Were you prepared for the devastating events of FX’s Mayans M.C. season four episode five? I wasn’t, although I did have an uncomfortable feeling the death of a key Santo Padre member would be necessary to advance the story. I wasn’t sure which Mayan would be sacrificed but given the fact he was in the redemption stage of his character arc, it made sense that the character who shall not be named in this opening paragraph was the one to take a bullet.

Continue reading at your own peril. This is a recap so expect plenty of episode spoilers. Plus, you’ll be treated to a short rant about why I took issue with the unnecessary inclusion of an elderly dog’s euthanasia.

Season four episode five – “Death of the Virgin” – opens with Adelita (Carla Baratta) making her move. Adelita’s been tracking a couple’s activity and it turns out Anna Linares (Efrat Dor), Potter’s former assistant, is raising her and Angel’s baby. In the season three finale Potter informed Adelita her baby was alive – a direct contradiction to what Anna told her in their last meeting – and the rebel leader channels all of her fury on Anna and her husband.

Anna runs for her gun but isn’t quick enough. Adelita breaks a glass door and attacks Anna with a knife. They both claim to be the baby’s mother and Anna, rather stupidly, adds, “I gave him everything. You gave him a prison cell!”

Adelita screams in reply, “That you f**king put me in!”

Anna attempts to reach her gun but Adelita stops her forward movement by repeatedly stabbing Anna in the legs and back. Adelita leaves the room only long enough to kill Anna’s husband and pick up her baby. She returns and puts a bullet in Anna’s head. “Now that you know a mother’s greatest fear, here’s your mercy,” says Adelita as she fires.

Next, we check in with Miguel Galindo (Danny Pino) who’s still building rock walls in the convent’s cemetery. Tomas briefly joins Miguel just to say his father’s prohibited him from ever speaking to the ex-cartel leader again. Tomas’s dad, Martin, thinks Miguel’s no better than the men who killed his wife.

Meanwhile, Hope (Vanessa Giselle) isn’t looking well as she punches in late at the grocery store.

Mayans M.C. season four has spent time filling in details on the lives of Santo Padre members Creeper (Joseph Raymond Lucero) and Gilly (Vincent Vargas), and both get screen time without their MC brothers in episode five.

Creeper’s relationship with Kody (Stella Maeve) is advancing and they wake up in bed together. They open the door and expose more skeletons from their pasts, and Creeper admits he’s seen too much death.

And here comes one of the most disturbing scenes of season four and one I find to be completely unnecessary. EZ (JD Pardo) returns to the animal shelter to see Sofia (Andrea Cortes), ostensibly to return a leash. EZ joins Sofia in an exam room and thanks her for her help in understanding what Sally, his newly adopted furry family member, is dealing with.

Sofia asks EZ to hold the elderly dog abandoned at the shelter by his family in season four episode two. EZ does as asked while Sofia confesses her young daughter drowned in a swimming pool. Sofia was drunk and annoyed with her daughter when she put her to bed, and the child climbed into the pool and died.

(Feel free to skip this brief take on my feelings regarding this scene. I don’t usually disagree with the writer’s choices but this depiction of a dog being euthanized strikes me as an incredibly bad decision. Yes, I understand Sofia tried to talk the family out of dumping an elderly dog at a crowded kill-shelter, but I’ve worked at a humane society and still volunteer at my local shelter. To have EZ there and not even comforting the dog is just wrong. Sofia’s heightened emotional state in recalling the death of her daughter would have been felt by the dog who was already distressed over being dumped by his family.

That’s just not how the majority of shelters handle the situation in 2022. This scene does a disserve to the wonderful people who dedicate their lives working as animal care staff at shelters.

I also feel as though Sofia’s story about the death of her child was less impactful because of the poor dog’s whimpering. At least the moment ended with Sofia saying goodbye to the dog.)

Sofia tells EZ she has nothing to give him. EZ’s unable to respond.

Emily (Sarah Bolger) is on high alert as she walks home from work at the Mexican restaurant. She spots a man following her and runs across the street where a stranger (yes, that’s Cheri Oteri!) asks if she needs help. Unfortunately for Emily, the woman and the man chasing her are private detectives and know she’s Emily Galindo.

