In the “Mayans M.C.” recap, the Santo Padre chapter fights for their lives against the other Mayan charters…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
The civil war within the Mayans finally reached an explosive conclusion in the “Mayans M.C.” season 4 premiere but not before there were all sorts of dead bodies left in the wake of a bloody battle.
A quick refresher from season 3 — the strained relationship between the various charters left the Mayans fractured and falling apart, which is what led Bishop to decide the organization could no longer be run by three kings. His defiance put him at odds with the other leaders and Bishop felt that the best way to stamp out these problems was to wipe out the other two Mayan leaders with equal power to him.
While Ramos — a surviving member of the Mayans from Northern California, who first appeared in “Sons of Anarchy” — was executed, his counterpart Canche actually survived a bombing attempt that was meant to wipe out his entire charter in Yuma, Arizona. Canche lived but his son was injured along with many members killed, which obviously left him seeking vengeance against the people who came after him.
Just when it appeared that the war was over, Bishop and the other members of the Santo Padre chapter heard banging at their front gate as the charters from Yuma, northern California and other areas arrived to settle the score once and for all.
Now as “Mayans M.C.” season 4 begins, the Santo Padre members are trapped in the clubhouse, literally fighting for their lives when they are outnumbered and definitely outgunned. The season 4 premiere lasted two full episodes, which also included a time jump so without further ado let’s get to our full recap from the premiere as we recap the latest from “Mayans M.C.” with both “Cleansing of the Temple” and “Hymn Among the Ruins”…
Civil War
With Canche leading the charge and dozens upon dozens of Mayans backing him up, the Santo Padre chapter realize that they are trapped in the clubhouse with little chance they’ll actually survive. To make matters worse, Bishop discovers that the gun closet at the clubhouse has nearly been cleaned out thanks to all the fighting they’ve already been doing lately and that only lessens the odds his crew will actually live through this onslaught.
EZ, Angel and the others attempt to fend off the attacking Mayans who are jumping over the gates and attempting to breach the clubhouse but they all know that ammunition is low and they can only hold out so long before being overwhelmed.
EZ and Tranq head up to the roof to get a look at what they’re up against and as bullets start flying, they realize that this is a fight they probably can’t win. Before he can size much else up, EZ ends up in a fight for his life against one of the Yuma Mayans, who made it to the roof.
Just when it looks like EZ is a dead man, he’s able to pull out his knife and stab his attacker in the neck before tossing him off the side of the building. It turns out that’s the least of his problems on this particular night.
To make matters even worse, EZ spots Canche among the Mayans and he realizes that the bomb he ignited in the Yuma clubhouse didn’t succeed in taking out the third king in power.
During the melee, Tranq ends up taking a bullet in the leg, which essentially puts him out of commission as EZ rushes back inside to try and figure out a plan for what happens next.
When the lights drop and the Santo Padre chapter realizes that the power has been cut, time is quickly running out before the invaders from outside those gates get inside the clubhouse.
EZ recognizes that they can’t win a gun battle and they most certainly can’t use the ammunition they have left while shooting blind. So along with help from Creeper, EZ starts assembling several Molotov cocktails out of the numerous bottles of liquor that he’ll use to provide cover while his brother-in-arms makes a run for the shed where the chapter stores extra lights and a generator run by gasoline.
Up on the roof, EZ starts tossing the homemade firebombs, which slows down the advances of the Mayans storming the gates as Creeper makes his way into the utility shed to gather supplies. Creeper manages to retrieve the lights and get them back to the clubhouse but now he needs to get the gasoline and his movement along with the Molotov cocktails exploding only gets the attacking Mayans to pay that much more attention to him.
Creeper is able to fend off the attack from one Mayan who gets into the shed with him so he quickly rushes the gas cans back to power the lights but then he notices the truck blocking the gate is slowly being moved out of the way, which would let the people on the outside flood inside without anything left to stop them.
