Yeah, FX are pretty good at doing anti-villains I reckon, Forrest Whitaker in The Shield and Ally Sheedy in SOA itself spring to mind. Characters that should in theory, be supported because they are doing the right thing, but the way in which they operate, makes it nigh on impossible to get behind them in any way. Toric was the same.
Well, there's the last of my top 3 characters killed off in this show. God damn it. Nothing that happens to anyone else in this show besides Jax to a very small degree really matters to me anymore. Gemma needs to die. That was too brutal.
Also, I think it's interesting to note that Jax went through the same ordeal Opie did. His father and his wife were killed by Clay and Gemma, before he had a brutal death. I think Opie's fate is foreshadowing Jax's. Jax will end up dead by the end of next season. So will Juice and Gemma. Hell, I bet Chibs Happy, and Tig will all be dead by the end of the show. Next season will be a bloodbath.
I can't wait for the final season. I think I like this show more than 24. I love the ambivalence of all the characters. For instance, I love how Juice, who wants nothing more than to be a trusted member of the club, is now considered the most untrustworthy member. I empathize with Clay. Yes he did deserve to die, but he was just doing what he felt he had to to survive. You could see the regret and calm acceptance he had when jax killed him. This show is so tragic and so excitingly intense. And now with Tara's brutal death at the hands of his mother no less, Jax is going to go off the deep end. He was already half crazy after Opie. No telling what he will do now.