Kurt Sutter took audiences on a roller coaster ride of emotions over the seven-season run of Sons of Anarchy. Fans wanted to see Jax Teller get the life that he had dreamt of in season one - he wanted to get away from the club with love interest Tara Knowles. However, this would prove to be an untouchable fairytale as the show progressed.
The harder the pair fought to be together, the more they changed as individuals. By the time the sixth season rolled around, Jax and Tara were almost unrecognizable from the first season. This didn't stop fans from wanting to root for the star-crossed lovers and their happily ever after, though.
However, there are some things about Jax and Tara that left us scratching our heads. This list outlines several things that didn't add up about Jax and Tara's relationship. Some of these are due to either Jax or Tara's actions, and they leave us to wonder why they were put together.
With that said, here are the 20 Things That Make No Sense About Jax and Tara's Relationship In Sons Of Anarchy.
20. Tara's Departure From Charming
Tara and Jax were high school sweethearts, falling in love at 16. Their relationship teetered on Bonnie and Clyde territory. Tara was arrested at least three times while in Jax's company. The reasons for these arrests varied from public intoxication, possession of stolen property, and disorderly conduct. During this time, she got a tattoo of a crow on her lower back, signifying her connection to the club and to Jax as his old lady.
Tara left Charming when she was 19 years old because she thought that the town was too small, which is something that Gemma reminds her of in season 1's episode 4. Tara also left to get away from the influence of SAMCRO and it's less than legal ways. Her departure broke Jax's heart. However, it doesn't make sense that Tara would be willing to date Jax and involve herself with SAMCRO again.
19. Tara's Return to Charming
Tara returns to Charming from Chicago after a ten-year absence, taking a job as a pediatric physician at the local hospital. We first meet her at the hospital when Jax's son Abel is born ten weeks prematurely. Tara tells Gemma that she has returned to sort out some "family matters," following the ing of her father. Gemma, however, believes that she has come back because of Jax. While in Chicago, Tara dated an ATF agent Joshua Kohn, whom she had to get a restraining order against.
Fleeing Chicago for her hometown of Charming does not seem like the best way to hide from someone who knew your background.
Did she return to a place that she despised in the hopes that Kohn would follow? Tara would have known what Jax would do if Kohn did, in fact, come after her. Did she return so that Jax would rid her of Kohn for good?
18. Getting Together In The Room With Kohn's Body
As expected, Agent Kohn followed Tara to Charming. He claims to be investigating SAMCRO, though it is clear that he is there for Tara. As Tara and Jax become closer, Agent Kohn falls deeper into his obsession, even destroying Jax's room at the club. Tara tells Jax about Kohn. Jax reacts to this information in the only way we would expect him to - he becomes protective and threatening. Kohn's real motives are found out by local PD and he is forced to leave Charming.
However, Kohn attacks Tara in her home, and after some mental manipulation on Tara's part, she is able to grab a gun and shoot him. She calls Jax unsure of what to do and Jax delivers the fatal shot to Kohn, permanently ending his threat to Tara. The pair then proceeds to consummate things in the room with Kohn's body still warm.
17. Tara Becoming an "Old Lady"
In an odd change of tone, Tara delves deeper into SAMCRO by becoming Jax's old lady, despite the fact that she left Charming to get away from the club and everything that it stood for. In season 2, she is all too happy to take on the coveted role at Jax's side. Gemma explains to Tara that being an old lady comes with respect and privileges.
Tara seems to enjoy these perks and the notoriety that it gives her, but this doesn't stop her from trying to be the moral com of the show.
This is a move that contradicts the expected 100% and backing that an old lady is supposed to be. Tara wants Jax to change and leave the club, but she ends up being the one who changes a number of times in the series.
16. Tara Doesn't Show Jax His Father's Letters
During season 3, Jax and the crew head to Ireland to rescue his abducted son Abel. While there, John Teller's mistress hides letters in Jax's bag for him to find later. Tara ends up finding the love letters first after the guys have been hauled off to jail. In the letters, John says how lost he is in Charming and mentions that Gemma and Clay were growing closer together and that he knows he should be afraid but he feels nothing. They disclose his resignation with them wanting him out of the way.
One would think that Tara would go to Jax with the letters. Even though he is in jail, she could visit him. Instead, she goes to Piney with the information on the 85th day of Jax's incarceration. Piney tells her to leave it alone, as only bad things can come from it. Jax is finally told about the letters by Gemma in season 4.
15. Their Lack of Chemistry
Not all fans were sold on the bond between Tara and Jax. At the beginning of their rekindled relationship, the pair seemed very much in love. As the series went on, however, it became increasingly difficult to believe it. At times, it came across as forced and even flat.
There was more chemistry between the two before they became a couple.
The build-up lacked payoff. Though it was difficult to watch as Jax held Tara's lifeless body and wept, this was due more to Charlie Hunnam's performance. Some fans say that their lack of chemistry was due to actress Maggie Siff's portrayal of the character. Tara came off as one dimensional and lacked more than two emotions.
14. They Mirror John Teller & Gemma's Relationship
Neither Jax nor Tara wanted the club in their future. However, as the show progressed, Jax was made the leader of SAMCRO in season 5. Tara stood behind him as his old lady. This pose is eerily similar to a photo of Gemma and Jax's late father John. Their fate was sealed with this promotion. Jax began calling shots that he previously would have disagreed with Clay on - for example responding with violence first.
Tara at this point became a younger version of Gemma. She provided Jax with a syringe filled with a blood thinner and tells Jax how to ister it to take down Clay, who is in the hospital after being shot by Opie. Tara also became violent with her boss earlier in the series in a very Gemma-like way.
13. They Didn't Always Each Other
Throughout the series, Tara's of Jax turns off and on at random. While Jax is attempting to put the club on the more legitimate business ventures, he has to deal with her roller coaster of backing. Tara was often cold and dismissive to Jax because of the club. Numerous times during the shows run, Tara was at odds with Gemma. Both are strong-willed women that Jax loves more than anything.
Tara often put Jax in the middle of her tiffs with Gemma, which created more rifts than it solved.
On the other hand, Jax increasingly involved Tara in club business, which pulled her further away from the hospital. Tara wanted to get the boys away from Charming and into a safe place, but Jax's priorities seemed to change.
12. They Never Chose To Leave Charming, Even Though There Were Many Opportunities
Tara left when she was 19 to get away from the club, only to come back 10 years later. She soon becomes deeply involved in SAMCRO once her relationship with Jax reignites. Tara suffered injuries multiple times and was even abducted over the seasons, making her eagerness to leave SAMCRO behind for good even stronger. Though she had several chances, it wasn't until season 6 that she put a plan in motion.
Jax pushes Tara away following Abel's abduction and tells her that it is for her protection, which she believed, since he blamed her for Abel's kidnapping. Jax and Tara had the opportunity to leave a number of times on the series but never took the leap.
11. Tara & Gemma's Relationship
As said by Juice in season 7, "Gemma knows every truth behind every lie inside every secret. She's the Gatekeeper." The matriarch of the family was never shy about her willingness to do anything to protect her son, Jax. This made Tara number one on her most hated list for a majority of the show. After all, Tara had broken her son's heart, so in Gemma's mind, she was back to complicate things for him.
Tara and Gemma were often at odds with each other, exchanging insults and threats. For a time, it seemed like things were fine between the pair. This was, of course, after Tara had become a younger version of Gemma. Tara was taken down by Gemma at the end of season 6. Gemma thought that Tara had turned rat and was protecting Jax by eliminating his wife. However, this act drove Jax even further into violence.