So rather than retreat to safety, Creeper jumps in the truck, starts it, backs up and then runs it full speed into the gate, crushing the arms of a few Mayans attempting to reach inside to unlock it. Creeper attempts to escape but the Mayans all point their weapons at him and he takes several bullets including one in the neck before Bishop and the others pull him back inside after he fell nearly dead on the porch.
Meanwhile, Coco and Gilly have returned from meth mountain, which was another situation that will surely haunt them as the season moves forward. Before they can even get to the clubhouse, the van starts taking gunfire and Gilly has to inform Coco that they firebombed the Yuma chapter so this is undoubtedly retribution coming for them.
Knowing they have a stash of weapons in the back of the van, Gilly tells Coco to retrieve everything so they can lend support but he’s not really excited about going back into the car that’s now being riddled with bullets. Gilly reminds him “I just saved your ass from a tribe of crackhead murder hippies!” and that’s enough to make Coco return to the van.
Sadly he sees the Mayans loading up another Molotov cocktail of their own so he flees before he can get his hands on any of the weapons.
In the clubhouse, the mood has turned rather dire as the members start to accept that they won’t survive this night.
Bishop isn’t exactly leading by example but rather just angry and spitting fire about the invaders who will die walking through that front door. He’s also got a hate on for Taza, who has just been hammering booze all night after he revealed that he was the one who killed Riz to cover up his own dirty little secret and that death was truly what ignited the flame leading to this ongoing war.
The Santo Padre chapter is depleted with Taza trashed, Tranq nursing a leg wound, Creeper using a hot blade to cauterize the bleeding from his neck and Nails begging Angel not to leave her side considering she’s pregnant with his child.
Just as Bishop is ready to flip on the lights and use the last of the ammunition to take out the invading Mayans, EZ and the rest hear footsteps on the roof.
Just before opening fire on the people coming down the stairs, EZ and the others realize that it’s Gilly and Coco, who managed to punch through the back wall to gain entrance to the clubhouse. Rather than celebrate some extra manpower, Bishop is irate because Coco has been all but a ghost for the past couple of months.
Coco lies and says that his daughter Letty got into some really bad shit and he had to get her out of it while adding that Gilly was there to help him. Gilly doesn’t contradict him, which only furthers his anger towards Coco after saving him from the methed out hippies.
Bishop then decides it’s time to make a final stand as they flip on the lights and open fire on the attacking Mayans, mowing down several with what’s left of their ammunition. It’s short lived success because Bishop knows their guns will soon run dry and it’s only a matter of time before Canche leads the charge into the clubhouse.
While he doesn’t have much to offer in terms of a strategy, Bishop promises to use whatever bullets he has left to kill each and every person that attempts to come through that door. Gilly realizes that the whole clubhouse maybe has 12 bullets left between them so this fight won’t last much longer.
Outside, Canche taunts EZ because he saw the newest member of the Santo Padre chapter outside his own clubhouse just before an explosion tore through the building and nearly killed his son. Realizing that Canche is out for blood and revenge, EZ decides that it’s time to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
He tries to offer himself up to spare everybody else but Canche knows EZ has no negotiating leverage whatsoever in this situation. EZ continues to shout back at Canche while trying to spare the club from any further bloodshed so he lays down his weapon and walks out the front door.
EZ is greeted by dozens of Mayans pointing guns at him and he’s ready to die for the cause so long as his brother and the rest of the members from Santo Padre survive. Before he can take a bullet, Angel joins him outside and before long the rest of the club members have lined up alongside him, ready to accept whatever fate befalls all of them.
After putting all of the Santo Padre chapter on their knees, one member is killed and Canche is ready to do the same to the rest of them. He informs Bishop that Ibarra is dead and that his wife will need a closed casket for the funeral just like everybody else involved in this coup d’état.
Canche then decides that EZ’s fate won’t be so easy because now he’s going to have to watch his brother die before him along with the rest of the members of the Santo Padre chapter. EZ closes his eyes when he hears a gunshot ring out but when he turns, Angel is still very much alive.
