Jax Teller

Jackson (Jax) Teller
First appearance	"Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Created by	Kurt Sutter
Portrayed by	Charlie Hunnam
Information
Nickname(s)	Jax, Jackie Boy (Chibs), the Prince (various), Handsome Jack (Charlie Barosky)
Gender	Male
Occupation	Outlaw motorcyclist, gun runner, mechanic[1]
Title	Vice President (seasons 1–4) President (season 5)[2]
Family	John Teller (father, deceased) Gemma Teller Morrow (mother) Clay Morrow (step-father, deceased) Thomas Teller (brother, deceased) Trinity Ashby (half-sister)
Spouse(s)	Wendy Case (ex-wife) Tara Knowles-Teller (deceased)
Children	Abel Teller Thomas Teller
Nationality	American

Jackson Nathaniel^[3] "Jax" Teller is a fictional character and the protagonist on the FX television series Sons of Anarchy, played by Charlie Hunnam.^[4][5] He is the President of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club's Redwood Original (SAMCRO) chapter based in Charming, California. Because he is the President of the founding chapter of the outlaw motorcycle club, that makes him the National President. Until the end of season four, he was the Vice President of the club. He has a number of tattoos, most notably his club's logo on his back, a tribute to his father John Teller on his right arm, his son Abel's name on his chest, and his second son, also the name of his deceased brother, Thomas on his left arm. On his cut, he wears patches reading "President", "Men of Mayhem", and a memorial patch for Opie. The motorcycle that he rides is a Harley-Davidson Dyna-Glide, specifically a Super Glide Sport.^[6] He is also seen driving a grey Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck.

Biography

Jackson "Jax" Teller is the son of Gemma and John Teller and was born in 1978, and raised in Charming, California. His father died in 1993 and his mother was re-married to Clay Morrow, who then became President of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. He lives with the genetic heart disorder ("family flaw" as Gemma calls it) that his brother Thomas "Tommy" Teller (January 8, 1984 – April 4, 1990) died from at the age of six. He carries a USMC KA-BAR fighting knife on his waistband, possibly his father's service knife.

At the beginning of the series, Jax serves as the club's Vice President, and works as a mechanic at Teller-Morrow Automotive Repair. He has served time in prison for smuggling and gun-running, his last arrest was in 2012. He married Wendy Case, but filed for divorce because of her drug habit. After Wendy got clean, they reconciled and conceived a son, Abel. Overwhelmed by the idea of being a father and tired of fighting with Wendy, Jax leaves his pregnant wife, allowing her to continue to live in his home while he moved into the clubhouse. Left on her own, Wendy begins using again and winds up overdosing. Abel was born 10 weeks premature and addicted to crank in the pilot episode. In season 5, Jax married his high-school sweetheart and the love of his life Tara Knowles and who is mother of his second son, Thomas.

Having discovered several of his father's old journals and an old manuscript titled The Life and Death of Sam Crow: How the Sons of Anarchy Lost Their Way, which collectively lay out the original manifesto for SAMCRO, he finds himself doubting the club's direction, causing friction between himself and his stepfather Clay, and spreading doubt amongst the other members. Another member of SAMCRO, Opie Winston, has been his best friend since childhood.

Season One

Season One begins with the Sons of Anarchy (SOA) finding their weapon storage warehouse being burned down. The SOA rush to the scene, where local police officers are already investigating. Jax and Clay talk to Sheriff Vic Trammel about the blaze, who claims that propane tanks inside the building blew up, and that he suspects arson due to the bootprints inside. Trammel then shows them the burned corpses of the people hidden beneath the building, who were illegal immigrants. It is later revealed that they were Mexican prostitutes "owned" by the club's Sergeant-at-Arms, Tig Trager. When he returns home and begins looking through storage, he finds old photographs of his late father and a journal titled The Life and Death of Sam Crow: How the Sons of Anarchy Lost Their Way written by him, and for his sons Jackson and Thomas (who had already died at the time of writing). He is then called away to a group meeting ("Chapel") where all of the chapter's members meet. These are Clay Morrow (President), Bobby Munson (Treasurer), Tig Trager (Sergeant-at-Arms), Chibs Telford (Medic), Piney Winston (Co-founder), Juice Ortiz (intelligence officer) and Happy. Clay announces that Juice has located the guns and that they were stolen by the Mayans, a rival motorcycle gang. They decide to go and get some payback the next day despite Jax's suggesting that the club look into other ways of earning money instead of dealing weapons, especially with so many rival groups on their back.

