In the “Mayans M.C.” recap, EZ feels the walls closing down around him before coming face to face with the enemy and a major secret is revealed…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It felt inevitable that EZ Reyes would eventually pay for turning informant to get released from prison but it remains to be seen just how far he will go to protect that secret.
Last week on “Mayans M.C.,” Kate — the former undercover agent who put Creeper behind bars — discovered that EZ was the rat informing to Agent Kevin Jimenez, who mysteriously disappeared after he was pulled from the case. Of course, we know that EZ and Angel murdered Kevin and Lincoln Potter ultimately covered it up to protect his own desires to broker a new deal between the U.S. government and the Galindo cartel in Mexico.
Armed with that information, Kate now has the Jenga block that could bring the Mayans crashing down, especially after the club has put so much faith in EZ as the new leader and president of the Santo Padre chapter.
EZ has been putting out a lot of fires this season, which includes his ongoing war with the Sons of Anarchy, as well as trying to establish the Mayans as a serious player in the drug trade after taking out a cartel stronghold so he could start producing street-level Fentanyl. Ultimately, EZ wants to topple the cartel, which might sound like a great idea but it’s much easier said than done.
As for Angel Reyes, he’s been conflicted all season long as he grows further and further apart from his brother while becoming a better father to his own son. Angel never wanted the Mayans to get drawn deeper into the outlaw life but that’s exactly where EZ has been taking them — and it turns out Angel was willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that transformation was never completed.
There’s a lot to dig into with this super-sized episode so let’s recap the latest episode of “Mayans M.C.” titled “I Want Nothing But Death”…
There Can Be No Peace Without War
The episode opens with the Mayans once again striking back at the Sons of Anarchy with a hit planned against members of the San Bernardino chapter while out with their girlfriends at an ice cream shop. Angel is tagged as the trigger man — and he’s obviously reluctant to do the job — but he still gets the drop on the group by firing a single shot that takes out one of the Sons. The car carrying the Mayans races away as the rest of the Sons stand over their fallen brother.
The next day, the Grim Bastards — the same M.C. that has partnered with the Sons of Anarchy for years — arrive at the Mayans’ clubhouse seeking an audience with EZ Reyes. The leader named Lucky has arrived for an impromptu meeting along with an offer.
It seems the ongoing war between the Mayans and the Sons of Anarchy is not only seeing a lot of members killed but it’s also putting all motorcycle clubs back on the radar of law enforcement. Like it or not, shootouts in public places and dead bodies left on the highway tends to send a bad message and the Federal authorities are starting to pay attention.
Lucky warns EZ that the Feds are building a case against the Mayans and every other outlaw M.C. and the government doesn’t take aim without knowing the target will get hit. So rather than allowing this war to continue with unlimited bloodshed, Lucky offers the chance to meet at a neutral site with the Grim Bastards acting as intermediaries for a sit down between the Mayans and the Sons of Anarchy to hopefully reach a truce and find peace so everybody can just get back to business.
EZ doesn’t seem all that interested in trusting Lucky but he’s even less interested in trusting that psychopath Isaac Packer, who has burned members of the Mayans alive and shot others dead in front of their families. Lucky understands his trepidation but he also knows that war is bad for everybody and this is a chance to potentially put an end to it all.
Meanwhile as Angel rides around Santo Padre, he’s approached by Miguel Galindo for a clandestine meeting.
Angel doesn’t understand why he’s being singled out but it doesn’t take long for Miguel to lay out his accusations — he knows that the Mayans hit the cartel cookhouse in Mexico because a child identified Angel as one of the men he saw bust into the place. To make matters worse, Miguel also knows another secret that Angel has been keeping.
Angel is the person who burned down the warehouse full of cartel heroin that sunk the Mayans’ deal.
It’s a shocking revelation as Miguel tells Angel that he must be crazy trying to pull such a move without realizing that the warehouse would be littered with security cameras. Thus far, Miguel has been keeping his identity a secret from his partner Soledad but he could hand over Angel at any time, which would mean his certain death either from the cartel or from his other brothers in the Mayans.
Instead of signing Angel’s death warrant, Miguel offers him an alternative — he needs to get EZ to shut down this vendetta against the cartel and stop producing Fentanyl immediately. In exchange, Miguel will mend fences with Soledad and get the Mayans back on board as the distributors for the cartel in California.
