Emmy Episodes: Pose

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the fourth year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Pose: Season 1, Episode 3 “Giving and Receiving” (B+)

It always feels weird to be watching a Christmas episode in the summer, and though I’m more than a year behind this installment’s original airdate, it was broadcast in June. The holiday spirit here was an effective framework which included a whole lot of character development. I don’t remember seeing any of Pray Tell’s personal life in the first episode, and I’m starting to see that there is considerable depth to star Billy Porter’s Emmy-nominated performance aside from just his formidable opening narration at each ball. This episode continued to show me that Mj Rodriguez is tremendously deserving of accolades of her own for her turn as Blanca, and this episode found her being both protective of her children and sentimental when she needed to give them a win for the holidays. Elektra’s backstory was also delved into briefly as she expressed a lack of satisfaction and comfort with the way she is, desiring an operation to make her feel truly who’s she meant to be. It’s nice that Damon’s relationship with Ricky seems to be proceeding along well, with Ricky walking for the first time and Damon benefiting from the mentorship of his house mother to ensure that his dance career can actually take off despite his missteps aong the way. As some sympathy has been created for Stan, who is so drawn to Angel, there’s none of that left for Matt, who got mad at his underling for inadvertently going over his head and took it out on him by going to his house, kissing his wife, and telling her that he never made Stan work late. That’s vindictive behavior even by the standards of most of the characters on this show. Stan may have covered for now, but Angel won’t likely soon let him forget that he let her down in the process.