Hey, y’all! As y’all know by now, Pose is back, baby! Ever since the first season, Pose has been one of my favorite shows, and since I haven’t done a weekly recap/review of any must-watch TV series since Mr. Robot went off the air, I decided to start doing it again for the program that brought the glamour of ballrooms to our living rooms. After all, this is Pose’s last season, so why the hell not?
Since we were blessed with two episodes Sunday before last (May 2, 2021), this post is going to be a bit lengthier than usual (I tried my best to be brief with the recaps, but a lot was going on!), so strap in! It’s a LONG ride! Before I start though, I remember how some of y’all came for me when I posted my “Elektra Abundance is Trash” article (which was actually meant to be a joke…sort of) so please allow me to post a short disclaimer before jumping right into this recap/review.
Disclaimer:
- Disagreements are welcome. Disrespect is not. Come at me sideways, you’ll be blocked.
- Although these are fictional characters, if they act out of pocket, I will hold them to task, regardless of it’s Blanca, Angel, Ricky, Damon, Lil’ Papi, Lulu, Pray Tell, or the almighty Elektra Abundance Wintor Evangelista. No one is exempt. Again, if you disagree with my assessment, that’s fine, but please do not be disrespectful. It will not be tolerated.
- Again, these are fictional characters. I totally understand that over the years, one can grow to love them, but at the same time, if I criticize their actions, keep in mind it ain’t that serious. These are not real people. Please do not confuse that with making criticisms on the LGBTQ culture and/or any actual people in the LGBTQ community.
- Any critiques I make about the show (i.e. plot, cinematography, casting, etc.), are only about the show itself. Accept them as such. Once again, they do not reflect my feelings on LGBTQ culture and/or any actual people in the LGBTQ community.
- If I make an observation about something going in this time period that is incorrect, please feel free to correct me. However, I reiterate, please do so respectfully.
Now let’s do this.
“On the Run” – Episode 1
It’s 1994. Three years have passed since we last saw Blanca and her crew. The show opens with cops raiding The Hellfire Club, where Elektra works as a dominatrix. When the po-pos bust in Elektra’s room, she demands to know that the hell’s going on, and they respond, “Y’all are spreadin’ that disease! We’re shutting you down!” Um…last I checked, hookers, intravenous drug users, philanderers, and overall sexually irresponsible people are spreading that disease, too. Did they all get arrested and/or have their businesses shut down too?
And I hate to sound naive, but I don’t even remember anything going on below the waist at The Hellfire Club. I just recall those men begging to be whipped and bonded, and that’s it. Plus, I can’t see Elektra messin’ with multiple men for cash. One sugar daddy, yeah, but not different men every night. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong about any of that.*
Some time afterward, Elektra and Blanca are at the ball, discussing what the hell the former will do for cash now that her source of income has dried up. Blanca mentions that Elektra is resourceful enough to think of a get rich scheme, and that’s the last time this subject is visited. Okay…
Blanca runs into Lemar, who is now the father of the House of Khan. She tells him that he needs to visit Cubby, but Lemar writes Blanca off and proceeds to diss the House of Evangelista, which has been inactive for a minute.
He really goes in on Damon, who apparently has a drinking problem now.
Y’all know that Damon is Blanca’s heart, so she’s about to get into Lemar’s ass, but Elektra stops her and suggests that they battle it out on the floor instead. Blanca refuses.
Ol’ boy and his house walk a face category later that night while Blanca, Angel, Papi, and Lulu look on, and I have to call a spade a spade…Khan killed it.
Of course, they won a trophy, and now get this…the contestants receive cash prizes if they win categories!
We later learn there’s just one little catch…the council doesn’t quite have enough funds to pay the cash prize. Now that’s just ghetto.
Pray Tell and the other council members meet up at the diner a day or two later to get the prize money together, but they only have $434.00, and they owe the House of Khan a little over a G. The council member with the long hair—the one that dissed Blanca during her first walk, that bastard—lets it be known that Khan is not a house to be messed with. Right then, as if cue, the House of Khan shows up at the diner, demanding their cash.
