Clay's Death In Sons Of Anarchy Gives Some Fans Mixed Feelings
Nobody on "Sons of Anarchy" is perfect. Pretty much every individual seen on the hit FX series has committed some devious act, whether it's cheating, theft, or murder. However, one individual has more heinous crimes under his belt than most –- SAMCRO president Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman).
Prior to the events of the show, it's Clay who strategically causes the demise of then-president John Teller, the father of Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and husband of Gemma Teller Morrow (Katey Sagal). Clay wants to run SAMCRO and take things in a seedier direction than John intended. Early on in "Sons of Anarchy," Jax discovers his late father's true intentions for SAMCRO thanks to a series of letters that he penned. These letters are unnerving for Clay, who will do anything –- like killing Piney Winston (William Lucking) and putting a hit on Tara Knowles (Maggie Siff) –- to keep them as private as possible.
In Season 6, Episode 11 ("Aon Rud Persanta"), the men of SAMCRO decide that Clay must meet Mr. Mayhem, and Jax shoots him in the throat as Gemma watches in horror. The gruesome scene is then made to look as though Clay had gotten into a deadly scuffle with the Irish. It's easy to assume that fans are happy over Clay's death. No longer can he negatively affect the happenings of Charming. However, viewers' feelings toward this loss aren't so cut and dry.
Fans feel Clay deserved to die, but missed his presence afterward
Many fans agree that, at some point, Clay Morrow needed to die on "Sons of Anarchy." In fact, some feel that he should've met Mr. Mayhem several seasons earlier after taking the life of Piney. U/thesilvertoaster wanted to see Piney's son Opie Winston (Ryan Hurst) avenge him. Not only did the SAMCRO president kill Opie's father, but Clay's targeted hit on Opie accidentally took the life of his wife Donna (Sprague Grayden). This user said, "It would have been so much more satisfying if Opie just gunned Clay down..."
On the other hand, some fans knew his demise would come, but still felt bad when it did. U/crushedfeelings wrote, "He did horrible stuff but I always get a bit emotional right before Jax shoots him. It's the way he looks at Gemma one last time." Several fans agreed that "Sons of Anarchy" didn't feel the same without Clay. U/doggfoodandchronic said, "Clay was super hateable throughout the series but you can't help but miss him and want him to escape death."
Some, like u/h0rrorsh0rty, expressed their wish that Clay had more of a redemption arc. In Ron Perlman's opinion, Clay does experience one in the final seconds of his life, when he glances over at Gemma one last time. He said in an interview with EW, "She's responsible for all of this. She's the one who tagged Clay to kill John Teller. Everybody knows it. And he's going out, looking at her going, 'I love you. I'm not mad at you. I wouldn't change a thing.' That's the redemption."