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

By
Rebecca Murray
-
Mayans MC Season 4 Episode 3 Recap
JD Pardo as EZ Reyes, Sally, and Andrea Cortes as Sofia in ‘Mayans M.C.’ season 4 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Prashant Gupta/FX)

FX’s Mayans M.C. season four episode three answers a few lingering questions, including what happened to Emily’s son and who left the note with Felipe to give to EZ. Plus, episode three touches base with Adelita and finds Miguel confronted with a suggestion to dissolve Santo Padre. And as if their lives aren’t complicated enough, EZ gets a promotion and Angel makes a decision that could affect the future of the club.

“Self Portrait in Blue Bathroom” opens with El Banquero, leader of Lobos Nueva Generación (LNG), questioning two men. One ends up with a bullet to the head; the other ends up with a raise for demonstrating his loyalty to the cartel leader.

We’re let into the inner workings of LNG via a conversation between El Banquero (real name: Ignacio) and his sister. He explains he’s brought in a lot of Galindo’s people and needs to confirm their loyalty. He also explains he’s decided to bring their accountant, Randall, across the border to Mexico since he’s under indictment in the U.S.

El Banquero’s sister thinks Randall’s a liability because he knows every single aspect of their business. And although she told El Banquero to bring in someone under Randall, he never did. That means Randall is the only person who knows all the details on their offshore accounts.

El Banquero will order the Mayans to handle Randall’s move to Mexico. If they fail, he’ll “tear their f**king wings from their bodies.” (It’s a bizarre threat but we get the drift.)

Angel (Clayton Cardenas) continues to adjust to life with Nails while EZ (JD Pardo) discovers adopting a dog has its challenges. He returns to his trailer after working out to find Sally’s redecorated his home – and not in a good way.

EZ loses a few points with dog lovers by attempting to return the poor, confessed dog. He arrives at the shelter just as another family’s surrendering an elderly dog. (I absolutely loathe people who abandon their pets just because they’re getting up in age!) EZ listens as Sofia (Andrea Cortes), the shelter employee he spoke with when he adopted Sally, attempts to talk the family out of leaving their pet at an over-capacity kill shelter.

After her boss asks her to step away from the family, EZ approaches Sofia and says there’s something wrong with Sally. Sofia has the patience of a saint when it comes to animals and explains Sally tore up his trailer because she’s anxious. She needs to adjust after having her previous life ripped out from under her.

Sofia asks EZ to not give up on Sally and to be patient. EZ changes his mind – at least for now – and thanks Sofia for her help. She replies, “Good luck with that one,” and he thanks her again. She corrects EZ; she was talking to the dog, not him.

EZ and Sally return home to find a friend from prison, Jay-Jay, waiting on their doorstep. (Jay-Jay’s the one who wrote the note Felipe delivered in episode two.) They down a few beers as they catch up on life, and Jay-Jay hints that people think EZ must have cut a deal with the Feds in exchange for early parole. Tread carefully, EZ.

EZ asks what people are saying and offers to show Jay-Jay his release paperwork. Jay-Jay backs off a bit and explains he’s just trying to reconnect.

Angel arrives at the clubhouse and offers to lend Coco (Richard Cabral) a hand. Coco doesn’t want his help now but he could have really used it when his life was falling apart. Angel didn’t reach out then and Coco’s holding it against him. “I was hurting but you didn’t give a f**k, right?!” says Coco.

Angel gets defensive and asks what he was supposed to do. Coco’s reply: “Not be a selfish f**k!”

Canche (Jimmy Gonzales) and his Yuma guys ride up as Angel’s still standing alone in the yard recovering from Coco’s – justified – verbal assault.

The charters meet and Canche presents El Banquero’s request for the Mayans to move Randall, suggesting Santo Padre handle it since they complained they’ve been sidelined. Tranq (Frankie Loyal) thinks it’s too risky, but Canche points out it’s a high reward job. However, if Santo Padre can’t handle it, well then…leaving unsaid that they’re a bunch of whiny losers.

Taza (Raoul Max Trujillo), sporting a new haircut, points out that since Randall’s been indicted the Feds will be watching the border.

