This week was the season finale of FX’s hit show Pose. This emotional season wrapped up in a similar fashion. The first scene was filled with happy tears, though. Blanca opened up her own nail salon in the newly empty apartment. She got a surprising walk in, though. Pray returned to the house for the first time since that big blow up. The two patched up their relationship. Blanca gushed about Damon thriving on tour and Angel and Papi doing well in their own place. Pray was still seeing Ricky. Blanca broke down when Pray asked her to come back to the ball. All during this conversation she had a hacking cough.
Photo by Michael Parmelee/FX
With Pray’s guidance, Blanca ended up in the hospital. Hooked up to oxygen, she had Pray pull out a pink notebook. Inside contained her will. She seemed certain it was her time to go. In tears. Pray encouraged her to fight. She did the same for him when he was sick. He rallied up the family and made sure she had support during her hospital stay.
Thanks to Pray, Blanca got a visit from Angel, Lulu, and Elektra. They gave her a spa treatment when Pray and Papi walked in. Pray was upset no one in the family had walked in the balls lately. Elektra dragged him for the lack of women involved in the balls. The girls only got three categories and were judged almost exclusively by men. He took their complaints to the council.
At the diner, Pray brought up the concerns to his friends on the council. Somehow, the council’s solution was butch queens first time in drag as a category. Pray didn’t want to trivialize the women’s struggle, but the guys saw it as solidarity. I think this is the exact opposite of what the girls wanted.
Angel went to meet up with the agent who discovered her. Someone on a shoot knew her from the ball scene and decided to out her. She was devastated, as expected. The word spread and pulled her contracts thinking she was a fraud. She had support from the woman who got her here, but no one else was ready to take her on. Back at home, she filled Papi in. As expected, he was the most supportive and encouraged her to keep going. He even decided to become a manager to not only help Angel’s career, but trans models in general. He is the best. He went out trying to recruit models, but struggled to get anyone to sign on.
Nurse Judy came and checked out Blanca in the hospital. She had an infection and was worried that maybe the chemicals from her salon played a role in contracting it. Judy said she would qualify for disability but Blanca was defeated. She really thought her body was telling her it was over. Well, Pray came to visit. There, he told her that her landlord who set her salon on fire was arrested and charged with arsen. In jail, she thought she was denied bail because she was a woman. Usually, I’m all for the feminist track but I’d say it was because she was a monster committing crimes. Blanca thought getting her landlord locked up was further proof that she did what she needed to do on this earth. Pray convinced her to keep fighting for Mother’s Day ball. He had a surprise for her.
On a happier note, Elektra took on the role of turning these men into queens. I love a good montage of men attempting to walk in heels, especially with Elektra dragging them in the process. Pray was one of the worst of them and after Elektra’s reads, he stormed out frustrated. Ricky met him outside to tell him that he is clearly afraid of expressing his femininity. He explained you can be both butch and fem. Pray opened up that he struggled to express his femine side because of his father’s abuse when he was younger. He thought he could beat the man into him. It broke my heart to hear this story because these things really happen.
Papi decided to take his business venture to the woman who discovered Angel. She was very open minded, which was great. She decided to give Papi a cubicle and a chance. He had two weeks to book a job and if so, he got to stay with Ford Agency. Papi landed Angel a job in Berlin and made it clear to the client that she was trans. She didn’t have to hide! This job booking lead to the cutest moment between them and that lead to something even cuter. They both proposed to each other!
Blanca began to get better. She was back on her feet and walking laps around the hospital with the help of Nurse Judy. She was being discharged when she saw someone very special in the hall. It was Damon, who flew home to see her from Paris. Damon was HIV negative and thriving. He was going to choreograph a music video and even became a house father in Paris. Damon’s love for Blanca is one of the sweetest storylines. He gushed about how she taught him everything he knew and how much he loved her. He would be her date to the Mothers Day ball.
The ball was kicked off with a perfect runway category. The girls looked beautiful. Shout out to Jiggly Caliente who defended her mother Lulu at the ball when Elektra snatched her trophy. It was time for the Mother of the Year award. Elektra took home the award, much deserved of course. Damon and Blanca arrived at the ball shortly after. There, Damon and Ricky reunited. They smoothed things over right before Blanca performed. She did her number in the lip syncing category inspired by Candy. Wheelchair and all, she killed it! That reveal?! Yes ma’am. She had tens across the board before the song even ended!
It was time for the boys to hit the floor in drag. Angel, Lulu, and Blanca joined some other legendary ladies on the judges panel. Before this, Elektra gave the sweetest speech for Blanca. I’m not used to seeing such a loving side from Elektra, but we all know it’s there, especially for her own daughter! I LOVED this category: butch queen up in drags first time at a ball. Elektra on the mic definitely didn’t hurt either. When Pray hit the floor, he was clearly uncomfortable. That was, until he let his fem side out. Ricky proudly yelled, “that’s my man!” and it was so cute. Everyone agreed that they needed to do this category more, including me.
Outside of the ball, Blanca found two fourteen year olds who were kicked out of their homes. They were living on the street with no money for food. Being the maternal entity she is, she took these kids under her wing instantly. She and Pray took them home with them. My heart!
What. A. Season! The highs were great and the lows were heartbreaking. Overall, this season was important. It’s so powerful to see a show like this on television. Feel free to let us know your thoughts on the season below! Until next time!
