In the “Mayans M.C.” recap for the final season debut, EZ realizes being president is a tough job, especially after leading the Mayans into a war they may not be able to win against the Sons of Anarchy…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
That’s a saying EZ Reyes has learned all too well after he staged a coup in the “Mayans M.C.” season 4 finale to take over as Presidente of the Santo Padre chapter while simultaneously ousting club founder Marcus Alvarez in the process.
A war between the Mayans and the Sons of Anarchy was really starting to escalate but Alvarez had already lived through this once before and he never wanted to see that for his club again. He witnessed Mayan turning against Mayan before he made his return to take over the Santo Padre chapter and he knew that a war with the Sons was just inviting more death and destruction to their doorstep.
But just as Alvarez was able to negotiate a peace with his friends in Charming — the mother charter at the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original — EZ wasn’t ready to lay down his weapons.
Instead, he found a loophole in the charter rules that allowed him to take a vote to kick Alvarez to the curb while getting voted in as presidente. Now in charge, EZ immediately makes the decision to escalate the war with the Sons of Anarchy after striking a deal with the Lobos Sonora New Generation cartel to become the distributors of heroin throughout California.
That partnership would provide the Mayans with the war chest needed to finally crush the Sons and take over but sadly before EZ could sell his first ounce of dope, somebody burned down the warehouse that contained all of the cartel powder. As season 5 begins, EZ is learning the hard way that fighting a way without any backup is effectively like carrying a knife into a gun fight.
He might take a couple of his enemies out but eventually he’s going down just like everybody else he knows and loves.
That’s where we pick up so with that let’s recap the first two episodes of the final season of “Mayans M.C.” with “I Hear That Train A-Comin” and “Lord Help My Poor Soul”…
Happy Birthday to Me
It’s been six months since EZ Reyes took over the Santo Padre chapter but he doesn’t have much to show for it, although he’s still willing to at least enjoy the morning of his birthday with a romp alongside his girl Sofia before he heads off to work.
Little does EZ know that while he’s celebrating another year on Earth, Isaac Packer — the psychotic brother of former San Bernardino president Les Packer (played by the great Robert Patrick) — has now been cemented as the new president over the San Bernardino chapter, which has allowed him free reign to attack the Mayans at will.
In fact, Isaac is taking out his aggression on a Mayans member named Tito from the Orange County chapter, who suffered a seizure while he was being viciously beaten and eventually urinated on before the attack stopped. Isaac is sending a daily message to the Mayans that they are losing.
As for Angel, he’s settled into a home life with Adelita and their baby Maverick, who still hasn’t met anyone else outside of his father Felipe. Angel is nothing if not a doting father but his serine family gets interrupted daily when he heads off to the Mayans clubhouse.
When he arrives, Angel is greeted by his brother, who asks him if he has anything to say to him — and dumbfounded, Angel says nothing. It’s not until they get inside that Angel realizes that he forgot it was EZ’s birthday.
The rest of the club didn’t forget as they cheer for his arrival and Nestor — who is still rocking his prospect patch — even offers EZ a present.
It’s a short lived celebration, however, as EZ is soon informed of this latest attack by the Sons of Anarchy, which has effectively eliminated the last remaining members of the Orange County charter. The other members tried to tell him that putting a charter in the middle of Sons’ territory was a disastrous idea but he did it anyways because he had to try something to stop his enemy’s expansion.
Now with Orange County decimated, only Santo Padre and Inland Empire remain in southern California.
It turns out, the war has stayed down south after the SAMCRO in Charming reached a treaty with Diaz and the Mayan chapters in Lodi and Stockton up north. That means, both the Sons of Anarchy and the Mayans in Northern California are staying neutral while the clubs to the south battle it out for supremacy.
The group argues about just launching an attack at the Charming chapter, which would surely escalate the war but EZ and the other members pushing for that agenda are reminded how quickly Lodi and Stockton would get wiped off the map if that happened. The Sons of Anarchy in Charming — led by President Filip “Chibs” Telford — have established bigger numbers and stronger grip on the area, which leaves the Mayans vulnerable as the No. 2 M.C. in the area.
As much as EZ wants to attack the Sons where they live, he first needs to find out who burned down the heroin supply provided to them by Soledad and the LNG cartel. It seems after that attack happened, the cartel cut ties with the Mayans, which left them without a heroin pipeline to fund their war and to make matters worse, they are no longer controlling the drug trade in prisons and that puts their brother Creeper in harm’s way.
Remember, Creeper discovered his new girlfriend Kody (real name Kate) was actually a Federal agent, who gathered enough information to put him behind bars for the rest of his life. She attempted to get him to flip and turn rat but instead, Creeper refused and took all the charges that were coming down on him.
With options running out, EZ has orchestrated a new plan to strike back at the Sons and hopefully find a way to get back in Soledad’s good graces.
