WARNING WEEK 2 SPOILERS
The Queens are back in the Werk Room, including last week’s lipsync winner Pangina Heals who now has a shiny RuPeter Badge after sending Canadian Queen Lemon home.
This week, RuPaul and Michelle Visage’s fellow judges are Alan Carr and Daisy Mae Cooper, writer and star of BBC comedy, This Country.
The episode started with a tense atmosphere after Janey Jacké accused Jimbo of picking alliances, instead of acknowledging the judge’s critiques. It only got worse when Monique Heart started coming for Janey’s outfits from the previous week.
RuPaul announced that this week’s maxi challenge was The RuPaul Ball. The Queens had to produce three looks inspired by RuPaul, including the categories of ‘Kitty Girl’, a cat-inspired outfit, ‘Butch Queen’, a masculine-inspired outfit, ‘You Wear it Well’, and a sewing and design challenge which focused on creating an outfit fit for RuPaul herself. Ru explained to the girls that they were not to impersonate her but to create an outfit she would wear.
As soon as the challenge kicked off and the Queens had picked their fabrics, it was clear that Baga Chipz and Cheryl Hole were struggling with the sewing and design aspects. Monique had to encourage Cheryl to avoid creating a pantsuit as it would need to fit her body flawlessly.
Jujubee should be a professional at this point, having competed in three design challenges in other show franchises. However, she chose to play it safe by selecting Ru’s favourite colours to hide any messy stitching.
At one point, Blu Hydrangea opened up to Jujubee about her gender dysphoria due to Blu getting more attention in drag than out of drag. This led her to question her gender identity, something she hadn’t admitted to publicly until being on the show. She expressed that watching and being on the show has shown her that gender identity is a spectrum, that she doesn’t need to conform to the binaries of a man or a woman. The other girls were highly supportive and reassured Blu that she was valid and loved no matter what gender identity she chose.
In the Werk Room, the following day, Pangina was helping a struggling Baga to put the finishing touches on her outfit. The other girls began to throw shade at Baga for allowing Pangina to do a lot of her work for her. However, Pangina insisted she wanted everyone to look good on the runway.
On the final runway, the Queens showed out with their best outfits. For the ‘Kitty Girl’ category, Pangina sported a velvet sphynx catsuit. Janey modelled an Egyptian themed dress and makeup. Cheryl wore a white catsuit with a pink bow inspired by Marie from Aristocats. However, Jujubee stuck to a basic mini dress with cat cut-outs at the breast area. Jimbo looked sleek in an orange liger outfit. Baga lived up to her name and sported a Bagpuss styled garment. Blu wore a futuristic purple cat ensemble. Finally, Mo donned a costume inspired by the character Luna from Sailor Moon.
For ‘Butch Queen’, Pangina left the judges in a fit of laughter with her take on Queen Elizabeth II going hunting. Janey showed us that orange is indeed the new Black with her prisoner inspired look, and Cheryl made a statement in her fiery biker chick look. Juju suited up with a corporate style leather skirt and top, with a floral top underneath. Jimbo slipped into a black leather motorbike garment. Baga marched out with army-inspired overalls and slicked-back hair. Blu put a spin on the classic strong man concept, and Mo looked extra butch in an all-leather biker suit, complete with a pull away patch at her ass.
Finally, ‘You Wear It Well’ saw Pangina sported a Parisian inspired purple ruffled dress. Janey looked stylish in a silver 70’s disco bodysuit with a cape to add an extra flair. Cheryl missed the mark with an orange minidress which looked like the last thing Ru would ever wear. Juju wore a simple silver flowy dress. Jimbo made a silver long-sleeved evening gown with a slit in it. Baga did not have many shape in her pink metallic dress, despite the help that she got from Pangina. Blu looked sleek in a glittery red bodysuit, and Mo donned a green glittery material with puffed sleeves.
After deliberation from the Judges, Ru crowned Jimbo and Janey the top Queens of the week, and unfortunately, Jujubee and Cheryl were classed as the bottom Queen’s of the week. Another stiff lipsync to RuPaul’s ‘Supermodel’ by Jimbo, which meant that Janey won the right to send one of the bottom Queen’s home. Ultimately, we had to say goodbye to the UK’s Cheryl Hole. On her way out, Cheryl whispered in JuJubee’s ear, telling her that she “better win this time.”.
Feature image credit: dragraceukBBC3
BA (Hons) Film, Media and Journalism graduate. Freelance Journalist for Brig Newspaper and Entertainment Daily. Head of Social Media for Brig Newspaper.
Passionate about diversity, inclusion and representation.
