‘Pose’ Season 2 Focuses On AIDS Epidemic And Madonna’s ‘Vogue’

“Pose” Season 2 will return to FX Tuesday, and the cast and writers made it clear that there are two big parts of the new narrative: the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the release of Madonna’s “Vogue.”

Star Mj Rodriguez, who plays Blanca, told International Business Times that both would play big roles in the new episodes as the drama, which follows a group of trans and queer people participating in ballroom culture, picks up in the 1990s.

“We’re going to dive a little deeper into the epidemic and we’re going to shed light on the many people who have passed away,” she revealed at the Peabody Awards in New York City. “Twenty thousand people had passed away in 1987, and in 1990, 40,000 people passed. So we already know there was a jump. So it’s tackling that.”

Meanwhile, Madonna’s release will have mixed reactions, but Blanca, ever the optimist, will initially be excited about the pop star bring their subculture into the mainstream.

“[Season 2 is] also tackling the times that have changed within the music era. So we’re diving into Madonna and how she influenced us and how we influenced her and how we all came together,” Rodriguez added.

Of course, there will be more struggles for the House of Evangelista as well. “Pose” co-creator Steven Canals said Season 2 will delve into the socioeconomic struggles of Blanca and her kids.

“I’m excited for us to continue to explore identity,” he told IBT. “Certainly living in a city that is rapidly gentrifying, what does it mean to be black or brown and also be queer and trans? I’m excited for us to lean into class and what does that mean for our group of individuals who are struggling economically to exist in this city that is just so quickly changing and obviously doesn’t necessarily support them.”

The show will continue to have fun with the balls as well. Producer Our Lady J revealed that they had to find new categories for the competitions this season.

“We had to make a lot of new categories for the balls because we were running out of categories,” Our Lady J told IBT at the Peabodys. “We have so many balls on our show, so we had to take some creative license with our categories and have a little bit more fun.”

“Pose” Season 2 premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. EDT on FX.