The Biggest "Oh Sh*t" Moments in "Sons of Anarchy" (So Far)

Tonight, at 10 p.m., we all ride back into Charming, California for the sixth season of FX's Sons of Anarchy, Kurt Sutter's brutally violent biker drama. Freely playing with the set-up of Hamlet, SOA follows a biker club in northern California rocked by internal strife. Jax is saddled with a difficult mother and a bad stepfather. Just like Hamlet, but with more cocaine, porn stars, and shootouts.

We go into this season without a clear villain. Damon Pope, the Oakland gangster who wreacked havoc in season five, is dead. Tara is in jail. Jax seems to be back on his mother's side again, but if there's one thing for certain in Charming, it's that no allegiance is permanent.

To get ready for tonight's mayhem, we're revisting the craziest developments in the show so far. These are The Biggest "Oh Shit" Moments in Sons of Anarchy (So Far).

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Episode: "Burnt and Purged Away" (Season 4, Episode 12)

True, Clay was invovled in the murder of Donna, Opie's wife, making the eventual confrontation between the two Sons an inevitability. But understanding this on a cerebral level isn't the same as feeling it emotionally when it finally goes down, in "Burn and Purged Away." It's the differnce between hearing about your friend's parents getting divorced and hearing your own parents chew each other to pieces from your bedroom above the kitchen.

The direct catalyst for this encounter, however, is Opie's revelation that Clay killed Piney. For this Clay catches non-fatal lead to the side. That he lives only allows the Sons to break up further, much to the delight of viewers. —Ross Scarano

Episode: "SO" (Season 3, Episode 1)

Season finales are the time for gut-punching chaos, or at least that's the general rule of thumb. Son of Anarchy is nothing if not unpredictable (even when it gets silly and goes off the rails, as it will do from time to time), hence the brutal final moments of the season three premiere. The street outside the funeral home in Charming is swamped, full of the mourners come to pay respect to the fallen Half-Sack, stabbed to death by Cameron Hayes. And then the quiet reverence is busted open by a van full of gunmen. Just when you thought you'd have a moment to collect yourself, Sutter and company strikes again. —Ross Scarano

Episode: "J'ai Obtenu Cette" (Season 5, Episode 13)

Closing out one of the best seasons of Sons so far, Jax makes a massive play against Damon Pope, a carefully planned double-cross that not only gets rid of Pope but also sets up Jax's stepfather, Clay. To get rid of the toughest gangster out of Oakland, Jax makes it seem like he's going to give up Tig so that the Charming Heights investment project can go forward. Not one to pass up a deal, Pope agrees. But Jax has orchestrated the situation in such a way that Pope gets popped by Tig and then the murder weapon is pinned on Clay. Sweet revenge. —Ross Scarano

Episode: "NS" (Season 3, Episode 13)

An enemy of the Sons for more than a season, Agent Stahl had to go. It was only a matter of time before the corrupt ATF agent got what she was so dearly due. There's a brutal poetry to her death scene that makes it memorable and powerful. Opie has Stahl at gunpoint in her car. She's in the driver's seat, just like Donna was when she was killed by Tig. Of course, Donna died as a result of Stahl's plan to paint Opie as a snitch. And Stahl begs and she pleads in the harsh light of day, where Opie can see the tears she cries.

"This is what she felt," Opie says before spraying her brains on the windshield. Ice cold. —Ross Scarano

Episode: "With an X" (Season 4, Episode 6)

The relationships the Sons have with the local porn stars are usually fun and often romantic. But let one of those bleach-blonde actresses cross the line, and it's on-and not just at the hands of Gemma or Tara.

In season three, the home-wrecker known as Ima isn't satisfied with all the pipe she gets at her 9-to-5 and works her way into Jax's pants when he's on the outs with Tara. Then, in season four, when Opie's all gloomy about his wife not being ready for kids, Ima finds her way to his beefcake. And because real bitches do real things, Ima hangs around the clubhouse and ends up taunting Opie's wife and pulling a gun on her. Gemma, of course, makes sure her on-again-off-again puppet, Jax, knows he has to handle this ratchet, line-crossing behavior.

