I saw a comment somewhere in the Mayans MC-tag where a few users called Miguel a cry baby and I just ... it got me thinking because I don’t feel like he is one. So this is a bit of a rambly, incoherent text about my view of Miguel’s grieving process. Also, long one.
The risk of stereotyping
At the start of season 3 I thought that Elgin James just presented a stereotype, the rich businessman cheating on his little housewife. However, I think it goes deeper than that if you really stare it down, pick it apart. Miguel is an emotional human being, you can see it in the way he worries for his kidnapped son in season 1, in the way he worries about Emily slipping away from him in season 2. He was probably taught that crying is a weakness and men aren’t weak. They’re calm and collected, strong, resilient - and if someone wrongs you, you kill ‘em. He’s never learnt how to cope with sadness, loss, anger, or any other emotion that isn’t associated with positivity, that’s clear as day to me. He’s killing people left, right and center and has since season 1.
Coping mechanisms
I don’t think Miguel cheats ‘cause he loves Emily any less, or that’s she’s somehow done something to warrant cheating. No woman deserves to be cheated on. For Miguel, I think it’s a form of escapism, like how people that are depressed or riddled with anxiety sometimes turn to something that gives them comfort or release, something that takes their mind of it for just a second. And yeah, it’s not really a great comparison because it sounds like I’m condoning his behavior - and I’m not - but it’s the only one I got - and the outcome is the same. Escape. Forget.
I also think one of Miguel’s coping mechanisms is distance, and I have a theory of it being related to anger and guilt. He feels guilty that he’s not broken down like Emily is and angry at his mother for leaving him like that and not reaching out to him - which makes him feel more guilty. Look at the way he distances himself from Emily. He comes home, barely says a word to her, demeans her, and then goes to have a shower and leaves again. He’s pushing her away. I know from my experiences, that sometimes when a person you love dies, you feel guilty after laughing, after feeling joy, love, comfort, whatever.
I also have another theory, and this might seem crazy. But because of the bond Miguel and his mother had, and I’ve touched on this in a different post - here - I think Miguel feels like he should have dibs on the grieving. I think there might be some jealousy there. He’s jealous that Emily’s grieving the way society tells us we should. Sometimes I think Miguel cheats because he can’t stand to see Emily be more broken down than him.
The grieving process
Grieving looks different for all of us. Some of us cry, some of us don’t. And sometimes it differs depending on how the person we’re grieving came to not be in our lives anymore. Dita’s death was traumatic to say the least. It wasn’t like she was just laying there, they’d burned her to a fucking crisp. It’s okay that it takes time. Emily’s somewhere between totally broken down - considering she’s on anti-anxiety medication to get the images of Dita’s body erased from her mind - and ready to get back to normal. She’s sick of the grieving. Probably because she’s gone through the process.
Miguel copes by escaping to another woman. He wallows in pain and simultaneously puts the grieving process on hold. Every time he feels sad he goes to Palomo, he pushes the feelings of sadness out of the way. He’s not even returning the medical examiner’s calls because he’s so afraid that his mother’s cause of death is what he believes - that she committed suicide.
Conclusion
Some questions have come up whilst writing this piece. Why are we seeing Miguel as a cry baby? I don’t think his cheating ways warrant us to say he’s a cry baby. You gotta see behind the actions to understand that grief is complex. There’s nothing okay with cheating, but for someone like Miguel who’s clearly never learnt to cope with emotions it’s a plausible coping mechanism. Second question, doesn’t it say alot about us when we see a man in this state and automatically want him to get over himself? The stigma around grief is around us all the time. When it comes to Miguel that stigma is, to say the least, loudly expressed. No one’s telling Filipe to get over himself, no one’s telling Bishop to do it either. Also, something else to ponder over - I’ve never seen anyone saying the same about women grieving, why is that?
So this is my interpretation (and my thoughts) of the scene between Emily and EZ in episode 10, season 3. It’s a lot of text but I had so much to say about it.
