The good folks of Chucalissa are starved.
Starved for opportunities and starved for entertainment. Sadly, it seems that these pangs of hunger will only continue for now.
At the Pynk, Mercedes is bewitching in her performance for a presumably high-level man, only referred to as Coach. Her talent is undeniable and though he wants to offer Mercedes everything he can in exchange for her company, she sees it for the empty promise it is and dismisses him. Ouch. Meanwhile, Autumn is upping her stripper game with a long blonde wig that is helping her make some serious new money in the club and bringing things forward with Andre. Just in time too, Autumn needs to find out what’s going on with his casino project so she can give Uncle Clifford the tea and her (stolen) ID back.
Not trusting the fate of his club to his latest hire, Uncle Clifford sets out, in a stunning red southern belle gown no less, to confront Corbin about the casino himself. Corbin tells him the little that he knows, that leasing the land could make him millions but that his half brothers want to sell. Clifford practically faints at the money to be made and is ready to align himself with Corbin, just as soon as he figures out how the Pynk fits into all of these plans.
Unfortunately for Uncle Clifford, the men in charge don’t seem keen to let that happen. Andre may be brokering the project, but it’s clear that it’s the crooked mayor who is really pushing for the casino and the corresponding kickback he was promised. Andre, who we learn is actually the mayor’s son, wants to use the casino to bring new economic opportunities to Chucalissa and has been quietly buying properties around town to accumulate the land needed. While Andre’s intentions may be genuine, this is literally gentrification and will probably not end well.
Enter Autumn. By seducing Andre she gets into his computer and copies the files about the casino to Clifford, but when she stumbles on the photos of her Andre took outside the club she finally realizes how creepy he is and runs for it before he can get back. At the club, she shows Uncle Clifford the plans and while she’s done her part, to get her ID back she still has to lure Andre into the private room where Clifford confronts him about the plans to build over the Pynk and kicks him to the curb.
Secrets are out and so are the claws.
Which brings us back to the club, because this is a hella dramatic episode this week. Besides fooling Andre, Autumn has been drinking like crazy, especially after she held Keyshawn’s baby in the dressing room. Through some rough flashbacks, we can see Autumn remembering a child, the little girl on her phone, crying out for her among blood and water. Since we know Autumn escaped an abusive relationship and a flood, and that she doesn’t have a child with her now, it seems that we can assume Autumn had a daughter that died in the flood and is still traumatized by it.
But since she won’t share her tragedy the girls have little patience for her messy behavior. Especially Mercedes, who did not appreciate Autumn interrupting the truly killer Trinity performance she had going with Gidget and Keyshawn. Really, even if you don’t like this show the dancing sequences are phenomenal and worth watching on their own.
Anyhow it’s a shame those two can’t communicate because they have more in common than they know. We found out Mercedes has a daughter too, Terricka, and she’s one of the girls on her dance team. Only Mercedes won’t be able to see her anymore. After she and her adopted mother end a part Terricka threw she tells Mercedes that Terricka is obsessed with body image and is off the team. On top of that, Patrice still has her money and makes excuse after excuse to not give it back. It’s just tragedy after tragedy on this show.
So we end the episode there, with every person in a precarious position, even if the people of Chucalissa don’t know it yet. But between all the secrets, the booze, and the money, things can only get messier from here.
