- "For my sons, Thomas, who is already at peace, and Jackson, may he never know this life of chaos."-John Teller, in his foreword to "The Life and Death of SAMCRO: How the Sons of Anarchy Lost Their Way."
Jax Teller, the Vice President of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original (SAMCRO), considers the ramifications of retaliation against the rival motorcycle club Mayans when they steal guns meant for sale to the One-Niners street gang. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Wendy Case, a crank addict, gives birth to their son, Abel.
- Addled Addict: Wendy is a wreck to due her addiction to crank.
- Driven to Suicide: Gemma pushes Wendy to overdose on a crank needle due to her constant drug use despite her pregnancy. She survives.
- Drugs Are Bad: Played with. The Sons have a disdain for crystal meth and make an effort to keep it out of Charming. This puts them at odds with the Nords, the neo-Nazi gang who use a meth trade to fund their activities and want to make a push into Charming. However the Sons are seen freely partaking in cannabis, mushrooms, cocaine and pills throughout the series so it's not quite cut and dry.
- Enemy Mine: Despite the racial tensions between the two factions, the Nords and the Mayans are discovered by SAMCRO to have made a deal to take Charming from the Sons.
- Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Opie is shown to have taken a job "chipping wood for shit pay."
- Groin Attack: Jax jams a pool cue into the crotch of the Nord dealer that sold Wendy crank.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: As Bobby sings a cover of "I Can't Help Falling With You", we are shown clips of burnt corpses and an overdosing Wendy.
- Stuff Blowing Up: The Mayans torch SAMCRO's gun warehouse. Clay's response is to find wherever they stored the stolen guns and "Fat Man and Little Boy every inch of that goddamn place."
