by Rebecca Farley | via Refinery29
There’s no one character at the center of this episode — well, actually there is. The narrator finally emerges from his tidy recording studio to recruit Sam and Lionel for the Order of X. Giancarlo Esposito doesn’t have a character name listed, but, presumably, he’s the master of the Order of X, the rumored secret society at the center of this season.
The secret society plot this season has always seemed like a supremely complicated MacGuffin. Sam and Lionel’s enthusiasm for it has bolstered its power — if they think finding out news of a secret society will “save” Winchester, they’re probably right, right? It’s still not clear, though, what saving Winchester looks like. Regardless, this hunt for truth has given the season a sense of purpose, and, at the very least, it gave us a tour of Winchester’s complicated history.
The 35 minutes of Dear White People finale moves swiftly and furiously, tying up loose ends just as it loosens others. For clarity, I’m going to move character by character, marking how each member of Winchester’s community made it through the season. We’ll start with the more trivial characters.
Kelsey: At the beginning of the episode, Clifton refers to Kelsey as “Coco.” Later, he calls Sam “Kelsey.” This is Kelsey’s contribution to the finale, which is a shame, because — in her words — there aren’t enough representations of Black queer women of color on television. (Except for on that one porn site she mentioned.)
Clifton: Still an idiot. He was also the idiot who lit Davis afire with… a hot pocket.
P. Ninny: She comes out on national television! Then, she motorboats the interviewer.
Kurt: Sleeping with Coco! Kurt is a sneakily good foil for Coco. Both blindly ambitious, he and Coco have a lot in common. They also have good reason to hate each other. Well, everyone has good reason to hate Kurt. He is instrumental in the plan to destroy Rikki Carter, though. He helps Black caucus buy out Rikki’s event so that it will be filled with people of color, not alt-righter students.
Wesley: Surprisingly, not into monogamy! Less surprisingly, he’s into lube. This doesn’t bode well for Lionel, who is interested in monogamy.
Troy: His rally days are over, but he is interested in joining Pastiche. He submits a packet to Kurt, declaring his comedy career officially in the works.
Joelle: Kisses! Reggie! Finally! They almost get down to brass tacks, but then Sam interrupts. This is the second of three sex scenes in this episode.
Gabe: He and Sam are happily in the throes of a new relationship. They both seem petrified that it won’t work, but they’re also happy to be there.
Reggie: On top of finally making a move on Joelle, Reggie gives James the info he needs to see the security tapes from the night of the Davis fire. James is the student most convinced that the Davis fire was the result of arson. . .
Click HERE to read the rest of the recap, “Dear White People.”