FX’s Mayans M.C. season five episode 10 – the series finale – is, hands down, the best episode of the entire series. Amid all the blood and deaths, questions are answered, and dues are stamped paid. Not every character deserves their fate, but every death is, in its own way, justified.
Sons of Anarchy was Hamlet with motorcycles. Mayans M.C. is also a Shakespearean tragedy, complete with betrayals, love, loyalty, and murder.
Season five episode 10, “Slow to Bleed Fair Son,” begins with confirmation that Felipe has died. His funeral is the opening scene, with Angel (Clayton Cardenas) holding Maverick and EZ (JD Pardo) solemnly staring straight ahead as “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord” is sung.
Sadly, the service has very few people other than Mayans in attendance. When the song ends, Angel and EZ stand in front of the coffin in silence. EZ stares at the cross on the wall rather than at his father’s coffin.
Miguel Galindo (Danny Pino) attends the service, paying his respects to the man he refused to forgive and who was his father only by blood. Angel silently accepts his condolences, but EZ tells Miguel he’s neither a friend nor family and shouldn’t be there. Angel notices family photos in Miguel’s hand as he walks away.
Potter (Ray McKinnon) puts in an unexpected and unwelcome appearance outside the church, reminding EZ that it was only because of him that Felipe was allowed to remain in the United States. Potter hopes that telling EZ that we are all meaningless offers him a little peace. What they do will ultimately be forgotten.
Sofia (Andrea Cortes) returns to the clubhouse and collects Sandy from Bottles (Alex Barone) who’s been pulling dog-sitting duty. Sandy nuzzles Sofia, and Bottles points out that his sister’s dog did that when his sister was pregnant.
EZ arrives at the clubhouse on his repaired bike and is shocked to learn they have a surprise visitor. The guys are holding Sons of Anarchy San Bernardino’s VP Terry (Greg Vrotsos) at gunpoint, and Terry wants to swap info on Jess for details on Felipe’s death.
Later, Hank (Frankie Loyal) says Taza wants back in, adding that it would mean a lot to him if Taza was allowed back. EZ doesn’t pause before responding, “F**k Taza.”
However, EZ does take a moment to center himself before stepping outside. The courtyard is packed with Mayans, Iron War, and Grim Bastards, all ready to take down the Sons. EZ delivers a rousing speech, admitting it’s smart to fear war and death, but they do it out of love for their brothers and family.
“Today, anyone wearing a reaper is an enemy. If they strip it, they can live. If they don’t, the streets of San Bernardino will run red,” says EZ.
The men chant for war as EZ declares that it’s time to put an end to SoA. If they fight with him today, he promises there will be peace tomorrow.
EZ quotes Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and shouts, “Let’s cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!”
The Sons are hosting a rager in their clubhouse, completely unprepared for the bloodbath to come. The Mayans and their allies bust into the clubhouse and unleash war. Baseball bats appear to be the preferred weapon, but gunshots also ring out as SAMDINO is wiped out.
EZ spots Isaac (JR Bourne) making a run for it and chases after him. He corners him in a hallway, and they exchange blows before EZ tosses Isaac down a flight of stairs. Isaac slithers into an alleyway on his belly, trailing blood as he crawls away from his pursuer.
EZ allows Isaac to keep crawling for a short while and then steps on his leg. Isaac begs EZ to wait, claiming this can’t be it. He was right in that EZ would be the one to take him out, but Isaac thinks there must be more than death in an alley.
EZ shoots him in the head as Isaac holds up his hands and yells, “Wait, wait, WAIT! I’m not ready. I’m not ready for this to be over.”
EZ pisses on his dead body.
That night, it’s the Mayans hosting a rager, burning SoA cuts in a massive bonfire in their clubhouse yard. Everyone’s celebrating their win, and Bishop (Michael Irby) chooses this moment to apologize to Treenie (Augie Duke). She accepts but tells Bish, in no uncertain terms, that she’s done with him.
Hank, Gilly (Vincent Vargas), and Downer (Angel Oquendo) are also engaged in a serious conversation during the party. Hank orders Downer to take care of Cielo, who’s been texting around looking for Jess. Downer doesn’t want to kill a woman, but Hank orders him to see her tonight.
EZ scans the crowd and realizes Angel’s not there. He asks around, but no one’s seen his brother.
Meanwhile, Sofia takes a pregnancy test in EZ’s trailer. She briefly smiles as she rubs her belly.
EZ stands among the crowd but separately, watching the celebration but not participating. (It’s an example of that grey veil EZ told Wendy about that makes him feel stuck outside.)
