When it came to season three of Sons of Anarchy, there was one criticism on which most critics agreed: the story drove the characters, as Jax, Clay and company were often pawns in a series of developments outside of their control.

Creator Kurt Sutter fully acknowledges this fact in a new blog post, previewing season four and teasing:

"There is a big story that will drive a lot of the episodes. I'm hoping that character will move the episodes forward as much as story. By character, I mean the emotional lives of Jax, Clay and the others, and their relationships to one another."

Adding that he always planned on sending SAMCRO members to jail, Sutter explains he won't be "encumbered" by having to write around a major event such as a kidnapped baby.

"I get a reboot," he says. "You plug in and pick up where you left off.  Rebooting means that you have to really do the homework on each character's life over the passage of time we've missed.  What happened, how have they changed and how do you communicate those changes to the audience without belaboring a premier with buckets of exposition?  But I'm really looking forward to that game.  Anything can happen in fourteen months."

Such as? Visit Sutter's blog to read the rest of his post.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.