That plan unravels in broad daylight as the Mayans attack a gun transport from the Sons with several members being killed. A few others are left alive on the side of the road as the Mayans take off with the truck, which is filled to the brim with crates of automatic weapons.
In fact, the haul of weapons is even more impressive the EZ could have possibly imagined.
That leads the Mayans to an abandoned toy store where Miguel Galindo — now acting as Soledad’s right hand man in the LNG cartel — is telling her about plans to set up a non-profit organization that will do some good in the community while simultaneously serving as a money laundering operation to clean the cartel’s drug money.
Soledad is then called into another room where she finds the Mayans and the cache of weapons awaiting her. EZ presents this to her as payback for the lost heroin but she seems almost insulted by the gesture as she scoffs at the guns before instructing Miguel to get rid of this trash once and for all.
She also reminds EZ that he’s got two strikes against her organization after killing her accountant and then allowing the heroin to get burned to the ground. Soledad promises that EZ does not want to see what a third strike looks like.
Miguel — in a tense moment with EZ, who he has no idea is actually his half-brother — tells him that the Mayans are operating in the past and those weapons are from the Cold War era. Gilly happens to notice at the same time that Soledad’s bodyguard is packing a state of the art, military grade rifle that you won’t just find on the street anyway.
Miguel then tells the Mayans that their services are no longer needed.
As for the Sons of Anarchy, Isaac receives word about the attack but he’s not angry — instead he’s emboldened because his enemies are finally showing signs of life again. He’s so demented that he tells the other members of his charter that the dead are the only ones who really see the end of war and it appears he’s actually angry the rest of the Sons involved didn’t sacrifice themselves for the sake of trying to stop the Mayans.
Still, Isaac feels this escalation is call for a celebration later that night as he plots his next move against the Mayans.
Family Matters
Catching up with Letty and Hope — it turns out they’ve been ripping off small time drug dealers and then selling the product back to Louie — another part-time character from past seasons of “Mayans” — and he gives them a cut in return. Unfortunately, these scores are dangerous and getting back $300 isn’t exactly cutting it so Letty forces Louie to come up with a better moneymaking scheme that will allow them to really earn a payday.
It turns out Letty and Hope desperately need it because they are about to be evicted from their home after Coco failed to pay rent for the past year. Now without $13,000 in the next week, Letty and Hope will be homeless.
Louie pops up again later when he’s taken at gunpoint by Guero — a brash, young new member who also happens to be Ibarra’s son. Ibarra was the president of the Tuscon chapter of the Mayans, who was gunned down at the start of the civil war inside the club.
Ibarra was loyal to the Santo Padre chapter, which is exactly where his son ended up as well.
It seems the Mayans wanted to have a word with Louie about where the heroin trade has gone since they’ve been pushed out by Soledad and the LNG cartel. EZ hopes to take down that current pipeline to then put the Mayans back as the only option, which will then give them the leverage they need both in the war with the Sons and inside the prison system to protect Creeper.
Louie tells the club that the drug trade on the street has largely turned to pills but the last he heard the heroin was being handled by a group called the Broken Saints M.C. operating out of Salton Sea.
Needless to say that’s the next stop for the Mayans while Gilly heads off the prison to catch up with Creeper to see if he’s heard anything more inside.
When the Mayans arrive at the compound in Salton Sea, they are soon surrounded by attack dogs and a group of women pointing guns at them. It turns out the Broken Saints are an all-women’s M.C. and they are none too happy to see the Mayans treading on their property.
The Broken Saints then explain that while they dabble in heroin, they’re really living under the foot of another club called Iron War — an LEO MC (Law enforcement officers motorcycle club) made up of cops and correction officers. Angel scoffs at the mention of Iron War because they’re really nothing more than cops posing at outlaws.
The leader of the Broken Saints — a woman named Johnny Panic — berates the Mayans and the Sons of Anarchy as out of town corporate M.C.’s who are more concerned with killing each other than making money so this group has stayed out of the fray. But she agrees to speak privately with EZ, although Johnny doesn’t seem interested in partnering with the Mayans even after he offers to help them get rid of this Iron War problem on their back.
Johnny explains that the Broken Saints can handle their own problems — in fact one of their members sliced a Glasgow smile across the face of an Iron War soldier who got a little too aggressive with them.
While it’s not the answer EZ wanted, at least now he has an idea about who’s getting involved with the heroin pipeline because it has to trace back to Iron War.
That night after everyone returns home, EZ finds Sofia waiting for him with a birthday cake while Angel is happier than ever to greet his son, his father and the woman he loves. Angel then asks Felipe if he’s given up on EZ entirely while realizing that he could never give up on his own son Maverick.
