Giving and Receiving

**Giving and Receiving** is the third episode of Season One and the overall third episode of the series *Pose*. It premiered on June 17, 2018, on FX.

## Synopsis

The House of Evangelista celebrates the holidays and prepares for the Snow Ball in spite of Angel's lack of holiday spirit. Elektra contemplates undergoing an affirming medical procedure.

## Plot

Night with crowded streets in New York City, the House of Evangelista carried at picked Christmas tree to their home, Damon and Lil Papi deciding to craft small decorations for the tree, Damon sharing his story of dressing in a gold robe as though he was a prince. Blanca announces to her children that she wished to begin a tradition, the children were allowed to write, on paper, a present they desired from Mother Santa that were reasonably affordable. She attempts to bring Angel into the activity despite her repeated plea that she wanted nothing for the holiday.

Angel, however, shared a story from her childhood. She explained that when she was a young boy during the holiday season, she was bezzled by a pair of red pumps. With no eyes on her, she had taken one of the shoes and carried it home. Without warning, the pump fell from her possession in front of her parents. Pleading to keep the shoe, she was slapped for stealing. Angel expressed that after the incident, her father changed his tone.

The following night at the Ballroom, Pray Tell performs another category; entailing formal wear in a fur coat. Damon persuades his new lover Ricky to compete in the ball before he can join the house. Though shy, he walks the category, amazed by the response by the emcee and the crowd. Awarded runner-up for the category, he celebrates with Damon and Blanca at the 24-hour dinner. The three discussed Ricky joining the house. Recluntant to accept him under her wings after being informed of the whereabouts of the fur coat, she allowed him to become one of her children.

Another morning, Pray Tell and Helena St. Rogers visit Roosevelt Hospital to see their respective people, signing the names before walking their separate ways. Pray Tell picked up a meal tray meant for his boyfriend Costas Perez, calling out to the nurses for their mistreatment. Despite his pleas that he was not hungry, Pray pushed him to eat to aid his pnumeona. The two men embraced over their last Christmas together. Helena, on the other end of the halls, finds her former student Tony dissociating, dancing and requesting Claire to join him. He momentarily becomes hostile towards his teacher, ripping the IV from his arm and continuing to dance, prompting Helena to call out to the nurses. Returning to his sane state, his teacher told him that he had been dancing minutes ago.

Later, Blanca expresses excitement over Pray Tell's designed Miss Santa costume. She also mentions holiday plans, to which Pray said he may not do much since Costas' hospitalization. Once more, the two spoke more about their HIV-status, fearing their livelihoods and their legacies.

Angel is brought to an apartment housing leased by her suitor Stan Bowes, fully furnished. After being given a tour and expressing her appreciation, she opens to him a promise to visit her on Christmas Day despite his family business, Stan sharing that he would do so. The two begin to undress, kissing one another before engaging in intercourse.

At the New School for Dance, Helena teaches her class of students; she is pulled aside by faculty, a call from the nurses about the passing of Tony. Silently mourning, she explains that she did not know his birth family's contacts. Elsewhere, Damon attempts to teach Papi and his House the steps for the upcoming Winter Ball, informing him that he was improving slowly and to ignore his siblings' comments. Unaware in his lapse in time, Damon rushes to grab his belongings and leaves the apartment, reaching the classroom tardy. Abruptly, Helena instructs the students to stop dancing, taking her attention to Damon, who mentions traveling from uptown, though she calls to Marcus from Crown Heights. Scolding her latecomer on his inability to reach his fullest potential in class, Damon mentions his earlier preparations for Ballroom, prompting her to remove him from the room for the day.

Matt Bromley enters Trump Tower late, greeting his fellow co-workers, one of whom tells him that Trump was in the building. In a rush to encounter him, he finds Stan and other men leaving the boardroom, learning second-hand that he had missed his opportunity to speak with the businessman or present Bowes' idea.

Elektra sits idly in a clinic until the westside nurse warrants her to wait in an office for the doctor, where she view through a nearby pamplet on sex-reassignment surgery. Soon, she was approached by Dr. Gottfried, the two women introducing themselves. They conversed on the lasting information that Dr. Harris, Gottfried's predecessor, held on Elektra's work-up before his death.

Later in the day, Elektra retreated to her studio apartment, pondering over how she plans to accumulate the funds for her surgery, while her children Candy and Lulu enter the room with a wreath to add Christmas spirits. She berates them when they suggested using some of her financer's money to decorate the place but recollects herself, seeking to instead plot a theft of donations from a local Santa Claus. With Candy and Lulu serving as a diversion, their House Mother uses a pair of clippers to snap the bucket away and the three darted away without further conflict. During the night, they counted out the dollar bills and loose changes that the wealthy had given to the charity. Though the women excitedly cheered at having collected $2,300 from Santa, Elektra takes the bills to the clinic the following day, placing down a payment for her upcoming surgery.

