VivaVibe

50. Milo is behind the wheel

''Papa's Goods'' (Season 7, Episode 13)
The series finale wasn't really designed for shock value (unless you count Barosky's bakery actually having patrons when Jax walked in to execute the rat in broad daylight). Instead, it was about producing a series of heartaches as fans watched Jax prepare himself, his family, and his club for his greatest sacrifice (''I got this,'' he told the guys before riding off). Some fans predicted he'd commit suicide on his father's bike, but they still likely gasped when they saw it was Milo (The Shield's Michael Chiklis) driving the approaching truck. If Gemma (Katey Sagal) hadn't asked him for a ride to her father's nursing home the previous day, maybe he wouldn't have been there at that exact moment. The collision was fated. —Mandi Bierly

49. Chibs and Jarry have sex in front of Quinn

''What a Piece of Work Is Man'' (Season 7, Episode 9)
We've seen our share of steamy sex scenes, but none quite like this: After Bobby's death, Chibs (Tommy Flanagan) had another secret parking garage meet with Sheriff Althea Jarry (Annabeth Gish) to ask her to move on arresting Marks for the preacher's murder. Jarry wanted to solve another mystery first: Was their hookup a mistake? ''If it's 'no,' take me. Right here,'' she told Chibs. And so he did. Right on the hood of her police car as Quinn sat on his bike nearby and watched. —Mandi Bierly

48. Gemma suggests Wendy turn to Jesus

''Pilot'' (Season 1, Episode 1)
After seven seasons of Sons, it's quaint to think that we were once surprised by the lengths Gemma would go in the name of ''protecting her family.'' But back in the simpler times of the pilot, watching Gemma hand her grandson's mother a syringe of heroin with the implicit directive to kill herself? That established the matriarch as a player with all the subtlety of a steel pipe to the head. —Neil Janowitz

47. Jax sets Tig up, for real

''Poenitentia'' (Season 6, Episode 3)
After seeing Jax save Tig (Kim Coates) more than once, you expected him to do it again. But when he needed to keep Clay alive in Stockton to help negotiate SAMCRO's out with the Irish, Jax really did give Marks the address where he could find Tig alone. According to an EW.com poll, 63 percent of viewers thought Tig would die. Jax was also surprised when Tig showed up at his door the next morning. —Mandi Bierly

46. Stahl kills Agent Tyler

''June Wedding'' (Season 3, Episode 12)
We'd seen Stahl be shrewd in her moves before to salvage her career (like tossing that gun at Gemma to frame her for the murder of Edmond Hayes). But shooting her own lover, Agent Tyler, in the neck and blaming it on the Mayans confirmed Stahl is chillingly deceptive. —Teresa Jue

45. Carla goes out with a bang

''Small World'' (Season 5, Episode 6)
Nero's half-sister Carla demanded, at gunpoint, that Gemma perform oral sex on Nero. When Nero (Jimmy Smits) told Carla she was just going to have to shoot him, Carla couldn't. ''I'm sorry. I just wanted to go out watching you do your thing,'' she said. And then she shot herself in the head. She'd been in love with Nero and seeing him with Gemma stirred everything up. To make matters worse, she stopped taking her meds. All of this came together for a truly disturbing end to Carla's character. —Mandi Bierly

44. Kozik blows up

''Call of Duty'' (Season 4, Episode 11)
Kozik's last words were very appropriate: ''Oh, you gotta be s---in' me!'' He stepped on a land mine during SAMCRO's misdirected retaliation for the Lobos cartel's alleged attempt on Tara's life and was promptly blown to bits, with a chunk of his arm landing in front of Juice (Theo Rossi). Lesson learned: Never leave Tacoma for Charming. —Teresa Jue

43. Jax shoots Venus' mom

''Sweet and Vaded'' (Season 6, Episode 7)
Even the characters in the scene were stunned when Jax abruptly ended Alice's lengthy tirade about how Venus' son would grow up hating her and her lies, hating the life she'd forced him into, and hating himself. At the time, those words sounded like they were coming from Tara. In hindsight, we see they could be foreshadowing the inevitable showdown between Jax and Gemma, who wouldn't let him break the cycle of violence. —Mandi Bierly