“Convince him, Angel. Maybe all the secrets can stay safe.”
~ Miguel Galindo
Back at the clubhouse, Bishop and the other members are joking around about the hit on the Sons of Anarchy when EZ arrives to call order to the meeting. Before anything can get started, Angel says he’s got business to discuss — namely he didn’t sign up to be a drug dealer and he wants to get out of this Fentanyl trade before anyone else gets killed. Angel mentions Lobo overdosing and dying just a few feet from where they’re sitting and he doesn’t want anything to do with it anymore.
In response, EZ tells the club members that Marcus Alvarez ran things as a dictatorship but that’s now how he wants to serve as president. Instead, EZ says that this is a democracy and if they want out, he’ll get them out — but not before he drops a bag of cash on the table from the first sale of Fentanyl. He hands out stacks of cash to every single member while reminding them that this is just the first taste of what’s to come.
That’s more than enough to convince Bishop and the other members to stay on board with EZ’s plans for the future and Angel’s hopes to talk his brother back from the ledge are crushed rather swiftly.
EZ then mentions the offer from the Grim Bastards to set up a meeting with the Sons of Anarchy and he turns to Bishop for advice because he knows Lucky better than anybody else at the table. Bishop vouches for Lucky as a trustworthy and standup guy and Hank does the same, which is all that EZ needs to know that the Grim Bastards are on the level with their offer.
EZ says the club will ride for Los Angeles tonight to hopefully put an end to the war with the Sons.
As the members go to celebrate their new found fortunes, EZ stops Hank to ask about his mother’s health while also inquiring about Creeper’s revelation that there’s a rat inside the club. Hank promises that Creeper will get the name to him, which will then allow the Mayans to exterminate that cheese eating bastard.
With the club shooting down his proposal to get out of the drug trade, Angel makes one last stab at a person who might be able to convince EZ to give up on this suicide mission so he reaches out to Sofia. Angel essentially begs her to talk EZ out of his obsession to take down the cartel and keep the Mayans in the drug running business but she doesn’t seem all that interested in discussing her boyfriend with his brother.
Before leaving, Angel spirals out of control and says that maybe he should have just burned this whole place to the ground — just like he did another building in the past. Sofia looks concerned but she also starts putting the pieces together because Angel may have just made a confession that will get him killed.
Glass Houses
Last week saw Soledad lash out at Eduardo Villar-Fuentes — the rival cartel king who ultimately partnered with the LNG cartel with hopes of getting out from under the thumb of the U.S. government that has been puppeteering their regimes for years. Soledad believed he was responsible for the hit on the cookhouse so she ordered Adelita to kill him — and she did so with vicious intentions by slitting his throat in front of his young daughter.
Miguel tried to warn her against such actions, especially as he suspected that Eduardo wasn’t behind the hit but Soledad wouldn’t listen.
Now back in California — in the toy store that’s being used as a front for the cartel — Soledad and Miguel have been ordered to a meeting with none other than Lincoln Potter. It turns out, he handed down the command for the LNG cartel to partner with Eduardo’s cartel — there was no master plan to get rid of their American overlords because Potter was pulling the strings the entire time.
He berates Soledad for her actions while also informing her that Eduardo wasn’t responsible for the hit on the cookhouse — it was actually the Mayans. Potter then smiles because Miguel never informed Soledad of what he discovered after meeting with Angel Reyes, which only further sews the seeds of distrust between the partners in the LNG cartel.
Miguel says he had suspicions but nothing concrete, which is what led to the meeting with Angel Reyes but Soledad has heard enough as she storms out of the meeting in anger. As for Miguel, Potter reminds him that he owns him under no uncertain terms — he took away everything with a single phone call and then gave it back to him again the exact same way.
Miguel would be wise to understand he lives to serve as Lincoln Potter’s beck and call.
“Everything you have, everything, begins and ends with me motherfucker. Do not forget that. People who forget that suffer. Entire families suffer.”
~ Lincoln Potter
While Potter is laying down the law to the cartel and Miguel Galindo, Patricia — the special investigator from the inspector general’s office — receives a visit from her boss, who informs her that she’s digging into a situation that could turn out disastrous for all of them. Her meeting with Lincoln Potter to discuss irregularities in his accounting brought down a hammer from the highest levels of government with a message to “keep that bitch on a leash.”
