FX’s Mayans M.C.
Season 2, Episode 1: “Xbalanque”
Directed by Kevin Dowling
Written by Kurt Sutter

* For a recap & review of the Season 1 finale, “Cuervo/Tz’ikb’uul” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “Xaman-Ek” – click here
The title of the episode refers to Xbalanque (or Yax-Balam) who, along with his brother Hunahpu, was responsible for defeating the lords of the underworld through trickery and athletic prowess in order to restore to life his father, the Maize God. Maybe there’ll be a parallel here between these two godly brothers and the two brothers in the Mayans M.C. along with their father.

Along the border, a kid spray paints a wall where we can see the American flag blowing on the other side. It reads “Muros son para perras,” translating to something like “Walls are for bitches.” EZ and Coco head past it in a school bus full of kids. They’ve got a place where they bring the children, and in the basement is their drug cutting operation.
Their heroin’s packaged with Donde Esta Wall-Dough? (Where is Wall-Dough? a clever play on Where’s Waldo?) on the front, along with a signature Trump hairdo— hilarious tongue-in-cheek stuff in the writing here referencing the Donald’s insistence that Mexico would pay for his stupid wall.

Galindo and his wife Emily are picking up the pieces after the house burned down. They’ve got Alvarez around now as Miguel’s right-hand man. Back at the Mayans’ club table, Bishop makes clear they have to keep things steady for their cartel connection. There’s been troubles with their heroin lately. Angel is off doing his “Mother Theresa thing” with Adelita— who’s pregnant— in Mexico. Bishop wants the brothers to work out their shit, so they’ll do a run together, like it or not. The family squabble continues to keep them divided, despite being in the same club.

“Ain’t no fun if it can’t kill you”

Bishop and the boys meet Alvarez, along with some former Green Berets turned mercenaries. They’re hoping to shut down Los Olvidados— great name, surely an homage to the film by Luis Buñuel. They invade a village and systematically lay waste to the human trafficking scumbags hiding there. Things go smoothly. There’s propaganda and hard drives all over, which the Berets will pass on to Lincoln Potter.
They also find Adelita’s little helper, Mini. The Mayans aren’t able to stand by and let a child be hurt in the name of the Department of Justice. They see the gruesomeness about to unfold, and take charge, murdering the mercs. EZ gets to show off his toughness by strangling one of the guys to death with an electrical cord.
The remaining mercenary Beret later tells Potter about the situation. Seems they believe it was more rebels who killed his men, allowing the Mayans to skate free of responsibility for the time being. Mini has been returned back to Adelita, but she’s been seriously traumatised.

We see Chucky receiving a couple Sons of Anarchy at the clubhouse. One of which is Happy Lowman. Perfect time for the man whose wife he murdered to show up. Just the look on Happy’s face shows he knows Felipe. Such a twisted web. Even the other Son recognises something ain’t quite right. Happy clearly never realised Felipe’s sons were club-connected. Shit. It’ll be VERY compelling to watch this plot keep unfolding.

“You know,
you’re allowed to enjoy this.”

EZ uses his connection with Officer Franky Rogan to get info. He’s got all kinds of papers on Happy, showing the biker’s extensive criminal record and his address. He has to keep it secret, not wanting the club to find out. Felipe turns up to talk to about Potter coming to his butcher shop. EZ’s sure Potter doesn’t do things just to do them— there’s a reason. On top of everything, the club also continue wondering why things are so tense between EZ and Angel, left unaware of the beef’s full extent.

At the table, Bishop has the crew from Tucson in to talk about inmates overdosing on heroin they cut too much. He calls in his prospect and has him use that perfect memory to pick out which package of heroin has a label out of place. EZ picks it out, then they test the stuff and confirm their problems. One of the Tucson guys tries to pull a gun, confirming he’s the “greedy fucking pig” hiding among their ranks. He’s taken out back and injected with a hot shot that kills him.
That night, Bishop sits EZ down to talk about the brothers’ beef. The “patch vote” for the prospect is soon coming. Angel probably won’t be part of a unanimous vote. Coco, Taza, and their club’s leader advises to work things out. Is that possible? Hard bridge to mend. Not to mention EZ continues to keep tabs on Happy, and the Sons biker remembers all too well what he’s done. Little brother goes to big brother with everything he knows, too. Perhaps this will bring them back together finally.

And what about Dita’s burns? Goddamn. What a reveal!
An excellent opener for Season 2. Father Gore was surprised big time by the quality and strength of Mayans M.C. in its first season, so it’s nice to see the series really cooking with gas as this one begins. Lots of wild stuff sure to go down.

“Xaman-Ek” is next time.