‘Sons of Anarchy’ Creator Kurt Sutter Addresses Maureen Ashby Plot Hole

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has addressed a long believed plot hole in the iconic motorcycle gang series, involving Maureen Ashby. Played by actress Paula Malcolmson, Ashby only appeared in Season 3 of the series. Her character had previously had an affair with Jax’s father — John Teller — and at the end of the season she secretly hid some letters in his bag, that told the truth about who John really was as a person.

On Instagram, Sutter shared a question from a fan, who asked, “Why wasn’t there any blowback to Maureen Ashby for the destruction she caused by giving the letters to Jax indirectly?” Sutter replied to the question, and explained that, unfortunately, sometimes minor things like that can’t be prioritized in the telling of a story. “There were so many story reveals and mythology tethers in that season. It was impossible to give screen time to every cause and effect. We tried to focus in the ones we knew would play out in future seasons.”

In addition to creating Sons of Anarchy, Sutter also created the show’s hit spinoff, Mayans M.C., which was renewed for a third season last year. Sutter, however, will not be involved, as he was fired from the show ahead of the announcement. Sutter later sat down with Deadline to discuss his firing, in which he shared the very thing he believes led to the network letting him go. “Here’s what I did wrong on the studio network side, the reason why I had to go away. It all started with a joke,” he said. “And not a very good one.”

“There was a line in the Season 2 premiere. EZ [JD Pardo] and Coco [Richard Cabral] were getting off the bus at the school where the drugs were being processed. There was supposed to be a really gnarly playground out front. Filled with debris, dangerous looking swings, sharp objects, rusty jungle gym, etc. As they exited, Coco sees EZ’s distracted and says: ‘Lighten up Boy Scout,’ and gesturing to the playground, says, ‘We’re going to Disneyland.’ EZ replies: ‘Yeah? Guess this is where Walt buried all the Jews he had killed.’ Coco comments: ‘That’s dark man…‘ And exits.”

Sutter went on to say, “Although the joke came out of character and in any other environment, would have been typical of my brand of dark humor, I’m not an idiot. I knew it would ring some bells. Whether real or imagined, I was already experiencing the tightening of the noose. It was manifesting in production issues, creating more hurdles, etc. I’ve learned over the years through trial and error – a lot of error – how to push back to protect story from corporate conformity.”