As Mayans continues to roll, the character stories become more rich and layered. This week, Coco confronted what he had been running from, Felipe opened the vault to Jimenez and EZ relived a painful memory that was one more piece to the puzzle. Adelita also proved how smart and savage she is at the cost of Miguel Galindo. Let's discuss.
Past Life Revisited
When the show started, Jimenez seemed like a character that would solely be there to remind us that EZ had made a deal with the DEA. As we have gotten deeper into the show, he has transformed into a deeply conflicted man that seems to care about what this would do to EZ. He shows up at Felipe's torn and shattered after the Reyes matriarch threatened his family. He was not there in an official capacity but a desperate one which Felipe took notice of. Felipe softens his brutal exterior and recognizes a man in deep need of a father like connection. He helps to sober him up and shares his past with the man who holds part of his son's fate in his hands. We learn more about Felipe's time as Ignacio and that he made the move to excise himself once his wife was pregnant with Angel. When Jimenez questions where his partner went, Felipe tells him that his last name was
Espina (this will be important later) and he seemed to have no desire to leave, so he did and never knew what became of him. Felipe also took the opportunity to tell Jimenez that EZ will not turn Emily and wants to know why he is pressing so hard. It is here that Jimenez shares that it is not him, he is being squeezed by a power higher than his pay grade. This leads to the mother of all Sons of Anarchy Easter Eggs that had me marveling at how Sutter and James (the show's creators) tied this string so flawlessly.
I normally don't address something that happened in the closing minutes of the episode but it fits here so that is why I am talking about it. When Jimenez said someone was pulling his strings from on high, I never put together that it would be none other than
Lincoln Potter, the man talking to EZ at the end. If you have not watched Sons, that is okay, I got you. Lincoln Potter was an antagonist to the sons in season 4, he wanted to use them to take down...... The Galindo Cartel. He used one of the club's members, Juice to try and do this. The sons were running drugs and guns and their contacts were two members of the cartel. Potter saw it as the perfect opportunity to dismantle the Galindo regime. His case however fell apart at the end because the two members of Galindo he was gunning for were already informants for the CIA and they shut down his case to keep theirs going. Potter never got what he came for and now may use EZ and the Mayans to accomplish his long goal. This character is very unique, his demeanor and presence is very odd at times but this was the perfect way to continue his story and introduce him to a new set of fans in this universe.
My Bad
Leticia or Letti as Coco was calling her showed up at the Mayans junkyard and it forced Coco to confront something he tries to hide. It also showcased who EZ truly is apart from what he has molded himself into for the club. Letti has turned to her father and he is forced to reveal who she is to Angel and EZ. When Hank pulls him away, it is up to EZ to keep in eye on her and this in turn leads to a murder cover-up. When we last saw Letti, she was riding off with a trucker and that is when you know things are not going to turn out well. She reveals to EZ that the man roughed her up so she defended herself which resulted in his death and she brought the body along because while she can kill, she isn't quite sure how to dispose. EZ promised Coco he'd look after her so he knows it is on him to get her out of this jam. Letti has clearly been groomed to think that when someone, specifically a man helps you, you owe them something and she offers to sleep with EZ. For a moment EZ drops his stoic nature and tells her he wants nothing from her, that he only wants to help. In this moment, Letti is more like her age and perhaps felt safe with a man for the first time in her life. Emily Tosta is pretty great as Letti, she conveys all that pain Letti must feel but hides very well.
When the first attempt to clean up her mess goes south, EZ loops in Angel and they come up with plan B. Letti also forgets to mention that she stole her getaway car from Coco's mom and EZ is pulled over resulting in a police chase where he gets away by the skin of his teeth, it also shows us that Letti is definitely her father's daughter when she utters Coco's famous 'My bad!' when Angel looks at her in bewilderment as the cops chase EZ in the stolen car. Thanks to his Mayan brothers, Coco's daughter's mess is cleaned up and they question him as to why he kept this a secret. He speaks of shame and the weight of his family on all aspects of his life and it reminds me that Richard Cabral is much more than the scene stealer I thought he would be in this show. The more they flesh Coco out, the more I care about him especially when he talks to Letti about making things different and demanding that she gets out of porn. Could Letti stick around? I hope so, and I hope she can discover that she has more potential than what she has been led to believe she is.