Beginning
So. Emily shows up at EZ’s trailer and she’s somewhere between scared and hyperventilating. I understand her going to EZ. If it is as Erin said and they lived in an abusive home, EZ was probably the only person she felt safe with outside that house when she was younger, so to me it’s not that weird that when Emily feels scared or unsafe she seeks out the person that was her safety net for so long. Yeah, you could argue that they’ve been over for a decade and that she should keep away from EZ, but when you don’t have anyone (Emily and her sister are clearly not on speaking terms), who else are you gonna go to? Also, EZ hasn’t actually told her to stay away, so how is she gonna know if he wants her out of his life or not?
Emily’s discovering of the bags says a lot about her and EZ as well. You can see on EZ’s face that he’s really not that comfortable when she sees the bags on the sofa/bed. Like he’s feeling a bit guilty maybe? Or perhaps he’s uneasy because there’s still past feelings there? And Emily, she realizes something in that moment too. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about her facial expression shifting. She understands something. What? I haven’t really figured that out yet.
The thing about leaving
She asks if he’s going with the girl, yeah, ‘cause she doesn’t actually know her name, and EZ doesn’t really say anything about her name either. It’s to me, weird that he lets a person so significant to him remain anonymous.
EZ explains to her that Angel knows that he’s leaving, and that he’s about to tell his dad and Emily asking if he was going to leave without saying goodbye to her, it isn’t a way for her to emotionally manipulate him but more about a realization within her. Emily used to be the center of EZ’s world and now she realizes how small of a part she has in EZ’s life. The fact that she’s so insignificant that he’s just going to leave without saying anything. And then she’s reminded of the fact that they, since he got out of prison, have had a rocky relationship. Their pasts trying to pull them towards each other and their presents trying to keep them apart.
Her sitting on the bed, among all those bags filled with EZ’s belongings, it’s like she’s now a small piece in EZ’s extensive memory bank, a piece that’ll become even smaller as time goes on and more memories gets stored in there. She’s trying to hold on to the time that she was a part of him, a time when she felt safe and happy, in love, by reminiscing about things they did back then. It’s like that break-up they never got is finally arriving and Emily, bravely, lets him go. EZ’s, I don’t know, maybe he’s not ready for this to come either.
EZ seeing her neck, that’s him portraying his old self, EZ the young boy wanting to destroy anyone that hurt her. Her saying, it was an accident, I overreacted, it flows from her like water. It’s what she always used to say, maybe to calm him then, just as her words are now.
Symbolism
Emily remembers the tarot cards, and I think it symbolizes a lot in Emily’s life. She knew her path, graduate high school, go to college, go to law school, marry EZ, live happily ever after. That moment between them, it’s like they’re together grieving the future they never got. And the symbolism of the soldier, he was her soldier in a lot of ways back then and even after he got out, it was a trained pattern, an instinct in him. Keeping her from that toxic household, keeping her safe and loved, happy. The dying soldier, the death of their relationship. The death of the police officer. EZ going to prison. The death of their unborn baby.
She also mentions how her cards are blank. I think it means that she’s out of the game, she’s done, she’s letting him go and I also think it symbolizes her as a person now, after almost being killed. She’s a clean slate, an empty notebook, a new year, filled with new possibilities. She’s free now. Realizing that Miguel almost killed her, it set something free inside of her, a cage opened within her.
The end of the scene
That ending, EZ seeming almost sad, his jaw clenched. It’s like he’s shocked that it’s coming. Like he’s not really ready even though he’s been waiting for it since he got out. They never really got closure. She never went back to that prison after their argument, they never really had that break-up after he got out. Her kissing him, it’s not to try and win him back, it’s to say goodbye, and she does. It’s heartbreaking and beautiful. And it’s so brave of Emily, who’s never really been ready to let go of him, who’s always had a protector, to say that she’ll be fine now. On her own. She can take care of herself, she’s not a little girl anymore, she doesn’t need him. So she’s letting him go.
Emily staying or going?
I really like Sarah Bolger as an actress so I want her to stay for that reason and I think this scene shows that something’s shifted inside Emily. Being with her sister, almost dying, it took her back to her roots somehow. I really liked who she was with Erin. Laughing, being carefree. I want to see Emily finally find herself, divorce Miguel and get sole custody of Cristobal. Because she seems like a really good mom and Miguel’s rarely with his son anyway. Maybe she can start a business (she has the skills), and maybe not get married, just live with her sister and son. How she’s supposed to fit into the show, I haven’t figured out in my thoughts yet, but I think she has potential.
