Jax Teller

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Jax Teller
Sons of Anarchy character
Charlie Hunnam as Jax Teller
First appearance"Pilot" (2008)
Last appearance"Papa's Goods" (2014)
Created byKurt Sutter
Based onPrince Hamlet
Portrayed byCharlie Hunnam
In-universe information
Nicknames
  • Jackie Boy
  • Jackie
  • The Prince
  • Handsome Jack
  • The King
  • Jax
Title
  • Vice President (season 1-5)
    President (season 5-7)[1]
AffiliationSons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club (1995-2014)
Family
John Teller
(father)
  • Gemma Teller Morrow (mother)
  • Clay Morrow (stepfather)
  • Thomas Teller (brother)
  • Trinity Ashby
    (half-sister)
  • Nate Madock (grandfather)
  • Rose Madock (grandmother)
  • Nathaniel Madock (uncle)
Spouses
Thomas Teller

Jackson Nathaniel "Jax" Teller is a fictional character and the

John Teller
, his conflict between wanting to maintain the longevity of his father's organization by reducing the criminal element and his desire to become a law-abiding family man despite increasing levels of violence forms the central conflict of the series.

The character and Hunnam's portrayal have been received positively by critics.[3][4] Hunnam was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor.[5] The character's evolution into a brutal antihero and even villain has been described as both "shocking" and "brilliant".[6] His character is based on Hamlet from William Shakespeare's play of the same name.[7]

Character

Jax Teller was born in 1978 to John and

GED.[9]

Jax is depicted dressing as unconventional compared to traditional bikers, specifically wearing white

Nike Air Force 1 sneakers throughout the series.[10]

In season seven, retired Charming police chief

Wayne Unser describes Jax as, "formidable, as smart as he is dangerous".[11] By the series end, Jax's kill count numbered 46.[12]

Storyline

Season 1

Main article:
Sons of Anarchy (season 1)

In 2008, Jax serves as SAMCRO's Vice President and works as a mechanic at his family-owned automotive repair shop.

Wendy Case; a methamphetamine addict who overdoses and endangers the life of their unborn son Abel, who is born premature. Jax discovers a manuscript by his late father, "The Life and Death of SAM CROW: How the Son's of Anarchy Lost Their Way", in which John describes his growing disillusionment with the chaotic and violent life of the club. His mother Gemma
, discovers that Jax has read the letters and worries that it will drive him away from the club.

Jax renews a relationship with his high-school sweetheart,

Josh Kohn
. After multiple confrontations with Kohn, Jax murders him after he attempts to rape Tara.

In order to continue their gun selling relationship with the

June Stahl attempts to make Opie out to be the federal informant
who ratted on Bobby. Club President and Jax's step-father
Oakland
. However, Tig mistakenly kills Opie's wife Donna in a botched drive-by shooting. Jax rescues the actual informant from being killed by SAMCRO and deduces that Clay is responsible for Donna's death, causing a rift within the club.

Season 2

Main article:
Sons of Anarchy (season 2)

SAMCRO is confronted by the League of American Nationalists (LOAN), a powerful

Half-Sack Epps
and kidnaps Abel.

Season 3

Main article:
Sons of Anarchy (season 3)

Jax and SAMCRO attempt to find Abel and learn he has been taken to

Chibs Telford
kills O'Phelan, and Opie kills Stahl.

Season 4

Main article:
Sons of Anarchy (season 4)

Jax is released after a 14 month prison sentence and returns home to Tara, who has given birth to their son Thomas. Jax reveals to Tara that he plans to leave SAMCRO in good-standing if he backs Clay in a newly brokered deal with the Galindo

Oakland crime boss
Damon Pope. Jax forces Clay to relinquish the Presidency.

Season 5

Main article:
Sons of Anarchy (season 5)

Now President of SAMCRO and with the threat of RICO presently diminished, Jax leads the club in its continued partnership with the cartel while working on a strategy to have other organizations take over their business so that SAMCRO can free itself from criminality. However, Jax, Chibs, and Tig are arrested in relation to Veronica Pope's murder and are transported to county jail along with Opie. There, Pope uses his influence to have a member of SAMCRO killed, resulting in Opie's death. Devastated by the loss of his best friend, Jax reluctantly strikes a deal with Pope and SAMCRO enters into a business relationship with him. Jax grows increasingly violent and his continued attempts to get SAMCRO free of the cartel and gunrunning fails. Jax learns that

Juice Ortiz
was informing law enforcement of SAMCRO's actions and forces him to become completely subservient to him. Jax reveals Clay's actions including the murder of John Teller and Piney Winston, and SAMCRO subsequently excommunicates Clay from the M.C. The vote to kill Clay narrowly passes with only Bobby voting no, causing a rift between him and Jax; and Bobby steps down as Vice President. Jax orchestrates the murder of Damon Pope by Tig and implicates Clay, who is arrested. Tara is arrested after being connected in the murder of a nurse by imprisoned SAMCRO member and informant, Otto Delaney.

