It’s the second-to-last episode of the first season of Canada’s Drag Race! This has been such a fun ride to watch and these queens continue to turn the party all the way to the bitter end. And based on last week’s elimination we do mean bitter!
The hilarious and adorable Lemon sashayed away last week and her instantly iconic exit line was “I’m going to be bitter forever”. Fans really warmed to this feisty dancing powerhouse. She showed us that a queen can be in the bottom week one and then come back to win more challenges than almost every other girl in the competition. As a fan of the show, it was sad to see Lemon get eliminated and as her former roommate, it was even harder. But this has been a tough competition and these drag queens did not come to play! I talked to Lemon about her elimination and time on the show and she had much to say!
The four girls who are left wipe off Lemon’s mirror message and act like they just walked into a gay bar… because they start sizing each other up! Rita has three wins, which does not make a lot of sense. Rita is FIERCE and might win this show, but one of those wins belongs to Jimbo and the other to Anastarzia. Priyanka has 2 wins, which absolutely tracks. When she was stellar in this competition she was truly a superstar and when she had a tough day it was really rough . Jimbo has 1 win, which also does not track. Based on the star power we have seen and the way these girls have performed in the challenges it feels as though Jimbo and Rita’s number of wins should be switched. Then there is Scarlett Bobo. She is such a solid queen but she really has not been spectacular even once in this competition. She has zero wins and while she does not get enough credit for having the best make-up skills in the competition she has not deserved a single win all season. That gorgeous woman was MUGGED all season, but honey she was never robbed.
The guest judge for the mini-challenge is Sabrina Jalees! Sabrina is a hilarious comedian who really lights up the room. This is the type of person the show needs to have on more often. Shockingly, comedians make for very funny tv! We can tell that Rita Baga has no clue who Sabrina is but she is asked to give a take in the confessionals anyway. She hysterically says: “Sabrina Jalees… werk!”. Sabrina says for the mini-challenge she’s looking for Canada’s next singer. This feels like a Rita home run.
The challenge is like the screen door of a house in tornado alley… completely unhinged. It’s incredible. Then it goes on for literally a pandemic length of time. Someone get a vaccine for this challenge because the first 4 months were cute and now this has to stop. Then Rita Baga pretends to pass out and they have to wake her up and it’s so funny we’re back on board!
For the maxi-challenge, the queens are having a ball! This is the absolute best and most exciting challenge on the show. It’s so much fun getting to see so many lewks on the runway. Stacey Mackenzie does the walkthrough in the Werk Room. She talks to Priyanka about her rocky road in the competition, which she has every plan to correct. Bobo talks about her terrible childhood. She says drag is the only thing that “made me feel like I could take up space”. It’s really beautiful and for the first time on the show, we get to know Bobo as more than just a solid queen who wants recognition. She gives herself the space to be vulnerable and as RuPaul always says, that makes us fall in love with her.
Stacey announces that the guest judge this episode is Michelle Visage. Rita Baga gives her best Kate Berlant impression and crosses her eyes when she hears this news! Their reaction is adorable.
At the make-up mirror, Rita talks about her adorable father being the biggest fan of her. Bobo talks about her mom getting beaten by her stepdad. Jimbo says everyone in the world is rooting for her to win. Jimbo is so funny, but sometimes her humor can get lost in her dry delivery and comes off as cocky.
Michelle Visage struts out on the runway and it is such a sigh of relief!! This feels right. She really knows what she is doing up there. Sorry to this man…
For the first lewks on the runway, Jimbo’s make-up is as terrible as she was worried it would be. And she does a slutty lewk again. It is starting to become boring to watch. Rita is a sexy librarian? This lewk is also very bad. Priyanka comes out looking like Christmas but couture. It is so funny and so great. Bobo looks incredible in her first lewk. For look two, Jimbo is a slut again, Rita is giving Cecile Strong character realness, Priyanka is so funny and fun in her Canada chic fashion and Bobo is finally showing up to this competition. Her second lewk is awesome. All four girls do a good job with their final lewk, but Bobo is far and away the best. Rita’s is very cool and Priyanka’s is pretty messy.
Jimbo gets read for her makeup which is fair. Michelle Visage is here and she has a ton of drag knowledge so the things that may have slipped past these new judges are not going to fly with the veteran pro. Rita looks so stunning in her last lewk but the judges hate that she can’t walk in it. Then the show does the very beautiful tear-jerking moment when they bring out the photos of the queens as kids. Jimbo says “listen to your mom when she says have the best time and others will join you”. “Just be gay” -Priyanka.
In a confessional, Priyanka says “Jimbo how did your makeup get worse this whole competition?”. There hasn’t been a single boring moment watching these girls interact all season. We can’t say that for all stars 5. Bobo deservedly wins this challenge. She has not been impressive for most of this competition but she by far did the best this week. Crazily enough, that makes Bobo, the girl with no wins until today, the first person to go to the top 3. The next… is Priyanka. That means the bottom two are Jimbo and Rita Baga. This is excellent TV. When the producers work too hard it can make for really lame narratives (Vanjie versus Brooke Lynn), but this played out perfectly without any meddling. The two front-runners end up in the bottom two, because they did the worst this week. Fair and square and exciting to watch. Canada’s Drag Race has done a very good job of not betraying the narrative of the viewer. Rita and Jimbo go head to head and Rita absolutely slays again. Jimbo is an amazing queen and I was certain she was going to win this whole thing. It is a shame to see her go, but that’s why this show is so surprising and so much fun to watch. That also makes next week’s episode… anyone’s game!
Canada’s Drag Race airs Thursdays at 9pm EST on WOW Presents Plus in the US and select territories.
