TV Series:  Mayans M.C.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Creators: Elgin James, Kurt Sutter, 

Showrunner: Elgin James

CAST: JD Pardo, Clayton Cardenas, Sarah Bolger, Michael Irby, Carla Baretta, Raul Max Trujillo. Edward James Olmos

REVIEW

Get ready for the return of cool tunes, cooler bikes, and the coolest group of motorcycle dudes on TV, because FX has renewed Mayans M.C. for a 5th season.

Watching the Mayans M.C. roar down the highway on their Harleys sounding like approaching heavy metal thunder while gripping those butterfly handlebars, they look like a flock of bad-intentioned raptors searching for some prey to pounce on.

During the Dark Ages feudal lords had small armies of knights who protected the feudal lord from his rivals, helped collect taxes and tributes and controlled the peasants who lived on the lord’s land. Mayans M.C.is a modern hipper retelling of that medieval European reality. But now rather than European knights in shining armor on mighty steeds, we have leather-clad, tattooed Latinos on powerful chrome and steel “hogs”.

For four seasons, the Mayans M.C. have dealt with the usual drug cartel mayhem: battles with rival gangs over territory and distribution routes, protection and distribution of the Galindo heroin and cocaine, revenge killings, kidnapping, extortion and assassination, family secrets, and the audience can’t get enough of this.

Season 4 ended with EZ Reyes (JD Pardo) taking the reins of the club as the President of the Mayans after Marcus (Emilio Rivera) is ousted. All of this is cause for Angel’s (Clayton Cardenas) concern for his brother. Meanwhile, Galindo (Danny Pino) is revealed as “familia’ to the Reyes’ by the patriarch Felipe (Edward James Olmos).

Despite the fact that the Mayans are a motorcycle gang of arch criminals, you find yourself rooting for these “bad boys” because they do everything with kickass Latino gusto style and flair to a great soundtrack.  Bring on Season 5!

Producers: Elgin James, Kurt Sutter, Sean Trotta

Production Company: FX Productions

Distributor: FX Network

Available: FX, Hulu

Rating:

TV Series  Now and  Then

Genre: Crime, Drama. Mystery

Creators:  Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, Teresa Fernández+Valdés

Showrunners:  Ramón Campos, Teresa Fernández-V aldés

CAST: Mateo Guerrero, Naruba de Tavira, Maribel Verdú, Jose María Yazpik, Manolo Cardona, Soledad Villamil, Zeljko Ivanek, Rosie Perez

REVIEW

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive” —William Shakespeare. 

It’s an accepted historical fact that Richard Nixon didn’t have to resign his presidency because of the break-in at the Watergate hotel. He had to resign because of his subsequent cover-up and lies surrounding the third-rate burglary of the Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel by his “Plumbers.”

Now and Then is the multi-level story of five well-to-do individuals in Miami who have been covering up the mysterious death of one of their friends twenty years prior at a college graduation beach party. During the ensuing twenty years, these five people have formed a secretive cover-up bond that holds them together like connective tissue. The threads of their tangled web now weave through each other’s lives and affect them personally, politically, financially and emotionally.

Making matters more complicated now is Detective Sergeant Flora Neruda (Rosie Perez) who back twenty years ago was just a rookie cop on the initial investigation. But now she is back investigating the case and driven by a personal agenda  not to let “those rich kids get away with it again.”

Now and Then features a brilliant cast of actors from various Spanish-speaking countries. As a result, you will hear the distinctive accents from Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Argentina and Brooklyn. The creators and writers of this eight-part mini-TV series envision it will have global appeal. Now and then has all the ingredients for global appeal; an international cast, an intriguing mystery, complicated characters, and a plucky little latter-day Inspector Hercule Poirot-like detective sergeant in Perez bound and determined to figure out whodunit. 

Producers: Andres Barahona, Victor Fandiño, Luís Malet

Production Company: AppleTV+

Distributor: AppleTV+ 

Available:  AppleTV+

Rating:

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