P-Valley Season 1, Episode 8 finale recap: Murda Night

P-Valley Season 1 finale recap: Hailey faces off against Montavius.

The P-Valley Season 1 finale picks up right where we left off in the previous episode, with Hailey forced to face-off against Montavius in the Paradise Room. He wants his $250,000, and she claims all of his cash is in the bank. For now, Montavius lords his power over her by forcing her to dance for him.

Hailey doesn’t have much choice in the matter as Montavius thwarts her escape attempt. She tries other means of getting someone’s attention, including taking her top off — which flouts Clifford’s strict “no titties or tequila” rule for the evening. He notices Hailey breaking the rules, but neither Big L nor Diamond heeds his call to head to the room; both are preoccupied with other matters.

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Meanwhile, Coach courts Mercedes with a promise of taking her from “the pole to the palace.” If she accepts, she could get the remaining $10,000 she needs for her gym.

But their meeting is interrupted by Mane’s buddy, Kelvin, the one who typically wears his house arrest bracelet when he wants to leave. He hands Mercedes a missing poster with Hailey’s face on it and a man’s hand on her shoulder.

Mercedes recognizes the ring on his finger and concludes he was the man who took Hailey to the Paradise Room. Sensing Hailey is in trouble,  Mercedes rushes out the door and tries to find any of the male staff members or Clifford.

Coming up empty,  she finds her way of getting into the room. Grabbing a bottle of champagne, Mercedes pretends to be delivering complimentary bottle service and another “pair of titties.”

It doesn’t take long for the trio of Mercedes, Hailey, and Montavius to escalate into violence. Mercedes breaks a champagne bottle and tries to attack Montavius. But he turns the tables on her and puts her in a chokehold with the glass to her neck. If Hailey doesn’t get him his money, he threatens to kill her.

The next part of the episode was one of the most nail-biting moments as Hailey rushed to grab the bag of cash, got dressed, and rushed out the door to her car. Her impulse was to run away immediately to save herself. But ultimately, she returns to save Mercedes. It’s a mark of her character development that she did come back, even when Montavius told Mercedes she wouldn’t. It proves he doesn’t know her like he thinks he does.

We also learn that Hailey’s daughter, Autumn, was not Montavius’s like the season seemed to suggest. However, he did help raised her from a young age and yet hardly seems to care that Autumn died.

In a last-ditch effort to save themselves, both Mercedes and Hailey team up to attack Montavius. Clifford finally sees the violence on the surveillance footage, grabs one of the guns seized from incoming patrons, and runs to the Paradise Room. Once Clifford is inside, things become even more chaotic between everyone involved, three gunshots are fired, alerting Diamond. He rushes inside to help and sees a pool of blood oozing forth from beneath the door.

P-Valley Season 1 finale recap: A record executive causes turmoil between Murda & Clifford and Keyshawn & Derek.

A visiting record executive named Roman Caffey shows up at the club alongside Woddy to witness Murda and Keyshawn’s performance. He’s impressed with both, but it becomes obvious his real goal is to recruit Keyshawn. They head into a VIP room to talk business, and Roman starts raving to the duo how they could become the next big things in entertainment with lucrative 360 deals. He even thinks he could get Keyshawn a contract with Nike.

But to do so, he needs to know that Murda is authentic. Murda spending most of his money on his fancy custom Grillz and Versace jewelry instead of his music doesn’t impress Roman. He impresses upon Murda how vital it is for him to be authentic because people are attracted to what’s real. Keyshawn and Murda exchange shifty glances since we know their relationship is all for show.

Clifford interrupts the meeting to offer the group some liquor and places a doting hand on Murda’s shoulder. The rapper coldly dismisses her. Roman wastes zero time making some derisive, homophobic comments as Clifford retreats, and Murda easily slips into the protective shield of toxic masculinity.

Visiting Clifford’s office later, the club owner tells Murda that she should have believed the first face he showed her. His “Murda” character is much different than the LaMarques she’s gotten to know and love.

“You let me know when you’re ready,” she tells him.

As for Derrick, he’s not happy that Keyshawn is ignoring him. Knowing he’s only going to become increasingly angry, she leaves the meeting to find him, and he slams her against a wall. Derrick doesn’t even seem phased by the fact they’re in public. He demands she come home with him and threatens that it will be much worse for her if she doesn’t. However, it’ll probably be bad for her if she does, too.

When Hailey went searching for her money earlier, she tried to find the gun she keeps in her locker. The same gun she showed Keyshawn previously. It was missing. Keyshawn took it to keep herself safe from Derrick that night. Derrick orders Keyshawn to be waiting by the car when he’s done in the bathroom. Except Diamond witnessed the entire exchange. He confronts Derrick in the bathroom, and the two get into a violent altercation that spills out into the main room.

A gun is involved in the scuffle, and it goes off several times,  leading everyone to flee from The Pynk. Gidget runs into the parking lot to tell Keyshawn that Derrick and Diamond are scrapping, and Keyshawn rushes inside, begging Derrick to back off. But then Diamond gets the upper hand and slams Derrick into the stage just as he aims his gun at the bouncer.

Realizing she has no choice,  Keyshawn aims her gun at Diamond and pleads with him to back off. It’s a tough scene to watch, but it’s true to life in the way many abused women will defend their abusers. Her natural impulse, in this instance, is to protect the father of her children.

Creator Katori Hall discussed the scene in detail on her Twitter.

P-Valley Season 1 finale recap: The aftermath of Murda Night.

We don’t get to see the aftermath of what happens in the Paradise Room, so for a moment, when everyone dresses in black funeral garb the following day, I wondered if Hailey or Mercedes has died. Thankfully, the funeral was for The Pynk, as the auction officially began. Mayor Ruffin, Andre, and his wife Brittany were all in attendance as Andre eagerly started bidding on The Pynk.

All of them anticipated that it would go off without a hitch. But then Hailey waltzes in, wearing a chic all-white outfit to make herself appear the savior. She bids all $250,000 of Montavius’s cash on The Pynk and beats out Andre for the club.

Ruffin is furious with Andre since the Promised Land casino deal will now likely fall apart. Andre appeared to have some mixed feelings as he watched Hailey, and I wonder if Brittany noticed the looks exchanged between them.

As for Mercedes, she seeks comfort from her mother, Patrice. Trauma affects everyone differently, and if I had to guess, it’d be that Mercedes was the one who ultimately pulled the trigger and killed Montavius.

The previous night’s events are weighing heavily on her when she goes to Patrice, the person who’s supposed to love her more than anyone (it echoes something she said to Montavius earlier in the episode, about the intense power of a mother’s love) and is shot down. Patrice stays as awful as ever when she throws Mercedes words — “Remember? I’m dead to you.” — back in her face.

In the final moments, she does find her way back to her real family at The Pynk. She asks Clifford whether “it’s” all taken care of, and she assures her it is. What “it” is, I’m not sure. I’m guessing something to do with Montavius and his likely death.

Then Hailey, who is now partners with Clifford, issues the final line of the season.

“It’s opening time at The Pynk.”

All eight episodes of P-Valley Season 1 are now streaming on Starz.