42. Otto, we learn, is being raped daily in prison

''Straw'' (Season 6, Episode 1)
A smirking Toric stops by Otto's cell in solitary to inform him that, while he may not be seeing him around for a while, ''My friends who have been visiting you every morning, they'll keep coming.'' All Otto can do is weep. —Mandi Bierly

41. SAMCRO gets Opie and Lyla a murder montage as a wedding present

''Out'' (Season 4, Episode 1)
Few shows do musical montages as well as Sons, and the season 4 premiere closed with a brutal-but-beautiful one. While happy couple Lyla and Opie danced to an Alison Mosshart-sung cover of ''What a Wonderful World'' (a sweet standard that was actually cowritten by SOA music supervisor/composer Bob Thiele Jr.'s father), what executive producer/director Paris Barclay would call a ''ballet of death'' unfolded as SAMCRO and Otto retaliated against the Russians and severed ties. —Mandi Bierly

40. Venus Van Dam makes her entrance

''Orca Shrugged'' (Season 5, Episode 5)
A transgender escort was hired when the club needed to stage some incriminating photos for blackmail purposes. But the real shock was that Justified's wonderful Walton Goggins was playing her (viewers didn't even know he was guest-starring on the show). It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with Tig. —Mandi Bierly

39. The Irish blow up the clubhouse

''The Mad King'' (Season 6, Episode 5)
The club almost paid the ultimate price for Jax's insistence on making big calls on his own, like pressuring the racist Irish Kings to accept Marks as SAMCRO's heir to the gun trade after Galen took out Filthy Phil and V-Lin. The Irish told Jax to have a full table at 8 p.m.; Jax luckily spotted a shamrock pen on the bar at 7:58 p.m., giving them two minutes to evacuate before a massive explosion. —Mandi Bierly

38. Jax may or may not kill Tara, the rat

''A Mother's Work'' (Season 6, Episode 13)
Which was the bigger surprise in the conversation that made EW's 50 best scenes of 2013: That Charlie Hunnam and Maggie Siff were able to convince viewers that Jax really did want Tara dead after she agreed to turn on him, or that there was a man behind Jax's intimidating, impenetrable glare who was willing to sacrifice his freedom so that his wife could leave Charming and save their sons from his life? —Mandi Bierly

37. Alvarez allows his son to be killed

''Hell Followed'' (Season 1, Episode 9)
It must suck to be the second-rate son of a powerful outlaw, especially when the outlaw code demands that Daddy lets his son die for a few mistakes. After a botched Mayan assassination attempt on Clay, Clay asked for a Mayan life as part of the peace offering. Mayan president Marcus Alvarez's chilling decision to have his incompetent son Esai killed wasn't just cold because Happy used an ice pick. It was cold because Alvarez suggested they get churros right before his death! Churros! —Teresa Jue

36. Clay castrates a carny rapist

''Fun Town'' (Season 1, Episode 3)
Doling out justice for the father of a 13-year-old rape victim, Clay cut off the attacker's balls in the woods and let him bleed out. According to FX Network's CEO John Landgraf, whether the audience would see said balls—which were ultimately mailed to her father—actually hitting the ground was the subject of a ''huge knockout, drag-down fight'' with creator Kurt Sutter. ''Kurt insisted that you had to actually see it, and I insisted that sound effects and context would provide it,'' Landgraf told EW. If you've seen the episode, you know that Kurt won that argument. —Mandi Bierly

35. Tara lets Otto masturbate

''Andare Pescare'' (Season 5, Episode 9)
In an attempt to get Otto to recant his testimony in the RICO case against the club, Tara took some of Luann's perfume with her to the prison and dabbed some on her wrist for him to smell. Fine. But then he asked her to place her hand on his head so he could feel a woman's touch on him one more time...while he masturbated. Otto quickly broke down in tears, which made the scene oddly heartbreaking. Less understandable? Tara later sniffing the perfume at home and touching herself while she waited for Jax to return. —Mandi Bierly