While the Mayans are celebrating their win, Marcus (Emilio Rivera) and his wife, Izzy (Patricia De Leon), are welcoming a new baby boy to their family. And Deputy Assistant Inspector General Patricia Devlin (Dana Delany) is putting the finishing touches on her case against Potter. She’s aware he’s working on something but not what and truly doesn’t care. Patricia believes she’s got him dead to rights because Miguel Galindo’s set to come in tomorrow night and spill his guts.
Patricia’s boss warns her that Potter’s got his fingers all over the Mayans M.C. and its war with Sons of Anarchy. The fighting has been in the news for six months, and if he manages to take the Mayans down, Potter will be untouchable. Patricia doesn’t believe anyone cares about low-level dirtbags killing each other. She insists her case is much more important.
Downer shows up at Cielo’s, and she’s instantly on guard. Cielo (Mia Danelle) refuses to come with him until he forces her to, and after sitting in the passenger seat, she notices Downer making sure his gun’s loaded in the rearview mirror. There’s a knife on the seat, and Cielo grabs it before Downer sits down.
Downer acknowledges Cielo’s not a bad person, but he has to take care of her. Cielo doesn’t wait for him to finish speaking or pull out his gun. She attacks him with the knife, stabbing him repeatedly while crying. She finally drops the knife, hands soaked in blood. It’s only then that she sees he had a one-way ticket and a wad of money to help her escape.
Cielo holds him tight as she screams his name and apologizes. It’s too late. Downer succumbs to his many stab wounds.
Morning arrives, and EZ is about to leave when Sofia joins him outside. She smiles and says they need to talk when he gets home that evening. Angel invited him to go for a ride – something they never do anymore – and EZ thinks he’ll be gone all day.
Sofia tells EZ she loves him before he rides off. EZ doesn’t say it back.
Letty (Emily Tosta) hit up Louie (Noel Gugliemi) for a gun, and he delivers it. But before handing it over, he asks why she needs a weapon. “To kill every mother**ker in a Mayans cut,” replies Letty.
Louie’s reaction is spontaneous. “Oh, hell no!” he says as he wraps it back up.
Letty offers him triple and threatens to kill him with a gun that she’ll eventually buy somewhere else. It’s only after she says the Mayans killed Hope that Louie changes his mind.
Bishop shows up at the hospital with flowers for Izzy. The tension between Marcus and Bishop finally melts when Bishop makes a joke about Marcus’ age. Marcus asks his old friend if he’s doing the right thing by staying out of the Mayans and putting his family first.
“I think for the first time in our lives, I know for absolutely f**king sure that one of us is doing the right thing,” replies Bishop.
Over at the Galindo estate, Miguel reveals he’ll be heading to San Diego after dinner that evening. Plans are in motion to save their family. He asks Emily (Sarah Bolger) to wear her wedding ring tonight at dinner, and she slips it on. He gently kisses her hand as he holds her from behind.
After Miguel walks away, Emily looks at the photo of her sister she has tucked into her jewelry box.
Bishop’s shocked to find Kody/Katie (Stella Maeve) at his door. It’s a super short scene, and all she says is that she has a message from Creeper! (It seems only fitting that Bishop’s the first to learn EZ’s secret.)
EZ and Angel ride in silence past their dad’s butcher shop, which now has a For Rent sign in the window. In a strange coincidence, Emily and Miguel are just exiting their vehicle as EZ and Angel ride past. The Reyes brothers don’t notice them, but both Emily and Miguel stare as they ride by.
Once outside the city, EZ and Angel laugh as they race down a straight stretch of road. They make it to Angel’s chosen destination – the railroad bridge over the river. EZ used to come here to clear his head, while Angel smirks and admits he used to come here to have sex back in the day. They laugh about their separate memories of the bridge, and Angel suggests they should never run a blacklight over the tracks.
Angel’s sorry EZ didn’t get to set things straight with their dad. He also reveals that Adelita left them, and that’s why he was at Pop’s house. (Angel will never know the truth.) Angel blames himself for their dad’s death.
Maverick only has Angel now, and Angel’s decided he needs to leave the Mayans – and town – to do what’s best for his boy. (Excellent decision!) He’s not sure where he’s going, but he doesn’t want to end up dead and leave Maverick orphaned.
“I have to live for him,” says Angel. (Angel’s had the best, most well-earned character arc of all Mayans M.C. key players. This scene between brothers who’ve gone through hell and back is unbelievably moving and showcases Clayton Cardenas and JD Pardo’s incredible talents.)
EZ agrees to let Angel leave and says they’ll take it to the table tonight. Angel applauds his brother for putting the Mayans on top, something no one else could have accomplished – not even Alvarez.