Meanwhile, Gemma finds Jax's pregnant ex-wife Wendy Case collapsed in her home, and he rushes to the hospital. Dr. Tara Knowles tells him that track marks were found on Wendy's hands and feet, and that they had to perform an emergency C-section on her, leaving the baby ten weeks premature. Because of this, the baby has a heart defect and a tear in his abdomen. The latter is from Wendy's drug abuse, but the former problem is likely a genetic defect. Together, both defects are near-fatal. The baby has just a 20% chance of survival. Jax and Tara were high school sweethearts, and she personally requested to help on his case. Jax decides not to visit his baby boy, named Abel, and instead flees the hospital. He then goes to a local bar with Bobby, Chibs and beats Wendy's dealer, who is a member of the Nordics gang, repeatedly with a pool cue. Later on, he visits Opie Winston, a former SOA member who was recently released from prison and promised his wife and children that he would never return. Jax convinces Opie to ride along with him the next day, however. Jax later goes back to visit Wendy in the hospital, who promises that she'll get clean. She also says that the doctors told her Abel is getting stronger, but she is facing a charge of fetal abuse as she has a stash drawer at home. She asks him to get rid of the stash before she faces time in jail. Jax turns up at his house, which he finds his mother feverishly cleaning. Jax tells her that Abel is going to die, which angers Gemma, who slaps him and tells him that he is the only one his son has got. Jax asks her about his father's original vision of the club and she responds that it was to create a brotherhood and a family. Jax tells her about the writings he found, how his father wanted a social rebellion, not an outlaw club. When she leaves, Jax flushes Wendy's stash down the toilet and takes her gun. Clay and Gemma begin to worry that Jax is abandoning the club and what it stands for. The next day, Clay, Jax and Bobby meet Ernest Darby, the Nordics' leader, and tell him never to bring methamphetamine or any other drug into Charming again. That night, as they prepare to go and get their guns back from San Leandro, Jax tells Opie not to come because of the situation with his family and Bobby is occupied performing his Elvis act at a club in Lake Tahoe. When they arrive at the industrial storage warehouse and find the guns, three Mayans turn up in a car outside. Clay and Chibs then shoot and kill the Mayans and another man, who has a number of Nazi and White supremacist tattoos. He was a member of the Nordics, a local skinhead gang who are allied with the Mayans, and it later emerges that his name was Whistler. Jax was also armed but hit a mental barrier before he could fire a shot. They then escape with the weapons and destroy the building using explosives.^[7]

Wayne Unser, the Chief of the Charming Police Department, has always gotten on well with the Sons of Anarchy during his time in charge, and even employed them as muscle at times. However, he is dying from cancer and will retire at the end of the month, handing power over to his Deputy, David Hale, who is overtly suspicious of the SOA and will almost definitely begin an investigation into the club. Hale talks to Jax, telling him that when he becomes Chief he won't look the other way with the Sons of Anarchy like his predecessor did. To distract the police from their activities, the burnt down warehouse in particular, Jax, Chibs, and Half-Sack Epps (a Prospect in the club) acquire two dead bodies from the local morgue and set them up in a fake shoot-out. The set-up shooting is made to look like a racist murder involving the Nordics. On his way back to town, Jax is cut off on the road by a man driving a red muscle car. He later catches up with this man at a petrol station and beats him up. The driver then pulls out a pistol and attempts to shoot Jax, but is wrestled to the ground and then killed by the Pakistani shopkeeper, who hits him with a fire axe. The trio then steal the CCTV tapes and flee the scene. Later, Jax visits baby Abel, and Tara tells him that he will make a full recovery. She also says that Wendy is being put through sedated detox, and she will be out for a couple of days.^[8]

Local businessman Elliot Oswald goes to Clay after his 13-year-old daughter was raped at a carnival, and asks the Sons of Anarchy to hunt down the rapist and kill him, in exchange for money. Clay refuses the money but insists that if they catch him, he must carry out the punishment himself. Juice and Gemma find out that the rapist is one of the carnies and the gang capture him and bring him to Oswald, who tries to castrate him but can't bring himself to do it. Clay then carries the punishment out, but wears gloves while doing it. He then blackmails Oswald for the crime, as only Oswald's fingerprints are on the knife, because Oswald was about to sell off much of the land around Charming to big business and housing, which would challenge the SOA's reign over the town. Jax is unhappy that Clay did not tell him of the plan, however, and tells clay to always inform him on his future motives.^[9]

When a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent Josh Kohn arrives in Charming and begins investigating the club, the SOA decide that they should move their weapons to Indian Hills, Nevada, where their brother club, the Devil's Tribe, are based. Clay sends Bobby and Jax to inform the Devil's Tribe that the Sons of Anarchy will be patching over them and storing guns on their property. On the way there, they encounter a group of Mayans on the road and engage in a shootout, although no one is killed. Later, the pair run into a couple as they leave a petrol station. The man is posing for a picture on Jax's bike and is extremely disrespectful to the woman, named Suzi, so they beat him up. Jax then picks Suzi up for sex and carries on with his journey. When they arrive at the Devil's Tribe clubhouse and inform them of the news, their President, Jury, is not pleased but eventually accepts that it is the best decision for both clubs. After the patch-over party, Jax goes for a ride and attracts the attention of a group of Mayans. He then draws them back to the clubhouse, where the Sons of Anarchy are waiting for them. A large shootout ensues, during which Jury is shot and injured. After having sex with Jax, Suzi leaves and returns to her old boyfriend. The ATF agent has been following Jax the whole time, taking photographs. He sends a picture of Jax and Suzi having sex to Tara, his former lover.^[10]

Otto Delaney and a number of other imprisoned SAMCRO members have been protecting Chuck in Stockton prison. He is wanted by the Triads because he stole money from them, then informed on a number of their members when he was arrested. When Clay and Jax visit Otto in prison, he tells them that if they protected Chuck when he was released, he would inform them where the Triads keep their money. They agree and pick him up from prison and bring him to the clubhouse. SAMCRO intends to wait until the restaurant, where the money is stored, closes before raiding it, but Chuck's frequent unconscious masturbating is unbearable for them and they decide to raid the restaurant straight away. At the restaurant, Jax uses his knife to cut open a newly plastered patch on the ceiling where the bag of money is. However, just after they steal the money and some counterfeiting plates, the Triads turn up. Instead of starting a war, Clay decides to make a deal; SAMCRO hands over Chuck and the plates, and the Triads let them keep the stolen money. Meanwhile, Kyle Hobart, a disgraced former SAMCRO member, goes to Jax and asks him if the Sons want in on his deal selling stolen car parts. Jax accepts and invites him to the clubhouse that night. This is a setup, however, to punish him for not having his SOA tattoo removed after being disowned by the club. At the clubhouse, they tie him up and Tig uses a blowtorch to burn off the tattoo.^[11]