Cut to Jax waltzing into Ima's dressing room back at the porn shack, biting his lip and putting on his signature sexy face. Just as you begin to think Jax might just tear it up again, he does just that-but not in the way you were expecting. Instead, Jax slams Ima's head into the vanity, chokes her, and hawks a loogie on her bloody face. It's a crazy violent 30-seconds that makes you question yourself for feeling so satisfied. —Shannon Marcec

Episode: "Family Recipe" (Season 4, Episode 8)

You knew it was coming. Good and evil have never been able to co-exist in Charming. It's one of the few rules Kurt Sutter has abided by every season. Donna, Agent Stahl, Half Sack, Miles—all casualties in the war between right and wrong, moral and immoral. That Piney would eventually fall at the hands of Clay—both were founding members of the Sons, affectionately referred to as "the First 9"—is the sort of sad, sweet poetry Sutter is known for (the bad guy always gets away in Charming, right?).

In the final scene of "Family Recipe," Clay visits Piney at his cabin, where he's been hiding out since the Lobo Sonora cartel shot up the clubhouse, and confronts Piney about JT's letters, which reveal his suspicions that Clay was going to kill him all those years ago. The back-and-forth comes to a head, with Piney begging Clay to leave Tara, who also knows about the letters, out of the ordeal. "It's too late," Clay says, before shooting Piney. In many ways Piney had become the moral compass of the Sons, and the show, upholding the virtues of the club's original mission, and his death only served as a more ominous portent: the worse was yet to come. —Jason Parham

Episode: "Crucifixed" (Season 5, Episode 10)

Kurt Sutter puts himself through some tough shit. Playing Otto, he's been blinded by the Aryan Brotherhood, put through the ringer about the death of his beloved wife in a way that drove him to murder a man with a screwdriver, slashed his wrists, and tried to flip on his club. All while in prison, mind you.

In one of the grislier moments of a grisly show, Otto does right by the Sons by—what else—committing murder. Because of confusion about who was responsible for the death of his wife, Otto sold out the club. The only way to take that back is by catching a charge that will prevent him from participating in the Feds' RICO case. Tara, bless her soul, aids in the awful act. When Otto asks her for her crucifix, she just sees an opportunity to help someone who's suffered greatly. The viewer knows something is up, but it's not immediately clear what. And then Otto stabs an innocent nurse in the throat over and over again with the piece of jewelery, stabs her until she dies. There goes that testimony. Now, pick your jaw up off the ground. —Ross Scarano

Episode: "Sovereign" (Season 5, Episode 1)

Not since Ethan Zobelle in season two had the Sons faced an enemy as quick-witted and resourceful as Damon Pope, the no-nonsense gangster kingpin of the One-Niners. Ever cool and calculated, Pope's all business, and when it was revealed that it was his daughter, Veronica, who had been shot when Tig attacked Laroy Wayne at the end of season four, shit got real.

In "Sovereign," the season five opener, Tig is lured to a rail yard to rescue Dawn (his daughter), only to find her trapped in a hole, surrounded by chopped-up body parts and blood. He's then chained to a pipe by a two-timing detective, after which Pope makes himself known. It's Tig who thinks he's going to be murdered, but instead Pope douses Dawn in gasoline. For a show that prides itself on vigilante justice and Wild West shootouts, what happened next was one of its most cringe-worthy moments.

Fueled by hate and the loss of Veronica, Pope lights his cigar and throws it in the ditch. A pained Tig watches his daughter burn before him, powerless to Pope. I've watched this show feverently over the course of its five seasons, and few scenes were as hard to swallow as this one. It was then, watching Tig scream for the life of his daughter, that I knew the face of true evil had revealed itself in Charming. —Jason Parham

Episode: "Na Trioblóidí" (Season 2, Episode 13)

Johnny Lewis wanted out. The late actor who portrayed the loveable Sons underling Half-Sack had grown unhappy with working on the series, and after expressing that to Kurt Sutter, they found a way to take him out. What a way to go, though.

