Warning, spoilers ahead! Mayans MC, the Sons of Anarchy spin-off TV series, has ended its fourth season with a bang and a familiar face. Tig Trager, played by Kim Coates, has long been one of the biggest fan favourite Sons of Anarchy characters, and now he has finally crossed over into the world of the Mayans MC for another run on our small screens.
Without giving too much of the season’s finale away, Tig made his appearance and was pretty annoyed at “the demon we all thought was dead out in the desert.” Of course, by the “demon”, he is referring to Isaac (JR Bourne), leader of Meth Mountain – who in season 3 was revealed to have a Sons of Anarchy reaper tattoo. But besides the whole Isaac drama, the addition of Coates served as a welcome trip down memory lane for long-time fans of the show.
As Mayans MC season 4 has been primarily dealing with the war between the Sons and Mayans, it is understandable that Tig and Emilio Rivera’s Marcus Alvarez, who have a well of history and mutual respect for one another, would get together at some point. In the final episode, we saw the two have a heartfelt meeting to discuss the past, how they had grown, and their regrets.
Tigs’ return has also been a long time coming. In an interview with Deadline, Mayans MC co-creator Elgin James shared how he had always planned to bring Coates back into the dramatic fold.
“It was something I wanted to happen since the pilot. It was me and Kurt, and we had a list of people—most are dead—that we wanted to come back,” James explained. “Ray McKinnon was always No. 1 for me. And Kim was up there on the list too. It was Kurt who told me we should slow down because we needed to build our own thing first.”
“So when we finally bring Kim in, we’ve earned it. It felt inevitable, like the war. I know it was tough for fans to wait those first two seasons because Kurt was building that bridge,” he continued. “To bring back Tig, we had to make sure it was the right time, and there was something for him and Alvarez to talk about.”
“I always saw that scene with them; this meeting of two warriors, old and scarred, after 11 seasons. That conversation they had is one I’ve had with Emilio where we talk about being old and still wanting to set shit on fire,” he stated. “You talk about all the damage you’ve caused and not wanting to cause any more. That’s why Tig says, ‘It’s not about you becoming an old man; it’s about you becoming a good man.'”
Check out our guide on Mayans MC season 5 for when the showw might return.