I want to explore more of her past, her childhood mostly. If her dad’s this really shitty person, maybe they could bring him in. Maybe he’s a shady business man that EZ encounters when he’s trying to do business with the club and that somehow involves her. I don’t know.
Emily was a great character that got a really shitty re-writing in season 2. She never got a lot of scenes in season 3, except sporadic scenes here and there that, to many, made little to no sense. I think the show runners and the writers thought that they needed to make Emily more ruthless to make her fit in, but I think that was a wrong move and I want her to get to be who she was meant to be before they finish her off. Also, because Sarah Bolger was in the main cast and because of the criticism her character’s gotten, I think she deserves to go out on a high.
This post is long - REALLY LONG. I’ve tried to reduce it and separate it - but it’s not really working. So here goes. It’s centered around Emily and Miguel and the power imbalance between them and the abusiveness that he displays. I hope it’s somewhat interesting and not to hard to follow - if you read it in full that is.
The initial power imbalance
There are several aspects in Miguel’s and Emily’s relationship that creates a power imbalance between them. First, and probably the one that relates to every other imbalance in their relationship, is the fact that she’s a woman. That doesn’t really need any further explaining. Women are generally seen as the weaker sex and there’s a long since decided role for women that still has deep roots in our society and in Emily’s life it’s very prominent. Dita displays dislike about Emily involving herself in the search for her child for instance. Devante uses a tone that reeks of aw, little girl and Miguel is somewhere in between wanting to be the sole provider and wanting her help.
One more obvious thing is the clear age difference between Miguel and Emily. It’s kinda like a spinn on the stereotypical old husband, young wife trope - except that Miguel, even though he’s no spring chicken, is still relatively young and very attractive. Kurt Sutter and Elgin James are so subtle in the way they decide use a stereotype without stereotyping that if you don’t look closely, you miss it.
I think they met when Emily was in her final years of college or in law school and Miguel was in the start of his business career - the legal business that is. I have this idea in my head that Miguel tried really hard to impress her and she just rolled her eyes at him. Emily’s smart and strong, opinionated and a fighter, we’ve seen that in season 1 when Emily’s delivered info to Miguel about LO, called Devante out on his misogynistic shit and when she didn’t let herself get intimidated by Potter. She also found the info about the murder of EZ’s mother and called out Miguel’s hypocrisy in season 2.
At the same time there’s an insecurity within Emily. She’s probably been told several times by her parents that she’s not good enough. When Emily meets Miguel the break-up from EZ is probably still lingering, even if it was awhile ago they ended in a way that never really gave them closure - she didn’t just loose her first love, she lost someone that was a security to her. On top of that she’d lost her baby (yes I say lost because I don’t think she’d have aborted it had the circumstances been different). This probably made Emily more susceptible to Miguel’s charm.
That insecurity is very apparent in season 2 when Miguel starts spending more time with Adelita. He used to worship the ground she walked on, she was his “touchstone” and all of a sudden his work is all about taking Potter down with the help of Adelita and Emily ends up being in the background. There’s a desperation in her actions in that season. She enters territories she’d never actually enter otherwise. She’s so desperate for the Agra Park thing to work because she never chose the cartel, she chose Miguel.
There’s also a duality with Emily in season 2 - The cartel is, up until the kidnapping of Cristobal, in the background of Emily’s life. She didn’t see, she didn’t hear. I think she stayed with Miguel in the hopes that he’d liquidate the cartel and go one hundred percent legit but now, he’s rising - he’s making more money and Emily’s spurring him on. Maybe because she wants to be more involved with him, close to him, move Adelita out of the way. She wants to feel needed. It’s a weird dynamic between them, like the abused wife that wants to please her man or something.
