In the ‘Mayans M.C.’ recap, EZ finally discovers who ordered the hit on his parents, Miguel gets suspicious of his wife and the Mayans are torn over vengeance for a fallen brother…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
If there’s been one major shortcoming with ‘Mayans M.C.’ through the first two seasons in comparison with its predecessor ‘Sons of Anarchy, it’s that the show hasn’t done the best job getting viewers invested in the entire cast outside of a few main characters.
EZ Reyes has obviously been the focal point since the series began and his brother Angel ended up becoming arguably the second most important character on the series but the rest of the Mayans from the Santo Padre chapter have largely remained a mystery this entire time.
Coco got some screen time last season over the revelation that he actually had a daughter who had been masquerading as his sister but outside of that the rest of the members have remained tertiary characters at best. Even Bishop, the club president, has only really been seen in meetings and actions taken by the club — it’s unclear if he even has a life outside of the Mayans much less a family.
But the penultimate episode in ‘Mayans M.C.’ season 2 finally managed to introduce an interesting twist that begs for more back story after Taza — the club’s vice president — cut off the breathing tube that helped his brother Riz survive after he was shot in an ambush by the Tijauna M.C. known as Vatos Malditos a week ago. Taza had previously been a part of this M.C. before he moved to the U.S. and found a new home with the Mayans but there’s still bad blood that exists with his former club.
Now he’s gone as far as killing a fellow Mayan but to what end? Did he need the club to go to war with the Vatos because they may have something on him that could destroy his relationship with the Mayans? Did he carry out the murder as payback for whatever was left that he owed to the Vatos when he left them several years ago?
These are all questions that have to be answered in the future and it was a nice twist in the second to last episode of the season.
A lot more happened this week so with that let’s get to our recap of the latest episode of ‘Mayans M.C.’ titled ‘Itzam-Ye’…
The Truth Hurts
In the aftermath of the ambush at the sit down that supposedly hammered out a gun deal between the Sons of Anarchy, the Mayans and Vatos Malditos, Bishop and the rest of the members end up by Riz’s bedside as he clings to life after being shot several times.
Coco gets discharged from the hospital almost immediately with a patch over one eye and estimations from the doctors that say he may get his vision back or he may remain with 60 percent impairment as a result of the damage he sustained in the fire fight with the Vatos.
Obviously, Coco wants blood but Bishop is forced to sit down with the other kings of the Mayans’ charter before any retaliation can be dished out.
Meanwhile, EZ and Angel are receiving text messages from Lincoln Potter requesting information that will give him clarity on the real situation happening with Miguel Galindo, the rebels in Mexico and a new politician named Polomo. Potter is convinced that Galindo is double crossing him but he can’t prove it so he tasks the Reyes’ boys to find that information so he offer a measured response.
EZ and Angel also get called into a meeting with their father Felipe, who begins to lay out the truth about his former job as a Federale in Mexico and how he ultimately ended up working for Jose Galindo as protection for his lucrative cartel. Felipe explains some of the history to his sons — including how he got into business with Galindo in the first place after a person in one of his investigations got killed and the cartel leader helped clean it up so no one was ever the wiser.
Felipe promises to tell his sons the rest of the story along with putting the puzzle pieces together about their mother’s murder once everybody involved in this story can meet at his house later that night. Felipe says there’s another key component missing but he plans to orchestrate a meeting between all the parties later so they can finally deal with this as a family rather than each of them attacking it from different angles.
And finally, Miguel Galindo has known for weeks that his wife Emily was keeping something from him but he’s never been able to ascertain what that might be. He knows the Reyes’ family has something do do with all her secrecy but even that remains a mystery because she’s not saying much these days.
In an attempt to bridge the gap, Miguel finally comes clean about his business dealings with Adelita, Palomo and his current plan to blackmail his way out of a deal with Lincoln Potter after discovering the woman he left behind in Mexico with a child that likely belongs to him. According to Miguel, she was a star witness in one of Potter’s first major cases in Mexico but he ended up falling in love with her.
An agent carrying on a relationship with an important witness poisons the entire case and if Miguel brings this to light, Potter’s conviction would undoubtedly end up back in the courts and he would almost assuredly get pulled from his detail in Mexico. For now, Miguel is holding onto this information until he finds the right time to use it.
