Mayans M.C. star on that shocking death: 'Everyone was crying'
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Warning: This story contains spoilers for Mayans M.C. season 5, episode 7, "To Fear of Death, I Eat the Stars."
The student has become the master assassin.
On tonight's episode of Mayans M.C., Luisa "Adelita" Espina (Carla Baratta) — former leader of the Los Olvidados rebel group and a lethal killer of bad men — met her own violent end. The true shock, though, is who was holding the knife: Adelita's surrogate daughter and protégeé, Mini (Melony Ochoa).
We last saw Mini in season 3, when Luisa appointed her as the new "Adelita" and leader of Los Olvidados. After that, Luisa tried desperately to leave her violent life behind by reuniting with Angel Reyes (Clayton Cardenas) and raising their son, Maverick, as a family in Santo Padre. But she was forced to return to her bloody past when rogue U.S. Assistant Attorney Lincoln Potter (Ray McKinnon) forced her to go to work for the Lobos Nueva Generación Cartel and its ruthless leader, Soledad (Selene Luna).
In last week's episode, Soledad told Luisa she'd let her go back to her family for good — but only if she killed Mayans president EZ Reyes (JD Pardo), Angel's little brother. Backed into a corner, Luisa put her long-simmering plan in motion, stealing the cartel's money and hand-delivering it to Mini at Los Olvidados headquarters. Instead of being greeted as a hero with hugs and happiness, however, Luisa was met with the business end of Mini's blade, again and again and again.
Even for a show that specializes in brutal deaths, Luisa's demise was particularly heart-wrenching. EW spoke with Baratta about saying goodbye to her character of six years, why she had to film the death scene twice, and how Luisa's death will affect Angel moving forward.
FX Edward James Olmos, Maverick James, Clayton Cardenas, and Carla Baratta on 'Mayans M.C.'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you find out about Luisa's fate?
CARLA BARATTA: I knew she was going to die eventually. Elgin told me episode 6 or 7. They were trying to figure out storyline and the best way to do it. I didn't know how it was going to happen. They had a couple scenarios that they talked about. We had a table read for episode 7. It was the only table read in the last four seasons — after Covid, we didn't get to do table reads anymore. But Elgin wanted to do one for that episode. And I was like, "Okay, that's really thoughtful." And then I was reading [the script] at the table read with Melony Ochoa, who plays Minnie, by my side. And I was like, "Oh my God!" She was crying. It was pretty intense.
Even before she stabbed Luisa, it was a surprise to see Mini, who hasn't been around since season 3.
Yeah, it's been a while. I've known Melony since she was maybe 12, and now she's this beautiful young lady. And then she gets to kill Adelita. I'm like, "Who are you?"
When you realized in that moment at the table read that Luisa would die by Mini's hand, what was your first reaction?
I felt betrayed for Adelita. The moment that she decides not to kill EZ, she knows she's going to die. She knows her fate. She's like, "Okay, I'm on a mission, I'm going to leave [money] for my baby." She knew what was going to happen, but I'm sure that she thought she would be killed by Soledad or Miguel Galindo, or someone else. But I feel like she went [to Mini's compound] because it was a safe space and maybe they could protect her and take care of her. And it ended up being the opposite.
I feel like this season, it's about how consequences are a huge part of life. All the things that Adelita taught Mini are the ones that made Mini the person that she is right now. Luisa gave her the power of being Adelita and to decide the fate of all these people, including her. It's all about consequences and your past haunting you and making you aware of the decisions that you made. Now with Adelita, everything came back to her.
How did your costars react when they learned Luisa's fate at the table read?
Everyone was crying. Everyone was looking at me like, "Oh, I'm so sorry." And I'm like, "It's okay, it's not me, you know?" But it was heartbreaking. Vanessa Joy Smith, the DP, she told me that every time someone dies, the crew is like, "Oh yeah, it sucks." But then when they found out that Adelita was dying, they were like, "We're not going to work anymore! We're going to stop this production right now!" Everyone was so upset on that day, with their face down and not talking to each other. It was painful for everyone because everyone loved that character.