Never in control
Miguel might’ve initially been a person she found to be what EZ once was - a safe harbor, a home, a lifeline. Not necessarily financial, more emotional. Emily sees Miguels way of treating her with loving words and gifts as affection, maybe she knows that there’s something else under the beautiful exterior, maybe she doesn’t. As Erin said, they choose men that are darkness personified, hinting that they seek it out, it comes naturally - almost as a way to punish themselves for not being good enough. Miguel’s affectionate behavior bleeds into darkness, or maybe his affectionate behavior is actually something sinister altogether - like he feeds on women wanting him, needing him, he uses it to get to them.
In the midst of her vulnerability Miguel displays behaviors of wanting for her to belong to him and no one else, and that’s dangerous and toxic. She doesn’t realize that behavior as problematic until season 2 - even though it starts in season 1 when he propagates to EZ that he need to leave Emily alone - because it complicates things.
Emily’s very isolated. She has no friends, she’s got no one that’s just hers. Except for EZ when he gets out of prison, and even so, they’re not really friends either. They’re more in limbo than anything. And even though they’ve got a past - she’s got the right to spend time with whoever she wants. Or should have the right. Loyalty to a man does not derive from how few men you’re in contact with as a woman. Emily doesn’t need to go back to her man, or only stay by his side. She’s not Miguel’s property. She’s allowed to have relationships with other men - as long as she’s not actually cheating - and even if she wanted to - she’s could, it doesn’t warrant abuse of any kind.
His want for her to be a housewife - or work close by, offering her a job in his company - is toxic. Why? Well, she’s constantly under his watch, she’s doesn’t have the opportunity to make new acquaintances and friendships without those people having relations to Miguel. If Miguel were to demand information about what a person has spoken to his wife about - they’d tell him - in fear of loosing their job, or their life. Now, had Miguel not displayed other types of weird and controlling behaviors it probably wouldn’t have crossed my mind that she worked for him. It would’ve been fine.
Him having her ride with a platoon and not be left alone is, yeah, you guessed it: TOXIC. Freedom is not something that she has. You might think that Emily, just because she lives in an ocean of money and opportunity that she’s somehow free. She’s not. She has no privacy. And yeah, you could argue that Miguel’s cartel work is dangerous and therefore she needs to be protected - but at what cost? She’s constantly under the watchful eye of Miguel’s lackeys - which becomes more apparent in season 2 when Nestor’s following her every move without her knowing. They work for him - they abide to him. She doesn’t have the ability to do what ever she wants - and when she does, he abuses her, as seen in S01E05. As I said in a post that’s been deleted now: Miguel is, most of the time, abusive without actually doing it himself. He uses his staff to control her.
We’ve never actually seen Miguel give Emily any presents, probably because it’d be very stereotypical of him and Sutter and James want to avoid stereotypes. But I think he’d do something like that, considering his expensive taste in suits, cars and other things - I think he likes showing of how rich he is.
Miguel comes of as one of those people who’d use presents to stifle someone. The wife’s mad? Get her a meaningless expensive present to shut her up and simultaneously tell her you care for her without actually asking how she’s feeling. She thinks you don’t love her? Diamonds, get her some diamonds. Diamond equals love. Him throwing all kinds of materialistic shit at her is toxic and it doesn’t matter how much he loves her because his behavior ends up being manipulative and controlling every single time.
The comment you should be grateful feels like something that’d come out of his mouth to (and probably from people on the outside looking in). Not that many women get to live a life in luxury, he’d probably say. Like she should be grateful for something she never really asked for.
Conclusion
This became a long post - probably longer than all my posts so far - combined. There are so many red flags with Miguel and Emily - some of them so subtle you hardly notice them. In the first episode I thought they’d go the whole sugar daddy route which might seem cool and fun in theory. But it’s in fact a very common way for young women to enter prostitution so I’m glad they didn’t go that way with it and display it like it’s no big deal - it’s all fun, look at all the pretty things I get for being a companion.
Miguel’s abusive behavior is subtle at times and yeah, he loves her and she love him, but it doesn’t matter when the relationship is so unhealthy. Writing this piece has given me a new perspective of the two as well. Emily’s desperate to not loose Miguel - why? Most likely because she’d be on her own otherwise and she’s not really ready for that and Miguel’s behavior is probably something he’s picked up from his childhood and I’m not sure he’s always aware of it. Miguel very insecure. Let’s be honest, no man comfortable within himself would ever restrain a woman’s social circle, career or freedom to roam.