Pieces of pain
Our puzzle is starting to fit together about the events that led EZ down his path. We got a massive reveal this episode when EZ saw a simple bumper sticker whilst helping Letti. Everything that led him to his ultimate fate and life turn stems from the murder of his and Angel's mother. Eight years prior he was happily living life and showed up his parent's business only to find that it had been broken in to with his mother lying bludgeoned and lifeless on the floor. The car that sped away had that same bumper sticker we see in the present. This leads us to another flashback where he is pursuing that car in the same outfit he wore when we were shown when he shot the police officer. Yes, EZ's life took this turn when his mother was killed and he was blinded by vengeance. He lost it all once more after the tragic death of his mother. In this I feel for EZ now more than ever, he was on a good path until a singular event out of his doing, set the course on his life now.
The Set Up
When you have a personal connection in a high stakes situation, it can skew rational thought and put you in a dangerous place. This is exactly what happened to Miguel when Adelita moved another chess piece and demanded ransom for Cristobal. Miguel also got intel from his rat on the inside, but nothing is what it seems and Adelita proved how smart and cunning she is. She agreed to turn over Miguel and Emily's boy for a ransom in digital currency that was to be placed in their digital wallet. Miguel quickly agreed but thought he was putting one over on her when his boy on the inside sent them coordinates of the rebels whereabouts. It became obvious that Adelita was starting to become suspicious of this new little rabbit and set up the child along with his boss. When Miguel found Cristobal, he was so overcome with emotion and relief that he made several mistakes that ended with him in a border slammer.
Los Olvidados set him up by lacing the baby blanket Cristobal was in with drugs and tipping off contacts in the border police. Emily was painfully close yet so far from her son once more and now Miguel is behind bars and out of the game for now. It makes sense he was so blinded, he saw his boy and little else which is what Adelita banked on. She also terminated the mole in her camp in a rather gut wrenching and heartbreaking scene.
Miguel's planted street rat met his ultimate fate when Adelita calmly told him she knew all and that he could have had a home had this not happened. The young boy had no idea what was coming and it is heartbreaking that children in this story live the reality of getting adult consequences when those adults fail them. What was even more shocking was that Adelita's favorite rabbit was the one tasked with pushing her new friend to his death. This part was extremely tough to watch because they are kids, but it speaks to the narrative of how dangerous things are for these children growing up in this reality.
Other Odds and Ends:
* Angel finally demanded to know more from Adelita and she told him, but we didn't see everything. What we did find out is that her full name is
Luisa Espina..... Espina, like Felipe's partner Espina?!? Could she have a history with the Reyes nee Cortina family that extends past Angel and EZ? I think so.
* Chucky is really making me angry. His half answers about Letti are leading to a massive misunderstanding with Bishop and Hank locking in on Coco as a possible mole. He keeps leading them to think Coco is talking to Adelita and it is getting really worrisome. Thankfully this time, EZ heard the conversation go down, so maybe they can extinguish this fire Chucky has set.
* So Coco won Chucky in a card game. In my mind he played cards with some of our surviving sons, hopefully that is shown at some point.
* How are we feeling about Emily? I am so torn because I love how Sarah Bolger plays her, but I don't ever see her returning to EZ because of her son. She will use him and seek revenge should she ever find out he knew where Cristobal was. I am beginning to agree completely with Felipe and Angel, she is not the same girl EZ loved.
* This week's animal was a cat and the cat or cats found themselves with Adelita, at the junkyard and finally in Lincoln's arms. This could all just be a mystery that is up for interpretation, but I still love guessing.
That is it for me! I can't believe we only have four more episodes because I don't want the season to be over. What do you think of Adelita's moves? Does EZ's story get more heartbreaking with each reveal? How long will it take Miguel to get out of this and bring the pain to Los Olvidados? How long until the many kept secrets from Bishop come out?