EZ volunteers to handle the move and shocks Angel by volunteering him, too. EZ thinks they can move Randall via tribal land, and Yuma’s Manny (Manny Montana) throws in with the siblings. Manny knows the perfect place to make the trek across the border.

Angel doesn’t remember volunteering but when Marcus (Emilio Rivera) asks if they can pull it off, Manny and EZ simultaneously answer yes. EZ seems to be on the same page as Manny about how to work the move and Bishop (Michael Irby) laughs in disgust at their partnership.

Bishop calls them the Bobbsey twins and asks if they’ll be sucking each other off in the desert. Canche’s cool and controlled but irritated when he points out to Marcus that Bishop is disruptive. Bishop doesn’t back down and tells them to screw the healing process.

Santo Padre guys get a little squirmy as Marcus and Bishop go at it. Bishop’s pissed Marcus has the charter bowing down to El Banquero and Canche. Bishop calls Marcus a pimp and Marcus is done with his bullsh*t. Marcus demands Bishop’s flash. Taza cuts his own off in an act of solidarity with the man who wants nothing to do with him.

No one else speaks up and Marcus tosses the Vice President flash to EZ. EZ stares at Angel in shock as Marcus declares, “The future of this club starts today.”

Marcus meets with Canche and Stockton’s president out of the presence of the Santo Padre guys. Canche believes it’s time to end the Santo Padre charter. The other charters agree Marcus is damaging his legacy with his continuing attachment to Santo Padre. Marcus believes EZ and Manny are the future of the club, and he has complete faith they can pull off moving Randall safely to Mexico. He appears to bet Santo Padre’s continued existence on it.

Apparently, Taza thinks tossing in his flash was enough to get back on Bishop’s good side. It wasn’t. “I don’t need pity from a f**king faggot,” says Bishop in response to Taza’s gesture.

Let’s step away from the Mayans for a minute and catch up with Adelita, Emily, Erin, and Nestor.

Adelita (Carla Baratta) wakes in the back of a Volvo with New Mexico plates parked under an overpass. She uses a public restroom to wash up and then resumes what is apparently a lengthy stake-out. She has a notebook full of notations about a man’s movements and jots down the time of his exit from a New Mexico law office.

Elsewhere, Emily (Sarah Bolger) is bundled up in a heavy jacket complete with a hood that hides her face. She purchases a bus ticket and heads to Covington, Kentucky. It’s confirmed she’s no longer in Southern California as she’s less than a day’s bus ride away from her sister’s apartment.

Emily performs a secret knock so her sister, Erin (Holland Roden), knows it’s safe to open the door. Emily apologizes for being late, explaining the bus broke down in Cincinnati (which is about 10 miles north of Covington, for those looking for clues as to where Emily’s living.) Cristóbal runs into his mom’s arms and she gathers him up in a big hug.

They sit down for dinner and Erin asks how long this arrangement will continue. Emily needs to keep this up until she’s sure Miguel won’t find them. Erin thinks they’ve been incredibly careful and Miguel will never locate them, but Emily knows first-hand what Miguel’s capable of.

The following morning Emily prepares to leave and confirms she’ll be back in a week. However, she makes Erin run through a list of emergency procedures in case she doesn’t return. Erin has it down pat and knows exactly how to travel, where to pick up their secret stash of money, and where to hole up.

And now for a brief moment of levity in an otherwise intense episode… Nestor (Gino Vento) has taken a new job and it’s quite a few steps down from being Galindo’s right-hand man. Nestor’s now employed as a security guard whose days consist of patrolling parking lots and chasing away skateboarders. Poor dude. Maybe he should have thrown in his lot with Marcus?

Back at the clubhouse, Bishop rides off as Angel, stating the obvious, says he’s taking the demotion hard. EZ’s busy sewing the flash on his jacket and Angel sums everything up, saying, “That was f**ked up how that went down.”

EZ admits he had no idea how to act and is in the middle of trying to figure it out when Angel blurts out, “Do you think I’m selfish?” He’s stuck on the tongue-lashing he received from Coco earlier in the day and doesn’t recognize he’s being selfish at this very minute by not listening to his little bro.

