The final episode of Canada's Drag Race is here! It was an absolute pleasure to watch this season of hilarious queens. This one will land high in the ranks of best Drag Race seasons for years to come.
Last week brought us the gag of the season as we said goodbye to the frontrunner and fan favorite, Jimbo. It was sad to see her leave and supremely shocking, but as we enter the final episode this top three does feel right. It's also so nice to be back to a top 3 instead of a top 4. It makes it seem much more exciting and the stakes feel higher. At the start of the episode, the dolls size each other up and decide there’s a clean slate between all three of them. Rita Baga and Priyanka have both been in the bottom twice and Scarlett Bobo never has. Rita has three wins, Priyanka has two and Scarlett only has one. Everyone has a different opinion on how a queen gets crowned. Is it smart game playing to make sure you're safe all season? Or is it better to stand out as a superstar many times along the way? This recapper prefers the latter, but a certain Mz. Bobo really ate this episode up. So it truly does feel like any one of them might win.
Brooke Lynn tells the girls they will have to write their own song which is always a super fun challenge on this show. They have to sing and dance and Brooke is helping with the choreography! That’s a great idea. After a very rocky season as a judge, it’s nice that Brooke gets to do what she does so very well.
Rita gets notes on her diction in the recording studio and then says “alien” a hundred times. It’s hysterical. The dolls do a podcast interview with Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and Traci Melchor. Scarlett Bobo goes first and tells her a touching story about her iconic mother. Priyanka is hysterical as always recording her song. She says “if you can’t make fun of yourself how in the hell are you gonna make fun of someone else?”. This queen really is an icon.
Scarlett goes into the recording studio. Honey... she’s gonna be locked out of her apartment because she keeps changing keys! It’s so funny and messy. Also, interesting watching a great singer not be a great coach. The girl coaching them just keeps singing a note at Bobo over and over but not explaining to her that she needs to sing a higher pitch.
Priyanka talks about her time doing kids TVand how separate she had to keep her drag/gay life from her work with children. I relate to this very deeply. I’m sure a lot of queer people do. When I taught kids I often found myself hiding my gayness. There is still a deep stigma around the queer experience. A strange vibe has been perpetuated that gay men are not "family-friendly. Priyanka has a beautiful message... “just be gay!”.
In the choreography section, Brooke Lynn is fantastic. She gives excellent notes to the girls. Oh right... this is what she’s trained to do. We shouldn’t have been watching this amazing dancer deliver comedic lines all season. From a production standpoint, they really missed two important judging elements: comedy and camp. Jeffrey-Bowyer Champman has left Twitter because he has received such backlash from fans which truly is not fair. A hot dancer, a hot model, and a hot actor were hired to do the job of a comedian (Ross Matthews), a TV personality (Michelle), and a legendary, quick-witted Drag mother (RuPaul). The formula for these judges is off. These three judges have not used a comedy skillset ever before in their careers and yet they were expected to deliver puns at gay people in wigs and make-up. They came off mean because their professions are inherently SERIOUS. Hopefully, next season some comedically trained judges are added to the mix!
In the mainstage challenge, Priyanka KILLS her verse! Bobo also totally slays her section. It's so fun watching a queen come alive on TV like they would in a club. Rita sounded great but we couldn’t understand most of her lyrics, which is not fair to an English as second language performer, but sadly true. On the runway, Rita says she’s serving green relish fantasy! She looks like a cool alien. It’s amazing. Scarlett looks stunning as always but something is off with the colors. She has a red wig and bright pink in the lining of the dress?? It is clashing so much it hurts our eyes. Priyanka looks so so so great. It is one of the most stunning lewks of the season. She is representing her culture and looking so good doing it.
All three girls are asked why they should be crowned Canada's next Drag Superstar. Rita and Scarlett give serviceable answers but this moment belongs to Priyanka. She is so funny, so poignant and so inspiring. It is like watching the combo of great political debate and a beauty pageant answer full of authenticity. She says that she loves performing because she gets to make “people feel so loved that even if they have no one... you’re their person”. Wow.
Then the girls untuck to find that the rest of the queens are back!! Priyanka asks Kyne if she was just being a bitch for tv or if she is really like that. These girls really are a special crew. They know how to deliver amazing reality tv. Jimbo looks... terrible. It was shocking to see her get eliminated and most of us really thought she would win this show but looking closer at her make up this episode is like... oh.
The time comes for the judges to see the final lip sync for the crown and they decide they want to see all three queens battle it out. Rita Baga has some very fun reveals and she brings the lip-sync gravitas she always does. Priyanka does a fine job but does not have any tricks up her sleeve. Scarlett Bobo truly dominates this song. What is unfair about the final lip sync is that often one or two girls have never had to lip-sync so we have never seen their top tricks. We have seen Rita and Priyanka do this twice so we know a lot of their moves. Scarlett Bobo's skills are a completely fresh take for our eyes and this fish is extra fresh tonight! She annihilates this lip sync. She gives reveals, she tosses her hair, she has the essence of the song and she is dancing the house down. It's wonderful to see but is this final lip sync enough to seal the crown?
The judges make their decision and Canada's Next Drag Superstar is... Priyanka! All three of these girls could carry the crown with grace and this season was nothing short of spectacular and super fun to consume. May our crowned queen reign as we pray that Covid does not prevent us from another great season of Drag Race.
Source: Wow Presents Plus