We’re on the third episode of Drag Race Philippines and the producers have laid the groundwork for a number of storylines moving forward. Two villains of the season, rivalries, and a heartwarming storyline depending on how Bernie’s story progresses.
In the previous episode, the two batches of queens finally meet each other. Let’s see how they get along or don’t get along in this new episode!
Astrid Mercury has been asked to sashay away but the second batch of queens didn’t get a chance to mourn her departure as they have to deal with the first batch of queens that they’re now meeting for the first time. DeeDee Holiday doesn’t seem too thrilled to have Captivating Katkat in the competition, so the only thing we need to wait for is if this is going to be a season-long rivalry or just for this episode.
The next day, the girls introduce themselves to each other “properly” and while I only pegged Captivating Katkat and Veruschka as the villains of the season, DeeDee is apparently gunning for it as well as she goes after Arizona Brandy by saying she performs at the “cheaper” bars in town.
They get their RuMail for this episode and can I just say RuPaul looks so dead in the eyes? It’s like she has a gun trained at her to say these lines and it is so hilarious to me.
This week’s mini challenge involves the queens getting into granny drag and then doing a newspaper dance, the staple of Filipino parties everywhere. YUNG TAWA KO WITH THE UNINTENTIONAL LOLA NIDORA LOOK FROM MATILDUH?
Also hilarious is the smattering of “putanginamo” you hear as the newspaper dance goes on. It’s so Filipino???? At least for me? Matilduh wins the mini challenge and gets a cash tip sponsored by Auro Chocolate? It still boggles my mind that the show has been able to get sponsorships! These sponsorships are a good thing I just didn’t expect any company would have the courage?
Aside from the cash tip, Matilduh also gets an advantage in this episodes Maxi challenge, which is a design challenge where they make an outfit from the materials in box containing materials connected to different holidays in the country. However, there’s a key difference here compared to the more recent episodes of Drag Race. They have to do is as a pair, and Matilduh’s power is she gets to assign who the queens are partnered with as well as their boxes.
Matilduh picks Halloween for her and ØV. She then partners up Arizona and Veruschka and gives them the birthday box. And in an act of shadiness and great television, she also partners up “known” rivals Katkat and DeeDee ang gives them the Valentine box. M1ss Jade and Bernie are the next pair Matilduh forms and honestly she just signed her “not going to win this episode” papers or whatever because I think those two would work great together. She even assigns the Christmas box to them! The final pair are Tiny Deluxe and Hana Beshie who get the Fiesta box. Quite frankly, some of the “holidays” are a stretch but whatever.
But then Paolo introduces a twist! The pairs Matilduh came up with aren’t going to be partners, they’re going to be competitors! Just like in Drag Race UK season 2! Matilduh definitely isn’t going to win in this episode because she’s going up against ØV.
Veruschka starts talking big game in the confessionals, saying that she used to be a designer in Qatar and that she designed pieces that Beyonce and Katy Perry wore. Now I’m just a little bit skeptical, because if this did happen, you know some media outlet would report on it. Like this one here, because any Filipino or Fil-Am that achieves any smidgen of relevance outside of the country is immediately reported. I’m just saying!
Hana Beshie’s assertion that all of their drag in Cagayan de Oro is handmade is much more believable, since the farther you are from the capitol, the fewer resources you have at your disposal. And the fact that Hana Beshie came up with that cup noodle look on her own? She’s definitely a candidate to be on top this episode!
Paolo visits the Werk Room with Tessa Prieto to check on the progress of each queen and maybe give a little advice, and whether the advice given ends up helpful or not is still to be seen. Tiny does set herself up for a bottom placement by outright stating the confessional that she knows she’s not going to be in the bottom. Production will put you in the bottom just to teach you a lesson.
Meanwhile, Hana Beshie and Matilduh talk about their families, and Hana shares what I think is a particularly Filipino experience, which is the queer kid in the family overachieving in an effort to compensate for the “shame” of being the queer kid. Even now, Hana and her mother still aren’t on good terms and she still has to hide her drag items under her bed just so there’s no trouble at home.
Matilduh also shares a concerning story about her teacher outing her to her parents, which I think is frowned upon in other countries but really doesn’t surprise me that it’s still happening in the Philippines. Ever since then, Matilduh has distanced herself from her family because she doesn’t know if they’re going to accept her if she does come out.
Meanwhile, Tiny is curious about the DeeDee-Katkat feud. Apparently their last fight was their worst one, with walkouts and everything and the bitterness spilling over onto social media.
In yet another corner of the Werk Room, Arizona is talking about the struggles of a local queen — although one can argue that Cubao is closer to the center than Cagayan de Oro where Hana Beshie is from. For Arizona, she’s not just representing herself in the competition, but the other queens in her home bar Rapture as well. To be honest I have never been to Rapture so maybe I should check it out! According to Arizona their performanes are more of a comedy act which is something I enjoy so why not?
So the runway finally starts and can I just say that between DeeDee and Katkat’s outfits, Katkat’s is the clear winner? It’s sleeker compared to DeeDee’s!
Meanwhile, Veruschka and Arizona’s looks are…a lot. A LOT. I know they were just given the day — yes you read that right — to make these outfits but goodness me. Veruschka looks like birthday party leftovers that people have to clean up which ends up making Arizona look slightly better because she at least edited her look a bit.
Finally, we get a great looking pair in Hana Beshie and Tiny Deluxe. If I were to pick a winner between the two, I’d say Hana Beshie because her look is immediately stunning but Tiny’s look isn’t anything to scoff at either!
M1ss Jade So and Bernie both should be the top end of story bye period.
So it’s time to pick the top queens and…DeeDee over Katkat? Veruschka? And then Veruschka win? Over Hana Beshie and M1ss jade So? Okay. Those are…choices.
The rigga morris.
The level of unprofessionalism…far too much.
Anyways, they do a rundown of the bottom queens and Jon Santos continues to be the voice of reason. He really should have been the host but I guess Paolo is more familiar to a younger audience and maybe Jon doesn’t want to commit too much of his time to Drag Race since he’s got a theater career anyway.
ØV and Bernie are declared safe and Bernie’s comedic timing? She’s my frontrunner for sure. Put her on It’s Showtime. Put her in an MMFF comedy movie. She’s ready.
Arizona and Tiny are the pair lip syncing and Tiny says in the confessionals that she’s going to assassinate Arizona on the lip sync and that just sealed the deal. Tiny is going home because saying that to the producers is just an invitation for them to kick you out. Also, Arizona definitely won the lip sync when she did the kitty, kitty/kilikili gag. That was hilarious. And the floor licking? Corazon found dead this is the true barangayan lip sync.
And I know that I said I wouldn’t be recapping Untucked but seeing ØV after the “trash” comment from Tessa was really heartbreaking. The producers even had to come out and console her!
AND THEN VERUSCHKA STIRS THE POT BY BRINGING UP JADE’S FEELINGS ABOUT KATKAT WHEN ØV WAS HAVING HER BREAKDOWN. THIS BITCH.
On a “positive” note, Bernie does show herself to be objective, because she may call Katkat a demonyita, but she does point out that Katkat’s never pinched anybody before. Maybe punch them, but never pinch.
AND THEN VERUSCHKA, WHO STARTED THIS SHIT SAYS THAT JADE SHOULD FIX HER “TRIGGER” BECAUSE JADE MADE THIS SMALL THING BECOME SO BIG OH THIS. BITCH.
Ron Does Stuff 
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