Jax and Piney sell five AK-47s to Nate Meineke and his right-wing state militia. They then use these guns to ambush a prison convoy and free one of their members, Frank Cison. A police officer and two bystanders are killed during the assault. Meineke drops his cell phone at the scene, and his last calls have been to Clay Morrow. When the ATF finds the phone, they arrest Clay and raid the clubhouse. Clay is later released because no evidence is found, meaning he can no longer be kept in custody. Meanwhile Jax, Piney and Opie decide to kill Meineke and his gang to prevent them from snitching if they are apprehended by the authorities. They pretend to sell them more weapons. The "boxes of guns" are actually filled with explosives, however, and the militia loads their trucks with them. All of the militia are killed when the bombs are detonated.^[12]

When Tara tells Jax that ATF agent Josh Kohn has been stalking her, Jax threatens to kill Kohn if he goes near Tara again. Jax also reports him to David Hale, who in turn informs the ATF. Upon learning that the authorities have not yet apprehended Kohn, Jax hunts Kohn down, himself. Jax found him at the local barber shop, and a brawl ensues with Jax emerging the victor. Kohn is then arrested for breaching Tara's restraining order against him.^[13]

While riding his motorcycle on the highway, Jax comes across a truck driver, who has been badly beaten, on the hood of his truck. The trucker says that the Nordics had beaten him because he owed them money. They also later took his truck and tanker full of diesel fuel. Jax and Opie then hijack the truck back from the Nords and sell it is to Wayne Unser, who runs a trucking company. This then gives SAMCRO enough money to buy weapons from the True IRA. Later that night, Jax goes to Tara's house, after she phones him and asked him to come over. Kohn has broken in and tried to rape her, but she grabbed his gun and shot him in the stomach. Jax then kills Kohn and has sex with Tara.

Cameron Hayes, a member of the True IRA, offers SAMCRO a free shipment of guns if they will carry out a hit on Brenan Hefner, the man who killed his cousin Michael McKeavey. Jax, Bobby and Opie then go to the hotel room, where he sees his African American mistress. Opie is supposed to shoot him when he leaves the room, but freezes and Bobby steps in and shoots him at close range with a silenced pistol.^[14]

The ATF arrests Luann Delaney and Cherry, the women of Otto and Half-Sack, and threatens them with prison if they do not give information on SAMCRO. Bobby, Piney and Tig start a brawl at a local bar and most of the town's small police force have to go to the scene to break it up. This gives Jax and Opie an opportunity to break into the police station, with the help of Unser, and free Cherry. Luann stays behind because the ATF are about to get Otto to plead to a case that he thought was harmless, to secure him and Luann a deal, but in fact would lead to the arrest of every club member. So Luann has to get the message to Otto.^[15]

When Bobby is arrested for the murder of Brenan Hefner, Agent Stahl makes it seem that Opie is the one who identified him. Jax never tells Clay and the other club members that Opie lost his nerve and failed to shoot Hefner, forcing Bobby to shoot Hefner from the other side of the door, where the girl saw him. Still thinking that the Hefner shoot went down clean, and thus the only people who could have seen were the other SOA members, along with all the evidence engineered by Stahl, it seems extremely likely that Opie is the rat. Jax defends him, however, and convinces some of the club that the ATF has set him up. Clay has Tig check Opie's car for wiretaps, and he finds them. Tig and Clay are convinced Opie is guilty and decide to kill him.

Tara begins staying with Jax at the clubhouse after shooting Kohn because being at her house makes her uncomfortable. When Jax and Tara are kissing at the hospital, Wendy sees them and later confronts Tara. The next day, Jax goes with Clay, Tig and Opie to make an arms deal with the Mayans in Oakland. The One-Niners attack the deal, however, and they escape while the Mayans and Niners fight. Clay and Tig had made a deal with the Niners, but didn't inform Jax or the others; the Niners were supposed to eliminate the Mayans after the SOA left, but they decide to take them out also. Later that night, Abel is released from the hospital and a party is held in celebration. Tara again kisses Jax at the party, purposely in plain view for Wendy to see. Jax then pulls Tara aside, and asks her not to flaunt their relationship in front of a newly recovered Wendy, and "to be cool with whatever this is". He reaches foe her and she seems to draw back in a way that indicates a PTSD reaction resulting in her slapping his face. Tara storms out. When Opie leaves the party, he takes his wife's car to take his children home in, and his wife takes his pick-up truck. Tig thinks Opie is driving the car and shoots Donna.^[16]

Wendy tells Jax that she wants to give their relationship another chance now that they have a child, but he refuses, saying that things will be no different than before. When he later visits Tara, she tells him that she is afraid of being caught for killing Kohn and that she is moving back to Chicago. He admits that she is the only woman he has ever loved and that he only married Wendy because he was lonely. At Church, Piney says he wanted to kill Laroy as revenge for killing Donna, so Jax tells Half-Sack to follow him and make sure Piney doesn't do anything unnecessary. Half-Sack then calls and says that Piney had gone into a bar in Oakland and is holding a Niner hostage. When Jax and Chibs arrive, they manage to get Piney out and have a talk with Laroy, who says it wasn't his gang who killed Donna. When he visits the police station to ask Unser if he had any leads on Donna's killing, David Hale approaches him. Hale tells Jax about Stahl's setting up Opie, and Jax then realises that it was SAMCRO who killed Donna. He confronts Clay about this at the clubhouse and asks him if Clay had anything to do with Donna's death. Clay denies it. As Jax leaves the clubhouse, Juice tells him that the witness to Hefner's killing is a 17-year-old girl and that Chibs, Happy and Tig are on their way to kill her. Jax then drives out to San Joaquin on his motorcycle and stops Tig from killing her at gunpoint. He tells Chibs and Happy to leave and threatens the witness into leaving the state. He then beats Tig up because he killed Donna. Jax spends the night in the graveyard, drinking vodka. The next morning, he goes to Donna's funeral, which is attended by Sons of Anarchy from all across the country. He and Tara share a kiss, and the season ends as he stands and looks at his father's and brother's gravestones.^[17]

Season Two

In the first episode of Season 2, Jax and Clay go head to head over Donna's death. The only reason Jax does not tell Opie the truth is because he loves Opie too much and does not want him to lose the only family he's got left—the club. Jax insists on coming with Opie, Chibs, and Tig to murder a Mayan member who SAMCRO frames for Donna's murder. After the Mayan is killed, Opie carves the Sons of Anarchy symbol into his stomach (so the Mayans will know why the man was killed). Jax removes the symbol and disposes of the body in Mayan territory, putting up 9 fingers to make it look like the Niners killed the man. Jax has gotten a new tattoo: his son Abel's name on his left pec. He is seen saving Tig from bounty hunters with Chibs, Happy, Half Sack, and Piney. He assumes that Ethan Zobelle and L.O.A.N. will fight an underhanded war against SAMCRO and he is against Clay's plans to strike at the Aryans head on. Jax finds fault with most everything that Clay says and the two grow farther and farther apart.

After L.O.A.N. burns down CaraCara, Jax suspects it was Clay, since Clay did not want the porn business around after Luann is murdered. This drives Jax over the edge, and he decides to go Nomad. The vote is unanimous and Jax removes V. President patch and his Redwood Original patches in preparation to go Nomad, but after learning of his mother's rape at the hands of L.O.A.N., he comes back in as the Vice President of SAMCRO wanting revenge on L.O.A.N., specifically A.J. Weston. Jax also learns that L.O.A.N. was responsible for the burning of CaraCara. After finding out that Tig has told Opie the truth about Donna's death, Opie leaves the clubhouse looking for Stahl. Jax assumes that since Stahl is investigating L.O.A.N. Opie will be after Zobelle and his crew, and goes off to follow Zobelle. While following Zobelle, Jax learns that Zobelle is dealing with the Mayans behind Weston's back.

In the Season 2 finale "Na Trioblóidí", Jax finally gets revenge on A.J. Weston by killing him in a tattoo parlor bathroom. Agent Stahl kills Edmond in his attempt to murder her. Stahl frames Gemma Morrow for Edmond's murder when Gemma comes to kill Zobelle's daughter who was responsible for kidnaping Gemma. At the end of the episode, Cameron Hayes, who mistakenly thinks Gemma killed his son, stabs and kills Half-Sack and kidnaps Jax's son Abel, fleeing on his motorboat to an unknown location. Jax is last seen distraught and crying on the docks while Clay and the other Sons console him, watching Hayes speed off with his son.

Season Three

In the first episode we see Jax is still distraught over the loss of Abel. As the Sons go out to look for Cameron, he remains neutral. He attempts to break up with Tara because he believes that he is ruining her life, but she remains loyal to him and refuses to leave. At Half-Sack's wake, Clay tells Jax that he has to be strong to inspire his SAMCRO brothers. When a woman's son is shot in the drive-by after the wake, Jax finally loses it and continually bashes the gunman's head into the pavement until his fellow Sons pull him away. Also in more episodes he increasingly tries to push Tara out of his life.

When Jax finds out that Abel is in Belfast (despite Jimmy O'Phellan's diversions), he puts into motion a deal with Agent Stahl to give her Jimmy and the True IRA in Northern California in exchange for her dropping the charges against his mother Gemma and reducing the federal gun charges that SAMCRO has against it. Jax knows all too well that this deal is very dangerous for him because he will be going behind Clay and SAMCRO's backs. In the episode "The Push", Jax asks Tara for help moving black market meds and she agrees. The San Joaquin Sheriffs Department raids the SAMCRO clubhouse based on a tip from Ernest Darby (who saw the deal go down) and Jax feels that Tara is risking too much by being involved with him and the club. He breaks up with her and ends up having sex with Ima, one of the former Cara Cara pornstars. The next morning Tara walked in on him and Ima. When he sees her later in the day he apologizes for what happened earlier, but she is not interested in listening, because she believed he meant for it to happen in order to hurt her. She thinks he blames her for Abel's kidnapping. He continues to say it is to protect her, but she doesn't believe him. He, Clay, and Tig later pick up Gemma from the hospital to take her to Belfast with them. When they arrive Jax and the club are stopped by the police and are in danger of being deported back to America. After interrogating the officers it discovered that someone not only called them, but paid them to deport SAMCRO. Once they reach the clubhouse belonging to the Belfast chapter, Jax meets Maureen and Trinity Ashby. Trinity is Jax's half sister, which is not known by either of them yet. There are subtle hints that Jax and Trinity may be attracted to each other. Jax later meets with father Kellan Ashby. Father Kellan explains to Jax that the Real IRA wants to get rid of Jimmy O'Phellan and that they want SAMCRO to do it, because the Real IRA doesn't want to resort to killing one of their own leaders. Father Kellan promises Jax that he will give Abel back if Jax kills Jimmy.

