'P-Valley' Episode 6: Uncle Clifford picks Patrice as Pynk’s unlikely savior while Andre atones for land grab
Episode 6 of 'P-Valley' starts off joyously with a montage of Autumn and Mercedes using a variety of fake ids (courtesy Mercedes' hot neighbor crush Mane) and fun disguises. They are the Black Thelma and Louise as they barrel down the interstate, hitting towns along the way, to withdraw stacks of money.
It is an appropriate way to start an episode that largely revolves around wealth and how it circulates out of the Black community. We have Loretta Devine, playing Uncle Clifford's blind grandma, Miss Ernestine, tell this larger story through the region's history.
She tells of a time when all of P***y Valley was a hive of activity, until one by one, all the brothels "were pushed" to the waterfront, where the floods took them, one by one. The Pynk, once a juke joint, became a "shake junt" and survived because it was "on the bluff" and "got lucky" since this location saved it from the floods. "Maybe it was God's grace," says Miss Ernestine.
So it makes perfect sense that Uncle Clifford is using Patrice's preaching to save the Pynk again, in this next round of gentrification. After getting Eloise, the mayor's much-abused secretary (and an alum of The Pynk) to spill the tea, Uncle Clifford decides to take Eloise's advice to force a city-wide vote about the casino land deal. Again, we get into the politics of gentrification as Eloise tells Uncle Clifford about the plans to transform Chucalissa into "candyland" for White, rich folk, while the Black community is pushed out, echoing the larger historical narrative of Black communities in the area.
This is when Uncle Clifford decides to do a "deal with the Devil" aka Patrice Woodbine who has been rotting in jail for nine days with no one to bail her out. Uncle Clifford leverages the Pynk's property, again, to bail her out. Telling her that she now "owes" her, she tells her she will also give her the money to start her church so she can start preaching. Uncle Clifford's plan will work in the short run because Patrice can definitely start an effective church-led campaign against the casino project and run it out of town. But what will stop her, once she has her "flock", from shutting down the only other place competing with her for her "church collections" aka The Pynk that runs on "booty money". Patrice has only shown herself to be a selfish hustler and while she might work out as a short term ally, her treatment of her own daughter shows that she holds no loyalties.
Meanwhile, Andre finally does something good after a tense stand-off with the Kyle brothers when Corbin brings up leasing rather than selling the land again. Corbin talks about "legacy", of how wealth has been passed down generations in White plantation families and he wants to do the same. But it becomes clear, soon after he makes his speech, that the Kyle brothers don't see Corbin as a brother, hating their Dad for ignoring his "real family".
They want to sell off his land because they want to get rid of his memory, while Corbin, the son of a maid, is hungry to build a new legacy on the old one. When he hesitates to sign, one of the enraged brothers pulls a Civil War-era gun, first on Corbin and then on Andre, saying that the "Civil War" was never over.
Corbin, scared of the brothers, ends up signing the deed. In that moment of extreme tension, especially after the 'Civil War' taunt, Andre realizes which side of the race war he should be pulling for.
So in another video call, he manages to convince the casino project investors to lease the land and rewrite the agreement, doing what he can to keep the wealth within the Black community. He knows this will displease the mayor, but he goes with what his gut says is right.
But as Uncle Clifford also readies her attack to save the Pynk, there are some stormy days ahead. The next episode of 'P-Valley' airs on August 30 at 8 PM ET on Starz.
