FX’s Mayans M.C. season one episode seven produced one game-changing moment after another. Miguel Galindo was placed under arrest, EZ’s deal was nearly revoked, and Coco murdered his mother because he wrongly believed she’d beat up his daughter.
Season one episode eight begins with the follow-up of another surprise twist. Adelita’s father was murdered by the cartel, however before that he was the man pictured with Felipe posing by the severed heads. Adelita wasn’t aware of her father’s past when she confronted Felipe in his home. She mistakenly believed he betrayed her father and gave the cartel his location and that’s how they found him and butchered her family.
Felipe revealed the true story and then took off on a long drive, leaving the box with photos and his paperwork containing his real name and background unlocked on his dining room table. EZ (JD Pardo) finds the box and goes through its contents, piecing together the true story of his father’s life decades ago.
Also in the box is a photo of EZ with Felipe, Angel, and Emily. A flashback shows EZ beating himself up about not seeing the license plate of the car his mother’s killer was driving.
Three minutes into the episode and we have our first dramatic confrontation. Felipe (Edward James Olmos) enters a church where his old friend, Father Rodrigo, preaches. Rodrigo was once a good friend and is the person Felipe suspects actually betrayed Adelita’s father.
Meanwhile, Coco (Richard Cabral) tidies up his mother’s dead body. He ignores a call from Letty as he goes about his work.
Another twist in episode seven was the revelation Riz (Antonio Jaramillo) knew about the tunnel outside of Vicky’s whorehouse. He explains the tunnel’s how his grandfather brought family in from Mexico. Now, Vicky uses it to help her girls. The club’s pissed Riz kept this a secret, believing that if any outsider found it it would have rained hell down on the Mayans.
Over at the Galindo house, the DEA is methodically going through potential evidence. Emily (Sarah Bolger) wasn’t arrested and cradles her baby as she watches the officers. An officer appears sympathetic about the baby’s kidnapping, and when Emily admits it was difficult to handle, she’s placed under arrest for failing to report a child abduction.
Once more to the church we go and Felipe is sitting down for a chat with Rodrigo. Felipe confesses he’s there to pay off a debt. He brings up his old partner, Pedro, and Rodrigo admits he set him up with a new identity when he wanted out of working for the cartel. Felipe explains Pedro and his family were murdered, with the exception of Adelita.
Felipe drops the bomb that Adelita visited him and then advises the priest he needs to make sure his security team’s ready when Adelita comes for him. Felipe reminds him neither he nor Pedro would have ever betrayed him. “You saved my life. Now we’re even,” says Felipe as he leaves the man who was once his friend to stew over his impending death.
EZ returns to the clubhouse and immediately Letty (Emily Tosta) joins him to admit she lied and Celia didn’t hurt her. EZ knows Coco probably already did something to his mother but agrees to go check on Celia to make Letty feel better.
Miguel Galindo (Danny Pino) is in custody and repeatedly asks for his lawyer once Asst U.S. Attorney Lincoln Potter (Ray McKinnon) sits down for a chat. Potter apologizes on behalf of Uncle Sam for Miguel’s treatment at the border. He then ticks off Miguel’s history including the fact he’s an Ivy League-educated cartel boss. Potter admits Homeland Security laws allow him to hold Miguel as long as he wants without granting him a visit with his lawyer.
Potter’s working all angles to get under Miguel’s skin, and he opens the room’s door just as Emily’s being walked down the hall in handcuffs.
Back with the Prospect, EZ makes it to Celia’s and Coco’s still there. Celia’s laid out on the floor, head propped up on pillows but obviously dead. EZ, now unsure of the correct move, sits on the floor next to her dead body. Coco suddenly realizes this must remind EZ of his mom’s murder. Coco then waxes philosophic, saying he freed his mother and gave her peace. He believes they’re all where they’re supposed to be. (Coco is a very Zen dude for being a drug-running murderer.)
As they’re talking, Angel (Clayton Cardenas) calls to find out their location. Angel informs his little bro they’re about to have a sit-down and Coco’s needed back at the table.
Coco plans to bury his mother in the desert later that night.
Elsewhere, Agent Kevin Jimenez (Maurice Compte) is told it’s possible the DOJ, Homeland Security, or the DEA will reveal EZ’s deal to either Miguel or Emily.
Next up it’s Emily’s turn to meet with Potter. Emily’s smart and knows that neither she nor Miguel has been charged which must mean the authorities want something. Potter cuts to the chase and, shockingly, he wants the same thing out of Miguel that Adelita requested. He wants to work with him. “The devil you know…,” says Potter. He informs Emily they want to partner with Miguel.