That’s when everybody turns to find Marcus Alvarez has arrived to restore the peace.
Alvarez decided his true loyalties lie with the Mayans after he quit working for Miguel Galindo just before he fled to Mexico. Now he’s returned to take back the club he started and Alvarez finds his brothers are killing each other in a civil war.
He turns to Bishop to ask what he’s done but then he reminds everybody on both sides that no matter who started this war, they’re all standing in his yard.
“This is my fucking club! You fucking hear me? You fucking hear me? This is my fucking club!”
~ Marcus Alvarez
The New World Order
The second episode picks up four months later with the Mayans once again operating as one unit, albeit with a lot of bad blood between the various members.
When Bishop returns from a ride, it’s revealed that he’s been demoted to vice president and when he walks inside the clubhouse, he sees members from the Yuma chapter and other charters occupying the place he considered his home. Rather than make small talk, Bishop just heads into the chapel where he sits in his new chair to the left of the president of the Santo Padre charter — Marcus Alvarez.
The rest of the members join the table with Alvarez calling the meeting to order.
It seems in the aftermath of the civil war, the Yuma chapter has taken the lead on the drug trade after making a deal with Lobos New Generation — the offshoot cartel of Lobos Sonora, who were first introduced during “Sons of Anarchy.” The pipeline of drugs is running smooth and profits are at an all time high even if the fentanyl laced products are causing more and more overdoses.
EZ can’t help but wonder what happened to Miguel Galindo and his family — obviously unaware that Emily left her husband before he fled to Mexico — but Alvarez tells him and the rest of the members that Galindo is most certainly dead because the LNG cartel would never let him stay alive.
To make matters worse, Taza raises an issue that the Santo Padre chapter have been frozen out from even making protection runs, which means they aren’t earning any real money. Unfortunately, Alvarez informs him and everybody else that Canche and the Yuma chapter are leading the charge now and they just have to learn to accept the new world order within the Mayans.
After the meeting breaks, tension are high as Bishop continues to stew over his demotion not to mention the members from other charters who are just putting up their feet in his clubhouse. Of course, the Yuma members in attendance aren’t too happy to see Bishop chatting it up with the widow of one of their brothers killed by the Santo Padre chapter.
Even EZ is struggling to fit into this new version of the Mayans but the Yuma member who he stabbed in the neck approaches him in an effort to keep the peace. Despite nearly killing each other, he reminds EZ about how Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztecs by turning the indigenous people against themselves, which allowed him to essentially defeat all of them.
In other words, the Mayans continuing to fight each other will only allow their enemies to gain strength against them. EZ eventually shakes hands with his fellow Mayan, which only serves to upset Bishop even further.
He’s more than ready to revolt while simmering under his breath about seeing these other members in his clubhouse. Bishop begins stirring up support amongst the Santo Padre members, although both EZ and Tranq seem less than enthusiastic about the war he’s trying to start all over again.
Bishop’s day only goes from bad to worse when Taza pledges his undying loyalty to the former Santo Padre president but that’s the one person he doesn’t want on his side. Bishop tells Taza that he’s dead to him and the only reason he’s not actually been killed is out of some twisted sense of loyalty shared from their past.
As for the Yuma members, they start harassing Jess — one of the female bartenders — while saying that she looks like Justin Bieber and remarking how they can’t imagine any of the members would actually attempt to fuck her. Angry and hurt, Jess heads outside where she spots a kaleidoscope of butterflies all gathered around an old oil drum.
Out of curiosity, Jess goes over to open up the drum and that’s when she discovers a rancid smell and something she never expected inside.
As for EZ, he leaves the clubhouse to go to his trailer and that’s when he runs into his father Felipe, who has been waiting outside for his son. It seems EZ has all but shut out his father after Felipe told his now ex-girlfriend Gaby to get away from him and start a new life far away from Santo Padre.
EZ doesn’t say a word to his father, who showed up to deliver an important message for his son that was left at his house.
