The season four queens become live television personalities to sell products and RPDR royalty Ra’Jah O’Hara is a guest judge…
Last week we met a whole new group of Canadian queens representing the best our fierce drag has to offer. After a first impressions ball challenge, Venus and Denim were crowned the top two of the week, and with nobody officially being sent home, the top pair battled it out for the weekly title. After a passionate lip sync Venus won the top spot and became the first maxi challenge winner of the season. This week the competition continues to heat up as the queens become live television personalities and Brooke reveals the major twist of the season.
This week’s episode begins with the queens entering the werk room following last week’s lip sync. Everyone is excited that it was a non-elimination week, and some of the queens are gagged to still be here. Venus and Denim both talk about how excited they were to lip sync and congratulate the bottom queens on not going home. Melinda is relieved but also a little nervous that she has a lot to prove in the challenge this week. With the queens officially in the thick of the competition the pressure is on to continue impressing the judges is becoming very real.
It’s a new day in the werk room and everyone is feeling refreshed and energized to slay the week. The queens talk about how someone is for sure going home this week. Ru interrupts with a video message with a little shopping-related riddle and Brooke enters the werk room to tell the queens about this week’s maxi challenge. This week the queens will be on-air personalities for QV-She to sell fabulous drag-inspired products to eager consumers. The queens split themselves into groups of three and a pair. Some are excited about their groups and the bottom queens are nervous that their groups don’t really want to work with them. Since Venus won last week’s challenge she gets to choose the first product, and she goes with the tip tits. The next group picks the party poncho, and the next group picks the flats with the last group being left with the shade-blockers. The queens will have four minutes to pitch and sell their products while being funny.
They break off into their groups to workshop some ideas for their segments. Some queens are nervous about dabbling in comedy this early in the competition, which means some of the other queens will have to pick up the slack. Some groups are choosing to go with characters with over-the-top campy personalities. Sisi’s group is nervous in her abilities to deliver funny content but Kitten and Melinda are really vibing while planning their broadcast. Nearah isn’t loving her team and Aimee is nervous to fade into the background due to lack of dialogue with the other members of her team.
It’s time for the queens to sell sell sell on QV-She and Denim, Kiki, and Sisi are all up first. It’s live and they only get one take to advertise their products. The first group falls a little flat right out of the gate after they forget a line and it continues to just get worse. The next group Melinda and Kitten are up next and they are really pulling it off. They flow really well together, their jokes are landing, and they’re cracking up the other queens. Venus, Aurora, and The Girlfriend Experience are next to sell their tip storage bras and they’re doing really well, too. Venus and Aurora don’t miss a beat but The Girlfriend Experience forgets a few of her lines which derails their performance a little. Finally the party poncho group is last and Nearah is giving retro tv personality but Luna isn’t really giving much of anything. Aimee gives it her all but her jokes don’t really land the way she wants them to.
It’s elimination day and some of the queens are hoping that their runway saves them from the bottom this week. Around the table Melinda thanks Kitten for sticking with her since they had such a great time in the challenge. Nearah, Luna, and Aimee talk about the struggles they had in the challenge and Luna is not happy that a lot of her cues to speak were missed by the other queens. As they get into drag for the main stage The Girlfriend Experience asks Kitten about the first time she ever saw a drag queen. Girlfriend teaches Kitten about hyper-queens in Vancouver and Denim talks about how she doesn’t like the term “AFAB queen”. There’s always room for learning and growing in the community and everyone is enthusiastic to progress and adapt to a more inclusive future. They talk about what they know about Canadian queer history and Aimee talks about her journey to becoming a Canadian citizen.
Out on the mainstage Brooke introduces the judges Traci, Brad, and this week’s extra special guest, Drag Race royalty and All Star winner Ra’Jah O’Hara. On the runway the category is “Gemstones” and the queens strut in gorgeous jewel-toned and semi-precious inspired hues. Brooke tells the queens that even though they performed in groups they will be judged individually. Based on their performance in the challenge and their runway looks, Brooke calls forward Luna, The Girlfriend Experience, Sisi Superstar, Kitten Kaboodle, Melinda Verga, and Venus and lets them know that they represent the tops and bottoms of the week. The remaining queens are safe but before they head backstage, Brooke lets them know a lot of them are very lucky there are only three bottom spots.
Critiques start with Sisi. Brooke tells her this is a “vast improvement” from last week’s runway. Brad clocks her for not wearing shoes on the runway and Brooke tells her that her performance in the challenge was rough. None of the judges understood or wanted to buy what she was selling. Kitten Kaboodle is up next and Brooke tells her she was an absolute joy to watch and calls her and Melinda the perfect balance. Traci tells her she made the conversation flow naturally and Brooke compliments her runway, as it is totally different from what we saw last week. Melinda’s critique is next and all of the judges loved her fun performance in the challenge and Ra’Jah tells her to just have a little more fun on the runway with her face. Brooke reveals she’s wearing a pair of the flats Kitten and Melinda were selling and gifts a pair to Traci. Next, Brad tells Venus that her look tonight is a “fashion boner” and Traci tells her that her performance was terrifying in the best way possible. Brooke tells The Girlfriend Experience that her look on the runway was gorgeous but they need more personality from her on the stage. Brooke says her performance in the challenge started well but fell off and it was hard to recollect herself after breaking character once. Finally, the judges ask Luna how she found the maxi challenge. Luna responds that she was frustrated that a lot of her moments were missed but Brooke reminds her that she started the challenge with zero energy. Based on the critiques, Brooke announces that Kitten Kaboodle, Melinda Verga, and Venus are the top three queens of the week but Kitten wins the maxi challenge and five thousand dollars. This leaves Sisi, The Girlfriend Experience, and Luna as the bottom three. Brooke then tells everybody that this season the maxi challenge winner also holds the power of “the golden beaver”, which grants them the ability to save one of the bottom three from lip syncing for their life. As they untuck they must plead their case.
Backstage the queens reveal that Kitten won the challenge and explain the golden beaver to the safe queens. Girlfriend begins to cry over her critiques. Luna doesn’t want to make excuses and Sisi is feeling shattered. The three bottoms plead their case to Kitten with Girlfriend showing her vulnerable side and Luna giving some context to her icy exterior. However, Sisi says that since she was in the bottom last week it wouldn’t be fair for her to take the save away from one of the other queens. Back on the main stage Kitten hands her beaver over to The Girlfriend Experience and saves her from an elimination lip sync. This leaves Sisi Superstar and Luna DuBois both up for elimination. The bottom two queens lip sync for their life to I’m With You By Avril Lavigne. After an emotional and passionate performance from both queens, Brooke and the rest of the judges send Sisi Superstar home, making her the first queen to be eliminated this season.
Next week on Canada’s Drag Race: It’s girl group challenge week and rifts start to form between some of the queens during dance rehearsals.
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