Pray Tell lets them know they’ll get paid, but Lemar ain’t tryin’ to hear that. His messy ass sics his goons on the council, which results in an all out food fight.
After that hilarious nastiness, we cut to Blanca lying half naked to a sexy man. Hmm…
She wakes up with a smile on her face, and we see that this wasn’t just a wham-bam-thank-yo-ma’am siteechation. Blanca’s in love! Christopher (that’s his name…and did I mention that he’s a doctor?) asks her to have breakfast with him, but Blanca has to get back home. She only has one child left in her house (Damon, who we haven’t even seen yet), and she wanted to get back in time to spend the morning with him. She goes on to mention that Chilli and Quincy (the little kids Blanca adopted last season) both left the House of Evangelista, which begs the question: Why would Lemar even think about battling Blanca’s house when there’s only two members left?
Next, we see Lil’ Papi, who’s now a full-fledged businessman, baby! Angel walks in his office to greet him, but she’s a bit perturbed by the pretty receptionist that he’s currently talking to. She’s also upset that she hasn’t booked any serious modeling gigs in nearly a year. Papi gently tells her that he’s getting her the auditions, but once she meets with the companies, it’s on her to wow them.
In the next scene, Pray Tell is working at his day job at Macy’s, spraying Chanel #5 on prospective customers. He makes sure to sneak a drink in between sales pitches.
By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that his name tag reads, “Pray Tell.” I love his name, but there’s no way on God’s green Earth or His blue heaven that’s what his mama named him. I know good and well he didn’t put that on his job application…did he? 😂😂
Anyway, Pray later attends another funeral (still sneaking in drinks) and is horrified to find that the deceased gentleman was someone that just walked a ball a few weeks prior. Pray decides that enough is enough and he announces his retirement from the council right then and there.
If y’all remember, last season Judy (my girl Sandra Bernhard) told Blanca that she could no longer pursue a career as a manicurist because the strong chemicals she’d have to work with put her at risk of having a serious respiratory infection. Well Blanca, being the resourceful lady that she is, decided to put her people skills and empathy to use and work as a nurse’s aide in the AIDS ward.
During her shift, she brings flowers to a patient. As it turns out…
…the patient is Cubby. 😭😭
Now we know why Blanca asked Lemar to come see him (he still hasn’t shown up, by the way). Blanca lets Cubby know that his mother wants to visit, but Cubby refuses to see her, considering how she reacted when he first came out of the closet. Blanca convinces him to give her a chance and she’s able to talk him into it. Later Judy and Blanca have lunch, and the former tells the latter that she’d be a terrific nurse, seeing as the patients love her and she herself knows what it’s like to be HIV positive.
Pray Tell comes home to Ricky (boo…), drunk and verbally abusive as all hell. He wasn’t the least bit appreciative that Ricky set the table and cooked (the side dishes). Uh, would someone please explain to me why Ricky stayed in this relationship so long again?
Meanwhile at Lulu is chillin’ at Angel and Papi’s house, lamenting over the fact that she had to start stripping again to make ends meet, and Angel tells her about how she hasn’t been able to book any shows lately. Lulu lights a joint and Angel decides to take a hit of it.
It’s only after Angel takes a nice, long drag that Lulu lets it be known that the joint has just a teeny bit of crack in it. That’s right, crack. Lord…
Over at the House of Evangelista, Blanca turns on her TV to see OJ Simpson fleeing from the cops, and she calls Pray and the rest of the crew to come over for a watch party. A few hours later, everyone’s there, including Judy. Pray Tell’s drunk as shit (and still drinking), Lulu and Angel are high as kites (and still smoking), Damon finally makes an appearance (blink and you’ll miss him), and Ricky is fed up with Pray’s foolery (and I can’t blame him).