Now he understood that he couldn’t get Patricia to back down even if he wanted but he also warns her about the potential dangers she’s facing if she continues pursing a potential case against Potter. Fearless as ever, Patricia wants to topple Potter even more after hearing this information and she says the first strike against him will be made later today.
That strike comes with an impromptu meeting at Miguel Galindo’s estate where she first sits down with Emily and gets the sense that Mrs. Galindo isn’t exactly there by choice. When Miguel arrives home, Patricia introduces herself and reminds Miguel that he’s out of her purview because working for the inspector general’s office means she’s essentially internal affairs — her job is bringing down the bad actors working inside the U.S. government.
Right now, Patricia has Lincoln Potter square in her crosshairs and she wants to bring him down but that would be a whole lot easier if Miguel was willing to work with her. Patricia reminds Miguel that he may be free right now but Potter can pull that rug out from under him at any time — and the day will absolutely comes when that happens.
But if Miguel agrees to help Patricia bring him down, she promises that he’ll be out of prison in enough time to see his son get married. Miguel sees this as a hollow offer at first because she’s offering to put a free man behind bars as a reward but he also knows that Patricia may be the only way he ever escapes Potter’s grasp.
In the end, Miguel picks up her business card after Patricia leaves but he doesn’t tear it up or throw it away.
Other families are also in peril after Bishop arrives to a birthday party where Alvarez is also attending with his wife and kids. Without saying a word, Alvarez orders his family to leave, much to his wife’s dismay.
Back at home, Alvarez’s wife tells him that she’s had enough — she put up with his sadness and anger over being cut out of the outlaw life when he was ousted from the club but she’s done now. Alvarez has to decide if he wants to be present for his wife and his children, which includes a new baby on the way, or he can leave because there’s no third direction.
As for Bishop, he stays at the party, which is actually a birthday celebration for his new girlfriend Maggie’s granddaughter. It seems this was set up as a introduction so Maggie could finally let Bishop meet her son, Richie.
It’s a little tense at first as Bishop and Richie start to chat while sharing that they both served in the military before Maggie arrives with the guest of honor. She hands the one-year old girl over to Bishop, who can’t help but break down and smile as the child embraces him and puts her head on his shoulder.
Despite self-sabotaging himself at every turn, Bishop might be finally working towards a happily ever after for himself and a whole new family at his side.
Burn It Down
Creeper gets called to see a private visitor as Kate arrives to pass along the news that she discovered the rat inside the Mayans. She first tells him about Kevin Jimenez, who was a former ATF agent who worked with an informant, and it was through his widow that she finally discovered taped conversations with him and the rat in the club. She explains that Jimenez disappeared, which means somebody was covering the tracks of this relationship — and we all know that Potter was the one behind it.
Kate then drops the bomb on Creeper — EZ Reyes is the rat.
She explains to him that EZ was in prison after killing a cop, which means there’s no chance he would have secured an early release without giving information to the government that was valuable enough to put him back on the street. To make matters worse, Jimenez was also EZ’s cousin, which is how the relationship was brokered in the first place.
Creeper scoffs at the revelation and calls for a guard to remove him from the meeting while Kate continues to beg him to listen to her, especially after she gave up her career for him. Creeper then tells the guard that he needs to speak to Smoky — a member of the Mayans Stockton chapter, who is locked up in the same prison, and serves as a shot-caller.
At the meeting, Creeper asks Smoky to reveal the identity of the rat because he was the original source that there was an informant inside the Santo Padre chapter of the Mayans. Smoky tells Creeper that his cousin J.J. did time in Stockton with another prisoner, who came under his protection while they were locked up together, and after getting out he sought to reconnect with him.
If you remember, J.J. was the ex-con who tried to blackmail EZ last season because he knew that the new Mayans’ president was a rat, who got released from prison after becoming a confidential informant. EZ ultimately shot and killed J.J. to protect his secret but it turns out his former friend from prison had already informed Smoky about his identity.
Smoky then comes clean to Creeper — EZ is the rat and that’s exactly how he got out of prison just like Kate said. Creeper is stunned and Smoky offers him a chance to take a single shot at a basketball hoop to play for his life — if he makes it, Smoky will call off the greenlight on getting him killed.
Creeper doesn’t pick up a ball but instead he’s told that a visitor has arrived to see him.
