S02.E08: The Death Drop

[Scarlett45]

Quote

People across Chucalissa fight for what's theirs, while others struggle to accept the things they can't change.

Air Date: July 31, 2022

[Empress1]

Is this the finale?

[Scarlett45]

23 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Is this the finale?

No we have 10 episodes this season. 

[AnimeMania]

[Scarlett45]

They really sent Teak home in style. RIP!!!

I do not like Andre and Hailey this season- they bore me to tears. 
 

How is KeyShawn going to get the babies away from Derek long enough to get to an airport when she’s supposed to be headlining??

[luckyroll3]

7 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

How is KeyShawn going to get the babies away from Derek long enough to get to an airport when she’s supposed to be headlining??

I'd be shocked if that entire family makes it out of this season alive. Derek is gonna kill them all, including himself. He's fucking unstable as hell and Keyshaun very rarely operates with urgency when it comes to him. 

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, luckyroll3 said:

I'd be shocked if that entire family makes it out of this season alive. Derek is gonna kill them all, including himself. He's fucking unstable as hell and Keyshaun very rarely operates with urgency when it comes to him. 

Why was Derek self harming, hitting his head? We’ve never seen him have issues like that before. Is it the alcohol abuse?

Regarding Whisper & Roulette- no sex worker goes to a job high. It’s not safe or smart. Also, Mercedes isn’t old by any means, but 30 is at the end of a dancers career. I’m terrified she’s going to hurt herself for real on the pole trying to do stunts when she’s not healed. 
 

[FlowerofCarnage]

21 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Why was Derek self harming, hitting his head? We’ve never seen him have issues like that before. Is it the alcohol abuse?

Regarding Whisper & Roulette- no sex worker goes to a job high. It’s not safe or smart. Also, Mercedes isn’t old by any means, but 30 is at the end of a dancers career. I’m terrified she’s going to hurt herself for real on the pole trying to do stunts when she’s not healed. 
 

The writers explain why Derrick is self-harming

10 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

They really sent Teak home in style. RIP!!!

I do not like Andre and Hailey this season- they bore me to tears. 
 

How is KeyShawn going to get the babies away from Derek long enough to get to an airport when she’s supposed to be headlining??

I think there is more to Operation: Free Keyshawn than what's been discussed. Hailey will pobably give Keyshawn something to make sure he doesn't wake up during the night so she can slip out the house with the kids.

[AuntieMame]

2 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Why was Derek self harming, hitting his head? We’ve never seen him have issues like that before. Is it the alcohol abuse?

Regarding Whisper & Roulette- no sex worker goes to a job high. It’s not safe or smart. Also, Mercedes isn’t old by any means, but 30 is at the end of a dancers career. I’m terrified she’s going to hurt herself for real on the pole trying to do stunts when she’s not healed. 
 

Derek was manipulating Keyshawn with the self abuse. He was trying to make Keyshawn feel sorry for him, forget her anger and stay. He knows the cycle hasn’t reset for Keyshawn after the last round of physical abuse and more physical abuse won’t accomplish the reset. So Derek is trying to make Keyshawn feel sympathy. This gets thorny because Derek is a victim as well as an abuser so the facets of fucked up are like a disco ball and just as confusing to the senses.  

IRL, this is a very early tell with manipulative abusers. One of the first things they do is try and make their target feel sorry for them with a hard luck story. Its a good rule of thumb to be skeptical of anyone who leads with a bid for sympathy. The difficulty is that sometimes you meet people who really are in a rough patch but otherwise are good people. Discernment is difficult and vital. 

Prostitutes are often, I would go so far as to say usually, high when they are working. They’re high so they can dissociate from the horror that is the “job”. The current propaganda that the global sexual exploitation of women in the global sex trade is anything other than the modern slave trade is naive. 96% of women in prostitution would escape it if they could. Over 80% are literally trafficked or forced in and the others are forced by circumstances.

Of course they’re high and if they weren’t to begin with they are often encouraged in a habit so they can be easily controlled or choose it themselves to dull the pain. Prostitution isn’t some fairyland for women who “just love sex”; it is sex on demand for any man who can pay. Imagine going into your local diner on Sunday morning, the kind of place that has a wide representation of people. Now imagine having sexual contact with every man in the place. Every man: the old and young, fat, thin and in between, those with hygiene so bad a skunk would blush, those with anger issues and sexual perversions you don’t share, those who want to degrade and dominate as part of the service to mitigate the fact that they are buying what should be given, those who want not just the physical service but to believe that you like them so emotional labor too, all while you run the risk of being hurt in various ways all the way up to murder. This is what prostitution is.  

