Pose co-creator and star explain the finale's Sex and the City moment'

Pose ended its legendary three-season run last month with a series finale filled with heartbreak and hope. One particularly glorious sequence toward the end of the episode featured our four heroines — Blanca (Emmy nominee Mj Rodriguez), Angel (Indya Moore), Elektra (Dominique Jackson), and Lulu (Hailie Sahar) — strutting down a cobblestone street on their way to brunch. It's 1998, and the meatpacking district is crowded with stylishly-dressed diners — thanks in part to the recent debut of Sex and the City. "I have to be honest, I tried watching that show," says Blanca. "They need to call it Being White in the City because ain't none of those girls got a Black or Latina friend."

FX Hailie Sahar, Indya Moore, Mj Rodriguez, and Dominique Jackson on 'Pose'

It may sound like shade, but on this week's episode of EW's The Awardist podcast, Pose co-creator/writer/director Steven Canals — who earned an Emmy nomination for directing the two-part finale — says there's something deeper behind Blanca's quip. "I know a lot of people have made a meal out of [saying] it feels like we're throwing shade at Sex and the City, when the reality is, I actually really love Sex and the City, I think it's a great show," says the director. He and Rodriguez joined The Awardist to celebrate Pose's 9 Emmy nominations, including the history-making nod for Ms. Michaela Jaé.

Canals says the SATC homage began with Pose writer-producer Our Lady J, who scripted the brunch scene. "Initially on the page, I think the very first thing she wrote is like, 'They're walking down the street together and it feels like a Sex and the City moment.' It was out of that that we started having conversations about the ways that these particular girlfriends are distinctly different from what we typically see on television," he explains. "We wanted the audience to know that we're in on it, we're hyper-aware — like, sure, there may be some overlap [with SATC in this scene], but this is very different. You've never seen four Black women, four Latin women, four trans women [on TV] having friendships and relationships in this way."

Rodriguez says she thought Blanca's joke was "very crafty," and adds that she loved being able to show trans women living their best lives on screen. "I think it was beautiful that we got to actually [have] that moment of that four women at the table holding counsel," she says. "We're around so many cisgender women, and us being the four trans women in that room — having a conversation and fitting in, not having a worry in the world... That was everything!"

To hear more from Canals and Rodriguez — including the finale ballroom moment that had everyone losing their damn minds — listen to the full interview below.

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