8. Stop Introducing New Bad Guys
Bad guys is a bit of a misleading moniker given that the main characters of the show are all violent criminals, but you know what I mean. Theres always the antagonist thats eager to get rid of SAMCRO, whether it be an ambitious businessman, a federal agent with an agenda, or other criminals seeking to gain more control and territory. Season one saw the club at odds with both local law enforcement, the feds, rival gangs and one another. Season two introduced Ethan Zobelle and his gang of white supremacist led by AJ Weston. Season three it was SAMCRO vs SAMBEL vs The IRA vs Stahl. Season four it was the club vs Charming's newly appointed law enforcement. And, most recently, SAMCRO vs Damon Pope. Each season has had its villain. The problem is that
Sons of Anarchy isnt the kind of show that really lends itself to the big bad format. The main conflict has always been internal, and that is one thing that has remained consistent throughout the last five seasons, but theres always been a sense of unity that pervades the inner strife when SAMCRO is facing an external adversary. Even their former enemies the Mayans have become allies to the club, so outside of the turmoil around the reaper its hard to have a multi-season antagonist now that Stahl is gone. Keep in mind,
Sons of Anarchy is from one of the minds that brought us
The Shield, which handled this dilemma excellently. In a lot of ways the struggles of Jax and his club mirror those of Vic Mackey and his strike team. They had to deal with enemies on both sides of the law, and (perhaps a little more uneasily so) we as viewer found ourselves rooting for a band of liars, killers, and thieves. Sutter has hinted that
Sons of Anarchy only has 2-3 seasons left after season five, and if thats the case I think its time to stop finding new enemies for the club to fight and focus on where they are ultimately headed.