Oh yeah, Damon tried his best to talk some sense into Pray about his drinking and trying to be sober—after all, he’s been there, apparently—but he wasn’t even trying to hear it.
A few hours later, Blanca cuts off the TV “just when the chase was getting good,” and has everyone sit down for dinner. While everyone’s eating and having a good time reminiscing, Blanca suggests that the House of Evangelista make a comeback. Everyone is reluctant at first, but they eventually cave in.
THE HOUSE OF EVANGELISTA IS BACK, BABY!!!
After dinner, Blanca visits Christopher the Hot Doctor, who encourages her ambition to go to school for nursing and offers his support. How come we can’t find men like him and Papi in the real world? They declare their love for each other, and Chris drops a bomb on her…he wants her to meet his parents.
Yeah…Blanca ain’t feelin’ that, but Chris wears her down into submission. The next night, Blanca’s getting ready to meet the good doctor’s parents, but she gets a phone call. Cubby’s in his final moments.
Everyone (except for Lemar) is at the hospital remembering the good times they had with Cubby, and his mother tearfully apologizes for letting him go. Just then, Cubby slips away.
Lemar’s messy ass finally shows up at the hospital a day late and a few dollars short. When Elektra breaks the news to him, that fool actually had the unmitigated gall to blame Blanca for not telling him Cubby was that far gone! Bitch, please.
Blanca politely reminds him that she’d been asking him to see Cubby for weeks, but he was too wrapped up in his stank little house. Elektra lets it be known that Lemar didn’t even allow Cubby to join the house, and this fool has the nerve to holler out that Cubby wasn’t good enough to make the cut! Jesus…
That’s the last straw for Pray Tell. He’s about to get in Lemar’s ass, but Elektra suggests again that they battle it out on the ballroom floor. This time, Blanca doesn’t refuse, and she wants to walk the Summer Solstice Ball in Cubby’s honor.
Lemar accepts the challenge and goes into Cubby’s room to say goodbye to his homeboy. Too bad you couldn’t give him his flowers while he was still here.
Long story short, Khan and Evangelista walk the Summer Solstice Ball, and although both houses brought their A-game, the House of Evangelista scored the victory.
While Blanca accepts the award, she graciously gives Lemar and the House of Khan props (which Lemar doesn’t even appreciate) and makes a moving speech about how they should stop running so they can be the people that they’ve always wanted to be. Her words cause an uproar of applause and Blanca offers the Evangelistas’ $500.00 cash prize to GMHC (an AIDS service organization) in Cubby’s name (I just hope they get it). Blanca truly is the angel on Earth that we don’t deserve.
After the ball, the crew hits up the Chinese restaurant to celebrate, and who shows up?
Christopher the Hot Doctor! ❤️❤️❤️
Needless to say, everyone’s happy to see Blanca’s new man, especially the lucky lady! Blanca introduces him to the family, smiling the entire time. I loved it.
The next day, Blanca makes her way to Manhattan Technical College and asks for an application to the nursing program! Go ‘head, girl! She starts filling out the application on the outside steps, ending the first episode.
“Intervention” – Episode 2
The second episode begins with Blanca telling Judy that Pray Tell’s drinking has gotten out of control and now he’s even started poppin’ pills. Judy mentions that Pray hasn’t given her the time of day since she checked him for showing up to a memorial drunk and high (this time, the memorial was a for a man Pray Tell used to date. That had to be hard). They both agree that there’s only one solution: an intervention.
A day or so afterward, the crew meets up on the roof of Blanca’s building with Leisa, a counselor that specializes in helping addicts. I wish she noticed how cracked out Angel and Lulu were!
By the way, before the meeting, Lulu had the audacity to mention that she can’t stand when folks can’t handle their shit when they drink and do dope, but yet was feenin’ for a hit of her crack weed before she went upstairs!