Season 6

Main article:
Sons of Anarchy (season 6)

Jax attempts to grow SAMCRO's legal

Eli Roosevelt
, who Juice killed to protect Gemma.

Season 7

Main article:
Sons of Anarchy (season 7)

Following Tara's death, Jax becomes unhinged. Believing Tara's murder to have been committed by the Chinese Triad, he exacts revenge on them and acts violently toward anyone who stands in his way, unraveling the criminal underworld in Northern California in the process. As a result, Jax and SAMCRO go head-to-head with the Triad and, by association, August Marks, resulting in Bobby being killed. Jax forces Juice to get arrested so that he can kill Triad crime boss Henry Lin. Jax has Marks arrested, leads an ambush on Marks' hit squad, and brokers an agreement between the IRA, Aryan Brotherhood, Mayans M.C. and One-Niners. Jax meets with Northwestern Sons of Anarchy presidents and admits to killing Jury White, making a deal to convince SAMCRO to excommunicate and execute him. Juice kills Lin and reveals to Jax that his mother killed Tara and he helped cover it up. Jax has Juice killed, murders Unser and Gemma, gives custody of Abel and Thomas to Wendy, and asks Nero to help get his sons out of Charming and ensure they grow up hating their father. In his last act as SAMCRO's president, he patches-in T.O. Cross, the first African-American SOA member. Jax is then excommunicated from the M.C. by choice and ties up loose ends by killing August Marks and corrupt former cop Charles Barosky. Chibs becomes President of SAMCRO, and the club votes for Jax to meet "Mr. Mayhem" (an execution), but allow him to leave by staging an escape. Jax takes his father's motorcycle, and leads law enforcement on a massive chase on the interstate. Closing his eyes with a smile and bracing himself for death, Jax collides head-on with a semi-truck, dying in a similar way and the same highway as his father before him.

Origins and critical response

In preparation for the role, Hunnam spent time with an outlaw motorcycle club in

Oakland, California and met a 22-year-old member who had spent his entire life raised around the club. Hunnam based Jax's personality and attire on this real life biker, who was killed in a shooting one week into the production of the show's first season.[14]

Teller was named as one of TV's best dads by Dadcentric.com, and they described him as a "brutal

anti-hero" and a "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.[15] 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".[16]

References

  1. ^ "About the show: Sons of Anarchy". FX Networks. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  2. ^ "Hunnam, Glenn and Sagal in FX's Anarchy". Comingsoon.net. 2008-01-11. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  3. ^ Queally, James (10 December 2015). "'Sons of Anarchy' series finale review: I got this". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  4. ^ Mihelich, Charles (1 September 2009). "SONS OF ANARCHY Season One Blu-ray Review". collider.com. Collider. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Ellen Pompeo, Jason Segel and More Major TV Stars Who've Never Been Nominated for an Emmy". usmagazine.com. Us Weekly. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  6. ^ Ross, Dalton (4 December 2014). "Why I hate Jax on 'Sons of Anarchy' and the brilliance of Kurt Sutter". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Sons of Anarchy vs Hamlet: Something is rotten in the state of California". Digital Spy. August 17, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Tyler, Adrienne (19 December 2020). "Sons of Anarchy: How Old Jax Was At The Beginning & End". screenrant.com. Screen Rant.
  9. Out". Sons of Anarchy. Season 4. Episode 1. September 6, 2011. FX
    .
  10. ^ Johns, Nikara (10 December 2014). "'Sons of Anarchy' Series Finale: Chat with Costumer Kelli Jones". footwearnews.com. Footwear News. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  11. Toil and Till". Sons of Anarchy. Season 7. Episode 2. September 16, 2014. FX
    .
  12. ^ Ornos, Riza (13 January 2015). ""Sons of Anarchy" Series Finale: Jax Teller's Body Count, SAMCRO 153 Murders". ibtimes.com.au. International Business Times. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  13. ^ TV.com (August 8, 2010). "Sons of Anarchy - Season 1, Episode 8: The Pull". TV.com. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  14. Huffington Post
    . 3 March 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  15. ^ "TV's Best Dads: Jackson "Jax" Teller". Dadcentric.com. 2009-09-25. Archived from the original on 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  16. ^ "Biker gangs! Guns! Drugs! 'Sons of Anarchy' ups the cable ante - but to what end?". Featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com. 2008-09-02. Archived from the original on 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
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