34. Jax tells Gemma how to regain Tara's trust

''Ablation'' (Season 5, Episode 8)
Not wanting to admit to Tara and Jax that she was high when she got herself and their boys in a car accident, Gemma followed Clay's lead and told them she'd been run off the road by a van. After the truth came out, Jax told her the only way she'd ever be allowed near him or his family again was if she got close to Clay and slept with him so the secrets would start flowing again—then she could help Jax prove Clay was behind the home invasions in Charming and the attack on him and Chibs. To recap, this is a son asking his mother, who was finally in a healthy relationship with Nero, to return to her ultra-abusive ex. —Mandi Bierly

33. Clay kills Piney

''Family Recipe'' (Season 4, Episode 8)
Trying to blackmail Clay into killing the cartel deal, Piney (William Lucking) claimed to have JT's letters that said he feared Clay and Gemma would kill him. Clay visited Piney at his cabin, pretended he intended to cooperate, left, and then shoved his way back inside. The confrontation ended with Clay shooting Piney in the chest with his own shotgun and smearing Piney's blood on a photo of the First 9 to make it look like a rival cartel was to blame. It was then that we knew what Clay was capable of. —Mandi Bierly

32. Galindo is backed by the CIA, so Clay lives

''To Be, Act 2'' (Season 4, Episode 14)
Going into the season 4 finale, only 19 percent of EW.com readers believed Clay would live to see season 5. So some fans were as disappointed as Tara was to learn that the Galindo cartel was backed by the CIA, which meant Jax had to make sure the cartel's deal with the Irish went through. Since the Irish would only work with Clay, Jax had to let the man he knew had his father killed—who'd murdered Piney, tried to put a hit out on Tara, and had severely beaten Gemma—live. Instead of killing Clay with the blood thinner Tara provided, and driving her and the boys away from Charming as planned, Jax took Clay's president's patch and his seat at the head of the table. —Mandi Bierly

31. Juice kills Darvany under Jax's orders

''One One Six'' (Season 6, Episode 2)
Afraid that the school shooter's distraught, drug-dependent mother would snap and talk to the authorities about where her son got a gun, Jax had Juice suffocate her—and Juice did it with dead eyes. Just as upsetting, Jax lied to Nero's face and blamed it on bad drugs. —Mandi Bierly

30. Jax's got this

''Small World'' (Season 5, Episode 6)
Did we want to see the sergeant who'd orchestrated Opie's death match pay? Yes. But again, Jax is frightening. Such was the case when he, Tig, Chibs, and Bobby discovered the man's wife was also at home. ''This one's a problem,'' Bobby said about the woman. ''No, she's not,'' Tig responded, and he shot her in the head. After allowing the sergeant the chance to beg for his life—even though Jax had no intention of negotiating—Jax repeated Opie's words: ''I got this.'' He wound the music globe and circled the sergeant with Chibs and Tig as it played. Then Jax struck him nine times. It's a level of savagery we'd sadly see again. —Mandi Bierly

29. Jax shoots Jury in front of everyone

''The Separation of Crows,'' (Season 7, Episode 8)
Fans had been awaiting the Western showdown since the second episode of season 7 when Jax had a young man, who turned out to be Jury's son, killed as part of his covert mission to destroy Henry Lin. It was full of twists: Jury told Jax that he wasn't the one who ratted to Lin—and he suggested that John Teller essentially committed suicide because JT would've known if something was wrong with his bike. Jax threw a punch, Jury fell and reached for his gun, and Jax shot him in the head. Jax initially argued self-defense, but after confirming Jury wasn't a rat, he agreed he'd pulled the trigger too quickly. A forum of charter presidents would later demand a Mayhem vote. In the series finale, Jax made sure SAMCRO gave it to them. —Mandi Bierly