In the episode "Turas", when SAMCRO are nearly killed by a bomb hidden in a gun shipment put there by the SAMBEL Sgt. at Arms, Jax has a shell shocked vision of his biological father speaking to him, but it turns out to actually be his stepfather, Clay Morrow. The next day SAMCRO, with the help of Sean Casey, interrogates Liam O'Neill about his connection to Jimmy. O'Neill confesses that he blew up the truck that killed members of the Real IRA and SAMBEL. He also admits that McGee is working for Jimmy. After a shootout with Jimmy and his crew, Jax chases Jimmy but can't get to him in time. He makes it back just in time to watch Clay kill McGee for betraying the club. Later that night, Jax and the club meet with the IRA council to present the evidence that Jimmy has flipped and learns that it will not be he who kills Jimmy. Back at the clubhouse, Jax and Trinity come close to having sex, but Gemma and Maureen walk in on them. Jax learns from his mother that Trinity is his half-sister. He takes it well, even joking that in two more minutes he would have been in Tig's territory. After talking to his mother, he meets with Father Ashby to find out where Abel is. Father Ashby admits that he never planned to give Abel back, because he knew of John Teller's desire to keep Jax out of the life and decided if he couldn't help Jax he could try to help Abel by giving him to a better family to raise him. Jax becomes furious and attacks Ashby, only to be thrown over a table. After Jax threatens to kill Sean Casey at gunpoint, Ashby then finally tells Jax where he can find Abel. However, Ashby tells Jax that if he loves Abel he will let him go. When Jax finally finds Abel, his emotions and Ashby's advice don't allow him to decide whether to rescue Abel or leave him with his new adoptive family. Gemma is furious that Jax might give up her grandson, and she tells him that Tara is pregnant with a sibling for Abel. Jimmy O'Phelan kills the Irish adoptive parents and takes Abel hostage. After this happens, Jax decides that he is done taking his father's manuscript to heart and feels that if he never listened to Ashby, his son wouldn't be that situation. Jax and the Real IRA make a deal with Jimmy to trade Abel for a new hostage, Father Kellan Ashby. Right before leaving Belfast, Jax receives an undisclosed phone call from Tig, which might have been about Tara's abduction.

Once Jax and SAMCRO return from Belfast, they begin looking for Tara. The Mayans help in the search because Salazar is a threat to their new heroin operation in Stockton Prison. They find two women dead in the road. One is Salazar's girlfriend and the other is a woman Salazar killed for her car. Jax is worried about Tara's safety and Bobby promises him that they will bring her back safely. They discover that Salazar not only has Tara, but has taken Hale hostage as well. When Salazar reveals that he will trade Tara for Jax, he is ready and willing. Jax proceeds to get into a fight with Salazar. Salazar runs, only to end up cornered in the hall, where Jax stabs him to death and makes it look like self-defense. Later, he goes with Tara to have an ultrasound to make sure the baby is healthy. Jax later meets with Stahl, who is still determined to see the deal through. In the finale it is revealed that his dealing with Stahl was set up by the club; when they were let in on his plans is not clear at this point. When she inevitably reneges on her promise of secrecy, he acts the part knowing that she will soon be dead and they will serve light time. In a letter to Gemma, Jax assures her that he is not his father and would never rat on the club. However, Tara reads a letter from Jax's father to his mistress Maureen Ashby, after the club is arrested, which strongly suggests that Gemma and Clay were responsible for John Teller's death.

Season Four

Jax and the other club members are released from prison. He has abdominal scars stemming from a prison stabbing incident involving the Russian mob. Also, Jax's appearance is different. He has cut his hair and trimmed his beard.

After he returns home to Tara and their two sons, Abel and newborn Thomas, they make love. During a post-coital discussion, Jax proposes to Tara, with the ring wrapped in the tiny fist of his second son, Thomas. She accepts. The newly engaged couple then have a discussion about their future as a family, in which Jax admits to wanting to leave the Sons once Clay has stepped down as President. Later, he attends Opie's wedding as his best man. After the ceremony, Jax goes with Clay and the Russians to shoot a gun given to Opie as a wedding gift from the Russians. While Clay is testing the gun, he shoots Putlova's bodyguards and Jax stabs Putlova to death in revenge for trying to kill him in prison, saying it's "just business". Jax then returns to the reception to dance with his fiancee, Tara. The next day, Jax and Tara are having breakfast with their sons when they see a news story about four dead bodies found at the Charming Heights construction site. She asks Jax to tell her all he knows about it. He tells her that it was retaliation for his getting stabbed in prison. After breakfast, he goes with Clay to the deal they had set up with the Galindo Cartel. At the deal, Jax learns that Clay has set it up for SAMCRO to mule cocaine for the cartel and the Mayans. Clay tells Jax that everything that has happened the last two years has left him and Gemma with no money and that he needs Jax to help him sell it to the rest of SAMCRO. Jax tells Clay that he will back him as long Clay lets Jax out of SAMCRO and that the president's patch goes to Opie. Clay agrees to the deal. Jax and Clay meet with the rest of SAMCRO try to convince them that the drug transporting would be good for them, financially. Jax shows them the money they made from the first deal to convince them. After the meeting, Jax and Opie go to the Indian Reservation to see about the ammunition. They are encountered by some vengeful Russians. The Russians threaten to kill two Native Americans they are holding hostage if they don't get their guns returned. After a scuffle, Jax agrees to call SAMCRO to get their guns to them. Jax and Opie are eventually rescued by the Galindo Cartel, which kills all but two Russians, one of whom is given to the Native Americans for retribution. When Jax and Opie return to the Clubhouse, they discover it has been wrecked by Sheriff Roosevelt. To lighten the mood, Tara announces their engagement. During the celebration Jax catches a glimpse of Bobby, who pours some liquor on the ground to signify the beginning of the end. He later is the one who convinces the Galindo not to execute Laroy Wayne and numerous One-Niners for working with the Lobos Sonoras. Bobby states that this shows he deserves to be president and he knows of Jax's desire to leave SAMCRO. Jax confronts Clay, telling him that he will help set up the deal between the IRA and the Cartel and then will leave. When Clay responds by insulting Tara, Jax threatens to "bash those half dead hands so hard into that table, you'll never hold that gavel again". He tells Tara how he will be coming with her to a hospital visit in Oregon and he will be out of the club soon. They enjoy the peaceful visit, but Tara is attacked by paid Galindo hitmen hired by Clay to stop her from revealing the letters. Jax manages to save her, but her hand is injured as a result. He later sees how Gemma has been viciously beaten by Clay. He confronts him but focuses on the matter at hand: using heavy duty IRA weapons to eliminate Lobos Sonoras. When Clay, Juice, and Romeo are pinned down, Jax calls in the IRA to deliver RPG's which he and Chibs use to save them. When Opie found out about Piney's murder at Clay's hands he goes to the clubhouse, Jax holds him at gunpoint and threatens to kill him, Opie calls his bluff and shoots Clay twice in the chest. He stops Opie from finishing him and gets Unser and Rat to cover the truth. Later Gemma finally reveals the letters to Jax as well as his involvement in Piney's death and Tara's abduction, angering him and vowing to kill Clay himself with a blood thinner given to him by Tara.