Yes prostitutes are usually high and there is no way to make prostitution an OSHA compliant job because it is inherently dangerous. This is what prostitution is: sex with men you don’t want to have sex with. Imagine getting down on your knees to suck a dirty dick half a dozen times in a day. Now ask yourself why men have the “right” to buy women’s bodies. Ask why their desire for “sex” trumps women’s right to basic safety and dignity. Men are the overwhelming customers in the global sex trade and women are the overwhelming people providing their bodies. Male prostitutes are less than ten percent of the total and they are bought by men. Female customers are such a tiny fraction that they are insignificant statistically. All of my numbers can be confirmed by googling Nordic Model Now and going to their website. 

This issue and the show. I hate Roulette more than a little for using their friendship to push Whisper into something she really didn’t want to do. Surprise, surprise, the John got violent when his ego wasn’t stroked along with his sex. He was angry when his fantasy of Whisper being there voluntarily and enjoying his ministrations was dead on arrival. For that matter Roulette didn’t seem to “enjoy” the blow job she gave a couple of episodes ago. Roulette is hardened.

I like that Hall is showing that stripping is a part of the global sex trade and that women have to step very fast to avoid falling from the sky right into the pit of prostitution. I also like that Hall is subtly showing that it is brown women the world over silently and secretly exploited in sex work and trafficking at much higher numbers. This is part of why Uncle Clifford has the rule of no hoeing. Pragmatically he also wants to avoid legal entanglements but he does his best to protect the women working for him too. I loved that Whisper and Roulette turned the tables on the dissatisfied John but know it was unrealistic. Unfortunately women in prostitution don’t have the option of the buddy system but maybe they should. 

Along with others I still yawn over Hailey and Andre and can’t see him becoming mayor unless someone does something miraculous. Andre now annoys me beyond telling, such a man child and I liked him in his first scene. 

What is poor Mercedes going to do about her injured shoulder and arm? I was very nervous about the feeling of heaviness she described. 

[Empress1]

It’s telling that Derrick either doesn’t clock or doesn’t care that Keyshawn doesn’t ”feel free” at home.

4 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

For that matter Roulette didn’t seem to “enjoy” the blow job she gave a couple of episodes ago. Roulette is hardened.

Very. We know why she’s called Roulette. The fact that she said she has a good relationship with death and that she pulled the trigger without hesitation when the gun was at her own head are both indications that she’s hardened. I suspect her brother’s murder did that.

Is it me or was that kiss between her and Duffy kinda hot?

3 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Also, Mercedes isn’t old by any means, but 30 is at the end of a dancers career. I’m terrified she’s going to hurt herself for real on the pole trying to do stunts when she’s not healed. 

I was surprised by Mercedes’ age when I did the math after we found out how old she was when Terricka was born. The actress is 37 and IMO looks her age. It’s hard for a good singer to sing badly on purpose; I suspect it’s hard for a trained dancer to dance badly too. I wonder if that was fun for her to do.

[Scarlett45]

48 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

Derek was manipulating Keyshawn with the self abuse. He was trying to make Keyshawn feel sorry for him, forget her anger and stay. He knows the cycle hasn’t reset for Keyshawn after the last round of physical abuse and more physical abuse won’t accomplish the reset. So Derek is trying to make Keyshawn feel sympathy. This gets thorny because Derek is a victim as well as an abuser so the facets of fucked up are like a disco ball and just as confusing to the senses.  

Thank you for explaining. I do feel bad for Derek, being abused by his Dad. I also felt badly for him the first time when he realized the cycle was repeating itself. But after that, NO. He knows what abuse does to families, and what it does to babies, and he didn't try to get himself better ( a job with self esteem, no alcohol, talking to someone). My sympathy for him is over and he just needs to die now. He hurt his own defenseless baby- he is sadistic with the threat of burning Keyshawn's face (which I think he only saved because he wants the beauty her income brings them. He is awful)

50 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

IRL, this is a very early tell with manipulative abusers. One of the first things they do is try and make their target feel sorry for them with a hard luck story. Its a good rule of thumb to be skeptical of anyone who leads with a bid for sympathy. The difficulty is that sometimes you meet people who really are in a rough patch but otherwise are good people. Discernment is difficult and vital. 

I could see this. Especially for women who are natural nurturers, they are attracted to the idea that the guy (talking about hetero relationships) is vulnerable. They see that as a mark of trust and intimacy. 

