Mayans M.C.
5×05: “I Want Nothing But Death”
Directed by Elgin James
Written by Sean Varela

* For a recap & review of 5×04, click here.
* For a recap & review of 5×06, click here.
Angel’s not looking too keen about rolling out with his boys carrying guns and ammo. They’re headed for Isaac’s Sons crew. Angel fires from the window of the car, hitting one of the Sons and killing him. This is obviously just going to create more violence. Angel’s seeing the world through different eyes these days. He sees the world as a father now, not just a wild dude running around out there in the streets. Perhaps he wonders what kind of world Maverick will be growing up in and worries it’ll be even more violent.
At the clubhouse, EZ’s alerted to the presence of some Grim Bastards. It’s a friendly, or at least courteous, visit. The Grim Bastards are there about the ongoing war. Lucky (Gilbert Glenn Brown) from the Bastards says it’s “killing the culture” as a whole. Heat is coming down on outlaw bikers in general; not good for business, for ANYBODY, when the Mayans are on the news. The feds are swarming around Cali. Things get a bit tense between EZ and Lucky. The Santo Padre Prez isn’t so eager to trust someone he doesn’t know. He also doesn’t want to be involved with Isaac since the Grim Bastards are connected to the Sons of Anarchy. But a deal’s struck anyway. Let’s see if it works out.

On the road, Angel meets Miguel, who wants to speak with him. Miguel says they have to stop messing with the cartel. He tells Angel about the little boy who saw him. He asks Angel about the fire and burning EZ’s “dream.” He wants Angel to stop EZ from pushing the fentanyl. If Angel doesn’t then there could be trouble. “Maybe all the secrets can stay safe,” says Miguel; that’ll necessitate Angel getting EZ to do something, which is not an easy thing.
Back at the table, Angel speaks up about joining the Mayans “for the brotherhood.” He care about all his brothers, alive and dead. He’s unhappy pushing fentanyl. He doesn’t want to be part of the drug problem on the streets anymore. It’s partly because of Miguel, but it’s also truthfully coming from Angel. We’ve watched him sour on all the most dangerous stuff with the club since Maverick came along. EZ pours out a bag of cash, then pontificates about “moral cause in war.” Then he drops a little Malcolm X, too. He’s swaying a lot of the men at the table with the cash alone. Tranq asks about the offer from the Grim Bastards, and EZ says there’s a fifty-fifty chance that it could bring peace with the Sons, or it could be a setup. Bishop vouches for Lucky as a good dude, as does Tranq; they advise trusting Lucky, and the table agrees. So, they’re headed for L.A.
EZ’s keeping an ear out for anything new from Creeper. He’s quietly sweating.
How long until everything Katie knows comes to light? She’s visiting with Creeper. She mentions Agent Jimenez’s name being on the redacted case files and how he’s dead now, likely because someone wanted to cover up his informant’s name. Then Katie tells Creeper that the rat is EZ, but he doesn’t believe that at all. She tells him that EZ is Jimenez’s cousin. Creeper thinks Katie’s just trying to torture him. She attempts to speak reason about EZ. That only makes Creeper pull away and call for a guard to take him back. He can’t and won’t accept that the rat was EZ. And it angers Katie, after all she’s done. Before Creeper’s taken back to his cell he asks the guard to get him a meeting with Smokey (Raymond Cruz).

At the trailer, Angel asks Sofia how things are with EZ, though she’s reluctant to talk about her and EZ’s personal business. Big brother’s looking to get a read on little brother. But Sofia isn’t willing to say anything. Angel talks about how horrific it was what happened to Lobo. He’s desperate for his brother to stop with the fentanyl. He all but begs Sofia to help him get his brother to quit it all. He’s worried everything will get hurt in the end because of the path EZ’s steering them down. Rightfully so. Angel mentions that he should’ve “burnt all this shit down, too.” Probably a Freudian slip he should NOT have made. Might haunt him.
We’re given another glimpse of Patricia at the Inspector General’s office. Some “Potter–adjacent individuals” have been around to see other people there. It seems Patricia has ruffled feathers and Potter’s people want that “bitch on a leash.” Rough stuff. A woman such as Patricia isn’t willing to back down that easily. She has a particular distaste for Potter from the look of it. She’s advised to be careful what she does from here. Simultaneously, Potter’s off dealing with Soledad and he’s very angry that Eduardo has been not only killed but murdered in front of his little girl. The conversation turns to Miguel and his connection with the Mayans, which doesn’t please Soledad. And Potter all but spells out that Miguel was the one who fucked Soledad’s man up in that bathroom. He’s trying to make sure people don’t forget his mighty institutional power/reach. He also mentions the “tiny penis” of Michelangelo’s David as a way to subtly mention he has a big dick and he is SWINGING it right now in every direction.

