In a series about the lives, politics and drama surrounding a biker gang, Donna Winston provided viewers with an innocent, relatable character simply looking for familial stability. While never a main focus in the show's first season, Donna's relationship with Opie and desire to keep him from being sucked back into a life of crime and danger was a part of what gave the show its heart, as Donna's noble simplicity at the time stood in stark contrast to the other female characters on the show, with her eventual acceptance of Opie's rejoining with the club after her experience with June Stahl feeling natural and highlighting the devotion she had for her husband. Due to all of Stahl's manipulations, Clay is tricked into thinking Opie had turned on the club, which caused him to order Tig to execute Opie on the latter's way home. Unbeknownst to Clay or Tig, Donna and Opie had switched vehicles, with Clay learning too late to inform Tig that Opie had not become a rat and stop him from accidentally executing Donna. The sequence of events leading up to Donna's death are some of the tensest moments of the entire series' run and the death itself permanently impacted the club and changed the dynamics of a number of character relationships forever.
Writer, film enthusiast, part-time gamer and watcher of (mostly) good television located on the fringe of Los Angeles, who now has his own website at www.highdefgeoff.com!
