The legacy of Kurt Sutter’s Shakespearean motorcycle tragedy, Sons of Anarchy , is still felt to this day. It has become solidified as one of the best shows of the 2000s.
So, for all you true Redwood Originals out there, here are 10+ hidden details fans didn’t notice in Sons of Anarchy !
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Trust me, there’s a lot more to it than just Harleys and handguns.
1. Gemma (Katey Sagal) sings at least once in every single season.
My personal favorite is her rendition of “Son of a Preacher Man,” but there’s certainly a lot to choose from!
Fun fact: the songs you hear usually have a double meaning or a double entendre.
2. Stephen King is a club member.
Fans will no doubt remember the unfortunate run-in Tara had with Nate’s housekeeper.
In an effort to conceal the crime, Tig calls in Bachman, one of the club’s “cleaners” to come and help get rid of the body.
Horror fans won’t be surprised to learn that Bachman was none other than the legendary author, Stephen King!
The name Bachman is actually derived from an old pseudonym, Richard Bachman.
Stephen used to write under the moniker early on in his career as a way of not being pigeonholed.
3. Gemma’s birds keep on changing species.
Some have tried to argue that the changing of the birds is supposed to be symbolic of Gemma’s dissolving character and morality.
They begin as cockatoos , become cockatiels, and then somehow wind up as crows?
4. John Teller is the only club member to have ever owned a blue motorcycle.
One of the focal points inside the SOA clubhouse is the mounted motorcycle of their fallen club President, John Teller.
One thing that was never addressed is why John’s bike is blue. It’s never answered fully, but this was likely done to highlight John’s independence and to set him apart.
5. SAMCRO isn’t a person.
You’ve probably asked yourself this question on more than one occasion: “Who in the hell are they talking about when they refer to Sam Crow?”
Well, Sam Crow isn’t actually a person, it’s an acronym ! It stands for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original.
6. The patches on the kuttes hold special significance.
You might have noticed that certain members, for example, wear a ” Men of Mayhem ” patch. Though no one seems to know for sure what this signifies, it is thought that this patch is reserved for members who have “bled” for the club and that it is usually awarded after a member is asked to kill for the MC.
The “First 9” patch signifies the original founding club members.
7. Every club honors their fallen members differently.
Fans of the show will no doubt be familiar with the wall of mugshots inside the clubhouse at Teller-Morrow. However, this isn’t necessarily the status quo.
For example, SAMTAZ (the club’s Arizona charter) honors their fallen by hanging their photos upside down with a red “X” through the frame.
8. There’s a reason why Piney’s jacket isn’t leather.
You’ve probably noticed that Piney’s kutte is different from the other club members’. It’s denim as opposed to leather.
Kurt Sutter has confirmed why this is the case via Twitter.
According to Sutter, the First Nine all wore denim kuttes.
“When the club started, they couldn’t afford leather,” Sutter went on to explain.
“They all had denim. After the First Nine , they added leather kuttes. Piney wasn’t a fan of change. He kept wearing denim.”
9. Tara and her boss both tell the same story.
In the first season, Gemma pulls up the back of Tara’s shirt to reveal a very large tattoo.
Tara says it’s a reminder that her past is behind her.
When she and her boss Margaret Murphy are kidnapped, it’s revealed that Margaret has the identical tattoo in the exact same spot!
Margaret even offers up the same lame explanation that Tara gave back in season one.
Clearly this was done to help Tara see the divergent paths before her, but it couldn’t have been hokier.
10. Jax has a higher body count than any other club member.
This is ironic, considering how badly Jax wanted to change SAMCRO for the better. I guess as the old saying goes “To plan for peace is to prepare for war.”
Jax has an astonishing 45 confirmed kills.
11. A nod to *The Sopranos*.
During one of the final episodes of Sons of Anarchy , Nero playfully tells Wendy to calm down, otherwise, he’ll put her in the trunk.
To which she responds “It won’t be the first time.”
Fans likely had little idea as to what she was referring, but it’s actually an allusion to her character, Adriana La Cerva.
Adriana was the girlfriend of Christopher Moltisanti, Tony’s nephew.
After it was discovered that she had been working with the police , Adriana met her untimely demise.
12. Several club members begin wearing “In Memory of Opie” patches.
I didn’t even catch this my first time through.
But if you look on the front, bottom-left corner of Jax’s and several other members’ kuttes, you’ll see the patch in memory of their fallen brother.
13. Only two SAMCRO members have been given a proper wake.
They are Opie Winston and Kip “Hal-Sack” Epps. I’m not necessarily mad about this, either.
At the end of the day, if the club had a wake for every single member who died, we’d be watching funeral episodes every other week.
14. Jax Teller’s death brings everything full circle.
Jax lets go and is taken by the road, in the exact same way as his father was.
It happened on highway 580 , in the exact same spot, and both father and son were riding the exact same bike.
15. Wayne Unser’s name carries a hidden meaning.
For a good chunk of the series, Unser is a gopher for SAMCRO, even if he doesn’t care to admit it.
His last name, however, reveals more about the character than you may think.
The German translation of Unser is “ours,” a sly suggestion that Wayne is and always has been a puppet of the MC.
Kurt Sutter has always been a fan of hidden meanings and double entendres .
This is just further proof of how complex and layered Sons of Anarchy truly was.
16. Juice’s failed attempt at ending his life is a commentary on one of the ugliest chapters in American history.
Fearing for his life and no longer able to cope with the guilt of his actions, Juice tries to take himself out of the picture altogether.
If you listen closely, you can hear a cover version of Billie Holiday’s ” Strange Fruit ” playing in the background.
“Strange Fruit” is a song about the lynching of Black people in white America.
Billie would sing this song in the 1940s in front of all-white audiences as a form of protest.
At that time, she was one of the only Black artists who was permitted to sing in front of white crowds.
The inclusion of the song for this scene is a symbolic statement of how the deep racial divides of the past still exist to this day.
Juice was terrified about what the club would do were they to discover that his father was Black.
The scene is a commentary on how he views himself in relation to the rest of the world, and how society still unjustly treats its Black citizens to this day.
