Chibs Telford

Filip Telford
First appearance	"Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"Papa's Goods" (episode 7.13)
Created by	Kurt Sutter
Portrayed by	Tommy Flanagan
Information
Nickname(s)	Chibs
Occupation	Medic, Former member of SAMBEL, Former member of True IRA, gun runner, mechanic, former medic for the British Army, President of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club
Title	Soldier (Season 1-4) Sergeant-at-arms (season 5) Vice President (season 6-7) President (End of Series)
Family	Padraic Telford (nephew) deceased
Spouse(s)	Fiona Larkin (estranged wife)
Children	Kerrianne Larkin-Telford
Nationality	Scotland

Filip "Chibs" Telford is a fictional character on the FX television series Sons of Anarchy (SOA or SAMCRO), played by Tommy Flanagan.^[1][2] He is nicknamed "Chibs" because of his facial scars ("chib" is Scots slang for "stab" or a stabbing weapon).^[3] (Flanagan's scars are real, received in a knife-fight.^[4]) Chibs is extremely loyal to Jax Teller and the club; he also has a good relationship with Tig Trager, with Half-Sack Epps (a prospect he sponsored), and Juice Ortiz, whom he has a father-like relationship with, which ends after Juice's eventual betrayal of the club.

Biography

Chibs is SAMCRO's connection with the Real IRA, which sells guns to organized crime groups within the United States. He is originally from Glasgow, Scotland, but grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland^[5] and is heard speaking both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. As he tells Real IRA member Cameron Hayes, whom he patches up after Cameron is shot, Chibs served as a medic with the British Army for five months, before being court-martialed.

Chibs was excommunicated from the Real IRA by the group's leader, Jimmy O'Phelan, who out of jealousy scarred Chibs' face, told him never to return to Ireland, stole Chibs' wife Fiona Larkin (who, as shown in Season 2 remains married to and still loves, but is estranged from Chibs), and raised Chibs and Fiona's daughter, Kerrianne. Chibs then joined SAMBEL in Ireland, until he transferred to SAMCRO in the United States, whose Charming charter has Real IRA links via the club's Belfast charter.

Season 1

Season 1 begins with the Sons of Anarchy finding their weapon storage warehouse being burned down. When they arrive at the scene, police are already investigating. Gun parts and the corpses of two undocumented immigrants are found inside. Later that night, all of the chapter's members attend a meeting ("church" or "chapel") where they are informed it was the Mayans, a rival biker gang, who destroyed the warehouse, and who is now storing the guns in San Leandro. The Sons decide to ride out to San Leandro the next night and steal the weapons back. Clay Morrow, Jax Teller, Tig Trager, and Chibs all go to the industrial storage warehouse in San Leandro and locate the guns, but are interrupted by four men who turn up in a car outside. Clay and Tig take care of the men, three of whom are Mayans. The other man, Whistler, is a Nord; Whistler shoots Jax, twice, in his bulletproof vest, and Jax then shoots Whistler dead. SAMCRO then takes the weapons, bombs the warehouse, and flees.^[6]

The police begin to investigate the club when they discover the burned-down warehouse belonged to the Sons of Anarchy, and the Sons decide to distract the police to keep them off their case. Chibs, Jax, Juice Ortiz, and Half-Sack Epps steal a car owned by Ernest Darby, the leader of the Nordics, a neo-Nazi gang, and two dead bodies from the local morgue. They then stage the Mexican and white corpses in a fake shoot-out made to look like a racist murder involving the Nordics. On the way back to town, the Sons are cut off by a man driving a red muscle car. They later catch up with this man at a convenience store/petrol station, and Jax beats him up. The man then pulls out a pistol and attempts to shoot Jax, but Jax wrestles him to the ground, and then the Pakistani shopkeeper kills the man with a fire axe. Chibs then steals the store's CCTV tapes, and the Sons flee the scene. Later on Chibs attends the "funeral" of the two Mexican prostitutes killed in the warehouse fire.^[7]

The Sons and Gemma receive a cold reception from local businessman Elliot Oswald and his family at a nearby traveling carnival. Nonetheless, when Oswald soon goes to the Clay and asks the Sons to find the man who raped his 13-year-old daughter, the Sons quickly agree. When the gang discovers the rapist is one of the carnies, they return to the carnival. After a brief fight with the carnies, the Sons retrieve the rapist, then torture and murder him. (Chibs proves to be one of the gang's most capable fighters during the brawl with the carnies.) Later on, when Michael McKeavey of the Real IRA comes to Charming to sell weapons, Chibs travels "up north" with him.^[8]

The club enters Half-Sack into a bare-knuckle boxing competition to raise funds to buy weapons. He is trained by Chibs, who enforces Clay's order that Half-Sack have "no booze, no weed, and no pussy". At the competition, Half-Sack wins every bout up to the final round, but then Chibs and Tig tell him to take a dive because they bet on the opponent. Half-Sack reluctantly agrees but then sees Cherry cheek-kiss and hug Clay at ring-side, which incites a sudden surge of rage, and Half-Sack knocks his opponent out.^[9]

