The Lee Toric Scene That Really Confuses Sons Of Anarchy Fans
Over the course of its seven sweaty-palmed seasons on FX, there wasn't much Kurt Sutter's brutalist biker drama Sons of Anarchy shied away from, fronting as much sex, drug use, and violence as any series that's ever made it to air. Given that the series was focused entirely on the inner workings of a Northern California biker club notorious for indulging in all manner of nefarious acts and illegal doings, it's actually a bit surprising the series didn't feature even more material of that sort. But at its core, Sons of Anarchy was essentially a Shakespearean family drama, about wayward souls whose kinship was sewn in the sound of raging motors, the feel of a furious breeze in your face, and the scent of highway-scorched rubber. Everything else just sort of came with the territory.
So, too, did enemies, because you can't live the way Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and his SAMCRO brothers did without making a few. And while they faced off with some serious baddies on Sons of Anarchy, it's safe to say Lee Toric (Donal Logue) was one of the worst.
Surprisingly, the character didn't make his Sons of Anarchy debut until the series' fifth season. Once entering the fray, however, the former US Marshal more than left his mark on the narrative, torturing and testing the SAMCRO brothers in ways few foes had, before meeting his own vicious end in a season 6 shocker. Even as Toric's vicious Sons of Anarchy exit seemed more than fitting, a season 5 scene that found the man reading quietly in his hotel room next to a substantial cache of weapons continues to perplex SoA fandom — as it clearly alluded to the possibility that the big, bad Lee Toric likely had a much grander, more violent end in mind.
Lee Toric was apparently supposed to meet a much different end on Sons of Anarchy
As a brief refresher, Toric met his end on paper, and on screen, at the hands of his old pal (and SoA creator) Kurt Sutter, whose Otto Delaney did the deed via shiv to the neck. As suitable as that end seemed, though, fans continue to debate what might've been for Toric, as signaled by that hotel scene.
The debate continues to rage on Reddit, where user snoozeflu posted about searching for answers regarding what, exactly, Toric was planning with his arsenal. "What was the point of all that weaponry then? Was he supposed to go out in some kind of blaze of glory or something?"
User FlokiWolf answered the question with a simple "Yes," before adding that extenuating circumstances (I.E., Logue landing a starring role on History's Vikings) led the actor to an earlier series exit than expected. "I believe he was supposed to be there for at least the whole series but the actor got a role on Vikings." The fact was confirmed by PunterProggie, who cited the Sons of Anarchy wiki page, quoting: "Donal Logue had a 10 episode contract with the series, but only appeared in seven episodes because he was promoted to a series regular on Vikings and had to be written out early." The same post suggested that, according to Sutter's Season 6 DVD Box Set, there was going to be a subplot involving Toric having Huntington's Disease, an abandoned plan that was confirmed by Sutter himself in an interview with Vulture.
It is, obviously, a serious downer that Sons of Anarchy fans never got to see that "blaze of glory" style shootout, but those who also saw Logue's work as King Horik on Vikings know his choice to leave SoA early was probably the right one.