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| JoJo Whilden/FX |
The episode treats us to our first flashback--in this case 1982--where a younger Blanca is walking in her first ball category. Her runway strut and overall look are unpolished, and the crowd and MC (not Pray Tell) mock her mercilessly for it. Further taunting awaits her after the ball courtesy of a trio of transwomen, who ridicule her for her lack of realness. But polished or not, Blanca is still Blanca, and she stands up for herself before Elektra swoops in and opens up the library on their asses, before inviting her to get something to eat. Elektra tells her she has something more rarer than beauty-- heart--and that trait will serve her well. While we already know Blanca will become one of Elektra's children, it's nice to see them here, solidifying their bond as mother and daughter before it broke into a bitter rivalry.
Flash forward to 1988, and Blanca's in full on mother mode, inspecting the apartment for dust and telling Damon, Papi, Ricky and Angel to get their asses up and clean up. But a single phone call brings her past crashing into her present with the news her mother has died. What happens next is an unpleasant trip back to her old neighborhood and bickering with her sister Carmen, who won't let her inside her apartment and calls her Mateo, her birth name. Death is difficult for any family to deal with, and the accusations the two throw out--Blanca demanding why Carmen didn't call her, Carmen snapping Blanca never came around when their mother was ill--are the kind of blame game siblings too often play when a parent dies. But Blanca's family's refusal to acknowledge her gender identity (her mother told the rest of the family she was dead), adds another layer of tension to already tense situation.
Understandably conflicted about whether to attend the funeral at all, she talks it out with Pray Tell, who offers up this timeless, inconvenient truth: parents fuck you up. They don't mean to, they don't want to, but they do, because they're human. And going to her mother's funeral may help Blanca heal some of the wounds her mother inflicted, while also showing her kids, who'll likely face similar feelings once their parents shuffle off this mortal coil, how to cope with death.
The reception Blanca, Pray Tell and the kids get at the funeral is about chilly as you'd expect; her brother Manuel is especially gruff, angrily whispering in her ear she needs to leave as they stand over their mother's body. But Pray Tell is a real one, and he quietly but firmly rebuffs Manuel by reminding him it costs nothing to be kind. One of Blanca's aunts invites her back to her mother's apartment for the wake, and the two slide into an easy rapport as they reminisce about her mother's cooking, a way of showing love for a woman who by all accounts was intensely private. Things are going semi-well until Carmen and Manuel walk in on Blanca holding their mother's cookbook. Manuel turns violent, pinning her against wall and spewing more homophobia before she breaks free and runs out.
Later, Damon is failing miserably at making pancakes when there's a knock at the door. Blanca opens it to find Carmen, who hands her the cookbook, as it was her and her mother's favorite thing to do together.
"You got the best parts of her," Carmen says before leaving, offering a glimmer of hope they can rebuild their relationship. As she holds the book in her hands, happy memories of she and her mother in the kitchen overcome her before one of her own children interrupts her. She goes back into her own kitchen, where she and Damon laugh over him forgetting to add the milk to the batter, and she continues her mother's legacy by making memories with her own child.
Blanca's grief over her birth mother motivates her to reach out to Elektra, who has gone through with her reassignment surgery. The reception she gets is less than maternal--"What the fuck are you doing here?" Elektra snaps--but Blanca is undeterred. A house mother herself now, Blanca is uniquely qualified to speak the truth to Elektra, and points out none of her children have come to visit her. Elektra responds they will pay for that, but Blanca's counters the fact she wants to make her children pay is why none of them showed up. "Life comes for all of us Elektra. And it comes hardest for the ones who think they above it all." Blanca explains. "You may be a terrible mother. But that don't mean I can't be the loving daughter I want to be."
While she usually meets Blanca's earnestness with derision, Elektra softens and offers an olive branch, saying she'll put Blanca's flowers in a vase, "even though they came from a deli." She takes her former daughter's advice further, treating her current children to a lavish dinner and new gowns for the upcoming Mother's Day Ball. The change of heart comes just in time, since Candy and Lulu staged a full-on challenge against the House of Mugler and came out victorious while she lay alone in a hospital bed. Unfortunately for Blanca, Elektra's renewed committment to motherhood means her focus is squarely on crushing all other houses to dust, starting with the House of Evangelista. Irony's a motherfucker.
While Blanca's emotional journey is the episode's centerpiece, "Mother's Day" also takes time to pump up the drama in the Angel/Stan/Patty love triangle. Stan earns a promotion at work, pushing his way onto a deal Matt was also a part of, which further incurs his mentor's wrath. "What you show me is exactly who you are. And I'll show you exactly who I am," he seethes as he walks away. Matt ups his fuckboy game by going straight to Patty and telling her about Stan's affair with Angel. While she makes it clear she thinks he's a terrible person, Patty finds herself at Angel's now vacant apartment, pressing her buzzer. The superintendent explains she's moved out, but lets her get a look at the lease, where it's clear, Stan co-signed on her apartment. "Did Angel leave a forwarding address?" Patty asks. Aww shit.
She shows up at Blanca's apartment, but everyone is gone except for a delightfully clueless Lil' Papi, who's more than happy to hop in her town car to go down to the Mother's Day Ball. After having her mind irreparably blown by encountering a fabulous subculture she had no idea existed, she walks up to Angel on the sidewalk.
"Can we talk?"she asks. Awww shit.
Other Thoughts
- After spending last week largely on the sidelines, Blanca is the star of the episode, and MJ Rodriguez proves herself more than up the emotional work involved, portraying Blanca's grief, angst and resilience with a sense of heartfelt realism.
- I also appreciated how Carmen didn't make an immediate 180 to completely accepting Blanca and saying something like "So girl, when's the next ball?" Painful as it can be, it sometimes takes those closest to you a minute to see you for who you truly are, and I like that the show highlighted that.
- Using the cover of a girl's night out to snag a town car to sneak out and track down the other woman? Respect Patty. Respect.
The Shade of It All/Those One Liners 'Tho
- "Isn't there sale going on down at the Payless you should be attending?"
- "Lookin' like a baby dyke Don Corleone!"
- "And what is that on your lips Lisa? Oh, it's just your favorite lip gloss...sperm."
- "Mother Africa giving you Soul Glo versus Soul Train!"
- "Your real hair's so short you could roll it with rice."
- "You got something to tuck? That shit better be streamlined into invisibility!"
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