Chibs and Jax have to go into a One-Niners bar in Oakland to retrieve Piney Winston, after Piney barges in, takes a hostage, and demands to know who killed his daughter-in-law, Donna. That night, Chibs goes with Tig and Happy to San Joaquin to kill the witness who has identified Bobby and Opie as Brenan Hefner murderers. The safe house is being guarded by two sheriffs and a female ATF agent, but Tig, Chibs, and Happy manage to knock all three unconscious and gain entry to the house. When they see the witness is a teenage girl, the Sons initially have doubts about killing her. However, Tig steps up, and just before he shoots her, Jax stops him at gunpoint from doing so. Jax then tells Chibs and Happy to leave and beats Tig up for killing Donna. Season One ends with Donna's funeral, which is attended by SAMCRO and other numerous other Sons from other SOA chapters.^[10]

Season 2

Early in Season 2, Chibs narrowly escapes death from a car bomb explosion set up by Zobell to end the life of a SAMCRO member, causing him to spend about half of the season at St. Thomas Hospital. Tara tells Jax Chibs' condition is critical, but stable; the explosion slammed Chibs' head into the ground and caused cranial bleeding. In the episode "Potlatch", Chibs' wife Fiona has returned to Charming and checks on Chibs. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and says the kiss is from Kerrianne, but she then calls him "My Love", in Irish Gaelic. Gemma tells Tara that Fiona is one of the only three women who scare her, that Chibs and Fiona have been separated a long time and just never got a divorce, and that they need to keep Chibs in this hospital so Fiona can never be alone with him.

In the episode "Fa Guan", Jax visits Chibs and updates him on what's going on. Chibs says Jimmy O (whom Edmond Hayes mentioned in an earlier episode might be coming stateside) would never let Fiona travel alone, so Jimmy O has to be here as well. Tara informs Chibs he will be moved to a different hospital for the rest of his recovery. This news upsets him; he says he needs to be in a place where there is protection. Later on, Chibs follow Tara's advice to pretend to have a severe head pain and claims he cannot see through his right eye, in order to stay in critical care. In the episode "Balm", Chibs is released from the hospital. En route to the clubhouse, he tells Half-Sack they should stop by CaraCara. Half-Sack informs Chibs that CaraCara burned down, and Jax is going Nomad. In the same episode, it is also revealed that Jimmy O kicked Chibs out of Ireland and the IRA, took Chibs' wife for himself, raised Chibs' daughter, and is responsible for the scars on his face. Agent Stahl attempts to use this history to get Chibs to inform on the Real IRA. Chibs initially refuses this offer, but after Jimmy O insinuates that he will begin a sexual relationship with Chibs' daughter if Chibs does not cooperate with his attempts to repair the IRA's relationship with SAMCRO (Jimmy O wants a meeting with Clay), Chibs turns to Stahl and offers information in exchange for his wife and daughter's safety (Stahl says she will put them in witness protection), and the ATF's promise to keep SAMCRO out of their investigation into the Irish.

In the episode "Service", Chibs meets with Stahl to sign the deal he proposed. When he realizes Stahl altered their agreement, he refuses to sign any documents. Stahl threatens to reveal Chibs' betrayal to the Real IRA, which would mean certain death for his wife and abducted daughter. Opie accidentally sees Chibs and Stahl exiting the same building. Feeling helpless and ashamed for both dealing behind SAMCRO's back and for his plan's backfiring, Chibs sits alone in the auto shop, where Gemma sees him. Gemma gives Chibs advice and encourages him to tell the truth to Clay and the others, which he does. Clay tells him he did not sign anything, so he is not a rat. Chibs is later picked as one of SAMCRO's 10 best fighters against L.O.A.N. When A.J. Weston is arrested and released, Chibs, Jax, and Opie corner him in a tattoo parlor bathroom, and Jax shoots him to death. Chibs later comforts Jax over Abel's kidnapping.

Season 3

Chibs is one of the Sons who accompanies Jax to Belfast to look for Abel. There, Chibs is reunited with his estranged wife and his daughter. Although Kerrianne's display of affection is initially hesitant, she and Chibs eventually hug, and she calls him "Da". In "Firinne", Chibs is involved in the capture of McGee and the shootout between Jimmy's men and SAMCRO. Chibs also loses his nephew Padraic in a truck explosion set up by SAMBEL's then sergeant-at-arms Liam O'Niell, which deeply upsets Chibs. In the Season 3 finale, Chibs finally gets his revenge on Jimmy O by giving him the same Glasgow Smile Jimmy gave him and subsequently stabbing him to death. He then uses Jimmy's own blood to paint a Real IRA symbol on the rear windshield of Stahl's cruiser, to make it look like the Real IRA committed the hit.