Anyway, Leisa advises that everyone write a letter to Pray Tell that lets him know how his drinking has affected him/her. Blanca already had her letter prepared, so Leisa tells her to read it while she pretends to be Pray Tell so everyone will be prepared for his reaction. Trust and believe, no one’s ever prepared for Pray Tell’s quick temper and even quicker (not to mention razor sharp) reads.
Lulu’s cracked out ass starts talking trash and Blanca gets on her, saying that after losing Damon, she can’t lose Pray Tell, too. This is news to everyone (including the people watching this show!). It turns out Damon relapsed and moved to Charleston with a cousin of his. He’s gone for good. What the hell?
Everyone is upset about Damon being gone, but they get past that bombshell pretty quickly once Leisa mentions that it costs $2,500.00/mo. to send Pray to rehab. Elektra’s reaction was a lot like mine, “Is this rehab at the Four Seasons?” However, like Blanca said in the previous episode, if anyone knows how to get their hands on cash, it’s Elektra. She comes up with the idea to get the money by walking categories at the ball. Each category has a $500.00 cash prize, and if they sweep the ball, they’ll get the $2,500.00 they need. I’m surprised word hasn’t gotten out about the council struggling to pay these cash rewards as promised.
Over the next few days, Elektra whips the Evangelistas into ballroom shape, and in true Elektra style, she didn’t come to play. She came to slay.
Sometime later, Lulu and Angel are hangin’ out at her and Papi’s posh loft, and the two of them look like straight up baseheads.
Leave that crack alone, ladies.
Papi walks in and notices Lulu and Angel’s condition. Then again, how could he not notice? They both look like Pookie from New Jack City! They’re even scratching like damn crackheads!
Papi’s pissed. He dismisses Lulu, and threatens to leave Angel if she keeps smokin’ the rock. Angel figures that Papi’s cheating on her anyway and that’s the real reason he wants to leave. She also reveals all the insecurities she’s been having about her modeling career. Papi tells Angel that she’s the only woman he wants, and her career will get back on track again, but she has to get off that pipe.
As for Lulu, she later gets the tongue lashing she needs from Mother Elektra after the latter comments on Lulu’s pale and ashy appearance, her weight loss, as well as the fact that she was unimpressed by Lulu’s Toni Braxton lip sync performance.
Not only does Elektra tell Lulu to stay off the drugs, but she also declares that Pray Tell will do the lip sync category and demotes Lulu to seamstress, since she can’t get it together to walk the ball in time. Don’t do drugs, kids.
Some time afterward, Blanca is getting ready to meet Chris’s parents and Angel’s there to put her mind at ease and provide style tips. Blanca asks what the hell’s been going on with Lulu lately, but Angel lies and says that Lulu’s been getting thinner because Papi got her a modeling gig. Sure… She quickly excuses herself to avoid any more questions. Blanca remarks that Angel’s looking thin, too. Most crackheads do.
A few hours later, Blanca finally gets the chance to meet Christopher’s parents. At first, everything goes well, but as the night goes on and Blanca reveals more about herself, Chris’s mama starts throwing shade left, right, and sideways.
The following night at the ball, Blanca tells Angel and Elektra about how badly dinner with Christopher’s parents went. Elektra asks why Blanca didn’t tell them she was transgender, and Blanca says that she didn’t want to reveal everything about herself that first night. On top of that, Blanca’s beginning to feel like she’s not good enough for Chris. Elektra reminds Blanca that she’s more than good enough for her sexy doctor, and she shouldn’t let his parents question her worth. Blanca realizes Elektra’s right and snaps out of it. Go ‘head Elektra! And to think, I didn’t care for her in the first season!
Pray Tell goes over to Castle’s house (Castle is one of the council members, by the way) to get him to come to the ball. Apparently, Castle’s also battling HIV/AIDS, even though there’s never been any mention of this. A bit of establishment would’ve been nice. Just sayin’. Castle relents and while he’s getting ready, Pray notices the mini pharmacy on Castle’s dresser. When Pray voices his concern, Castle assures him that if he wanted to commit suicide, he’d go to the Plaza Hotel and live like a king before taking himself out. Besides, he’s stickin’ around for the OJ trial! Baby, do yourself a favor and watch Melrose Place instead. It was so much more interesting. Anyway, before Castle and Pray head out, Castle makes sure to take a dose of Methadone. He offers a pill to Pray Tell, but Pray just sticks it in his pocket.
