Pose loves to put on a show. The series is, in a very broad and maybe boring sense, about the act of performing in general—beyond the balls that make up the backbone of the characters’ lives, complete with their performing categories and inherent spectacle, there’s Angel’s modeling, Damon and Ricky’s dancing, and, of course, Pray Tell’s AIDS cabarets. All of the characters are in a constant state of defining themselves through outwardly directed creative expression, in a way that just so happens to line up with the classic trope of a bunch of people needing to put on a talent show to save the rec center.
“Love Is The Message,” the sixth episode of the first season of Pose, enacts the “let’s put on a show” TV plot in an even more direct way when Pray Tell decides to do something to support his boyfriend Costas and winds up producing an AIDS cabaret fundraiser. Somehow, “Love’s In Need Of Love Today” manages to escalate from both “Love Is The Message” and this season’s over-the-top episodes, transforming an episode of Pose into a full-blown TV musical. What that musical is about, I’m not quite sure.
During the episode’s runtime, Pray Tell performs Judy Garland’s “The Man That Got Away.” Patti LuPone performs “I’m Still Here” from Follies. There’s a big group performance of the title song (by Stevie Wonder). In a neat little bit of anachronism, Judy performs Prince’s “It Snows In April.” All of these sequences are glittery, entertaining, and overwhelming, all of which is par for the course for Pose.
Another typical feature of the episode: one character gets a real spotlight, and anchors a series of big set pieces. This is Billy Porter’s episode, and he knocks it out of the park, committing hard enough to make sure that, no matter how campy the action is, it remains watchable. Here’s the actual plot of the episode: Pray Tell has an adverse reaction to AZT just as it comes time to do his AIDS cabaret, and grapples with his reasons for continuing to live and fighting against HIV.
Of course, there’s more to it than that. The episode hints at Pray Tell’s ongoing class issues in the form of his hospital roommate Lewis Carter, who arrives to have a single scene centered on a class-based conflict (he refuses to identify as a “queen” because he went to college). We also learn that Pray Tell was sexually abused by his stepfather, who Pray dramatically forgives in a fevered state. I have mixed feelings about the way this information is handled, since it seems to come up very briefly and then immediately get smoothed over. I know that emotional texture and nuance is not the point of Pose, or anything in the broader Ryan Murphy production universe, but this history of abuse feels like something that might be worth spending a few minutes exploring.
Meanwhile, as Pray Tell hallucinates and goes through his medical issues, Angelica Ross appears as Candy to serve as the voice of his death drive. Just come into the light, she says in so many words. It’s easier to be dead, and to just let it all go. What is Candy’s ongoing presence supposed to represent here? Is she supposed to be just as difficult and unpleasant as a ghost? Does she have a point? Are we to believe that she really did have HIV, even though she was “careful” with her tricks? There’s no real guiding principle here, and it might be a mistake to look for one. This is one of those elements of the show where it might be best not to think too hard, simply because trying to force it all inside the lines threatens to topple the whole thing over.
Another element of this episode it’s perhaps best to take on face value: the way credited writers Brad Falchuk and Our Lady J play around with the character of Frederica the landlord in fun, predictable ways—when Frederica first shows up at the salon trying to get Blanca to take down her flyers, it feels easy to imagine an end of the episode where the two women become friends. After all, Pose believes deeply in the power of being yourself loud enough in the general direction of your enemies. Instead, Frederica shows up to perform at the benefit show, both because it’s Patti LuPone’s and we need to have her sing, and because she wants to keep Blanca occupied while her employees seize the nail salon, change the locks, and board up the property. By the end of the episode, Blanca and the rest of the ball community are putting on a new sort of public show in the form of a protest against Frederica’s actions.
One of my favorite things about Pose is the way the show positions itself as a classic piece of ’80s schlock. But that tone only works when the series can handle all of its energy levels at the same time. That means ridiculously big scenes that serve mostly to make capital-S Statements, like director Tina Mabry’s slow push in on Billy Porter as Pray Tell says, “This virus is attacking my cells 24 hours a day every day of the year. That is not reversible.” And it means smaller moments like the comic highlight of this episode, a scene in which Papi, Damon, and Angel discuss the possibility that Angel will be cast in a Guess jeans ad while accidentally driving Blanca up a wall as she tries to make the cabaret happen.
This moment takes Blanca and the kids seriously, but it’s also a way of literally putting the stakes into perspective, and of gently nudging the characters for how much they’ve focused on specific career moves this season. In letting its perspective curdle ever so slightly, Pose starts to give in to what Pray tells Blance he wants earlier in the episode: to have a temper tantrum, to react with intense negativity. It might not be the worst thing for the show to decide when that reaction is warranted.
Stay observations:
- Candy’s idea of heaven, at least in Pray Tell’s mind, is hanging out with people who died from AIDS.
- Frederica is from Scarsdale, and apparently had quite the burgeoning show business career. Except that she doesn’t like being told what to do.
