In the “Mayans M.C.” recap, Bishop and the rest of the club seek vengeance against the Stockton chapter while Coco’s downward spiral hits rock bottom…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
The fallout from an attempt being made on EZ Reyes’ life was going to have far-reaching consequences with the civil war between charters escalates during the latest episode of “Mayans M.C.”
Last week saw the club rally around EZ after he avoided certain death when a member of the Mayans Stockton chapter rolled up on him and pointed a gun at his head with the intention of leaving him dead in the street. Thankfully, EZ’s new girlfriend Gaby warned him just before the shot was fired and he was able to subdue the would-be assassin but not without taking a bullet to the gut.
With the possibility that a second strike could be coming, Bishop sent EZ packing out of town with Gaby so he could rally the troops and prepare for a fight that could rattle the Mayans M.C. to its very core.
Elsewhere, Adelita’s long road back to recover from the torture she endured at the hands of U.S. Assistant District Attorney Lincoln Potter continued this week after she reunited with her beloved Mini and then returned to the rebel group she founded.
And finally, Coco’s descent into addition started long before this season began but he’s been slowly spiraling deeper and deeper into an abyss that he may never escape. Coco’s choices catch up to him this week and it appears his survival for another day is no longer guaranteed.
With that said, let’s get to our recap for the latest episode of “Mayans M.C.” titled “What Comes of Handlin’ Snakeskin”….
Revenge is a Dish Best Served with a Baseball Bat
In Stockton, Calif., the Mayans chapter is strong but they aren’t quite prepared for the attack coming from the boys from Santo Padre, who show up at several businesses around town armed with baseball bats ready to swing for the fences.
A tattoo shop gets busted up alongside a couple of Stockton members and when another shows up at his own house crying to his girlfriend about the members shot and killed in Santo Padre for attempting to gun down EZ Reyes, he’s jumped from behind and beaten to a bloody pulp as well.
The assaults continue as Bishop and the rest of the club lead an offensive against the Stockton chapter in order to eventually get to Ramos — one of the Mayan kings and the man responsible for ordering the hit on EZ.
When the club finally arrives at their makeshift headquarters at a local motel in Stockton, they are reunited with EZ, who has finally rejoined his club after dropping Gaby off at her family’s house in Lodi.
While Angel and Gilly tell EZ about the beatdowns they’ve handed out today, they can’t help but notice their newest patched member has a certain glow about him. That’s when Angel realizes that EZ must have finally sealed the deal with Gaby and broken out of his “drought.”
Angel can’t help but give his brother a hard time while wondering if his romantic night with Gaby involved “birds chirping and all kinds of shit.”
Back to the business at hand, Bishop is only concerned about tracking down Ramos to put a bullet in the head of the man who tried to kill one of his members. The only problem is there’s no sign of him at his house and the Tuscon members helping to dish out this revenge haven’t been able to track him down either.
With nowhere to go, the club decides to get some much needed rest while Hank orders Steve the prospect to guard the van while berating him for being overweight. Of course, being a prospect in an outlaw M.C. involves a much more severe hazing process but it seems like Steve is committed to staying the course in order to become a full-fledged Mayan.
After he’s ordered to do some burpees and lose 15 pounds, EZ arrives to give Steve some encouragement and remind him that this is all about being part of something bigger. He coaches Steve on the idea that becoming a member of the club is like handing over your personal needs for the betterment of the entire group. Steve confesses that becoming a member of the Mayans is all he’s ever wanted — he’s spent his entire life being the punchline and he’s tired of laughing alone.
Of course, EZ leaves and then orders him to start doing those burpees.
Later that night as the club members continue to await word on Ramos’ location, the Oakland chapter of the Mayans show up in full force to confront Bishop and Santo Padre about their attacks on Stockton.
The president is a man named Diaz, who is quick to remind Bishop that he helped found the Mayans alongside Marcus Alvarez and that what he’s doing threatens to destroy the entire foundation of the club. In a rather quick side note, Diaz tells Bishop that he and Alvarez started the Mayans after they attempted to join the Sons of Anarchy but were not allowed in the ranks.
He also can’t help but wonder if revenge has already been doled out considering the Stockton chapter saw two of their members gunned down as they were leaving Santo Padre but EZ is still alive and well despite the attempt on his life.
Bishop then reminds Diaz that he didn’t strike the match that ignited this war — that was Ramos after he ordered the hit on EZ.
The back and forth continues as Diaz wonders if this power play isn’t about something bigger after Bishop and the Santo Padre chapter killed nearly all of the members of the Vatos Malditos in Mexico thus nixing the plans for the Mayans to take over the gun trade from the Sons of Anarchy. Diaz feels like perhaps Bishop is attempting to keep Santo Padre as the chapter the rest of the charters rely upon for heroin coming over from the border rather than allowing the gun running to become the club’s main source of income.
