Get ready to cry like a baby: the trailer for the third and final season of Pose is here.
Ryan Murphy’s groundbreaking series is set to end on a heart-wrenching note, as the show explores the continuing devastation of the Aids crisis. Jumping to 1994 – the previous seasons were set in 1987 and 1990 respectively – the trailer centres Pray Tell (Billy Porter) and Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista (Mj Rodriguez) as they come to terms with their HIV diagnoses.
But the pair’s defiance shines through as Tell declares: “I knew this disease was going to eat me alive, but I’m not going out without a fight.” Interspersed with clips of ACT UP protests are tender moments with chosen families, a wedding, and – of course – the glamour of New York City’s drag ball scene.
Pose first aired in 2018 and was immediately lauded for its revolutionary representation of LGBTQ+ characters on TV and for placing trans actors firmly in the spotlight. The show also led to Porter making history as the first openly gay Black man to be nominated for (and win) an Emmy in the lead actor category, and skyrocketed trans performers, including Angelica Ross and Indya Moore, to new heights.
In her cover interview for Dazed’s spring 2021 issue, Moore said of the show: “I bring myself to character, like most actors do, (but) there’s wisdom in my performance. The things I’m performing, I went through. I may not have been able to process it, but I understand it. I know what I felt.”
The third season of Pose will premiere weekly from May 2 on FX. Watch the trailer below.