In the end Jax does not kill Clay, as he needs Clay alive for the Gallindo Cartel/IRA deal. Romeo and Luis are CIA informants and need the gun deal to survive, however Irish King Gaylen will only deal with Clay. They threaten to use the cancelled RICO operation to crush Sons of Anarchy if he does not comply. Instead he tells Clay that he will be stepping down as President, thus making Jax SAMCRO's new President. He removes Clay's President patch and calls a meeting where everyone but Opie attends. His first act as President is making Chibs his new Sergeant-at-Arms. He tries one last time to get Tara to leave (revealing the CIA threat as well) with his boys, but she comes back telling him she wasn't going anywhere.

Season Five

Jax is shown to be in an even more seasoned role as President. He is now starting to write his own manuscript for his sons when they are older. His appearance has changed again; his hair has grown back out and he has it slicked back kind of like an Italian gangster. While the Sons are transporting cocaine for the Galindo, they are attacked by Niners, retaliating for Tig murdering Oakland gangster Damon Pope's daughter (Veronica). He later promotes Bobby to be his VP after Opie rejects the offer due to his hatred for Clay. He later has a meeting with the new Niner leader and Pope's lieutenant August to cease hostilities between the Sons and Niners. Jax, Chibs, and Bobby later find a broken Tig, having had to watch as Pope burned his daughter Dawn alive. After ensuring his other daughter's safety, Jax, Chibs, and Tig are arrested when witnesses bought by Pope testify to Tig running down Veronica Pope and Jax and Chib's highway shooting of one of the Niners. They hide in a brothel owned by Gemma's new suitor Nero Padilla. He meets with the club attorney to kill the R.I.C.O. case against SAMCRO and reveals the threat it poses, to Bobby and Tara. Jax manages to get Romeo to provide protection for them inside. Opie later assaults Roosevelt to accompany them. While in prison Jax is visited by Pope. Pope tells Jax that in order to set things straight for his daughters death Pope will receive half of the money the Sons gets for transporting cocaine for the Galindo cartel. Pope tells Jax that due to the death, one of the Sons in prison must die and Jax will choose who it will be. Pope also wants Tig to remain in jail for the rest of his life so he can be tortured everyday. Once the death has occurred, the remaining Sons will be freed so they can earn. Jax tells Opie what Pope told him and confides in Opie about Clay killing JT and Piney. When the time comes for Jax to pick one of the Sons to fight to the death, Opie jumps in and hits one of the guards, volunteering himself to be the Son who is sacrificed. Opie is set up to fight against three black prisoners. They beat Opie to death with pipes. While being escorted back to his cell by the head guard who arranged the fight, Jax tells the guard that he is being freed the next day and that he will find him and kill him for killing his best friend.

He later meets with Nero (whose prostitution business was shut down by a police raid) to propose he use SAMCRO's connections to Cara-Cara porn stars to restart his business and split the profits with the Club. He brings it to the Club to move them away from guns and drugs, and it is voted in at the urging of Clay. They later meet with Gaylen and the Galindo cartel to set up the big gun sale. He and Gaylen come to terms with their animosity towards each other and settle it in a fist-fight. To get a location to set up the brothel for Nero, Jax, Bobby, and Chibs meet with Hale asking to lease a piece of property to use. He denies, but later reconsiders when Jax offers him dirt on a member of city council to allow Charming Heights to proceed and Damon Pope as an investor. Jax has another meeting with Pope, who offers him a new deal; to double their muling fee from Galindo by cutting his gang in on moving the cocaine. The club votes on it and, despite strong objections, it is voted in. Pope also gives Jax the identity and address of the prison sergeant who had Opie killed. To allow the muling to go through, Jax meets with Alvarez, Henry Lin, and the Niner president as the cocaine will move through their territory. Everyone agrees to the agreement allowing things to proceed. At the end of the episode, Jax, Chibs, Bobby, and Tig break into the sergeant's house and Jax viciously beats him to death with a snowglobe and needs to be pulled off of him by Chibs. In "Toad's Wild Ride" Jax, Bobby and Unser come to the conclusion that the three Nomads Gogo, Greg, and Frankie are behind the break-ins and Rita's death. When Gogo and Greg are killed after trying to kill Unser, the club realizes Frankie has gone underground. Jax confronts Clay about his affiliation with the Nomads, which he denies. Jax merely remarks that when they find Frankie "they'll decide who lives and who dies". When he and Chibs are riding back to the clubhouse they're are attacked by two men with machine guns. They kill one and the other escapes; when they examine the dead shooter he's revealed to be black.