Emily refuses to admit she’s Emily, insisting she’s Sarah Marie Glass – as her ID indicates. (The woman recognizes the last name as an ode to Salinger’s Glass family stories.) Emily threatens to call the cops and they call her bluff. They’ve got folders full of info on her old life and they tracked her down while diving into the death of Marlon Buksar. (In season two episode six Emily asked for EZ’s help dealing with Marlon, Ileana’s assistant at the Santo Padre city office. Emily believed Marlon fed info to the Chinese that allowed them to outbid the Galindos on a project. Emily convinced EZ to speak with the clerk and find out how he helped the Chinese. EZ’s meeting with Marlon went south and in a struggle over a gun, Marlon wound up shooting himself under the chin. The cops believed it was a suicide.)

Marlon’s mom hired these investigators and after the woman PI asks about Emily’s son, Cristobal, Emily finally agrees to answer her questions. She claims she didn’t know Marlon well and wasn’t aware of his involvement in the project.

The investigators pack up while insisting Emily’s answer was “very insightful.” As they leave, the woman warns Emily to be careful. After all, they found her which means others will also be able to track her down.

She asks one final question, “Tell me, Mrs. Galindo, who did you hire to murder Marlon Buksar?”

EZ’s still concerned about Jay-Jay’s unexpected appearance at his trailer a few days back and the hints Jay-Jay dropped that he cut a deal. He shows up at Jay-Jay’s place for a further discussion. Jay-Jay’s wife’s happy to see him but Jay-Jay doesn’t share her excitement that EZ found them.

The tension is palpable as EZ warns Jay-Jay they’ll need to talk at some later date.

Miguel and his aunt the nun discuss his mom and he learns she actually spent time at the convent when she was pregnant with him. They share a laugh over the fact his mom couldn’t dance. Their family history chat’s interrupted when they’re pulled into a search for Tomas. The young boy’s gone missing and as they call out his name the armed men return and toss his lifeless body out of the back of their truck.

Tomas’ dad Martin screams in anguish and races to the truck, right into the arms of the LNG.

Gilly’s out in the desert hitting golf balls when he gets a call from his old captain, Rae, needing help with her husband (Gilly’s friend and fellow veteran who suffers from PTSD). Gilly races over to their house and is forced to bust open a bedroom door to rescue their son, Jacob. Jacob’s heard pleading with his dad to stop. The dad wants his son to help him commit suicide and Gilly’s able to grab Jacob and remove him from the situation.

Hope has a breakdown at work, smashing a customer’s groceries after the woman repeatedly gives her instructions on how to bag her purchases. Hope loses it, destroys the groceries, and screams, “Have a nice f**king day!” before exiting the store with a small but satisfied smile.

Hope stops to talk to a group of addicts just hanging out on the street. They reveal they’re heading to Meth Mountain and Hope leaves without saying goodbye.

Over at the clubhouse, Mayans from different charters gather in Santo Padre for a day of recognizing their fallen friends. Marcus (Emilio Rivera) greets Yuma’s president Canche (Jimmy Gonzales) and Oakland’s president Diaz (Alex Fernandez) and says it’s important they’re all together. Canche confirms El Banquero is holding Randall’s death against them and won’t supply any product.

Speaking of El Banquero (Guillermo Garcia), his sister lectures him about putting their finances into the hands of a pedophile. She reminds him that’s not the Mayans’ fault, but El Banquero believes Randall’s death is a declaration of war. His sister has a much better head for business and reminds him that cutting off the Mayans only hurts the cartel. She says, “We’re scrambling here. We need all the liquid assets we can get to make up for the millions you stupidly lost us.”

El Banquero’s mind is made up. He’s going to continue to cut off the Mayans.

Bishop (Michael Irby) continues to fume about the state of Santo Padre. He watches EZ greet their brothers and compares him to a politician glad-handing his constituents.

Marcus addresses those gathered and it’s revealed every clubhouse across the Mayan nation will be honoring their fallen brothers that evening. He thanks everyone for gathering at the site of their darkest day when “Mayans took up arms against Mayans.”

