SONS OF ANARCHY wraps up its third season on FX Tuesday, November 30 with the ninety minute “NS” finale episode. Going into it, there are several storylines up in the air and things are looking to get downright crazy in Charming.
One subplot that took an odd turn in the season’s penultimate “June Wedding” episode was the Tig-Kozik feud. We finally learned the cause of Tig’s mistrust and bitterness, Missy, is in fact a German Shepherd Dog that Tig (Kim Coates) and Kozik (Kenny Johnson)shared. Fans have had mixed reactions to that reveal and we’re left wondering what happened to the dog to cause such a rift and whether Tig will now finally agree to let Kozik into the Charming SAMCRO chapter.
Kenny Johnson is probably best known for his portrayal of Detective Curtis “Lem” Lemansky on The Shield, where he worked with Sons of Anarchy creator/executive producer Kurt Sutter, who developed the role of Kozik specifically for Kenny.
Daemon’s TV was there when Kenny talked about the dog reveal, his chemistry with Kim Coates, and his reaction to how the Sons of Anarchy season wraps up. There are no spoilers.
On Kozik
After The Shield, Kenny spent three season on the Holly Hunter series Saving Grace, and in the show’s third season, Kurt Sutter approached him about appearing on Sons of Anarchy. “Kurt asked me, `If you have a second, I want to introduce you as a character. Maybe next season, if your show doesn’t go, I could add you as a guy.’” Saving Grace was indeed cancelled and Kozik introduced into Sons of Anarchy as a member of the Tacoma, Washington SAMCRO chapter.
Kenny couldn’t be happier about his time on Sons of Anarchy, saying, “It feels like I’m home. I feel really blessed that [Kurt] developed this guy.” He explained that it’s not just the great cast and crew, but that after being on a female-oriented show for three years, “I was jonesing for something with a lot of balls to it. I love riding bikes and I love how Kurt writes, so I’m having a blast.”
Kenny finds Kozik’s lack of conscience fascinating. “This character is written, as far as I know, without knowing if he is a good guy or a bad guy,” Kenny noted. “He does bad things like killing, but it’s just part of the job. He has no moral compass. I don’t think he really has a conscience.”
On chemistry with Kim Coates
Kozik and Tig make a dynamic duo and when asked how their chemistry works, Kenny replied, “Chemistry, I think, is just something that’s there or not” and he and Kim are lucky enough to have it. “[Tig] is just so brash a character that I thought, ‘Oh, it’s gonna work for me because I hate this guy.’ I go ‘I know so much about this guy that no one else does; I just want to reveal it all inside my head.”
Kenny called Kim “an amazing actor” and said, “When he’s on set, he’s totally in character: unapologetic and brash, but off the set he’s the nicest guy.” According to Kenny, he just has to play Kozik as true and honest as he can to play off Kim’s Tig and Kim’s method of acting feeds Kenny. “The tension is naturally there between us and I kinda dig that.”
For their first fight scene, Kim had wanted to use their stunt doubles but after Kenny said he was going to fight himself, Kim changed his mind, leading to Kenny accidentally getting his elbow wedged under Kim’s Adam’s apple. No real harm was done and Kenny said the fight scenes have been fun. He also said that while the characters may be evenly matched, in real life “I would kick his ass.”
On Missy the German shepherd
Tig’s animosity toward Kozik has been deep and vehement, so finding out the cause was actually a dog was a shock for many, including Kenny. “The thing is, we didn’t know she was a dog until the week we shot that scene,” he explained. “We thought it would be a sister or an ex-girlfriend.” Kenny also said that Kurt had pushed Kenny and Kim to get emotional with this all along. “He said we have to dig deeper. Go as deep as you can and think really dark,” making the dog reveal that much more surprising.
Kenny doesn’t know what happened to Missy, but he said, “It’s probably going to be pretty dark and messed up, I would think.” When asked whether we would find out just how dark it is, Kenny answered, “I think it will be revealed what happened to her–something bad happened that was my fault–and I think it will be revealed, but it will probably be a slow reveal.”
On the season finale
Kenny didn’t want to give anything away, but he called the finale–which he hasn’t yet seen–”crazy, twisted, brilliant.”
What Kenny would divulge is that “This is all payback. There is a lot of crazy, crazy stuff that happens that I think people are gonna be shocked. There’s a lot of twists and turns that happen. You think that Jax maybe turned and maybe these guys are all screwed and then it twists.”
Kenny continued, “It’s very twisted and then it gets complicated and complex and at the end you think, ‘Oh my god.’ When I read it, I thought it was brilliant.”
The finale is apparently also a game-changer. “It kind of turns the world of Charming around. It turns the Sons of Anarchy around,” Kurt explained. “You’ll find out everything by the end of the finale.”
Kurt directed the episode and Kenny thinks he did a great job. “Kurt’s a great director. He’s a great creator, but I also think he’s a great director.”
On whether or not Kozik will be around in season 4
When asked if Kozik would return in season four, Kenny hedged. “I would love to say yes. I can say that I don’t think I die before the end of the season, which is a good thing.” He added, “Everything kind of points in that direction that I would come back. It’s a pretty good possibility.”
To complicate matters, because of the events in the season three finale, Kenny said, “I’m almost sure there’s gonna be a time jump between the end of season three and the next season.” He explained that he knows what Kurt has in mind for season four, but he couldn’t say because it would ruin the finale. His solution: watch that finale. “Once you’ve seen the finale, you’ll be pretty clear where season four is going to go,” Kenny explained.
Be sure to watch the ninety minute Sons of Anarchy season three finale on FX Tuesday, November 30 at 10pm eastern/9pm central. You can read all our Sons of Anarchy coverage here.
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