WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Mayans M.C. Season 3, Episode 10, "Chapter the Last, Nothing More to Write," which aired Tuesday on FX.
While the finale for Mayans M.C. Season 3 did bring back one big Sons of Anarchy character, Chucky Marstein -- the fan-favorite accountant who first appeared in the biker show's first season -- was nowhere to be seen. Now, actor and artist Michael Ornstein, who plays Chucky, has explained to CBR just why he didn't return for Season 3.
According to the show, Chucky "fell in love and moved to Ohio," which actually reflects Ornstein's real life relocation to the state, specifically Cleveland. And while there were plans for Chucky to return, they fell through as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. "The time when I was supposed to go film was right around the Thanksgiving rush," Ornstein explained, "when it was just absolutely impossible for me to make that trip cross country."
Around the Thanksgiving holiday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged people to avoid traveling so as to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Those precautions and the potential risks associated with traveling at that time were a big part of the reason Ornstein didn't reprise his role. "I was just afraid that I would be in Santa Clarita and, like, never come back," he explained, "or have my wife get sick here. I have kids and everything, so it just didn't work. And we tried to make it work, but it was just a logistical thing and timing and risk. It was too much to be traveling cross country to go do that. And I was in touch with [Mayans M.C. co-creator Elgin James] and we were trying to work it through and all that stuff."
The decision not to return for Mayans M.C. Season 3 wasn't an easy one for Ornstein. "Not only was it a difficult decision to make, emotionally, not to be with my friends filming the show, it was also a difficult decision financially. Thousands of actors were unable to work during COVID and many, like me, lost our insurance. If it weren't for my wife's job, I don't know how we would have made it through the pandemic." Ornstein also expressed his support for the cast and crew behind Mayans M.C., saying, "I'm watching every show. I'm hanging on every word. I'm just amazed at what they've done with this season."
As for Chucky's big move to Ohio, Ornstein really enjoyed what the show chose to do with his character. "Chucky's a trip in the sense that he's so pliable that whatever direction you send him in," Ornstein explained, "you reach something that's functional and usable. So it's pretty cool the way they did that. I felt like they ended it just on this, like, perfect note. This pitch that just hangs there forever, like a poem. You know, an open-ended poem, like Chucky. [...] [H]e's in love. He moved to Ohio, and he's in love. I just found that to be so beautiful. And it makes people wonder about that guy. Makes people consider who he is and the fact that he's a rambler. He could end up anywhere at any time."
Ornstein continued, "It's just such a cool thing. [...] And I've been thinking, who did he fall in love with? How did he get to Ohio? Like, Chucky's from Jersey. We know that. We know certain facts about Chucky. That he's from Jersey. That he was a successful, brilliant accountant. And he's a felon. I just picture him marrying some Italian, Midwest, gangster royalty woman, and he's doing accounting for the criminally involved and the uber wealthy, clandestinely. Without a license, because he's a felon. And that's what he's doing. And they run some kind of deli somewhere as a front. Or a lunchonette or something like that. And that's what they do! And they're so out of place in Ohio. It's been cracking me up."
As to whether Ornstein thinks Chucky could return for a future season of Mayans M.C. or another show in the Sons of Anarchy universe, Ornstein explained that anything is possible. "Chucky is a character that could really turn up anywhere at any time. He goes to Ohio, he goes anywhere else. Like, how did he end up in Northern Cali? [...] I always thought he had a family somewhere, and he just escaped. [...] So I would imagine if they wanted to use him that he could be around. But I just love the note they left it on. I just felt like it was so perfect and open ended."
That being said, Ornstein isn't entirely sure how Chucky would fit in with the events of Mayans M.C. Season 3. "The way that Elgin explored all the characters personally and went so deep into everybody," Ornstein said. "You know, this thing with Momo Rodriguez. So moving and cool. And every single character has their storyline, and I don't where Chucky would fit into that. I feel like nature sort of took its course, and it ended up [being] creatively, artistically perfect. Chucky wasn't there in this particular story, but I just found it to be so beautiful. This season was so cool. So different, you know?"
As for what he's doing right now, Ornstein is also a visual artist, whose work you can see on Twitter and Instagram. He's spent the pandemic working on a book, which he's releasing one chapter at a time on Medium. "It's based on a story that I had written a script about," Ornstein said of the project. "It's about the road. It's a road myth. And it's tied back to Billy the Kid. And it's about trucks and the road. I used the pandemic to write it into an actual book that I just finished. I used my paintings to tell the story, sort of like a graphic novel." You can read the first chapter by following this link.
Created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James, Mayans M.C. stars J.D. Pardo as EZ Reyes, Clayton Cardenas as Angel Reyes, Sarah Bolger as Emily Galindo, Michael Irby as Obispo "Bishop" Losa, Carla Baratta as Luisa "Adelita" Espina, Richard Cabral as Johnny "Coco" Cruz, Raoul Trujillo as Che "Taza" Romero, Danny Pino as Miguel Galindo, Edward James Olmos as Felipe Reyes and Emilio Rivera as Marcus Álvarez. Season 3 is available now on Hulu. Season 4 will release in 2022.