Kurt Sutter unofficially confirms third season of Sons of Anarchy

As if there were any doubt.

In an interview with the Newark Star-Ledger's TV critic Alan Sepinwall, Sons of Anarchy creator and executive producer Kurt Sutter has unofficially confirmed that the show will indeed be back for a third season. It's just a matter of FX finalizing some contracts and getting all its "financial ducks in a row." Sutter said he had been assured the show would be back though.

Good thing, too, since last night's season two finale, "Na Trioblidi," had one helluva cliffhanger. Beyond that, Sutter's interview with Sepinwall also served as a nice post-mortem of the season and he offered plenty of info on where season three is likely headed. Spoilers after the jump, so read on at your own risk.

Given that the season ended with Jax watching as Cameron took off with Abel, Sutter confirmed that he had hopes for the club to make a splash on the streets of Belfast next season. That doesn't necessarily mean they'll relocate production to Ireland for an episode or two, but Sutter was hopeful that it might "mean having a second unit work out there to match some shots."

With that in mind, he also said that while Titus Welliver was not locked in for season three, he was hopeful they'd be able to work around the rest of his schedule so that Jimmy O. wouldn't have to suffer the same fate that Kevin Chapman did in season one. (Chapman played McKeavey, Cameron's predecessor, and had to be killed off because of Chapman's scheduling conflicts with his role as Freddie Cork on Brotherhood.)

Here are some other highlights --

• Sutter's overall vision for season three: "To take them [the club] into a world that is outside their own, where they don't have control, where they are subject to other people's laws and beliefs and parameters. Where they aren't quite the big fish in the small pond."
• Don't hold your breath on Half-Sack. He is indeed dead. Johnny Lewis simply wanted out of his contract and Sutter obliged him.
• The charges against the club for the raid on Zobelle's church haven't gone away.
• It's possible that Georgie (Tom Arnold) wasn't the one behind Luann's murder.
• Opie's struggle with knowing what Clay and Tig did will play out next season.
• The club will definitely attempt to take advantage of Agent Stahl's (Ally Walker) missteps in an attempt to help Gemma.
• Chief Unser will step down at the beginning of next season and Hale will presumably take the reigns.
• The plot with the Native Americans and the illegal homemade bullet trafficking hasn't been forgotten either.
• What happened to Darby and Chuck after the Caracara fire will also be addressed.
• Zobelle lived because Sutter believes "that guys like him f*cking get away." However, "they can always come back and take care of this."

So, there you have it. Now get comfortable because we won't find out about any of this until probably next September.

[UPDATE (12/3) -- FX has officially renewed the show. Sons of Anarchy will return for its third season in September 2010.]

[Watch clips and episodes of Sons of Anarchy on SlashControl.]