The Pynk’s gonna rise again.
Sure, P-Valley Season 1 Episode 8 was a little predictable.
There was only one person who had the cash to go up against an investment group to rescue the club.
So the foreclosure auction on The Pynk was somewhat anti-climatic.
I mean, when it’s Uncle Clifford’s family versus a group of soulless casino investors, who else was going to win?
That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of tension and surprises to reach that penultimate scene.
And even the members of The Pynk family as a whole won, quite a few still lost individually along the way.
Miss Mississippi and L’il Murda shone in front of the music-label scout who Murda’s manager Zari had convinced to come to “Murda Night.”
Unfortunately, LeRon turned out to be a real dick.
He was primarily enraptured in Keyshawn (who can blame him?) and she was naive enough to think LeRon might be her big break in the entertainment agency, that she could become another Cardi B.
She pretended to be Murda’s woman and ignored her psychotic boyfriend Derrick. You just knew that wasn’t going to end well.
The sad part was that it didn’t end well for Diamond, after he stood up for Keyshawn.
Diamond, who clearly had a soft spot for Keyshawn, finally gave Derrick the beatdown he deserved.
When Hailey’s gun turned up missing, the obvious assumption was that Keyshawn was going to end things with Derrick, once and for all.
But instead she pulled the gun on Diamond, saving her piece-of-shit baby daddy.
The point must have been that an abused woman will often protect her abuser rather than doing what’s best for herself.
It’s a good thing that Hailey opted to go in a different direction.
What’s worse, that triangle among Keyshawn, Derrick, and Diamond was just left unresolved for next season.
Keyshawn’s bad choice wasn’t even the biggest romantic blunder of the episode.
That dishonor would go to LaMarcus, i.e. L’il Murda.
It’s taken Uncle Clifford all season to accept that a younger man was interested in her and to let in LaMarcus.
But it only took one careless gesture to blow up their relationship, the best on the series.
The gay LaMarcus was in his macho rapper persona when talking with label rap LaRon and he made the mistake of blowing off Clifford, confirming her worst fears.
That led to Clifford explaining to LaMarcus that until he was ready to come out of the closet and publicly be with Clifford, they needed to break up.
Clifford certainly didn’t have time to dwell on the break-up of her fledgling romance, as chaos reigned at The Pynk.
She had to become club security after both Diamond and Big L went AWOL.
Whatever happened to Big L’s side hustle after gunfire broke out? I doubt he could have stashed Duffy’s oxy at the club after that happened.
About the only winner in this episode was Autumn/Hailey, who was finally free at last.
And didn’t you just know that her new bestie, Mercedes, would be the one to save her?
That’s been one of the most enjoyable storylines this season, watching these two former enemies come together out of necessity.
Autumn needed a partner to launder money while the broke Mercedes had to rebuild her stacks after Patrice ripped her off.
But the two mothers who had lost children had more in common than they realized.
At least now we know why Mane hadn’t told Mercedes about Hailey’s poster: because he was back in jail. But he got his ankle-monitor sitter to take the poster to Mercedes.
Cheers for Mercedes for turning down Coach’s investment offer to be his mistress to dash, somehow in those heels, to find help for Hailey.
Too bad all the menfolk were dealing with their own drama.
Still, it was clever of Mercedes to figure out a way to insert herself into the Paradise Room. It was bold of her to smash the bottle to attempt to fend off Montavious, even if she was way out of her league.
It would have been in character for Hailey to take the money and run once again, abandoning Mercedes to her fate at Montavious’s hands.
But Hailey found a family at The Pynk. She was also tired of running from the man she holds responsible for her daughter’s death.
It was clever how the battle’s end in the Paradise Room was never shown. Fortunately, the right person ended up dead and was disappeared. Clifford still has connections.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Mercedes. After her brave efforts to protect Hailey, Patrice wouldn’t even talk to a shook-up Mercedes when she came seeking religious guidance from her mother.
Poor Mercedes keeps doing the right thing and it continues to bite her in her ample ass.
Even though the result was obvious, it was great fun watching Hailey outbid Andre and sleazy Mayor Ruffin.
Now, how can Hailey use her mind for business, legal and illegal, to improve lives at The Pynk next season?
Another question is who will and won’t return? Someone new will have to fill Hailey’s role as provocateur.
To revisit the entire season, watch P-Valley online.
What were Keyshawn and L’il Murda thinking?
Will Mercedes ever catch a break?
How will Clifford and Haily work as partners?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.