‘Poppa’s House’ Finale: Poppa-Ivy Romance Might’ve Been Major Part of Season 2
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Poppa’s House Season 1 finale, “Magic Shine Again.”]
The Poppa’s House Season 1 finale ended on a major romantic cliffhanger between its leads. After they spent the season slowly getting closer, the finale culminated in Poppa (Damon Wayans Sr.) and Ivy (Essence Atkins) ready to admit their romantic feelings for each other. Their timing, however, was off, resulting in missed chances. But the episode’s final moment proved that Poppa’s House intended to dive into this potential couple in Season 2. Sadly, Poppa’s House was canceled by CBS on April 22, less than one week before its first finale would air. Unless the show is able to be saved by another network or streamer (and some fans are hoping that’s possible), the Poppa’s House Season 1 finale serves as its series finale, cutting off a central romance just as it was beginning.
Poppa was ready to admit his attraction to Ivy early in the episode. He told son Junior (Damon Wayans Jr.) of his grand gesture designed to make Ivy feel desired and courted. He would rent a limo and take Ivy out to a romantic dinner after gifting her her favorite flowers and a handwritten note confessing his feelings. Just as his plan was kicking off, Ivy revealed that she rekindled her relationship with her ex-husband, David (played by Walker‘s Coby Bell, a former costar of Atkins’). Comedically unlucky timing resulted in Ivy thinking David got her the flowers and the card and planned the date, and Poppa played along to respect Ivy’s desire to get back with her ex, even though he knew David was wrong for her.
Ivy returned to Poppa’s home after the date and revealed that she knew he wrote the moving card and planned the entire evening. Another stroke of bad timing brought Poppa’s ex, Lola (Tamia DeVea Black), back into his sphere. Lola asked to get back together, not realizing that Ivy was in the room. Like Poppa did with David, Ivy walked away to respect what she thought Poppa wanted. The finale ended with Poppa watching Ivy leave, a clear look of conflict on his face as he struggled to make a decision between Ivy and Lola. Now, it’s likely that fans will never see what he would’ve done next, but Atkins previously hinted to TV Insider that Ivy’s love life was going to be explored in-depth in a potential Poppa’s House Season 2.
Sonja Flemming / CBS
Atkins agreed that Poppa and Ivy would make a good couple because the best relationships start as friendships. At the time of this interview, which was connected to David’s debut episode (Season 1 Episode 13), Atkins of course knew the plan for this storyline but couldn’t share it. She did say, however, that “it’s a journey that the audience will enjoy because the development of their relationship, I feel, has been particularly authentic in that it hasn’t felt rushed.”
“Like, oh, we hate each other, now we love each other, and now we’re best friends. Over the course of the season, you are seeing two people get to know one another, two people develop a congenial work environment initially, and then crossing over into genuine friendship and confidant,” Atkins said at the time. “I will say that you need to watch and see how the relationship develops, and I think that the audience will love it.”
“There have been lots of ideas thrown around for what the evolution of that relationship looks like, and there’s some really great ideas on the table,” Atkins said of the Poppa-Ivy potential in a would-be Season 2. “And also just what I love is that as silly as we are on the show and as broad as the show gets in terms of a comedic flare, there is always grounded in it the heart of a story that comes from a real place. And so that will be maintained no matter what.”
Ivy, a psychologist, works with couples in her professional life and has a history of giving relationship advice that encourages a woman’s independence and commitment to respect from her partner. This stemmed from Ivy’s unhealthy relationship with David, who never treated her right. Much of her character development was rooted in letting herself be vulnerable and open to love again, as she explained in the finale. Poppa, she realized, is the person who was making that feel possible. Atkins hoped to explore this more in a second season.
Sonja Flemming / CBS
“For me, I just hope to watch [Ivy] unravel and put herself back together again. I think Ivy is very much in her Humpty Dumpty phase. I can’t wait to see her fall completely apart and realize the value in exposure and realize the value of having your innards exposed and seeing who’s there to cover you and who’s there to help put yourself back together,” she explained. “That’s what I hope for Ivy, because I think that’s a story that everyone can latch onto, and at least if they haven’t experienced it themselves, they know somebody who has fallen apart.”
What did you think of the Poppa’s House finale? Were you hoping to see these colleagues-turned-friends fall in love? Let us know in the comments section, below.
Poppa’s House, Season 1, Streaming on Paramount+
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