Season 4

Along with Opie, Piney, and Kozik, Chibs coordinates the day-to-day operations of the club while the others are in prison, and organizes the setup of increased IRA "hardware" traffic. Chibs is at Stockton welcoming Clay, Jax, Bobby, Juice, Happy, and Tig after they are released from prison, and later attends Opie's wedding. Chibs, Bobby, Happy, and Juice sneak away from the meeting to handle the Russian hardware, and eventually double-cross and murder the Russians, as well as an undercover FBI agent. Along with the rest of the club, Chibs is reluctant to enter into a deal with the drug cartel, but he points out that the high volume of guns being moved will keep the IRA happy. However, he votes against the deal when it comes to a final decision, stating he doesn't trust the cartel. In the season finale, following Clay's unraveling secrets and Jax's taking the gavel, Jax appoints Chibs Sergeant-at-Arms, and Chibs thereby takes Tig's seat at the table.

Season 5

Chibs is shown to be sticking closer to Jax than ever in his new position as Sergeant-at-Arms. When the Sons are attacked by Niners during a muling run, Tig tries to kill Laroy Wayne and accidentally kills Wayne's girlfriend Veronica Pope. Chibs attends a meeting of the Sons, the Niners, and powerful gangster Damon Pope (Veronica's father) to cease hostilities. Chibs and Jax are charged with the highway shooting of one of the Niners, and Tig with running down Veronica, when they are identified by witnesses bought by Pope, who wants them inside so the black prison gangs he controls can kill them. The three Sons are arrested, along with Opie (who assaults Roosevelt in order to be sent to prison with them), and are sent to Stockton. They are initially protected by Mexicans, thanks to the cartel, but Pope demands a dead Son for the Niner and cop they killed, as well as for Tig to stay inside for life. Opie takes the fall, and Chibs screams in horror as he watches Opie beaten to death. When they get out, Jax makes a new deal with Pope to cut his gang in on the muling business for a bigger payment. Pope also gives Jax the identity and address of the prison sergeant who had Opie killed. The Sons track the guard down, and Jax beats him past death with a snow globe, until Chibs pulls Jax off.

When it's revealed the three Nomads Gogo, Greg, and Frankie are behind the Charming break-ins, the Sons try to track them down. Unser and Clay kill Gogo and Greg, when they try to assassinate Unser. The Sons later find Frankie, who robs Nero of watches and $130,000 in cash, and kidnaps and injures Chibs. Later, Jax and Bobby tell Chibs about the RICO case facing SOA and the rat who helped the Feds set it up: Juice. Chibs is enraged at the betrayal and embarrassed at the leverage; Juice's dad is black. When the Sons find the man who beat Opie to death, he is revealed to be the cousin of the Grim Bastard's President T.O. Jax promises not to kill him, but after questioning him about the others, Chibs shoots him in the head with a silenced pistol. He states they did what they had to do. Since Bobby disagrees, and it could come to a head, Jax asks Chibs if he is in his corner. Chibs replies, "I've always been there, and I always will. I love you, kid. You understand?", and then goes to clean up from the shooting.

Season 6

It was revealed in season 6 that Chibs took over as Vice President of SAMCRO, following Bobby's resignation. He is angry that Juice is still a member after Juice's betrayal. Chibs confronts Juice in the garage, stating: "he has to get right with it", before brutally beating Juice, who does not defend himself; Chibs is seen at the end of the first episode stitching Juice up. Chibs is later shown starting to grow angry with Jax's way of doing everything behind the Club's back, such as setting up a deal to hand over their gun pipeline to the San Bernardino charter. He states that Jax is starting to remind him of "the guy who used to sit at that seat". Tensions come to a head following hostilities with the Irish, when Jax tries to end the relationship, and Galen kills Filthy Phil and a prospect, in retaliation. Jax tracks down Connor, Galen's associate, and talks to the Irish Kings with an offer for Damon Pope's successor, August Marks, to take over the business. When Chibs finds out, he is enraged that he was not consulted regarding the offer, as he is well aware of the Irish Kings racist traits and their disdain in dealing with African Americans and asks Jax if he trusts him or anyone in SAMCRO anymore.

Season 7

In season 7, Chibs has a brief romantic relationship with Eli Roosevelt's replacement, Lt. Althea Jarry. With Chibs and Unser at a diner (Juice was holding Unser secretly at gunpoint), Juice asks what he had to do to be right with the club again. Chibs responds with: "If I were you, Id take that gun, put it in my mouth, and pull the trigger." Jax, after being voted to "meet Mr. Mayhem" for killing the SOA Indian Hills president, Jury White, hands over SAMCRO's presidency to Chibs.

See also

The dictionary definition of chib at Wiktionary

References