That gives Angel the idea to travel back to the clubhouse where he arrives to tell his brother EZ happy birthday while finally introducing him to his nephew, Maverick. Angel uses this as a reminder for EZ that he still has family worth fighting for even if he feels utterly isolated now that he’s Presidente of the Santo Padre chapter.
Sadly, EZ’s moment of joy is cut short after learning that Creeper got attacked in prison just moments after Gilly paid him a visit. He was stabbed multiple times and left almost for dead because Creeper was left unprotected.
Blue on Black
The next day (and next episode), EZ is assessing the damage after learning about the attack on Creeper. Gilly realizes that the premediated attack must have happened just seconds after he left the prison visiting room where we also saw a member of Storm 88 — the Aryan brotherhood in the prison — receive a package of heroin.
Creeper is in terrible shape as he clings onto life while strapped to machines in the prison infirmary. Handcuffed to his bed, Creeper soon receives a visit from Kate, who begs him to change his mind and allow her to put him in protective custody but he refuses.
Before sending her away, Creeper tells Kate that if she truly wants to help him, she needs to tell him the name of the informant who was working with the government against the Mayans. Now we know from the first season that EZ actually signed up as an informant to work with the government before eventually turning the tables on Lincoln Potter and getting his record expunged.
It’s possible that EZ’s name is still in the confidential informant system, which could lead to his death if the club ever finds out. This could also be one big misdirection that perhaps another member turned rat and EZ is just being teased as the culprit this early in the season.
Kate attempts to get him some answers but she’s denied access to the records room at the Justice Department. To make matters even more suspicious, an accountant has started adding up petty cash numbers that send up a red flag, which forces him to bring this to the attention of his supervisor (played by Dana Delaney).
She’s a reputable star rather than just a guest popping up for a single scene so it’s more than likely she’ll be back for future episodes, which means this accounting problem will almost certainly end up as a major storyline this season.
As for EZ, he’s desperate for answers, especially now that he realizes that it must have been Iron War that orchestrated the attack on Creeper. If Iron War are now running the heroin for the cartel, then that would explain why Creeper suddenly became a target because the Mayans are a threat to their livelihood.
That leads to a confrontation between the Mayans and Iron War, who are nothing if not brash and entitled members of law enforcement, who act as an M.C. while hiding behind guns and badges. The leader of Iron War laughs off whatever threat the Mayans might pose — he sees them as yesterday’s news, especially after Alvarez left as president and the Sons of Anarchy are all but eliminated them one charter at a time.
While at the meeting, Gilly recognizes one of the correction officers he spotted at the prison when he visited Creeper — it’s the vice president of the charter, who also happens to be wearing scars across both sides of his face, which identify him as the person sliced up by the Broken Saints.
The situation nearly escalates but the Iron War calls for backup with numerous members showing up in uniform to prevent a fight that could leave a bunch of people dead but will certainly put the Mayans behind bars.
Rather than attack them right there, EZ decides on another course of action when he sends two members on a mission to track down the Iron Bar vice president, who they club with a baseball bat before dragging him back to the Mayan headquarters.
There, EZ begins viciously beating him up trying to get answers about the heroin trade but the Iron War member won’t give it up. EZ just continues punching him even long after the man has been knocked unconscious and it’s not until the other members rip him off the ground that stops pounding his fists into flesh.
EZ nearly comes to blows with Bishop before then just turning and walks away as the rest of the members lose more faith in the man leading them these days.
While the Mayans are attempting to settle a grudge with Iron War, Soledad and Miguel are meeting with another cartel to hopefully form an alliance. The meeting takes place with a man named Mr. Villar-Fuentes, who seems none too interested in teaming up with his past enemies, especially after they’ve spilled so much blood against each other over the years.
To make matters worse, he knows that Lincoln Potter — the scheming assistant U.S. district attorney from past seasons of “Mayans” and “Sons of Anarchy” — is pulling the strings behind the scenes for the LNG cartel. Miguel openly admits that’s the case but that’s also why he wants to team up with the rival cartel.
He explains that as long as they are fighting each other, the American government can keep them bottled up and maintain a minimum threat against the United States. But if they teamed up together, the cartels could stop looking over their shoulders and instead find a way to eradicate the American government from having such an influence over them.
Mr. Villar-Fuentes agrees to the partnership before shaking Miguel’s hand, which signifies the start of a profitable new relationship. Of course, Miguel might have ended it just seconds later after he spots one of the goons working for the rival cartel and recognizes him as one of the men responsible for killing a little boy named Tomas when he was hiding out at his aunt’s convent this past season.
Miguel never forgot that child, who had befriended him when he had no one.
So Miguel follows the soldier into the bathroom and proceeds to beat him to death by repeatedly slamming his head into a urinal before telling the man that this was for Tomas.