Back to Miguel goes Potter, and this time he tells him the story of how seven years ago (during Sons of Anarchy!) he was this|close to busting a major arms dealer. His work was halted because the CIA needed the guns to continue to flow to the Galindo cartel.
Miguel realizes Potter wants to make a similar deal to the one his father made with the CIA. However, Miguel also realizes Potter doesn’t know Adelita and her rebels are attempting to make the same sort of deal. Miguel reminds Potter the CIA’s deal threatened everything and everyone associated with his father. They also led to his father’s early death.
Miguel’s answer to Potter’s deal offer: “F*ck you. Charge me or release me.”
Over at Celia’s place, EZ’s now alone with her dead body. He has another flashback to the day his mother died, recalling the Wildcats sticker that was in the car’s window. In the flashback, he waits in his truck outside a bar where the car with the sticker is parked. He follows the driver once he returns to his car.
His flashback’s interrupted by Letty pounding on the apartment door. He doesn’t let her in. Celia stinks and EZ barely opens the door as he steps outside, claiming the smell that wafts with him into the hallway is because he just used the toilet. Letty’s okay with staying in the hallway as EZ tells her Coco wants her back at the scrapyard.
Potter returns to Emily and long story short, she says she’ll never turn on her husband. As they’re talking, Kevin Jimenez can be heard yelling nearby.
Potter joins Jimenez and a few agents as Jimenez expresses his anger over the handling of EZ. Jimenez can’t believe what’s going down and leaves, threatening to expose everything via Wikileaks or the Washington Post.
Once Jimenez is out of sight, Potter says he’s taking over handling this particular problem. (That can’t be good news for EZ.)
Felipe’s returned home to find the target of Potter’s anger on his front porch. Minutes later, Felipe calls EZ and warns him not to return to the clubhouse. Instead, he needs to come home.
Meanwhile at the clubhouse, the club gathers around the table. The discussion is all about Riz and the tunnel. The Mayans feel betrayed and it’s suggested Riz lose his job as the club’s secretary. Plus, the club will get 10% of the revenue from the tunnel including the money earned by Vicky’s whores. Riz protests that it’s not his money but that doesn’t matter. The club gets its 10% or they’ll shut down Vicky’s place.
A vote’s taken and it’s a unanimous decision.
Outside after the vote, Angel’s guys are pissed he turned in Riz. He explains he did so to keep Coco out of the line of fire, but Coco doesn’t accept that. He knows Angel did it to protect himself. Riz also confronts Angel, calling him a b*tch for ratting him out. Coco steps up and protects Angel, saying they all went to Bishop with their discovery.
Riz calls them pussies and spits in their direction as he walks away.
EZ returns home and learns from Agent Jimenez the information he’s been providing on Galindo will just be used as leverage. EZ realizes his deal is up. However, that’s not the worst of the news. Jimenez knows that if EZ’s picked up, the DEA will kill him rather than lock him up. Jimenez believes the only option is to adopt a new identity and run.
EZ refuses to run, realizing that if he does Angel will be killed by the club. They’ll assume Angel’s part of the deal. When Felipe asks what EZ has planned, EZ replies, “Protect our blood.”
Simultaneous to EZ’s talk, Potter hands a folder of reports to Emily. She asks who provided the info, and Potter hints it’s someone they know and love. She still refuses to turn on her husband, so Potter shows her a disturbing photo and promises her baby will end up in Family Services’ custody. The photo proves time spent by a baby in Family Services’ custody will be extremely unhealthy for the child’s welfare.
Potter promises her son will be with them until “the clown leaves the party.”
It’s Miguel’s turn for a visit and Potter has a massive binder with the deal he’s proposing. Basically, Miguel will remain in charge of Sonora and the East Cali border, plus they’ll supply manpower and guns to crush the rebels. And, Miguel will get the approval to build the Santa Padre development which had been halted due to environmental issues.
Miguel doesn’t respond, so Potter shows him live video of Emily in a different room. She’s obviously upset, and Potter says it’s because she knows they can take her baby if they move forward with the unreported kidnapping charge.
Miguel starts to protest and Potter finally loses it. “Wake the f*ck up!” yells Potter. He then explains the other folder Emily’s holding contains enough information on him to put him in jail. Emily has to choose: her man or her child.
Potter tells Miguel he has five minutes to look through the agreement. If he doesn’t sign, then Emily will decide his fate.
Potter leaves and Miguel looks at a few pages of the paperwork. He signs his name after only a brief hesitation.
