Something big happens in the Sons of Anarchy: Season 6 premiere. You’ll see some writing openly about it, but I’m choosing not to. However, this dark turn of events (yes, dark even for SOA) was a big topic of conversation at the Television Critics Association press tour today, since the press in the room had seen the premiere.

(L-R) Kurt Sutter, actors Charlie Hunnam and Katey Sagal and director Paris Barclay.

Yes, it’s difficult to dance around the specifics, but I will say that SOA creator Kurt Sutter remarked, “I knew it would be controversial. I feel like it’s an organic story to our world. I feel like it’s the right thing thematically to do.”It’s been revealed that Sons of Anarchy will end next year, with Season 7. Sutter said he’s laying the groundwork for that now, as Jax has created a family around him, but also asked himself, “Can I have all that and still be the leader of, ultimately, a criminal enterprise?” Said Sutter, “I think we’re on that trajectory here in Season 6 where we have to answer whether it’s yes or no.”While Sons of Anarchy was based, in part, on the story of Hamlet, Sutter cautioned, "I don’t have a grand scheme in terms of following that story” saying his intent was to be “real and organic to the path that we’ve been on.”As for how mapped out the last two years are, Sutter said, “ I have a looser blueprint I go into every season with, with mile markers,” adding, “The looser I hold onto those ideas, the better the seasons are” and that he felt SOA was at its best “When I loosen my grip and let the season take on a life of its own… I don’t like to get too far ahead. I like to feel out first few episodes and feel what’s working and what’s not working.” Sutter noted he does have an idea of the final image of the series, but it could change.A Sons of Anarchy comic book is coming and Sutter said it was part of a plan to extend the franchise in a bigger way. Said Sutter, “Boom is doing it for us an they’re a great graphic novel house.I’ve had conversations with [FX’s] John Landgraf and the studio about hopefully maybe somewhere in a few years out doing the prequel to this show, which would be about the First 9. And we talked about ways to keep it alive in-between, whether that be novelizations or graphic novels.” Sutter, an avid gamer, added, “We’re still trying to put together some gaming idea.”Moving back to the comic book, Sutter said, “I’m very pleased with the drafts that I’ve seen. They’ll be parallel stories so it won’t touch on the mythology that we’ve created, but it will have secondary characters that will cross over.”Sons of Anarchy premieres September 10th on FX.