It is time for the Snatch Game on Canada's Drag Race! The most iconic challenge comes to the North with this group of very fun TV personalities. The competition is dwindling down and we are starting to get attached to these girls. This episode has one of the best lip syncs in the herstory of the entire franchise, but did the girls slay the Snatch? Did Brooke Lynn Heights redeem herself as host after her epically bad Celine on Season 11? This recapper and this episode opened the library so put on your reading glasses!
The episode starts with a teary-eyed Ilona Verley wiping off the mirror message from a recently eliminated Tynomi Banks. Priyanka comes for Ilona hard and once again proves why this season is so much better than All Stars 5. These girls do not feel produced at all. The tension in the room seems very real and both girls have a point. Priyanka says that it is disrespectful to the competition to not participate in the Lip Sync which Ilona tried to do the last episode. It is disrespectful to every drag queen who does not make it on the show and to the queer community who depends on this show to see queer figures fighting to stay. But Ilona also has a point that she was deep in her feelings and it is not fair of Priyanka to judge those feelings. They are unpacking their actual beef with each other and the stakes are high. This is so much better than the fake wig drama manufactured for Season 11.
Brooke Lynn Heights struts into the Werk Room to announce that the library is open! The reading challenge and Snatch Game in the same episode!? Gay Christmas. Most of these girls don't quite nail this assignment. Priyanka is a little too shady. Ilona has one good one and a couple of really lame sleepers. BOA bombs with the same "two-faced" makeup line we have heard 800 times on this show. Shame! Shame! Shame! Just when we think all hope is lost life gives us... LEMON! She delivers some of the funniest one-liners we have ever heard in the reading challenge. Lemon is showing elements of Jujubee, which is the highest compliment. She rightfully wins. After being in the bottom in the first episode, Lemon is making her presence known in this competition.
As the host of the reading challenge, Brooke Lynn Heights seems to be having fun for the first time all season! She's really giving it to these girls and volleying with them. This is a good sign for her because she must fill RuPaul's shoes for the Snatch Game and that is a tall order... literally.
Jeffrey Bowyer Chapman does the walk-thru to prep the girls for the Snatch Game and continues to behave like Winnifred Sanderson... sucking the life out of everyone. It is a damn shame that he is not better at hosting this show. He is very beautiful, very charming, and a very lovely person, but this is n0t in his skill set. Fans are so angry at the way he spoke to Jimbo last week on the runway that they have signed a petition to have him removed as a judge. Unfortunately, none of the judges are being kind or funny and the fans on Twitter are not having it.
Priyanka tells Jeffrey that she is doing Miss Cleo for the Snatch Game which is such a slay of a choice. Kiara is doing Mariah Carey, which is a tough sell. Kiara needs to stand out and Mimi is not the easiest person to make funny. Kiara may need a hero or a Dreamlover to come rescue her. Ilona is doing one of the Cock Destroyers which is a completely hilarious and inspired choice. Jimbo is doing Joan Rivers, which no one has done in the herstory of the show. This is a genius move by this super-smart drag queen who has yet to win a challenge.
Unfortunately, Canada's Snatch Game is not a success. It will rank very low on the list of Snatch Games past. This group of queens is so naturally funny, but they have been impressive in sewing challenges and missing the mark in performance challenges. The Snatch Game performance can be found here.
Jimbo's Joan Rivers is a solid impression but unnecessarily over the line. She keeps referencing Joan's husband's ashes and doing cocaine. Joan Rivers was hilariously irreverent and could make anything funny but this is not in the Joan Rivers spirit. Joan was crass and crossed the line all the time, but it was never random and only in poor taste when the joke was really worth it. Jimbo's Joan Rivers was ordering Svedka at the bar... she only took cheap shots.
BOA fears getting canceled and therefore holds back on her Gypsy Rose Blanchard impression. It is a risky move for Snatch Game and again if you don't have a really great plan... then why do it? Everything was not coming up Gypsy roses. The physicality of Rita Baga's Edith Piaf is very fun and she is one of the only truly successful characters up there. Other than the girl who should have won this challenge: Lemon as Jojo Siwa is inspired. Unlike Joan Rivers, Jojo Siwa is HARD to make funny, but Lemon makes lemonade. She finds mannerisms and comedic rhythm that absolutely slays and she did not have to rely on snorting her dead husband's ashes. The degree of difficulty was much harder and she provided more laughs. The judges give the win to Jimbo, because they are not funny people who do not understand comedy. When it comes to humor Brooke, Stacey and Jeffrey are up Joan River without a paddle.
The bottom two are pretty clear this episode. Priyanka's Miss Cleo is unintelligible and has no redemption. Kiara's Mariah Carey is a miss as well.
Even with a less than stellar Snatch Game this episode is still excellent and so much fun to watch. The runway is a night of a thousand Celines and it is as exciting as it sounds. Lemon gets praised for her excellent Jojo Siwa, but the judges rightfully critique her shape on the runway. Every drag queen does not need to have an hourglass figure, but Lemon looks boxy and she could benefit from bigger hips or a breastplate or different padding. This look might be what cost her the win and in fairness, Jimbo does look absolutely stunning. Jimbo is an absolute star who should probably win this entire season. Her Joan Rivers should not be celebrated, but her look in this episode is gorgeous and a total departure for her.
Rita Baga's proportions are off which is odd for her. Kiara and Priyanka both look sickening but it is not enough to save them.
Kiara and Priyanka give one of the greatest lip syncs we have ever seen. They perform to We Drove All Night, an excellent drag song by one of the greatest singers of all time. These girls feel the song with every bone in their body. It is breathtaking. Kiara is dancing the house down and fighting for her life. Every move Priyanka makes is captivating. She embodies the essence of the song and she has us in the palm of her hand.
The judges are screaming and gagging for this incredible lip sync and Stacey McKenzie gives them a standing ovation at the end.
Kiara goes home and that feels right. She killed it but we have so much more to see from Priyanka. These queens really have us on the edge of our seats. This is the perfect quarantine treat while we are all at home. They make me feel less like I am All By Myself.
Canada’s Drag Race airs Thursdays at 9pm ET on WOW Presents Plus in the US and select territories.
Source: WOW Presents Plus