- Pray Tell, in his own mind, after finishing performing to a room of hallucinatory patients (and also Pose): “I hope I entertained you.”
30 Comments
i loved every second
The abuse thing really bothered me. Not just because it was the first time it’s been mentioned, or that it happened so quickly, but rather that it felt like it was feeding into the stereotype that LGBTQ+ folx have sustained some kind of trauma to “make”us this way. It might not have quite as much traction as the “gay men are pedophiles” stereotype/trope, but it just felt unnecessary and damaging.
1000% this. I’m just bi. Trauma did not make me that way. I’m so exhausted of this gross trope.
I’m gay, and was sexually abused for several years as a kid–but that doesn’t mean that I don’t agree with you. It’s a cliche and something that either has to be carefully handled (and handled with some depth) or else, simply shouldn’t be touched. Bringing it up the way they did reeked of the worst traits of Ryan Murphy/Brad Falchuk dramas (and this episode was co-written by Falchuk–who often doesn’t get the blame Murphy does, because he isn’t so public, but I have to wonder if that is a coincidence).
I hate to write this, but this episode was a nosedive into how-Ryan-Murphy-and-Brad-Falchuk-inevitably-ruin-their-own-work territory. Maybe not *ruin*, but I just discovered Pose and I binged on the whole series up to this episode because it was so affecting. As with American Horror Story, this one sacrificed its own storytelling to cram in musical numbers and in doing so made a convoluted, unbelievable excuse to shove Patti Lupone into the show just to perform. This Jessica Lange syndrome has been terrible for AHS and it didn’t do this episode any favors.I’m already deeply involved with the characters’ lives. Pray Tell, Blanca et al are living high-stakes lives while being chased by their own monsters. Patti Lupone’s “evil landlady” character is a big fat nothing compared with Pray Tell potentially facing death. It feels almost insulting to me to spend a half hour watching this man go through his own Christmas Carol series of phantasms and visitations and then switch gears to watch self-indulgent karaoke scenes and a lame landlady subplot that comes out of nowhere. This series is very good when it focuses on character. The plot machinations for the sake of delivering a song by a Broadway star don’t help when they’re not organic to the story.
Exactly. I’m a bit surprised that this season reeks more and more of the worst traits of Murphy/Falchuk dramas, when I thought, with all of the other projects that they’re involved in, and Pose now a clear success, that they would be LESS hands on this year and showrunner/co-creator Steven Canals would have more say, but it sure doesn’t seem like it.
As I said above, it made no sense that Fredericka would use the cabaret as a way to take back the salon— there have been TONS of times when Blanca (who seems to be the only one who works there?) was away from the salon that Fredericka could have used. And yes, Fredericka is that typical Murphy/Falchuk character (Elektra has fallen into this trap sometimes too) where they want to have their cake and eat it too. They have a character (nearly always female) spout incredibly offensive things, but they make the audience feel OK with laughing at their offensive terms because they are the bad guys…
Exactly. This season is not season 1. It went Fulchick/Murray off the rails. Now I’m actually a bit sad that a perfect season is ruined by this second. It’s such a shame with such rich material to explore.
And she still could’ve seized the salon while Blanca was at the cabaret. She knew when it was! She didn’t need to actually go to it! All just contrived Patti fan service. And listen, I get it, I love her. But it undermined the credibility of the show.
Exactly! I mean, they didn’t even use it to play the plot points of Blanca feeling upset at being so easily fooled or something–she just sees what happened to her salon, says “That bitch” and… there ya go. Just a mess. (Yet, a ton of people–online anyway–seem to have loved it…)
Blanca went to some city organization that she seems to think will help her out legally. Trouble is, Blanca has NO documentation. No lease agreement, no rent receipts, paid cash, etc.
Welp, fan service is fan service. Always a crowd that’s going to lick it up! And I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with that, but you have to find a way to do it while not messing with the integrity of the show.
Exactly—something Murphy/Falchuk have a notoriously hard time reigning in…
Heck yes, it’s LuPone fan service. If you get Patti Lupone to be in your production, you better make her sing or people will riot. She is still amazing by the way.
“and apparently had quite the burgeoning show business career. Except that she doesn’t like being told what to do.”That was such a meta joke on Lupone herself
I pretty much agree with this review, but I think the things that didn’t work, bugged me much more and would knock this down to a grade.
OK, I know it was for the drama, and it gave us the excuse to hear Patti sing I’m Still Here (and I realized… amazingly, with ALL the Sondheim I’ve heard Patti sing, and with how many divas have covered that song, I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard Patti sing it before, so thanks for that, Pose)… But Blanca seems to be the only employee at her salon. She also seems to spend a lot of time *not* there. And of course isn’t there during the night, etc—why was Fredericka so obsessed with keeping Blanca occupied so they could board the place up, when they had zillion of other opportunities to do just that? (I admit, while it was corny having all the other protestors come en masse just at the right time, I did like Fredericka’s reaction—like somehow she hadn’t realize that there was a community she would be fighting).