When he arrives at the meeting hall, Creeper is greeted by EZ Reyes, who has finally come to pay him a visit. EZ gives him a hug and promises that the club is still looking out for him behind bars but Creeper can no longer hide his disdain.
He unleashes by telling EZ that the Mayans made him king yet he was the rat working against the club from the very beginning. EZ tries to tell him that he’s taking the club to heights it’s never seen and sacrificing him will only hurt and kill more of their brothers but Creeper isn’t hearing it.
Creeper gave up his life for the club — he’ll spend every single day until he stops breathing behind bars because he protected the Mayans rather than ratting them out.
“I’m going to get word to Hank. I’m going to burn all this shit down.”
~ Creeper
All EZ can say in response is “sorry brother” before grabbing Creeper and pulling him to the ground as if he’s been attacked. EZ calls out for help while holding onto Creeper so he can’t escape — and the guards arrive and beat him viciously with clubs.
Creeper won’t be calling anybody because as a result of his “attack,” he’s placed into solitary confinement where he’ll remain for the immediate future. For now, EZ Reyes’ secret is safe.
It Is You
At the meeting brokered by the Grim Bastards, the Mayans arrive after the Sons of Anarchy and everybody involved in checked for weapons before being allowed inside for the meeting. There EZ finally comes face-to-face with Isaac Packer for the first time — and it’s clear neither of them are interested in giving an inch during these negotiations.
EZ can only spout the same line over and over again, which only serves to anger Isaac.
“We’re prepared to accept your full surrender. We will continue to wear the California patch and the Sons will shut down their San Bernardino chapter immediately.”
~ EZ Reyes
Isaac scoffs at the demands because the Sons of Anarchy have been winning the war thus far even if the club has lost several members. He then calls out for his old pal Coco — it turns out Isaac has no idea that Coco was shot and killed by the Sons at the start of the war before he returned to reclaim his place in the club.
Isaac shows EZ the scar he received from Coco when they met on Meth Mountain and he was hoping to return to favor but now he’ll never get that opportunity. But Isaac also has no desire to reach a peace treaty with the Mayans and he promises not to leave this warehouse until somebody is dead.
So Isaac offers a challenge — one of his best against one of the Mayans’ best and only one will walk out alive. He chooses his biggest brute as EZ looks over the cast of characters he’s brought along with him.
Rather than selecting a member, EZ informs the Mayans that he promised he would bleed for them when he took over as president so he removes his kutte and prepares to fight Isaac’s chosen champion.
At first, EZ doesn’t look like he’s going to survive as Isaac’s monster tosses him around the room like a bag of dirt but eventually he turns the tables on the behemoth. In the end, EZ smashes the Sons of Anarchy member’s head into the concrete until he is dead.
EZ rises from the ground and spits blood at Isaac’s feet before making his same declaration all over again — and Isaac can only stare back and say “it is you” before turning to leave.
Back at the clubhouse, EZ arrives home where Sofia helps him off his bike and starts to nurse him back to health from all the cuts and bruises suffered from the fight. She then tells him that they need to talk about his brother — but we don’t know exactly what Sofia informs EZ about.
Inside, EZ limps through the front door while holding onto Sofia for support as the music dies down and the club members all turn to their president. They begin chanting “EZ” in unison as he cements himself as the leader of the Mayans much to Angel’s chagrin as he sees the power really begin to consume his brother.
Little does Angel know that his own confession to Sofia might be what dooms him in the end.
Before the episode ends we catch up with Letty and Hope, who have been celebrating the big score they took down after a coordinated snatch and grab at a drug den. They’ve paid off the landlord and the pair couldn’t be any happier with how things are going.
That is until later that night when Letty wakes up with a hand covering her mouth and she finds Isaac Packer on top of her. Isaac comments that he sees a lot of Coco in his daughter — and she turns to find that the drug dealer Butterfly has Hope captured as well.
Isaac tells Letty that her father took something from him and if she wants it back, she’s going to have to do something for him. Obviously, Isaac is speaking about Hope — his former junkie who Coco rescued from Meth Mountain — and now he’s keeping her as leverage against Letty.
Will Isaac send Letty on a suicide mission to kill EZ Reyes or how exactly does he intend to use her against the Mayans? It’s evident that despite Isaac being nothing short of a psychopath, he’s not stupid and now he knows EZ is the one he has to take down if he wants to end the Mayans once and for all.
“Mayans M.C.” returns for a new episode next Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