I just really wanted to dive into Steve’s suicide and what I liked and disliked about his character and storyline on the show. And as most of you know by now, it’s gonna be a long one so if you don’t feel like reading all of it, I get it.
First of all
It was really hard to watch, I gotta say and there was mainly one thing about Steve’s demise that I did not like, which I’ve stated in a short note on my previous blog. I wanna explain my feelings of that scene on a deeper level. And maybe also Steve as a person.
Steve as a prospect seemed off to me from the get go. He didn’t have a record, no knowledge of guns, or violence for that matter. He was clumsy and somewhat awkward. I concluded that maybe he nagged his way into prospecting for the club. I mean, I don’t think there’s a shortage of criminals wanting to establish themselves in organized crime and, also because I think there’s a certain level of status that Motorcycle Clubs hold within that crime-genre, so choosing Steve over someone more qualified (like it’s a job interview - God, I think I need to put the wine down now) is strange to say the least.
He seems to have had a relation to Hank way before Hank became his sponsor. Maybe he was Hank’s neighbor, or maybe his mother’s. I don’t know. But they knew each other somehow.
Prospecting
This time Elgin did what I think prospecting for a club might be like, there were constant yelling at Steve about his uselessness, What the fuck, Steve? - which I know seems funny, but it’s not - it’s toxic. Every time the members say something to degrade Steve, they take a piece of him, a piece of his soul. It’s like domestic, psychological violence. The difference is, Steve’s not the female, the wife, and the members aren’t the husband. But nonetheless, it’s got the same effect. It may seem funny to some, when they’re throwing that comment at Steve, but I never really got it. The little comments here and there that breaks a person down little by little, it’s heartbreaking.
Steve was, before he entered the club, a very vulnerable young man with very low self worth and low self esteem, if any. He wanted to belong somewhere, and he thought that the club was what was going to take him to the heights within himself that he wanted to reach. With the club the confidence would automatically come. Like you could drink it out of a bottle. He’d be somebody. Almost like when the nerd gets the makeover and all of a sudden he’s got all the girls wanting him.
Macho culture
I think Steve was oblivious to the fact that killing a person, it destroys something within you, it leaves a mark. In Steve, it’s the not being able to sleep, constantly thinking of that persons family that eventually destroys him. There’s probably stress and feelings of shame and fear there that won’t give up and all of a sudden there’s no other options left. Because boys don’t cry.
I think Elgin James did a good job showcasing the impact that killing a person has on someone, because we talk way too little about it. How PTSD occurs and how it manifests. Mostly it’s referred to as something that appears in soldiers. We never talk of the victims of bullying, the people that are victims of gun violence or domestic abuse. We never talk about the police officers, the firefighters, the paramedics, or anyone that experiences something traumatic. We never see these individuals as people that are being exposed to the possibility of experiencing PTSD.
Steve being ignored, no one seeing his clearly distressed persona, the fact that he got more cheers than people trying to reach out and letting him talk about what he experienced, that says a lot about our society and about macho culture. EZ trying to instill his own coping mechanisms into Steve, that says a lot about what’s been instilled in EZ and also society’s view of men as these walking raincoats where "sad feelings” just rolls right of them and down into a puddle on the floor. Again, boys don’t cry.
The suicide
What I didn’t like about Steve’s fate was the fact that he committed suicide in the presence of the club members. It seemed to be just for shock value, and to drive EZ’s plot forward. Also, I don’t think many suicides occur like that. It kinda felt like they wanted to do a version of Pyle’s suicide in Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrik, 1987) but failed because it’s unrealistic to the audience.
I think it would’ve been more impactful had Steve got to have his moment, so to speak, more impactful if he had committed suicide in the comfort of his own home. A dark and lonely bedroom would, to me at least, have a deeper impact because that’s where they often take place. It would’ve shown Steve’s inner and also outer loneliness. Because even if he was becoming a member of the club, he really didn’t have many friends and they never really saw him as a “brother”.
