Pose season 2
One problem I had with this show in season one wasn't actually in the show, it was how it would show up in my onscreen guide as starring Evan Peters, Kate Mara, and James Van Der Beek. You know, the three white people in essentially recurring roles in a show about gay and trans people of color. I know it was probably a name recognition thing, as I often saw articles about season one do the same thing; list the white folk, then "also starring/featuring" all the actual main cast.
When season two started, I noticed it still listed these three even though they're not in the show, but it quickly changed to Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, and Billy Porter. That's more like it.
Set in 1990 (about three years after the first season), when Madonna's "Vogue" brought the ballroom scene to the mainstream. Our more optimistic characters see this as a chance to become part of the mainstream, while the more pessimistic are looking for a way for it to benefit them.
The show was always good about showing the dark and the light in the character's lives, but damn, season two has some very dark moments. We see Blanca and Pray Tell dealing with their HIV diagnosis in very different ways, and having to react to changes in their health and treatment options. Angel begins to realize her dream of becoming a model, but discovers the dark side of the business. Elektra finally finds a high-paying job that's perfect for her. She works as a dominatrix, where she's paid to insult and degrade men, and she does that to everyone anyway, so it's a win-win.
I'm fascinated by Elektra. She's very self-centered and not a very motherly "mother" to her house, but she's also trying to live her life as she wants it. She had sex reassignment surgery late last season, despite knowing she'd lose her sugar daddy who'd been paying her rent. She can "pass" and got a job as a high class restaurant hostess, but can make a lot more money as a dominatrix and doesn't have to lower herself to actually having sex with a client. When a session with a drug using client goes very bad and he ODs, she panics. Even though she didn't intend him any real harm, and in fact had more than once told him she didn't approve of his use of drugs, she's a trans woman doing sex work and the dead guy is white and well-off. She knows prison is very much a possibility.
She first asks Blanca for help, but she just says to call the police. Elektra already knows that isn't an option, so she asks the more ruthless Candy for help. Despite how dark this gets, Electra does show a bit of her motherly side by pushing Blanca out of the situation as quickly as possible. Blanca can't get in trouble with the law if she doesn't know anything. Candy enlists another trans woman (previous seen injecting low grade silicon into trans women, causing all kinds of problems), and they end up wrapping the guy up like a mummy so he won't smell up the place and stashing him in Elektra's massive closet.
The very next episode is another dark one, in which Candy is killed by a client at a hotel. Thankfully, this happens offscreen, but we do see her body being found. The murder of trans people is a big one to tackle, and from what I've read in reviews, the reaction has been mixed. TPTB felt that it needed to be someone we "knew" in order to really punch us in the gut, which is a common theme (looking at you, Stargate SG-1). Candy also happened to be one of the darker-skinned characters, and also a frequent target of Pray Tell's barbs on the ballroom floor.
I'm kind of mixed on how the episode handled the fallout. There was a good moment where a well-meaning funeral director has given Candy a "church lady" look, and the ladies fix her makeup and outfit before the funeral. There's moments where the characters are visited by Candy, and Pray Tell admits that part of the reason he gave Candy such a hard time is she represented a lot of the things he'd wanted in his life, but was still in hiding for a long time. Candy's parents show up after the funeral is over, shocking everyone, and they also make their peace with Candy's ghost. There's such nice moments in there (and a few nasty ones), but Candy only got her due in death, and that's beyond sad.
Reading up on things a bit more as I've been writing this, I've learned that both of these episodes have real world ties. Dorian Corey was a trans woman who died in 1993 of AIDS complications, and "the preserved body of Robert Worley (aka Robert Wells) was found in Corey's belongings with a gunshot wound to the head." It was estimated he'd been dead 15 years, but it's unclear if he was an abusive lover, was murdered in self-defense, or something else. Corey was featured in the documentary Paris is Burning, which I still haven't seen and really need to get around to watching.
Venus Xtravaganza was also featured in Paris is Burning, which was still filming at the time of her death. In the documentary, she talks about narrowly escaping an attack by a man who discovered she was transgender during an intimate encounter, and it's possible this is why she was murdered. Her killer was never found. Very much like Candy's death.
You know how some shows have "after shows" where they can talk more about what happened and what it all means? I really think Pose could use this. An extra 15 - 30 minute segment to show some of the history they are reflecting that is still unfortunately part of our present. I was 20 at the time this show is set, so I get the pop culture references pretty easily, but I'm cis and white, so I can't always get the nuances of the trans POC experience they're trying to tell, especially since I don't know the history. Without doing my own research, I'd have never known these two seemingly over-the-top bits of plot were based on reality.
