Season 7 of Sons of Anarchy wraps up the bikers’ story in a tragically haunting way. For a while, it seemed that the dust had settled, but a few years later, creator Kurt Sutter, who also played Otto in the series, decided that he was not quite done with the motorcycle world just yet. A spin-off series that focused on the Mayans motorcycle club titled Mayans M.C. was born.
The Mayans motorcycle club has been a part of the Sons of Anarchy universe since day one, being the one that stole guns from SAMCRO’s weapon storage and burned down the warehouse at the beginning of Season 1. Throughout the series, the motorcycle club has been part of the story, but their rivalry with SAMCRO has slowly transformed into an alliance. With the motorcycle club’s deep roots in the Sons of Anarchy world, where the spin-off show takes place might come as a surprise to many.
Where Does Mayans M.C. Fall in the Sons of Anarchy Timeline?
Mayans M.C. takes place in a post-Jax Teller world and revolves around a different biker club in a different fictional town. Mayans M.C. are SAMCRO’s rivals turned allies. After the main show wraps up the story about Jax Teller, Mayans M.C. then picks up the responsibility of telling bikers’ stories set in the Sons of Anarchy universe. While the show does have a few crossovers with the flagship, those who come to see Jax or Clay may be disappointed, given where it fits in the grand timeline of Sons of Anarchy.
Mayans M.C. takes place two and a half years after Jax’s death, which means that the show is building upon the events in the seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy. Jax, Clay, Gemma, Wayne, Juice, Opie and all the other fan-favorite characters have already met their demises in the original show. On the other hand, those who survive the events in Sons of Anarchy also make surprising appearances in Mayans M.C., given that all the characters live in the same universe. Some minor characters, like Lincoln Potter, who tries to bring down SAMCRO, also make an unexpected comeback in the spin-off show.
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More specifically, Mayans M.C. also has a real-life timeline. In an interview with IndieWire in 2018, the show creator Kurt Sutter clarified: “If we’re playing in real-time, it’s about three years ago,” which means the events in Mayans M.C. take place in 2015.
Jax Teller’s death left a lingering impact. With Mayans M.C., that means SAMCRO, now under Chibs’ leadership, is trying to get out of the illegitimate business, which leads them to pass the torch to the Mayans. “We talk a little bit of the ramifications of that final day of Jax,” Sutter explained in the same interview how the flagship set the tone and things in motion for Mayans M.C. He admitted that the last few events at the end of Sons of Anarchy “changed Northern California and trickled down south.”
What Is Mayans M.C. About?
Back when Mayans M.C. was just beginning, Sutter made an intentional decision not to crossover with the Sons of Anarchy world to separate the spin-off show from the flagship and to not alter the original ending. This causes the first season of Mayans M.C. to mainly focus on a different motorcycle club and a brand-new protagonist. “I want to acknowledge that world [Sons of Anarchy] and find opportunities to circle that, but I don’t want to abuse it,” Sutter told Deadline. The creator’s words stay true. Early Mayans M.C. acknowledges what happened in the Sons of Anarchy ending, but it doesn’t go further than that until much later. Just like what Sutter said about keeping “it sacred,” the spin-off, in many ways, holds the seven-season worth of stories and characters in a special place.
In a way, the five seasons of Mayans M.C. takes things as far away from Sons of Anarchy as possible, and, in another way, hits closer to home than anything else. “When you’re a kid, it doesn’t matter what culture you are, you’re kind of disregarded and diminished, you want a family, and you want to be seen,” said Elgin James, the co-showrunner of the spin-off show at the ATX Television Festival (via Variety). What ties the Mayans together as a family is essentially the same thing that ties SAMCRO together — a sense of belonging and brotherhood. But sadly, things are not always rainbows and unicorns because, in the real world, “there are certain ways to go about that, and the quickest one is obviously crime.”
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Mayans M.C. takes viewers to a fictional town, Santo Padre, at the border between California and Mexico. Sutter set the scene as far away from Charming as possible to avoid “organically” bumping into some SAMCRO members (despite the fact that the show later features many crossovers). The show creator told The Hollywood Reporter:
The truth is, I set it on the border because I wanted the physical distance between mythologies. I didn’t want to be in Northern California where we would organically bump into some of those characters [from
Sons of Anarchy
]. I didn’t want to fuck with that mythology. I didn’t want to be in L.A., which felt too trendy. I literally went to the farthest point of California so that I could have this space between these two mythologies. It wasn’t like I wanted to set it on the border to make a statement or have it be a political show. It was just that, to me, it was creatively the smart thing to do.
The border itself is a point of conflict. With it, comes all the real-world inspired issues and stories. While Sutter has made it clear that Mayans M.C. isn’t a political show, given that he doesn’t write political shows, he added that “the real world always impacted that show.” Mayans M.C. doesn’t “deal head-on with those issues,” but the setting sets the tone of the stories to be “politically charged and emotionally charged.” The world bleeds into the storytelling organically.
Mayans M.C. follows J.D. Pardo’s Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, once a boy with promise, as he uncovers the truth behind his mother’s murder. He finds himself on a path to revenge, which leads him to a life he never intended. The same blood that runs through Sons of Anarchy runs through the veins of Mayans M.C. Despite everything, the spin-off is still about the MC world and the “brotherhood and camaraderie and all.” Mayans M.C. again is a place for lost souls to call home to, but more hard-hitting and chaotic. SAMCRO, while under Clay’s leadership, got involved in some very sticky situations. Things are only worse in the spin-off show, with vigilante groups changing the established game in Sons of Anarchy.
Mayans M.C. Shares Many Similarities With Sons of Anarchy
The Galindo cartel, which was first introduced in Sons of Anarchy, takes on a more prominent position associated with the club business for the Mayans. At the same time, EZ’s brother Angel is helping the leader of another group to strike a major blow against Galindo, a move that would be deemed as betraying his own brother and club. Similar to what happened to SAMCRO when Jax first climbs to the leadership position in Sons of Anarchy, the spin-off show kickstarts seeing a politically divided club in addition to the conflicts between Mexican cartels and those in between.
Even though Mayans M.C. tells a brand-new story, EZ is very similar to Jax as the show’s protagonist. His life is turned upside down by violence. Anger and his need for revenge only drive them deeper into the world of conflict. At the same time, EZ is confused and uncertain about where he belongs, which reminds viewers of an early Jax. On the other hand, Obispo “Bishop” Losa, the president of the club, is a lot like Clay. The show’s way of tackling themes of betrayal, family and loyalty also feels very familiar. Some of the Sons of Anarchy characters also end up playing a part in the storyline.
Happy Lowman shows up unexpectedly in Mayans M.C. while Katey Sagal’s Gemma Teller manages to come back in EZ’s flashback. Jax Teller also gets an honorary mention. In Season 2, the show even brings back most of the SAMCRO ensemble, now under the new leadership of Chibs, to discuss a deal with the Mayans. There are certainly more crossovers later in the show. After Kurt Sutter was fired from the show during Season 2, Elgin James helmed the ship and continued the stories in Mayans M.C. until its fifth and final season.
- Release Date
- September 8, 2008
- Cast
- Kim Coates , Charlie Hunnam , Theo Rossi , Mark Boone Junior , Maggie Siff , Katey Sagal , Tommy Flanagan , Ron Perlman
- Seasons
- 7
- Story By
- Kurt Sutter
- Writers
- Kurt Sutter , Chris Collins
- Number of Episodes
- Network
- FX
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu
- Franchise(s)
- Sons Of Anarchy
- Directors
- Kurt Sutter
- Showrunner
- Kurt Sutter
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