Also, as I’ve already mentioned, it really rubbed me the wrong way when they used his suicide to move someone else’s plot forward. EZ could’ve still been impacted greatly by Steve’s suicide. It didn’t have to end like that. The fact that EZ needed to witness a suicide to choose Gaby, that’s for another conversation. All I wanna say is: it takes away from the severity of Steve’s actions. It puts the focus on EZ, not Steve’s pain. It’s almost on the edge of romanticizing suicide.
Conclusion
I thought Momo Rodriguez portrayal of Steve’s inner commotion was really moving, he nailed that performance, and it probably would have had the same impact, had it occurred somewhere else. Using suicide like this, to move a character forward, it’s not the way to go. Maybe it has to do with my own relations to suicide that impacts my view of it, I don’t know. It just doesn’t sit right.
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Disclaimer: When commenting on this post, please refrain from using the term “killed himself/yourself”. Mental illness affects many and suicidality is one of many side effects. Referring to a persons suicide as them “killing themselves” takes away from the severity of the illness. Suicide is never a choice, killing yourself is.
Miguel trying to drown his wife doesn’t seem that weird to me. Up until the point where Dita lied to him about his brother he had her on a bit of a pedestal. Probably because Dita had gone through a lot with Miguel. They had a deep bond. His dad was abusive and probably always gone on business. So Miguel only had Dita. And after she got injured in the fire he was obviously very scared that she’d die. He was constantly concerned for her to the point where she wasn’t allowed to be left alone. From my point of view he saw her as someone who wasn’t really capable of making her own decision, almost like he thought of her as an innocent, helpless child.
So, finding out that someone murdered her must’ve come as a shock. He was already grieving and displaying erratical, irrational behavior. He killed both his mother’s therapist and Paco, from whom Dita stole the car. So when Maria told him about his wife and EZ he didn’t really have any reason to doubt her because she appeared to be the only one telling the truth. The therapist referred to patient confidentiality (even though Dita never actually went to see her) and Pacos explanation probably never really said anything about his mother’s state of mind during the day of her death. He felt frustrated, and here comes this kind woman who’s always been loyal to his family, taken care of his little baby boy and tells him a story where he interprets it as his mother being murdered because she found out that Emily had an affair with EZ. It’s plausible.
So, not only is Miguel hurt by the fact that she apparently cheated on him but that she murdered his mom. Then factor in his behavior as of late and the idea of murdering Emily doesn’t seem that weird.
Why he doesn’t however is probably because he’s not a psycho and also, he loves her. Remember that episode with him and Nestor on the stairs where he talks about feeling like he’s losing her? He’s scared of losing her. Also, she’s the mother of his child. Without her he only has his son, no one else. Loneliness can be a scary feeling.
This is an old post that’s been posted on my old blog.
Written somewhere before the start of S03.
So, first out in my analysis of Mayans M.C. (I guess it includes seasons one, two, and three) is Taza.
Obviously Taza killed Riz ‘cause he wanted to start a war with the Vatos Malditos, he wanted to eradicate them. But I also think that he mostly wanted revenge on, not the M.C. as a whole, but on one person and one person alone, Palo.
I have this theory, and feel free to disagree with me as much as you want, or agree. I think that Taza was in a relationship with Palo’s brother. And not just a sexual one, I mean like a I-love-you-forever-one. And that’s why Palo killed his own brother. Well, either because he’s a homophobe or ‘cause Taza wanted to leave the M.C. and, everyone knows, you don’t leave an M.C. without consequences. So Palo, to make sure that Taza knew that leaving meant sacrifices, killed his own baby brother. Palo took enjoyment in killing him just because he knew it was the one person that Taza loved the most. Palo took away his future. Maybe that’s why he wanted to leave the V.M., to go legit and live a tranquil life with the love of his life? So Palo took it away. Maybe that’s also why he ended up as a member of the Mayans, he had nothing else going for him anymore so he might as well go back to a life of crime. You with me?
I also have a few theories of why Taza feels they should try and find Palo and finish him off. He knows what Palo is capable of, obviously, but also, if Palo stays alive, killing Riz was for nothing and the idea of that is eating Taza alive. And also the idea that he’ll never get to avenge Palo’s baby brother, someone he loved very deeply, is also eating away at him.
