'P-Valley' Episode 6: Keyshawn becomes Lil' Murda's partner and his beard for fame but is she too ambitious?
Keyshawn (Shannon Thornton) has not only glowed up but she is blowing up too now. The clip with her dancing to Lil' Murda's (J. Alphonse Nicholson) 'Fallin' song is now reaching stratospheric viral fame and she is milking it for all its worth. She calls Lil' Murda over for a private tête-à-tête and Lil' Murda meets her, expecting the worst.
But all she wants is him to team up with her so that they can ride the fame wagon on the viral song for as long as they can and possibly leverage it to secure some big-ticket contracts and money-making deals. Lil' Murda isn't too strategic about his career and his "manager" is equally incompetent, as Keyshawn points out. So her advice could get Lil' Murda the recording contract he is hankering after.
Keyshawn is terribly anxious to milk the attention before it goes away because she knows that virality like this is rare. She is dying to break into the big league so she can leverage her beauty into some form of real security for herself and her baby. So she also ropes Lil' Murda to cozy up with her on her Instagram videos to boost her following and also publicizing a "Murda Night" at the Pynk. They are the perfect rapper and stripper combo, designed to get the likes and heart emojis.
Later, she also acts as Lil' Murda's beard in front of his entourage. She pretends they are in a relationship, even kissing him while giving him a lap dance, to divert suspicion when they ask who he has been with lately since he has been ditching them frequently. Lil' Murda, who is obviously still not comfortable coming clean to them about dating Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan), grabs the chance to reassert his heterosexuality.
What Uncle Clifford will think about all this is a separate question. Especially since Uncle Clifford allows Lil' Murda to meet his "granmuva", blind Miss Ernestine (Loretta Devine), who is his only family and the former proprietress of the Pynk. The three spend a cozy evening together with Lil' Murda winning Miss Ernestine's approval and Uncle Clifford falling a little bit more in love with him as they have their first official date night.
At the club, Keyshawn faux bullies Uncle Clifford into agreeing to a Pynk night with her headlining the show. When Uncle Clifford tells her to "slow her roll", she slyly suggests calling it "Murda Night". Uncle Clifford acts annoyed but is secretly thrilled at Keyshawn's hustle. When Keyshawn's videos with Lil Murda also blow up, they catch the attention of the girls at Pynk. Their reactions range from concern to envy to straight-up venom. As Keyshawn covers up the bruises on her face, Gidget asks her why she is essentially looking to get beaten up by cozying up to Lil Murda.
The other girls also predict dire things, muttering in the background, now that Keyshawn is drawing so much attention to herself. "What are you afraid of," she screams, frustrated by their attitude. The girls' reactions mirror how Lil' Murda's entourage is behaving, wanting to knock Lil' Murda down a peg or two since he is on the cusp of fame.
All in all, it is probably Autumn (Elarica Johnson) who doesn't care about the stripping life, one way or the other, who shows Keyshawn her true place --- she isn't flying to any greater heights till she gets rid of the weight of her abusive boyfriend. Autumn also shows her the gun that she stashes in Mercedes's (Brandee Evans) erstwhile locker and tells her the combination. Be prepared for that gun to play a very significant role in the coming days.
The next episode of 'P-Valley' airs on August 30 at 8 pm ET on Starz.