With the Season 3 premiere of Mayans MC on FX, which debuts March 16, the fallout from a major moment in the Season 2 finale is finally seeing the light of day. Thankfully, the biker drama isn't wasting any time dealing with what comes after the death of Dita (Ada Maris) at the hands of EZ (JD Pardo)--a death she requested as payback for her own misdeeds. No character is rocked by the loss as much as her own son, Miguel (Danny Pino).
Speaking to GameSpot, Pino revealed that the version of Miguel fans will meet in Season 3 has vastly changed in the wake of his mother's death. "Miguel is untethered in Season 3. Miguel is trying to find sanctuary, in a sense," the actor explained. "Because of the death by suicide of his mother, he feels a certain amount of responsibility for that, if not the total responsibility for that. But trying to, as most humans do, not feel the full impact of that responsibility, he projects that on the people around him, and what part they had in that in that ultimate act from his mother."
That projection leaves Miguel's world in shambles. "The fact that his marriage is torn apart, and that his consigliere Devante (Tony Plana) is no longer around, his lack of trust in Marcus Alvarez (Emilio Rivera) or Nestor (Gino Vento), it's really isolated him," Pino continued. "And that makes that character incredibly dangerous, not only to himself but to others. And we're [going to] see this rawness, this implosion of Miguel Galindo that, you know, looking back on Episode 1 of Season 1, you would never suspect a character that is that self-confident and that's self-assured and not under control to reach the depths of what he's encountering and Season 3."
It's not just Miguel feeling the weight of Dita's death, though. The act of killing her itself is going to rock the foundation of EZ's family to its core.
"The death of Dita becomes this catalyst for these characters to really explore life on their own, in a way," Pardo said. "EZ's always felt the protection of his father and his parents all through growing up as a child. And the death of Dita has such an effect on [his father] Felipe (Edward James Olmos), that it creates this feeling inside of him--a fear about who EZ really is. And so, their relationship is strained. EZ can't just go to Felipe for everything anymore because he recognizes that the energy has changed. Their relationship has changed."
That shift in dynamic is sure to be a dramatic one, given that the relationship between EZ and his father has been so central to the show. Who will EZ turn to now? One answer, obviously, is the club. He became a full-patch member of the Mayans in the Season 2 finale. However, there might be someone else for him to lean on this season.
"Now, EZ is latching on and he's on his pursuit in this idea of love, this very romantic fantasy version of love that he wants to have for himself, now that it seems like his history with Emily is exactly that: history," the actor said.
Pardo speaks, of course, of Gabriela (Sulem Calderon). The character first appeared in Season 2. Based on the trailers for Season 3, though, it looks like she'll be sticking around for a while. As EZ sinks deeper and deeper into the club, it could be the connection to Gabriela that keeps him from drowning. Then again, if you've seen Sons of Anarchy--or the prior seasons of Mayans MC, for that matter--it's hard to keep any of these characters from falling head-first into the devastation that the life of an outlaw biker brings with it.
Mayans returns March 16 on FX.
