"P-Valley"'s Katori Hall on the Season 2 Show: "Everyone can make sure the show is good"
We're well past the days of calling "P-Valley" a TV series just about strippers. Katori Hall's acclaimed Starz drama has enjoyed resounding success after its first season aired in the summer of 2020, in large part because it created a raw yet empowering space for strip club culture to be seen from within. in a way that is rarely shown on television. But the show accomplished much more than that in season two.
“P-Valley” took bolder steps with its second episode to portray issues far too complex to be contained in a neon-lit small-town club, aka The Pynk – including poverty, politics, gender identity, systemic racism, domestic violence, misogyny and a pandemic. "Season two is better done in terms of the dramatic construction," Hall told POPSUGAR. "That feeling of, 'Oh my God, what's going to happen next?' Being overwhelmed, I think, is part and parcel of the feeling of season two."
"'P-Valley' is being Black as f*ck."
Since its explosive debut series, “P-Valley” has captivated audiences with the fictional world of Chucalissa, MS, and its tiny strip club that might. Deep in the Mississippi Delta, the show focuses on the complicated lives of its main ensemble – Mercedes (Brandee Evans), Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan), Hailey (Elarica Johnson), Keyshawn (Shannon Thornton) and Lil' Murda ( J. Alphonse Nicholson) - in addition to other intriguing characters - like Diamond (Tyler Lepley), Derrick (Jordan Cox), Andre (Parker Sawyers), Patrice Woodbine (Harriett D. Foy) and Grandmuva Ernestine (Loretta Devine) - all while focusing on its main narrative: being black and southern in America.
"P-Valley" is about being black as shit," Hall says bluntly. "...The show is mostly about black women who happen to be strippers, but the identity of being black, feminine, and poor has always been the lens through which we've told our stories. Obviously, it there's a queer lens [too], and that's always been at the top of our show in terms of our approach, but I think people realize that that's something that was part of the recipe from the very beginning ."
We're well past the days of calling "P-Valley" a TV series just about strippers. Katori Hall's acclaimed Starz drama has enjoyed resounding success after its first season aired in the summer of 2020, in large part because it created a raw yet empowering space for strip club culture to be seen from within. in a way that is rarely shown on television. But the show accomplished much more than that in season two.
“P-Valley” took bolder steps with its second episode to portray issues far too complex to be contained in a neon-lit small-town club, aka The Pynk – including poverty, politics, gender identity, systemic racism, domestic violence, misogyny and a pandemic. "Season two is better done in terms of the dramatic construction," Hall told POPSUGAR. "That feeling of, 'Oh my God, what's going to happen next?' Being overwhelmed, I think, is part and parcel of the feeling of season two."
"'P-Valley' is being Black as f*ck."
Since its explosive debut series, “P-Valley” has captivated audiences with the fictional world of Chucalissa, MS, and its tiny strip club that might. Deep in the Mississippi Delta, the show focuses on the complicated lives of its main ensemble – Mercedes (Brandee Evans), Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan), Hailey (Elarica Johnson), Keyshawn (Shannon Thornton) and Lil' Murda ( J. Alphonse Nicholson) - in addition to other intriguing characters - like Diamond (Tyler Lepley), Derrick (Jordan Cox), Andre (Parker Sawyers), Patrice Woodbine (Harriett D. Foy) and Grandmuva Ernestine (Loretta Devine) - all while focusing on its main narrative: being black and southern in America.
"P-Valley" is about being black as shit," Hall says bluntly. "...The show is mostly about black women who happen to be strippers, but the identity of being black, feminine, and poor has always been the lens through which we've told our stories. Obviously, it there's a queer lens [too], and that's always been at the top of our show in terms of our approach, but I think people realize that that's something that was part of the recipe from the very beginning ."
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