Q: Are we going to have any kind of a time jump when we come back?
SUTTER: There won’t be a big time jump like there was between seasons 3 and 4 with the jail time. I try to build in at least a few weeks or a month [Laughs] so if my actors have changed their look, there’s not miraculously someone with a different haircut. So I would say a month or so.

Q: Where do you stand on setting an end date to the show?
SUTTER: I’ve had a conversation with [FX president] John Landgraf and I look at [doing] potentially seven seasons…that’s really just coming from the ‘model of the show’ and knowing that usually by Season 6 and 7 the above-the-line costs start to get pretty high… the show …  loses profitability and it’s really difficult to continue to [produce] beyond that…

Danny Trejo as 'Romeo Parada'

I think most fans will want to know when you thought of the twist that Romeo and Luis work with the CIA and need SAMCRO to keep working with the cartel and the Irish, who will only get in business with the cartel if Clay is involved.
From the beginning. …If you go back and look at all those scenes with Romeo and Luis and the guys, it all fits. It all makes sense. Even from the second episode when they suddenly just showed up outside of that reservation saying, “Hey, yeah, we got word on the pipeline that you guys were here.” Clearly they found out these guys were in trouble and they needed them around, so they sort of showed up and shut down the Russians. So all those clues were there all along, and it’s exactly what happened with Pablo Escobar. It’s what the CIA does. It goes in and empowers one cartel. We give one set of bad guys the money and guns to ultimately have some hold of the political reins in a territory. The history was there, and I was afraid that somebody was gonna pick up on it earlier on, and they didn’t. I think it was a fun reveal for everyone.

 Are we going to see Clay rise up in season 5?

…I’m not quite sure yet. But I definitely know that there’s only one direction for Clay and that’s up. I’m just not quite sure what that will look like. At some point, I’m sure it’ll be a complication and/or threat to Jax again. But I think it will be fun, for at least a portion of the season, to see that guy sittin’ in Piney’s chair. I definitely want to play some of that out.

EDIT/’I want to play out some scenes next season where he’s literally sitting in Piney’s seat with an oxygen mask. To me, there’s such a cool irony to play out that dynamic.’

Dayton Callie and Ron Perlman in Sons of Anarchy season 4 (FX)

‘… I knew I always wanted to play out at least a couple of seasons with Jax at the head of that table. In the evolution of the character, and the evolution of the prince, I think there’s a lot of room for great drama in this guy trying to figure out what kind of king he wants to be. Can he be Clay without becoming Clay? Can he be John teller without suffering the fate of John Teller? What’s Clay’s phoenix moment in season 5 and 6?

'Tara' and 'Gemma' on SOA on FX (2011)

The interesting thing… is we’re telling this story about this hardcore motorcycle club, but I’m realizing…I’m really telling it through the eyes of the women… it is Jax’s journey and it is about his ascension or dissension from the club… (but we) tell the most compelling parts of that story through the eyes of the women….I think for the fans, the idea that there’s a new King and Queen and how does Gemma handle that? Is Tara potentially ready for the reins of that and all the things that the role of matriarch demands from her? I think there’s a lot more ground to cover with Tara with all that. I think she’s much further along. We’ve definitely knocked her off the fence this season. But she’s not ready to be Gemma yet. She has a lot more ground to cover.’

Ron Perlman as "Clay Morrow' in SOA Season 4 finale

‘…I thought, “Are we cheating ourselves, or cheating the fans, by Jax getting the information and just putting the bullet in Clay’s head?” He lives with the pain for three scenes and then takes the air out of that build. Why not explore that for a few seasons? How do they deal with that? How do they be brothers? How do they get each other’s back  in times of crisis with this secret and this sense of betrayal that they feel? That was really the idea for it. I think there’s room stories to be told in that dynamic.’

‘…Not that I want to spoil season 5, but it’s not about suddenly we come back to the exact same dynamic. I really want to see Clay broken. What does this guy do to fucking strap his balls back on, and steam rising up. … I think Clay has an interesting arc to play out with potentially Gemma and gathering his power base. Right now, the only one in his corner is Tig. I think there’s something to be played out with that, but at some point, there has to be some sense of, if Clay does rise up and becomes a threat to Jax, you can only get so much out of that, because we’ve played a lot of that. So I don’t know. I knew that this wasn’t the time for Clay to go away. Whether he makes it through all seven seasons, I don’t know…’ (KS) Source: HitFix

Q: What can you tease about how Gemma will handle it?
SUTTER: When Gemma sees Clay is still alive there at the end, that’s a dangerous loose end. Tara has the information. Anybody that’s read those letters, the three that Gemma conveniently removed and then burned, still has that information about her potential connection to what happened to John.

John Teller's letters--some of them, anyway. Pictured: Katey Sagal ('Gemma') and Charlie Hunnam ('Jax')

‘I played with the idea of hearing what was in those letters this season, but I just like the idea of having people not hear them firsthand. It just felt like we’re getting through the perspective of the characters and the emotionality of what’s in them rather than spoonfeed them the actual words on the page.’

Gemma got rid of the physical evidence, so there’s no direct information, and perhaps Jax wouldn’t believe Clay. But at this point, I think he would definitely believe Tara. To me, it’s almost like Tara is the bigger threat. It’s an interesting dynamic. I think one of the reasons why Tara feels so empowered there at the end with Gemma is that she knows she has the most potent leverage on Gemma that anybody can have, which is “I have the power to ultimately destroy your relationship with the thing you love most.” I think it’s why she feels like she can move with a certain amount of impunity to the head of that table.

