(Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of “Pose.”)
“Pose” brought a happy ending to dancer Damon in the Season 1 finale of FX’s Ryan Murphy drama on Sunday, and now the actor who plays him is telling TheWrap just what he wants to see from his character in Season 2.
Not only did Damon receive a scholarship for his second year of tutelage at performing arts college The New School, but he also saw the growth of his new, honorary family in the finale. The House of Evangelista, a group of people in the ball scene of 1980’s New York that make up his “chosen family,” welcomed back Papi (Angel Bismarck Curiel) as well as three new additions.
Happy endings aside, Damon’s story is far over as Season 2 is on the horizon. Actor Ryan Jamaal Swain told TheWrap he has some storylines he’d like to see his character Damon explore — chiefly, revisiting the falling out with his biological family that led him to discover ball culture in the first place.
“I think I would love to see Damon go back to his hometown, mend that relationship or try to mend, or try to find power from a space he felt so weak,” Swain told TheWrap. Of course, whether that happens only depends on “Pose” showrunners: Murphy, his frequent collaborator Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals.
“I feel like with the tools and the space that he’s found confidence, he’s found love, he’s found acceptance, he’s found him,” Swain said of Damon’s newfound life in New York. (Damon’s father kicked him out of the house after he comes out as gay. He is then left wandering and sleeping on the streets of New York before house mother Blanca, played by Mj Rodriguez, inducts him into the House of Evangelista and encourages him to pursue his dance career.)
“I think that a lot of queer artists and people that are just on the fringes of American society they feel this… trying to appease and to approval-seek with their families,” Swain said, telling TheWrap he hopes to see Damon attempt to rekindle his relationship with his biological parents in the upcoming season. “I think that would be a great and a very powerful message for youth that are just wanting to live their truth no matter what that is.”
Swain also had some dance-related wishes for Damon ahead of Season 2, though his character passed up the chance to backup dance for R&B artist Al B. Sure in the finale. Swain said he’d love to see Damon “dancing behind Madonna” or other pop stars of the era. And in addition to the balls — a large gathering of houses and LGBT individuals — Swain said he wants to see Damon attend a get-together on a smaller scale.
“I also think that the world is ready for our first ever black queer boy sleepover or mani and pedi moment. I feel like that would be a really really fun exploration of just how does that permeate on black and brown communities and especially youth in a time like that,” Swain told TheWrap.
Fans will just have to wait and see what happens on Season 2 of “Pose” when it returns next year.