It's hard to watch a character who provided so much comic relief and warmth to meet his maker. Half-Sack's goofy fake testicle subplot won't go down as the show's most brilliant thread, but it was hard not to chuckle at. By the finale, Half-Sack was trusted enough by the Sons to look after Tara and Gemma when things got hot. He loses Gemma when she caps Polly, and gets tailed by the crazy Cameron Hayes back to Jax's place. Hayes is in a rage, thinking that Gemma is responsible for the death of his son (like so many things, it was just Stahl). In the kitchen, Hayes surprises Half-Sack and Tara. In a flash, the knife comes out, finds Half-Sack's gut, ends his life.

The death of the character becomes even sadder with the knowledge of Johnny Lewis's death in 2012. The investigation is ongoing, but Lewis is suspected of having killed his 81-year-old landlady and then fell to his death near her home. After the news broke, Kurt Sutter tweeted: "it was a tragic end for an extremely talented guy, who unfortunately had lost his way. i wish i could say that i was shocked by the events last night, but i was not. i am deeply sorry that an innocent life had to be thrown into his destructive path." —Ross Scarano

Episode: "With an X" (Season 4, Episode 6)

Juice has it rough in season four. With Sheriff Roosevelt manipulating his growing fear that he'll be expelled from the club if they discover that one of his parents is African-American, Juice winds up in a tight spot. Roosevelt asks him to steal a brick of coke. Juice complies. But when the missing product begins to create trouble inside the club—poor Ratboy and Filthy Phil—Juice has a change of heart and goes to return to the brick.

Only he runs into Miles and during the ensuing scuffle, Juice sprays him in the face. The way the camera captures the killing from behind Miles's head, the way the blood flashes on Juice's face-that's the definition of "oh shit." —Ross Scarano

Episode: "Hands" (Season 4, Episode 10)

Despite the pattern of domestic abuse that SOA fans are accustomed to, the scene in which Clay beats his old lady, Gemma, is hands down one of the most shocking and abhorrent acts in the history of the show.

In a whirlwind of paranoia over the Teller letters, Clay clumsily attempts to have Tara killed to make sure she won't reveal to Jax that he is his father's murderer. The murder-for-hire becomes a broken hand for a discount and Gemma confronts Clay, threatening to tell Jax about the botched hit. As soon as Clay lunges for her, Gemma pulls out her gun and misfires. He knocks the gun out of her hand but Gemma manages to clock him in the face. After a few seconds of running around their living room, Gemma runs for the door, but Clay pins her on the floor. He repeatedly smacks her, breaking the skin on her cheekbone. Gemma's screams become moans, but instead of laying off her, Clay, with a fist full of chunky rings, punches her in the face. —Shannon Marcec

Episode: "The Pull" (Season 1, Episode 8)

There's something about Charming that attracts pyschotic ATF agents. A former flame of Tara's, Agent Kohn comes to town in season one under the guise of investigating the Sons. But he really just wants to stalk his ex. This puts him in the path of her other ex, Jax, and Jax is a bad motherfucker. Upon learning of Jax, Kohn starts tailing him, hoping that he can use the exploits of Jax's dick to get back in the good graces of Tara. (Again, this man is crazy.)

After getting his ass beat something proper by our boy, Kohn is sent packing. But this dummy doesn't know what's good for him and heads to Tara's place under the cover of night. Tara tags him in the gut with a pistol after he tries to rape her. Jax arrives and you're thinking maybe they're gonna chat about how to best handle this. Nope. Jax leaves one smoking in his dome and then embraces Tara. In what's actually the "oh shit" moment of this scene, they bone next to Kohn's lifeless body. What part of the game is that? —Ross Scarano

Episode: "The Sleep of Babies" (Season 1, Episode 12)

The murder of Donna is the tragic engine that drives a significant portion of the plot across multiple seasons of Sons of Anarchy. And it never should've happened in the first place. Donna had never been comfortable with her husband Opie's involvement in SAMCRO. That, combined with the nefarious plotting of Agent Stahl to make it look like Opie was a snitch, made it believable to Clay and Tig that the Winstons were trouble.

