Everything we know about the final season of Pose

The time has come to strike a pose... even if this this hoorah is the last.

Pose season 3 will mark the history redefining drama series' final run when the episodes kick off on FX May 2. Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, and many of their fellow cast and crew members are in the midst of saying goodbye to the roles they say changed their lives. But it's not over until it's over.

Series co-creator Steven Canals promised viewers that they crafted the story they came here to tell with this last run of seven episodes.

"I, along with my incredible collaborators, never intended on changing the television landscape, I simply wanted to tell an honest story about family, resilience, and love," he said in a statement announcing the show's final season.

Here's what we know about Pose season 3.

By the end of season 2, Pose felt like it could go anywhere.

Still in the 1980s, the House of Evangelista underwent some major changes: Angel (Indya Moore) and Papi (Angel Bismark Curiel) got engaged, Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain) furthered his dance career, and Ricky (Dyllón Burnside) got a spot on Paula Abdul's latest tour. In their place, Blanca (Rodriguz) welcomed in a new batch of Evangelistanites — runaway teens.

"We knew very early on that Blanca is our singular heroine. Everyone else anchors around her but she's kind of the central force," writer-director-producer Janet Mock told EW of the season 2 finale. "We knew that the way that she was fighting for her kids very early on, from the second season premiere all the way through, would lead to them having independence. They're going to grow up and move on. And I think it's something that most parents do and so we kind of knew that."

So, Blanca is now alone with her thoughts. It's about the character "questioning her mortality... her purpose and dreams," Mock added.

Welcome to the 1990s. Specifically, 1994.

Blanca is now struggling to balance her responsibilities as a mother, her new love (played by Tony and Emmy-nominated actor Jeremy Pope), and her role as a nurse in the AIDS ward alongside Judy (Sandra Bernhard).

"You're a trans woman of color working at a hospital," Judy tells Blanca in the first Pose season 3 trailer (see it above).

"I'm just trying to stay afloat," she responds.

The AIDS epidemic looms large in the background — and, at times, forefront — of the season 3 story. Pray Tell (Emmy winner Billy Porter) is contending with unexpected health burdens, and the virus has now become the leading cause of death for Americans in the 25-to-44 age group.

"I knew this disease was going to eat me alive, but I'm not going out with a fight," Pray Tell declares.

Meanwhile, in the ballroom scene, a new, more vicious upstart house rises in the ranks and forces the House of Evangelista to contend with their legacy.

Pose will return to FX this May 2 and it'll be a big night. The first two episodes of the new season will drop on the network starting at 10 p.m. ET. Subsequent chapters will premiere every week on Sundays.

Season 3 marks a big moment for Porter, who will direct his first episode of Pose. It also marks the first time he's directing something for the screen.

"I've been directing for 20 years in the theater, and I'm directing an episode of season 3 myself," he told Variety. "I'm trying to be the head b---- in charge, hunny!"

Canals, Ryan Murphy, and Brad Falchuk — the three series creators — came back as executive producers for season 3 alongside Mock, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, and Sherry Marsh. Our Lady J serves as a co-executive producer, and Tanase Popa serves as a supervising producer. Lou Eyrich, Jeff Dickerson, and Kip Myers round out the producers side of things.

It's not goodbye. Just so long. The legacy of Pose, which featured the most number of trans series regular roles on screen, will endure long after the finale.

The cast and crew have been sharing moments from the set, including Canals receiving a specific meaningful prop.

"As a wrap gift, the art department gave me one of the broken windows (it's not real glass) from Blanca's apartment," Canals tweeted in March. "Excuse me while I weep. I'll always love the House of Evangelista."

"And just like that… it's a Wrap," Rodriguez wrote in a response on Instagram. "I couldn't have asked for a better cast and crew to work on long side. The long hours, Emotional pull, the early calls were all worth it in the end. This show has changed my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. So thank you Pose fam, we did it! We changed the world, and we showed them how to love a bit harder again!"

"To my family, friends, supporters, and fans. None of this will be possible without you," she continued. "From the interviews, right down to the comments, you all have been nothing but positive lights! Thank you thank you thank you."

She promised, "This is not the last you will see of me."

"@poseonfx has changed lives especially mine!" Jackson wrote alongside a video of her transformation out of hair and makeup. "I have been taught, loved, validated, acknowledged, tried, proven and once more loved."

Check out our daily must-see picks — plus news, celeb interviews, trivia, and more — in EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall. 

Related content:

• Pose cast marks end of filming on final season: 'This show has changed my life'
• Pose to end with season 3
• Billy Porter explains why his Pose season 2 love scene means so much