Mayans M.C. 1x01 Perro/Oc

I have a confession to make: I’ve only ever seen the first five episodes of Sons of Anarchy. It’s not that I didn’t like it – although the part where a dude’s full back tattoo was literally fried off his back had lasting impressions on me, and not in a good way – I guess I was just never in the mood for it ever again. That sounds weird, I know, but it’s the truth. For this reason, I wasn’t interested in its spinoff at all either. Then I found out that Sarah Bolger was going to be in it, and as a one-time OUAT guest star I liked, I felt obligated to check out her newest role. But am I really going to get into a show I potentially won’t even understand or like just because of a single actor? … Well yeah, of course I am, it wouldn’t be the first time. So yesterday as I was bracing myself for the episode, I did one last IMDb check, and it turns out she’s not the only one I know in it! Danny Pino, aka Scotty Valens from Cold Case (remember Cold Case? It was such a good series) also stars, and so does Maurice Compte, who played one of my favourite characters in Narcos, Colonel Carrillo. What’s more, apparently not a single member of the main cast ever appeared on Sons on Anarchy, like… not even once. That’s probably not good news for SoA fans who were hoping to see some of their favourites appear here full-time (if they’re still alive, that is), but it was what finally sold me on the series. I’m aware that I’ll probably miss a bunch of in-jokes and easter eggs and the like, but from the premiere I got the feeling that it will mostly be an independent story only tangentially related to SoA, and I’m more than fine with that.

Mayans MC is primarily the story of a guy named Ezekiel, „EZ” to his friends. EZ is a good kid. His only dream was to graduate high school and then leave his cartel-infested town behind with his girlfriend, Emily (Sarah Bolger!). Then for some reason he killed a cop (I’m sure we’ll eventualy get a flashback about it), and off to prison he went. While there, he broke all contact with Emily, who retaliated to him making this big decision for the both of them by throwing an ultrasound pic into his face and telling him „now I’m gonna make one for the both of us”. I’m not entirely sure how it fits the timeline (EZ spending 8 years in prison and all), but Emily showed up later in the episode with a kid in her arms who may or not be EZ’s… but regardless of the parentage, the child is now being raised by local cartel boss Miguel Galindo (Danny Pino!), Emily’s boyfriend/husband. Ouch.

EZ first crosses path with Galindo as a ’prospect’ for Mayans MC, the motorcycle club his brother is also a member of. The club is running drugs for the cartel, and when one of their shipment gets attacked by a bunch of people wearing animal masks, they have to explain themselves to the boss. Eventually it turns out that the masked people belong to an outlaw gang called Los Olvidados, all of whom lost family members due to the cartel, and are led by a woman named Adelita. But here’s the kicker: EZ’s brother and some of the other Mayans are actively double-crossing the cartel by working for Adelita. And as if that wasn’t risky enough, EZ himself is working with a DEA agent (Maurice Compte!) trying to bring down Galindo. That’s a lot of betrayal for one family.

So there’s clearly a lot going on in Mayans MC, and I suspect there’s much more intrigue and deception coming up in the remaining episodes. So far, I’m here for it!