I kinda hope no one finds out he killed Riz, but the examination of the body would probably tell something different. And I imagine that the machines have some sort of log that’ll tell about it being tampered with (cuz Taza did tamper with it didn’t he?). Maybe the guilt of killing Riz makes Taza seal his own fate by confessing?
This is an old post that’s been posted from my old blog.
Written after S03E10.
So. The season finale. It wasn’t good. Sorry. It wasn’t. It was so messy I had trouble following along. It had the messiness of season one, if you know what I mean. To many things happened and nothing really got resolved. Accept for maybe the Palo-problem. And Isaac dying. Maybe. God, I’m so confused. I wrote down my thoughts below.
Gaby & EZ (& a bit of Filipe)
Eh. Where to start? I’m glad Gaby left ‘cause she’s clearly not accepting of EZ being in that lifestyle and her going against her values would’ve been, I don’t know, contradicting? Shows and movies like these also have a bit of a tendency to go the route of killing the woman associated with the male lead to drive his plot forward, and honestly I’m kinda sick of female characters having to endure violence to move a male characters plot forward. So I’m glad Elgin went another route with Gaby’s and EZ’s storyline.
Filipe really told her some home truths, which she needed. I liked that. I think she needed to understand the severity of EZ’s inner self. What I am still curious about and have alot of thoughts about is the fact that EZ gave up pretty easily. He could’ve gone to Lodi if he wanted to. He’s an adult, he doesn’t need daddy’s permission. In the end he chose the club over her. Strange.
I wonder what this will do to EZ’s and Filipe’s relationship? Maybe create some tension, but I have this idea that EZ will accept that he is who he is and forgive his dad. He never stays mad at him for long.
Taza, Laura & Palo
Thank God Laura killed Palo (even though he was a great villain). She might actually be the only female character that I really enjoyed this season. And Erin maybe. Laura had great scenes, great character development. She was awesome. I hope she comes back.
Adelita, Linares & Potter
I don’t even know what to say. I think Adelita going after Potter is good ‘cause he’s the antichrist and he needs to die. There’s also that twist of, is the baby dead or is it alive that’s really interesting but also really, I don’t know, redundant? Like, just finish this already, you know?
Adelita was really given some purpose in this episode though, which I’ve felt has been lacking throughout the season. Wondering, why would Linares lie to her about the baby being dead? Unless it’s her having the baby in her custody?
Angel & Nails
Honestly, is she so blind that she can’t tell how bored he seems during sex? I’m judging her, I really am, which I shouldn’t because it’s awful. God, this is going to end so bad for her. And Angel, he’s a disgusting man-child. It’s not cute or quirky using women like that, he’s irresponsible and pathetic. Grow up, Angel! Just grow the fuck up!
Emily
Oh wow, that was a wild ride (ep. 9 and 10). Now, there are things that Emily’s done that I haven’t been a fan of. The writers really did that character dirty when they did that total personality change in season 2, but this.
This.
It was a really good episode for Emily’s character in my opinion. I thought they got some things out in the open, I got to see parts of nice Emily which was really needed, and it also gave an idea of Emily and EZ as high schoolers which really gave them both a bit more background story. I’ll write a post about my interpretation of their scene in a separate post. I can’t fit everything I want to say in here.
Miguel
Delusional. Hopelessly in love with his wife. Crazy. Absolutely crazy. Did he really think she was going to go with him after what he did? He’s also really bad at being a criminal, honestly. Probably because he’s never grown up in the cartel but was raised in America and went to Cornell.
Also, when is the paternity gonna be revealed? When Dita revealed it to Filipe it was like a soap opera episode and I want them to do something with it.
Bishop
I can understand his anger, honestly. I don’t think he’s a homophobe. I think Taza’s confession of killing Riz spurred Bishop to the use of homophobic slurs. He killed a brother after all. That gotta stir some anger. But apart from that there’s something about Bishop’s brooding and thirst for power that’s making me not like him as a character anymore. Get over yourself. He was so much better as a character in season 1 and 2.
Gilly, Coco, Hope & Letty
I skipped most of this ‘cause it’s so boring. Snooze fest 2.0. The only thing I liked was Gilly’s comment about Isaac. If Hope and Coco get clean it could be good, or toxic and co-dependent. We’ll see how it goes. Letty’s scene was so short, I don’t really have much to say.
