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With only three episodes remaining after this week’s, Pose is pulling out all the stops to showcase the supporting players we really don’t know all that much about, and putting together an amazing guest cast for this episode as well. Last time we got to see where Elektra came from and the relationship with her mother that made her the person she is today. This week the focus is squarely on Pray Tell, fitting since the episode opens with the devastating scenes of Pray suffering from ‘night sweats’, a common effects of AIDS, followed by the sucker punch of the medical diagnosis that Pray is now suffering from AIDS-related lymphoma … cancer. And the doctor says there isn’t much that can be done to help him, rendering a vedict of six months to live. Blanca and Judy aren’t going to accept the words of a single doctor, and Pray also vows to fight but he seems to feel the writing is on the wall, needing now to make peace with his past.
And that sends Pray home to his mama (Anna Maria Horsford) and his Aunties (Jackée Harry & Janet Hubert) to deliver the news to them with all honesty. But this is the first time Pray (his mother calls him Prayful, so perhaps that’s his legal name) has been home in twenty years and going back has the potential to open up a whole can of worms. Meeting his family shows us three very different women, connected by blood and the church, but each of them have different relationships with Pray. He’s already had to deal with them when he came out, but telling them he’s dying is a very different thing for them to deal with. Mama Charlene is overcome with emotion and leaves the kitchen table. Aunt Latrice (Janet Hubert) begins spouting Bible verses at Pray, not something he needs or wants to hear at this moment. And neither does Aunt Jada (Jackée Harry), who reminds her sister how the church treated her when she got divorced. Jada is the only one of the three who offers Pray her wholehearted support, but it’s his mother he needs to confront. But until he can do that, Latrice suggests he comes with her to church while she’s rehearsing a song with two of the congrgants. Oh, and he can catch up with Pastor Vernon Jackson.
Pray is surprised to hear that Vernon is the church’s pastor considering the relationship he had with Pray when they were teenagers. He’s also surprised to hear that Vernon is married to Ebony, Pray’s best friend in high school, the one person who knows all of their tea. So why would Vernon get married, and why would Ebony marry him of all people? Pray does pop in to hear the magnificent singing, and comes face to face with Vernon. After everyone leaves they catch up a bit but Pray isn’t shy about airing out all of their laundry. We see in a flashback the connecting between Pray and Vernon that led to a kiss in the church that was witnessed by Aunt Latrice. Vernon tells Pray that he made a choice to change his life and God showed him the way, but Pray isn’t buying it. Neither is Vernon because he tells Pray that he was the love of his life. But that was then, so why not join him, Ebony and the kids for dinner. Nothing terrible will come of that, right?
But Pray still has to deal with him mama, and here we learn that he used to sneak off to New York City when he was a teen but that last time he never came home. Pray tells his mother that he had to leave because her husband (his stepfather) was sexually abusing him … and she knew and did nothing about it. Charlene denies that she knew what was going on, and tries to defend her husband saying she needed a man in her life after Pray’s father died, and he was a good man. Pray begs to differ, but he’ll deal with her after his dinner with the Jacksons. Pray enjoys the children, but Vernon is called away to visit a parishoner who is close to death, leaving Pray and Ebony alone to catch up. And catch up they do, as Pray bluntly asks how she can be married to a man she knows is a homosexual. Ebony points out that the five year age difference between the children is because Vernon wouldn’t have sex with her. She knew the score, she thought marriage would change him, and now she wants Pray to give her advice on how to please her man. It’s all a bit much for him to take in, but he bluntly tells her their marriage is a disaster.
While having a smoke outside, Vernon returns home and asks Pray to go for a walk with him. They go to a local park where it seems, from the conversation, that they used to enjoy some time with each other. Vernon comes clean with Pray and tells him that he’s never gotten over him and he really wants to make things work between them. Pray reminds Vernon that he’s dying, he’s got six months to live, what does Vernon think leaving his family at this point will accomplish? Pray says that rewriting his past is not going to change his future. Vernon says he was with Pray at the beginning and he wants to be there with him at the end, to give him all that love in his final days that he regretfully didn’t when he had the chance. Pray is dubious but he tells Vernon that he’ll be returning to New York City Sunday, the bus leaves at 5:00. Vernon promises he’ll be there.
As his time home draws to a close, Pray has to confront his mother one more time and she finally admits that she knew what was going on and she’s sorry for not stopping it. That apology was all Pray needed, and he even agrees to attend church one last time before heading home. After the choir performs (and let’s give a shout out to Jordan Aaron Hall who played the young Pray in the flashbacks … what an amazing voice he has), Aunt Latrice invites a man who hasn’t been to their church in quite some time to come up and favor them with a song. Charlene and Jada give Pray the nod that the invitation is for him, and when he stands it makes Latrice very happy. It also seems to make Ebony very concerned. Pray takes to the stage and delivers a soul-stirring, deeply emotional, breathtaking rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘This Day’. It brings Ebony to her feet first, the choir joins in and everyone else is on their feet as well while mama and the aunties are touched deep down in their hearts. Everyone was feeling the spirit. When Pray walked past Vernon, Vernon grabbed his hand and wouldn’t let go. But he did and Pray left everyone in tears.
But the time has come to say goodbye. Pray has made peace with his mother, Aunt Latrice tells him she always has and always will love him, but it’s a lunch with Jada that brings the reality of the situation back to the forefront. Jada asks if Pray forgives her, but he has nothing to forgive her for. She tells him she knew what his stepfather was doing and she didn’t say or do anything about it. He assures her that it wasn’t her place to do anything. But she wants him to know that she will be there for him when he needs her. She hits him with some hard truth that when he dies, the people he considers family will not be able to do anything for him or get anything because they aren’t blood. She wants to be the one to take care of his needs and final wishes by having him sign over his power of attorney. She asks what he wants when he dies … a parade? Pray chuckles and tells her he wants to complete opposite. He wants to be cremated and he wants her to buy lockets to put some of his ashes in and give them to his mama, Latrice, herself, Blanca and all the children. But not Elektra! That bitch ain’t getting any part of him. They have a good laugh. Shortly after, Pray waits at the bus stop as the time of departure approaches. He perks up when he sees a car coming that he thinks is Vernon, but the car passes. It’s probably no surprise that Vernon was not going to drop everything for Pray, but at least he can return home with a lot of weight lifted from his shoulders.
Next week, it looks like we’re going to get an Angel & Papi episode.
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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