Needless to say, the House of Evangelista sweeps the ball. I have to say, these balls ain’t the same since Pray Tell stopped emceeing. I really hope he returns to the mic. Speaking of Pray, he actually laid off the sauce so he could be sober enough to work his category…but Castle, on the other hand, decides to indulge in some vodka.
Pray goes against messy ass Lemar for the Candy’s Sweet Refrain category and whups his skinny ass with a fire lip sync of En Vogue’s “Never Gonna Get It.” Honestly, Lemar’s lip sync of Queen Janet Jackson’s “If” was everything, but I’m still glad that witch lost.
While Lemar bitches and moans about losing to Pray Tell, Castle passes out at the bar. The ambulance whisks Castle away, but the paramedics won’t let Pray ride with him. Pray’s all but ready to be done with the ball by that point, but Blanca convinces him to stay.
Ricky walks his vogue category and is killin’ it, but Pray doesn’t even notice. Why? Because he’s too busy getting pissy drunk!
Here comes Lemar’s sorry ass, taunting Pray about how much it must hurt to see Castle waste away and that Pray himself will soon have to face that future.
Without saying a word, Pray Tell takes one last shot of liquor and swiftly knocks Lemar’s scrawny ass smooth out. Once Lemar hits the ground, Pray steps over him and walks off. I ain’t mad.
Let me get this straight…there’s a pandemic out there that’s taking out so many people in your community—including your closest friend—that you attend a funeral just about every other day, but you have enough gall to taunt someone about it? And for what? Because he whupped your ass in a ball category fair and square? Let’s not forget that Lemar himself isn’t exempt from contract this disease. No one is.
It’s official: Lemar is trash. 🗑️ Y’all can get mad, glad, happy, or sad about that statement. I said what I said. 🚮
After the ball, the crew meets up at Blanca’s house for the intervention. Pray’s feenin’ for a drink, but everyone springs it on him that they want him to go to rehab. Pray’s surprisingly calm about the news at first, but once Blanca, Ricky, and Elektra read their letters, the claws come all the way out. True to form, Pray Tell reads everyone to filth, except Lulu, who wisely remains silent. He especially comes for Ricky, due to the fact that he threatened to leave Pray if he didn’t stop drinking. After dragging everyone, he storms out, leaving Blanca in tears. Not cool, Pray.
Later that night, Pray Tell is home, still drinkin’. *Sigh* Ricky, on the other hand, made good on his threat and is packin’ his shit. Pray tries his usual verbal abuse to make Ricky stay at first, but when that doesn’t work, his true emotions come out and he starts sobbing and begging Ricky to stay. It hurts Ricky to see Pray break down, but it doesn’t deter him from leaving. Pray goes back to being mean and screams at Ricky to get the fuck out. Ricky walks out while Pray Tell sobs silently. Good for you, Ricky!
Back at Angel and Papi’s place, Papi made dinner for Angel and announces that he got her a job for a Calvin Klein campaign. Angel tells Papi that she can’t take the job because she’s going to rehab. She spoke with Leisa and enrolled in an outpatient program. Angel voices her fears about Papi finding out about her drug habit (babe, he already knew; it was obvious) and possibly leaving her. Papi lets her know that he’s not going anywhere. I want a Papi.
Blanca meets Chris back at his place and lets it be known that she didn’t appreciate his mother’s attitude and that he should’ve taken up for her when his mom was being Shady McShade. Chris apologizes and insists on Blanca meeting his parents again for dinner that night to have a do-over. Blanca meets up with Mommy Dearest a second time in hopes that they can have a civil conversation (Daddy Dearest was absent this go around), but the second they all try ordering from the menu, Christopher’s mother starts being even shadier than ever! So much for the do-over.