Drea De Matteo as "Wendy' Jax's ex, bio-mom to Abel. Is guesting on SOA next season, minimum 4 episodes.

Q: Will Wendy still be in the picture next season?
SUTTER:Yeah. We signed Drea de Matteo for six episodes, and she was in two this season. So she’ll be in at least four next season, and hopefully, if we can come up with a bigger story, I’d love to bring her back for even more than that.

Charlie Hunnam

What can you tease about Jax going into season 5?
I don’t know anything as far as story yet…  So for me, it’s can Jax take over from Clay and not become Clay? Or, if he has the idealistic goals of his father, does he lock himself to the fate of his father. To me, it will be interesting to see him try to be different from Clay and yet, is it possible to be a different guy than Clay and be an effective leader of an outlaw organization? So that’ll be, in terms of thematics, the fun thing for Jax to play with in season 5.

Read more: http://sutterink.blogspot.com/2011/12/critics-lamentwhat-is-sons-of-anarchy.html

Q: We heard of the badass gangster named Damon Pope, whose daughter was killed in Tig’s wrongful retaliation. Do you have someone in mind to play him?

SUTTER: I don’t. I always start thinking big and then I end up with some great unknown actor. [Laughs] And honestly, the reason why we haven’t really given it much thought is that I don’t quite now how big the role is going to be. I know the circumstance is big and it will impact our guys, and I wanted to leave something hanging over Jax’s head as he sat at the head of that table and the audience knowing that he’s got the gavel and he’s already got a s—storm brewing… those circumstances will definitely be part of season 5, I just don’t know how big that role will be yet, and then we’ll decide who the best actor is.

Mark Boone, Jr. In SOA season 4

Q: Just so we hit all the major players, what can you tease about Bobby and Opie?
SUTTER: To me, I never meant to imply that they wouldn’t be coming back. Bobby, realistically, wouldn’t have been released yet… Other characters talk a little bit about how he’d be able to get rid of the charges if the deal continues. So we set up the potential for Bobby to free up later on. And then Opie, it was just too neat and convenient for Opie to come back already…  It will give me some story to play out with him next season in terms of him coming back around. But I don’t think he’s gone. I think he’s still not right with it all.

SONS OF ANARCHY: Episode 412: "Burnt and Purged Away" (Airs November 22, 10:00 pm e/p). Pictured: Kurt Sutter. CR: Prashant Gupta / FX.

Q: And Otto, still not executed yet.

SUTTER: That can take a season or two to pull that together. I think I ultimately would like to see an execution. I think it would just be an interesting thing to watch. [Laughs] I’m sure it will just be a needle. I think that’s what we do in California.

Theo Rossi as 'Juice' in SOA on FX (2011)

Q: Let’s talk Juice. Was Chibs telling the truth when Juice finally told him his father was black? It wouldn’t have mattered because his birth certificate says Juice is hispanic?
SUTTER: Yeah. That’s the sad irony of everything that happened. … But the truth is, Juice has still done some other bad things: shooting Miles and ratting on the club. … That stuff can go away for a while, but it’s like what we did with Bobby and Luann this season. It’s still out there, it’s still something that impacts the character emotionally, and it’s still a story that we can pull on at any point.

Rockmund Dunbar as Charming' s County Sherrif 'Eli Roosevelt'

Q: I loved how you had Roosevelt [Rockmond Dunbar] apologize to Juice. It kept him a stand-up guy. Will he back next season?
We don’t have a deal with him… I’d love to be able to bring Rock back and be able to continue that dynamic.

Q: Talking about Unser: I didn’t want him to die because I love that character, but I can’t believe he made it through the season. Was there ever any thought in your head about offing him.

SUTTER:…I liked the idea that it was ultimately Clay who gave him purpose again, and then it was really through the betrayal of Clay that gave him an even greater purpose in terms of protecting Gemma. ‘Cause now he’s got something to live for. It’s why we see him at the head of Gemma’s table at the end of the episode. I do think that that relationship [Gemma and Unser] will continue, and I don’t think it will ever really become a romantic relationship…

Dayton Callie as 'Wayne Unser' on SOA on FX (2011)

…’But I just love the actor so much. I think Dayton Callie is such a soulful guy. That character was such a thin character on the page when I first put it down. He brought so much to that character that he ultimately became a series regular and is a great source of genuine humor and compassion, and anything I throw at the guy, he turns it into gold. So I don’t want him goin’ anywhere.’

Katey Sagal s 'Gemma' on SOA on FX (2011)

Q: Is there any hope for Tig and Gemma now?
SUTTER: … as of now, that doesn’t feel right. It feels like Tig is set on protecting Clay a little bit. So I see him more trying to help Clay next season rather than betray him.

Kim Coates as 'Tig' on SOA on FX (2011)

Additional SOURCES:
‘Sons of Anarchy’ season finale: Ron Perlman talks Clay’s wild ride
Ken Tucker’s ‘Sons of Anarchy’ season finale review: Was ‘To Be (Act 2)’ deeply satisfying, or a bit rushed? Or both?