28. Jax saves Tig, frames Clay

''J'ai Obtenu Cette'' (Season 5, Episode 13)
Tig wasn't the only one who genuinely believed that Jax was turning him over to Damon Pope in the season 5 finale. Jax took Tig to an isolated location and pulled a gun on his brother. Once Pope and his men took Tig inside, Jax took out another gun, shot the man who was supposed to be watching him, and ran inside to—thankfully—get to Tig before Pope executed him. Jax handed Tig the weapon and told him to do the honors. ''Stupid cracker bitch. You know what happens to whoever kills me, right?'' Pope said. 'I'm countin' on it,'' Jax answered. It wasn't until after he fired that Tig realized the gun was Clay's. —Mandi Bierly

27. Jax finally kills Clay as everyone looks on

''Aon Rud Persanta'' (Season 6, Episode 11)
Viewers had been rooting for this moment for two seasons. So, while Jax's creative play was a twist to be admired—they'd say Galen and Clay had a disagreement that turned fatal for both of them—the astonishing thing is that fans actually felt for Clay. Credit the fragility in Ron Perlman's voice when he asked, ''This good?'' as he became a dead man walking. Clay locked eyes with Gemma through the blinds, and then Jax fired at his throat. —Mandi Bierly

26. Jax shoots up Wendy

''Darthy'' (Season 5, Episode 12)
Sure, Wendy threatened to report Abel's old kidnapping and her own recent experience as a hostage to seek custody. But she was willing to have a calm conversation with Jax when he stopped by her place. Instead, he practically choked her as he held her against a wall and pumped her full of heroin so he could demand a drug test and discredit her. Doing that to someone who has recovered from addiction and turned her life around? Even Tara thought Jax had gone too far in protecting his family. —Mandi Bierly

25. Juice kills Miles

''With an X'' (Season 4, Episode 6)
Juice's original sin may have been deciding to work with Sheriff Roosevelt rather than disclose the race of his biological father to the club, but the point of no return for FX's most hapless character can be traced back to this moment: Miles caught Juice, who was supposed to get a sample of the cocaine the club was muling, with the missing kilo. Juice charged Miles, took a bullet in the leg, grabbed the gun, and ultimately fired five shots at his head. The comic relief who once donned a diaper on the show was now sporting a brother's blood on his face. He'd try (and fail) to hang himself the next episode, but he was essentially dying a slow death from then on. By the time he chose death at the hands of Tully (Marilyn Manson) in season 7's penultimate episode, ''Red Rose,'' it was practically a mercy killing. Truly, RIP, Juicey. —Mandi Bierly

24. A shooting victim's father lashes out

''Los Fantasmas'' (Season 6, Episode 8)
We've seen a lot of blood on Sons, but only the chunk-filled splatter of this hit-and-run made us phone the show's special effects supervisor, Chris Nelson, to find out how he did it. Equally gory was the driver, a father grieving a child killed in the school shooting, stabbing himself in the throat with a large kitchen knife before he could be arrested. —Mandi Bierly

23. David Hale dies outside Half-Sack's wake

''So'' (Season 3, Episode 1)
The manner of the deputy's death was itself sudden—the guy got run over during a shoot-out that didn't even involve him. What made it all the more surprising was the fact that Hale had been increasingly positioned for an entire season as both a principled foil and conflicted ally to the Sons, with every indication being that his role would continue to grow. (Then we learned that the actor, Taylor Sheridan, simply wanted off the show.) —Neil Janowitz

22. Otto stabs a nurse with a crucifix

''Crucifixed'' (Season 5, Episode 10)
Otto manipulated Tara into bringing him his mother's crucifix, which he'd given to his late wife Luann, only to use it to stab an innocent prison nurse to death. He was no longer going to rat on the club, but he wanted to hurt Jax, who'd failed to protect Luann. (Tara later being arrested as an accomplice would do that, too.) —Teresa Jue

21. Otto bites off his own tongue, throws it

''J'ai Obtenu Cette'' (Season 5, Episode 13)
It may be the most surprising end to a TV interrogation scene ever—not to mention one of the most gruesome pieces of self-inflicted violence on the show. Otto was asked to state his name and instead bit his own tongue until he severed it. He then tossed it at the window and effectively at Toric, the brother of the nurse he killed. As Toric put it, ''Well, way to commit, Otto.'' No kidding. —Teresa Jue