Bishop answers back that he doesn’t give a fuck about the Galindo cartel and that despite their familial ties, Alvarez is no longer a Mayan so there’s no more loyalty towards him. Instead, Bishop suggests that it’s time to bring back the Mayans to the club’s former glory as a true one-percent club.
He wants the Mayans to become “motherfucking outlaws” again.
“I want to bring this M.C. back to its glory. But first, there’s got to be a reckoning,”
~ Bishop
In a war where charters are going to be forced to pick sides, Diaz decides to team up with Bishop and Santo Padre with plans to bring Ramos down. He makes a call and tells his guys to set up a meeting with Ramos and once that’s set, they’ll roll up together to bring down the Stockton chapter president once and for all.
Rebel Rebel
Down in Mexico, Adelita finally makes her triumphant return to the remnants of her rebel group Los Olvidados after tracking down Mini and finding out what exactly happened in her absence.
It seems once Adelita was gone and taken into custody by the U.S. government, her group in Mexico began to fall apart. It was only after her No. 2 in charge Pablo started to pull them back together that they were able to survive.
Sadly then Pablo also lost his way after he started forcing the young girls in the group to prostitute themselves and suffer horrific abuses from the men in the group. After she was personally harmed, Mini decided she could no longer take part in Los Olvidados’ activities and that’s why she fled.
When Adelita returns, the entire group is stunned at her arrival, especially now that she’s sporting a new look with a shaved head.
She tells Pablo that Mini revealed the full story of what happened in her absence and he tries to lie his way out of the situation by explaining that the girl is not telling the truth about the situation. Of course, Adelita already knows the truth and she embraces Pablo momentarily before sticking a knife into his gut.
She then stabs the knife deep into Pablo’s heart as the makeshift leader of the rebels, who went against everything Adelita stood for, falls down to his death.
A child soldier then pulls a gun and points it at Adelita but she’s quick to subdue him but without any harm coming to the boy as she retakes her place as the leader of the group. Adelita lost herself for quite some time but now she’s found again — and Los Olvidados are back.
In the end, Adelita initiates all of her new members by having everyone shave their heads as the rebels find purpose again under her renewed leadership.
Misery Loves Company
Returning home from his time on Meth Mountain, Coco arrives at his house and he’s greeted by a very worried daughter after he failed to tell Letty that he was leaving much less that he planned on staying gone for so long. Coco is already battling against withdrawal after his last fix of heroin started to wear off and he can’t even be bothered to deal with his daughter’s concern as he passes out on the couch after complaining that he’s in pain.
She barely has time to return with some expired headache medication before Coco is already passed out on the couch.
When he finally awakens, Coco is suffering even more and he lashes out at Letty as she does her best to care for him in this drug-addled state. He continues to berate her for too many questions including what happened to her iPad (Coco traded that for drugs several weeks ago) not to mention her suggestion that he’s hooked on drugs.
That night, Coco is reunited with Hope after she shows up at his house.
She was concerned after Coco just left her on Meth Mountain and didn’t bother to even tell her goodbye much less explain where he was going. Of course, Hope has no idea that Isaac threatened to rape her and burn her alive if Coco didn’t return with three more kilos of heroin for him to sell.
Right now, Coco’s only real concern is getting his fix and he’s very happy to find out that Hope brought some drugs along with her. He can barely keep a thought in his head while lying that he’s more concerned with Hope than just shooting up with heroin.
After putting the flame under his spoon and injecting the drugs back into his veins, Coco finally starts to feel like himself again or at least the person he’s become as an addict.
Finally, Letty returns home and she finds Coco and Hope passed out on the couch with white liquid dripping from their mouths. It’s a definite sign of an overdose and Letty is frantic to wake up her father from his heroin induced slumber but Coco isn’t moving and for the moment it’s unclear if he’ll ever open his eyes again.
The Reckoning
Back at the hotel in Stockton, the Santo Padre boys are getting restless as the leadership from Oakland smoke crack and seem less than concerned that they still haven’t been able to track down Ramos.
Outside, Creeper has been packing the van to get ready to move on a moment’s notice so they can strike at Ramos before he can escape. He also hands over a gun to Steve the prospect since he’s got a clean record and can’t get into trouble for carrying. Of course, he’s gotta teach the Mayan hopeful how to tuck the gun in his back waistband so it doesn’t get caught and blow his nuts off if he shoves it into his pocket.
Meanwhile, EZ calls Gaby and tells her that he’s going to be late for dinner after she invited him over to meet her family. He’s smiling ear to ear while talking to her as his brother can only shake his head at watching this sickening display of puppy love.