“You truly are the one king, but you’re still my annoying ass, know-it-all little brother,” says Angel, laughing.
Elsewhere, Katie’s got a surprise in store for Potter. They walk through the halls of a police station as Katie reveals someone’s come forward with an incredible story to tell. The door opens and Cielo, clothing and arms still bloody, is ready to turn on the Mayans.
Miguel, Emily, and Cristobal return from dinner, but they’ve left Mr. Owl in the car. Miguel volunteers to retrieve Cristobal’s toy, and Emily strokes her husband’s arm, asking when he needs to leave for San Diego. Miguel’s got a few minutes to spare for his wife, and Emily smiles and says she’ll take Cristobal to bed.
After Miguel steps outside, Emily asks Luis to carry Cristobal up to bed. But first, Emily asks him to take off his suspender shoulder holsters holding his two guns before picking up her son. Of course, he agrees.
Emily watches them head upstairs while outside, Miguel locates Mr. Owl. The moment he steps through his front door, Emily uses Luis’ training – and his gun – and shoots him in the chest. She fires again, and Miguel falls to the ground, wounds fatal.
Luis rushes down the stairs, and Emily clutches him, acting terrified. She whispers, “I know you killed my sister,” and then shoots Luis from close range. Emily places the gun by Luis’ foot, takes off her gloves, counts to five, and then screams. She runs to Miguel and continues crying and screaming while holding his bloody chest. (Interesting how it’s the women who are taking control as Mayans M.C. ends, after being second-class citizens – other than Adelita – for five seasons.)
The police and ambulances arrive, and no one seems to question Emily’s story. After all, Emily’s recently installed – and carefully placed – video surveillance system shows Miguel being shot by a shooter who’s off camera. Luis falls into camera range with the third shot. Emily claims Luis was interested in her and shot Miguel and then himself in a jealous rage.
Emily insists she was upstairs with Cristobal when the shootings occurred. The video backs up her story.
Meanwhile, Patricia and her team are waiting for Miguel to arrive when Patricia receives the news that her star witness is dead.
Night’s fallen when EZ and Angel roll up to the clubhouse after a day of brotherly bonding. Before they head inside, Angel tells his brother he loves him, and they hug. Treenie’s been babysitting Maverick, and she calls him the most mature, best-behaved man on these premises as the boy runs into his dad’s arms.
EZ’s all smiles, watching his big brother be a good dad.
Minutes later, Santo Padre gathers at the table. No one knows why Downer’s absent, and he hasn’t been answering his phone. They begin the meeting without him, and EZ and Angel exchange smiles before they get down to business. EZ thanks everyone for what Santo Padre’s accomplished against all odds. He says he’s indebted to their loyalty and brotherhood forever.
EZ then turns the meeting over to Angel who cries as he confesses how much being a brother to them all has meant to him. He’s proud to sit at this table but doesn’t want Maverick to follow in his footsteps. Angel says he’s prepared to be a janitor to take care of his son.
Before EZ can announce that they need to vote on Angel leaving Santo Padre, Hank interrupts and says he has something to bring up first. Hank says they’ve discussed it, and since they’re talking about putting the club above everything else, they want to patch in Nestor.
Hank believes Nestor will always put the club and the patch first. EZ agrees and calls for a vote. It’s unanimous.
Guero (Andrew Jacobs) retrieves Nestor (Gino Vento), and Nestor stands at the end of the table as Hank presents him with his new cut. The guys pound the table and then stand up to give Nestor hugs, welcoming him as a full member.
EZ welcomes Nestor to the tribe and then is suddenly grabbed from behind around his neck by Gilly. Bishop also helps hang onto EZ, placing a gun to the side of his head, as Hank and Nestor hold Angel back.
Bishop snarls, “You the f**king rat!”
Bishop informs EZ they know he had Iron War and Storm 88 take out Creeper to keep his secret. Creeper was loyal, and EZ had him killed. Hank’s also pissed that EZ put them into business with cops.
“You have broken every f**king code we’ve got, and now you’re working with the f**king feds!” says Bishop while not breaking eye contact with EZ.
Bishop turns his gun on Angel, pressing it to his cheek and blaming him for bringing EZ in even though he knew he was a rat. EZ screams out, “No!” and insists Angel never knew anything. EZ yells at his brother to tell them he didn’t know, but Bishop doesn’t let up. Kody/Katie apparently filled Bishop in on everything, and Bishop reveals he knows EZ was flipped by his cousin, a DEA agent. Bishop finds it hard to believe Angel didn’t know that.
Hank takes EZ’s knife and places it in Angel’s hand. Bishop wants Angel to prove he’s loyal to the club over blood, and Angel calls out to Gilly – who’s still holding EZ but not making eye contact – for help. Gilly refuses.
