX drama Sons of Anarchy are still reeling from the events of last night, SOA creator and showrunner Kurt Sutter held a conference call with the press today, discussing not only the death of Opie, but how the aftermath of the aptly titled “Laying Pipe” will influence the rest of the series.
“Knowing where I want to take my hero, and knowing how I want him to get there, the road I wanted him to travel, Jax just needed that emotional upheaval,” Sutter said, “that one event that happens in a man’s life that can change the course of his destiny. And I think the death of his best friend was that event.”
“I don’t do things arbitrarily, and I don’t do things for just shock value,” Sutter continued later in the call, “I think there’s a sense of how deeply committed I am to the show, and the fans as well. And I knew, obviously, this would be a gut-wrenching episode, and difficult for people to wrap their brains around. But I do think there’s a sense (that) they understand why it happened and where it will go. I and I guess what I would say to them is, “Yes, it’s incredibly sad, but the death of Opie will color the rest of the episodes for the rest of the series. It’s not a death that will happen in vain.” And that I hope people will still stay plugged in. Of course there will be a sense of vengeance, and something that drives our guys to retaliate, but it isn’t so much that, as much as it is the emotional impact that his death will have on the rest of the series and the rest of the characters. It will always be there.”
He also discussed the level of emotions surrounding the scene, not only on camera but off as well. Ryan Hurst, who portrayed Opie with an air of tragic dignity from the beginning to the end, understood the importance of Opie’s death in the context of the mythology, and Jax’s journey. And during the taping of that final scene requested that “all the guys be there”, which undeniably added to the profound emotional impact of the result. It was an obviously palpable moment, for everyone involved.
During his hour-long Q&A Session, DarkMedia sat in as he also discussed Harold Perrineau’s portrayal of Damon Pope (and his strange mentorship of Jax), the continued archetypal presence of Shakespeare’s Hamlet within the characters of the show, and why Opie did what he did.
On the death of Opie: “I wanted Opie to go out a warrior. I really wanted him to go out with nobility, and with a sense of feeling like, “I may not have a lot to live for, but at the very least I’m going to go out doing something noble and protecting the people I still love.”
On how this changes Jax: “This is the season where Jax really figures out what kind of man he’s going to become, and we see the decisions that he makes, and the kind of leader he’s going to be. And I wanted to lay these circumstances out early in the season, (because it) really allows that depth to cover Jax and all the choices he makes… Jax will be greatly influenced by the death of Opie, and perhaps that loss, that emptiness, will color him throughout the rest of the season.”
On why he teased the death ahead of time: “The reason I ended up teasing it to a certain extent was because of social media, and the awareness, and the speed with which information travels. It was really just about giving people a head’s up, if they weren’t watching the episode, to stay off social media until they watched it so they wouldn’t get spoiled.”
On the mentorship between Pope and Jax: “There will be this weird mentorship dynamic that happens with Pope…when you think of what Jax wants to do and where he wants to go in terms of taking his club legit, Pope is the perfect role model for that. He’s the guy who’s turned all his dirty business into very legitimate things. I couldn’t avoid that obvious circumstance, so they get to play that out.”
On SOA and Hamlet: “The Hamlet archetypes will definitely influence the show, and I’ve talked about that quite a bit, but the show itself is not directly based on that narrative. But I think some of the archetypes are there, some of the relationships are there, and as the seasons progress you will see some parallels in terms of story and character arcs (as they) continue to play out. There is that awareness.”
On Jax’s choice, and why Opie took it from him: “I think Opie knows Jax well enough to know he would rather take the bullet himself than say, “Here, take this guy.” I think in that moment, in the room, when push comes to shove, Jax was going to be the guy that was going to get dragged into the other room. He wasn’t about to give up any of his guys, and I think Opie knew that. At the very least, even if he didn’t think Jax was going to take the hit, he knew Jax was going to be in a position where he would have to choose. And rather than put Jax through that agony, he gave himself up.”
Stay tuned for DarkMedia’s weekly coverage of Sons of Anarchy, and all the latest breaking news.
3 Comments