But the happiness is short lived when a caravan arrives at the hotel carrying the entire Stockton charter seeking their revenge — the Oakland charter played Santo Padre and set them up for an ambush.
The Stockton members jump the boys from Santo Padre and begin returning the favor with baseball bats being brandished during the fight. Steve seems to get the worst of it after he’s tossed to the ground and five or six members just start beating him mercilessly. Just when it looks like the Santo Padre chapter won’t make it out alive, Angel, Gilly and Hank return from the other side of the hotel and start putting up a better fight while EZ more or less takes on three guys by himself after spotting Ramos in the crowd.
After Angel, Gilly and Hank are finally able to get the better of the Stockton members going after them, it’s time to assist the rest of the club. Angel tackles the guys off of EZ while inside the hotel, Taza is able to get a knife free from his kutte and he begins slicing and dicing the members of the Oakland chapter.
Bishop then gets the upper hand on Diaz as he smashes his forehead down into the Oakland president’s head until he’s unconscious and bleeding.
The fighting continues until a gunshot rings out and one of the Stockton members kicking poor Steve falls to the ground in a heap. It seems Steve was finally able to reach for the gun he was holding and he fired back.
A second later, sirens begin swirling and the cops are coming to the hotel, which forces Bishop to order his guys to load up and leave before they are all arrested. Creeper refuses to go because one of the Tuscon members is still outside and he’s too hurt to leave with them, which means he’ll get arrested and go into the same jail cell as all of the members from Stockton and Oakland — and that’s basically like signing his death warrant.
The club escapes as the cops swarm the hotel and place everybody left alive under arrest.
When Bishop and the rest of the Santo Padre chapter finally get a moment to regroup, he’s at a loss as far as what to do next. With Creeper and Pavia about to go to jail where they will surely be killed, he’s not sure where to turn. That’s when EZ comes up with a new plan.
As for Creeper, he’s shackled alongside all of the members from Stockton and Oakland while asking the police to help his injured friend but Ramos takes one look at him and says that a doctor won’t be necessary because soon enough, they’ll both be visiting the morgue.
Before anyone can be taken away, a Stockton detective arrives at the scene and tells the arresting officers that Ramos is wanted for questioning for a separate crime and takes him into custody. The Stockton cop is none other than Detective O’Grady — a familiar face from “Mayans M.C.” season 2.
A quick reminder — back in the early part of season 2, EZ and the club had traveled north to Stockton and that’s where a member of the chapter there busted O’Grady and his partner Pollen forcing a girl to give them oral sex while they recorded it on a cell phone. The girl was Hope — the same one who has been hooking up with Coco and serving him heroin all season long.
The club was able to rescue Hope and use her as leverage to go after the cops for killing one of the Mayans from the Stockton chapter. They eventually convince O’Grady to turn on his partner, which then allows them to kill Pollen since he was the person responsible for pulling the trigger in the first place.
Rather than seeking vengeance on O’Grady, they keep the cell phone footage that shows them assaulting Hope and then killing a man as leverage just in case they ever need to call on him again.
His appearance at the hotel proves that he’s still paying off his debt to the Mayans and Ramos can only smirk while telling Creeper that he’s got this whole town under his thumb.
O’Grady puts Ramos in the back of his cruiser and they drive away. In the car, Ramos orders O’Grady to pull over and remove his handcuffs and then drop him off at his girlfriend’s house. O’Grady doesn’t comply right away while jamming out to a song playing on the radio as Ramos can only stare at him with utter confusion.
A second later, Ramos’ head is blown off by a bullet that shatters the cop’s window and cuts down the president of the Stockton chapter. The man holding the gun is none other than EZ Reyes.
It seems EZ’s idea was calling in that favor owed to them by telling O’Grady to retrieve Ramos from the lineup and then deliver him to be murdered by the Santo Padre chapter. EZ then tells O’Grady to make sure that Creeper and Pavia are looked after and released without any charges against them.
O’Grady can’t help but wonder if this is the end of his commitment to the Mayans and EZ answers back existentially by asking the detective if any of us are ever truly free?
To close out his night, EZ finally makes it to Lodi where he joins Gaby and her family for a late supper. As he’s eating his dinner, EZ wipes himself with a napkin and realizes he actually got some blood on him from killing Ramos.
EZ smiles and continues to feast on the food but it’s becoming evident to him that this outlaw life and the one he’s trying to start with Gaby are going to be nearly impossible to co-exist. As Gemma Teller once told Tara Knowles back on “Sons of Anarchy” — there’s no halfway in this life. You’re either committed all the way and you want to know everything or you’re on the outside looking in.
It appears EZ is going to soon have to make that same decision because right now he’s walking a fine line between the family he’s chosen with the Mayans and the love he’s found with Gaby.
“Mayans M.C.” returns next Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET for a brand new episode on FX.
