P-Valley – Season 2 official trailer on STARZ
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The successful Starz series has returned for a second season of wild nights at The Pynk, but Uncle Clifford (played by Nicco Annan) and her dancers have their work cut out from them if they want the club to survive the effects of Covid. Main cast member J Alphonse Nicholson recently caught up with Express.co.uk to reveal just how much the pandemic has affected the fictional town of Chucalissa.
J Alphonse admitted it wasn’t a surprise to find the coronavirus pandemic played a major part in the scripts for P-Valley season two.
The TV star and musician returned last month on Starz as rapper Lil Murda, whose music career is thriving after the events of Murda Night.
However, back at The Pynk, owner Uncle Clifford and her right-hand ladies Mercedes (Brandee Evans) and Hailey (Elarica Johnson) are struggling to keep the club afloat.
Express.co.uk spoke to J Alphonse ahead of the new season, and he explained P-Valley’s showrunner Katori Hall wanted the new season to accurately represent the pandemic’s impact on small businesses.
“To be honest, I wasn’t surprised at all,” he revealed about first reading the Covid-heavy scripts.
“P-Valley is so immersed in authenticity and just being real, and with the times.
“And it does have this elevated element to it, as well, but I thought it made perfect sense to continue to talk about something we’re going through right now.”
Based on Katori’s original stage play, the television adaptation expands on the fictional world of Chucalissa and the political intrigue which begins to affect the lives of The Pynk’s dancers.
However, Mercedes, Hailey and their cohort of pole dancers weren’t anticipating how much their lives would be overturned by the devastating societal changes of the last two years.
J Alphonse continued: “The pandemic is still very much real, although people are getting vaccinated.
“Katori did it in a way where I don’t think it hits you too hard on the head.
“But it allows you to know we’re still letting this world give you a glimpse into the past as well as the future, a little bit, when it comes to how the club is to operate throughout that pandemic.”
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Four episodes of the new season have aired so far, and The Pynk’s new co-owner Hailey will have to make some impossible decisions to ensure her dancers get the support they need.
Thankfully, P-Valley made it to the second season’s June premiere without any severe delays, although J Alphonse admitted pandemic restrictions did make production challenging.
“Oh yeah, it was tough!” he revealed. “You have so many people working on this show.
“It’s inevitable that someone’s going to come in close contact, or someone’s going to come back with Covid from going to see their friends or family.”
“We did our best to keep any type of outbreak or anything on set to a minimum. We didn’t have many… we only had to shut down, I believe, once or twice throughout the 10 months of shooting.
“But Covid made it a lot harder, and I think you see that on the show.
“It speaks volumes through the work that we made it through that while shooting a show about making it through that as well.”
P-Valley season two has already cemented itself as one of the best Covid era dramas of this year, and its huge boost in popularity could ensure the drama remains on screens for several more years to come.
P-Valley season 2 continues Sundays on Starz in the USA and StarzPlay in the UK.
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