'Pose' lines up another happy ending for its beautiful Season 2 finale

There isn’t another show on television that can match the sheer joy of Pose. Last season’s finale was remarkable because it had a fairy-tale ending for characters that don’t usually get attention, let alone the spotlight, and a show with different intentions might have gone in the other direction for its second season’s last episode, which aired Tuesday night.

But nope: Pose once again twisted the historical aura of trauma around the ballroom community, used it to uplift its most beloved faces, and everyone went home happy. Even after two seasons, that still feels revolutionary.

From the moment this episode began with a heartbreaking look at Blanca, sick and alone in her apartment after letting her children fly off to their destined careers, there was a very real threat that mama Evangelista wasn’t going to make it out of the finale. That threat, which could at times feel like a Sword of Damocles on a show with so many HIV-positive characters, instead became a reason for Pray Tell and the Evangelista kids to prove Pose’s thesis that family and legacy come from what people choose to do with their time, and not even death could stop someone as good as Blanca from changing people’s lives.

And she has changed lives! Because of Blanca, Angel soared in a modeling career that, while fraught with setbacks, is back on track thanks to the unyielding positivity of Lil Papi, who found his own purpose as a talent agent for trans and queer models. Blanca pulled Pray Tell back from the brink of death and fought for dear, departed Candy at her own funeral. The most important element of her legacy, however, is in Damon revealing that he started a branch of House Evangelista in Paris, where he is now a father to a new generation of Evangelista kids. Blanca’s legacy is secure and her work is still not over.

One of the magical things about Pose is how the reality of its cast and creative team informs what kinds of stories the show can tell. Blanca’s journey is the heart of the show, but the finale also tackles community conflicts that could only arise when the writers and directors have the lived experience of being queer and trans people of color. One of this season’s bubbling B-plots came to a head in a quiet conversation between Ricky and Pray Tell, where they discuss the constraints of black masculinity and how it makes them think about themselves as black, gay men.

The tenderness and clarity of language in that conversation reads as something that could only be written, and written as well, by someone with firsthand experience of that dynamic. It’s the perfect example of why Pose’s diversity, and any diversity in Hollywood creative teams, is a net good in the world of entertainment. Fairy tale or not, Pose benefits from bringing underserved voices to the table — a lesson that every single current show or upcoming project should always keep in mind.

So here they all are at the end of Season 2: Blanca is alive, aided by a wheelchair, and adopting two new baby Evangelistas to keep good kids off the street. Pray Tell is in love with Ricky and reunited with Blanca, having given himself permission to explore his feminine side. Damon and Ricky are both working dancers, Angel and Lil Papi are off to Berlin to continue their careers and are recently engaged (they proposed to each other at the same time), and Elektra wins Mother of the Year for the House of Wintour. Cue a clink of two champagne glasses and a rain of confetti.

Pose is truly a joyful show. While this season did explore grief and violence in some of its more powerful episodes, it’s still nice to think that almost everyone shot two-for-two on getting a happy ending. Wherever future seasons might take these characters, that’s a beautiful record to have, for an equally beautiful two seasons of Pose.