When Angel arrives to keep his brother company, he notes what a sad existence he’s living in this one room shack with nobody to even share it with. Angel things it’s long since time for EZ to get a dog or at least something to keep him company in this depressing ass space.
Of course, Angel is dealing with his own turmoil as he continues to try and start a new life of his own with Nails while expecting their first baby together. The only problem is Angel can’t help but sneak away every now and again to look at the photo of the child he shared with Adelita.
Sadly, Angel believes his baby with her is dead and Adelita abandoned him long ago but it’s still difficult for him to let it all go. Of course, Adelita discovered at the end of season 3 that Lincoln Potter only used her child as leverage but the baby is still very much alive somewhere out there.
Angel doesn’t know that so by the end of the episode, he finally deletes the only photo he has of his first child and he attempts to start fresh with Nails as the priority in his life.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Taking advice from his brother, EZ decides to go to a local shelter where he rescues a dog abandoned by its former owners. He tries to be friendly with the girl working at the shelter but she quickly brushes off his advances but EZ still leaves with a new family member to share a home with him.
Back at the trailer, EZ finally picks up the note that was left for him by his father and whatever news was delivered is shocking to him.
EZ then flashes back to the years he spent in prison where his entry was devastating after he was jumped and nearly killed. After stabbing another inmate and spending time in solitary confinement, EZ emerged to find he had protection from one of the gangs inside, who counted a charismatic leader as the man in charge.
This man taught his crew how to fight and how to survive both inside and outside these walls. Obviously, the note that EZ received had something to do with the friend who saved his life from the penitentiary but we haven’t learned yet what happened.
Later that night, Tranq shows up at Alvarez’s home where he tells the new Santo Padre president about the uprising that Bishop seems to be planning. It appears Tranq is serving as Alvarez’s inside man amongst the Santo Padre crew as he attempts to build back the bridges that were burnt and nearly tore his club apart.
Tranq believes that Alvarez is the only one capable of making the Mayans whole again, which is why he’s working to help mend fences between charters.
We also finally catch up with Emily, who is now living in some undisclosed area where she’s working as a waitress at a Mexican restaurant. She returns home each night to a sketchy apartment building where she sips on a glass of cheap wine and stares out the window wondering what exactly happened to her life.
Emily is finally free of Miguel but she’s now destitute and by all accounts, her son is nowhere to be found.
Finally, the Sons of Anarchy chapter in San Bernardino are holding a meeting where they discuss the ongoing friction within the Mayans not to mention a recent occurrence where the rival club traveled through their territory without so much as a warning. The president wants to keep the peace while recognizing that the internal strife is tearing the Mayans apart, which means the Sons will be able to just pick up the pieces once those charters are gone.
The vice president doesn’t seem nearly as content with that plan of action, especially knowing that the mother charter in Charming won’t make a move against the Mayans. The club mentions both Chibs and Happy by name but neither make an appearance.
It seems the San Bernardino chapter are under a new direction with Packer (previously played by Robert Patrick) still being treated after he was diagnosed with cancer.
Later that night, the San Bernardino vice president is still complaining to the other members about his issues with the Mayans but none of them are interested in starting another turf war. That’s when he gets a visit from his ex, who also happens to be Jess’ sister.
She tells the San Bernardino VP that her sister Jess found something very disturbing — and it’s finally revealed to be a Sons of Anarchy kutte covered in blood, stinking of death.
The kutte belongs to Allesandro Montez — the former road captain for the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original chapter — who was doing a deal with Palo and his club the Vatos Malditos before he was double crossed and killed. Palo then dumped Montez’s body at the Santo Padre chapter clubhouse to place the blame on the Mayans.
Taza covered up the murder by hiding Montez’s body in one of the oil drums in the yard and that’s exactly where the dead SAMCRO member has remained ever since. Now the all-too-anxious San Bernardino vice president has the evidence he needs to start a war that he obviously hopes will wipe out the Mayans once and for all.
“Mayans M.C.” returns for a new episode next Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