Not mentioned in the review, but I did laugh that Elektra gave a not so great rendition of another great Sondheim song, Sooner or Later (which, oddly, Veronica on Riverdale also sang this year). It of course was written for Madonna to sing in Dick Tracy, won the Oscar (and gave us one of Madonna’s better live performances) AND was on the odd I’m Breathless concept album which is where they tacked the out of place Vogue at the end of at the last minute. So it was perfect—tying into the overused Vogue theme of this season, and Elektra’s love of Madonna (and giving us more Sondheim).
Tangent—I have an older friend who actually remembers AIDS charity cabarets (though, he didn’t go to any in hospitals), and he made a good point… Usually the bulk of them was campy, escapist, entertainment—comedy bits, drag queens, uptempo numbers… Not just songs to make the whole audience cry (as he said, they saved those for the wakes when people actually did die).
Also, I really think the show needs to be much much more conservative this season in its use of ghosts, etc (well, one ghost…) The show always had a heightened reality, but prolonged fantasy sequences don’t really do it any favours… (Especially when they’re as blunt as in other Murphy/Falchuk shows.)
Oh and congrats to MJ Rodriguez who was just cast in a major production of Little Shop of Horrors in Pasadena as Audrey (Audrey I–Amber Riley is Audrey II, aka the plant.) I’m curious how wide her acting range is, but would love to find out.
This was an A episode for me. I understand the criticisms, but I was looking at it is if it was their musical for the season. Musicals tend to have weaker plots, make less sense, than say, plays. Dialog and plot in a musical are used as ways to advance things to the next number. And that was this episode.I mean, sure. They could have spent more time exploring various topics, but they also had 4 musical numbers to cram into an hour long show.Some really great performances all around, I thought. You have two Broadway veterans doing their thing and knocking it out of the park. MJ Rodriguez has a nice voice (who knew). Plus the supporting cast is uniformly great, as always (Angelica Ross as Candy has been fantastic this season).
MJ Rodriguez has a nice voice (who knew).We did, from Season 1’s cabaret episode.
They are having a rather odd and bizarre relationship with music ( outside the usual Ballroom stuff ) this season. Could it be because of the way that Madonna is sort of influencing things from the ‘outside’ world in peculiar and unpredictable ways? Sort of in, sort of out; sort of hopeful, sort of exploitative.
I kinda feel like Candy’s presence here was lingering guilt Pray feels for how he treated her. His projection of Candy literally says she is haunting him and that “Every dark night of your soul, Candy’s gonna be there, tempting you to leave all this pain behind and come along with me.”Also, when she mentioned being safe with her tricks, I think she meant that she was safe with them after she found out she had HIV, because she says something about her not trying to hurt anybody.
This much I’ll say right off the top: over the past several years, I have grown weary of television shows casting Patti LuPone and then not letting her sing, so this episode was wish fulfillment.
Amd yes, this is most definitely Billy Porter’s Emmy reel for 2020, and if he doesn’t win an Emmy for season one, he’s a shoe-in for season two.
She was song-less on Girls. But her interactions w Andrew Rannells sort of made up for no show tunes.
1. If we’re meant to think Candy really was HIV+, this is kind of ridiculous because it means she’s a real ghost, not just Pray Tell’s hallucination/subconscious (since obviously if that were the case there would be no factual revelations about Candy).2. Was that really Mj’s singing voice? It sounded nothing like her speaking voice, it kind of threw me off.
Was that really Mj’s singing voice?Yes, that is absolutely Mj Rodriguez’ real voice; she can blow.
I’m so sad that I won’t get to see her in Little Shop. We get the boring musical theater regulars in our revival, and the west coast actually gets really exciting casting. No fair!
I didn’t realize they were doing separate casting for different regions, but I guess when it comes to live theater that makes sense.
Bummer.
Perhaps it’s a trope to keep Candy on as a ghost, but I LOVE Angelica Ross, and really, having Candy appear to Pray in death just as she was in life…that bitchy, annoying fly in the ointment…kind of makes sense. Although she was encouraging Pray Tell to end his life, it really felt to me like a motivation for him to live, if only not having to see Candy try and vogue (badly) in Heaven. If they use it sparingly, it should be okay.
but I LOVE Angelica Ross, and really, having Candy appear to Pray in death just as she was in life…that bitchy, annoying fly in the ointment…kind of makes sense. Not to mention, she looked absolutely gorgeous, and that dress was everything.
Where is the anachronism in the “Sometimes It Snows in April” performance? The song was first released on the Prince album Parade, which came out in 1986. The show is currently in 1990.
This episode was hot garbage but we got Patti Lupone singing Sondheim so at least there’s that. Can Evil Landlady and Elektra just run away together to some posh locale and abandon the rest of these people or????