Mayans M.C.

Episode Reviews

May 24, 2023 – S5, Ep1: “I Hear the Train A-Comin”

The Mayans are in the middle of a turf war with southern California’s Sons of Anarchy. EZ wants to end the bloodshed, come out on top and somehow preserve his family. But he’s quickly learning he can’t have it all.

A man is kicked brutally by members of a rival gang while his girlfriend begs them to stop. Their leader urinates on him. (And we later learn he suffered a seizure from the attack’s resulting brain trauma.) Guns are drawn and fired often, and many people die. A man is stabbed multiple times. A guy hurts his leg when he steps on a barbed wire booby trap. Several dogs attack intruders (and one man is bitten in the groin area). A woman threatens to slice a man’s mouth open. (We hear she has followed through on this threat several times and see a prison guard with scars on his cheeks from her.) Most characters carry weapons. The Mayans try to sell several crates of guns. An RV explodes. Many threats are issued. People get beaten up.

A man propositions a woman for sex. (He puts his hand down his pants and unbuckles his belt.) When she declines, he grabs her face roughly and threatens her. Another man slaps the bare rear of another woman.

Many people participate in an orgy (we see exposed breasts and backsides as well as movements). A couple has oral sex (genitals are hidden but we see lots of exposed skin). Other couples kiss. There’s a joke about gay men and cavity searches in prison. Some women wear revealing outfits.

While visiting a man in prison, a woman reaches under her dress to remove a smuggled shiv from her vagina.

Much of the plot revolves around the dealing of illegal drugs. We see a few people smoking marijuana. Characters drink and smoke cigarettes. A few scenes take place in bars.

The f-word is used about a hundred times. We also hear about 15 uses of the s-word and one to four uses each of “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “d–mit,” “d–k,” “h—” and “p-ss.” God’s name is abused twice. There are a few crude hand gestures. A woman tries to correct her toddler when he parrots the f-word after hearing her say it.

People lie and blackmail. Bullets adorn a figurine of Mary, mother of Jesus. We hear a plot to launder money through a non-profit. Two women argue with their landlord when he issues an eviction notice. Men are a bit disrespectful toward women.

Several people attempt to make amends for their bad (and illegal) deeds with acts of kindness.

Mar. 23, 2021 – S3, Ep3: “Overreaching Don’t Pay”

EZ has a plan to make Bishop, president of the Santo Padre wing of the Mayans, the organization’s sole king—but the scheme to make it happen is a risky one. Bishop buys in despite the perils of shipping 250 kilos of drugs across the border. But Angel, EZ’s brother, knows that EZ’s playing a dangerous game. He says that a gang is just a glorified knitting club, filled with petty jealousies. “This fails, our brothers will be gunning for you.” Meanwhile, gang member Coco is captured by a drug-addled crew of vagabonds. And it pushes the drug-using Coco into an even darker place.

In flashback, Coco as a child injects heroin into his mother’s track-marked feet. “Never be like your mama,” she tells him. “Promise me. … Always be a good boy.” And for all of Coco’s addiction issues, he keeps this promise until a woman in the vagabond compound injects him with heroin to help him cope with the beating he suffered (an episode earlier). Later, he injects himself willingly. He engages in a standoff with the compound leader—a standoff filled with pointed guns and a short fight.

Angel wakes up in bed with a woman, apparently after a night of sex. (Both seem to be undressed, though covers shield anything critical.) Later, Angel and another woman walk around naked. We see both of their bare backsides and part of one of her breasts. A woman asks her sister how long it’s been since she’s been intimate with her (the sister’s) husband, believing it to be months. In response, the sister tries to seduce her husband, walking into their bedroom in a bra and panties and unbuckling his pants (in preparation, it would seem, for oral sex). The man is uninterested and walks away. Characters kiss. A brothel serves as a critical locale for a drug operation. Men are seen shirtless, and one bears a cross tattoo on his chest. We see a statue of the mother Mary in a bar.

We see the drugs in the operation, though all are tightly wrapped. (Coco looks longingly at one of the packages.) We hear plenty of talk about the drug trade. Characters drink and smoke. We see someone in prison for trying to smuggle drugs across the Mexican/U.S. border. Someone kicks another man’s car. Threats are made. Secret tunnels are used. People lie and mislead.

About 63 f-words are used in the hour-long episode. We also hear 10 s-words, along with “a–,” “b–ch,” “h—” and “d–k.” Jesus’ name is abused five times.

Sept. 3, 2019 – S2, Ep1: “Xbalanque”

As EZ’s vote into the Mayans comes up, the gang’s officers strongly encourage him to settle his differences with Angel. Meanwhile, the officers plot against the Galindo cartel to take them down from the inside.

A group of ex-soldiers joins the Mayans to take down a drug cartel. Several people are killed with headshots and we see the resulting blood splatter. A child is caught in the fray and one of the ex-soldiers holds a gun to her head before tying her up and gagging her. A man is shot in the head through a pillow to muffle the sound. Another man is stabbed through the neck with a knife. And a third man is tackled and strangled to death in front of the tied-up girl. Later on, a traitor is chained up by his arms while a contaminated dose of heroin is shot into his neck, causing him to seize and die.

Drugs are smuggled in the bottoms of children’s backpacks and a man blows smoke rings for their entertainment. Two children spray paint graffiti on a wall. A church is used as a front for a drug den. Evidence is planted against a rival drug cartel. A grandmother is worried for her grandson since both of his working parents are often absent. A painting of a half-clothed woman (her breasts are visible) hangs in a bar where people are drinking and smoking. Several scantily-clad women hang out in the bar. Guns are smuggled in the bottoms of oil barrels. The f-word is used throughout the show, along with the s-word, “d–n,” “h—,” and “b—h.” Jesus’s name is also taken once in vain.