Blanca is fed up with the foolishness and asks Chris’s mom if her issue is that fact that she grew up in the projects, isn’t worldly, or is it because she’s transgender? Of course, Chris’s mother acts even more out of pocket, and even hollers out, “I knew it!” Lord…
Blanca is about to exit to the left, when Christopher stands up and tells his mother that Blanca is the woman he wants to be with, and she needs to accept that or risk losing her son. I bet you heard that!
Pray Tell shows up at yet another funeral, looking disheveled as all hell. He apologizes to the council members and asks to rejoin them. They accept, but Pray notices Castle is missing. One of the fellas mentions that Castle wasn’t home and his apartment was spotless. All the pills he usually keeps on the dresser were missing.
Pray Tell rushes to the Plaza Hotel and finds Castle in one of their luxurious suites, but thankfully, he’s okay. It turns out he planned to commit suicide, but was unable to do it. They both tearfully admit that they want to live and they have to take better care of each other.
Pray meets Blanca at the hospital later and he confesses that he drinks because he hates himself and he hates himself because he drinks. He’s now at the point where he’s sick and tired of being sick and tired, and wants to get better.
Blanca drives Pray to rehab, and before dropping him off, he thanks Blanca for always being in his corner. I’ll say it again, Blanca is the angel on Earth we don’t deserve.
As Mariah Carey’s “Anytime You Need a Friend” plays, Blanca drives away, smiling.
And that’s where our story ends.
When I first heard that Pose started filming their third season, I was hella excited. About three to five months later, I learned the final season would air in May of this year and I was even more psyched. Despite my elation, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Did they rush to get these episodes out there?” Then, there’s the Janet Mock incident. As I’m sure y’all already know, during the season three premiere, Ms. Mock stood up in front of everyone and blasted the pay inequality that’s still rampant in Hollywood, admitted that she was cheating on her boyfriend, Angel Bismark Curiel aka Lil’ Papi (I can’t believe she messed around on Papi!), and criticized the show’s writing. When I first heard that, I was confused. The writing for Pose was always impeccable. After watching these last two episodes though, I see my gut feeling about the show being rushed may be right, and I now understand why Janet had a negative opinion on what happened in the writers’ room (I have no explanation for her cheating on Papi, though).
Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the first two episodes, but they weren’t as good as previous episodes of Pose have been, mainly because the storylines weren’t as fleshed out as they normally are. I mean, one minute Damon’s still living with Blanca, and the next, he’s in Charleston with his cousin? And who is this cousin? I get Lulu, Angel, and Pray Tell being full blown addicts (Pray Tell, especially) seeing as they’ve all had history with substances and/or alcohol before, but they seriously consider (or appear to consider) rehab in the span of two episodes? They shut down The Hellfire Club, and after Elektra mentions it to Blanca in the first five minutes of the show, the subject is never touched upon again? Zero build up to Castle’s dilemma (especially given the fact that he was a tertiary character at the most)? Y’all, has season eight of Game of Thrones taught us nothing? Hurrying through something isn’t always best. Think about this, if we weren’t in a pandemic right now, and you wanted to dine in, where would you rather go: Ruth’s Chris Steak House or McDonald’s? On top of everything, these episodes left me with a lot of questions, and I didn’t get too many answers.
I’ll start with the subject that I have the most questions about, and that’s Damon. First of all, why did he have such a small amount of screen time? What happened to his thriving career in Europe and his house (remember he started a House of Evangelista overseas)? How and when did Damon become an addict? In the previous seasons, he didn’t partake in so much as a beer or a Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler! Now he’s an alcoholic? Is Damon really gone from the show for good?
What happened to the House of Ferocity and the House of Wintor? I know Lulu and Elektra decided to take a break from the balls last season, but did they decide to give them up for good and disband their homes?