In the other room, Emily’s reading the redacted reports based on EZ’s information provided to Agent Jimenez. She realizes it’s EZ who provided the info and she says out loud to herself, “What are you doing, EZ?”
As she’s reading she’s told she can finally see her lawyer.
Over at the clubhouse, another meeting is called. A discussion’s held regarding Miguel and the DEA. Marcus (Emilio Rivera) reports Devante told him they even brought in Emily and she’s rattled. Apparently, she told Devante what Marcus describes as “some very disturbing sh*t.”
The meeting’s underway as EZ rolls into the lot. Chucky informs him everyone’s in a meeting now, and he reports Letty talked to Coco for quite a while. (Chucky means well but doesn’t know when to remain quiet.)
Nervous and prepared for a confrontation, EZ heads into the clubhouse while the rest of the members are still in the meeting.
Inside the meeting, something big was revealed while the Mayans M.C. writers were showing us EZ’s arrival. (Damn you and your sly teasing ways!)
Bishop tells the club he’ll set things up, and it’s suggested whatever’s going down will go down in a private room at the casino. It’s neutral ground.
Marcus asks Angel where the Prospect is, and Angel’s told to find him.
The club emerges from the meeting and although EZ assumes he’s about to be attacked, he’s told to go fix Marcus’ bike which is leaking oil. He doesn’t do a good job of hiding his nervousness and after he walks away, Bishop says, “He’s walking that fine line between genius and just f*cking weird.”
EZ calls his dad to check in, letting him know it’s all good, so far. When Felipe hangs up, Kevin Jimenez is relieved to hear EZ wasn’t compromised. Felipe explains Angel said the Feds cut Galindo loose, and Jimenez admits he’s not sure if that means EZ’s deal is still in play. If it is, Jimenez will no longer be his handler. Jimenez tells Felipe to take care of himself and takes off.
Once more to the clubhouse and Angel’s in a cage fighting Riz. Both men are bloody and the club cheers them on. Who has the upper hand switches up repeatedly, and finally Bishop gives the order to end the fight. Riz and Angel hug it out, barely keeping their legs under them.
Emily and Miguel prepare to return home and Miguel asks her about the intel Potter showed her. She lies and claims none of it was real. Miguel replies, “Because they have nothing.” She refuses Miguel’s apology for putting her through this trauma, pointing out they’re in this together and to hell with the Feds. (My least favorite character has redeemed herself.)
Emily’s pissed the Feds forced them into a deal, but Miguel swears he’s not letting them do to him what they did to his father. Plus, they don’t know about his secret arrangement with Adelita and the rebels. He’s planning on playing the Feds.
Emily didn’t give away EZ’s secret but he’s not in the clear yet. As Miguel and Emily drive away, Potter looks through EZ’s deal.
Over at the clubhouse, Angel and his guys are in a good mood. However, the mood shifts to serious mode when they talk about the upcoming sit-down with Galindo in neutral territory. They assume there’s a third party involved who needs to feel safe. Angel says he’ll call Adelita and give her a heads up.
Talk turns to burying Celia in the desert and EZ knows he’s the one who’s going to have to dig the hole. They joke about the hole’s shape and Coco suggests they make it look like a large penis. “It’ll be a nice change, her being inside one instead of one being inside her,” explains Coco, adding, “What? Too soon?” (He’s showing no guilt or remorse for murdering his mother.)
Catching up with Father Rodrigo, it appears he’s called in help from the Galindo cartel. Miguel’s right-hand man, Nestor (Gino Vento), meets with Rodrigo who promises he can deliver Adelita to the cartel. The Father obviously has no idea about the new relationship between Miguel and Adelita.
EZ and Angel hit the road with a very ripe Celia in the trunk of their car. The police pull them over not far from the club, and it turns out one of the two cops pulling them over is their friend/frequent Vicky’s whorehouse patron, Officer Franky Rogan (Edwin Hodge). He tries to tell his partner to chill out, but the white cop demands Angel and EZ step out of the car. Franky whispers to Angel and EZ to just go through the motions right now…and of course Franky’s partner finds Celia in the trunk.
The situation quickly escalates from a broken taillight to possible murder.
More on Mayans M.C.
- Interview with Edward James Olmos
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 2 “Escorpión/Dzec” Recap
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 3 “Buho/Muwan” Recap
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 4 “Murciélago/Zotz” Recap
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 5 “Uch/Opossum” Recap
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 6 “Gato/Mis” Recap
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 7 “Cucaracha/K’uruch” Recap
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 9 “Serpiente/Chikchan” Recap
- Mayans M.C. Season 1 Episode 10 “Cuervo/Tz’ikb’uul” Recap
