But by the season finale, Blanca’s fortunes are on the up, as she wins her ballroom category with a triumphant lip-synch extravaganza to Whitney Houston’s iconic performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Meanwhile, two homeless 14-year-olds, Chris and Chilly, turn up outside the ballroom, giving Blanca a chance to continue the House of Evangelista.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, director and executive producer Janet Mock, who also directed the season finale, explained the narrative decision to extend Blanca’s chosen family, who she describes as a “singular heroine”, with two new Evangelistas.

“It’s about her questioning her mortality, her questioning her purpose and dreams,” Mock explains. “It’s, ‘My purpose is done. I can move on now because I ain’t got no kids.’ And it’s like, ‘Girl, there’s more kids. There’s many more kids’”.

“With this episode, it really was to reawaken Blanca’s drive to say, ‘These kids that I love, you know, they’ll always be in my life,’” she continued. “They’ll never be in my household again and now I have to figure out what does my new house look like, what does the new Evangelista look like?’”.

Janet Mock reveals truth behind Blanca’s joyous Whitney Houston lip-sync in Pose