From 2008 to 2014, FX aired its original biker series Sons of Anarchy. For seven seasons, Sons of Anarchy follows Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) as he navigates motorcycle club SAMCRO, to which he has complicated familial ties. The club finds itself dabbling in both legal and illegal practices, often leading to tension amongst its members. The unlawful business practices led to a spin-off entitled Mayans M.C. and introduce a string of unorthodox characters that can be hard to root for.
Throughout Sons of Anarchy, it's impossible to find a character who is not marked by some form of tragedy brought by the club's activities. As the focal character, Jax endures a lot of pain, but almost all of them can be traced back to his own blindspots with his family. Among those marked by tragedy is Jax's best friend, Opie Winston (Ryan Hurst). Unlike Jax, Opie largely suffers because of someone else's actions, not his own. This makes Opie's fate one of the most upsetting to air on television.
It's not unheard of for a series, movie, or book to kill off a beloved character for plot progression, to complete a character arc, or simply shock value (Game of Thrones has examples that would fit any of this criterion). For Opie, death was the only thing that could bring his character to a proper end. Knowing that Opie wouldn't have been happy any other way, doesn't make his fate any easier to accept or less heartbreaking to watch.
Opie isn't a character that gets a substantial amount of screentime in his five seasons. Despite that, Opie endures an unfair amount of loss during his time on the show. In season one, Opie returns from a five-year prison sentence caused by a club explosion that went wrong. After his lengthy prison sentence because of the club, his wife Donna heavily opposes his consideration of rejoining the club. Like Jax, Opie has familial ties to the club. His father, Piney Winston, has been a long-standing member of the club and was good friends with Jax's father before his death. After trying his hand at an ordinary job, Opie is reminded by Jax that he can't expect to find happiness in something that's in his blood. This realization leads Opie to rejoin SAMCRO.
Opie's choice to rejoin SAMCRO sends his life in a downward spiral that never ends. Desperate to catch the club for their illegal business (and put away their Irish dealers), ATF Agent June Stahl frames Opie as a rat. Convinced Opie is selling club secrets to the feds, SAMCRO President Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) sends Tig Trager (Kim Coates) to kill Opie. This plan backfires once Donna and Opie switch cars at the last second, resulting in Tig killing Donna by mistake.
In season two, Opie continues to grieve the loss of his wife. Aside from Tig and Clay, no other club member is aware of the internal damage they have caused. Eventually, Opie begins to date Lyla, who has business ties with the club. By season three, Opie has learned the truth about what happened to his wife and attempts to finally put Donna to rest by killing the ATF Agent that framed him, leading to her death. Believing that Donna is behind him, Opie marries Lyla in the first episode of season four. Despite his marriage to Lyla and commitment to their three children (one of Lyla's own and Opie and Donna's two children) Opie's grief continues to get in the way, and his relationship with Lyla begins to crumble.
Opie's biggest issue in Sons of Anarchy's fourth season isn't the state of his romantic relationship, but the relationship he has with the club. Following the tension that has grown between Piney and Clay all season, Opie arrives at Piney's cabin and finds his father shot to death. Shortly after, he learns that Clay is responsible for his father's death. Furious that Clay has not only killed his wife but now his father, Opie tries to kill Clay and lands a few shots before he is ultimately stopped by Jax.
In Opie's final season, he suffers from the losses of Donna and his father and his failed relationship with Lyla. Jax once again attempts to lure Opie back into the club but Opie refuses to take part in the same organization as the man who killed so many members of his family. Opie does eventually return to the club and does so at the moment Jax, Tig, and Chibs (Tommy Flanagan) are being arrested. Wishing to be with his brothers, Opie punches the sheriff to get himself locked up with his brothers.
While in prison, Jax is forced to make a deal with the Sons' latest foe, Damon Pope. Tig unknowingly killed Pope's daughter, fueling Pope's personal vengeance against the Sons. Pope wants Tig to remain in prison so that he can torture him for as long as he wishes. With the additional deaths the Sons have caused him, Pope pressures Jax into choosing one of his other brothers to die. Unable to make the choice, Jax intends to offer himself to the fight to the death but before he can, Opie assaults the prison sergeant, prompting the guards to pull Opie into the fight instead. Opie's final words to Jax, Tig, and Chibs are "I got this," which are repeated throughout the series following his death. The three members are forced to watch through the glass as Opie is viciously beaten by four other prisoners.
After all the club has taken from him, it's heartbreaking to see Opie lose his own life for SAMCRO. One of Opie's most admirable traits being his loyalty, which is the reason he returned to prison in the first place. Had he not punched the sheriff, Opie wouldn't have been an option to be killed in prison. Opie's death is not heartbreaking solely because of the grief the club has caused him but because of his own mentality. He grew even more distant from his children and found himself unable to devote himself to other relationships because of his guilt over Donna's death. As unhappy as he was, this sacrifice was Opie's final way to save his family from his own misery by hurting them any further while protecting his chosen family in the club (particularly Jax). Knowing this was Opie's only shot at happiness gives his death scene an entirely new form of heartbreak.
All seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy are now streaming on Hulu.