'P-Valley' Episode 4 Review: Sister Patrice and Andre prey on Mercedes and Uncle Clifford like vultures
In a high voltage episode, 'P-Valley' shows how a stripper's life mimics her dance on a pole where the temporary ascent is always followed by her falling, slamming down hard on the stage floor. Mercedes, the "OG" of The Pynk, should know this better than most. And yet, she crows over the other dancers in the club who are scared about the club shutting down, taking away their only source of income.
When the dancers, feeling betrayed, berate her for not telling them earlier about Uncle Clifford's debt, she berates them right back for not thinking of an exit plan. "I've been stacking for seven years," she says for "her out" -- a gym where she can sell dance lessons for $250 a month subscription. She looks confident and secure, only rattled by the fact that her mother, Patrice, is not answering her calls. Her ticket to freedom lies in the $20,000 parked in the church's building fund that Patrice gets out for the gym property's downpayment.
Patrice, however, is hit by a "revelation" after she takes out the money. When the church's pastor tells her to "find another church" if she doesn't behave, "Sister" Patrice does possibly the worst thing she has ever done to Mercedes in the series. She buys the gym space right out from under her with the $20,000 to "start her own church". With one stroke, Patrice becomes her daughter's worst enemy -- a predator who says 'God made her do it' to excuse herself.
The $20,000 represents seven years of Mercedes' labor and Mercedes loses it on the street and attacks her mother, still dressed in her outfit for her "last dance" at The Pynk. This could be the last straw for "Strong" Mercedes, who has never broken down till now. But at the end of the episode, she is crying with an expression of a lost child in the cop car after their fight is reported to the police. She realizes she is going nowhere and has to start her savings from square one.
'P-Valley' in a canny way usually mirrors what is happening at the Pynk with a B-plot about what is happening in Chucalissa. Just like Patrice robs Mercedes of her wealth, Andre is doing the same to Uncle Clifford. Autumn in her sharp incisive way hands out three pieces of her wisdom in this episode and every one of them hit home. First, she tells Mercedes "not to cut herself" when she tries to crawl back through a window once her gym dream goes up in smoke.
Her second piece of wisdom is to Uncle Clifford who asks her help to get one over Andre. "Guys like that, they always win," she says, her face etched in the weariness of what it is to fight a system that is stacked against you. While Uncle Clifford has pipe dreams of paying off his debt, halting the foreclosure, and getting the true value of his club property, Autumn knows better. "They'll get it from you, one way or the other," she says.
Thirdly, she calls out Andre on his hypocritical "savior" stance about bringing money and opportunities to Chucalissa, when he is actually robbing local people like Uncle Clifford. To be fair, Andre does try to get Uncle Clifford a fair deal but is shut down by both the mayor as well as his employers who are investing in the casino project. It seems paying the fair price of Uncle Clifford's property will make the price point "unfeasible". Thus, the casino project is only economically viable if they prey on Uncle Clifford's property by getting it for next to nothing -- all thanks to the foreclosure that the mayor promises to wrap up in two weeks. Andre after his weak attempt to champion Uncle Clifford's cause shuts up and gets with the program. After all, he has a wife waiting at home and a commission to earn.
Both Andre and Patrice say they are doing what they are doing for the greater good, but in reality, they are only looking out for themselves. They are the vultures settling in, ripping into and feasting on Mercedes and Uncle Clifford's hopes and dreams of the future.
'P-Valley' airs on Sundays at 8 PM ET on Starz.
