'P-Valley' Episode 1 Review: In a shuttered town, Pynk strip club is only money magnet with vultures circling
Spoilers for 'P-Valley' Episode 1
In the premiere episode of 'P-Valley', we are quickly immersed in the world of the "Dirty Delta" where the Pynk strip club operates. It is the only place that is "popping" for miles around besides the church. Most of the businesses are shuttered, and there is an air of decay with piles of trash in corners.
Whether it is deliberate or not, the first episode underlines the sense of despair and strife around the little pockets of prosperity. The only time things seem right is when the lights of Pynk turn on, and the mesmerizing pink and blue lights of the stage fall on the girl's bodies doing impossible stunts on the pole. It gives the phrase "turning tricks" a new meaning, as the girls rise while they fall, and money rains down on them in the haze of smoke and palpable desire of the patrons crowding around the stage.
Very quickly, we get the dynamics of both the town and the club. But the story starts with the mysterious Hailey (Elarica Johnson). The first few scenes show her, with a bruised face, fishing out a suitcase in a flooded town. She gets on a bus, escaping with others, and then gets off in a no-name town.
Changing her hair and calling herself Autumn Night, she ends up in Pynk taking part in an amateur "booty contest". When she dances on stage, it is like she is in a trance as she remembers being beaten half to death. She lets herself go on stage in a way none of the other girls do. When she wins, she gets envious looks and baleful glares, underlining the one thing that makes her different from the other girls hoping to make money — her lighter skin.
Even Mercedes (Brandee Evans), the reigning queen of Pynk, has her hackles up as soon as Autumn comes in because in the business, sizing up customers and competition are equally important life skills. Uncle Clifford (Nathaniel Nicco-Annan), taloned and fabulous, is the owner of the club and identifies as female. She is a mother hen, which also makes her a bad businesswoman. Despite all the cash rolling in, she is so busy helping out people, including her girls, that the club is threatened with foreclosure.
With Mercedes on her way out to become a youth dance coach, Uncle Clifford is eager to find the next rainmaker and Autumn, distant, poetic, and light-skinned, seems to be her pick. This is something Mercedes seems to sense and resents, purposely putting Autumn in vulnerable situations, when she isn't biting her head off verbally. After all, the club is possibly the only place where Mercedes has any power.
Mercedes' home life is a toxic wasteland with a preacher mother, who shames her and uses "holy" blackmail and theatrics to stage what can only be called "cash grabs" from Mercedes. The self-loathing she instills in her daughter means that Mercedes can never redefine herself as an artist and as worthy, even though she tries to. In the end, she only sees herself as her mother does — "a whore" who needs "saving".
'P-Valley' seems to be setting up a conflict between the church and the strip club as the town's money magnet through Mercedes and her mother. Pynk only seems to wield its power at night, with Diamond, the bouncer, enforcing its rules, while the daylight hours bring humiliation and despair to its denizens with people flocking to the church. Daylight hours also bring abuse as all the girls seem to have toxic home environments, including new mother Keyshawn (Shannon Thornton) aka "Miss Mississippi", who turns up at the club rehearsals frequently with bruises from her "loving" boyfriend.
Episode 1 concentrates mostly on the girls and their skills but we do get an eyeful of some of the more colorful patrons like Lil' Murdah (J Alphonse Nicholson) — a bad rapper whose rhymes Mercedes rejects. Uncle Clifford however seems to be more enamored with him and vice versa — it will interesting to see how 'P-Valley' handles their romance. All in all, the first episode reveals just enough for us to rain attention and conceals just enough to have us come back another night.
'P-Valley' premiered on July 12 at 9 pm ET on Starz.