Summary
It has some high points for sure, but “Mississippi Rule” seems pretty far from a conclusion — instead, it’s a teaser for a virtually inevitable third season.
This recap of P-Valley season 2, episode 10, “Mississippi Rule”, contains spoilers, including an open discussion of the P-Valley Season 2 ending. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
“Mississippi Rule” wastes no time in picking things up right where we left off. Of primary importance out of the gate are two things: The outcome of Chucalissa’s mayoral race, and the aftermath of Lil Murda’s minor breakdown following the brawl in the Pynk. Both are dealt with pretty much immediately in the season finale.
P-Valley season 2, episode 10 recap
Let’s start with the politics. Last week, Andre and Hailey got home all excited to find Britney sitting there, and she’s not happy, to say the least. Andre points out she doesn’t really have a leg to stand on given her own extramarital activities, but she’s still pretty adamant about being in love with her husband — or at least the version of him she married, which Andre reminds her might not be the real one. Either way, they have to play happy families — Barack and Michelle, as Corbin calls them — when Andre takes to a podium in front of all the gathered media and gives a statement about the new mayor-elect… Patrice Woodbine.
Yes, Patrice won the race. Andre, though, doesn’t see it as too much of a defeat, since he announces — right next to Britney, in a cold move, since she’s forced to stand there and smile through it — that he’s moving back home to open a new law practice.
Anyway, Lil Murda. After staring at all the versions of himself reflected back at him in the cracked backstage mirror, he hits the stage and kills the music before performing the first verse of his song “Seven Pounds of Pressure” acapella, directing it squarely at Mane, who’s front and center in the crowd. You know what this means, and the lyrics aren’t entirely subtle — Murda is essentially claiming Pico’s death. That won’t go unanswered. And even though Mercedes hits the stage with Murda and they both put on a wild performance, it’s hard to believe that any of it will be brushed off on the grounds of artistic license.
In fact, reality catches up to Lil Murda fast. When he and Mercedes head backstage they find Uncle Clifford in tears, but the good news that Ernestine survived her brush with Covid-19 is countered by the bad news that Murda is about to head on tour and Clifford essentially breaks up with him, knowing that he shouldn’t be contained to the “cage” of Chucalissa but also, on some level, knowing that he’ll probably never be the star he could be if the world knew who he really was. Things are looking up for Mercedes, at least, since Farrah is sending her royalty checks for using her likeness in her photography exhibit. She uses them to reopen her gym and adorn its walls, and Patrice, for once in her life, happens to show up with good news — Shelle has gone into rehab and left Terricka in Patrice’s care, and Patrice is letting her stay with Mercedes instead.
Hailey, on the other hand, is not having a good episode. The chickens come home to roost after that odd whipping diversion in the previous episode, as we see that Corbin’s sexual peccadilloes were simply a way for Clifford to make a backroom deal with him and Wayne. A canal is being built from the Mississippi straight to the Kyle’s doorstep, scuppering Hailey’s plans to sell The Pynk for a cool ten million because a casino can now be built without demolishing the Pynk. As things stand, she’s entitled to nothing except the $250,000 that Corbin wrote out to Clifford. Cliff is willing to give her that back — her initial investment repaid — to recoup sole ownership of the Pynk, and since Hailey made a point of putting her personal advancement ahead of the club and her relationships with everyone in it, she has no allies to fight her corner.
Likewise, Keyshawn’s escape plan goes horribly when she gets to her sister’s to pick the kids up to discover that Derrick already has them, and then returns home to find Mississippi Child Services investigating her over the evidence of child abuse that Derrick committed against their children. Derrick’s smug face in this sequence is infuriating; there’s no wonder Keyshawn completely loses it and only makes her case that much worse by attacking him. Surely something terrible has to happen to this man before long?
All roads lead, as ever, back the Pynk, where Ernestine has arranged her own welcome home party. And it’s a recipe for disaster, since Murda is there, and we know that Mane is gunning for him after he told Mercedes pretty much outright that he needs to watch his back. Murda and Clifford share a very emotional scene in which Murda reveals he has canceled his tour, at least in part to be with Cliff, but there are bigger problems afoot. Big L reveals that Hailey has cleaned out the Pynk’s accounts, so Cliff retreats into the drugs that Big L wasn’t allowed to hold in the club in the first place. She staggers out onto the dance floor and meets Lil Murda there, dancing with him and kissing him in full view of everyone. Nobody seems to mind.
But the season ends on a sour note with Diamond, who Keyshawn recruited to handle her situation with Derrick, being kidnapped.
You can stream P-Valley season 2, episode 10, “Mississippi Rule” exclusively on Starz. What did you think of P-Valley’s Season 2 ending? Let us know in the comments.