A moment of sweetness in the midst of everything, as Bishop holds his girlfriend’s little granddaughter, the first child he’s probably held since his own. Such a beautiful moment, particularly since Bishop stays behind that hardened shell of his most of the time. We also get a glimpse of Hope and Leticia having fun together, a nice change of pace from them nearly getting shot by drug dealers. They get interrupted by the landlord and Leticia pours cash over his head to avoid being evicted. Another nice moment, if only a brief one.
In prison, Creeper gets a meeting with Smokey. He wants answers about the rat. Smokey says he has “no use” for Creeper now that the Mayans have been pushed out of the prisons. Creeper just wants to make things good for his club. He needs to find out the rat’s identity for sure. Smokey’s cousin was in prison with EZ; Jay-Jay, the guy EZ took care of at the end of Season 4. It’s all been confirmed for Creeper past a reasonable doubt. And who turns up to visit him in prison today? None other than Prez EZ. He talks away to Creeper while the latter is nearly catatonic from what Smokey said. Creeper calls EZ out as “a fucking rat.” He feels he gave everything up for a bunch of lies. He promises to get word to Tranq. That’s when EZ pulls Creeper on top of him, making it seem like he’s being attacked. The guards start beating Creeper brutally. God, this is a fucking MESS now. EZ’s slipping, big time.
Patricia is making a house call at the Galindo home. She’s poking around to get under Miguel’s skin. She also wants to take aim at Potter. She’s not concerned with Miguel at the moment, neither is that part of her job to investigate people like him and the cartel. She wants him to help with info on Potter, whom she believes is worse than Miguel. None of it really convinces Miguel. Yet Patricia says “a trigger is being squeezed” and she wants to help Miguel avoid a bullet, at least “metaphorically speaking.” She, unlike Lincoln, actually believes in things outside of the gaining of capital, especially capital collected via violence.

In Los Angeles, the Mayans meet with the Sons, along with the Grim Bastards who are there as a broker for the entire thing. First, Santo Padre are checked for weapons, then they’re brought inside, awaiting their face time with the Sons of Anarchy. Inside, Isaac and EZ come face to face with their crews. The meeting officially begins with Lucky’s facilitation. EZ gets things going but Isaac asks about Coco, which only pisses Bishop and Gilly off. Isaac finds out about Coco being gunned down by the Sons in Oakland. He didn’t know about it. He goes on talking shit and it keeps making things tense. “This just feels futile,” Isaac says before launching into a tirade. EZ keeps trying to make a deal with the Sons, but things are slowly turning bad with each minute that passes. Isaac wants to see somebody die tonight. He goes on bringing up Coco’s name and now everyone wants a fight.

Isaac wants the best of the Sons v. best of the Mayans to fight it out. It angers Lucky after the no violence agreement. But EZ’s ready to step up to the plate and fight for his club. He has to face a much bigger man but he does it eagerly. The big SOA member beats on EZ, knocking him to the ground and kicking the shit out of him. EZ fights back but falls again, as the big man gets on top of him. He manages to get the upper hand and get on top of the bigger man. He smashes the guy’s head into the floor, screaming as blood and brains go everywhere. And the fight ends with blood-soaked death. EZ repeats that he’ll accept surrender from the Sons of Anarchy. Yet Isaac and the Sons leave. Unfortunately the wounds EZ has are not the only bad things that come from the fight. Later that night, Isaac breaks into Leticia’s place and there’s NOTHING good that’ll come from this home invasion. The Sons are seriously stepping over the line now.