‘P-Valley’ Premiere Recap: Season 2, Episode 1

It’s been two years since P-Valley last took us “down in the valley where the girls get naked,” and the girls of Chucalissa, Miss., are STRUGGLING — just like the rest of us! The pandemic has even impacted the fictional city, and as a result, everyone’s favorite strip club is closed. In the meantime, Uncle Clifford has proven that a pandemic can’t stop her or Hailey, the new owner of The Pynk. The newly minted business partners have introduced Chucalisa residents to a new way of enjoying wings and ass shaking: a drive-through strip club, properly known as P—yland.

As innovative of a business model as P—yland is, the girls are still struggling financially. And Uncle Clifford’s mismanagement of the $250k that Hailey gave her to save the club is not helping. The club also lost most of its top dancers including Gidget and Keyshawn. Gidget moved back home after losing her mom to COVID, and Keyshawn — well, after pulling a gun on Diamond, she is no longer welcomed amongst the girls. With the success of Lil Murda’s single, she’s been quite booked and busy, though.

With Hailey as the new HBIC, there is tension in her personal relationships with Uncle Clifford and Mercedes; they both show little interests in answering to her. Additionally, Mercedes feels she deserves more monetary compensation than the other girls. As soon as Uncle Clifford and Hailey are about to argue again about money, the girls’ loud cheers outside distract them: The lockdown is over! Of course this means The Pynk gets to reopen, and there will be more money to make. Before the news soaks in, they also hear about the death of Tydell Ruffin, the first Black mayor of Chucalissa. The news leaves Hailey and Uncle Clifford wondering what his death will mean for the city’s grand casino plans.

Back in Atlanta, Andre, the mayor’s godson, learns about the politician’s death via a series of text messages, including one from his former mistress, Hailey. His wife is concerned about him traveling to Chucalissa to attend the funeral; as a frontline worker, the pandemic has taken an emotional toll on her. The two live in separate spaces in their house, and she takes all the necessary COVID precautions possible and then some. She asks that he show up to the wake early and avoid attending the funeral. He agrees, but when he arrives in Chucalissa, his plans quickly change.

Meanwhile, the last time we saw Mrs. Woodbine, she had stolen her daughter’s money to purchase a church. Fast-forward two years, and Mercedes’ momma has her church — and it comes with billboards. Because of the pandemic, service is outside, but business looks like it is booming.

Things are going well for Lil Murda too — music-wise, that is. Murda has been texting Uncle Clifford for the past 5 months, but she hasn’t responded to any of his text messages. Though he’s not having luck in his love life, he’s been focused on his music career. It’s almost hard for Lil Murda to believe that the hood loves him. For instance: While outside making a quick sell, when a car pulls up on him, the aspiring rapper is automatically on defense. But the men in the car compliment Murda on his music and drive off blasting his latest single. With the intentions of capitalizing off off the current popularity he and Keyshawn have built, Lil Murda and DJ Neva Scared work on his next single. He proposes a tour to Keyshawn, but she quickly declines. Lately she has been able to entertain 400,000+ fans from the comfort of her home using Instagram Live. Her new setup keeps Derrick happy, too, since he has more control over who she interacts with and her whereabouts. Using the need for diapers as an excuse, Keyshawn finds a way to sneak out of the house to go and see Diamond. He is unfazed by her tearful apology and eventually turns her away from his store because she doesn’t have a mask.

Once frenemies, Mercedes and Hailey are now roommates, and their work drama follows them home. After hearing Mercedes advocate for more money, Hailey tells her she will get a percentage of the door when the club reopens. This doesn’t fully satisfy Mercedes, but she accepts the offer. Things take a left turn, however, when Hailey moves ahead with auditioning new girls despite Mercedes’ not agreeing with the plan. As the Beyonce of the club, Mercedes is threatened by new energy and has yet to realize what the losing Keyshawn and Gidget has meant for The Pynk. We also learn that, with Hailey’s help, Mercedes was able to save her gym. But the pandemic has caused a new set of problems for her. Some of the girls’ parents can’t afford the membership, and the others are worried about whether it’s safe or not to return to practice. 

Eventually, the former Mayor is laid to rest in the Blackest, most southern way possible — bright colors; fancy outfits; long, honest speeches; and a repast menu folks are willing to die over. Though Uncle Clifford misses the service, she makes her way over, dressed to the nines, to the Ruffins’ family home to get a taste of some famous chitlins made by Mookie, Tydell’s third baby momma. While there, she runs into Andre and Wayne Kyle, the new interim mayor. Kyle shares that he plans on going through with the mayor’s wishes for a casino in Chucalissa. In a teasing (but actually serious manner), Uncle Clifford threatens to run against the young millionaire.

We then find out that Lil Murda’s tour is, in fact on, and that the “Dirty Dozen Tour” will hit 12 cities in 12 nights and will feature Lil Murda and Keyshawn. Looks like P-Valley Season 2 is about to give us an epic tour — and hopefully an equally epic mayoral run.

Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the Season 2 premiere? Grade it via the poll below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!