When did Aphrodite become a member of the council (at least I think that’s Aphrodite. Again, please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong)? And why did she only judge the one ball?
Why isn’t Blanca walking in any of the categories anymore? I know she couldn’t do much when she had that respiratory infection, but that was ages ago!
Hopefully the answers to all my questions will be addressed throughout the season. I have to reiterate, although these two episodes didn’t live up to the usual Pose standard, they weren’t horrible, either. There were some things that I liked. First off, the storyline involving Cubby was extremely moving. Lord knows I was never Cubby and Lemar’s biggest fan, seeing as they were disrespectful, disloyal, house hoppin’ hoes for the most part (they did have some redeeming qualities, but not many), but it was so heartbreaking to see Cubby sickly and dying, especially considering how fierce he once was.
I was happy to see that he and his mother repaired their relationship before he passed on, and I’m glad that despite everything, Blanca was by his side through it all.
And let’s talk about Ms. Blanca! She and Angel are my favorite characters (with Pray Tell coming in second), so I always loved her, but I’m REALLY loving the direction she’s moving in now. Although I always thought her “Bongo Jeans ad” style was cute, the sexy and yet stylish clothes that she’s wearing now are giving me life! I love how she’s wearing her hair this season, too! One of the few great things happening in the show so far is that Blanca’s living her best life. Her house is making a comeback, she has a new career path, and she has a man that loves her. If anyone deserves it, my girl Blanca does.
I have to be honest when it comes to Pray Tell and Ricky…I never liked them together and I’m glad they broke up. Y’all, that relationship was toxic as all hell. Besides, seeing as Pray Tell was approx. 20 years Ricky’s senior, I honestly don’t know what they’d have to talk about, assuming they really ever talked. Y’all know what I mean.
I’m still rooting for Ricky and Damon to get back together (if Damon ever returns), but given the time period and the fact that HIV still wasn’t well-controlled back then, it may not be likely.
Even though I was critical of the pacing for Pray Tell’s alcoholism storyline, I found it interesting. I don’t condone Pray abusing alcohol, but I can definitely understand why he did. If I had to attend a funeral every other day for my friends, I’d probably want to drown my sorrows, too. The only thing about that is, after you sober up the next morning, your problems are still there waiting for you. What’s worse is that now you don’t have the mental strength you need to face and/or fight them, because you’re so dependent on alcohol. Again, I liked the storyline, but it still should’ve been spread out a bit more throughout the season, I think. I feel the same way about Angel and Lulu. I hope neither one of them relapse, but their addiction could’ve been expanded upon more.
Queen Elektra’s character arc is something else that I’m loving about the show. Dominque Jackson mentioned in recent interviews that Elektra is bit softer and caring now, but she still has the razor sharp attitude that made her character compelling in the first place. Now I can save any future “______ Is Trash” posts for Lemar. Just kiddin’. He’s not worth a post.
I’m lovin’ Papi’s character growth, as well. It’s a trip how he was the biggest wild card in the family before, and now he’s the most levelheaded and successful one out of the bunch. Not only that, but money and success hasn’t changed Papi a bit! He’s still just as sweet and lovable as he was before.
And I’ll believe I stop there, because this post is already longer than what I intended. All in all, these first two episodes were good, but I hope they get better. I want this show to go out with a bang, not a whimper (here’s lookin’ at you Game of Thrones and Empire).
—Written by Nadiya
*I wrote this recap/review before episode 3 of Pose aired, but I wasn’t able to publish it until after it was broadcast this past Sunday night (May 9, 2021). However, I kept my statement up for a reason. Wait for the next recap/review.
So what did you think about the first two episodes of Pose? Were they great or did you find them not to be up to the same caliber as the previous seasons? What do you think about the character arcs? Were the plot lines compelling to you? Do you feel like the episode was a rushed a bit, or is the pacing right at your speed? Do you miss Damon’s character? Let me know in the comments section!
Insights from a Southern Girl 