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We knew it wasn’t a good idea to fuck with Frederica Norman. Blanca really thought she had the upper hand but after the little tirade Ms. N threw about how Blanca had humiliated her in front of the male dominated real estate market in New York City, Blanca should have been spending the night in her nail salon. Of course, the first thought when Blanca got a phone call at four in the morning was that something bad had happened, possibly to Damon since he’d left to tour with Malcolm McLaren. But it wasn’t Damon … it was the nail salon, completely gutted by a fire fueled by the highly flammable products one normally finds in a nail salon. Nothing suspicious about this tragedy at all … yeah, right, especially after Frederica pays a visit to the scene of the crime and is none too subtle that she was behind it in order to drive Blanca out — bye bye life savings — and collect a pretty penny on the insurance money (something no one bothered to tell Blanca she should have as well).
Now with her family broken up and her business in ruins, what’s a girl to do? One thing I’m enjoying about Pose this season is that, while they may not be the bestest of friends, Blanca and Elektra have rekindled their Mother/Daughter relationship, and perhaps Elektra’s successful career as a dominatrix (is she still hostessing at Indochine?) has put her in a better mood as well … of course, the women have also bonded over the very big — and occasionally smelly — secret lurking in Elektra’s bedroom closet (and the scene of Elektra hanging dozens of pine-scented car deodorizers in the closet was pretty funny). So it was Elektra whom Blanca went to after the salon was gone. And it was Elektra who decided to save the day thanks to one of her current clients, a rich dude with a beach house who likes to be bound and isolated for hours, or days, on end. The guy wants Elektra to leave him in the Hellfire Club overnight but she refuses to comply as she doesn’t have a good track record of leaving her clients alone, and she doesn’t need another trunk in her closet stinking up the place. So she talks him into letting her attend to his needs at his beach house. She can leave him in a cage in the garage, blindfolded and audibly cut off with headphones, check on him once in a while and she and the girls can enjoy themselves for the weekend.
The drive to Long Island was a hoot, especially when everyone found out Elektra bought a fake Driver’s License. She has no idea how to drive, and the shot of her borrowed car taking up two lanes with traffic backed up behind them was every driver’s nightmare. But it was great to see her and Blanca, Lulu and Angel really bonding, all of them still feeling the pain of Candy’s death. Elektra even admits to Lulu that she felt bad about not paying her last respects to Candy at her casket, but Lulu assured her that the send-off they gave Candy would have been exactly what she wanted. That made Elektra feel a bit better. Now the only thing bringing down the weekend is the lack of adult beverages in the house.
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It was also great to see Elektra, Angel and Lulu living their best lives, unconcerned about ‘being clocked’ by anyone as they strutted around in their swimsuits. Elektra was mortified by Blanca’s choice of a shirt and cut-off jeab shorts but she’s not as comfortable as the others. That just would not do for Mother, so she insisted they get her an appropriate swimming garment for the beach … and Blanca finally saw herself in a new light. It was liberating for her, and I think for the viewers as well. Blanca, for all her positive points, has always felt a bit repressed, trying to pass in the ‘real world’ as a woman but never seeming to feel that that’s who she is. Mother Elektra, it seems, has finally given her the confidence to be who she wants to be. It even got her to push Angel to be a little more open in the beach. It did seem like everyone on the beach was staring at them, and from my perspective it was because this was four Black women on a predominantly White beach. Angel felt like they were being clocked. But she and Blanca waded out into the ocean … and then Blanca nearly drowned! She was rescued by a very hunky lifeguard — Elektra dubbed him Black Hasslehoff — and that ‘kiss of life’ was full of electricity.
Later, the ladies ventured out to a local restaurant and had a grand old time. So much so that one of the locals approached the table and complained that they were being too loud. She also wasn’t shy about telling them that they all knew what they were: men pretending to be women. Ms Ill-fitting J. Crew Culottes did not know who she was messing with and Elektra read the woman for filth, dismissing the woman back to her table with a wave of her hand and settling back down with Angel and Lulu. Blanca had just excused herself before the altercation and who happened to be in the lobby on the phone? Black Hasselhoff! He ended his call and finally introduced himself as Adrian, sparks flew again and he invited Blanca for a walk on the beach. She went back to tell the girls and Elektra objected, fearful she’d end up a body on the beach but the newly confident Blanca was going to grab this bull by the horns.
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Blanca and Adrian did enjoy the walk on the beach and she even managed to reveal her truth to him without actually coming out and saying exactly what that was. And she didn’t have to because he said he knew … and he didn’t care! And he’s not just a lifeguard, he’s going to school in Florida … to be a doctor! Oh girl, you hit the jackpot! The sun was up and the other girls were about to call the po-po when Blanca finally came home, more blissful than we’ve ever seen her before. Has she found her knight in shining armor? She said she gave Adrian her phone number but she really doesn’t expect him to call. But it’s time to head back to the city, and Elektra makes sure her client is able to get out of his cage before they leave.
Heading back down the LIE to En Vogue’s ‘Hold On’, Elektra sees someone else in the back seat with Angel and Lulu — Candy! Singing along with the song, doing kicks and silently letting Elektra know all is well and there are no hard feelings. And then she was gone. Back at Blanca’s apartment, Angel saw there was a message on the answering machine and it was … Adrian! He called! Blanca had already asked Angel to spend the night with her, but Angel’s going to have to go to her room alone until Blanca gets off the phone. For once, everything seems completely right with the world and the folks at Pose gave us a refreshing, uplifting, light-hearted but still important story — with some great music — that feels all the more urgent in today’s political climate.
Now let’s hope that the season finale isn’t one big sob-fest! And who will win Mother of the Year?
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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