Wishes for season 4
Miguel & the Reyes family - paternity reveal - it’s been foreshadowed this entire season, yet nothing’s happened. Do it or don’t, but if you’re not going to reveal who his dad is, stop with the foreshadowing. A new love interest for EZ ‘cause Gaby nor Emily is working for me. I want someone who’s a mix of the two women. More like Laura, I like Laura.
Gaby
I don’t know. Bringing her back and dating EZ again would be like if the writers put all of her values and ideologies and just created a huge dumpster fire. Not totally unlike Emily’s very much disliked personality change of season 2. It would totally defeat the purpose of her persona. And isn’t it why she’s so well liked by many? That she has values, stands up for them and refuses to back down?
She’s not cut out for the criminal lifestyle, because she doesn’t want to be in it. That toxic environment would probably not change her for the better. Unless the writers do a total 360 and make her okay with it? I don’t think the writers should have her go against her own ideals and sacrifice her own well-being for a man, no matter how much she loves him.
I think she should stay in Lodi and get her nursing degree, find a nice wholesome man who hasn’t shanked, strangled, shot or blown anyone up and get married. Maybe have some babies. Maybe they could find another cool chick that’s more accepting of his current lifestyle. Because, let’s face it, the club means alot to him.
Emily
I don’t know. I want Erin and Emily to stay but Emily’s gotta change though. Go back to OG Emily who was a really great female character. I want to explore more of her childhood and the relationship with her parents more. How she fits in with the show, well, Miguel’s not gonna just divorce her. I bet you she’s sitting with a ton of information about his illegal dealings after she immersed herself into his work after Cristobal got kidnapped. It could be really interesting.
Potter
Maybe he catches on fire, maybe he gets called back to the mothership, maybe his hard drive shuts down. Or his battery could run out. I don’t care, just get rid of him.
Indifferent
Coco and Hope. Honestly, they could just disappear into the sunset and I wouldn’t notice. If you’re gonna shed characters so to make the storytelling more compact, Coco and Hope could go. I wouldn’t mind. Also, Bishop. As he is now, I think he could go to.
Angel, Adelita, Nails, Hank + Taza, Laura & Creeper
Angel gets an STD because he needs to learn about sexual health and it’s consequences, and when Nails finds out she was his back-up plan she kicks him in the balls. And Hank marries Nails and they raise the baby together. Angel honestly, I don’t really know what your purpose is on the show anymore. Adelita gets her baby back and moves somewhere peaceful and quiet.
I also want more backstory on Hank and Creeper. Also, storylines involving them front and center. Now they’re mostly in the background. Taza doesn’t die and Laura stays, that’s all I want. He’s growing on me and I want to know more about him.
This is an old post that’s been posted from my old blog.
Written after S03E08.
Quick question: Am I the only one that didn’t find last episode’s (S03E08) sex scene between Miguel and Emily (and the one in S01E05 also to be honest) sexy at all? Just uncomfortable, scary and problematic?
He’s sexually assaulting her! And the writers (or producers even?) do what they did in S01 and portrayed it as sexy and passionate. In this episode it’s only from Emily’s POV that it’s sexy, she obviously has no idea that Miguel knows about her involvement in the death of his mother, but still! Where’s the consent?
It’s shit like this that needs to be talked about more. The importance of a person actually expressing, preferably with words, that they’re liking it! ‘Cause for a moment you can see Emily feeling uncomfortable and hesitant, not knowing what’s happening. That’s when he should’ve stopped, or you know, asked in advance before putting his fucking hands on her.
I think it would’ve been better if Emily had disliked what he did, tried to get him of off her, they could’ve struggled, she could’ve stormed of. Put more distance between them. Build up tension for the finale, you know? That would’ve adressed the importance and somewhat tricky thing about consent and also showcased what we already know, that the majority of sexual assaults occur in the home.
Also, Miguel has already part-taken in domestic violence behavior throughout the seasons, so this would’ve been on par with how he behaves. It could be showcased as a red flag for domestic violence.
