by Jennifer Matos

Not just a big sister to “Bette Porter” (Jennifer Beals), “Kit Porter” (Pam Grier), also becomes an anchor to her half-sister.

A musician and the future owner of “The Planet”, Kit Porter seems to have complicated relationships everywhere she turns. It really begins with her father, “Melvin Porter” (Ossie Davis), whose affection she vies for. Her father, staunchly conservative, does not approve of his daughter’s lifestyle and actually prefers to spend time with his lesbian daughter instead as she tends to not ”rock the boat”.

A recovering alcoholic who is trying to get her life back on track, she falls for drag king “Ivan Aycock” (Kelly Lynch). Her relationship with Ivan is one where she is finally loved and treated kindly, but one that is extremely complicated. They part ways when Kit inadvertently sees Ivan’s naked female body. After they leave each other, Kit goes back to ask Ivan for some capital to purchase “The Planet”, and he agrees.

Just when you think her life couldn’t get any more complicated, she has an affair with a very married motivational speaker by the name of “Dr. Benjamin Bradshaw” (Charles S. Dutton). They have a brief pairing, much to the chagrin of her sister, Bette.

Season three of the series finds Kit in a loving relationship (but again a complicated one), Kit starts to see “Angus” (Dallas Roberts), her niece’s nanny. The complication comes in the form that he is considerably younger than she is, and he is “Angelica’s” (Olivia Windbiel), nanny. Ultimately, they win Bette and Tina’s blessing that comes with some ground rules that involve no sex in their bedroom. Angus does everything he can to woo her, including a serenade at a speed dating program. Win her heart he does. At the end of season three, she gives Angus the news that she is pregnant!

In real life, Pam Grier is reported to be straight and is reported to even have had a relationship with the late Richard Pryor.