The queens take on an improv challenge disguised as a reality TV show. Lisa Rinna is a guest judge…
Last week the second season of Canada vs The World kicked off where we met some of our favourite home queens from seasons past as well as new queens from all around the world. For their first week they split into groups and took on the infamous girl group challenge. Lemon finally broke her personal elimination curse and won the week’s highest honour; the coveted golden beaver, which she gifted to Alexis Mateo. The golden beaver gave Alexis immunity from lip synching for her life. In the end Eureka and La Kahena were forced to battle it out with Eureka getting a second chance. This week, the queens take a crack at an improv challenge with a very special housewife. Let’s get into it.
This week’s episode begins in the werk room following La Kahena’s elimination. The remaining queens read her lipstick message and Lemon feels a little bad about having a hand in sending her home but at the end of the day it’s a competition. Over on the couches Cheryl congratulates Eureka on her lip sync. Alexis thanks Lemon for believing in her enough to save her from lip syncing, but some of the other queens are upset with the decision. Fierce thinks one of the American queens should have gone home and it was unfair for Lemon to put La Kahena in that position so soon after she was eliminated first on her own season. Over in the corner Fierce and Tynomi have a little bit of a fight, but there isn’t time for Canadian queens to turn on each other.
It’s a new day in the werk room and hopefully the queens are feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new challenge. Cheryl takes the lead on congratulating Lemon on her big win. Eureka says being in the bottom gave her a quick reality check that she is in a competition. Their chat gets interrupted by some video Ru Mail alluding to being a super secret spy. Brad enters the werk room and tells the queens that they’ve all been cast on a new reality television show called The Hole (The Mole/The Traitors). The queens will have to improv as reality tv archetypes which they’ll have to assign themselves. They all read through the list of characters and work on dividing them up and for the most part everybody gets the part they want sans drama. After all the roles have been assigned they break into smaller groups to work on their characters. Miss Fiercalicious was actually on The Traitors Canada, so she has some experience with shows like this, but some of the other queens think that picking a character too close to her own personality could rub the judges the wrong way. Kennedy won the improv challenge in the last season she was in and it makes Tynomi nervous, but she has a plan to lean on her Jamaican accent to get some laughs.
The show transitions right into an episode of The Hole with Brad acting as the host with the most. One by one the queens enter playing their larger than life characters. All of them have a really good handle on their character archetypes but their improv skills will be tested once they’re surprised by the final contestant, Real Housewife Lisa Rinna. The challenge continues, and it’s essentially one big murder mystery game with much higher stakes. They break into groups to discuss who they think the hole might be. They have to be funny while also solving the mystery, so it’s definitely harder than other acting challenges we’ve seen in the past. The voting portion of the challenge is their last chance to leave an impression. There’s a lot of giggles from the queens throughout the challenge but overall, everyone did a good job.
It’s elimination day and everyone is excited and feeling good about stepping back onto the runway. Over at the makeup mirrors Le Fil is feeling bad about not being on anyone’s radar during the challenge. Tynomi tries to calm their worries but admits she can’t comment on their complete performance because she was so worried about herself. Cheryl played a superfan during the challenge, something she says she can personally relate to being part of the Drag Race family, which Le Fil echos. Out on the main stage Brooke makes a grand entrance and introduces the judging panel Brad, Traci, and this week’s extra special guest, Lisa Rinna. The category on the runway is “Mother Nature” and the queens stun in nature-inspired looks. After the runway Brooke calls Tynomi, Le Fil, Lemon, Cheryl, Miss Fiercilicous, and Kennedy Davenport forward and tells them they are the tops and bottoms of the week. Everybody else is safe and steps to the back of the stage.
Critiques start with Cheryl. Brad tells her that her characterization was fantastic and called her performance “a masterclass in improv”. All of the judges say she played it in a way that let others shine which really set her aside from the others. Unfortunately all of the judges agree that her runway look fell a little flat. Lisa commends everybody for really committing to their characters, stating she was confused by the end of it. Next up, Traci tells Le Fil that their improv was a little repetitive and while Brooke loves their commitment to sustainability with their looks, she says it’s not quite up to the standards of everybody else. The judges tell Lemon that her purple kush-inspired look was gorgeous and called her a powerhouse in the challenge. Brad loves that she really volleyed with the other queens and that she went with something different with her character. Brooke calls Fierce’s character “one-note” and Brad says he wishes she could play someone totally different from her own personality, however all of the judges agree that her runway look is top-tier. Brooke and Traci loved Kennedy’s character and loved how many tricks she had up her sleeve throughout the challenge. Lisa says her performance is comparable to comedy legends Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence which she really appreciates and they call her runway “an absolute treat”. Tynomi had one of the most exciting characters to play but didn’t land any of the jokes Brad was throwing her way. All of the judges are in agreement that she needs to go bigger and get out of her head during challenges.
After some deliberations Brooke announces that the winner of this week’s challenge is Kennedy Davenport. Lemon and Cheryl are both safe, which means Le Fil, Miss Fiercalicious, and Tynomi Banks are all in the bottom three this week. Backstage Alexis congratulates Kennedy on her win and the three bottom queens get to plead their case to Kennedy for that golden beaver. Fierce says she’s surprised she’s in the bottom, and she thinks she got the best critiques out of the bottom three but the other queens don’t agree. Le Fil says they played the challenge with joy and gave an explanation for why their looks are the way that they are. Tynomi agrees that her critiques were correct but says she isn’t done showing who she really is. Kennedy has a tough decision to make, but she makes it.
Back on the main stage Kennedy reveals that the queen she is saving from the chomping block with the golden beaver this week is… Miss Fiercalicious. This means that Tynomi and Le Fil are both up for elimination. The two bottom queens lip sync for their lives to Let Me Think About It by Ida Corr. Both queens give stunning and unique performances filled with heart. Brooke nods with the other judges in agreement and announces that Tynomi Banks will stay to slay another day. Unfortunately Le Fil won’t continue on in the competition, but it’s certainly not the last we’ll see of them.
Next week on Canada vs The World: Plug in the sewing machines and fire up the glue guns. The queens are having a ball!
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