I’m not too late this time! Work, to be honest, is still as hectic as ever, but I don’t want to be delayed with my recaps either so I am making it work. But not too much because like I’ve been constantly saying, I am not being paid to do this!
Last episode, we saw the heartbreaking departure of Matilduh from the competition. Will the queens be equally sad at the start of this episode or will it be more like when Veruschka Levels left the competition? Let’s find out!
Well, it was a pretty tame reaction to Matilduh leaving the show. M1ss Jade So felt a little bad about sending home a sister, but most of the post-elimination chatter seemed to center around DeeDee saying she’s determined to win even more Ru Badges in the coming days. M1ss Jade also jokes about the rest of the girls finally being able to win mini challenges since Matilduh had been sweeping them before she got eliminated.
It looks like DeeDee is being set up for something in this episode because she’s getting a lot of talking head parts and she’s the queen on other queens’ lips straight out of the gate. She’s talking about how last week’s win was important to her because it lit a fire in her to perform even better, while Hana Beshie says she’s worried for DeeDee because some people think she shouldn’t have won considering her runway look.
The talk then switches to Ru Badges, with four of seven remaining girls having one. Bernie, Captivating KatKat, Arizona Brandy, and DeeDee all have badges, while ØV, M1ss Jade, and Hana Beshie are still badge-less as of now. Hana Beshie even says that she feels more like a fan rather than a competitor, and boy is that a sure sign that you’re going to be in the bottom this week.
But before we get to that we have to get through the mini challenge first, which is puppets this week. I gotta be honest, I don’t think these girls are going to be good at this challenge, at least based on their Snatch Game performance? But I want to be proven wrong!
Arizona is up first and it was frankly mid. I’ve seen better M1ss Jade So impersonations on TikTok. But maybe it’s also because they don’t want to really go in on their fellow queens for fear of offending? But this puppet challenge is meant to be a safe space with no room for offence!
M1ss Jade doesn’t fare any better, and it also looks like KatKat isn’t taking M1ss Jade’s jabs any better either. Is this going to be another Untucked fight? And speaking of KatKat, her puppet performance is also mid. By her own admission!
ØV fares just as badly as the other queens and so does Bernie, with Bernie having the added spice of saying that DeeDee didn’t deserve her win in the previous episode because of her runway look. I ask once more: Is this going to be another Untucked fight?
AND THEN. DeeDee starts spilling things said to her in confidence by Hana Beshie and the girls are aghast. Hana Beshie especially, who did not think her personal affairs would be broadcasted to the whole world by someone she thought she could trust. After all that, Hana’s turn with her puppet doesn’t match up at all but she still gets the win in what has been a terrible challenge performance all around.
Aside from the cash tip, Hana also gets to assign roles for Drag Race Philippines first ever acting challenge. However, Hana admits to not being fully there when it comes to the challenge as she’s still shook by the unexpected reveal of her personal life mady by DeeDee. So I don’t know if that had anything to do with her picking the role DeeDee also wanted, but the insinuation sure is intriguing!
DeeDee, to be fair, seems to be aware that she has broken Hana’s trust. She says she did it because she felt pressured to do so and now she’s worrying about that on top of the upcoming acting challenge. Will it affect her performance? Let’s see!
They start shooting the acting challenge under the watch of Mama Pao and Maricel Soriano, who really is a gay icon in the Philippines who most queer people know — she’s not an unrecognizable name like some of the judges in RuPaul’s Drag Race. That’s not me saying that, that’s the queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race itself saying that!
She’s a little nice to the queens, but to be honest I don’t know if any of them performed really well other than KatKat? Although that may be more because of the way the sequence was edited to avoid spoiling the queen’s performances too much. M1ss Jade So does seem like she’s headed for another bottom placement this week.
Before we get to see how they perform, we first get to see their alien-themed runway and it starts off great with Katkat’s look. But then DeeDee and ØV’s are a little disappointing, especially ØV’s since we know that she can bring it.
Arizona’s look doesn’t impress either, which is why it was a relief when Hana Beshie showed up with a look that’s pretty interesting compared to Arizona’s. M1ss Jade’s look isn’t impressive to me either, especially when compared to Bernie’s, who came after her and had a look that was impactful because of how intricate it was with light and everything.
The acting challenge…had its ups and downs, lets say that. Bernie was funny when she had the little asides, the voice ØV chose for her role was a little grating for me to be honest, and it was painfully obvious that M1ss Jade and Hana are not actors. KatKat seemed to be the only one who put in a decent performance. Having said all of this, when have acting challenges on any Drag Race franchise ever been good? I think the one during the first season of Drag Race España is the only exception? Maricel literally is the only one who brought some energy into this thing and that’s because she’s an actual actress with awards to her name.
Once the judges’ critiques start, I honestly felt that DeeDee was deflecting? Using a sob story to distract from her performance? I don’t know it just felt hollow to me as a viewer. Of course, I wasn’t there in the room as it was happening so it may have been sincere to the judges present. BUT Jon Santos, ever the voice of reason, sides with me! Sorta! When the judges deliberate he brings up how much longer are we going to have to listen to baggage, backstory, and excuses from DeeDee?
The girls are called back and Captivating KatKat wins another badge! Deservedly so! She’s now the first of the queens to get a second Ru Badge! Meanwhile, the bottom queens this time around are M1ss Jade So and DeeDee, also their second time in this position.
The lipsync commences and quite honestly this isn’t DeeDee’s best performance. She just looks uncertain and the back bend she tried out at the start of the lip sync just ended up with her stumbling. Also, this is something that I’ve been talking about with my friends but I wish they used more Filipino songs? That’s one thing I really liked about Drag Race España , Drag Race France, and Drag Race Mexico. They really made use of the show as a way to introduce any international viewers to the pop music of their country.
DeeDee is sent home, obviously, but not before she gets a reckoning over the puppet challenge during Untucked. Sure, sure, there’s a lot of other things that happen, but it is Hana Beshie expressing her hurt feelings about her trust being betrayed that really seemed like the core of this Untucked. And really seems to be the reason why she seemed so out of it during the lip sync.
Ron Does Stuff 
Leave a comment