'P-Valley' Season 2: Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about Starz's breakout strip club drama
After airing only three episodes and scoring a rare "100% Fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes, 'P-Valley' has earned a quick renewal. The series's showrunner and writer Katori Hall made bold choices like the use of authentic 'slanguage' and the focus on the perspective of the strippers at The Pynk strip club. "'P-Valley' has quickly become this summer’s newest must-see television series as critics and audiences alike are taken up by the authentic and compelling characters that make The Pynk come alive,” said Christina Davis, president of original programming for Starz, about the breakout show.
Season 2 will feature 10 episodes, which is more than the eight episodes scheduled for its debut season. Based on six years of research, there are enough story arcs to pull off multiple seasons. Katori Hall has gone on record saying that when she was pitching the show, she had a five-year plan in mind for 'P-Valley'. "Katori has delivered a provocative drama that looks beyond the glitz and into the hearts and minds of these fully realized and compelling characters, exploring them through a female gaze that invites the audience to take a walk in their stilettos. We know Katori has a lot of incredible stories to tell and a lot in store for these women in a second season," said Davis, about the show's renewal. In the first few episodes of season 1 alone, there has been an exploration of why women take to stripping to the gentrification in a small Southern town like the fictional Chucalissa where the show is set. The series comes from Chernin Entertainment.
The renewal is thanks to the strong viewership numbers for the strip club drama. The show set a new record on the Starz App for 'most-viewed series premiere' at 17% above the previous record. Its viewership has also grown with every episode by 37% over the first three weeks. It ranks first among all 2020 premium shows among African American viewers and is in the Top 5 of all premium series among African American households, according to Starz and Nielsen stats.
Release Date:
Season 2 will premiere in late 2021. No date has been announced yet.
Plot:
The show focuses on The Pynk strip club and the Black Southern strippers who are center stage every night entertaining their "regulas". The show is set in Chucalissa, a small Southern town (fictional) in the Mississippi Delta, where opportunities are scarce. Katori Hall has described it as her version of "Delta Noir". The first season mostly concentrates on the mysterious figure of Autumn Night, who is described as a "bad boujee", The Pynk strip club's "OG", Mercedes, who has to deal with "respectability politics", and the club's owner, Uncle Clifford, a queer, Black male, who identifies with the pronoun “she”. We also see Andre Watkins, the prodigal son of Chucalissa, returning to his hometown to kick off a gentrification process by swinging a massive land deal for a casino project. This unfortunately also means that the waterfront property of The Pynk is under the threat of being "absorbed" into the project, something that Uncle Clifford will never allow. We soon get to see why the place is called the "Dirty Delta", as deals are made and money exchanges hands. The series' official synopsis reads: "Down deep in the Mississippi Delta lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. This southern-fried, hour-long drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a little-strip-club-that-could and the big characters who come through its doors—the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful, and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that dares to ask what happens when small-town folk dream beyond the boundaries of the Piggly Wiggly and the pawnshop."
Cast:
Brandee Evans as Mercedes
Brandee Evans plays Mercedes, the Pynk club headline act about to retire. Evans is a professional dancer and choreographer, who has worked with Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg, and Katy Perry, while dabbling in acting.
Elarica Johnson is Autumn Night
Elarica Johnson is Autumn Night, Pynk club's new performer. Johnson is a British actress known for 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', 'A Discovery of Witches', and 'Blade Runner 2049'.
Nicco Annan as Uncle Clifford
Nicco Annan played the role of Uncle Clifford, The Pynk's non-binary queer owner, in the original play 'P***y Valley' as well, but auditioned for his TV role, just like the rest of the cast. He has served as the "choreographer-in-residence" at the Yale School of Drama, and pursued a career in theater, film and television. Annan’s TV credits include the series 'Half Sisters', 'Shameless', 'This Is Us', and 'Claws'.
Parker Sawyers as Andre Watkins
Sawyers plays Andre Watkins, the lawyer with roots in Chucalissa. He is most well known for playing the "young Barack Obama" in 'Southside With You'. He is also featured in 'Don't Hang Up' as Mr. Lee and stars as the Parisian jazz musician, Albert Fallou, in the BBC production 'World on Fire'.
Other cast regulars include Shannon Thornton as Keyshawn / Miss Mississippi, J. Alphonse Nicholson as Lil Murda, Skyler Joy as Gidget, Harriett D. Foy as Patrice Woodbine, Tyler Lepley as Diamond, and Dan J. Johnson as Corbin Kyle. Actors in recurring roles are Isaiah Washington as Mayor Tydell Ruffin, Loretta Devine as the Granmuva of Uncle Clifford, Thomas Q. Jones as Mane, Josh Ventura as Wayne Kyle, and Morocco Omari as Big L.
Creators:
The show was created and self-adapted from a play by Katori Hall. She also serves as showrunner and executive producer with Chernin Entertainment producing the series.
Trailer:
Trailer for season 2 is yet to be released.
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