It is time for another episode of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under. This season has been slow to start, but this episode is in a word... wild. The episode starts with the queens doing an incredible job of eviscerating each other with the reading challenge. Then one of the queens is called out for having performed in blackface in the past.
The episode starts with the dolls strutting into the Werk Room crying. They were sad to see Anita Wigl'it sashay away. The tone quickly shifts when Etcetera Etcetera throws shade at another queen. Etcetera is hyper-focused on Kita Mean's outfit from last week and doesn't seem to understand the idea of keeping their eyes on their own paper. Etcetera is often shady without much humor and does not seem to know.
For the mini-challenge this week the library is open! Kita Mean slays this so hard. She says "Elektra Shock... man...", with an incredible pause that has the queens rolling laughing. Maxi Shield says to Karen From Finance "if I threw a stick would you leave"? Art Simone says to Elektra "you need a Covid test because you've clearly lost your sense of taste". Art Simone wins the reading challenge. This was what we needed to inject some excitement into this season. Fans on Twitter have been ravenous about how much they do not like the season so far. Hopefully, this phenomenal reading challenge turns things around.
For the main stage, the queens are doing a commercial for yeast. This show is so bonkers. The dolls do their commercial rehearsals and every single one of them is wildly filthy. None of them are particularly well-written but all of them are so ridiculously over the line that it is providing some amazing shock humor. If nothing else, this season feels like a drag show for adults, unlike the American seasons which have seemed a bit catered toward 14-year-olds in the last few years.
In the Werk Room, Scarlet Adams admits that she did blackface in drag. It is incredibly gross that she did that, but not shocking considering the very racist history of Australia and the generally racist attitude and jokes that often come out of that part of the world. RuPaul takes Scarlet to task on the runway. She is called out for her problematic behavior and RuPaul says that "I'm sure there are people who would want me to cancel you right here, right now. But I'd rather this be a lesson in humility and accountability. And I pray that all of us can learn and grow from our mistakes".
The category on the runway is: finest Sheila in the bush. Elektra Shock has a glow-up this week. Her wig is painted on and it looks very cool. Kita Mean wears a beautiful butterfly look. Karen From Finance is disappointing again this week. She looks like a Tina Burner on a budget. Art Simone's look is confusing. Etcetera has a wild bright green ugly thing on and then reveals to a much prettier look.
Elektra's commercial is well put together and in a sea of other queens just making pee jokes, she wins. The bottom two are Etcetera Etcetera and Maxi Sheild. They both deliver a decent performance but the trouble with Etcetera's drag is that we do not really ever see who she is. Maxi has a point of view and a clear personality. When she lip-syncs it feels uniquely Maxi. As the judges say about her runways she dresses "like an aunt in the Poconos" and that is also how she performs. Etcetera's moves are the same moves we have seen every drag queen in America do. There is a sloppy cartwheel into a split that doesn't quite touch the ground. Maxi wins and Etcetera sashays away.
Source: WOW Presents Plus
Tune in: RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under season 1 airs Saturdays at 12am PT / 3am ET on WOW Presents Plus in the US and select territories worldwide, day-and-date with Stan (Australia), TVNZ On Demand (New Zealand), and BBC iPlayer (UK) local airings.