Across the pond, we had to wait a little less time for the second season of "Pose" as the first was delayed for so long. Having liked that first run, the second does, for my money, experience some diminishing returns due to repeated stories, a slightly longer episode run and unnecessary (and lengthy) flights of fancy, but still feels hugely relevant.
Blanca (MJ Rodriguez) having inspired her children to aim for their goals sets her sights on hers, her own nail salon. Angel (Inyda Moore) experiences some success as a model, but always with the threat of her secret unravelling the whole thing. Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain) and Ricky's (Dyllon Burnside) relationship suffers from trust issues whilst Ricky is abroad. Meanwhile Madonna takes "vogue" mainstream and ACT UP continue to push for HIV awareness and action.
I want to preface the rest by saying that I still think that the show was good. Performances are great, unbelievable work by the casting agents to find these actors for authentic representation. It's dealing with important subject matters and providing a needed history lesson on the aids crisis, gentrification, representation, discrimination and cultural appropriation. It's still funny, the ballroom scenes are still good and there's still an edge of tension and I feel that something horrible is capable of happening to anyone in the cast at any time.
That said, I don't think this second season was as tight as the first. There was more repetition to the storylines and the show takes a few turns away from realism and towards a more "Angels In America" type fantasy elements following the death of one of the characters. If that had been contained to a single episode, that might have made sense, but it continues on for the rest of the run and the character appears in the story more than she did when she was alive.
I'll still be back for season three, but I already think that it probably is the best choice to end the show at that point.
