2x04 Never Knew Love Like This Before

This episode of Pose was emotional, engaging, and driven by great performances from the entire cast. When Candy (co-mother of House Ferocity) is devastatingly murdered by a client just after returning to sex work, the entire ballroom community is shaken. Their grief is complicated by each of their relationships with her, as well as the implications her struggles have for their own positions in the world. The episode largely consists of conversations that take place at Candy’s funeral, many of which occur with an apparition of Candy herself. The episode ends with this vision of Candy performing in a full production number of “Never Knew Love Like This Before.”

I really appreciated that after Candy died, the living did not try to turn her into a saint or martyr. She was often portrayed as difficult, loud, and somewhat aggressive--even her last scene was a heated argument with Pray Tell that had her nearly stabbing him. But flawed as she might have been, she still mattered, and it was refreshing to see the show not qualify her right to life by suddenly trying to paint her as a perfect person. At the same time, her death wasn’t explained away or blamed on her. Pray Tell’s eulogy remembered her for all she was, good and bad, showed how much the community cared for her unconditionally, and lamented the social conditions that left her vulnerable. However, I had mixed feelings about the posthumous conversations each of the characters had with Candy. Most of them involved lingering guilt or unresolved conflict, which was then dissolved with an apology or explanation. I could see the need for these characters to process their emotions, but I wish the show had let them grapple with the tension a bit more rather than trying to tie everything up with a bow. At times it felt like these conversations served to assuage consciences and teach life lessons, as if Candy and her death (and life) were merely a tool for the character development of others. My longing to see her centered was somewhat fulfilled by the final musical performance. While it was essentially a fantasy and didn’t dig far into her character, the scene gave us the chance to see her as she saw herself, a star, celebrating her dreams and joy rather than reducing her life to the tragedy of her death.

Overall, this episode, like others, speaks to Pose’s strength in foregrounding an ensemble cast of Black and Afro-Latine characters, most of whom are trans women. This wider range of portrayals means that no one character is tokenized or forced to become a spokesperson for any aspect of their identity. It also makes for a great discussion of intersectionality (speaking as a teacher), as the differences between the characters (whether in race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, or anything else) highlight their unique positions as they navigate various social contexts and come up against systems of oppression.

4/5 stars