But the plan was just to kill Opie. When Donna and Opie switch cars without Tig realizing, everything goes to hell. Tig rolls up on Opie's truck, thinking he's behind the wheel, and opens fire. And-sharp inhale-he checks the driver's seat, only to find Donna's body. —Ross Scarano

Episode: "Albification" (Season 2, Episode 1)

When the League of American Nationalists roll through Charming, talking cigar shops and white power, it doesn't seem like anything to worry about. But when they demand that the Sons stop doing business with Black and Latino gangs, and Clay subsequently laughs in their faces, it's a big problem. Gemma, while heading home, is approached by a woman on a vacant road. Gemma ignores her gangster instincts and leaves her gun on the passenger seat to help the woman's choking baby, only to get knocked out.

Say what you want about Gemma's manipulative mothering-when she wakes up from the encounter with the strange woman, hanging on a fence by handcuffs, you can't help but feel something. And maybe that something is just mild surprise, since it's unclear, at first, exactly who is behind the attack. But as three men wearing all-white masks struggle to rip off her pants and gang rape her repeatedly, and she cries and screams and kicks, that mild surprise morphs into stone-cold shock.

After the goons threaten to repeat the assault if Gemma doesn't make her old man halt business with Blacks and Latinos (and one shows his tattoo), it's clear who the attackers are. But the only thing that could somehow console you after this scene, is stepping away from the television for a second to adme Katey Sagal's acting chops. —Shannon Marcec

Episode: "Laying Pipe" (Season 5, Episode 3)

It was less "oh shit" and more hands over your face, watching through your fingers because we knew what what was coming. In the week leading up to "Laying Pipe," it was widely publicized that one main character wouldn't make it to episode four of the fifth season. And of all the likely candidates, of course it had to be Harry "Opie" Winston. (I was personally hoping for somebody anticlimactic like Unser, because much as I like the guy, he's been dying from cancer slower than Walter White.)

There was the slight chance that Ope could stow his bloodlust and sit beside Jax, best friends co-plotting a long con against the guy who murdered both their fathers. But for all the story-contriving flack Sons catches, even the biggest Team Opie supporters knew they had to honor the narrative and the characters, and there's just no believable way that dude can sit across from the guy who single-handedly ripped his family apart. Truth is, Sutter and his writers used that cheat code already in season two, when the revelation of the true nature of Donna's death loomed like a ticking time bomb, only for Opie to ultimately place the lion's share of the blame on the manipulative Agent Stahl and agree to fall back on not only Clay but Tig as well. But his death warrant was officially signed the moment he failed to kill Clay, by way of the slightly too visible writer's room puppet strings. After that, one of them had to go, and what's Hamlet without Claudius?

In the previous episode it's a kick-ass, fist-pumping moment when Opie sets himself up to go to jail with Jax (plus Tig and Chibbs), to watch his best friend's back in what is clearly a set-up to have them attacked in the joint. But in retrospect we know he's not setting himself up to be the guardian, but rather the sacrificial lamb. Season five bad guy Damon Pope (who, at this point, had already burned one of Tig's daughters alive) has plans for Jax, but the prison time-out isn't over until one Son pays with their life, and worse yet, the guards are in on it. As his last act, Opie saves Jax once more (beating up dirty, armed C.O.'s is a bad idea) and then enters into a fucked up, rigged thunderdome with several black prisoners riding for Pope, while Jax, Chibbs, and Tig watch helplessly. He and Jax share one last look, and it might be the most content the beleaguered biker has looked since Donna was alive. Then the pipe smashes into the frame. Opie is at peace. Jax will never be the same. —Frazier Tharpe