“Mayans M.C.” showrunner and co-creator Elgin James discusses what lies ahead in season 4 and his vision for how the series will come to an end…
“Mayans M.C.” came to a shocking end in the season 3 finale as Bishop’s plot to takeover as the one true king backfired when a rival faction not only survived a hit but then came knocking on the door of the Santo Padre chapter seeking revenge.
EZ Reyes was front and center when a truck was turned into a battering ram in order to break into the Mayan compound and the only reason he was there was because his girlfriend Gaby left him behind when she decided to move to Northern California and start a new life away from his attraction to violence.
Meanwhile, Miguel Galindo was forced to go on the run after he was brought up on murder charges but he ended up going alone after his wife Emily left him once and for all after discovering that he had drugged her and nearly killed her just one night earlier.
And finally, Marcus Alvarez was forced to choose sides and he ultimately returned to his Mayan roots after abandoning Miguel and his request to murder EZ after he was implicated in his mother, Dita Galindo’s death.
With “Mayans M.C.” already renewed for season 4, showrunner and series co-creator Elgin James previewed what lies ahead including a much different path for EZ going forward after he tried to embrace two worlds throughout season 3. While EZ continued to embrace his new role with the club, he was also attempting to start fresh with Gaby but he soon realized that those two worlds would eventually collapse on each other if he didn’t decide which one meant more to him.
In th end, EZ had the decision made for him after Gaby took his father’s advice and left him behind while she went to nursing school far away from him.
“This season, we dealt with consequences, and I think we’re going to continue to,” James told Deadline about EZ’s future on the series. “I think everything is going to continue to spiral…So much of EZ and Gaby’s story was the story of me and my wife, who started dating me when I was still in the gang. So, [with] where he will go now, it’s like I’m exploring what would have happened if she had left, if she didn’t have the patience that she had, if she hadn’t have given me a second chance.
“Luckily, it’s paid off for us, but it is this other side that you want to explore. I think [with] EZ, what we always talked about is, there’s this inevitability. No matter what, he was always going to end up in this place. There’s just a darkness he can’t help but get swallowed up in, and I think that’s what we’re going to watch. We’ve watched him for three seasons try to get out of the darkness, and I think now… he’s fucking in it.”
While EZ no longer has Gaby, he did finally reunite very briefly with his ex-girlfriend Emily when she came calling on him for help after discovering what Miguel had done to her. Emily eventually abandoned her plans to ask for EZ’s assistance when she realized that he was planning on leaving Santo Padre with Gaby but the two shared a special moment before parting ways.
Now with Emily on her own away from Miguel, it seems entirely possible that she could end up back in EZ’s arms again.
“You know, I think we have to explore the darkness, and then I think there could be [a future for EZ and Emily],” James said. “I really do. Again, it’s trying to figure out how this is the same show [following Kurt Sutter’s exit], but then how it’s different. There is a brokenhearted nihilism that kind of came out. And with the nihilism, I think there’s also beauty and hope in that.
“That’s what I kept trying to talk about to everyone [in Season 3]. I’m like, “This has to be poetry.” In poetry, you do have despair and hope right next to each other, in the same line, and I think that’s what we’re going to try to balance.”
As for Alvarez, after he gave up his Mayan kutte in order to serve as Miguel’s right hand man, he is now on his own again, which means he will be returning to his roots — and it sounds like he’ll be climbing back on the motorcycle again.
“We’re going to see the return of Marcus Alvarez in a real way,” James teased. “How we’ve known him in the past, to double down on that, that’s where we go in the future with him.”
When season 3 premiered, James had no idea if FX would ultimately give “Mayans M.C.” a fourth season but after being renewed, he was happy to celebrate the chance to continue telling the story.
With that said, James already has an idea in mind for how “Mayans M.C.” would come to an end and in many ways that would mirror “Sons of Anarchy,” which ultimately ran for seven seasons on FX.
“I had lunch with [FX CEO] John Landgraf between Seasons 2 and 3, and I told him if we’re lucky enough to able to get more seasons to finish the story, this is where we’re going to end up. So, we do know exactly where the whole thing’s going to end,” James revealed.
“That’s sort of how we have it planned out, just because that’s the model that we knew. Then, who knows? Shows usually don’t run seven seasons anymore, so it may just be one [more] season. We just know, each time we get to live another day, we’re just going to lay it all out.”
“Mayans M.C.” will get back into production later this year on season 4 with a return date on FX still to be determined.
