Ron Does Stuff

Didn’t I say I would catch up? I just had to run some errands so that I’d be able to live in a little less squalor and now that I’m all cleaned up and everything I can get back to Drag Race Mexico. Judging from the teaser, it’s a design challenge revolving around a quinceanera theme!

Okay right off the bat, the subtitles for the “Last week on…” are different from the subtitles from the previous episodes. Clearer and makes the initial Valentina and Lolita Banana meeting more sensible. Seriously, invest in translators, Wow Presents!

Of course, considering what happened during the previous lip sync, the other queens are jumping on Miss Vallarta and Vermelha Noir and I can’t say I blame them! That truly was an atrocious lip sync and one or both of them should gone home. But Miss Vallarts is saying yesterday is yesterday and the way it’s edited makes it seem like Matraka is not having it.

But Lolita isn’t going to make either one of them forget it anytime soon because as soon as she enters the Werk Room and the queens tell her they’re feeling excellent she retorts with “After such a lip sync do you feel fantastic?” The queens are humbled and I swear the international editions are more exacting in their standards sometimes compared to the main show. Drag Race España did this in the first two episodes of the third season and Drag Race Philippines had Paolo Ballesteros dressing down the queens.

Pixie Pixie is immediately confident, saying that she’s a seamstress, which really sets you up for failure if we’re being real. We’ll see whether that comes true or not further along. For now, the queens run to get the best pick of the quinceanera decorations available to them and I am sorry for being so basic but it’s just hilarious to see the queens tripping all over themselves to get material. Makes me laugh whatever the version!

Already, Vallarta is entertaining all the girls asking for her help and I can’t help but say “You in danger girl” because how many times have we seen a Drag Race contestant help other people out and eventually end up in the bottom? I think Trinity the Tuck is the only queen who can make outfits for other people in the Werk Room and still come out looking gorgeous!

Gala Varo, on the other hand, is having a very bad no good day as she admits that sewing is not her forte. She literally doesn’t know where to start cutting her fabric and I honestly don’t blame her when she finally says she can’t do this. Margaret Y Ya helps her out though, which just means to me that Margaret is going to be in the bottom this episode.

Meanwhile, Matraka shares during Valentina and Lolita’s Werk Room visit that she’s counting on her hot glue skills to help her out, which the shady editor intersperses with Regina making a face. It’s hilarious.

Mother and daughter pair Pixie Pixie and Vermelha Noir are up next for the Werk Room visit, and as I predicted Pixie’s earlier confidence has resulted in her having a creative block. NEVER REVEAL HOW CONFIDENT YOU ARE ABOUT A SKILL ON A REALITY SHOW. The moment producers find that out they find every way to ensure you fall flat on your face.

What I am also getting from this Werk Room visit is that Lolita Banana is not fucking around. She’s direct to the point and seems like your strict Mexican daddy and I am sure somewhere online you can find a video that fits that very specific criteria if you catch my drift.

Gala and Argennis are up next and as much as I thought of the Hamburglar when it came to her entrance look, Gala really does look cute as a boy. Will that be enough to get her past these episode? We shall see! Argennis, on the other hand, is saying that she is also a seamstress, and once again the siren call of “You in danger girl” rings in my ears.

Cristian, fresh off a win from last week, is also confident he’s going to get a second win, which once again turns on the sirens in my head. At this point everyone is going home!

On the day they’re going to walk the runway, Pixie is still confident and Gala is still shitting herself, and the constant focus on this just makes me think the runway is going to be a reversal and Gala is ending up winning this thing.

Vermelha is also getting a lot of screen time, or rather, people talking about Vermelha get a lot of screen time. Regina brings up Vermelha’s lip sync once more, so either Vermelha does indeed lip sync again or Regina ends up eating her words.

We then get our daily required dose of “life as a queer person” discussion and once again, the similarities in the lived experiences of Mexican and Filipino queer people are fascinating. Matraka’s story of struggling with her deeply Catholic town could just as well been the story of any Filipino drag queen.

On to the runway! Honest, Gala’s look isn’t that bad! Was it life-changing? No! But the way she was so anxious about it I thought it was going to be a Lala Ri situation again.

I…do not get Matraka’s look but from the comments of the judges, it seems like I am missing important cultural context that explains the outfit. So I’ll just shut up.

I actually have the same reaction to the rest of the outfits — I do not get the cultural context, which is why I hesitate to say that this episode’s runway is a letdown compared to the previous episode. I don’t get what they’re referencing, but it does make me want to find out, which I like to think is a good thing.

They do mention Thalia during Lady Kero’s runway walk and as someone who grew up watching Filipino-dubbed episodes of MariMar, Maria Mercedes, Maria La ael Barrio, and Rosalina, I feel like I have to take note.

Once the runway is over, one of my predictions comes true-ish as Gala makes it safely into the next round. Argennis gets praise while Miss Vallarta is DRAGGED. The judges really go in on her and to be honest I kinda agree. She said in her voiceover that she’s representing those who can’t afford to have a quinceanera but I don’t think that was clearly telegraphed with her outfit.

Vermelha also gets a dragging but it’s not as vicious as Miss Vallarta’s was. Either way, I think it’s going to be the two of them in the bottom again and this time someone better go home!

And you know what? Somebody did! Although I thought it would be the other queen!

The next episode looks to be an acting challenge, finally, so let’s see what the girls are going to bring!