20. Gemma holds a gun to a baby's head in Ireland

''Bainne'' (Season 3, Episode 11)
It probably wouldn't take long to list all the times in the history of film and TV when a gun has been held to a baby's head. Forget, if you can, the implication that Gemma figured the people running the orphanage would care more about the babies in their care than about their own lives and pointed the gun accordingly, which is pitch-dark. Ultimately, it's the visual of a grown woman calmly holding a pistol to the head of a baby that really rattles the spirit. —Neil Janowitz

19. Stahl is dead, and Jax isn't a rat

''NS'' (Season 3, Episode 13)
Not all shocking moments are bad. Some are just supremely satisfying, such as Unser halting Stahl's transport of Jimmy O'Phelan, and offering her a drag on his medical marijuana. ''You should really have some,'' he said. Seconds later we found out why—he was working with SAMCRO to give Chibs a chance to slice-and-dice Jimmy O and to give Opie an opportunity to kill the woman who'd been behind his set-up as a rat and his wife Donna's accidental death. Viewers thought Jax was a dead man since Stahl had informed the club he'd made a deal when she had them arrested and grabbed Jimmy.

But wait! Cut to the prospects driving past the paddy wagon tooting their horns, and Clay and Jax smiling at each other while the other guys started to laugh—the club had been in on the plan. As Gemma read a letter from Jax assuring her he'd never turn away from his club or family like his father had, Tara read his father's secret old letters to his Irish mistress predicting Gemma and Clay would soon have him killed. —Mandi Bierly

18. Kyle Hobart chooses fire

''Giving Back'' (Season 1, Episode 5)
This episode's Kyle-related surprises came in a two-for-one deal. First was the reversal following Kyle and Opie's fight-and-forgive session, when things abruptly went from good (the pair made peace via fisticuffs in a gymnasium) to bad (someone spotted the SAMCRO ink that Kyle was supposed to have blacked out). Then came the shocking lesson in motorcycle club tattoo-removal protocol: ''Fire or knife?'' —Neil Janowitz

17. Jax kills Kohn, then has sex with Tara next to his dead body

''The Pull'' (Season 1, Episode 8)
Jax was defending Tara's honor when he shot her ex-turned-stalker and attempted rapist Kohn in the head. It was a simple enough death for SOA, all things considered. However, it got real weird when Jax and Tara rekindled their romance next to Kohn's corpse. The completely inopportune moment hinted at the wild dysfunction that would ensue in subsequent seasons. —Teresa Jue

16. Gemma and Clay are forced to have a real conjugal

''The Mad King'' (Season 6, Episode 5)
Needing to communicate with Jax about the Irish, Clay arranged for a conjugal with Gemma because those rooms aren't tapped. The problem came when the two guards insisted Gemma and Clay have sex so they could watch and get off—or one of them would do it. Clay was willing to take a beating, but Gemma told him to just do it. As one guard demanded she kiss Clay and the other instructed her to undress, Clay put his head to hers and whispered, ''I'm so sorry.'' You believed him. Director Gwyneth Horder-Payton told EW she cried filming the scene. —Mandi Bierly

15. Abel overhears Gemma's confession

''Greensleeves'' (Season 7, Episode 7)
Entering the final season, the two looming questions were When will Jax find out Gemma is the one who killed Tara? and How will he respond? No one anticipated that Abel would learn the truth first, overhearing Gemma's tearful confession to Thomas about the ''accident'' before she left for the cabin, where she believed she might be killed. In episode 10, Abel would cut his own arm with a fork and blame it on Grandma. Jax decided to tell Abel that Wendy was his first mommy. That decision brought down Gemma Teller: ''So is that why Grandma killed my other mommy, so my first mommy could be here with me?'' Abel later asked. —Mandi Bierly

