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After some very heavy drama on the first two episodes of Pose this season, the third episode takes a decidedly lighter tone — with a pretty serious matter — giving some of the cast a chance to really cut loose. Of course there was still a bit of drama and some damp eyes but there is no doubt that ‘Butterfly/Cocoon’ was one of the funniest episode of the series so far.
On the drama side of things, Angel made it into the top five candidates to be the Ford Modeling Agency’s Fresh Face of 1990. On top of that, she suddenly found her friendship with Lil Papi blooming into a full blown romance … something she wasn’t quite ready for and feared it would screw up the relationship they already have. But she agreed to go on a date with Papi who really stepped up when Angel got the call that she did not win the modeling contest (and she took her anger out on Blanca for daring to fill her head with such dreams that she could actually be someone and do something with her life). But in the same way that Papi stepped up for Blanca, he did for Angel.
And then another call came from Miss Ford. Angel went back to the office — with an attitude, the thing that Ford told her cost her the contest, but that attitude might serve her well for a new makeup campaign. Arriving for a photo shoot, Angel proved she was a diamond in the rough, capturing the admiration of the photographer but when 7:30 came, Angel wanted to go meet Papi for their date. The photog said they were booked until 9:00 and she could be a social butterfly or a supermodel, the choice was hers. Unfortunately, this is 1990 and no one has a cell phone yet so poor Papi was left holding a bouquet outside the restaurant while she did her thing … and then went clubbing with the other girls afterwards. But she had great news — she was going to be the face of the campaign, and while Papi was hurting, he was still a perfect gentleman about it, excited for her success, but still making it clear she hurt him and one day she’ll see that he’s the man for her because he knows she’s the woman for him. These two are just too cute. I hope things don’t take a bad turn for them.
On the ‘funny’ side of the episode — and it really isn’t funny but it was sure played for laughs — Elektra had another session with Paul at The Hellfire Club. Again, Paul insisted on his coke and poppers, this time with a gas mask that would slowly release the scent of the poppers instead of giving him a big hit all at once. Asking for 20 minutes to let everything kick in before she started beating him, Elektra left the room, had a snack, read a magazine, did her nails and went back to find Paul … dead, choked on his own vomit.
She wasted no time in fleeing the scene and seeking advice from an unlikely source — Blanca. She should have known that Miss Goody Two Shoes would insist Elektra call the police and tell them what happened, but Elektra was not down with that. Instead she decided to seek advice from someone else who would not tell her to call the police, Candy, who did not help matters by telling Elektra that regardless of what actually happened, she’d be charged with murder and she’d never survive Rikers Island. But she knew someone who could help Elektra with her problem (note that apparently no one at the club knows there is a dead man in Elektra’s room).
Blanca insisted on following Elektra and isn’t so thrilled that they keep adding more people to this little incident. Now they pay a visit to a friend of Candy’s, played by RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s Peppermint, who relates a story of her own about how a sexual encounter with a man in the back seat of a car led to a fight that ended with her being arrested after the white man told the white police that the transsexual attacked him. She knew it would be just as bad or worse for a woman like Elektra but she knew someone who could help. Yep, one more ingredient added to this pot.
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That woman turned out to be Ms. Orlando, the woman who gave Candy the bad injections that nearly killed her. Ms. Orlando had no interest in doing anything for Candy, but Elektra flashed a wad of cash in her face and her tune changed. She knew exactly what to do and it included a suitcase, some lye, pleather and a sewing kit. Having had experience with this kind of situation in her homeland, Ms. Orlando helped Elektra and Candy ‘cocoon’ Paul’s body in the pleather, sewing it up tight so nothing leaked out as he decomposed, placing the cocoon in a trunk and the trunk in the closet which would, as Elektra sadly proclaimed, would be with her forever. The mental stress of a dead body is something she’s going to have to deal with now, feeling at night that he’s in the room with her, and taking time to say a prayer over the trunk every night. The whole thing was macabre, a bit cringey as they had to smush Paul’s body into a fetal position (and bravo to Frank De Julio for being such a pro … although I’d love to see outtakes to see how many times they all cracked up trying to do this creepy scene), but the performances of Dominique Jackson (Elektra) and Angelica Ross (Candy) were terrific.
There was also a great moment between Elektra and Blanca that took place before Ms. Orlando told them what was going to happen. The two still have that mother/daughter relationship and as her mother, Elektra insisted — very gently and very caringly — that Blanca leave the room because Elektra didn’t want her dragged into this any more than she already was. The less Blanca knew at this point, the better (although Elektra did finally confess to her what they all did with the body). It was a very sweet moment and gave us a look at Elektra’s softer side. I’m sure, however, that it won’t be long before the Houses of Evangelista and Wintour are at each others’ throats in the ballroom (speaking of which, we only got one brief ballroom scene with Pray Tell this week).
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While everyone did great work this week, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Cecilia Gentili who played Ms. Orlando. Ms. Gentili is a trans and AIDS advocate in her ‘real’ life, the Assistant Director of Public Affairs at GMHC. According to her bio she acts for fun. Her IMDB listing shows just two jobs, and both of those are episodes of Pose. After this week, I think it’s time to consider giving Ms. Orlando a comedy spinoff of her own because Gentili was magnificent. Are you listening, Ryan Murphy?
And by the way, as outlandish as the whole cocooning thing seemed, it was based on an actual event. When drag performer Dorian Corey — who was quoted at the end of the episode — died, a trunk was found among his belongings that contained the mummified body of a man but with no one left alive to explain what happened, how he got in that trunk in Dorian’s closet remains a mystery.
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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