52 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

Yes prostitutes are usually high and there is no way to make prostitution an OSHA compliant job because it is inherently dangerous. This is what prostitution is: sex with men you don’t want to have sex with. Imagine getting down on your knees to suck a dirty dick half a dozen times in a day. Now ask yourself why men have the “right” to buy women’s bodies. Ask why their desire for “sex” trumps women’s right to basic safety and dignity. Men are the overwhelming customers in the global sex trade and women are the overwhelming people providing their bodies. Male prostitutes are less than ten percent of the total and they are bought by men. Female customers are such a tiny fraction that they are insignificant statistically. All of my numbers can be confirmed by googling Nordic Model Now and going to their website. 

Thank you for educating me further. I know sex work is inherently dangerous, that is why I assumed no one would attempt to do it intoxicated/influenced by substances. You have to keep your wits about you to make sure 1. you get paid, 2. you don't end up hurt. I never assumed anyone was in sex work because they "love sex" people are in sex work because its the most economically expedient work they can do at the time with low skills- and they need to survive. 

54 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

I like that Hall is showing that stripping is a part of the global sex trade and that women have to step very fast to avoid falling from the sky right into the pit of prostitution. I also like that Hall is subtly showing that it is brown women the world over silently and secretly exploited in sex work and trafficking at much higher numbers. This is part of why Uncle Clifford has the rule of no hoeing. Pragmatically he also wants to avoid legal entanglements but he does his best to protect the women working for him too. I loved that Whisper and Roulette turned the tables on the dissatisfied John but know it was unrealistic. Unfortunately women in prostitution don’t have the option of the buddy system but maybe they should. 

I liked this too. I consider nude dancing sex work, but its the safest form of "in person" sex work, dancing for a webcam would be safer (no physical danger from customers). Uncle Clifford is right to have his "no hoeing" rule. Uncle Clifford wants women to LEAVE the Pynk and do something else. Its a dangerous genre, you have to be super focused, get your money (for your education etc) and get OUT. Mercedes is only 30 and her time is done. (bolding mine) Absolutely. 

[marceline]

Thanks to everyone above for an explanation of Derrick's self harm. I had a completely different explanation. I took it as a side-effect of COVID isolation but further manipulation is the more realistic explanation. I have to admit that Keyshawn's story really gets to me. I remember hearing how bad COVID was for people living with domestic violence but I never really grasped what it must be like to be trapped at home with your abuser. Watching how Derrick tracks her and controls her has been horrifying. Even when he does let her out, the kids are still there with him. No doubt this story ends with a body count, I just hope it isn't one of the kids. Once Derrick threatened Keyshawn with an iron, I knew he was capable of anything.

I don't care about Andre and Autumn.

Lil Murda is a fascinating character. He's one whose behavior I can't ever predict. Killing that guy taking credit for Teak's death was harsh. Part of me wonders if Murda did that to add extra credibility to the story that Teak with carjacked so his suicide remains unknown.

[Scarlett45]

1 minute ago, marceline said:

Lil Murda is a fascinating character. He's one whose behavior I can't ever predict. Killing that guy taking credit for Teak's death was harsh. Part of me wonders if Murda did that to add extra credibility to the story that Teak with carjacked so his suicide remains unknown.

No, I think LaMarcus did that for revenge. You do NOT claim a body you did not kill. Its a punk ass thing to do. HE was the one who saw Teak, someone he loved take his own life. For someone from a rival gang to take credit for murdering him, is the gravest disrespect (according to the rules of the gang life). So the guy had to die. 

4 minutes ago, marceline said:

Watching how Derrick tracks her and controls her has been horrifying. Even when he does let her out, the kids are still there with him. No doubt this story ends with a body count, I just hope it isn't one of the kids. Once Derrick threatened Keyshawn with an iron, I knew he was capable of anything.

Yup. At the beginning of the season, Derek was on his "best behavior" he had KeyShawn under lock and key, and he was able to financially exploit her and her beauty, its so scary. 

[Empress1]

24 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

No, I think LaMarcus did that for revenge. You do NOT claim a body you did not kill. Its a punk ass thing to do. HE was the one who saw Teak, someone he loved take his own life. For someone from a rival gang to take credit for murdering him, is the gravest disrespect (according to the rules of the gang life). So the guy had to die. 

One of the gang members at the funeral said point blank that Pico needed to learn that you don’t piss on somebody’s grave, and gave LaMarcus a knowing look. It was definitely for revenge. That was brutal too - he could have used a handgun but he didn’t, probably on purpose.

