Ron Does Stuff

First episode is done and we saw Madame Yoko sashay away. Let’s see what’s in store for us in this new episode!

The queens are back in the Werk Room and Sum Ting Wong is relieved that she’s safe, and she definitely should be because I thought it was going to be her going home in the first episode. Khianna says she saved Sum Ting Wong because she saw herself in Sum Ting Wong and then Khianna tries to make a pun that is unfortunately not appreciated enough by the queens, I feel. I love puns!

Meanwhile, Siam reveals that she picked Sum Ting Wong’s lipstick because she really felt a connection with Madame Yoko from the start. There’s tears and all and then she tells Sum Ting Wong that since Madame Yoko’s gone, now they can be friends.

The next day, the queens ask Khianna about winning both challenges, and we’re reminded that during her season, Khianna only won during the first episode. Huh. In my head she won more! But it does get the other queens thinking that maybe Khianna is just good on the first episode.

This episode’s mini challenge is the kadang-kadang and I don’t know if it translates to other cultures but I was cackling throughout. Especially with Sum Ting Wong lumbering around and Yuhua hobbling. And them doing it in 15-minute drag? Hilarious to me.

Khianna wins the challenge and P20,000, and then Mama Pao reveals that this week’s Maxi Challenge is the girl group challenge. Khianna gets to pick the girls who are going to be part of her team, while the remainders automatically become the rival group. And Khianna picks all the Filipino queens and punctuates it with a Uniteam joke in the confessionals. I swear, that is only going to be funny to Filipinos.

Okay, before we fully get into the new song, let’s look back at the one that started it all for Drag Race Philippines, “Pop Off Ate”. That song had legs and honestly is better than some of the other international efforts.

Now, the international queens are having a little bit of a crisis when it comes to who is going to take the lead in different parts of the challenges, and I think that comes from the fact that most of them have been in an environment where they aren’t given the same opportunities as the queens they’re with? A lot of them work in predominantly White countries, and even Siam Phusri worked in the States for a while before heading to Thailand. Even if they did have the skills, they aren’t always given the opportunity to hone them. It’s an interesting thing to think about!

It also doesn’t help that there seems to be friction among the international queens, mostly coming from Sum Ting Wong. But let’s see if they’re just highlighting that to throw off viewers when it’s actually the international queens who end up winning.

As for the Filipino queens, things go swimmingly during the recording session. They all sound good! I do hope that this isn’t going to turn into a Filipino queens win it all because that’s so expected and so boring. Shake it up a little bit! Also, what’s going to be the incentive for other queens to join in a potential second season if it’s going to be rigged for the Filipinos to win?

Things don’t get any better for the international queens when they try to come up with the choreography. Sum Ting Wong is really starting to look like the villain, at least of this episode, so if she ends up being in the bottom, it might be her going home this time around.

Another thing that’s coming out during the choreography session is that all the Filipino queens are bar queens. They know how to perform, and maybe not all the international queens have that bar and performing experience? Or maybe the drag culture in their particular countries don’t lean towards the type of performance that is preferred in a competition like Drag Race, especially one that kinda hews close to the American model like Drag Race Philippines? Again, interesting things to think about!

In the Werk Room the next day, Sum Ting Wong and Yuhua get into it because Sum Ting Wong felt offended that Yuhua was telling the other girls that they had to change the choreo so much, so she ends up telling Yuhua that the only reason the choreo changed so much was because she — Yuhua — couldn’t get the choreo. It’s not a shouting match per se, but it’s the most feisty interaction we’ve seen on this season so far.

The international queens are up first and…it’s a valiant effort! They tried their best! It’s a nice song, but I feel like the international queens weren’t matching the song’s energy. Then the Filipino queens come out, and they perform, and they even put humor in it, and it’s looking like a one-sided competition, guys. I hope it doesn’t turn out that way because it’s kinda boring if that was the case.

We then get the runway, and at least here, the international girls have a fighting chance. It goes without saying that Suki Doll comes out with something beautiful, but other outfits that I liked includes Siam’s, Khianna’s, Brigiding’s, Viñas’, and Ivory Glaze’s.

We then find out that the queens are going to be judged individually and…okay. I guess they didn’t want the international queens to feel too bad. We then find out that the top and bottom queens are Ivory Glaze, Yuhua, Sum Ting Wong, Brigiding, Arizona Brandy, and Viñas Deluxe are the top and bottom queens. Mama Pao didn’t say which one’s which, but come on now.

And then Mama Pao asks them if there was anybody in there group that dragged the whole group down and my goodness? It’s just the second episode! But Ivory and Yuhua point their fingers at Sum Ting Wong, while Sum Ting points hers at Yuhua. As for the Filipina queens, Brigiding and Arizona dodge the question, while Viñas straight up anmed Bernie. Oh, if only there was an Untucked this season.

Viñas and Arizona are the top two queens, while the bottom queens are Ivory and Ivory. Oh my. I do think that Sum Ting Wong’s going home because the Filipina queens are going to pick the hottie. I’m just saying!

Backstage, Sum Ting Wong is not happy with Yuhua and Ivory. Sum Ting is taking up all the airtime and I can help but find it funny how the Filipino queens are just eating and listening to everything go down. If there was popcorn there, it would have been perfect.

Viñas and Arizona lip sync to a Thai-American artist who I don’t know but I approve of this selection! One thing I didn’t like about the Drag Race Philippines seasons is that they don’t showcase OPM as much as they could have. At least, from this second episode, it looks like they’re going to be highlighting artists who are at least partly Asian or groups that have multiple Asians in them, like Katseye. Viñas wins this lip sync and I say deserved! She really did do so well in this lip sync.

And as expected, Sum Ting Wong is sent home. No surprises there!