Blanca, in an effort help her child, visits Helena with a meeting about his behavior. Their conversation momentarily deviates when Helena slanders Ballroom and warns that Damon may not stay in class if he continues to be tardy and underperform. At home, she confronts him on his issue, giving him a bus pass to avoid future tardiness and punishes him from attending the upcoming Snow Ball, which greatly upsets him to the point of slamming his room door.

On a Christmas shopping trip with his daughter Amanda, Stan enters a jewelry store inside the mall, picking out a bracelet for Patty. After the storeclerk's selection, Stan motions for Amanda to wait outside before requesting the clerk pick out a necklace for his lover Angel, unaware of his daughter's curious eyes witnessing the transaction. Later, the two went to Santa for a picture, Stan idly lost in his thoughts.

Nightfall in New Jersey, Patty hears and answers the doorbell, being greeted by a smiling Matt holding a load of presents for the family. Allowed inside, he shares a drink with Patty, asking about the whereabouts of her husband and casually mentions not being the one behind his odd disappearances from the home, Patty initially believing him to be working overtime. Matt attempts to engage in an affair with her but is pushed away. When he suggests a second approach, Patty rejects the notion, as Stan and Amanda arrive.

In the Ballroom scene, the community host the annual Snow Ball, Pray Tell and judges presiding over the Stone Cold Face category. Angel presents herself in a walk as a ice princess, the scores striking tens across the board and winning grand prize. At home, Blanca informs her grounded child that the House managed to win first runner-up; she apologizes for keeping him away from the ball, though Damon expressed it was the right decision. He also shared tearfully that he wishes to return to a place of innonence before being kicked from his birth family.

Christmas morning, Damon wakes Ricky with a breakfast tray and an exchange of presents, Ricky gifting him a music player while Damon consents to a sexual encounter. Meanwhile at Bowes Residence, Stan and Bobbi preside over the children unwrapping their presents under the tree. Finding Patty's bracelet still wrapped, he brings it to her in the kitchen. The two argued over Stan's possible affair, Patty mentioning that Amanda told of two presents and that Matt was not always calling him into the city for overtime. In an effort to win his wife over, he presents the necklace to her, moving her to apologize and cause blame on paranoia surrounding his absence at home.

Angel makes personal preparations for her lover's visit; she applies beauty creams, bakes Christmas cookies from scratch, and amuses herself to pass the time. As the night grew onward, she comes to the realization that he would not come, dumping the cookies and abandoning the apartment to spend her evening with Evangelista.

Pray Tell and Papi await for Blanca's meal, Papi shaking a box and Pray nervously commanding him to put it down. Though Blanca attempts to comfort Angel's broken heart, the two rush to dispose of a burned turkey in the oven. After avoiding disaster, the family decide to take their dinner experience to a local Chinese restaurant open at the hour. Before the big feast, the group pick away at their presents from Mother Blanca: for Papi a winter jacket, for Damon a new backpack with a pair of socks inside, and for Ricky a silver wristwatch; she gifts Pray Tell a color camera representative of his teachings that she lived by and a pair of red pumps to Angel from her childhood story days prior, which she tearfully accepts. As a token of the Children's appreciation, Damon presented Blanca with a bracelet that held a heart. The family, soon after, pulled out the silverware and ate the food at the table.

## Cast

**Main Cast**

* Evan Peters as Stan Bowes
* Kate Mara as Patty Bowes
* James Van Der Beek as Matt Bromley
* M.J. Rodriguez as Blanca Rodriguez
* Dominique Jackson as Elektra Abundance
* Billy Porter as Pray Tell
* Indya Moore as Angel
* Ryan Jamaal Swain as Damon Richards
* Charlayne Woodard as Helena St. Rogers
* Dyllon Burnside as Ricky
* Hailie Sahar as Lulu Abundance
* Angelica Ross as Candy Abundance
* Angel Bismark Curiel as Lil Papi

**Guest Cast**

* Kathryn Erbe as Dr. Gottfried
* Christine Ebersole as Bobbi
* Samantha Grace Blumm as Amanda Bowes
* Glamo as Tony
* Ian Lowe as Salesman
* Alysia Joy Powell as Westside Nurse
* Bonnie Rose as Secretary
* Johnny Sibilly as Costas Perez
* Galen J. Williams as Marcus
* Sandy York as Nurse
* Chandler Akpovwa as Ballroom Attendee (uncredited)
* Brian Donahue as Santa (uncredited)
* Andrew Henkelman as Business Executive (uncredited)
* Emery Johnson as Stone Cold Face Walker (uncredited)
* B. Hawk Snipes as Runway Contestant (uncredited)
* Justin Triest as Business Executive (uncredited)

## Videos

Pose Season 1 Ep. 3 Giving and Receiving Preview FXPose Season 1 Ep. 3 Welcome Home Scene FXPose Season 1 Ep. 3 Holiday Spirit Scene FX