14. The Chinese stage a slaughter at Diosa

''Poor Little Lambs'' (Season 7, Episode 4)
Having learned that SAMCRO was behind Lin's missing heroin, guns, and men, the Chinese retaliated by murdering 16 people at Diosa. Though the bullets were fired off-camera, the blood-drenched crime scene was so horrifying, you felt as though you were an eyewitness. —Mandi Bierly

13. Jax kills the man Gemma blamed for Tara's murder

''Black Widower'' (Season 7, Episode 1)
Jax's calculated torture and poetic forking of Lin Triad member Chris Dun is the show at its most savage. Still, it's made all the more disturbing by Gemma waiting with the innocent, bound-and-gagged man she's condemned to death in the kitchen. She talks, as if to Tara, while doing dishes, and when Jax and the guys arrive, she tells Jax that he's all set. Mother and son exchange a kiss and a goodbye like he's a child and this bloodletting is what he needs instead of warm milk before bed. —Mandi Bierly

12. Clay bites off a man's nose

''John 8:32'' (Season 6, Episode 9)
Ron Perlman will tell you this is one of his favorite scenes, and rightfully so, since he literally got to chew the scenery. Needing to get into the prison psych ward, Clay decided to disrupt the inmates' Bible revival with a memorable sermon of his own: ''You know what God gave me, brother? You know what sets me free? P---y. Sweet, holy p---y!'' There was dancing and many more uses of the word p---y before the guards asked Clay to sit down. Instead, he bit off a guard's nose and spit it out before continuing to maniacally preach with his bloodied mouth as he was taken to the ground. It's the most gloriously over-the-top scene—including the show's porn parodies. —Mandi Bierly

11. Marks shoots Bobby

''What a Piece of Work Is Man'' (Season 7, Episode 9)
Kurt Sutter told EW that the club's unity in season 7 would be both a blessing and a curse. Jax didn't expect their loyalty to be used against him, but it was—when Marks responded to the club's blackmail attempt by having his security team kidnap Bobby, gouge out his eye with a grapefruit spoon, and deliver it to Jax with Bobby's patch and a video of the assault.

In the previous episode, ''The Separation of Crows,'' Jax made the mistake of thinking Marks' demands were negotiable: This time, Bobby lost the fingers on his clutch hand—a fate even crueler since now Bobby, the club member fans always assumed was the safest, wouldn't be able to ride. Finally, Marks was set to return Bobby, whose jaw was freshly broken for the occasion. Why? So he couldn't warn Jax that Marks had hidden a gun on him. Marks pointed it at Jax, but then abruptly turned it on Bobby. And the longest-standing member of SAMCRO was gone. —Mandi Bierly

10. Abel is kidnapped

''Na Triobloidi'' (Season 2, Episode 13)
You knew things had really gone off the rails when the death of a likable character was the least surprising moment in a given scene. Which isn't to say that Half-Sack's death wasn't shocking; after all, nothing about his arc had him marked for death (which, of course, is what had him marked for death). It's just that his fatal stabbing was sandwiched between Cameron Hayes holding a knife to the throat of wee baby Abel, and the Irishman then kidnapping the kid. Of course, Hayes seemed just as surprised to be stealing the tot as we were to watch him do it. —Neil Janowitz

9. Tara fakes a miscarriage

''Sweet and Vaded'' (Season 6, Episode 7)
How do you top the insanity of faking a pregnancy? By slamming your pelvis into your desk so that a blood bag underneath your dress will burst and you can claim that your mother-in-law kicked you in the stomach and caused you to lose your baby. It's a low to which no one expected Tara to sink—and a sign of how truly desperate (and Gemma-like) she'd become. —Mandi Bierly

8. Tig kills Donna

''The Sleep of Babies'' (Season 1, Episode 12)
Tig pulled the ultimate ''oops'' when he riddled Opie's wife, Donna, with bullets meant for Opie, who Clay believed was a rat. What's worse is that Clay found out Opie had been framed by Agent Stahl and called off the hit—but Tig didn't have his cell phone with him to get the call. —Teresa Jue