In the next episode "Ablation" Jax, Tig, and Chibs cut the hands off the body and send one to Unser for identification and the other to Pope to send a message. He then learns that Gemma, Abel, and Thomas got in a car crash apparently caused by the escaping shooter running her off the road. Jax meets with Pope, questioning whether he was behind hiring the shooters or the Nomads. Pope denies this and the Niners lead Jax to the other shooter, who reveals that they were hired by Frankie. Jax shoots the gunman multiple times and then pushes him off the building, stunning Chibs and Happy. Later Jax, Chibs, and Bobby go to the new brothel to find Nero and Lyla held at gunpoint by Frankie. He demands $150,000 or he'll kill Lyla; Nero gives him $134,000 in cash and some good watches and he takes Chibs as a new hostage. He also reveals Clay put him, Gogo, and Grey to doing the break-ins and shoots Lyla in the leg. He also learns from Nero Gemma crashed because she was high. He tells Tara who hits Gemma and forbids her from seeing her boys. He is met by Roosevelt at the clubhouse who reveals that there is another rat at his table, who helped them get their R.I.C.O. case started. He states he will reveal the rat in exchange for Jax bringing Frankie to him. He goes to see Tara and tells her that he needs evidence that Clay hired the Nomads to bring to the club, stating he has a plan she might not like. He meets with Gemma and tells her if she wants back into their lives she has to go back to Clay, gain his trust and help him get the evidence he needs. "Andare Pescare" the club learning that Frankie is hiding with a Mafia family, paying them with Nero's cash. The club unanimously votes to kill Frankie after getting the identity of who hired him, however Jax reveals the need to keep Frankie alive to Bobby to find out the identity of the other rat at the table. They meet with the Mafia Don hiding Frankie, and after a brawl with his bodyguards, Jax tells him that Frankie stole $500,000 from his club (lying to turn them against Frankie for not paying them enough) and gives them the location of the safehouse where Frankie is hiding. While on their way there, they spot an explosion and find the safehouse blown up with Clay and Juice holding Frankie at gunpoint. He stops them from killing him yet, but the Mafia Don, furious about one of his men killed by Frankie, guns him down before he can tell them anything. Jax has another meeting with Roosevelt where he reveals Frankie's death was out of his hands and he figured out that Juice is the rat. The episode ends with Jax in the van tailing Juice. In "Crucifixed" Jax, Chibs, and Bobby meet to discuss Juice and the RICO case. They decide to wait out Juice to avoid damaging the Club's image. Jax later meets with Juice stating that if Juice wants to make sure the Club never finds out, he will find some legal documents that would confirm Clay set the Nomads in motion. They later go after another of Opie's killers, a cousin of Grim Bastard President T.O, who they corner and kill despite Jax promising not to. The act greatly enrages the Bastards and Bobby.

The next episode "To Thine Own Self" shows Jax ready to pull the club away from the Cartel, now that the RICO case is gone (Otto having killed a nurse with a cross given to him by Tara, causing the Feds to throw out his statement). He is shown to have a plan in motion to ensure everyone wins, which he reveals when he is kidnapped by Romeo; Jax has set up so the Mayans will take over muling the Cartel's cocaine and the Triads will use their connections to Ghana to keep getting them their "big guns." He reveals the deal and the dead RICO case to the Club and it is unanimously voted in. He goes to Clay's house, with Chibs and Bobby, as Juice states he found the legal documents confirming Clay's hand in the Nomad attacks. They find them gone as Clay moved them when he was alone. Jax punches Juice and sends him home. He then reveals to Bobby and Chibs he needs Clay to go down by revealing that Clay killed JT and Piney and tried to kill Tara. The next episode "Darthy" shows that Bobby convinced Clay to confess to being behind the Nomad attacks in exchange for voting not to kill him. All members of the Club vote to kick Clay out of SAMCRO, but not to kill him due to Bobby's vote no, and Jax furiously beats Clay. He learns from Lin that it will take 3–4 months to start in on their gun shipments, however Romeo states that Lobo Sonoras is pushing Galindo hard and they need one more shipment of IRA weapons to wait out the time to get the Chinese stock. Jax initially manages to convince Gaylen to give them the guns, but Romeo shows up with armed Galindo men to take the guns, resulting in a brief gunfight with Gaylen and his men, before getting the guns. Gaylen promises to make SAMCRO pay for this. Jax puts the Club on lockdown, but Gaylen manages to kidnap Wendy from the hospital. He demands $479,000 or he will kill Wendy and kidnap Abel. Jax gets the money from Nero in as a down payment for selling Biz Latz guns. When Wendy threatens to report the entire incident to police and take Abel, Jax goes to her apartment, overpowers and injects her with heroin to destroy her credibility.

The season finale shows Jax finalizing his deal with Pope; He gets a document promising automotive contracts for TM and subsidized housing for Opie's family. He joins the other Sons in tracking down Nero's rival Dante and at point during the ensuing fight, shoves a man's head into a bucket of nails for hurting Chibs. He later takes Tig to a remote location and seemingly hands him over to Pope before shooting three of Pope's men and giving the gun to Tig, who then shoots Pope. The gun is revealed to be Clay's; given to Jax by Juice. He then plants the gun for the cops to find. He meets with August putting all blame for Pope's death on Clay and he had nothing to do with it. He is seen at the end of the episode in dread as Tara is arrested for her part in Otto's murder of the nurse.