Luisa had a violent and tragic life, but she was on her way to moving past it. She had started to build a family with Angel and Maverick, but then Potter forced her to work for Soledad. Before you knew Luisa was going to die, was there any part of you that was hoping she would get a happy ending?
Of course, yes. Because I love her so much and she's been suffering for so long, but I feel like it wouldn't be real if she got the happy ending. She was just so broken, and I feel like she couldn't handle the duality of being a killer and then being a mom and a housewife. In real life, that wouldn't work. And if you want to connect with the audience, you have to be real and you have to make the hard choices. That's what's happening on season 5 — all the hard choices are being made in the last four episodes of the show. It's rough, and I would've wanted another ending for her, but it was not going to happen because it's not how life works.
Prashant Gupta/FX Carla Baratta as Luisa 'Adelita' Espina on 'Mayans M.C.'
As if the scene wasn't devastating enough, as Luisa is bleeding out, she whispers her last word: "Maverick." It's such a gut punch. How did you get to that place when you were filming the scene?
It was really hard. They were using fake blood, and it was supposed to be just one take because it's a mess to clean up all the blood. The first time that she did it, they connected like a little tube [on my wrist] for the blood to come out. And the guy that was pushing the blood, he was like full-blast [with the] blood. I was drowning in blood — it was a mess. So, we had to clean everything up, they had to do my hair again and change everything. So, the second time it was like dying all over again.
When we were about to do the scene, Elgin told me, "Remember your kids," because I have two kids. The moment that I was there, it just changed everything that was happening. After being a mom as an actor, it takes you to a different place because you have actually something that you'll die for. That's the feeling that I had through the last three seasons — and that feeling was with me when she died, and she was saying the name of her son.
What was it like to have Melony, this actress you've known since she was a child, pretend to stab you to death so brutally? That's got to be a little weird.
It was crazy. She's so sweet and shy and she doesn't talk much. They put a little pad on my stomach just in case she [hit me] hard, and she did! She was like, boom boom boom! And then she would hug me, like, "Sorry!" And then she would do it again. It's really interesting to see how a person can just transform and take the pain and the rage in her life and just let it out in those moments.
Adelita was Mini's protector, but she also brought her into this life of violence and pain. Do you think Mini has been waiting to get revenge on Adelita all this time?
Yeah, probably. The last time we see Minnie and Adelita, Adelita is like, "We have to go separate ways." For Mini, that was a betrayal, because she's like, "Now you're Adelita. Go." And she didn't have any contact with her anymore. I feel like she felt abandoned again. And all the things that she heard about Adelita working for Soledad and the cartel and taking the money from the farmers [was also a betrayal]. Adelita taught her really well about not putting your heart before the thing that you have to do for the cause. That's what that moment was about. She raised a monster. It's sad, but she got killed by the monster that she raised.
What kind of effect do you think Luisa's death will have on Angel?
I got all those scripts, but I didn't want to read any of them. I want to be surprised by what's going to happen. I just read the final scene. I was like, "I need to know how it's going to end — just the last scene." But I feel like in a way [Luisa's death] is the best thing that could have happened to Angel, to Maverick. Because I don't know if Adelita was going to be stable, you know? She was not in a good place even though she tried. She was still lying, she had a double life, she was killing. Last season she was crying, saying that she was a monster and that she was afraid that she would do something bad to Maverick. As a mom, I know what it takes to say something like that. So, I feel like in a way it was the best for them. And maybe the Reyes brothers can grow together.
After working on Mayans for six years, are you hoping to do more American TV in the future?
I just moved to Colombia. I'm from Venezuela, but I'm in Colombia right now just for a couple months to see what happens. I feel like we needed to have our family closer. It was just me and my husband and my kids [in California], and it was a long six years. I feel like we needed to be around Latinos and around our culture. I want to do some theater here while I get something that I really want to work on. I'm still auditioning for really cool stuff in the U.S. and for really amazing things here in Colombia. I'm excited to see what's next.
Mayans M.C. airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
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