45 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

It’s a dangerous genre, you have to be super focused, get your money (for your education etc) and get OUT.

Mercedes bragged about being the only one with an exit strategy (before her hateful-ass mother stole her money). Even if Mercedes were an Alvin Ailey dancer, those careers are temporary. I went to high school with someone who danced with Joffrey Ballet for ten years (he was a grade behind me). He retired and went to college at 28 and has a white-collar job now. Sometimes people teach when they leave - but you have to have a plan, because you’re not going to be on the pole at 60.

It’s got to be hard to find options in a small town like Chucalissa too. The nearest city is Jackson, which I think is an hour and a half away.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Empress1

[Scarlett45]

8 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

It’s got to be hard to find options in a small town like Chucalissa too. The nearest city is Jackson, which I think is an hour and a half away.

This is true. I was sharing with my Mom that Woody/his family probably owned the only funeral parlor in an 100mi radius. Woody probably went to undertaker school somewhere else but came back to run the family business. 
 

I have always lived in major cities, so I have to remember there are not always options for everyone in their hometown. 

[Empress1]

11 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

I have always lived in major cities, so I have to remember there are not always options for everyone in their hometown. 

Ditto, and I prefer it that way - small towns and rural communities aren’t for me. I think part of Derrick’s anger is that the first pregnancy killed his dream of going to Ole Miss and at least seeing another option. (I keep forgetting how young they are - they’re like 20, 21 years old!)

[Scarlett45]

2 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Ditto, and I prefer it that way - small towns and rural communities aren’t for me. I think part of Derrick’s anger is that the first pregnancy killed his dream of going to Ole Miss and at least seeing another option. (I keep forgetting how young they are - they’re like 20, 21 years old!)

See, I was asking my Mom about that. I always thought they were around 25ish (that may just be because Shannon Thornton is 34 and doesnt look like a 21yrs old). When I got their backstory, I wondered WHY he didnt go to Ole Miss? Why didnt KeyShawn go to school? I didnt think their baby was old enough to have prevented that. (and it seemed KeyShawn's father was educated and would've wanted her to go to college)

But I think you are right, they conceived the first baby in HS, but Derek was a year ahead of her, did she graduate? I do not think the pregnancy killed Derek's dreams, I think the pregnancy was a convenient excuse. So much easier for him to blame KeyShawn for all of his problems- I firmly believe his parents didn't like her or want him with her, but they didnt "throw him out" because of her, I believe it was because he didn't want to go to school, so they cut off the financial support. It was HER father that put the downpayment on the duplex, so it's HERS no?

Derek could've gone to Ole Miss and brought KeyShawn with him, she could've easily worked at Walgreens there. Not like her family was helping with the babies.

[Empress1]

14 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

But I think you are right, they conceived the first baby in HS, but Derek was a year ahead of her, did she graduate?

I don’t think we know if either of them graduated. Derrick was a senior and Key was a junior when they got together, so their son would have been born when she was 17 and he was 18, depending on when everybody’s birthday is. He’s three, so they’re in their very early 20s.

16 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

and it seemed KeyShawn's father was educated and would've wanted her to go to college)

Key’s father seemed to stop caring about her when he married the woman he cheated on her mother with and got a stepdaughter he was (is?) almost definitely abusing. He didn’t do anything when his wife put Keyshawn out, so it seems he’s washed his hands of her completely. She hasn’t turned to him for help with the abuse; I assume she can’t. (I don’t understand why Keyshawn didn’t stay with her mother after the divorce.)

[Scarlett45]

1 minute ago, Empress1 said:

I don’t think we know if either of them graduated. Derrick was a senior and Key was a junior when they got together, so their son would have been born when she was 17 and he was 18, depending on when everybody’s birthday is. He’s three, so they’re in their very early 20s.

I thought the baby was conceived after they were done with HS. But that was wrong.

1 minute ago, Empress1 said:

Key’s father seemed to stop caring about her when he married the woman he cheated on her mother with and got a stepdaughter he was (is?) almost definitely abusing. He didn’t do anything when his wife put Keyshawn out, so it seems he’s washed his hands of her completely. She hasn’t turned to him for help with the abuse; I assume she can’t. (I don’t understand why Keyshawn didn’t stay with her mother after the divorce.)

Yeah, he threw money at her and their relationship is done. KeyShawn's mother may not want her, or may have a drug/alcohol problem and that is why she chose (or was forced) to move with her Dad when she was a teenager and he remarried. Just because her Dad hasn't done much, doesnt mean her Mom was a better option. 