7. Clay beats up Gemma

''Hands'' (Season 4, Episode 10)
Clay and Gemma's marital problems culminated in a brutal show of violence after they each threatened to reveal a truth to Jax: Gemma knew Clay had ordered the hit on Tara that had just left her with a severely injured hand, and Clay held it over Gemma that she was complicit in the murder of Jax's father. Gemma fired a shot and threw the first punch, but Clay delivered a searing beatdown that made Gemma's bruised face nearly unrecognizable. Perlman took a lot of heat for the scene, including from his own mother. —Teresa Jue

6. Tig's daughter Dawn is burned alive

''Sovereign'' (Season 5, Episode 1)
Believing the Niners (not Opie) shot Clay, Tig had targeted them, and the daughter of gangster Damon Pope was killed in the process. In retaliation, Pope had Tig's daughter Dawn thrown into a pit and Tig chained close enough to watch helplessly as gasoline was poured on her. ''Know my pain, Mr. Trager,'' Pope said. Then he tossed in the cigar he'd been smoking. Watching the flames engulf her was horrifying, but hearing her scream ''Daddy!'' for the last time earned this death a spot in our list of the Most Disturbing TV Scenes Ever. —Mandi Bierly

5. Gemma kills Tara

''A Mother's Work'' (Season 6, Episode 13)
It's one of the most gruesome deaths in TV history: A lit-up Gemma, who thinks Tara ratted on Jax, beats Tara, tries to drown her in the kitchen sink, and stabs her in the head with a carving fork six times. What made it even more upsetting was the smile Tara had on her face when she entered the house—like her, we let ourselves believe for just a moment that she was finally going to be free of Gemma and Charming. Who expected her to die when Sheriff Roosevelt was waiting outside? (Bonus aftershock: Juice shot and killed Roosevelt as he tried to call in the murder.) —Mandi Bierly

4. Opie's got this

''Laying Pipe'' (Season 5, Episode 3)
It remains the series' most devastating moment: Pope orchestrated the arrests of Jax, Chibs, and Tig, while Opie punched Sheriff Roosevelt to get himself booked so he could ''stay close.'' Pope demanded that Tig spend his life in prison suffering and that one Son die inside. When it was time for Jax to pick the Son that would face four inmates, Opie started another fight so the guards would take him. ''I got this,'' Opie said—three words Sons fans will never forget.

Equally memorable: Though only Jax, Chibs, and Tig were in the scene itself, Ryan Hurst famously asked that all of his SAMCRO brothers stand in his sight line when Opie received the fatal blow to his head from a pipe. Hurst told EW, ''I wanted everybody to stand behind the camera for the last shot so I could look at them. If you look at that last shot of Opie, he is just looking at all my brothers, and saying...'Thank you.''' —Mandi Bierly

3. Gemma is raped

''Albification'' (Season 2, Episode 1)
Gemma was tricked, kidnapped, bound to a chain fence, and then repeatedly violated by three masked white supremacists who threatened to attack her again if she didn't tell Clay to stop dealing guns to the Mayans and the Niners. (She didn't, of course, until later in the season, when she realized plotting retaliation was the only thing that could unite Clay and Jax.) Along with Opie's death, it's a scene that's too painful to watch twice. —Mandi Bierly

2. The school shooting

''Straw'' (Season 6, Episode 1)
An 11-year-old walked into his Catholic school with a gun that could be traced back to SAMCRO and opened fire, killing four and injuring nine off-camera. Some viewers considered it a sucker punch from a series known for its pulpy adrenalized drama, but Sons doesn't do violence in a vacuum. In an interview with EW, Sutter described what is, sadly, perhaps the show's most relatable tragedy as ''the final straw in [the club's] relationship with the gun business and the domino that takes us to a fairly tragic and epic conclusion.''—Mandi Bierly

1. Jax shoots Unser

''Red Rose'' (Season 7, Episode 12)
This moment earns the top spot because, for many fans, it did the impossible: It made them stop rooting for Jax Teller. After putting a bullet in Unser's chest, it was clear that Jax was there to kill his mother—and a son can't recover from that (even if she told him to do it because that's who they are). —Mandi Bierly

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