10 Moments That Proved Sons Of Anarchy Was The Best Show On TV

Those arcane club rules and regulations were never more evident than at the reaper’s table itself. In season two, Clay and protagonist Jackson Teller would find themselves at loggerheads, the young vice-president becoming increasing alienated from his stepfather. Sutter gradually, expertly raises the tension levels through rumbling hints at confrontation between the two men over the future of the club, as Jax begins to openly question Clay’s decisions, becoming more and more hostile to his president.

In the episode ‘Fa Guan’, matters come to a head when Clay countermands a club vote to end the MC’s lucrative association with a local pornography enterprise, a business deal that Jax brought to the table. Face to face with Jax, the two men have harsh words: when Jax reopens old wounds, Clay subtly threatens his life. In full view of the MC, Jackson pulls his 9mm, slaps it down on the table in front of the president and turns his back, saying, “Let me make it easy for you.”

Clay can’t do it – or more likely won’t, in front of his club and without a good enough cover story, and is forced to back down when Jax insists that the club’s bylaws require a majority vote to pull out of the porn business. The matter’s not settled there though: at the close of the episode, Jax arrives at the studio to find that it’s been burned to the ground. Blaming Clay, he’s had enough. He declares he’s leaving the charter to go Nomad – become a lone outlaw.

It’s the episode that sees the first proper metaphorical shots fired between the two men, a bitter rivalry that will eventually end in a hail of bullets four years later.