Vida’s season one finale takes an unexpected turn with Eddy being attacked, Lyn breaking up with Johnny, and the sisters deciding that they’re going to keep the bar and make it better than ever. For a season finale, it’s honestly an unexpected turn of events and a true testament to the quality of writing, acting, and cinematography on this show. There’s no question, ifs, ands, or buts, that this show deserves a second season to explore the world/characters they’ve created and to blow our minds once more.
Let’s break down the Vida season one finale!
What’s Happened to Eddy
From the very start I thought Eddy just wanted to keep the bar because this was where they lived with Vidalia. This is where their love grew. This where their love was sustained. And this is where Eddy lost Vidalia. All in one place. I also thought she wanted to keep the bar because she didn’t want to accept the fact that times had changed and that she wasn’t making due, leading to rent being hiked up for those she cared about. I can, without a doubt, say that I was wrong.
Sure Eddy lived in the bar with Eddy. And sure they loved the people that lived there and thought of them as family. But the real reason, the one thing that kept them pushing and fighting against Emma’s continued efforts to shut down the bar and sell it off, was the fact that it was a safe place to be queer AF in a community that still hasn’t accepted them. And that right there blew my mind.
Call me naive, I’m doing it right now, but I forgot that this is the truth of a huge part of the Latinx community. Hell, it was only just a bit ago that the Pope basically said who was he to judge God’s creations when it came to gay people, so how can we judge? That right there changed the minds of many in the Latinx community but not enough. There are still huge portions of the Latinx community who see being queer as immoral, something in need of being corrected, and enough reason to ignore, kick you out, or disown you.
Vidalia’s bar was a safe place, a home away from home that Eddy wanted to keep for herself and those they loved. And it sucks all kinds of ass (I know, vulgar. But we’re allowed to be a little vulgar after what happened to Eddy) that this is the kind of world that we live in, particularly in the Latinx community. The kind where a drunk asshole who felt like his masculinity was in question if he didn’t show this “woman playing at being a man” how it was really done.
Which, kudos to Eddy and the makeup team of Vida for the amazing job done to bring this scene to life. I still have chills up and down my arms from how real it felt and how Eddy looked in that bed. Oh, and don’t get me started on those camera angles. I have been fortunate enough to only receive the scorn and “you better not bring a girl home” from my family when it comes to my bisexuality. But seeing it filmed from the attackers perspective and then Eddy’s down on the ground, it shook me. It scared me. And it made me want to find/make/explore those safe spaces for people like Eddy, for people like me, to counterattack the bullshit of those who think we are immoral or out of place.
We are neither of those things. We are human. We want to be loved, safe, happy.
Just like everyone else.
We’re Gonna Stay
Emma’s anger at what her mother did to her has always held her back. It held her back in Chicago where she thought everything was hunky dorey, and it held her back in the bar when she was supposed to be burying her mother. She was looking for an apology, some sort of explanation, for why her mother did the things that she did. And I think it took her to this episode to realize that none of that shit matters anymore. She’s never going to get that apology from her mami. All she can do now is seek forgiveness and healing from herself and those around her.
It’s terrible that it took Eddy getting hurt for Emma to also realize what the bar had transformed into. And in a way I think Vidalia did this for Emma. Vidalia couldn’t provide a safe place for her daughter. She had in fact pushed Emma away because she saw things in her daughter that reflected/were mirrored inside of her and that she wasn’t ready to face. So if her daughter wasn’t going to come back, if she had effectively pushed her daughter away forever, she was going to turn the bar into a safe haven for people like Emma and people like herself.
And that’s kind of beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
I wish that Emma would’ve come back and spoken to her mother before she died. I wish they would’ve gotten some closer face to face. And I wish that Emma would’ve seen what her mother created for her, side by side with the mother who was too afraid of what she was inside. But if wishes were horses, we’d all be eating steak. (The Office throwback there.) It’s too late for wishes or what ifs. This bar was Vidalia and Eddy’s. Now it’s Eddys, Emma’s, and Lyn’s. And by the barely restrained anger on Emma’s face as she saw Eddy in that bed, she going to fight with everything she has inside of her to keep the bar.
For herself.
For her sister.
For her mother.
For Eddy.
And for any other queer person who has felt abandoned, hated, or looked down upon because they simply want to be free to be who they want to be and love who they want to love.
Lyn, I Didn’t Think That We Would Get to This Place
How in the world did we get from episode 1 Lyn (selfish, aloof, wild and free) to episode 6 Lyn (understanding, dependable, risk taker/business woman)? Epic AF writing, that’s how. Never before has a show taken me on a journey where I equal parts loathed the character, loved the character, and couldn’t wait for the character to be handed their ass for the stupid they’ve been up to. And by the miracle of writing, I think Lyn became my favorite character. I’m still wrapping my head around it and will probably break it down in a season review but HOT DAMN!
First up, Lyn left Johnny. She didn’t leave him because she got bored, because it wasn’t fun anymore, or because Johnny cheated on her like I expected a cheater like him to do. No. Lyn broke up with him because she got perspective and clarity. So many people depended on Johnny to keep them afloat and going. And here she came like a wrecking ball, disrupting all of their lives because she simply wanted to.
Lyn couldn’t do that. She couldn’t be the person who left a pregnant woman without support or the person who helped leave a sick and dying man without anyone to care for him. That’s not who Lyn is and she won’t let anyone fool her into believing she is, even if that person is herself and Johnny. No. She’s better than that. It took a while to realize that but realize it she did. And I’m proud of her.
With her sister by her side, they can start to build something at Vidalia’s and work through the rest of their grief, feelings, and anger about the passing of their mom and Eddy’s assault. And it makes it even more awesome, more exciting for the prospect of Season 2 of Vida, because Lyn chose this. Her sister didn’t push her into this and neither did Johnny. She did it for herself. And that right there is powerful and lasting and the kind of shit other shows wish they could have in a character like Lyn.
Lyn, Emma, Eddy, and every single character of this show is unique AF, complicated AF, and 100% worth knowing, investing in, and exploring in a second season. So get on with it Starz.
Give me Season 2 of Vida.