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 6 “Love is the Message” (B+)

Watching all but two episodes of an eight-episode season doesn’t seem like too much of a risk, but obviously I missed a major moment in the fifth hour that found Patty getting suspicious enough to track Angel down to a ball and confront her. I like that Angel was very honest with her, answering every question deliberately and truthfully, though it got less friendly when Angel had to break the news to Patty that she was trans, something Patty didn’t accept. Going in to her doctor to get an STD test showed how seriously she was taking this life news, and bringing Stan in to an appointment with a psychiatrist to tell him he needs to move out was a shrewd and formidable move. Blanca seemed excited to be with Darius, though the news that he’s been around the block made her considerably less interested. This episode, however, belonged to Billy Porter, who very smartly submitted it as his chosen episode for his Best Actor nomination. Lashing out at Blanca and the rest of House Evangelista while he was drunk was an intense moment, but nothing compared to the incredible number he sang with his boyfriend’s eyes on him as part of his AIDS benefit. The only thing that made it better was Blanca coming up there to join him for a duet, another reminder that Mj Rodriguez should also have been an Emmy nominee. I could see Porter winning for this hour, and I would completely support that choice.