Warning: this article contains spoilers for Pose.
Pose returned to our screens for the two-part premiere of Season 3 last night, but it was tinged with sadness as it saw the death of recurring character Cubby, as played by Jeremy McClain.
This popular show started its first season by charting the history of the Black and brown LGBTQ+ community through the wonderful phenomenon of house balls in 1980’s New York.
However, as these characters have moved into the 1990s, the viewers have increasingly witnessed the community being ravaged by the AIDS pandemic.
Sadly, it was the turn of fan-favorite Cubby to succumb to the illness on last night’s second episode.
Pose is now in the year 1994, and Blanca is working towards a nursing degree and putting in the hours at a local hospital caring for AIDS patients. At the start of the show, Cubby Wintour, formerly of Elektra’s House of Abundance, is one of Blanca’s patients.
Unfortunately, he is in the very late stages of AIDS, and is at death’s door.
Fans were not happy about Cubby’s death on Pose
Some fans were super-unimpressed with Pose’s writers. One Cubby fan wrote: “Pose really did that to Cubby just to have Damon ‘go missing’ the very next episode. Like ya’ll coulda just left Cubby alone then.”
And other fans expressed their sadness at the death of a character that they felt a “connection” to. One Twitter user wrote: “I felt such a connection to Cubby on Pose. I know he wasn’t a character that stood out a lot or for a lot of screen time, but his presence made me feel seen… so sad about tonight’s episode.”
With the Damon character (played by Ryan Jamaal Swain) going missing, some fans wondered if the show’s writers were wrapping things up for good and ending the show by killing off all the stars.
One fan wrote: “they really trying to close pose out. how both cubby and Damon dead within the first 2 episodes?!?!”
Pose fans liked Jeremy McClain’s acting skills
But many fans really appreciated Jeremy McClain’s acting in the role, as one fan commented while watching the show: “cubby boutta make me cry… the acting is impeccable on pose.”
It’s unclear if Jeremy McClain had wished to leave the show, but, at least, he seems to be taking his character’s death in good humor. When one fan joked about his character’s death on Twitter, McClain joined in the fun.
McClain released a music video last summer called Partly Cloudy, so perhaps he’s hoping to concentrate on a musical career.
Also hitting our TV screens last night were the latest episodes of NCIS: New Orleans and zombie classic Fear the Walking Dead; follow the links to catch up on the episode recaps.
Kinda funny that people want to think AIDS cares if you have a “connection” to a character. That’s sort of the point. Try having 50 or so of those you have a “connection” with in real life die in a 3 or 4 year span, and then you get what the AIDS crisis felt like. A funeral a week, sometimes two.