Angel must make a choice: stab his brother or die alongside him. EZ apologizes to his brother, lying and saying that he betrayed him and now must do what the club demands. Angel continues to refuse as EZ attempts to make his brother understand what he must do unless he wants Maverick to be an orphan.
Angel sobs and says he can’t; not even the mention of Maverick has changed his mind. EZ brings up their childhood dog, Freya, and insists that Angel needs to be strong now. EZ put down Freya when she was suffering; Angel needs to step up now. (That’s a callback to the season 4 finale.)
Bishop chambers a bullet and prepares to shoot Angel in the face. EZ speaks gently to his brother, smiling at him as he says it’s okay.
Angel finally gives in and steps toward his brother. EZ tells his big brother to look at him and that everything’s okay. (The same thing Felipe said to Maverick as he died.) Angel’s an emotional wreck as EZ asks him to tell Maverick about him and about their mom.
Angel’s sobbing as EZ says, “Go…and don’t come back.”
EZ makes this as easy on his brother as possible, insisting it’s okay but admitting that he’ll miss him. EZ says, “I’m ready,” and Angel holds his brother’s shoulder and plunges the knife into his chest.
Angel holds him as tightly as possible as EZ finally says, “I love you, Angel.”
Angel’s ripped away from his brother. It’s not a true Julius Caesar “Et tu, Brute” moment as Angel, unlike Brutus, never voluntarily turns on EZ. He did not want to stab his brother. But what follows replicates the scene of Caesar meeting his death on the Ides of March.
Hank is the second member of the club to stab EZ. Bishop follows and pulls EZ’s head down, whispering in his ear, “You ain’t the only one who reads Shakespeare, motherf**ker.”
Blood flows after Bishop delivers a particularly vicious stab to EZ’s chest, and EZ sinks to the ground. Angel is allowed to hold him as Gilly delivers a quick stab to EZ’s side, followed by Guero. Nestor dispassionately stabs EZ in or near his heart.
Blood seeps out of EZ’s mouth in his final seconds. Santo Padre stand and stare at EZ as he dies. (Gilly cries but Hank and Bishop show no emotion.)
Minutes later, Sofia and Sally wait for EZ to return to the trailer. Sofia holds her positive pregnancy test and smiles as Sally pants sitting next to her on the bed. The door finally opens, and Sofia’s massive grin transforms into a look of shock. Bottles enters the trailer and fires two quick shots followed by a single shot. (Did he kill Sally too?!)
Letty pulls into the clubhouse yard with her newly purchased gun. It’s eerily quiet in the yard, and she leaves the motor running as she calls out, “Hey! Hey, you okay?”
Bottles did not, in fact, shoot Sally. She’s standing alone with bloody paws, and whines as Letty approaches. Letty’s eyes trace the path of bloody paw prints back to EZ’s trailer. Letty makes the right decision and takes Sally with her as she drives away from the Mayans M.C. Santo Padre clubhouse for the final time.
Bishop retakes his seat at the head of the table wearing EZ’s bloody Presidente cut, lights up a cigarette (prohibited under EZ’s reign), and says they should get back to business. The table remains silent as the camera pans to show the bloody streak on the floor from EZ’s body.
With just four minutes left in the series, the action shifts to right outside the clubhouse. Silently, ATF agents in full tactical gear approach the door and bust it open while shouting, “Federal agents. Search warrant!”
Federal agents pour into the parking lot as a helicopter circles overhead. The agents enter the clubhouse while Potter, who has the survival ability of a cockroach, and Katie watch from outside. A barrage of gunshots ring out from inside the clubhouse as Potter tells Katie, “The levy will hold…for now.”
The final shot of the Mayans M.C. Santo Padre clubhouse is of dozens of agents entering the building.
The following day, six surviving members of Broken Saints finish packing up their ranch after chemicals released during the cookhouse fire made the property unusable. Johnny Panic is no longer with them. Was she killed for her part in bringing the Mayans onto the ranch? We’ll never know.
All six point their guns at Letty as she drives up. Letty lets Sally out to join the other dogs and then steps out, hands raised. She walks a few feet with her hands up, still at gunpoint. She doesn’t say a word but instead simply shakes her head, yes, accepting her fate.
The series concludes with Angel holding Maverick tight as he stands on the beach and stares out at the Pacific Ocean. The camera pans around and shows Angel’s large Mayans M.C. tattoo that covers his back has the “Mayans M.C.” wording blacked out. The logo remains.
The waves gently lap at the shore as Maverick hugs his father’s neck. Mayans M.C. Santo Padre is dead, but Angel lives on.
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