10 Moments That Proved Sons Of Anarchy Was The Best Show On TV
9. A Bird In A Gelded Cage
Two episodes earlier, we got to see the three-fold reason why the MC has such high standing in Charming: protection of the populace from the worst of the criminal element, casual brutality, and blackmail, all in one vicious act of rough justice.
Local rancher, political animal and general rich guy Elliot Oswald’s thirteen-year-old daughter is attacked and raped by a carny when the circus comes to town. Oswald comes to SOA president Clay for justice, and the club duly find the man responsible, and pass their own sentence: castration and bleeding out.
Oswald is offered a small knife and told to do the job himself while they hold the man down – for his daughter. Unable to do the job himself, he passes the knife back to Clay, who does it for him. The corpse is buried in the woods… but Clay holds onto both the knife, and the grisly mess he hacked off. Right now, Oswald is in his debt, but he knows exactly how short memories can be. He has the businessman’s fingerprints on the murder weapon, in the same place as a trophy taken from the victim: and Oswald is the one with the motive, not Clay.