Season Six

Jax is having problems with his wife Tara being behind bars for her involvement in the death of a nurse. He is trying to continue to move from guns to legitimate businesses. He is seen at the end of episode 1 cheating on Tara with Colette Jane an escort handler. The next episode showing him meeting resistance from Galen O'Shay to end the gun relationship with the Irish. Galen insists they take a shipment of KG-9s after a school shooting is committed with one theirs. Jax also meets with August Marks, to get status on Clay as well as still handing over Tig. He and Nero find the mother of the child, as she is with Nero's cousin, to make sure she doesn't reveal the origins of the weapon. They take her to the cabin, but she panics, grabs a gun and the two run. Nero shoots his cousin and the two bind and gag the woman. Against Nero's wishes, Jax has Juice smother her and make it seem she overdosed. Jax also learns that Clay ha been talking to Lee Toric, the brother of the murdered nurse who is behind Tara's arrest. The two meet; Clay states he will not give Toric any damaging information and he is sorry. Jax then tells Toric to leave Tara alone or he will "show him how personal this is for him." He tries later to get a new charter to pick up SAMCRO's gun business. He also meets with August to seemingly give up Tig, but Tig is later shown to be okay. When the San Dino charter votes down the guns, he offers the pipeline to August. He seems to be making more calls behind the Club's back, causing friction with Chibs. When he learns of Neo-Nazis attack on Unser (in retaliation for Clay's murder of a Stockton member) he meets with Darby to find them. He later has a second, more aggressive meeting with Galen, telling him SAMCRO is done with guns and they are no more than gangsters. In retaliation, Galen kills Filthy Phil and a prospect, dismembering their bodies, and leaving two cases of KG-9s. The episode ends with Jax using them to wipe out the Neo-Nazis.

The next episode shows SAMCRO and it's associates on lockdown while Jax, Tig, Juice, Chibs, and Happy try to track down Galen's associate Connor. When they find him, they learn Galen is already gone. Jax then uses Connor's phone to talk to the Irish Kings and offer them August Marks as a new distributor and tells them he doesn't want a war. Roarke tells him they will call at 8'o clock with an answer. When it is nearly 8, Jax notices something suspicious about a beer keg, realizing it's armed, the Sons get everyone out. Jax runs out of the clubhouse with Abel, just as it explodes. With the clubhouse destroyed, Jax and SAMCRO meet at Gemma's house and Jax talks to Galen and the Kings again, to find that they must cooperate with their terms or more SOA clubhouses will be bombed; They will spring Clay from prison, have him set up a crew to handle the gun-running and the Sons will turn over all their customers to them without profit. Jax agrees and surprises them by stating he didn't kill Connor and the other Irishmen they abducted. He then meets with all West Coast SOA members and announces the end of the SOA-IRA relationship and the gun-running in favor of legitimate income. At the end of the meeting Bobby rejoins SAMCRO, bringing in three new members. Jax then meets with Hale to lease an old ice cream parlor as their new clubhouse. SAMCRO votes in the new recruits and also patches Ratboy in. Jax later helps Venus, one of Nero's girls who helped them get dirt on a member of city council, get her son from her emotionally abusive mother Alice. When Alice viciously berates Venus, Jax shoots her in the head. He later finds Tara, who has suffered a miscarriage caused by Gemma. He signs legal forms to keep her from their children. Jax later finds out from Lowen the pregnancy was a lie to keep the boys from him and Gemma. He goes to Colette's to put distance between him and Tara and tells Juice to watch her. He then meets with Galen to discuss business; Galen claims SAMCRO must help with their plan to spring Clay from his transport. Jax objects to helping, but has no choice. He and Galen meet with the Cacuzza family to get them to switch to the Irish guns. When the Triads arrive, Galen opens fire on them and they flee. The Cacuzzas make the deal out of fear. This causes the Triads to confront the Sons. They take Happy hostage and tell them to shut down the Irish pipeline. It's also revealed Jax has made a deal with the district attorney Patterson to turn over Galen and his crew in exchange for immunity for Tara and the Club. Jax goes back to Colette's to unwind. They have sex, but are caught by Tara who attacks Colette and smacks Jax. She states he did this to her.

The next episode "Aon Rud Persanta" shows SAMCRO helping free Clay from his transport to trial. They succeed, but Bobby is injured and Juice kills a guard in the process. They meet with Galen who congratulates Jax. Jax then kills Galen, while Tig and Chibs kill his men. Jax explains that the Club took a vote on how to handle the situation. Clay realizes he is next and, resigned to his fate, stands ready. Jax then shoots Clay in the neck and numerous times in the chest. They then stage the killings to look like Clay and the Irish killed each other in a dispute, which Connor backs up.

Patterson meets with Jax at the new clubhouse, telling him that whatever happens today, the outcome lands on him and that he is a man, a husband, and a father before SAMCRO and that a good man would not let his family pay the price for his mistakes. Jax manages to track Tara down to a park in Lodi when Rat follows her new lawyer there. Jax assures her that he isn't going to hurt her or the kids and tells her to be a good mother and to keep their kids safe. Jax and Tara meet with Patterson, and he offers to give himself up as the source of the KG-9's, and Tara will be free to take the boys anywhere that she wants. Later that night, Jax says his goodbyes to the club members before departing (He also reveals his knowledge of Juice's betrayal during their hug). At his house, he comes across Tara and Eli Roosevelt's lifeless bodies on the floor. Jax holds Tara's body and begins to cry as Patterson and two police officers come in. Patterson takes notice of the bodies and Jax's gun lying on the floor.

Origins and critical response

Teller was named as one of TV's best dads by Dadcentric.com, and they described him as a "brutal anti-hero" and "rebel who never lives by society's rules". However, they also highlight how the birth of Abel and the discovery of his father's memoirs transformed him as a person.^[18] The Chicago Tribune remarked that Jax is "the heir apparent to the gang", but "has a great deal of nostalgia for his father’s more hippie-ish early hopes for the motorcycle club".^[19]

References