He then asks Emily to come clean with him about everything she’s been keeping secret, including his suspicion that she had the city planner’s assistant killed in order to secure the winning bid on the agro-park contract. Emily refuses to give up anything while telling her husband yet again that Marlin’s death was a suicide and she had nothing to do with it.
Ultimately, Emily ends up storming out of the office and Miguel is left wondering what she’s doing behind his back. In order to find answers, Miguel asks Alvarez to do some digging of his own, which may lead him into a conflict with his former family with the Mayans.
Let’s Go to War
Bishop meets with the other heads of the Mayan empire as they discuss what needs to be done following the Vatos’ ambush that left one member nearly losing his sight and another in intensive care clinging onto life in the hospital. As much as the club wants retribution for the outrageous actions of the Vatos, the reality is they were lashing out after nine of their members were killed by the Mayans.
Of course, Bishop reminds his fellow kings that the Vatos’ disrespected them by coming into their backyard and setting up shop without ever bothering to ask permission.
Still, they are forced to remind Bishop that this deal with the Irish guns is worth millions and will stabilize Mayan charters all over the country. It also shifts the power base of the M.C. from north in Oakland down to the south in Santo Padre since they will be tasked with running the gun operation from Mexico into the United States.
Bishop is obviously disturbed at the prospect that the Vatos might get away with a cowardly act of violence without any vengeance being dished out in return but he also knows that this gun deal is a once in a lifetime opportunity and turning it away now means it will never return again.
Coco is infuriated at the idea that the Vatos might not pay for what they did to him much less what they did to Riz but Bishop is trying to do what’s best for the club.
To get some guidance, Bishop ends up calling on his mentor and former founder of the Mayans, Marcus Alvarez, who pays him a visit. Alvarez essentially tells him that this gun deal is hugely important to the Mayans and it puts them on a different playing field than they’ve ever been on previously. They will have the power and they will have the resources to fully fund Mayan charters while making sure all of the members finally get paid.
As hard as it might be to hear it, Bishop knows what needs to be done.
Before leaving, “El Padrino” stops to have a conversation with EZ Reyes to quietly grill him about his relationship with Emily Galindo and perhaps his involvement in the death of that city planner’s assistant. While EZ doesn’t lie, he stops short of telling Alvarez the truth but adds if Emily needed him, he would answer her call and if Galindo’s new right hand man wants further answers, he’s going to have to talk to her.
Back at the hospital, Taza is torn up watching Riz suffer while Creeper stays by his bedside the entire time. Taza answers Creeper’s questions about his past with the Vatos and his relationship with that M.C. before he joined the Mayans. Taza is hesitant to say too much but it seems clear part of the grudge that’s being carried stems back to his dealings with the Vatos’ club president, who called him out as a traitor during their meeting a couple days earlier.
Later that night, Bishop finally calls a vote to decide if the club will dish out vengeance against the Vatos or let it stand so they can go into business together to help run the Irish guns. While several members are just itching for payback — including Angel and Coco — the vote ultimately goes the other way with Bishop serving as the final vote to say the Mayans won’t be retaliating.
Coco is enraged, especially considering he may never ride again if his eyesight doesn’t return to normal. Angel is utterly confused because a member being cut down by a rival M.C. seems like the easiest decision for vengeance in history but yet they will dish out nothing.
Back at the hospital, Taza gets word of the decision before sending Creeper home to get some rest after he’s been by Riz’s bedside this entire time. Taza then breaks down in tears as he kisses Riz’s head before apologizing to him as he tightens the breathing tube that’s helping him to stay alive.
A few seconds pass and Riz goes into arrest with doctors rushing into save his life while Taza acts like he has no idea what just happened. The doctors are unable to revive Riz and he dies on the table.
Word then reaches the clubhouse that Riz has died, which immediately puts Bishop on par with the rest of the members — he’s notifying the Mayan kings that the Santo Padre chapter is going to war with Vatos Malditos.
Taza’s betrayal by killing a brother was not only shocking but obviously leaves a lot of questions about why he would be willing to murder Riz in order to strike down any possible peace with his former M.C. in Mexico. It seems almost certain that Taza has some skeletons in his closet that he doesn’t want getting unburied, which could easily happen if the Mayans are coordinating runs with Vatos Malditos week to week.
Instead, Taza kills a fellow Mayan, which lights the fuse to a war that will undoubtedly explode in the season finale.
