Summary
Poppa’s House serves up a cliffhanger ending, which feels like a disappointment after an entire season of beating around the same bush.
As someone who has been reiterating that Poppa and Ivy’s relationship is central to Poppa’s House for the last few months, I should theoretically like Episode 18, which pushes things further between them than we’ve seen thus far. But I didn’t, because it’s all in service of a cliffhanger ending that feels frustrating after beating around this same bush for the entire season. Previous episodes consistently downplaying the romantic angle, or keeping Poppa and Ivy separate (even the penultimate episode, which was pretty good, only featured her in a single scene), makes the romance feel like it’s coming out of nowhere, and the will-they-won’t-they drama is the same thing we’ve been dealing with throughout.
Why is the show so scared to commit to this? It’s the obvious next step. And the contrivance that emerges to keep them apart feels just as manufactured as the moment they suddenly realize they have feelings for each other. To make matters worse, there’s a B-plot involving Junior and Nina that is supposed to be the payoff to Junior’s season-long efforts to get a script bought, but mostly just plays out as irritating nonsense.
The Poppa and Ivy stuff begins with an off-the-cuff duet, and both of them seem to realize there’s an attraction there. Poppa turns into something halfway between a little kid and an old-fashioned gentleman. He decides to woo Ivy by writing her a card and booking a limo to take them to a romantic candlelit dinner. When she comes over, it seems like she’s equally on board.
The curveball is that she’s plucking up the courage to tell Poppa she has feelings for someone — but it isn’t him. It’s her ex-husband, David, whom we met in Episode 13. David’s in AA now, but from his previous appearance and his brief one here, he’s almost cartoonishly bad for her. He turns up at the house and hijacks Poppa’s entire date plan, but because Poppa is trying to support Ivy (and not embarrass himself), he plays along.
When Ivy returns, she knows that David didn’t write the note or choose the restaurant. And she has something to say to the person who did. But at that moment, Lola arrives. You might recall Lola from earlier in the season; she was the much younger woman Poppa was dating. She hasn’t been mentioned since, which is explained away as her having run out on Poppa without an explanation. So, when she turns up, Poppa is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the ending of Poppa’s House doesn’t make it clear which way he’s going to go (though it should be obvious).
Poppa’s House has already been canceled, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but it makes the lack of resolution in this finale a bit more irksome. This is what the show could have been doing instead of focusing on Junior, who spends a good chunk of Episode 18 trying to come up with a short film script with Nina that ends up turning into a ridiculous farce about dragons, ninjas, and princesses because he can’t stand up for himself. He eventually does, and the script is bought by a studio, but it’s very difficult to articulate the extent to which I don’t care about any of this.
It has been an interesting few months writing about this show, folks. I can’t say I’m necessarily devastated that it’s over, but I do wish it had gone out on a slightly stronger note.
