Spoilers: The 'Mayans M.C.' Finale Fully Makes Up for the End of 'Sons of Anarchy'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | July 20, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | July 20, 2023 |

I was one of the unfortunate many who stuck with Sons of Anarchy until the bitter end. This meant ultimately watching the President of SAMCRO meet a tragic fate by crashing into an 18-wheeler, making it one of the worst series finales of all time. (Although The Blacklist has recently joined that list). I was also crazy enough to follow the story into its spin-off Mayans M.C., although I eventually gave up on it after two seasons due to the third season premiering at an inconvenient time for me.

However, I have loosely kept track of the series and decided to tune into the finale to witness the closure of Kurt Sutter’s Sons of Anarchy universe (assuming there will be no other spin-offs). Elgin James took over the series after Disney fired Sutter for being Sutter, and based on the finale, he went out in better style than Sutter’s SoA, though Mayans was no less tragic.

For those curious or who may have watched the first season or two before bailing, here’s a quick refresher of the series’ premise: The series revolves around EZ Reyes, who is released from prison early and coerced by the feds to inform on the Mayans, a motorcycle club in which his brother Angel Reyes holds a high-ranking position. EZ joins the club as a Prospect and ends up working for both sides. Edward James Olmos plays their father, Felipe, who is close to EZ but estranged from Angel (although their relationship changes as the series progresses).

Meanwhile, EZ’s high-school girlfriend, Emily, is married to Miguel, the leader of the Galindo cartel, which alternates between being an ally and an enemy to the Mayans throughout the series. Similar to Sons of Anarchy, there are numerous characters who switch sides or play both sides or otherwise do whatever is necessary to keep themselves alive.

Throughout the five seasons, despite his ties to the feds (and Ray McKinnon’s brilliantly devilish Lincoln Potter), EZ rises through the ranks of the Mayans and eventually replaces President Marcus Alvarez, becoming the new leader himself. Under EZ’s leadership, the Mayans emerge victorious in the motorcycle gang wars, ultimately defeating another chapter of the Sons of Anarchy in San Bernardino. However, his victories come at a great cost. EZ has to kill one of his own to protect the secret that he was working with the feds, and his brother Angel also discovers the truth. In the penultimate episode, their father is killed by the leader of SAMCRO.

In the finale, EZ exacts his revenge by killing the leader, Isaac, and even urinates on his corpse. Emily, who has been mistreated by her husband Miguel throughout the show, finally shoots and kills Miguel and his henchman in retaliation for killing her sister. She successfully stages it as a murder-suicide. Emily is one of the few characters who survive the series.

EZ is not one of the survivors. In one of the final scenes, as EZ and the rest of the gang celebrate their victory over their rivals, Bishop (another former President) requests that they initiate another Prospect, Nestor. After inducting him into the gang, they restrain EZ. They know that he was an informant for the feds and that he killed Creeper to protect his secret. They demand that Angel, his own brother, prove his loyalty to the club by killing EZ, or else both of them will die. EZ asks Angel to kill him so that Angel can live and raise his son. With tears in his eyes, Angel reluctantly obliges and stabs EZ. The rest of the gang follows suit, reminiscent of Julius Caesar. In fact, as Bishop plunges his knife into EZ’s gut, he remarks, “You’re not the only motherfucker who knows Shakespeare,” alluding to the fact that Sons of Anarchy was loosely based on Hamlet.

EZ dies with a smile on his face, knowing that his brother will survive. He probably wouldn’t have smiled if he had known that the Mayans would also kill his girlfriend, Sofia, whom EZ never even learned was pregnant. Nonetheless, Angel lives to raise his son, and Marcus, who remains outside of the Mayans, also becomes a father to a newborn, whom he will raise with his wife.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Mayans aren’t as lucky. In the end, Lincoln Potter, after obtaining crucial information, leads a raid on the Mayans. Although we don’t witness what happens inside the clubhouse, we hear about 20 gunshots. It’s safe to assume that the remaining club members have been killed.

One other survivor is Letty, the daughter of Coco, a fan favorite who died in season four. Following Sofia’s death, Letty takes her dog and drives off to join the all-female motorcycle gang, The Broken Saints. All of these events contribute to a touching, tragic, fitting, and shocking finale, which is far superior to the laughable ending of Sons of Anarchy.