What to Watch: Elektra’s reads on Pose , and the hilarity of Girls5eva

From superheroes and a former girl group to the New York City ballroom, there’s a variety of shows for you to pick from right now, and EW staff are breaking them down in this week’s episode of our What to Watch video series, above.

First up, the final season of Pose, which finds Pray Tell (Billy Porter), Blanca (Mj Rodriguez), Angel (Indya Moore), Elektra (Dominique Jackson), and the others in 1994, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in NYC. “It affects all of them in different ways,” explains EW writer Nick Romano. “Blanca is now becoming more of an activist, she’s going to rallies, and I think there’s definitely a level of response and severity that all of these characters feel as they’re crying out for this government to help them. And as history tells us, the government doesn’t. So they’re gonna have to take it into their own hands.”

While the show is saying goodbye at the end of this third season, its impact on the LGBTQ community — the show featured the most trans series-regular roles on TV when it launched in 2018 — will be felt for years to come. But Nick says the show could very likely be remembered for something else. “I think the legacy can be defined by the number of reads that Elektra gives people! I’m gonna miss that,” he jokes of the character’s trademark insults, of which there are numerous in season 3, before turning to how groundbreaking the series was. “For most of the cast members, this show was their first major roles in the industry. And it was created by a largely LGBTQ group of creatives, which alone created a unique environment for these performers to really thrive and flourish.”

Heidi Gutman/Peacock Busy Philipps as Summer, Sara Bareilles as Dawn, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Wickie, and Paula Pell as Gloria in ‘Girls5Eva’

While one show is about to say goodbye, another begins in the form of Peacock’s Girls5eva. Created by Meredith Scardino, and executive produced by Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, and Jeff Richmond, the comedy stars Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps, and Paula Pell as former members of the titular girl group who get another shot at stardom when their one hit is sampled by a rapper 20 years later.

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“It has funny things throughout, but it takes a few episodes to really find its groove,” EW senior writer Samantha Highfill explains. “I actually think the longer life of the show, it’s only going to get better and richer.”

For EW critic Darren Franich, it’s all about the star power…and the music “The talent on display here, between Renée Elise Goldsberry, who’s amazing — I feel like this is really the showcase that I’ve certainly been waiting for for her since she won the Tony for Hamilton — and even really Sara Bareilles, who is kind of playing the character who’s by default the sane person amidst a lot of people who are seeking fame and glory, I feel like that’s all working,” Darren says of the two actresses. “And the theme song is amazing!”

Watch the latest episode of EW’s What to Watch video series above to hear more on those two shows, as well as the debut of Netflix’s new superhero series Jupiter’s Legacy, starring Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, Matt Lanter, and more.

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