My friend (he is married to my other friend), his father was abusive, and his Mom had a similar story to KeyShawn- showed up at her parents house with her infant daughter (his older sister) in tow after the first violent incident and they told her to go home to her husband, just like KeyShawn showed up in the rain. His Mom left his Dad when he was five (he doesnt remember the bad years) and his Dad did get help and turn his life around a little bit, apologized for his ways and his ex-wife/her new husband ended up taking care of him the last months of his life (he died in 2012, cancer).

I don't know how you can look at at pregnant woman in the rain, KNOWING how much danger she is in and turn her away, back into the arms of someone who wants to hurt her and the baby.

[FlowerofCarnage]

In season one, Keyshawn mentioned her mother had Jayden presumbly so she can Derrick could work. So there is a relationship there. I assume she doesn't go to her mother because it would be the first place Derrick would look.

[Scarlett45]

13 minutes ago, FlowerofCarnage said:

In season one, Keyshawn mentioned her mother had Jayden presumbly so she can Derrick could work. So there is a relationship there. I assume she doesn't go to her mother because it would be the first place Derrick would look.

That's possible, but maybe the writers hadn't cememted her backstory yet, because that doesn't really gel with what we saw in the last couple of episodes. 

[AuntieMame]

4 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I have always lived in major cities, so I have to remember there are not always options for everyone in their hometown. 

I’m a city girl transplanted to a semi-rural town in the West and I see the effects of lack of opportunity and ack of good education. Even those who try and go to college are often hampered by the fact that they weren’t properly prepared to do university level work by their high school. Nor is it automatically assumed or expected that kids will even graduate from high school. This blows my mind. We weren’t wealthy by any means and I worked in high school but it was absolutely expected that I would graduate. Living around here has been an education for me in just how people get behind and sometimes never get caught up again.  

PS - Thank you for the thanks about the sex trade education. I hope I wasn’t too impassioned. Its just an epidemic we are mostly blind to because it has been so normalized. I consider stripping as sex work too and marginally safer but not every club has an Uncle Clifford. The cam girls aren’t as safe as we think. Customers try and find out who they are and it’s my understanding that to make any real money you have to be willing to do more extreme things and accept verbal abuse as part of the service provided. I know that would affect me over time. So yes, wits about you to keep yourself safe and get in and out with the money you need would be ideal but isn’t the reality for most women in sex work, not just emotionally or situationally but because most have a manager/pimp/trafficker, brothel or booker taking a high percentage cut of their earnings.  
 
I had to learn about this too. I didn’t know it either. When I was younger I had a couple friends who tried dancing or escorting for survival and tuition and it definitely affected them negatively. Plus there are a ton of drugs in the strip clubs. Even the nice ones. 

[Scarlett45]

52 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

So yes, wits about you to keep yourself safe and get in and out with the money you need would be ideal but isn’t the reality for most women in sex work, not just emotionally or situationally but because most have a manager/pimp/trafficker, brothel or booker taking a high percentage cut of their earnings.  

Absolutely. It'd dumbfounding how the people putting their bodies and safety on the line for their survival are not the ones with the money! 

 

52 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

PS - Thank you for the thanks about the sex trade education. I hope I wasn’t too impassioned. Its just an epidemic we are mostly blind to because it has been so normalized. I consider stripping as sex work too and marginally safer but not every club has an Uncle Clifford. The cam girls aren’t as safe as we think. Customers try and find out who they are and it’s my understanding that to make any real money you have to be willing to do more extreme things and accept verbal abuse as part of the service provided.

No no you weren't too impassioned. Not every club has an Uncle Clifford, I agree. She (I didnt know Uncle Clifford was a she until two episodes ago) cares about the women that work at the Pynk. A lot of people in those positions do not. (bolding mine) Gross. 

When KeyShawn was dancing for OnlyFans I just thought of all the other women in abusive situations who were forced to do things like that, and didn't even have the freedom to go to work or express their frustrations to a co-worker.

[qtpye]

On 7/31/2022 at 10:11 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I do not like Andre and Hailey this season- they bore me to tears. 

Is the actor that plays Andre sick? I don't remember him looking so skinny, last season.

There is no point to Andre and Hailey. He has left his wife and they might as well have a relationship if they want it. There is nothing standing in their way.

I don't even think people will care if he's elected that he is with the owner of the Pynk/former stripper.

Hell, that town's got way bigger problems...