One after another the men approach a makeshift altar and say goodbye to specific fallen brothers including Pavia, Ramos, Ibarra, Gaeta, and Crazy Bobby. Bishop pushes Taza (Raoul Max Trujillo) away when he tries to approach the altar to honor Riz. Bishop represents Santo Padre in saying goodbye to Riz and Tranq (Frankie Loyal) says their farewells to Steve.

Gilly retrieves his friends’ son Jacob from EZ’s trailer. Jacob’s spent his time teaching Sally how to shake which brings a smile to Gilly’s face.

Back in the clubhouse, Marcus and Diaz chat away from the group and Diaz says these aren’t the Mayans’ first dark days. He recalls how the Sons of Anarchy conquered the club by dividing them into north and south. “A divided nation can’t stand and Santo Padre divides us,” says Diaz. Marcus explains he’s had this conversation with Canche, but Diaz demands he has it with him – a friend who’s stood by him for 40 years.

They’re both upset about what Bishop did with Santo Padre, and Diaz compares it to taking the Garden of Eden and salting the earth. Plus, they can’t survive without El Banquero’s product which they lost because of Santo Padre.

The visiting charters give new prospect Nestor (Gino Vento) a hard time behind the bar. Nestor claims he’s not a bitch and the Yuma guys speak ill of the dead, calling Steve a bitch. Tranq demands they show some respect and Creeper reminds them all that Steve was a patch.

All hell breaks loose after the other charters suggest every Santo Padre member should follow Steve’s lead and kill themselves. EZ jumps in between Tranq and a visitor, reminding them they’re all brothers. However, EZ quickly flips into fight mode when the man he’s holding off Tranq pushes him.

The ensuing melee only breaks up after Marcus enters the room and fires multiple shots in the air. Marcus can’t believe they’re tearing down everything he built over the last 40 years. He looks directly at Diaz and says, “Maybe you’re right, Cardinale. Maybe it’s time to cut out the f**king cancer.”

Sons of Anarchy San Bernardino’s VP is waiting in a car with his fellow Sons brothers when they receive the message the “Mayans are good to meet Mr. Mayhem.” The VP declares what’s about to go down is retribution for Montez’s murder.

Back in Santo Padre, the fallen brothers meeting breaks up and Angel (Clayton Cardenas) goes for a ride, needing some alone time. Gilly, who missed out on the fight, delivers Jacob back to his mom. Meanwhile, EZ is reading when Sally begins to whine, followed by a knock at his door. It’s Sofia and while EZ’s shocked, Sally is super happy to see her friend.

They flirt a little and Sofia admits she’s a mess. EZ says he gets it…and then whatever he was about to say next is cut off by urgent kissing and clothing being hastily removed. EZ ignores his ringing phone and we see Emily’s on the other end of the line on a payphone. A nearby car sends her into panic mode and she hangs up without leaving a message.

Meanwhile, Coco (Richard Cabral) is with the Oakland charter honoring their fallen brothers. It appears everyone’s getting along as they take in a fireworks display. Coco calls Hope to check in and at first she tries to stay upbeat. He tells her he saw something beautiful and that made him think of her. She smiles and lies that work’s going fine. Hope finally drops the act and admits she needs real help. She’s not doing well.

Coco believes as long as they have each other they’ll stay clean. Hope agrees but it’s obvious she isn’t convinced. Coco says when he gets back tomorrow, he’ll take her wherever she wants to go. Tears stream down Hope’s face as Coco tells her he loves her. She asks him to repeat that and after he does, she replies, “I love you, Coco.” They laugh and he calls them corny before hanging up.

Coco’s still smiling when he takes a drink of beer and looks up at the fireworks.

SoA pulls up and ambushes the Mayans, immediately shooting as they exit their car. The Mayans are gunned down without ever having a chance to fight back.

Season four episode five ends with the camera tracking the path of bodies and landing on Coco. He’s sprawled face down, multiple gunshot wounds in his back. Blood surrounds his face as his eyes appear to be open and fixed in place. The camera lingers on his face as the episode ends.

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• Mayans M.C. Season 4 Episode 3 “Self Portrait in Blue Bathroom” Recap
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