Kurt Sutter made headlines this fall when he was fired at FX, despite Sons of Anarchy and now Mayans M.C. becoming huge hits for the network. His explanation of what happened suggests that he believes he knows what led to his firing, and now he has come out with an even more shocking claim than that it was a joke that got him booted from the network. Sutter says the ending of Mayans M.C. Season 2 was changed after he no longer had any say. Take a look:
If Kurt Sutter's statement via tweet is the whole story, then the original cut of the Mayans M.C. Season 2 finale (which he evidently approved of) must have been dark indeed. The finished product as aired on FX didn't exactly end on what anybody would likely call a family-friendly note. Sutter didn't go into detail about what he suggests was changed from his original vision and the final cut, but he's clearly not happy about what hit the airwaves.
Considering some of Kurt Sutter's comments about FX since the deal that brought it under the Disney umbrella (including the joke about Walt Disney that he believes got him fired), it's not surprising to learn that he still has issues with the changes to the way he felt the network operated.
The mention of a "WGA violation" could be a sign that he doesn't intend to let alleged changes slide without doing more than posting a shocking tweet. Then again, Kurt Sutter may have just been attempting to impress on his followers just how serious he considers this move by those who would have signed off on the episode as it aired.
It should be interesting to see if FX has any response to Kurt Sutter's claim that the episode as aired was "dumbed" down and "safe." The statement via tweet comes more than a week after the Season 2 finale aired to follow up on the big death in the second-to-last episode of Season 2. There was a lot of violence due to that death in the penultimate episode, as well as another death that was teased without showing the identity of the person who went down.
Whatever does or doesn't happen as a result of Kurt Sutter's tweet, the future of Mayans M.C. shouldn't be affected. The show was renewed for Season 3 before the Season 2 finale even aired. The second season proved that the excellent ratings for Season 1 weren't a fluke, and Mayans M.C. clearly has what it takes to hold on to an audience from year to year, even with the long hiatus between seasons.
Mayans M.C. returns to FX for its first Kurt Sutter-free season in fall 2020. Some further changes are in store on the FX front due to the deal with Disney, as FX's shows will stream exclusively on the Disney-owned Hulu in the future.
