'P-Valley' Episode 6 'Legacy' is not only about wealth passed down but also about love, loyalty and debts
Autumn Night (Elarica Johnson) and Mercedes (Brandee Evans), pairing up, makes a lot more sense than just their current aim to siphon money from Autumn's abusive ex's bank account. They are the Black Thelma and Louise, who also end up sharing their grief as thwarted mothers, sitting in the bedroom Mercedes has decorated for Terrika (Azaria Carter).
In that room, from the shiny throw pillow to second-hand bed, Mercedes has poured in all her hopes of living with her daughter under the same roof one day. But that prospect looks increasingly dim after her night in jail prevented her from keeping her visitation appointment with Terrika. Terrika is understandably mad at her and doesn't want to learn dance anymore. Terrika's guardian, the widow of the man Mercedes slept with, is pretty firm about not giving Mercedes custody till she has her act together.
While speaking to Autumn in the purple-hued room, Mercedes nearly breaks down -- till Autumn tells her that she is much better off because she can still hope. She tells Mercedes to keep working to get Terrika back because she can. Unlike Mercedes who can leave a legacy of love, she never will.
Autumn also seems ready to skip town as she calls Andre Watkins (Parker Sawyers) to bid him goodbye as she prepares to leave Chuccalisa, now that she has gathered her 'fugitive funds'. But after Mane (Thomas Q Jones) spots the police poster with her face and description with the name "Hailey Colton", her future is looking decidedly dicey. Especially since Mane is the one who has been getting Mercedes and Autumn the fake ids for their hustle.
In what could have been a very male-centric show about patriarchal legacies in the South and how wealth is passed from father to son in plantation families, 'P-Valley' adds tension in other unusual ways. We see how the legacy of music has been passed down to Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan) from her "Granmuva" Miss Ernestine, who dances with her and tells her stories of the past.
But while legacies in Black families have songs and memories, there are also legacies of debt. Uncle Clifford reminds Ernestine of the debts she left her with when she bequeathed the Pynk to her, something that has snowballed into the foreclosure notice.
So Uncle Clifford leverages a bit of her own legacy in the town of Chuccalisa to save the Pynk. The mayor's secretary, Eloise (Angela Davis), is the "first ho to graduate from the Pynk". So Uncle Clifford tells her that just like Pynk gave her the first leg up to a better life in a town with little to no opportunities for Black women, she has to make sure other women after her can do the same.
This legacy of loyalty that Uncle Clifford has built pays off as Eloise betrays the disloyal mayor, who is turning his back on the Black community in town, to support Uncle Clifford instead. Where these legacies of institutions and families will finally lead to will be revealed in the final two episodes.
The next episode of 'P-Valley' airs on August 30 at 8 pm ET on Starz.