Edited August 4, 2022 by qtpye

[TiffanyNichelle]

I can't believe how much work they've put into Lil Murda's character. I remember being really annoyed with him when he first showed up. I didn't want Uncle Clifford to be a relationship with some wannabe rapper where he would have hide all the time and now I'm so happy to follow wherever his storyline will go. I'm on board. We still go that mystery video of Lil Murda to deal with. I thought at first it was a video of him and Big Teak but it's something from when he was younger? Yeah, that shoe will drop eventually. We don't know how Rome got the video and Woddy never got his phone with the copy.

I needed this arc of Hailey trying to help Keyshawn out because she has been so damn unlikable this whole season. Of course it will backfire because that's always seems to be what happens when someone tries to help Keyshawn because even though she seems ready to leave, who knows.

[Scarlett45]

11 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

I can't believe how much work they've put into Lil Murda's character. I remember being really annoyed with him when he first showed up. I didn't want Uncle Clifford to be a relationship with some wannabe rapper where he would have hide all the time and now I'm so happy to follow wherever his storyline will go. I'm on board. We still go that mystery video of Lil Murda to deal with. I thought at first it was a video of him and Big Teak but it's something from when he was younger? Yeah, that shoe will drop eventually. We don't know how Rome got the video and Woddy never got his phone with the copy.

I needed this arc of Hailey trying to help Keyshawn out because she has been so damn unlikable this whole season. Of course it will backfire because that's always seems to be what happens when someone tries to help Keyshawn because even though she seems ready to leave, who knows.

They have given LaMarcus a lot of layers, I do love how the character has been developed. Yes, it seems the tape is child sex abuse material, not something he did as an adult. I think the arc of Hailey trying to help KeyShawn is a good one because she knows exactly what she is going through. I know we are all so frustrated with KeyShawn because we can see how dangerous this is, we also see how she is young and gorgeous with her entire life ahead of her, we don't want it cut short by POS Derek, and of course there are the babies to consider. 

But we have to remember KeyShawn is SUPER young (21), and has two kids with this guy, and it seems no support from her biological family. I know why she feels trapped (she tried to leave the car was tampered with!), again, he just needs to disappear.

[Blakeston]

Two questions:

1. Why was Clifford so furious at the prospect of Keyshawn performing at the club? Was he just angry that Hailey was inserting herself into the business (which, to be fair, she owns most of), or is there some other reason? 

If it's the former, then the level of outrage seemed over the top.

2. Do we know what the cause/nature of Mercedes' injury is? She's been struggling all season. But when she fell off the pole, and Diamond did that root work on her, he made it sound like there wasn't anything physically wrong with her, and that her injury was the psychological wound of shooting a man.

I know Diamond's not a doctor or anything. But was there a specific incident? Did she hurt herself falling off the pole, and never got it treated?

[Avaleigh]

I know shouldn't be surprised at this point, but wow, Andre is so dumb. Did he really think people wouldn't fact check his background? Maybe a (white) politician could have pulled off that sort of deception pre-internet, but not now. Such a stupid thing to lie about. He could have refrained from saying anything or just said that his father was out of the picture because he was in prison. It makes his success story even more impressive--it makes no sense for him to lie. Very puzzling choice from the writers for the character. 

Honestly, as evil as Patrice is I'm lowkey rooting for her to win this mayoral race. Not because I like her or because I think she isn't a horrible person or that she'd even be good at the job. I just think Andre and the racist Tarleton bro annoy me more lol. 

I'll admit that I don't really understand the feud between Hailey and Clifford. Hailey saved the Pynk and she let Clifford keep 30% (I think that's the number?) ownership of the club. She didn't have to do that. She could have cut her out altogether, but she wanted Clifford to be a partner. To me that's an indication that she wasn't trying to screw him over and that she was grateful for being allowed to work at the Pynk in the first place. 

On top of that Hailey made sure that they fixed some of the rooms, kept the girls getting money during COVID, helped the place get up to code, etc. Also, as Hailey pointed out, Clifford apparently had enough money for Birkin bags among other things.

Seriously, what is so bad about trying to achieve a 10 million dollar pay out that Clifford will benefit handsomely from when all is said and done? As Hailey pointed out they can always open up the Pynk elsewhere. Businesses relocate all the time. I can understand Clifford having an emotional attachment to the building for its history and memories, but at the end of the day his mother and grandmother raised her to be a practical person. 3 million dollars profit when she was previously $56,000 in the red (back when she was the only decision maker) should be considered a win by any reasonable standard.