We're at the halfway mark for the season, with a lot of big events already done, so it's going to be interesting to see where it goes. There's already a third season on order, so they might do a big cliffhanger knowing they can actually finish it.
When season two started, I noticed it still listed these three even though they're not in the show, but it quickly changed to Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, and Billy Porter. That's more like it.
Set in 1990 (about three years after the first season), when Madonna's "Vogue" brought the ballroom scene to the mainstream. Our more optimistic characters see this as a chance to become part of the mainstream, while the more pessimistic are looking for a way for it to benefit them.
The show was always good about showing the dark and the light in the character's lives, but damn, season two has some very dark moments. We see Blanca and Pray Tell dealing with their HIV diagnosis in very different ways, and having to react to changes in their health and treatment options. Angel begins to realize her dream of becoming a model, but discovers the dark side of the business. Elektra finally finds a high-paying job that's perfect for her. She works as a dominatrix, where she's paid to insult and degrade men, and she does that to everyone anyway, so it's a win-win.
I'm fascinated by Elektra. She's very self-centered and not a very motherly "mother" to her house, but she's also trying to live her life as she wants it. She had sex reassignment surgery late last season, despite knowing she'd lose her sugar daddy who'd been paying her rent. She can "pass" and got a job as a high class restaurant hostess, but can make a lot more money as a dominatrix and doesn't have to lower herself to actually having sex with a client. When a session with a drug using client goes very bad and he ODs, she panics. Even though she didn't intend him any real harm, and in fact had more than once told him she didn't approve of his use of drugs, she's a trans woman doing sex work and the dead guy is white and well-off. She knows prison is very much a possibility.
She first asks Blanca for help, but she just says to call the police. Elektra already knows that isn't an option, so she asks the more ruthless Candy for help. Despite how dark this gets, Electra does show a bit of her motherly side by pushing Blanca out of the situation as quickly as possible. Blanca can't get in trouble with the law if she doesn't know anything. Candy enlists another trans woman (previous seen injecting low grade silicon into trans women, causing all kinds of problems), and they end up wrapping the guy up like a mummy so he won't smell up the place and stashing him in Elektra's massive closet.
The very next episode is another dark one, in which Candy is killed by a client at a hotel. Thankfully, this happens offscreen, but we do see her body being found. The murder of trans people is a big one to tackle, and from what I've read in reviews, the reaction has been mixed. TPTB felt that it needed to be someone we "knew" in order to really punch us in the gut, which is a common theme (looking at you, Stargate SG-1). Candy also happened to be one of the darker-skinned characters, and also a frequent target of Pray Tell's barbs on the ballroom floor.
I'm kind of mixed on how the episode handled the fallout. There was a good moment where a well-meaning funeral director has given Candy a "church lady" look, and the ladies fix her makeup and outfit before the funeral. There's moments where the characters are visited by Candy, and Pray Tell admits that part of the reason he gave Candy such a hard time is she represented a lot of the things he'd wanted in his life, but was still in hiding for a long time. Candy's parents show up after the funeral is over, shocking everyone, and they also make their peace with Candy's ghost. There's such nice moments in there (and a few nasty ones), but Candy only got her due in death, and that's beyond sad.
Reading up on things a bit more as I've been writing this, I've learned that both of these episodes have real world ties. Dorian Corey was a trans woman who died in 1993 of AIDS complications, and "the preserved body of Robert Worley (aka Robert Wells) was found in Corey's belongings with a gunshot wound to the head." It was estimated he'd been dead 15 years, but it's unclear if he was an abusive lover, was murdered in self-defense, or something else. Corey was featured in the documentary Paris is Burning, which I still haven't seen and really need to get around to watching.
Venus Xtravaganza was also featured in Paris is Burning, which was still filming at the time of her death. In the documentary, she talks about narrowly escaping an attack by a man who discovered she was transgender during an intimate encounter, and it's possible this is why she was murdered. Her killer was never found. Very much like Candy's death.
You know how some shows have "after shows" where they can talk more about what happened and what it all means? I really think Pose could use this. An extra 15 - 30 minute segment to show some of the history they are reflecting that is still unfortunately part of our present. I was 20 at the time this show is set, so I get the pop culture references pretty easily, but I'm cis and white, so I can't always get the nuances of the trans POC experience they're trying to tell, especially since I don't know the history. Without doing my own research, I'd have never known these two seemingly over-the-top bits of plot were based on reality.
We're at the halfway mark for the season, with a lot of big events already done, so it's going to be interesting to see where it goes. There's already a third season on order, so they might do a big cliffhanger knowing they can actually finish it.