A great villain is a necessity on a show like “Mayans M.C.” This is a series where the lines between bad and good are constantly blurred, and you are just rooting for what might be the lesser of two evils. Thankfully, actor JR Bourne plays an incredibly hateable villain with his portrayal of Isaac, the rogue leader of the Sons of Anarchy in the fifth and final season of ‘Mayans.’ And in this episode of Templo Talk: A Mayans M.C. Podcast, we discuss the first two episodes of Season 5 as well as have an interview with Bourne where we dig deep into the psychology of his villainous character.
Season 5 of “Mayans M.C.” picks up a little bit after Season 4, with E.Z. Reyes (J.D. Pardo) leading the Mayans in a war they are undoubtedly losing. Lives are lost, there’s no money to keep paying for this war, and morale is at an all-time low. So, really, we’re watching our hero, E.Z., just trying to keep everything together, scrambling around to figure out what he needs to do to win this war with the Sons of Anarchy. On the other side, as mentioned, we have Isaac (Bourne), who is reveling in his victories and terrorizing the Mayans with his strange, terrifying actions.
In discussion with Bourne about Season 5 and Isaac, in particular, he talked about how ‘Mayans’ is really a series about the consequences of violence and learning to care about characters who do horrific things but actually have a home life with families. But that’s what makes Isaac so special is that he’s got all that violence and trauma but doesn’t have the family, which makes him a bit of a monster.
“It is the consequences of violence. It is looking behind the curtain at these people, at the guys we’ve been following for years, and seeing what happens when they go home at night,” explained Bourne. “Isaac doesn’t have that. Do you know what I mean? There are versions of that for him, but talk about trauma and generational trauma. Isaac is packed full of that.”
“He’s just a guy that is a walking, festering open wound of trauma,” he added. “I’m just going to play in that sandbox.”
Bourne also talked about how he’s excited for what’s to come in Season 5 and is fully expecting fans to hate him and his character.
“Mayans M.C.” airs new episodes each Wednesday on FX, which then make it to Hulu the following day. You can hear the full discussion below:
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