P-Valley season 2, episode 9 recap – “Snow”

This recap of P-Valley season 2, episode 9, “Snow”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the last week’s episode by clicking these words.

Well, Chucalissa’s mayoral race is certainly heating up. In record time, Andre, with the obvious help of Hailey and the strippers from the Pynk, has gained considerable ground on Wayne Kyle. But just when it seems like he might be the only viable competition, in rides Patrice on a float with a stripper pole on it, throwing it back presumably at the Lord’s behest, and firing all the dollars that Corbin tried to bribe her with right into the baying crowd. With little time left before the votes are counted, it’s virtually impossible to figure out who might be sitting on the throne by the morning.

P-Valley season 2, episode 9 recap

The outcome of the race isn’t the only thing that “Snow” is building toward, since the re-re-re-opening of the Pynk is imminent, and the club still seems a ways from ready. Hailey has the whole thing planned out, with Keyshawn headlining so that she can triple the door takings even while staying within the 50% capacity rule, which will also line Keyshawn’s pockets enough that she and the kids can flee from Derrick first thing in the morning. But only Hailey and Keyshawn know about that plan, so the politics are a little more complicated. Mercedes is still struggling with the fact she’s probably a few years past a stripper’s ideal retirement age, Roulette can’t help but tell her so, Big Bone doesn’t like to see Miss Mississippi hovering anywhere near Diamond, and Whisper… well, let’s just say she doesn’t have any positive prognostications about the evening.

Truth be told, we’ve probably seen Mercedes almost fall on someone’s head in rehearsals a few too many times, but I suppose it’s to reiterate the point about her existential crisis, which is only exacerbated when she gets a call out of the blue from Farrah, who has staged a photography exhibit revolving entirely around Mercedes. When Mercedes arrives, she finds people milling around quietly discussing how strong and graceful she is; she stops at an image of herself, contorted against the setting sun. It’s not the image of pole dancing we’re usually fed, which I suppose is P-Valley in a nutshell — some of the time, anyway.

Anyway, that classic penultimate episode all-roads-converging feeling is very evident in “Snow”, which finds the Pynk itself, finally, the nexus of all the show’s ongoing drama and relationship turmoil. With the club up to 75% capacity, Toy cast out for coughing — she did almost kill Ernestine with the Rona, after all — and Hailey vomiting into the toilet while Whisper asks if she’s ready for twins (uh-oh), the arrival of Lil Murda drastically complicates matters for a few reasons. On the one hand, he’s just trying to do Uncle Clifford a solid, but Cliff isn’t exactly thrilled about Murda’s straight-presenting public persona, and Murda isn’t thrilled about Cliff servicing customers in the Paradise Room (seems like these two have been playing house a little too long.) On the other hand, Mane and his crew are all outside, and while Murda hasn’t claimed Pico’s death, he’s the likeliest candidate. So Murda might have brought a lot more than the first leg of his tour to the Pynk.

By the way, the customer Cliff is servicing in the Paradise Room is Corbin Kyle. There have been plenty of not-to-subtle implications about Corbin’s repressed sexuality throughout the season, but here we see what he’s really into — getting whipped. And he’s willing to pay top dollar for the privilege, which apparently he has been missing. When he takes his shirt off, we see his back crisscrossed with lash scars.

The title “Snow” comes from Tina Snow, Megan Thee Stallion’s alter-ego and Lil Murda’s tour partner, who is performing with Murda when, predictably, tensions boil over and the whole thing erupts into violence. Luckily, it’s just a fist fight, with a heavily-armed Diamond being able to break everything up before it gets too serious. But that isn’t to say Keyshawn, who is caught in the middle of the brawl, doesn’t take him saving her seriously, and she plants a kiss on him that Big Bone just so happens to see. Murda is also incensed, and can’t see any outcome other than all-out war.

Of course, this not being the finale, nothing much comes of anything since it’ll likely all boil over next week. So, here’s what we’re dealing with, in a nutshell: Mane and Lil Murda are due a showdown, it seems like Ernestine may have passed away (Cliff gets a call which moves him to have an emotional farewell with Keyshawn), Big L has been fired for running drugs through the Pynk with Duffy (Cliff finds out when Lil Murda upends a box with a package inside), Big Bone is going to want revenge on Keyshawn and Diamond, Keyshawn still needs to escape Chucalissa with her kids, and Hailey is probably pregnant. Phew. That’s an awful lot of drama to unpack in just one episode, so we’ll have to wait and see whether P-Valley is able to do it. If not, Season 3 anyone?

You can stream P-Valley season 2, episode 9, “Snow”, exclusively on Starz.