Miguel’s simmering rage also haunts his home life after he returns to his palatial estate where he’s greeted by his son Cristobal. He also finds his wife Emily there as well but she’s almost catatonic after essentially being forced back into the marriage after Miguel killed her sister and took Cristobal away from her.
Now Emily is trapped in a house with a husband she despises but she’s forced to stay to be close to her son. Miguel even reminds her of that while telling Emily that she can leave the house and enjoy her life but she’ll never be left alone with Cristobal again.
There’s even more turmoil stirring at the LNG cartel where Adelita continues to serve Soledad despite Angel having no knowledge of what she’s doing while he’s gone everyday to deal with M.C. business. Felipe warns Adelita that those secrets will eventually come back to bite her but she refuses to tell Angel what’s really happening, especially given the frayed relationship between the Mayans and the cartel.
Of course, Adelita’s job isn’t going much better after she does her collections and returns the money to the LNG compound where she’s mocked by another member of the group, who commands her around like a child rather than a co-worker. It’s clear Adelita’s nearly reaching her breaking point but she ultimately takes her cut of the proceeds and returns home to Angel and Maverick.
The Next Stage of War
After nearly fighting his vice president, EZ is left searching for answers and it leads him to visit former Mayans’ president Marcus Alvarez, who is clearly still lost in the wake of being ousted from the club he helped found. Alvarez tells EZ that he’s the first member to pay him a visit in the past six months but he doesn’t exactly have any words of wisdom to share with the prodigy he pegged as the future of the Mayans only to get betrayed by him.
Even EZ doesn’t know why he sought out Alvarez in this moment, although he does apologize for the way everything went down. Alvarez more or less just shrugs off the apology before telling EZ that he needs to go — and if he returns, he’ll be greeted by a bullet.
While EZ survives his encounter with Alvarez, the president and vice president from the Inland Empire chapter of the Mayans isn’t so lucky.
Isaac Packer not only got the drop on them but he managed to kidnap both members and hold them hostage alongside the president’s wife and daughter. As he explains to them how much he admired his brother even though Les hated him, Isaac desperately still wanted to be just like him.
That’s just how much Isaac loves his family so he wonders how much the president of the Inland Empire loves his? Does he love them more than the Mayans?
With that, Isaac forces him to make a choice — he can either sacrifice his brother in the Mayans or he can sacrifice his wife and daughter but he can’t have both. In the end, the president chooses his vice president, who is immediately shot dead with a bullet to the head as Isaac continues to prove his utter ruthlessness to wipe out the Mayans.
The next morning. Angel awakens to find Maverick in his crib drinking from a bottle but Adelite is nowhere to be found. He grabs his son and heads out into the living room where Angel is shocked to find Cole — a mercenary from a private military operation that we met back in “Mayans M.C.” season 1 — waiting for him.
When they last met, Cole and Angel came to an understanding and parted on good enough terms, which is why this visit is happening. Cole warns Angel that the Mayans need to back off the cartel drug trade or it’s just going to get them all hurt or dead.
To make his point, Cole has one of his soldiers point a gun directly at Maverick’s head to show Angel that he means business. Cole calls this a friendly visit but it will be his last if the Mayans don’t stop trying to get back to drug business they lost.
Back at the clubhouse, Bishop and some of the other members are questioning EZ’s reign as president and how his moves are getting more and more people killed. Bishop lashes out not realizing that EZ is standing right behind him before pulling them all into temple for a meeting called by his brother Angel.
The war has gone from bad to worse after Inland Empire was wiped out, which means Santo Padre is now all alone in the fight against the Sons of Anarchy. When Angel arrives, he informs them about the visit he received from Cole and the special-ops mercenaries telling the Mayans to back down.
That revelation makes the members realize that it must be Cole’s group supplying Soledad’s soldiers with those military grade weapons. It also confirms what Louie told them earlier about the drug trade on the street shifting to pills rather than heroin — the cartel has started dealing Fentanyl, which would explain how they made up so much lost ground in such a hurry after the heroin stash burned to the ground.
This also confirms the pipeline with the cartel using Cole’s military thugs to dish out the drugs to the Iron War M.C., who then use Storm 88 inside the prisons. Considering this obstacle, Angel believes the fight is already over — they can’t win a war on two different fronts, especially going up against special-ops soldiers like Cole and his group of mercenaries.
But rather than concede defeat, EZ suddenly starts laughing.
That’s when EZ declares the Mayans’ next target — they won’t be going after Cole and his mercenaries or even the Iron War M.C. Instead, the Mayans will take out Miguel Galindo, Soledad and the entire LNG cartel.
Now how that exactly is a brilliant plan doesn’t exactly make sense just yet but EZ seems to have an idea that he believes will not only save his club but finally give the Mayans an upper hand to deal with the Sons of Anarchy. Will it all work out?
We’ll see when “Mayans M.C.” returns for a new episode next Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
