'Mayans M.C.' Recap: An Enticing 'Sons Of Anarchy' Villain Resurfaces

By Dustin Rowles | TV | October 10, 2018 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | October 10, 2018 |

Six episodes into the first season of Kurt Sutter and Elgin James’ Sons of Anarchy spin-off, Mayans M.C., and the story has taken yet another turn, this one perhaps its most exciting, further binding the Sons universe together.

The Mayans MC pilot established an intricate set of confusing, backstabbing storylines, but the pace of developments has slowed over the last five episodes, as Sutter and James sought to unravel and tease out the main plot.

It has settled, primarily, on four factions: The Mayans, a motorcycle club that transports drugs for the Galindo cartel; the Galindo Cartel, which aims to go legit by using its drug money to rebuild Santo Padre; Los Olvidados, a rebel group in Mexico led by Adelita trying to take down the Galindo cartel with the aid of a faction within the Mayans; and the feds, who also want to take down the Galindo cartel with the help of EZ, a Mayan prospect who is acting as an informant in exchange for early release (which Gemma Teller may or may not have had something to do with).

There have been side stories along the way, too, and a few old Sons characters have eased their way back in as recurring characters (Alvarez, who is the godfather now of all the California Mayans clubs, and our old friend Chucky, who basically holds the same position on Mayans as he did in Sons).

Much of this week’s episode, however, is devoted to two storylines. Coco is trying to develop a relationship with his daughter, Leticia (Emily Tostas), who killed a truck driver who tried to assault her. EZ helps Leticia dispose of the body and make a clean getaway from the cops, allowing Leticia — who only found out Coco was her Dad the week before — to begin working on the father/daughter relationship. However, thanks to Chucky, Bishop — the leader of the Santo Padre chapter of the Mayans — believes the woman with whom Coco has been spending time is Adelita, and that Coco is the rat within the chapter (he is, along with EZ’s brother Angel, but Leticia has nothing to do with it).

Meanwhile, Adelita and the rebels return Miguel Galindo’s baby to him (and his wife, Emily, who used to date EZ) in exchange for 7 million pesos, but not before setting a trap for him by planting heroin in the baby blanket, meaning Miguel is put in jail and the baby is … taken away at the border. Adelita also has her Galindo mole killed, and since the rebels are a child army, it means a kid has to die by the hands of another kid. It’s never fun to watch an 11-year-old boy murdered, but what are you going to do?

Where this week’s episode “Gato/Mis” gets really interesting, however, is when our old friend Lincoln Potter (Ray McKinnon) shows up at the end of the episode, standing outside of the Mayans clubhouse. Lincoln Potter, recall, was a fixture in the fourth season of Sons of Anarchy, an eccentric Assistant U.S. Attorney with a boner for dismantling the Galindo cartel. Alas, in the fourth season finale, just as Potter had closed in on both SAMCRO and the cartel, a deus ex machina arrived in the form of two Galindo cartel members who were revealed to be undercover CIA agents. Potter had to ice his case against the cartel, and he was never seen from again, in what may have been the series’ worst season finale (until the series finale).

Here, he shows up again, and it is likely that he still has it in for the Galindo cartel. So, why is he standing outside of the Mayans clubhouse? It’s possible that he is trying to get to the Galindo cartel through the Mayans, or it’s also possible that he’s the U.S. Attorney overseeing the entire Galindo investigation. In other words, that he’s the guy behind the scenes running the EZ show, that he is the guy at the top of the food chain putting the screws to the DEA Agent to compel EZ to flip Emily. Lincoln Potter could also bring along with him to the proceedings the CIA Agent previously working within the Galindo cartel, Romeo Parada (played by Danny Trejo).

For now, however, it’s a blast knowing that Ray McKinnon (who also created Rectify) will be in the picture for a while. He is the perfect Sons cameo, because while Mayans has been an entertaining ride, it’s been missing the offbeat Sons sense of humor than Lincoln Potter can inject into the proceedings.