Talk turns to Jay-Jay’s visit and EZ confesses it didn’t feel right. EZ admits he’s not sure if Jay-Jay knows about the deal he cut but knows he needs to find out.

Manny joins them and congratulates EZ on his promotion, saying EZ as VP is what Santo Padre needs. EZ thanks him and Angel claims that’s what he said. We all know that’s not true, but you can’t blame Angel for just being himself.

Mayans MC Season 4 Episode 3 Recap
Clayton Cardenas as Angel Reyes in ‘Mayans M.C.’ season 4 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Prashant Gupta/FX)

Randall arrives in the parking lot but he’s not alone. He’s brought along his son – and lots of luggage. They manage to convince him to leave his luggage behind but can’t talk him out of bringing his son. Randall refuses to leave Noah (Antonio Raul Corbo) behind, even though they’ll be traveling through the desert on foot at night. He threatens to call El Banquero but Canche smoothes things over, ordering the threesome to take Randall and his kid.

Angel leans toward his brother and quietly asks, “What the f**k did you get us into now?” Given the events about to transpire, Angel has every right to question his brother’s judgment.

Creeper (Joseph Raymond Lucero) drives the group out to the desert and it’s obvious Noah doesn’t want to move to Mexico. Manny and EZ try to cheer the kid up by saying they heard Randall was going to buy him a PS-5 and all the games he wants.

While Angel’s on the move, Nails (Justina Adorno) is at home attempting to put together a crib. Felipe (Edward James Olmos) stops by with a blanket Angel’s mom made Angel when he was a boy. Felipe’s doing his best to connect with his sons and sticks around for coffee and to help build the crib.

Tranq’s having a difficult time dealing with former prospect Steve’s suicide. He has tears in his eyes as he holds the dead man’s jacket which is still covered in blood splatter. He pays a visit to Steve’s mom and sister, describing Steve as a good man who understood brotherhood. Tranq becomes emotional, apologizes for his presence and for their loss, and then gives Steve’s mom her son’s jacket.

It’s pitch black as the guys make their way through the desert. Randall’s out of shape and wants to take another break, but EZ, Manny, and Angel want to get through the mountains before the sun comes up. Suddenly the guys hear gunshots and Angel wants to get moving, but Manny thinks they should lay low for a while until whoever it is leaves the area. EZ agrees with Manny and they look for a temporary hiding place.

During their downtime Manny discusses fatherhood with Angel. Manny confesses he didn’t become a man until he became a father and admits that if he lost his daughter, he couldn’t go on. I’m not sure of Manny’s endgame but it’s possible he sort of reveals his hand a little when he talks about how Marcus chose the club over his family. Manny’s heard that Marcus allowed a Reaper to kill his son after a deal went sideways. And it turns out the Reaper that Marcus let kill his son was Happy.

“If anybody put his hands on my family, he wouldn’t be out in the world just walking around,” says Manny.

Manny thinks Angel will be a good dad and suggests the trick to raising a kid is to just f**k them up less than his parents f**ked him up. EZ says giving Angel sage advice is his thing and Manny laughs.

Angel thinks they’re both annoying. “It’s like having boy scout in stereo.” And speaking of boy scouts…both Manny and EZ were in the scouts and even remember the oath which they recite while Angel calls them nerds.

The episode takes a brief break from the non-action in the desert to reveal Marcus riding up to the guard shack where Nestor’s watching soccer. Emily makes it back to her temporary apartment and crashes for the night after cleaning up. Steve’s mom tries to scrub the blood from her son’s jacket. Adelita pulls up to the man she’s been stalking’s house seconds after he goes inside.

And now we’ve come to the final minutes of season four episode three and, unarguably, the pivotal moment of “Self Portrait in Blue Bathroom.” The guys have fallen asleep waiting for it to be safe to continue their trek to safety. Angel wakes and is using a flashlight to make his way around when he hears talking. He walks toward the voices and finds – trigger warning – Randall sexually abusing his son while Noah begs him to stop.

Angel says, “What the fuck?” and then shoots Randall in the chest. Noah cries as Manny and EZ race up to see what happened. Manny rushes to Randall’s side as he chokes on blood and appears seconds from death. EZ screams, “Angel, what the f**k did you do?! What the f**k did you do?!”




RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR