Sons of Anarchy Season 7 Premiere: Death of Tara, What Will Gemma Do Now?
If you didn't watch the Season 6 finale of Sons of Anarchy you've missed a whole lot of violence. "A Mother's Work" saw the ending of Tara's life at the hands of her mother-in-law. They didn't exactly get along, but in a show where each protagonist has so many enemies, who would expect family members to off one another?
Actresses Maggie Siff (Tara Knowles-Teller) and Katey Sagal (Gemma Teller Morrow) and series creator Kurt Sutter sat down with TVLine to talk about the explosive ending to a gut-wrenching season.
Siff had this to say about the death of her character and what it did to her emotionally.
"Watching it was really hard. Shooting it was really hard. Because the character ends, my experience of shooting it was really about feeling everything around me, which was Katey and Charlie -- and that was really painfully hard. The sense of loss is really [about] the people you leave behind -- and I was so aware of their loss. But it wasn't about me, it was about them. It was very surreal. And at the same time, digesting that this character I've been with so long is going away. Watching it put into story and into the context of the entire series and everything we've all been through together, that was hard."
Sagal wasn't even the one who was killed, but the effects of her character's rageful assault seems to effect her more over the course of the interview. Sagal has this to say about it:
"It was really hard ... I was nervous abut it the whole time. I think I was just in denial and that [Kurt would] actually change his mind.[Laughs] The biggest struggle for me was to remain truly with Gemma.. The truth of it is that she's not aware of the things going on behind the scenes. I think that's maybe why it was so hard [for me] to watch, becasue it was so clear. But in the moment for Gemma, all [she] knew was that [Tara] had ratted. She had betrayed my son, she had betrayed my club, she was taking my grandchildren away - all the things that were Gemma's center. In that moment, there's a blind rage that goes on. It's not premeditated act - she didn't even know she was going to see her ... As Kurt's reminded me all these years, she's not Katey. This is a violent world; these are violent people ... This s-t goes on. First of all, I love Maggie. We've been the little female island in this testosterone world. It's so interesting because as an actor, it was kind of awesome to do things you haven't done - I've never killed anyone violently in anything before. It was really hard to watch. Charlie was so devastatingly beautiful at the end, and everybody. Theo [Rossi]! And Tommy crying at the end... Everybody. It's a great bunch of people and they're all doing great work."
Sutter won't reveal much about the next and last season, but he did say fan favorite Jimmy Smits will be back to finish Nero's storyline. Sutter also alluded to a possible murder charge being brought up on SAMCRO President Jax Teller due to his wife Tara's passing.
How will Gemma keep her dirty deed a secret? Will Jax eventually find out that his own mother killed his wife? And if so does he have the heartlessness to kill her himself? This definitely isn't a Disney show. Anything can happen, especially if death is involved. Heavy stuff indeed. Season 7 of Son's of Anarchy is expected to return to FX in the fall.
So what did you think about Tara's death? Was it an appropriate ending for the sixth season? Let us know in the comments below.