A Woman Scorned
EZ Reyes had his life forever changed the night he found his mom murdered on the floor of his family’s butcher shop and he gave chase to the shooter, which in turn led to the accidental death of a police officer that landed him in jail for the better part of a decade.
Ever since EZ was released, he’s been trying to find the answers as to why his mother died that night and much of ‘Mayans M.C.’ season 2 has been spent with him digging into his father’s former life and how that tied back to the murder.
At this point, EZ knows that Happy Lowman from the Sons of Anarchy carried out the hit but he was just a paid gunman. Happy then led EZ to the payments made through a different Sons of Anarchy charter that led him to the Reyes’ butcher shop where he was supposed to kill both Felipe and his wife Marisol that night.
EZ then worked with Emily Galindo to find the corresponding numbers from the Sons of Anarchy ledger, which then traced back to family accounts belonging to Jose and Dita Galindo.
After months of questions, Felipe finally gathers everybody in one room after calling on Dita to assist him in bringing Emily to this meeting. Dita does as she’s asked and she assists Emily escape Miguel’s watchful eye so she can sit down with the Reyes family as requested.
Once they meet, Felipe lays out the reality of his life in Mexico, which included a long term affair with Dita Galindo following the death of her first child, Cristobol.
Felipe says following their child’s death, Jose was checked out of the relationship and Dita turned to him for comfort. He eventually severed ties with her and then fell in love with the woman who would become his wife. After Felipe’s wife became pregnant, he knew it was time to leave Mexico and so they relocated to the United States to start a new life together.
Emily then confirms the checks that were written match the information provided by Happy that proves the money paid to hire a hitman came from Galindo family accounts. The checks were signed by Dita Galindo but Felipe, EZ and Angel all have to believe it came on orders from Jose and he just used those accounts to cover his tracks.
That then begs the question, how did the Galindo cartel find out about Felipe and Marisol living in Santo Padre?
It doesn’t take Emily long to figure out they believe Miguel must have been behind it — he discovered Felipe and Marisol and reported that back to his father, who then carried out the hit against the Reyes’ family. Emily is immediately enraged while telling them that there’s no way Miguel would have been involved and she wants assurances that nothing will happen to him.
EZ decides to take Emily back to meet with Dita before time runs out and Miguel gets suspicious. As they arrive, EZ comes clean to Emily about Lincoln Potter turning the screws on him to get the dirt on Miguel or his father will be deported back to Mexico. Emily decides to offer a trade — she will hand over the blackmail information that Miguel has on Potter so he’s forced to back off Felipe and in return, EZ has to promise not to lay a hand on her husband.
EZ can’t make that decision in a snap and just then Dita arrives to pull Emily from the truck so they can meet with Miguel’s security detail before they get concerned. This is actually the first time that EZ has ever laid eyes on Dita Galindo but it doesn’t take him long to realize he’s seen her once before.
As he returns home to his father’s house, EZ is reminded of a night he spent at a carnival while he was still in high school. He was there with Emily and Angel while Felipe and Marisol sat together as in love as they’ve ever been. That’s when EZ gets a flash in the distance of a spying Dita Galindo looking at his parents.
Thanks to his eidetic memory, EZ is able to remember that Dita Galindo was at the carnival that night staring at his parents before she was pulled away by her son Miguel, who had no idea that his mother just saw some ghosts from her past.
Now EZ knows for certain that it was Dita Galindo who ordered the hit on his parents, which is why payment was made from the family account and it also explains why another hit was never attempted. Unlike Jose or Miguel, who would require blood as payment, Dita had no way to follow up on her orders because she was obviously doing this covertly behind her son and husband’s backs.
Felipe is obviously devastated to think a woman he once cared about was responsible for his wife’s death — and to make matters even worse, he now knows that Miguel Galindo is actually his son.
That’s the one secret that did not get revealed.
Now EZ, Angel and Felipe have the proof they need that Dita Galindo ordered the hit that got Marisol Reyes killed but what exactly can they do with that information? Striking back at the Galindo matriarch almost guarantees the entire Reyes’ family would be wiped out in an instant? Then again what will Miguel do if he finds out that Dita ordered this hit while keeping the secret that Jose was not his father?
These are all questions heading into the “Mayans M.C.’ season finale next Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
