Here’s everything we know about ‘Pose’ S2

Get ready, children – the ballroom is calling you. We’re delighted to announce that the second season of Pose will sashay into your bingewatch list over at FX on Sunday, June 11th, 2019 at 9pm. With such illustrious news, it’s only fair we spill the beans on why the season premiere of Pose should be a date you add to your TV watching schedule.

The second teaser for S2 just dropped and we’re just crazy about it.

Pose is stacked with milestones. The FX drama features the largest transgender cast in TV history and boasts the first transgender woman of color to direct an episode of television, thanks to the talents of best-selling writer Janet Mock.

Those are some outstanding foundations to rest a show of this power upon, but dig deeper and Pose is harboring even more firsts. You can even bingewatch S1 now on Netflix if you want a rewatch or need to get your fix.

Pose is one of the first shows in a long time that we’ve so passionately gone crazy for. Within the eight episodes of the near-flawless first season, it’s proven itself luminous, devastating, life-affirming, horrifying, majestic, profound, and nothing short of mesmerizing.

The writing on Pose is masterful, bounding between heavy sociopolitical and LGBTQI issues against a period backdrop of the 80s, while capably serving up an entertaining narrative – not an easy feat at all.

What to expect from the Pose S2 plot

Pose takes pride in focusing on queer people of color and telling their stories as loudly and as beautifully as they deserve to be heard, offering a reminder of those who fought for the LGBTQI community to be treated with respect and dignity. The action takes place in 1980s ballroom culture. Blanca’s new House of Evangelista battles with her ex-house mother Elektra’s House of Abundance.

We’ve heard S2 picks up in 1990, a year after the events of the S1 finale. Producer Ryan Murphy has revealed S2 will begin on the day Madonna released her hit single Vogue, which shone a light on the ballroom community, taking the underground scene mainstream. “Pose season two will be about the reaction of our characters to that moment where their community is suddenly put on display.”

A history of firsts

Pose S1 was groundbreaking, one of the first TV shows to portray a well-written romantic relationship between complex gay characters of color. It’s one of the first shows to explore the fetishization of transgender women by cisgender men, and one of the first to delve into the intricacies of gender reassignment surgery.

Pose is also created by one of the largest LGBTQI cast and crews in history, making breakout stars of several skilled character actors. Dominique Jackson, Angelica Ross, Dyllon Burnside, and breakout star Indya Moore all had us completely invested in their respective characters and their journeys.

Pose is a powerhouse of storytelling – an epic ensemble piece that juggles several wide and intimate plotlines at once without ever dropping momentum. A swarm of emotion is packed in every scene. In combating some of the historical revisionism and appropriation of ball and drag culture, the show explores how ballroom isn’t solely an aesthetic or a performance, but is survival itself.

Casting

MJ Rodriguez returns as Blanca; Dominique Jackson plays Elektra (Blanca’s ballroom nemesis); Indya Moore returns as Angel, the beautiful and conflicted trans sex worker; Billy Porter returns as our hero Pray Tell, the NYC balls’ inimitable emcee; Evan Peters returns as Stan, businessman and sometime love interest of Angel; and Kate Mara is back as Patty, Stan’s wife.

New cast members include Tony-winner Patti Lupone and verteran comedienne Sandra Bernhard. Murphy even teased that Bette Midler and Judith Light might make their way into S2 . . . only time will tell.

From the mouth of Blanca

Here’s what Blanca had to say about S2 from the first teaser:

“Being a mom is great. These kids can always lean on me no matter what. If they fall, they know I am always going to be there. Even if I am gone. My words are powerful and I hope I can live to tell the story. I want my legacy to be love.”

Pose is a family drama unlike any other seen before on TV, arguably more rich, complex, and emotional than the weep-fodder melodrama of an ensemble family show like This is Us. Authenticity seeps from behind the scenes and strikes bold and proud on screen, subverting mainstream storytelling tropes and structures of family, womanhood, relationships, and queerness.

If Pose can continue to walk to tens across the board, it has shining longevity ahead and an opportunity to reshape television as we know it.